Just-so storytelling about places that avoid coronavirus is proving to be an irresistible journalistic form. Here's a fawning profile of Kerala's "rock star" health minister, who sounds awesome. Kerala has had only four deaths for 35 million people. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/14/the-coronavirus-slayer-how-keralas-rock-star-health-minister-helped-save-it-from-covid-19 …
-
-
Maybe that's so—I leave it to more expert opinion than mine. But I think the current journalistic mode of singling out countries that have done well, and then finding justifications in their policy decisions to explain that success, speaks to a lack of imagination and curiosity
Show this thread -
I will say that if you argue that there are thousands, or tens of thousands, of unreported deaths in a place because to say otherwise doesn't fit your model of this disease, the burden is on *you* to prove it. The virus has not been very good about spreading like it's supposed to
Show this thread -
(Sorry, messed up this thread and left out the example of Thailand)https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1261181014996422657 …
Show this thread -
Some more just-so storytelling, this time from the New Yorker. All the nations of sub-saharan Africa, where well-understood epidemics like malaria still run rampant, outdid Western governments on containing coronavirus, but we refuse to give them credit. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-african-nations-are-teaching-the-west-about-fighting-the-coronavirus …pic.twitter.com/nakrC20Hy2
Show this thread -
The article singles out Ethiopia for a laudable contact tracing program in Addis Ababa. But Ethiopia is also one of the last nations on earth with guinea worm—a parasite close to being eradicated. That tells you about the resources for public health there.http://outbreaknewstoday.com/guinea-worm-disease-ethiopia-reports-six-suspected-new-cases-in-recent-weeks-96592/ …
Show this thread -
I am fully ready to believe that any one of the poorest countries in the world did a better job on public health than, say, northern Italy. But to argue that they *all* did, for the first time ever, defies all reason. It's more of our own wishful thinking projected onto the poor
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.