Number 1 has been warned about for years, even decades, in terms of China especially.

Number 2 is the biggest problem by far. What if they hadn't hidden the problem and made everyone else aware and asked for help asap?

Number 3 is basically too late. They screwed up number 2 and it's unlikely they could fix it based on this illness.

Number 4, 5, 6 aren't abnormal. No country is going to instantly shut itself down without enough worthy info. If it does and they are wrong, people losing money and jobs and being scared for no reason are going to be super pissed off.

Number 7 is basically set in motion because of number 2.

Number 8 is a problem. Not much reason to deny something that's now proven and at your doorstep.

Number 9 forward are just repetition of 7 and 8, but it was almost certainly too late to stop it from entering once things were set in motion.

Number 15 is unfortunate, but what more could have been done, in reality, based on what was known for fact and not just guessing and opinions? In a free multicultural country like America, how do you legitimately clamp down on a level like some other countries like China had?

Should America be blameless? No. Should it be getting anywhere near the blame it has been? No. If China had done the right thing in the first place, for all we know, America could have been the biggest contributor to helping contain the problem there so it barely spread anywhere else. 

I don't know how you feel about it, but I've stated plenty times that I was not happy with the slow response of our country. Canada kept listing the risk to Canadians as low for the longest time, with simply the advice to watch for symptoms and then self isolate for 2 weeks.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu (Thunder Bay-Superior North, Ont.) said repeatedly in the early stages of the novel coronavirus outbreak that cautioning against travel to infected countries, or closing Canada’s border to them, wouldn’t help protect Canadians from the virus, and in fact could make things worse. 

She continued to say so until at least March 9; a week later, the government started to shut the border to nearly all foreign travellers.

Noon March 18th Trudeau finally closed the borders, however not yet to the US where half of our virus imports came from. Midnight March 20th that was closed down as well. However returning Canadians simply got the advise to stay home for 2 weeks, no checks, no tests, some simply went back to work anyway with symptoms. Testing was very slow to get under way, people with symptoms were simply turned away if they didn't fit the profile, basically suppressing any signs of community spread.

All we can say is, we didn't screw up as badly as the US... Luckily it's going better already in BC, Alberta is currently finding more cases but still far below Ontario and Quebec. It's still very manageable here, the curve is flat, but still refuses to go down. Ontario's state of emergency has been extended again, schools won't reopen now until June.

To that end, Ford said his government would issue a new order Tuesday night deploying more workers to long-term care homes. There are currently 93 outbreaks in such facilities across the province.

Public Health Ontario said there have been 135 deaths in the homes, 813 cases of COVID-19 among residents and 437 cases among staff.

The order will also make it mandatory that staff only work at one facility, Ford said _ something several health-care worker unions have been requesting for weeks.

Yep I'm concerned with how our own government is screwing things up. At least we have that fast testing kit coming and research on using anti bodies from surviving blood donors. And it seems most people are taking it seriously.

well this didn't hold up when looking at extra healthcare costs made and increased welfare benefits

I really don't like our Gov and JT leading it, but I don't put much blame on them this time around. Some, but not much. They initially handled it about the way I assumed they would, like many other first world countries. Nobody was going to jump to conclusions and risk being wrong. From a leadership perspective, it was far more likely they would wait till it got close before clamping down. That way they had a clear legitimate excuse to do so. Taking away peoples freedoms because we might end up with a problem, for around 1% of the country, typically doesn't go over well even in oh so forgiving Canada.

We also aren't anywhere near as densely populated as America, and our overall system is better built to handle crisis. Most times when America is hurting, we're not, or barely. Mind you, when America is thriving, we're only doing slightly better, unless you're smart enough to invest in American stocks.

The things I've been hearing are ridiculous though. A father and his two kids out walking some trail close to their home, with nobody else in sight, getting a $1000 ticket for not remaining indoors. The local county saying police will be pulling over random vehicles and if you aren't traveling for what they find to be valid reasons, you'll be sent home and fined up to $1000. The media now consistently saying that 'social distancing' could last up to two years. LOL. Give me a break. 

Meanwhile a somewhat local old folks home had like 50 deaths recently because the care workers have been allowed to cycle home to home due to temporary work hours, more easily potentially contracting it and spreading covid. Good thing someone paid close attention to making strict rules for those most in jeopardy. My lord.

One of the things I'm most worried about is this dragging on, and I have a hard time believing that's not going to be the case based on the illness. If everyone has to be locked down like this, then the UK had the right idea for the most part. Lock down the elderly and anyone with underlying illness, and let everyone else contract it and become immune to it. The way it spreads in lock down, should mean it spread like wildfire typically and would be gone in no time. At the very least, once medical supplies are built up, go with that approach, don't drag it out leaving everyone stuck at home.

When this is all over, Canada, and the rest of the world, better give China a swift non physical kick in the a** for letting it get this out of hand. They've been getting away with too much already, so if this isn't the final straw, then we might as well just give up and bow to them.

Oh nice. Thanks for that video.

And John Oliver totally nails it with this: "[...] there is no better argument for a permanent welfare state than watching your government desperately try to build one when it's already too late"

A better option is actually a hybrid system where you have private insurance and universal healthcare.
Those over a certain tax bracket threshold get given a choice to pay for their own insurance... Or pay extra on top via a levy.

That in turn means that private insurance companies need to compete with the universal system... So they will provide more effort into ensuring that their costs are as low as possible with the best possible quality of care.
There is a reason that despite Australia having a universal healthcare system, 30% of the country is still covered via private insurance through choice... It also helps relieve the public sector.

From there... You set up an independent advisory board which includes private and public professionals derived from insurance companies, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, government leaders, academics, union leaders and patient advocates who then analyze the cost-effectiveness of various medications and petitions the government for subsidization.

For example the stop-smoking drug "Champix" is Government subsidized, normally it costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but the Government can justify subsidizing it to just $16-$40 depending on tax bracket... How? Well. Smoking causes cancer and a myriad of other diseases, so it actually saves the Government money in the long run as it's potentially less people relying on the health system. - The independent advisory board acknowledge that and provided the cost-benefit analysis to the government who then endorsed it.

That is how it works in a nation who not only provides cheaper care per-capita than the USA, but superior coverage and superior quality of care. - If it works so well.. And the real life evidence exists of it working, then why can't the USA get it's act together and emulate it?
Obamacare cost the USA $1.76 Trillion smacko's which is an insane amount of cash and Trump has undone a large portion of that money/work.

There needs to be a systemic review of the healthcare system in the USA... And the left-wing Democrats and the Right-wing Republicans need to get together and come to a bipartisan agreement of a future plan. - Heck China even manufactures the majority of Pharmaceuticals these days, not the USA... For a nation that strives to be on the forefront of medicine... That is a bit of slap in the face, especially with imports/exports being scuttled and thus placing strain on medical supplies.

The Coronavirus is hopefully going to be a catalyst in many nations for healthcare reviews, improvements and investments, it will be the front-running political contention point.

Maybe people should stop focusing on the things the WHO did wrong and instead acknowledge all the things it did exactly right. I mean it's not like there is any alternative to it and it certainly did what it was supposed to do. It's not like there are systemic problems either. Going after the WHO for a few mistakes is like suspending a whole government after one politician made a mistake. Or instantly firing a good employee for making one mistake.
What, there is still war? Better defund the UN. What, children are still dying? Defund Unicef! What, there is a recession coming to the EU? Let's close the ECB.

The WHO did everything in their power and always in good faith and based on current data. It had to handle a global health crisis that never existed like this before and it had to work with stubborn governments to achieve it. If anything we should praise and thank the WHO for doing its job, because nobody can count on individual governments to do the right thing. Yes, we might have fewer deaths, if the WHO did some things differently, but it's absolutely certain that without the WHO we would have at least double the deaths right now.

But it's certainly in character for Trump to go after people and organizations who make him look bad by doing a better job.

538 about the newest data form New York: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/new-york-coronavirus-curve/

So, what does Trump think how the situation around the world would look like without the WHO?

We heard pretty early about this virus and without the WHO countries would have reacted even later (USA included)

Yes, WHO isn't perfect and they made mistakes but Trump can bet his ass that even without USA funding the WHO, the USA would still have used WHO's informations.

So, what is the plan? Still gain important early information from diseases around the world without helping to gain this info (and lowering WHO's possibilities) ?

Sounds like a great plan. Even his "America first" doesn't work like that. He definitely won't build an own institution gaining these important informations around the world to let the USA handle it better next time

But that's what you have to expect from this guy. Instead of calling other leaders and talk about what can be done better and how the WHO has to improve he just jumps out because he doesn't feel it's worth to work on the problem together with other countries before you just stop the funding.

Trump is certainly full of himself... The endless praise for himself is pretty funny... Even during announcements where he is supposed to be a leader, reassuring the nation, consoling those who have been lost to the disease, laying out the immediate and future plans... Nope. Just all about himself and self praise. - Meanwhile people are dying by the 10's of thousands. - Selfish is what he is.


Jump over the pond to the compassionate Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand... And she and her entire government are taking a 20% pay cut to help fund stimulus. - That is a true leader handling a crisis.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/jacinda-ardern-and-ministers-take-20-pay-cut-in-solidarity-with-those-hit-by-covid-19