Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention summarize the "four mistakes"
A few days ago, the official website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an analysis report written by the center ’s chief deputy director, Anne Shushat, and others, which reviewed the development of the new crown epidemic in the United States.
The report believes that the four problems of continuous passenger input, large-scale personnel gatherings, lack of protective measures, and inadequate detection have caused the "out of control" of the US epidemic.
The report divides the development of the U.S. epidemic into three stages: from January 21 to February 23, only 14 cases were diagnosed in the United States, and 39 patients were withdrawn from the United States abroad; the travel in the epidemic-free area began in late February History and cases with no traceable contact history indicate that the epidemic began to spread in the United States; from mid-March to April 21, the new corona virus accelerated and spread widely, and the number of cases increased rapidly. Most of the cases reported during this period were due to community transmission.
This report believes that there are four reasons for the accelerated spread of the US epidemic:
First, the government failed to issue a travel restriction order in a timely manner, resulting in a continuous increase in imported cases abroad. In February, about 140,000 passengers from Italy and about 1.74 million passengers from Schengen countries arrived in the United States. At that time, the epidemic in these areas was spreading widely and rapidly. Sequencing of the strains collected in the New York metropolitan area in March revealed that they were from Europe or other parts of the United States.
Second, the participation of people from different regions in large-scale gatherings plays a prominent role in early communication. In February, the number of domestic cases reported by the United States was not large, and the outbreak appeared to be under control, so the federal and local governments did not promptly recommend restrictions on aggregation. In the last week of February, several large-scale gathering events further spread the outbreak, including a carnival with more than 1 million people in Louisiana, an international professional meeting with 175 people in Boston, and about 100 people in Albany, Georgia Attend funerals, etc.
Third, the lack of protective measures has caused the virus to spread after being introduced into high-risk places such as long-term care institutions, hospitals, and densely populated areas such as the New York metropolitan area. It was not until April 3 that the US Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines to require cloth masks to be worn in public places to reduce transmission.
Fourth, virus detection is difficult, and there are a large number of undetected transmissions during the initial stage of the epidemic in the United States and accelerated proliferation. The New Crown Outbreak overlaps with the US influenza season. In the early stages of the outbreak, respiratory disease surveillance systems across the United States have not identified different incidence trends. In addition, the limited scale of testing in the United States failed to detect all cases, and the presence of asymptomatic infections also made it difficult to detect and control the epidemic.
Although this report does not directly state "mistakes", the four major factors listed in the report are all related to the decision-making mistakes of the US government. The report points out that identifying these factors that accelerate the spread of the US epidemic will help inform future decisions. The spread of the new coronavirus in the United States continues. At present, most Americans are still susceptible to the new coronavirus, so continuous efforts are needed to stop the spread of the virus in the United States.