Why the American Approach Is Failing

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2020

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

So far, the United States has been losing the battle against the pandemic, with a patchwork of inconsistent measures across the country proving unequal to halting the spread of the virus. Today, we ask: What will it take to change the course of the crisis? Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: President Trump has played down the threat of the virus, while at least 16 states institute stay-at-home orders. Here are the latest updates.The rampant spread of the coronavirus has left a trail of loss across most people’s lives. Here is some advice on how to cope.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the New York Times, I'm Michael Vibaro. This is The Daily.
0:10.6	Today, so far, the United States is losing the battle against the coronavirus.
0:17.3	Donald G. McNeil Jr. on what it would take to turn the corner.
0:32.5	It's Tuesday, March 24.
0:38.9	Donald, it is about 420 on Monday. Where are we in this pandemic in the United States? How would
0:47.0	you characterize it at this moment? I would say it's wildly out of control, but we have not
0:59.3	recognized it yet. Certainly wildly out of control in New York state. The epicenter in the US is
1:09.9	now clearly New York with more than 12,000 cases. Most of them here in New York City.
1:15.7	In Washington. The state of Washington has the second highest number with almost 1,000
1:21.2	cases, and then there's California. We have the third highest number.
1:25.2	In Northern California, in South Florida. We saw pictures of Disney World jammed
1:31.8	packed with people. Areal photos of beaches in Florida jammed with people. There are still
1:38.8	so many Americans that don't understand they are spreading the virus. They think they think they
1:45.1	have just begun to do tests. We have 42,000 positive cases. We have 513 deaths.
1:54.2	Some people have said this is like a war. It's as if your army has been marching forward,
2:00.4	and the enemy has been shooting at you for two to three weeks now. Nobody has yet looked down
2:07.9	to see whether or not they are bleeding. But very soon we will see how many people have been
2:14.3	hit. Because you get sick within four or five six seven days of getting infected.
2:26.0	But usually you don't need hospitalization if you're going to need hospitalization until about
2:32.5	10 days to two weeks in. It's known as the second week crash. And some people crash even after
2:37.6	they thought they were starting to get better. So we're facing something like that. A lot of people
2:42.8	are sick. Huge numbers of people are about to fall seriously ill. But it just hasn't happened yet.
	...

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