Re: CDC Officials Warn of Coronavirus Outbreaks in the United States.
It's a good compilation of data presented in a nice looking graph, but I wouldn't call it a good video in the context of what is going on in the world (maybe not even a good analytical video itself given some of the inconsistent ranges and other factors). Aside from the fact that the data is incredibly outdated as it was published on Feb 12 (a fact that the creator has edited to acknowledge in an "important update"), it is also irresponsible to give any graphical representation of data without expert opinion. This is true in my field of financial analytics, and it's certainly true when it comes to community health as well. It potentially leads people to making the wrong conclusions and ultimately bad decisions based off of those wrong conclusions. That's bad when it's a corporate office deciding if they want to expand into another market, and it's infinitely more so when it deals with community health.
The whole thing with grocery stores being left barren is insane. The Costco near me had a line out the door and wrapped around the building this morning. I haven't heard any health expert say that we need to panic to that level (actually it seems to go against the idea of social distancing imo). We don't need to be saying/implying that it's business as usual either though. People shouldn't be given the thought that this will pass without a concentrated community effort because it might lead some to making irresponsible decisions (like not social distancing) which will lead to this actually getting to those worst case scenario projections). Real health experts have been getting asked questions similar to some of the data that this video presented, and every example is instantly shot done in how the situations are not comparable for various reasons (the primary one being how effective it is at spreading).
In case anyone missed the video creator's edit. He still says "don't panic", but he's also not taking it as lightly anymore.
It's a good compilation of data presented in a nice looking graph, but I wouldn't call it a good video in the context of what is going on in the world (maybe not even a good analytical video itself given some of the inconsistent ranges and other factors). Aside from the fact that the data is incredibly outdated as it was published on Feb 12 (a fact that the creator has edited to acknowledge in an "important update"), it is also irresponsible to give any graphical representation of data without expert opinion. This is true in my field of financial analytics, and it's certainly true when it comes to community health as well. It potentially leads people to making the wrong conclusions and ultimately bad decisions based off of those wrong conclusions. That's bad when it's a corporate office deciding if they want to expand into another market, and it's infinitely more so when it deals with community health.
The whole thing with grocery stores being left barren is insane. The Costco near me had a line out the door and wrapped around the building this morning. I haven't heard any health expert say that we need to panic to that level (actually it seems to go against the idea of social distancing imo). We don't need to be saying/implying that it's business as usual either though. People shouldn't be given the thought that this will pass without a concentrated community effort because it might lead some to making irresponsible decisions (like not social distancing) which will lead to this actually getting to those worst case scenario projections). Real health experts have been getting asked questions similar to some of the data that this video presented, and every example is instantly shot done in how the situations are not comparable for various reasons (the primary one being how effective it is at spreading).
In case anyone missed the video creator's edit. He still says "don't panic", but he's also not taking it as lightly anymore.
IMPORTANT EDIT: When I made this video, there had only been only one death outside China, and the rate of new cases was slowing down. Now (March 11th) there are 4,500 deaths (3K in China), and the rates are speeding up.
That's why in this video, I had tried to convey that the epidemic was nothing to panic over. However, given that this is now a pandemic, I would STILL say not to panic, but I would no longer claim "COVID-19 kills less people than the generic flu so it's no big deal" (as I had in this video). The current trends suggest COVID-19 is still growing exponentially, so it's important to take actions (don't go to large gatherings, etc.
That's why in this video, I had tried to convey that the epidemic was nothing to panic over. However, given that this is now a pandemic, I would STILL say not to panic, but I would no longer claim "COVID-19 kills less people than the generic flu so it's no big deal" (as I had in this video). The current trends suggest COVID-19 is still growing exponentially, so it's important to take actions (don't go to large gatherings, etc.
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