JJMt said:
If that is happening, we should be seeing a very sharp and noticeable uptick in "flu" deaths and very serious cases.
I doubt that it's widespread in the U.S. just yet because my guess is that every single doctor here is on very heightened alert about COVID-19 and would be suspicious of any patient exhibiting any of the symptoms.
Plus, the screening that I've seen no longer is limited to travelers to China and hasn't been for quite some time. I had to go to a nearby VA hospital about 3 weeks ago to pick something up for my dad and they had posters plastered everywhere notifying visitors to report to someone immediately if they had merely traveled by air or been around someone that traveled by air within 3 weeks and have a fever or respiratory symptoms.
Was just about the post the same basic thing.
Unless they're all mild cases with no reason to suspect coronavirus, it would be impossible to hide it if all of a sudden people all over the place are being put on ventilators.
Heck, my great uncle here in B/CS went to the doctor for what turned out to be a massive sinus infection and the first thing they did was want to know if he had recently been to China, had any contact with someone from China, or if he had been in contact with anyone else showing the symptoms of the coronavirus. The man is 90 years old and only leaves his home to go to the doctor and to tend his flowers in the backyard. The only people he has come into contact with are his wife, who also can't leave home as she is confined to a wheel chair, and some of his children who help them out with shopping and other needs. None of his kids are sick nor have had any contact with people from China.
If you go to Scott and White with any cold/flu like symptoms, they will immediately ask the same questions about possible coronavirus exposure. The CDC already recommended anyone who shows symptoms, but testing negative for the flu, should be tested for coronavirus. Of course, one can test negative for the flu and still have it. Last flu test I took in early 2019 said I didn't have the flu, but I absolutely did. Three days of high fever and ever other flu symptom confirmed that. Heck, go in with the flu and they will treat you like you have coronavirus and Ebola at the same time, until they get a positive flu test.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill