CDC competence vel non

I'm always up for a good "incompetent government bureaucracy" hook, but this thoughtful comment from Maggie's Farm is a more balanced approach:
I heard a few days ago that the reason we don't have a good test for the Corona virus was because we needed to have patients with the virus so that we could use their body fluids in a process that would make a test for it. I understand also that the CDC tried to roll out a test for the corona virus anyway because of course they need the test. But because they didn't have a good sample of the virus available the test was not accurate and gave false positives and false negatives. To speed up the process they bypassed an administrative rule to allow other agencies (states and others) to develop the test because by then there were a few confirmed patients to get samples from and since the patients were closer to outside laboratories this process would be faster than if the CDC insisted that only they could create the test.
One other factor in this is some have commented that smaller and less capable countries had developed the test so why couldn't we. There are two answers: 1. They had confirmed patients before we did which gave them the necessary samples. 2. They may have (probably did) develop tests like our first ones which give false results BUT since their standards are not as high as the CDC they decided "who cares" and went ahead and used them. (Or they are still clueless that their tests are giving them false results.)
Count me as one of those who doubts that our doctors are bumbling fools and that our CDC is incompetent. I am sure their bureaucracy sometimes interferes with best practices but generally I would say our CDC is as good as any similar organization anywhere. I think the problem is that they failed to adequately explain the holdup and thus to us it looks like a screw-up.
I still think, of course, that human systems are inevitably prone to error, and improvement will always depend on a relentless willingness to try different approaches, compare predictions to reality, and assess honestly which approaches are the most effective. Flexibility and honesty not being the easiest goals in human institutions, and government bureaucracies not being their natural home, it's a tough challenge.  Nevertheless, I don't want to pile on the CDC just because they fail a theoretical test of perfection.  They're certainly doing a better job than I would know how to do.

7 comments:

ymarsakar said...

You know me, my divine assignment as intel analyst and or spy, has me automatically assuming that this is due to manipulation by an anti Divine faction, and then attempting to criticize that assumption via testing and sourcing.

The fact that this method often turns out to be accurate, is what is mighty strange. Even to me.

ymarsakar said...

The CDC, like many organizations, are told what to do by certain factions.

These factions are not the ones people normally assume is doing the management.

This is a fact, not a speculation or theory. The speculation or theory comes in when people try to explain the reasoning or which faction in particular is responsible and why or how.

When I told Grim that USA President Hussein Obola would be staging red flag scenarios in order to gather more power and to crush the dissidents... this was somewhat before Fast and Furious came out. The actual scenario we were talking about was similar to Major Hassan's situation, but the more direct comparison would be Clinton's server and Hussein's Justice Department.

So the truth is the truth, but the details sometimes change due to human free willm essing up the future.

When Waco 2 happened, people automatically believed the media. I believed it was Waco 2.

When Benghazi happened, people believed the media. Even those here, did not have much reason to do otherwise.

I assumed otherwise. The evidence came out later, but I was not aware of it.

ymarsakar said...

Also, the fatalities from the virus are not exactly due to the virus alone. It is due to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stage activations, created as a sort of more manual targeting.

In the same fashion that two liquids when combined can create an explosive, but the liquids by themselves are non reactive, this is what modern bio weapons should look like. They should be multi stage instruments of devastation.

Generally the easiest way to combine the viral load infected population with the second trigger would be the vaccination program that always follows after. Which is a good reason not to take the vaccine until enough people have tested it for you.

However, there are more unconventional and exotic technologies available. Putin actually talked about it a few years ago, but his comments had to be subtitled and the media didn't transfer it over. Putin stated that if America kept pushing nuclear warheads into Poland to act as "missile defense", then Putin, not knowing whether these are anti missiles or offensive missiles..., will use exotic counters to the conventional nuclear arms. Apparently nuclear weapons are now "conventional" haha.

This has to do with the Russian research vessel picking up the "Ark of Gabriel" as well as Antarctica. Don't ask me to explain, it's too much data dump debrief, even for online. This is also not my field of research.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I tend to agree. These are not people who want to do a bad job. We have the expectation of magic, because they are Americans, who usually do magic.

Grim said...

There will inevitably be mistakes, and these will cost lives. But that's not proof of harmful intent. We need forgiveness, now, more even than usual.

E Hines said...

From the quoted passage: I think the problem is that they failed to adequately explain the holdup and thus to us it looks like a screw-up.

It's entirely possible that the CDC folks utterly failed to be perfect in every respect, including communications. It's also a factor, though, that, not being as skilled or prolific in social media communications, they were unable to get their explanations out, being limited as they were to the scare-mongering of the NLMSM and Progressive-Democrat politicians, who also used all of this as a shiny, new Trump-bashing toy.

Eric Hines

ymarsakar said...

I have yet to hear from Mike here on what he thinks of the recent death tolls, whether they are flu virus similar or comparable. While he is of the anti weapon and anti panic camp, that makes his viewpoint even more valuable.

As for my viewpoint... well, I have every faction's viewpoint pulled up and I can switch to any of them for analysis.

I recall MikeD... was it, that talked about how China's healthcare system was inferior and thus mega deaths are natural there. But for cruise ship contamination and Western systems things will be ok.

When the data is against you, that is the PRECISE time to stand up and keep pushing your analysis view. It is not the time to fold and "say, I stand corrected", hah.