COVID-19 Outbreak (Update: More than 2.9M cases and 132,313 deaths in US)

bonnjer said

Also, I think we were greatly detached from the whole situation. We saw the reports coming from China and elsewhere, but we just didn't think it was going to get us here, so we didn't see the need to cancel something as big as Mardi Gras. Too bad we can't turn back the hands of time, as I think cancelling would have made a world of difference for the state.

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Yes, but if you look at the discussions as far back as late January, we are already talking about it coming here. The only question at that point was how bad it would be here, but we knew it was coming based on what was going on at the time.

We just got caught flat-footed and were putting off testing as long as we could, until we no longer had a choice, which by then was too late.

FWIW, as much as was made about banning travel from China, travel from elsewhere wasn't monitored any differently than normal and no additional screening took place beyond what was typical for people passing through customs. Korea's epidemic was already well underway when my brother in laws flew back to the states and they were not asked any questions or screened for temperature checks at the airport. They could have been sick and no one would have known it.