Coronavirus confusion "public will be confused about risks and what they can do to curb the spread of the virus"

Trump’s no stranger to misinformation. 

But with the coronavirus, experts say that’s dangerous- by Megan Thielking

Mixed messages and misinformation aren’t out of the ordinary in the Trump administration. But at a time when the U.S. faces a looming threat from a novel virus, public health experts warn that the administration’s mixed messages aren’t just confusing — they’re dangerous.

Coronavirus update as of March 3, 2020

Top official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency expects the virus will begin spreading at a community level in the United States and that disruptions to daily life could be “severe.” But President Trump and members of his administration have also said this week that U.S. containment of the virus is “close to airtight” and that the virus is only as deadly as the seasonal flu. Their statements range from false to unproven, and in some cases, underestimate the challenges that public health officials must contend with in responding to the virus.

“It’s really important for the U.S. government to be speaking with one common voice about these issues right now,” said Tom Inglesby, an infectious diseases physician and director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Without that, experts caution, the public will be left confused about their risks and what they can do to help curb the spread of the virus, such as staying home when sick.

Inglesby noted that health officials are working hard to prepare and plan for the spread of the virus within the U.S. But that work needs to be regularly and clearly communicated to the public — without conflicting statements from other officials.

“It will erode confidence in the effort if one part of the government says something in the beginning of the day, and another part of the government says something contradictory at the end of the day,” he said.

STAT took a look at what Trump and other administration officials have said about the virus — and what’s actually true. In fact, the Center for Disease Control believes the spread of the virus will get worse before it gets better.  https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/25/cdc-expects-community-spread-of-coronavirus-as-top-official-warns-disruptions-could-be-severe/

As of Feb. 23, testing kits sent out by the CDC nationwide turned out to be faulty, which means that just 12 labs across the country can currently run tests outside of the CDC.

“As we’ve seen from recent countries with community spread, when it has hit those countries, it has moved quite rapidly. We want to make sure the American public is prepared,” Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters.