Political Tribune

GOP

People Call Out Republican Senator For Spreading Panic Over Coronavirus: “This Is A Completely Alarmist And Unnecessary Tweet, Senator”

Lawmakers are supposed to urge calm, not cause a panic.

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A Republican senator is getting an earful from medical professionals after he incited panic on Twitter over the coronavirus and spouted unfounded conspiracy theories.

Coronavirus has been contracted by over 200 people in China as the nation initiates massive quarantines in an effort to stop the virus, which is an infection with symptoms like breathing difficulties, cough, and fever and can result in pneumonia and other serious respiratory problems.

Eight people in the United States have tested positive for coronavirus. But in times of epidemic, it’s important for the population to avoid panicking as panic only makes the crisis worse.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) unfortunately, has done nothing but incite panic through social media by yelling at Americans to leave China.

He also suggested that the coronavirus outbreak originated from a Chinese bio-lab.

Coronavirus is a potentially serious virus, but Cotton isn’t helping by spreading misinformation and panic, nor is the Trump administration since it fired the entire pandemic response staff organized by Obama after the Ebola outbreak.

In fact, it turns out that scientists have looked at this particular virus’ genome and determined that it didn’t come from the Wuhan lab and likely was transmitted to humans from animals, perhaps bats.

According to Science Magazine:

One of the biggest takeaway messages [from the viral sequences] is that there was a single introduction into humans and then human-to-human spread,” says Trevor Bedford, a bioinformatics specialist at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The role of Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, in spreading 2019-nCoV remains murky, though such sequencing, combined with sampling the market’s environment for the presence of the virus, is clarifying that it indeed had an important early role in amplifying the outbreak. The viral sequences, most researchers say, also knock down the idea the pathogen came from a virology institute in Wuhan.

Pediatrician Daniel Summers fired back at Cotton by telling him to shut up about things he doesn’t understand.

Dr. Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology and immunology at Harvard University, also called Cotton out.

“It’s a ridiculous assertion,” Mina said in a statement. “All signs point to a pathogen that has been circulating in animals and jumped to humans. It’s pretty common for these viruses and there’s no good reason for him to be saying something like that. Panic is never a useful thing to elicit in a population … and anyone who’s doing that probably shouldn’t be in a public policy office.”

Others also condemned or mocked Cotton.

The World Health Organization has also chimed in on the virus, urging people to basically do what they would normally do to avoid catching a cold.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

It should be pointed out that conservatives like Cotton also panicked when Americans who contracted Ebola were flown into the country for treatment a few years ago in 2014. The difference is that we had a leader then who urged calm and health professionals were able to do their jobs and soon developed a vaccine. It’s calm that we need right now, and Cotton sure as hell isn’t going to act like a real leader and provide it when we need it most.

Featured Image via screen capture

Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!

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Stephen D. Foster Jr.

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