wejo,
this place is pretty rough and tumble, gritty, kinda like the wild west, and I usually like it that way. We get a wide range of opinions, discussion and debate, a lot of it ill-founded, but in a way that reflects real life and society (if perhaps serving to amplify the more extreme perspectives via anonymity). I don't mind reading some pretty outrageous (and often offensive) stuff on here, and anyway you usually do a pretty good job of trimming away the most extreme, hateful stuff.
Today we are facing an urgent global health crisis. I've been following the daily data and have plotted several countries trends, including US and Canada, using the day where case count exceeded 100 as day 1:
Here is the same plot with confirmed cases on a log scale:
The sobering conclusion to be drawn from these data is that Canada and US are following similar trends as those experienced in China and elsewhere, and as such we are on track to see cases explode here like elsewhere. Kindly note in viewing these plots that the data show a picture looking back in time, since confirmed cases are counted several days after someone first presents with symptoms, and then it takes time for each case to be reported and aggregated.
We've watched this slow train coming since it left the station in Wuhan China. We've watched it pick up speed and catch fire before arriving in our station. Now the crisis is growing, at an alarming rate, in our communities, and we all need to rally around strong measures to wrestle the situation under control.
Here is my plea to you: commentary that diminishes the importance of this crisis is harmful to the public health. Foot-dragging, encouraged by "disbelievers" like, for example, Bad Wigins and dunes runner, has the very real potential to increase infections and the number of drastic outcomes. As a public service to all of us, please use your discretion to stamp out "fake news" commentary. This is not like the global warming debates, where the coming changes are arriving slowly; this crisis is here now, it is evolving rapidly and unpredictably, and every day we sit on our hands, we allow more of our friends and family to get sick and die.
Please consider this request to moderate the discussion on this topic in a way that's consistent with the science being shared by our public health authorities around the world, and limit voices claiming this will all amount to nothing. Your own family's long term health and survival may depend on it.