It's hardly worth arguing over, but I see groupthink running rampant in the response to the Wuhan virus, and it centers around a poor leadership principle that's found almost everywhere in government, much of the corporate world, and even the military. It's based on the idea that no risk is worth taking, and that the response centered around the worst-case scenario is most prudent (largely for self-preservation of those in "leadership"). The whole problem is, if leadership takes a risk and things get worse – even if their response didn't actually contribute to that – someone is going to criticize the decision and most people glom on. So the most severe, knee-jerk response is hard to resist because if things get worse, you can say "look at how much I did to stop it!" If things get better, you can either claim you were just doing your job and trying prevent the worst, or (more likely) take credit for fixing it. I think most people are familiar with "CYA," cover your... you know. It's not real leadership, but in a hyper-cautious environment it tends to win out over real leadership.
I understand there are places with legitimate crises, but even those seem overblown. First Seattle was going to have 10,000+ deaths, then Denver; now we have NY City, which is the worst by far, but it's not surprising. They've got a huge population density, a widely-used public transit system, and still have the relatively cool temperatures favorable to most respiratory viruses this time of year. But I'm not buying it's that bad even there if they're not even using a facility like the Comfort. It's easy to convince some people in rural states that those kinds of infection and death rates are coming, but there's little evidence of that. It seems to take big populations and confined quarters for significant community spread, based on what I'm seeing. Still, most governors (including ours in MT) are doing everything they can to lock things down; some practicing CYA "leadership," and some just flexing their muscles and enjoying throwing their weight around. That's why parking lots and wilderness areas are being closed (people are even being asked to leave Cooke City), even though there's practically no risk from locals hitting up their favorite spots if they're smart about it. It's government of the stupid, by the stupid, for the stupid.
