'Arrogant' and 'ashamed': The coronavirus mea culpas from people who once thought it was no big deal

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Speaking to a roomful of senior citizens on March 13, the same day President Trump declared a national emergency, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) said they should “go forth” with their daily activities and forget about staying inside. He called coronavirus “the beer virus” — “how do you like that?” — and said the pandemic was “blown out of proportion,” the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reported at the time.

Now, much like the celebrities and viral spring breakers who suggested the pandemic was no big deal, the 86-year-old congressman has changed his tune. The impact of covid-19 is “very real, growing” and reshaping our daily lives, he said in a video message Thursday.

“Weeks ago, I did not truly grasp the severity of this crisis,” Young said, while urging everyone to stay home. “But clearly we are in the midst of an urgent public health emergency.”

Young is just one of numerous public figures who have walked back brazen comments downplaying the pandemic in recent days as the crisis becomes increasingly dire across the United States. Two weeks ago, a long time on a pandemic’s watch, about 1,600 cases of covid-19 were reported across the country. Beaches were still packed, and bars were still serving.

Now, as the United States surpasses every nation including China and Italy in coronavirus infections, with more than 85,000 cases, apologies for unpopular hot takes and bad social-distancing behavior are pouring in.

-more-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arrogant-and-ashamed-the-coronavirus-mea-culpas-from-people-who-once-thought-it-was-no-big-deal/ar-BB11NcdR?li=BBnb7Kz

[getagrip_already]

1. too little, too late, and now they are onto the next gaslight message.....

f'em all.

[lagomorph777]

2. Lordy there are tapes. Which will become campaign ads.

[mercuryblues]

3. I wish the media would

just come out and say...It is because of people like him that your grandparents are dying. That their kids are home from school until who knows when. That restaurants are shuttered and so on.

Trump lied, people died.

[tanyev]

4. One of my FB friends posted March 4 facts & figures about influenza,

saying that at least all the hype & hysteria over Cvirus will help people avoid influenza.

March 20 he shared a post from an immunologist about Cvirus and said he wished he’d seen that info earlier. Somebody else commented that they wished the committee (I guess he meant the task force?) would explain it that well.

Better late than never, I guess, but the information that finally convinced them was out there much earlier, but it wasn’t on RW news outlets. Even the “liberal media” didn’t do much better if all you did was a superficial sweep of top stories. There was a lot of emphasis on how most people will have mild symptoms and those most at risk are the 60+ and underlying health conditions. My county has 87 cases right now. Only 14 of them are 60+ and many of them are in their 20s or 30s.