Fear is a powerful emotion. The threat of harm, pain, or even death is a motivator like few others.

Those in power know how to stoke fear. So does the media. That doesn’t mean that fear has no purpose, or that fear isn’t valid.

To live in our time of technological ascendancy, the temptation to believe that all things can be fixed with just a little more tech is a default temptation. “It can’t happen here,” or “now,” or “we’ve evolved beyond that” are all common refrains that technology has empowered.

The facemask as daily wear.

On New Year’s Eve Day, we first learned about several flu-like cases in Wuhan, the capital city in the nation’s Hubei province. The city has a population of 11 million. People were being quarantined and Chinese authorities were trying to parse the source of the outbreak.

One week later, investigations ruled out that this was bird flu, a type of seasonal flu outbreak, or even SARS and MERS. The number of suspected cases had grown to 60 people, with seven Chinese citizens in critical condition. Health officials hadn’t confirmed human-to-human transmission.

The next day, Chinese authorities identified this new virus as “coronavirus,” a member of the family of viruses that include the common cold, along with SARS and MERS. The new virus was also being called 2019-nCoV.

Four days later, on January 11, China’s first known death from coronavirus is announced. A 61-year-old male had been admitted to the hospital on December 27 with suspected fever.

Coronavirus cases now begin being reported in other countries, Thailand (January 8), Japan (January 15), and South Korea (January 20). Airports in several nations around the globe begin screening travelers for the virus. China announces a third death along with over 100 new cases. The number of cases has now gone above 200 in various cities across the country. A traveler from Wuhan lands in South Korea and is detected with the virus.

On January 21, the U.S. announces the first case of coronavirus. The victim, a male in his 30s, is admitted to a hospital in Washington state, after returning from China. China now tops 300 cases of the virus. Australia now reports its first case. The victim in Brisbane, was tested positive upon returning from Wuhan. The National Institutes of Health in the U.S announce they are working towards developing a vaccine against the deadly virus.

One month later, here are additional points of information regarding Covid-19, the official name given to coronavirus by the WHO. Deaths worldwide are now at 2,126. Total cases in mainland China now are closing in on 75,000. On February 24, The U.S. CDC confirms that there are now 53 cases of coronavirus in the country. Of these, 14 are in-country cases, with the other 39 being citizens repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Yesterday, February 29, the U.S. reports its first death. The deceased was in his 50s. He was from Seattle, Washington. Reports are that he was suffering from underlying health conditions. There are now increased travel restrictions in the U.S. to South Korea, Iran, and Italy, due to increased cases in these countries.

As of this morning, the number of deaths due to Covid-19 is more than 2,970. The total number of reported cases worldwide are at 86,500. Nearly 80,000 of these cases are in mainland China.

While nothing in the above timeline indicates an abatement in the continued escalation in coronavirus cases, President Trump sought to minimize the situation in several statements over the past week. He stated first the virus will “disappear.” Then, that the development of a vaccine is coming along “rapidly.” Both are false. Then, he stated that the U.S. is “very, very ready” to deal with whatever happens. This is debatable at best.

Here’s what we know about the possibility of a vaccine being developed. According to those who know, like anyone familiar with how new medications and products reach the market, it would take months for the vaccine to advance into clinical trials and more than one year until it is available. Does that sound like “rapidly” to you?

The administration, utilizing the playbook of the president, attacked journalists and others from the worlds of science and medicine claiming that they were politically-motivated in sharing information with Americans. Allies continue standing alongside the president in his campaign of misinformation.

Reading about flu-prep is depressing.

Prior presidents have done a lousy job addressing known concerns about the possibility of pandemics and other global outbreaks. Back in 2005 (George Bush was president), federal officials did an assessment of what might happen if a severe influenza pandemic became reality. They determined that there would be a need for 740,000 mechanical respirators to treat critically ill patients. According to a 2010 study, there are only 62,000 full-featured respirators in hospitals across the U.S. There are another 10,000 that could deployed, sitting in storage at the Strategic National Stockpile.

Then, due to changes and contractions in the U.S. healthcare infrastructure, the nation’s hospital emergency capacity has been contracting for decades. The growth of HMOs led to closures of county hospitals and a dramatic reduction in the number of unused (and unprofitable) hospital beds nationally.

According to a survey conducted in 2003 by the American College of Emergency Physicians, 90 percent of our 4,000 emergency departments were seriously understaffed and overcrowded, with “little surge capacity.” Surge capacity is what would be needed if there was an uptick in flu-related cases like Coronavirus.

Then, there is the issue of pharmaceutical companies and the manufacture of vaccines and antivirals, like Tamiflu. In a nutshell, we don’t have enough of either to address a large-scale outbreak of coronavirus approaching what China has experienced. In a New York Times editorial from October 12, 2004, it was noted that we only have enough stockpiled at the moment to cover less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. Japan, another similar developed country has enough of the antiviral for 20 percent of its population. Tamiflu is currently manufactured by one company. Market factors contribute to this shortage, as does lack of governmental preparation, despite ongoing warnings about this.

Hand-washing will only get us so far. We need something more from our leaders and this doesn’t seem to be something they are capable of.