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NYC's Dem Health Commissioner and Council Health Chair repeatedly dismissed virus; encouraged mass Chinese New Year parties.

posted 4 years ago by krl97a (5619)
32 replies | jump to latest

Some sample quotes from their posts, all well after President Trump had already imposed travel restrictions on China back in January:

NYC Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot (Feb. 6): "The important thing for New Yorkers to know is that in the city currently their risk is low and our city preparedness is high. And we know that this virus can be transmitted from one person to another, but that it's typically people who live together. That there's no risk at this point in time...we're always learning more...of having it be transmitted in casual contact. So we're telling New Yorkers 'Go about your lives. Take the subway. Go out. Enjoy life....'

We know that it can be transmitted when people are living together and have extended contact. We also know that if it were likely to be transmitted casually we would be seeing a lot more cases."

Barbot (Feb. 9): "Today our city is celebrating the #LunarNewYear parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in our city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinformation spreading about #coronavirus."

Barbot retweet (Feb. 12), Carlina Rivera: "Irrational fears about corona and prejudice are hurting Asian small businesses. To be clear, there are currently no cases of the virus in NYC."

Barbot retweet (Feb. 13), NYCSmallBusiness: "We will NOT stand for any xenophobic sentiments coming from fear surrounding the Coronavirus. Let us be clear: there are 0 confirmed cases of the virus in NYC!"

Barbot (Feb. 16): "As a doctor I can say there is no reason to avoid any neighborhood because of the novel coronavirus. As a New Yorker, I know that ANY discrimination is abhorrent and unacceptable."

City Council Health Committee Chair Mark Levine (Feb. 9): "In powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC's Chinatown for ceremony ahead of annual #LunarNewYear parade. Chants of "be strong Wuhan!"

If you are staying away, you are missing out!"

Levine (March 23): "Some personal news: I have a fever and a dry cough. I'm assuming that it's coronavirus."

Hopefully many were fortunate enough to miss out on that.

http://patriotretort.com/golly-i-wonder-why-new-york-city-is-the-epicenter/

[–] Sandman27 (3043) 4 years ago

I heard this to and saw the clips. Hopefully some of these officials get fired.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Barbot was correct. Chinatown's markets were being greatly disrupted before NYC became an epicenter. The xenophobic response to covid-19 hurt Chinatown more than anywhere else, but didn't prevent the outbreak. Why? Because the outbreak wasn't caused by Chinatown.

[–] Rorikon (16397) 4 years ago

Yep. I go down to my nearest Chinatown every lunar year to see the festivities and taste some really good food. Mmm you gotta try the curry fishballs or shrimp balls for that matter. Wonton noodle soup or congee. Dim sum stuff or the usual chow mein/fried rice. Top that off with some bubble tea and you're good to go. I also love moon cakes. Anyway, the real issue was the people coming in be it China or Europe. Since Trump closed off China in smart fashion, he didn't realize globalism is everywhere and didn't close off Europe as well. Tsk tsk.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

The virus wasn't equally everywhere. If he hadn't imposed those early travel restrictions on China we would have had a lot more hot spots from the outset and far more dead Americans now. Heck, Democrats whined and continued their asinine, BS "xenophobia" narrative even for the European restrictions Trump eventually imposed. They've been so brainwashed by the identity politics crap they can't help but respond that way in knee jerk fashion anymore to just about anything.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Barbot is a political hack who was more concerned with PC virtue signaling than New Yorkers' lives, a fitting compliment to the communist buffoon currently serving as mayor. She was wrong to assert that there was no reason to believe the disease could spread through casual contact (contrary to her claim, we were already seeing too many cases coming out of China for that assumption to be realistic, hence the travel ban), and shouldn't have dismissed sound warnings as "misinformation". Also, avoiding mass, tightly packed social gatherings in Chinatown, where a larger than normal number of people can be expected to have direct ties with and travel from China, the source of what was quickly becoming a global pandemic and was already subject to new travel restrictions, isn't "xenophobic". It's a rational precaution. So would avoiding such a mass gathering of anyone anywhere, but specifically encouraging New Yorkers to congregate in Chinatown of all places was even worse.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Those gatherings didn't happen in Chinatown though. The xenophobia was "successful" in shutting those places down. As New York became an epicenter... because Chinatown wasn't the problem. The problem was New York being an international hub for European travel. The xenophobia against the Chinese was pointless.

[–] Sandman27 (3043) 4 years ago

You do know that CNN reported it as the Wuhan virus in January, yes? So whose fault is the xenophobia belong to, pray tell?

If Trump issues a travel ban and the NYC officials ignore its severity, then whose fault should NYC’s current situation lie at, pray tell?

How Ignorant are you , phony boy?

[–] NormaAndNorman (3900) 4 years ago

All the networks were calling it that. There's plenty of videos to prove it.
It wasn't racist until Trump did it.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Those gatherings didn't happen in Chinatown though. The xenophobia was "successful" in shutting those places down.

When was the last time you posted something true?

"A lion dancer entertains some of the thousands of spectators who lined the streets of Chinatown in Manhattan during the 2020 Chinese New Year Parade Feb. 9, 2020." (pictures)

https://www.lohud.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2020/02/09/2020-chinese-new-year-parade-nyc/4708792002/

This has nothing to do with "xenophobia". The problem started in China and spread from there to Europe, the US, and other places. Travel restrictions were imposed on Europe too after it became a hot spot.

It would be suicidal for Americans to trust a party that prioritizes PC nonsense and falsely accusing people of "racism" even in the face of life and death, society wide emergencies with governing the country.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Let's back up since you seem kinda off track. What's being posited in your OP is the gatherings in Chinatown caused the spread of the coronavirus throughout New York. Feb 9 was before any coronavirus panic. I'm talking about gatherings around the time the disease began to spread.

It didn't. Chinatown was feeling a reduction in its marketplaces before the coronavirus had spread. It had become less occupied because of a false reaction to the "Chinese virus," not because Chinatown was infected with it.

The problem started in China and spread from there to Europe

I would argue it came heavily from Europe, but I'm sure you could throw in some from China as well. However, neither of those places are Manhattan. You don't get to say Manhattan was the cause simply because a lot of Chinese people live there.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

You mean you want to backpedal because you I caught you red handed in a lie (again)? No, I made no claim about specifically what activities led to what percentage of infected, not that you have any idea what did or didn't cause NYC's relatively early and bad outbreak. I proved that NYC officials strongly encouraged people to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown, which was irresponsible (along with their other "advice").

You claimed, "Those gatherings didn't happen in Chinatown though. The xenophobia was "successful" in shutting those places down."

So I linked to the pictures and headlines showing "thousands" of tightly packed New Yorkers gathered in Chinatown celebrating.

Now, your lie disproved, you say that's alright because Feb. 9 was "before the panic". Yet it was almost two weeks after Trump was concerned enough to restrict travel to and from China. There were already infected Americans and it was clear it was threatening to become an international problem. What liberal morons falsely attacked as "xenophobia" and "fear mongering" was wise leadership, and what NYC officials' rhetoric was partly reacting against ("We'll show Trump!"). Given that NYC was a hot spot shortly after it's likely the disease was already spreading there in Feb.. NYC officials should have been more concerned about saving lives from the virus than spewing PR against what you call "a false reaction to the 'Chinese' virus." They didn't know enough to lock down the city yet, but they didn't need to actively encourage people to attend mass gatherings, even shaming them for purely political reasons, if those people's sensible caution had them leaning toward avoiding them.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

"So would avoiding such a mass gathering of anyone anywhere, but specifically encouraging New Yorkers to congregate in Chinatown of all places was even worse."

This is the lie. You say it was worse to congregate in Chinatown. You didn't specify a date. I assumed you were talking closer to March 2020. Not February 9. Not January. Not 2019. None of those apply. That should be obvious.

So now you're clarifying that you meant it was worse to congregate in Chinatown on Feb 9, but you cannot demonstrate why. It's just a "gut feeling" you have because a neighborhood in Manhattan has the word China in it.

There wasn't a panic on Feb 9. Trump didn't ban flights from China out of panic. It was a simple precaution told to him by his advisers.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

That's not a lie. You omit where I laid out my reasoning:

Also, avoiding mass, tightly packed social gatherings in Chinatown, where a larger than normal number of people can be expected to have direct ties with and travel from China, the source of what was quickly becoming a global pandemic and was already subject to new travel restrictions, isn't "xenophobic". It's a rational precaution. So would avoiding such a mass gathering of anyone anywhere, but specifically encouraging New Yorkers to congregate in Chinatown of all places was even worse.

Again, I'm not saying they necessarily should have been telling people not to attend mass gatherings in China, but at the very least they didn't yet know enough to be assertively telling people they should go and practically calling them "racist" if they didn't. As health officials their priorities got screwed up, with people's lives taking a back seat to stupid politics.

There wasn't a panic on Feb 9. Trump didn't ban flights from China out of panic. It was a simple precaution told to him by his advisers.

It's true that Trump doesn't panic, but it was far more than a "simple precaution". It was a dramatic move, especially right after securing the trade deal win with China, that raised most people's eyebrows and that liberals wrongly labeled "xenophobic" "fear mongering" in knee jerk fashion. The action was taken after carefully examining the disturbing warning signs coming out of China. It's also likely why the US started with two hot spots instead of being seeded with thousands, with the disease spreading from each of them and tens to hundreds of thousands already dead by now.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Again, I'm not saying they necessarily should have been telling people not to attend mass gatherings in China

Why do you keep bringing up China when we are talking about Chinatown?

Either way, Feb 9 was too early.

There was nothing dramatic about blocking those flights. China was dealing with the "Chinese virus" remember? Why wouldn't Trump block flights from there?

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

"Keep"? That was a typo (or mouse slip), you idiot. I obviously meant Chinatown. Context clues. And to think you just hypocritically chastised me on the other thread by falsely accusing me of looking for "gotcha" moments that I can twist to mean something else.

https://moviechat.org/bd0000082/Politics/5e82e22a7abcbe207aa83dac/Can-someone-please-translate-what-Biden-is-saying-here?reply=5e8519e5e020fc0d94ba3ff7

While I was correcting your lie over there you were here truly doing what you had falsely accused me of. 😄

With every post you prove me more and more right.

There was nothing dramatic about blocking those flights. China was dealing with the "Chinese virus" remember? Why wouldn't Trump block flights from there?

No, it was a big deal and one rarely taken. China complained about it at first and lots of officials questioned whether it was a premature or overly extreme move, especially right after the trade deal as I just explained. Plus liberals like Biden thought it was "xenophobic", remember?

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Ahh so now context matters.

You know as well as I do that New York was not an epicenter of the coronavirus on Feb 9.

Chinese New Year was in your thread title, but my "gatherings" response was referring to the time period when New York became an epicenter of the coronavirus. That happened weeks after Chinese New Year.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Wrong. The post you responded to, like much of the thread (certainly the "Chinatown" parts) was about the encouragement to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations. Your reply was about "those gatherings" (your words). You didn't say, "Yeah but it's irrelevant and eventually mass gatherings in the city stopped" (when it was too late).

You're squirming but you were caught lying again and can't escape. Best to cut your losses.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

The context is all in that one little paragraph. Not sure why you're having so much trouble finding Waldo.

But the fact remains, Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown were not relative to the spread of the coronavirus to New York. That stuff is all based on feelings you can't corroborate with data.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

It sure is, lol. Now you're just babbling.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Giving up I see. Fine. Don't worry I'm not going to copy/paste the paragraph and force it down your throat. It was a simple mistake on your part. No reason to call me a liar over it, but hey that's your thing. You do you boo.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

See? You're babbling nonsense.

In response to me criticizing the NYC officials for telling people to attend mass, tightly packed Chinese New Years celebrations, you said "those gatherings didn't happen" because of "xenophobia".

I'm all about context. Context suggests that your point was the officials' statements did no harm because those people ignored their advice. I proved you were wrong, complete with linked pictures and headlines.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Here's context for ya, kurly.

https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/baffling-coronavirus-map-keeps-nyc-dark

Notice how Chinatown is among the lowest amount of cases. It's in the lightest shade of yellow, and goes up to darker yellow and orange as you approach the Bronx. And then shades of red across the East Riven in Brooklyn and Queens.

This is why your OP is a farce. It completely misses the mark on how and where New York became an epicenter of the coronavirus.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

You're completely wrong. The map you linked isn't even showing "cases". It claims to show the percentage of tested who are positive. What's funny is the entire article you linked to is about people criticizing Comrade de Blasio's lack of transparency, and criticizing this map he reluctantly released for things like being "confusing", not saying how many people have been tested in each county, and in providing the breakdown in too large areas to show what's happening in specific neighborhoods. I love this gem:

"De Blasio himself admitted the map was flawed due to the uneven testing that occurred before the city made criteria more strict.

"The information we have is skewed," de Blasio said. "This information only tells you part of the pattern because the testing has been so inconsistent."

Damn, ultravioletx, your own copy pasted address link literally says "baffling corona virus map keeps NYC dark". Did you seriously not even notice any of that? It even links to another article by a left wing outfit blasting NYC for its lack of transparency, and speculating that it may be prioritizing political correctness over people's lives as its reluctance to release useful data may be to hide what's happening in certain Asian neighborhoods.

https://www.propublica.org/article/new-york-city-coronavirus-cases-locations-nyc-mayor-bill-de-blasio

Oh wow. That's a terrible faceplant even by your well worn standards. Your entire posting is a farce.

Just as you misread your own source's map, you misunderstood my thread's point. Again, it's not about what effects specific actions ended up having or even which neighborhoods are the most infected. We don't know that and you certainly don't know that.

It's about how irresponsible those health officials were in telling people to do things based on wrong assumptions that ran contrary to already known data, motivated by political BS rather than protecting their constituents' lives.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Your link doesn't show any relation to Chinatown helping New York become an epicenter.

There's no evidence anywhere that the epicenter is related to Manhattan at all.

Yet that is the lie you choose to go with.

Here's another, you complete and utter tool.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/nyc-map-shows-neighborhoods-hit-hardest-coronavirus/story?id=69918823

https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/nyc-covid-cases-ht-jef-200401_hpEmbed_13x10_992.jpg

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

LOL! You completely misunderstand your own map, falsely claiming it reported cases when it didn't and ignoring that the entire article you linked was refuting your point, and yet instead of having the class to cop to any of that you post that bitchy reply?

Aside from the fact that your new "zip code" map does appear to show at least east Chinatown being hit hard, you just doubled down on being a moron by completely ignoring the fact that I've never claimed Chinatown was an "epicenter" and just explained that a neighborhood being an "epicenter" had nothing to do with my point. Even if the advice by the hack NYC health professionals didn't facilitate the spread of the disease and get more people sick than otherwise would have been case, which it probably did, it was irresponsible and stupid given what was already known at the time.

Those idiots literally laughed off the notion that corona could be spread socially. My point, again, has been that their motives were political rather than medical.

PS - That's aside the fact that, for the record, a current snapshot of cases per "zip code" doesn't tell you where the epicenter was. Epicenters can move. The first US epicenter was Washington, then shifted to New York. Globally China was the origin but wouldn't look like the "epicenter" today given official stats.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Those idiots literally laughed off the notion that corona could be spread socially. My point, again, has been that their motives were political rather than medical.

So after I provide evidence that Chinatown wasn't hit hard enough by the virus to play a part in NY becoming an epicenter, you dodge and weave and pretend 'oh no no, I didn't mean Chinatown specifically, I meant gatherings in general.' You were just using Chinatown randomly? Ahahahahaha! You even said later on that Chinatown was a threat because of all the travel to and from China! Oh come on. You're such an obvious hack.

PS - That's aside the fact that, for the record, a current snapshot of cases per "zip code" doesn't tell you where the epicenter was. Epicenters can move. The first US epicenter was Washington, then shifted to New York. Globally China was the origin but wouldn't look like the "epicenter" today given official stats.

Bitch, please. You have no interest in showing anything pertaining to Chinatown contributing to the epicenter. You want to, but you can't, which is why you did this in PS form. It's just another attempt to dodge the context of your OP and you damn well know it.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Piss off, you squirming moron. 😄 Quote where I ever said Chinatown was the "epicenter", you lying bitch. That's aside from the fact that you didn't even show it wasn't earlier on, as I just explained.

You're just spewing garbage to try to bury and cover up that humiliating faceplant where you posted a map you didn't understand and wrongly described, along with an article that ran counter to your own point.

What I said earlier was that any reluctance you were whining about to attend mass celebrations in Chinatown of all places was rational and not necessarily "xenophobic". No one knew for sure where the virus was but it'd be reasonable to guess that'd be an even higher risk because there are presumably more people with ties to and travel back and forth from China there.

And I've said from the beginning that all the advice I posted from the NYC "health" hacks was irresponsible and motivated by politics rather than medical concerns.

You've either stupidly or willingly missed the entire point from the beginning.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

Quote where I ever said Chinatown was the "epicenter"

God you're such a phony. Or just an illiterate reject.

"You have no interest in showing anything pertaining to Chinatown contributing to the epicenter."

Now you're saying I accused you of saying Chinatown WAS the epicenter.

Bitch, please.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Wait...to be clear you just quoted yourself, 😄 I guess because you failed to find anything to quote from me that actually supported your claim. I haven't used "epicenter" in connection to Chinatown in any way.

For the record, do you at least acknowledge that you misread the first map you posted above, you illiterate bitch?

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 4 years ago

????

I quoted your false statement that I accused you of saying Chinatown was the epicenter. I then quoted what I actually said, proving you are lying. I never accused you of saying Chinatown was an epicenter. I accused you of saying Chinese new year celebrations was a major contributor, which you have now backed away from and are trying to say you meant gatherings in general which is pretty damn hilarious 😄😄😄

For the record, no. Both maps show less infected in that part of Manhattan compared to the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. A major contributor to the epicenter would not have such a low percentage of infected people.

[–] krl97a (5619) 4 years ago

Wrong. You quoted my question asking you to quote me then answered it by quoting yourself. You're the liar here. I said I haven't used "epicenter" in connection to Chinatown in any way, and you've certainly been implying I did, but you can't support your claim.

Nor can you support your lies by quoting me saying Chinatown, "gatherings in general", or anything else was a "major contributor" to anything. I haven't backpedaled at all and have said from the beginning that we don't know those facts.

I've been pointing out what's obvious, that the NYC officials' claims were irresponsible given what was already known at the time, and rooted in politics rather than medical science.

For the record, no. Both maps show less infected in that part of Manhattan compared to the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

Oh wow. Again, this is beside the point (which you've somehow completely missed), but for the record, no. You're incredibly so stupid that you still believe the first map you posted even shows the numbers of infected when it doesn't, even long after I corrected and mocked you for it.

The second map was just a current, belated snapshot. Since Italy, the US, and some other nations officially have more cases than China, then by your logic China never could have been the epicenter and the virus couldn't have originated there.

You're truly too dumb to be preaching online and spreading your misinformation around like a virus. You should take a break from posting and spend at least several years humbly learning. There would be nothing wrong with that. It would be a sign of wisdom and character.

[–] kspkap (13032) 4 years ago

“We're going to move forward together," the mayor said Sunday, adding he has "a lot of respect for Barbot," NBC New York reported.”

Yep! Right up each other’s arse...except they’re moving backwards! Cop hating DeBlasio and a dimwit cop hating NYC Health Commissioner (who should be cleaning bed pans). They team well together!