I did not reply to yours. There was someone comparing S Korea to the USA.
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For those who still didn’t get the picture.
“We squandered the first window of opportunity,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The time to act was actually more than a month ago or two months ago.”
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Singapore is so damn slow. Closing schools only next week? What?
People will also no longer be discouraged from wearing face masks, a reversal of earlier advice from the government
I thought PM Lee said masks are useless? 
SINGAPORE: Leaked audio has emerged of Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing criticising not only his fellow citizens for hoarding and wearing medical masks … but also Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam for appearing in one recently.
Back in February this SG guy called HK people idiotic for wearing masks. Has he resigned yet? No wonder SG has 70% more cases per capita than HK.
Singapore is pragmatic, if not enough masks for people, say no need. Once stockpile enough can tell people to wear masks,
Lee said the government would distribute reusable masks to all households from April 5
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Medicare and Medicaid have no history of lowering expenses verus private insurance. The most they do is under-reimburse which forces doctors and hospitals to make up the difference by charging everyone else more. And Medicare’s coding system is a nightmare to negotiate.
I though debate about socialized medicine and single payer model collapsed with collapse of Obamacare.
And yes, doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare works have a right to charge through the nose (or as much as they can ) just as you would not want govt to tell you what salary should you work at. This is direct consequence of abolishment of slavery in the USA. No one should be someone else’s slave. (Or how much rent should you charge for your property, if you are a RE investor).
What we want is free and transparent market so that patients and consumers can easily understand the price (price discovery) . If there are astronomical profits, more players will join in to take a slice of the profit in the market.
Knee problems are another over-treated area. Surprising that both Medicare and private insurers don’t get on top of it and clamp down on what they will reimburse.
Elective surgeries like facelifts have gone down in price while eveything else has skyrocketed. Why? As you say - free market. Competition and price discovery. No public monies, no insurance payments.
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You are right about statewide shelter in place in Texas.
Governor Greg Abbott issues Executive Order
On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order, implementing Essential Services and Activities Protocols for the entire state. The Governor’s new Order went into effect statewide on Thursday, April 2 at 12:01 a.m. It will remain in effect through April 30, 2020, and is subject to extension based on the status of COVID-19 in Texas and the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Governor Abbott further ordered all schools to remain closed through May 4.
My guess is they are not infected by the original strain - still around or no longer around after many transmissions and mutations? Now have to wait for epidemiologists’ view of what had happened.