Dunleavy says of COVID-19 testing, 'As confident as we can be,' which means nothing
It is possible in politics to reply at great length to a question without ever giving an answer.
We see this trick on a daily basis with President Trump and it is a practice that Gov. Mike Dunleavy follows all too frequently.
Here is a case in point.
On Wednesday, during his latest appearance about the state response to COVID-19, veteran Alaska journalist Margie Bauman asked about the crew of the American Seafoods trawler afflicted by the disease. The 124 crew members on the American Dynasty had all been tested in advance and cleared in early May.
“All of these people tested negative, when the vessel returned last week, 86 of the crew tested positive. My question is, ‘How confident are you that the tests that are gonna be given at the airports in Anchorage and other Alaska airports will be effective?” Bauman asked.
Questions asked at these events are reflexively praised as good questions, even if they are bad questions or mediocre questions. This happened to be a great question and an important one for which there is not a good answer.
Instead of saying that, Dunleavy replied:
“You know Margie, as confident as we can be. That ship that you referred had protocols in place and they caught the virus with another test when they were at sea. They were testing. They were going through this process. And so, we’re going to catch some. We’re gonna miss some. It’s just the nature of this virus. It’s the nature of our society and the systems we have in place. Nothing’s gonna be foolproof with this virus. It’s gonna get through a number of our flatscreens, our defenses that we put up. We know that. Again, it’s just trying to minimize it and keep our health care capacity intact until a vaccination comes. So we’re as confident as we can be that we’re going to be able to catch some. We also know that we’re gonna miss some. It’s again, just the nature of how this virus works and operates within the world we have without a vaccination.”
I listened to this answer as it was given and a few more times to try to understand what he said. I’m as confident as I can be that he didn’t answer the question.
If that’s because it’s impossible to express what degree of confidence he has, then Dunleavy should say so.
And Dunleavy’s statement that following a testing protocol while at sea led to the discovery of the widespread infection is inaccurate.
All crew members had received negative tests for COVID-19 when the ship left Seattle May 13. They were allowed on board “only if there were no signs that they were actively infected or contagious,” the company said. The ship returned to Bellingham May 28 to unload its catch of Pacific whiting.
“While at the dock in Bellingham, a crew member reported with symptoms to an onboard medic who had been hired as part of the company’s COVID-19 preparedness plan,” Seafoodsource.com reported.
The company retested the entire crew and found 85 people had been infected. The company has since found 25 more crewmen infected on two other trawlers and 8 more infected on the American Dynasty, the Seattle Times reported Friday.
“This is more bad news for the region’s seafood industry, which is struggling to keep COVID-19 off fishing vessels and also limit its spread among shore-based processing workers employed in Northwest and Alaska coastal communities,” wrote Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton, a former Anchorage Daily News reporter.
“The large number of cases aboard the American Dynasty underscores how easily the virus can spread aboard a fishing vessel, where many workers labor long hours in close quarters to one another. That vessel returned to Seattle earlier this week, and most of the crew who tested positive are housed in lodging acquired by King County for COVID-19 patients.”
In another report, Bernton said the son of an American Dynasty crewman reported that his father said the illness spread while at sea. “The crewman’s son, who requested anonymity to protect the privacy of his family, said his father fell sick with symptoms that included fever and cough, as did others. His father also was frustrated because some crew members were not following protocols that required them to wear masks, according to the son.”