Entitled billionaire Elon Musk thinks coronavirus panic is 'dumb',

Entitled billionaire Elon Musk thinks coronavirus panic is 'dumb'


The world stands transfixed by possible disaster and Elon Musk is here to offer his unsolicited opinion.

Calling to mind the infamous submarine stunt, the entitled billionaire chose today to lecture us all on a subject matter decidedly outside of his expertise. Yes, Musk weighed in on the coronavirus.

"The coronavirus panic is dumb," wrote the man who, not so long ago, was fond of waxing philosophic about mixing wine and Ambien.


Of course, according to the World Health Organization, as of March 6 there are 98,192 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,380 confirmed deaths. The WHO notes that, among those exposed to the virus, "older persons and persons with pre-existing medical conditions... appear to develop serious illness more often than others."

This, combined with the generally piss-poor state of testing in the U.S., has some people feeling a little, well, panicked. And that, according to Musk, is dumb.

Now, it's worth noting that as a billionaire Musk has health insurance and can afford whatever medical care he and his doctors deem appropriate. Last time we checked, the approximately 27 million Americans without health insurance don't have the same luxury. It's also worth noting, again, that Musk is neither an epidemiologist nor an infectious disease expert.

We'd imagine, however, that he is quite knowledgeable about his company Tesla. Speaking of which, Tesla's supply chain got screwed up and the company blamed the coronavirus. Huh, how about that.


If we're all lucky, maybe Musk will put his considerable intelligence toward finding a submarine-shaped cure. Either way, we're sure to hear more coronavirus-related pablum from him on Twitter.

Comments

  1. Entitled? Lol
    He does more in a weekend than most any man will accomplish in a lifetime.

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    1. @Veronnica , think they confused “earned” with “entitled.” People can hold whatever opinions they want about Elon Mush but they can’t deny he earned his billionaire status, he wasn’t entitled to it.

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    2. He's rich, so he's bad!

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    3. The corona virus exist so we can have entitled headlines like these.

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    4. what has he done ?

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    5. The day people start sending each other to the hospital over fear is the day we can begin to use the word panic. This right now is just caution and anxiety. Which is currently the cornerstone of American emotion.

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    6. except turn a profit. Other than that ok he's doing the most.

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  2. Agree or disagree with Elon on a lot of other things, he's right about this. The panic is ridiculous. The disease should be taken seriously (and major props to medical and public health professionals in severely affected areas), but hoarding facemasks and toilet paper and bottled water is outrageous.

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  3. you’re right. :( from Italy.

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    1. True that hoarding TP and water is stupid. What is NOT stupid is handwashing and voluntary self-quarantine. Later, more strict quarantine— as they’re doing in Milan now— May also be necessary. Northern Italy is almost out of intensive care beds due to COVID-19. We do not want to be in a situation where doctors in California are forced to choose which sick person gets access to artificial respiration.

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    2. I agree with that. However, the fact that us has done very little to contain this virus is ridiculous. Theres a lot of vulnerable people out there :/ this feels like a big FU to them.

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  4. Thank you for the "Panic" Nancy you must Be So Proud !

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    1. Yes, but have you read the medical papers on it. you will suffer the full symptoms from 7 to 10 days, then it will subdue slowly. You will be out of commission for 15 to 20 days. In China 20% of the infected people needed hospitalization 5% intubation.
      This is from a doctor in Spain. Translated by google
      I am a pulmonologist at a hospital in the south of Madrid and I am extremely worried about the #coronavirus. I don't know if our leaders have made numbers but they are scary. I open thread
      The SARS-CoV-2 has an incubation period of about 5 days during which patients are already contagious. The R0 infection rate (number of patients infected by each patient) is between 1.5 and 2.5. Translated: the number of patients doubles every 5 days
      According to data from China, 20% require hospitalization and 5% require intubation and mechanical ventilation in the ICU.
      Fortunately, data from South Korea, which is doing many more tests and diagnosing many more mild cases, speak of only 10% of hospitalized patients, so I will assume an ICU admission rate of only 2.5%
      With the number of patients currently diagnosed in my hospital, and doubling the number every 5 days, I estimate that at the end of April there will be about 2000 infected in my area (4-> 8-> 16-> 32-> 64-> 128- > 256-> 512-> 1024-> 2048). This is how data is when it grows exponentially.
      And we probably reach those figures before, given shortly we will start doing more tests and right now there are many undiagnosed patients.
      My hospital serves a population of 225,000 inhabitants. It has 406 beds, of which 12 are from ICU. There are also another 20 in Resuscitation that could be used as ICU beds. 32 in total. Maybe my classmates can correct me if I'm wrong
      If 10% need admission, in the last half of April we will need at least 200 beds for those patients. Half of those in my hospital. And of them 40-50 in ICU. That is, ALL THE UCI BEDS in my center. Mid April.
      And people will continue to get sick of other pathologies and have surgeries and accidents and need to enter ... We will have to suspend all scheduled surgeries and decide not to enter many pathologies not so severe that today they are not sent home
      But it is that the average stay of these patients is 2 weeks until healing and / or until they cease to be contagious. And the most serious is 3 weeks. The first infected have already been discharged. But the bulk of the sick will still be admitted.
      That means that in just 5 more days, we will need another 200 beds and another 50 ICU beds !!!! In the first week of May !!!! All the beds of my hospital. ALL.
      At this point the ICU will be totally exceeded. This implies that very difficult ethical decisions will have to be made. We will have to decide which patients to ventilate and who to let die because there will be no fans or ICU beds for everyone.
      These data will have to discount the deceased. The mortality rate of the virus in China is 2.3%. It seems that Korean data is more optimistic with a mortality rate of less than 1%. It is clear that here (fortunately) we will not release many beds.
      On the other hand, health personnel are not superheroes. We will also get sick from the coronavirus. And we will need 2-3 weeks to stop being contagious and be able to return to work. And we will have sick relatives to attend to. And we will be afraid to go to work.
      Those who remain healthy should devote themselves entirely to the hospitalized. Consultations and non-essential diagnostic tests will be suspended.

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    2. Anyway, the blog leaves no more than 4,000 characters

      These data are extrapolated to any other hospital and area of ​​the country. All this will happen if we continue doing nothing as before, in the "containment phase". For me it is clear that the infection can no longer be contained, only slow down so as not to collapse the health system.
      That is why the government must make difficult decisions, yes or yes, to avoid this situation that I describe and avoid the collapse of the health system.
      Firstly, limit the movements of the population within the most affected areas and prohibit all meetings of people as they have done in Italy. I estimate we have one week left for that in Spain.
      But that will not solve the sanitary collapse within the affected area, whose inhabitants will continue to become infected and collapse hospitals.
      The following will be the prohibition of all non-essential activity and mandatory home quarantine as they have done in China. The closure of all colleges, universities, factories and offices.
      We can only leave the healthy workers of essential activities for society (police, fire, health, basic services). It is the only way to stop the virus. That is the total paralysis of a country and its economy. For at least 4-6 weeks.
      Fortunately this will give the system a break. Hospitals will be full but not collapsed. The ill health personnel will return to work, fortunately, with antibodies against the virus.
      The vaccine will not arrive on time. Fortunately it seems that we have some antivirals that have activity against SARS-CoV-2 and are being applied to the most serious cases

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    3. 60% of the people who 1st contracted it are over it now,

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    4. It was China Who dropped the Ball on this one, When Trump Started Action ( Right Away ) He was condemed as a racist !

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    5. Well when you get sick and you do not get your healthcare treatment, call me back buddy :)

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  5. idk but here in italy the situation is not very bright. The spots in intensive care are almost gone. We are reaching the point where the doctors have to choose who put into intensive care and who leave behind.

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    1. Yes, there will not be enough masks and isolation clothes for doctors, that is why the Chinese healthcare workers would not change their masks for hours. Then there is a shortage of beds and respirators. People do not understand how quickly the healthcare system collapses

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    2. there is a ton of senseless panic in places were there isn't even a single case of COVID-19, yet people are still trying to hoard up like the apocalypse is here.

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    3. it's not the apocalypse obvsly, the worst case scenario it's the collapse of the sanitary system. Idk how u are prepared in usa but this virus has no vaccine and no cure, it's bound to spread because we still know very little and the only way to stop it it's to lockdown people. Is your country ready to face a massive request of intensive care patients? if not the weakest ones will risk their life.

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    4. You are one of the few on this site who is offering a cogent, reasoned response. It’s not the time to panic but it is the time to have a uniform, transparent response. I heard an American physician say the current goal is to “slow things down” because, as you said, she is afraid of US hospital ICUs being overwhelmed.

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    5. The problem is that the CDC should have done a test kit for COVID, but they failed. So the contention part is done and over.

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  6. Rather than take it out on someone else. Accept that you keep voting for parties who deny your people universal access to free / affordable healthcare. Choice is in your hands.

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    1. I've been a cripple since I was 16, The Only time I was Denied anything was between 2010 and 2016, When my appointments went from a couple weeks, to a couple Months! js

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  7. Elon is 100% right.
    Keep calm.
    Wash your hands.
    Stay hydrated.
    Stay home if feeling ill.
    If you can’t hold your breath for 10 seconds without coughing...get checked out at home.

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    1. The problem @Michael is that we are way passed proactive testing. Now we are growing at a rate of 1.25 per day. So multiply the number of cases today by 1.25, and keep on doing it for every day. It was like your 401k before the stock market went down the drain.

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    2. Recovery rates are over 50% within a few weeks for those who even do catch it. So it’s not a zero sum game as the media would scare you into believing

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    3. And some people have just a fear based lame personality so they hit the panic button early

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    4. U have no idea what your talking about. Get out the clouds and enjoy life. Your numbers are %100 WRONG QUIT LISTENING TO THE MEDIA AROUND ELECTION TIME����������������

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    5. I am in Spain, in one day we doubled the cases. I can care less about politics

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    6. covid-19 unfortunately will be with us from now on just like influenza.
      It is the new reality we are living in.
      The mass hysteria is from the lack of information from our leaders and the media’s magnification of that.
      Thankfully the mortality is only at 3.4% at the moment.

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    7. unlike influenza this will collapse our healthcare system. I have public and private healthcare, but it will not be enough

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  8. I'd say the title is a little bit, how should I say it, fuked. Elon is NOT entitled, as liberals love to believe. He EARNED his wealth. You know that word EARNED right? I wouldn't be surprised if the left didn't, since they feel ENTITLED to "free" anything and everything, without having to work for it.

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  9. The coverage IS dumb. Not lethal to all. Based on panic so media corps 'stock can rise a quarter point while the rest of the market sinks.

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    1. Wait for it. It is the very beginning

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    2. not lethal to all. But we only have so many intensive care beds. What happens when they are exhausted? It’s already happening in northern Italy. It will happen here if we don’t take the utmost care to not let it spread widely.

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    3. Stop making so much sense. People don’t like it.

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    4. not lethal at all until it is.

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    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. People are hoarding water and toilet paper thinking it will somehow help them not get the virus. The panic is dumb

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  11. Toilet paper and water don't go bad so having those items are a good thing in case if emergency.

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    1. True, but people are going about it in a stupid way.
      First, toilet paper is being purchased because people want to maintain a certain amount of comfort, not because it is absolutely needed in a survival situation. Water can do the same thing; hell for going #2, using a bidet is better for you.
      And second, it would be MUCH cheaper to get large plastic drums and fill them with water versus buying water at the store. Even a bathtub waterBOB makes more sense; it’s cheaper and holds enough water for a month or so.

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  12. Entitled? He changed the way we pay for things, is in the process of changing the way we power our vehicles, builds reusable rockets that return and land after launching payloads, revolutionizing battery tech--just wait until battery day in april!--, solar roofs, energy storage...plus boring company, neural net and who knows what else he'll come up with, and he's only 48. Arguably the smartest person in the world, and the most accomplished human in history. And he's absolutely correct, coronavirus panic is dumb.

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  13. The writer of this article clearly made a bee line for hoarding hand sabitzers toilet paper and masks. So, Elon Musk is entitled and cannot hve an opinion on this. Well you know what I m not entitled , but I also thing the panic is dumb.

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  14. How many people have died from the flu every year another great way to distract us from what is happening. Corona Virus is a great way to boost toilet paper sales, sales on soap proving no one washes their hands

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  15. Thank you Elon for being the voice of reason and also for Tesla but mostly doe being the voice of reason!

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  16. Hes right though, the panic is onset for what? A more contagious flu with less sever symptoms? Always thought it was unnecessary to panic

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  17. He is absolutely correct. 400 people in a country of 350,000,000 sick does not make for a reason to really get worked up. Wash your hands and avoid sick people.

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  18. Due to personal hygiene and precautions, I bet overall Coronavirus/flu deaths will be down this year. But, It is time to be more aware of your environment Elon.

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  19. Lol, I started following this page years ago and it's been interesting to see it's sad decline into blatantly biased, overly-PC ignorance. When you literally have an ad hominem (google it) in the title of your article, no one is going to take you seriously.

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  20. He’s absolutely right. Coronavirus has a mortality rate of 1>3%. Common flu has killed way more people, diabetes kills more people, hypertension kills more people and yet I don’t see panic with these affections.

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  21. He’ll buy you and shut you down in a heartbeat. You’re only calling him out because media outlets like you are making bank off the scaring business with the Corona Virus.

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  22. There are a lot of ignorant people who don't read the news and apparently don't understand numbers very well in this comment thread.

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  23. He didn’t inherit his fortune to be “entitled”

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  24. Of course he thinks that...the Tesla stock is dropping like it’s hot

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    1. OMG ! that must mean the END of the World right ! LOL!

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  25. The panic is dumb. No one gets like this over the flu which is deadlier. It’s basically a new pneumonia and the majority of people outside of Wuhan who have it, especially those who have died, are either elderly or have underlying health issues.

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    1. how is the flu deadlier with a death rate of 0.1, this has a 3.4 - 5% death rate across all pop groups and 80 in 69+ age group...
      This is also 100-1000 times more efficient at attaching to human proteins (spread) than the flu, it also can live outside a host for days at 28 degrees Celsius or less. This is like anthrax, SARS and HIV (protein attachment mechanism) all in one..

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    2. The flu has killed more people overall, but it isn’t *deadlier* than COVID-19. Raw numbers won’t tell you a mortality rate.

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    3. You are right - and completely wrong. Flu isn't "flu." it is "the latest strain of flu (mutation)". The mortality rate for flu actually ranges from below 1% to over 20% (e.g Spanish flu pandemic). Meanwhile almost the whole world is happily ignoring the MER-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Corona Virus) which has a mortality rate put between 35% and 70%. If that virus goes pandemic, then you can worry. Stephanie, above, and Elan Musk are correct, the panic is dumb. It's manufactured hysteria.

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