In it you criticised the media for playing “fast and loose with the facts”, but made a mistake yourself. This you repeat on your blog, when you tell people that “at the onset of flu-like symptoms”, they should go straight to the doctor. Medical advice is not to go anywhere, but to stay at home and call for help if necessary.

As I pointed out in my post, the UK has based its whole pandemic response on treating people remotely wherever possible, to avoid doctor’s waiting rooms becoming a major source of transmission (and to try and keep medical staff on their feet). The US position is similar though it appears to be less well planned – the UK has arrangements in place for couriering medical supplies to patients for example, and a phone line for giving advice. (A caveat: my knowledge of how the US will handle a serious pandemic is not extensive.)

When you are ego-surfing (“the good news is I can google the pundits and tell what jerks they are for not doing their homework”), perhaps you should read any critique that you find before firing off an angry rejoinder. That said, my comment on your expertise was a cheap shot – sorry for that.

And for the record, I agree with your arguments about not shutting borders and aiming for a proportionate response. I suspect the ill-advised headline for your NYT piece was added by an editor, not chosen by you. As I am sure you know, the consensus is that we probably are quite close to a pandemic, though how extensive and serious that pandemic will be cannot yet be determined.

Some day casual pundits will do research other than goggling a blog and get their facts straight…the good news is I can google the pundits and tell what jerks they are for not doing their homework.