Topic: Influenza Like Illness

Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx introduced a new data tracking method for reopening the country based on the Influenza-like Illness Reporting System (ILINet). The hosts argue that the White House abandoned previous predictive models in favor of this established surveillance network to show a downward trend in respiratory cases. They suggest that the current spike in data includes a mix of Influenza A, Influenza B, and coronavirus, rather than being a pure metric for COVID-19.

A news report about a cheetah at Safari West testing positive for H1N1 is dismissed as a "ludicrous" story. The hosts discuss the CDC's use of the term "ILI" (Influenza-Like Illness), noting that tens of thousands of people die from such illnesses annually without it being a global emergency. They argue the media is sensationalizing mild cases to drive fear.