January 12
Initial position. Unsure what to think.

I started following the story on Twitter using the search terms “coronavirus” and “Wuhan Flu.” There were a great deal of alarming videos, pictures, and posts from Chinese citizens living in Wuhan. Because of the Lunar New Year migration, I was slightly concerned this could turn into a problem.

January 23

My first post about coronavirus. I was still undecided.

Jan 23 Facebook post
January 25

Every year, I host a private party at the end of January known as the Winter LAN. The largest topic of discussion at this year’s party was coronavirus.

I began telling friends and family to buy 33% extra nonperishable groceries during their routine shopping trips. Best case scenario, they will just have some extra food in their house. In the event the coronavirus was a real threat, they would be prepared for food shortages. I was not yet convinced this would be a problem, but I figured it was smart to plan for the worst.

January 29
Concerned. First strong position taken.

I posted that the Department of Justice announced a day prior the arrest of a Harvard professor and two Chinese Nationals for smuggling vials of biological material out of the US to Wuhan, China. Furthermore, Zerohedge ran an article with convincing but circumstantial evidence that the virus was leaked from China’s only Level 4 Biohazard Lab, located in Wuhan. (Zerohedge is generally a dodgy website, but with further investigative work, I confirmed bits and pieces of the article.)

For the first time, I took a strong position that this was a real problem. This virus could kill many people in China. However, I only believed there was a 10-20% chance the virus would ever spread across the United States. Just in case, I urged friends and families to prepare by stocking up food and supplies.

Jan 29 Facebook post
January 31

President Trump suspended entry of foreign nationals who had traveled to or resided in mainland China within the past 14 days. Exceptions were made for immigrants lawfully in the United States, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants, and several smaller groups. (Via FAIR.)

February 10

I posted about the Diamond Princess cruise ship. At that time, 135 passengers were sick with coronavirus. I was concerned by how fast it was spreading. My concern increased, but my positions otherwise stayed the same.

Feb 10 Facebook post
February 11

I posted my first written argument about the coronavirus, opening with, “My main reason for concern from this epidemic are two unanswered questions: 1). Is China reporting truthful statistics? 2). Is it a “super virus” that leaked from a lab? We need these answers to fully assess the situation.”

The purpose of my article was NOT to convince one way or another, but rather retort against the narrative that the coronavirus was easily dismissed as “no big deal.” I didn’t believe that we had the evidence, either way, to conclude what this virus was.

In the article, I pointed out the real-life experiment that was taking place on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. By observing the hospitalization and mortality rate of the cruise ship, we could finally have accurate numbers about the disease.

If you haven’t read the article, it still has valuable information. Take a look.

February 15

Keep in mind, nothing in our lives had changed yet. My wife, kids and I continued to go out and do things. We met friends for dinner for Valentine’s Day. While I believed the virus was a problem for China, I didn’t realize the virus was yet actively spreading inside the United States.

Something you may not know about me: I interact 6-7 days a week with three doctors who work in various hospitals around the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Around this time, the four of us began to have daily discussion about the coronavirus. These conversations influenced (and continue to influence) my position about COVID-19.

February 17
Position reversed to holding pattern.

I still wanted answers to the two questions from my Feb 11 article. I posted that we could watch the cruise ship to learn the answers once and for all. There was no reason to panic until we had more data.

With the cruise ship acting as a live science experiment, my position shifted back to center. I stayed in this holding pattern and awaited more information.

Feb 17 Facebook post
February 25

The stock market started to tumble. I began to worry about an economic disaster worse than the virus itself.

February 26

I posted about PhoneSoap, a cleaning device that uses UV light to disinfect your phone. As you can see, I continued to purchase supplies in case the Diamond Princess cruise ship experiment yielded unfavorable results.

Feb 26 Facebook post

I also began marketing technology services to companies for remote access.

Feb 26 Facebook marketing post
February 27
Strong position taken based on Diamond Princess results.

I posted that I was no longer concerned thanks to the numbers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Feb 27 Facebook post
Feb 27 Facebook post attachment
February 29

President Trump suspended entry of foreign nationals who had been in Iran within the past 14 days.

After watching the Feb 29 White House Press Conference, I posted a summary. I continued to worry less about the virus and more about the economy.

Feb 29 Facebook post
March 3

With the stock market tanking further, I bought 86 shares of AMD at $47.00/share. I made this bet on the logic that either 1). the economy would be destroyed, and money wouldn’t matter, or 2). this will all blow over soon.

E*TRADE AMD
March 8

I was given reputable, information that there were COVID-19 cases here in Pittsburgh. I posted what I knew, encouraged everyone to stop panicking. I continued to have daily discussions with my doctor friends about the situation.

Mar 8 Facebook post
March 11
Position reversed entirely. We need to flatten the curve.

President Trump issued a suspension of foreign nationals from a majority of Europe. He then extended this suspension to the United Kingdom and Ireland a few days later. Exemptions similar to those applicable to travelers from China and Iran also apply to Europe. (Via FAIR.)

I radically reversed my views on March 11 after seeing this graph. I now supported a temporary shut down to prevent our hospital system from being overloaded.

The photo made me realize that my Diamond Princess cruise ship experiment was flawed. It didn’t actually test the hospital infrastructure to see what would happen in a worst-case scenario. Around this same time, videos from Italy showed what appeared to be a complete collapse of their healthcare system.

Mar 11 Facebook Post
March 16

I posted my second written argument about the coronavirus. I discussed the need for a shutdown and provided my supporting arguments.

March 16 Facebook post
March 19

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf shut down all non-essential businesses.

March 21

I made a prediction that failed to happen. I believed the shutdown would be over in about two weeks.

Mar 21 Facebook post
March 23
Position reversed again. Total shutdown is not a good course of action.

I was starting to doubt that a complete shutdown of everything was the correct course of action. The economic pain caused by the virus would surely be worse than the virus itself.

I still held the position that we should flatten the curve and mitigate the virus, but I no longer supported the shutdown. My household continued to social distance, wipe everything with Clorox wipes, wash our hands, and practice enhanced hygiene. I still considered overloading the hospital system to be a very real threat. But I now believed hardship from the economic shutdown would be worse than just letting the hospitals overload.

Mar 23 Facebook post
March 25

I shared good news regarding a possible treatment of COVID-19 with Hydrochloroquine, Azithromycin, and Zinc sulfate. Studies are still being done on this treatment. Some have yielded positive results and others have yielded negative results.

Dr. Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko letter
March 29

The White House extended the shutdown until April 1. While I continued to be concerned about the virus, I was more terrified of the economic impact.

Mar 29 Facebook post
April 1

In an angry rant, I posted that our media failed us. All the economic pain of this virus could have been prevented if they took it seriously from the start.

Apr 1 Facebook post
April 6

I still believed these two seemingly opposing views: 1). the virus could overload our hospital system and 2). that the shutdown was overkill and should end as soon as possible.

So, I was very happy to see that the curve was flattening. Hospitals wouldn’t overload and we could get back to work quickly.

April 6 Facebook post
IMHE curve Apr 6
April 7

I continued to worry about the economy.

Apr 7 Facebook post
April 8

I shared a post from PA State Rep Ryan Warner that was critical of Governor Wolf’s shutdown.

Apr 8 Rep Warner Facebook post
April 11

I posted my third written argument about the coronavirus. I discussed the need to end the shutdown and provided my supporting arguments.

Apr 11 Facebook post
April 15

I posted that mainstream media finally reported that the virus may have originated from a Level-4 Biohazard Lab in Wuhan.

Apr 15 Facebook post
April 16
Position reversed. We must eradicate the virus.

After watching the April 16 White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, I now believed that we needed to eradicate the virus in order to fix the economy. Why? Because if we stopped now, and the virus spread unchecked for the next 1-2 years, many people would still not leave their house. That would hurt the economy regardless if we opened back up today or not.

Apr 16 Facebook post
April 21

I wrote an angry post on April 21 in response to protests in Pittsburgh that took place the day before.

Apr 21 Facebook post
April 22

I shared some “napkin math” to rationalize the shutdown. Right now, only 0.25% of the population have COVID-19, and yet it’s already killed more people than the entire 2018-2019 flu season. We must eradicate this virus before the economy will ever return to normal.

Apr 22 Facebook post

Furthermore, I posted a lengthy retort on a friend’s Facebook post in which I argued that the shutdown should continue.

April 23
Position reversed to holding pattern.

Gov. Cuomo tweeted on April 23 that the first results of the New York COVID-19 antibody tests were complete. These results complimented a similar study done by USC a week earlier. If true, the mortality rate is actually less than 0.1%. I posted that it could bring a rapid end to this whole thing.

Apr 23 Facebook post
Gov Cuomo antibody tweets
April 26
No longer in holding pattern. Virus is not as deadly as believed.

Now that we have strong evidence for inflated death counts, completely empty hospitals, and a less than 0.1% mortality rate, it's time to resume life as usual. I posted this website (the one you are reading right now) and announced that I no longer supported any type of shut down.

Apr 26 Facebook post
April 29

I posted my fourth and final written argument about the coronavirus where I announced that we needed to open back up.

Apr 29 Facebook post
April 30

I posted implying that furthering the shutdown was purely political.

Apr 30 Facebook post
May 1

I posted an article via PennLive: UPMC doctor argues COVID-19 not as deadly as we feared, says its hospitals will shift back to normal.

Later, I posted again, this time saying that any government official that extends the stay at home orders under the guise of "data driven approach" is either a liar or incompetent.

May 1 Facebook post
May 13

I posted about a scandal involving Rachel Levine giving preferential treatment to her mother (a scandal that she has yet to answer for.)

May 13 Facebook post
May 14

I posted an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette by Cyril H Wecht: Time to end the COVID-10 hysteria. Dr. Wecht explains calmly and rationally why the shutdown needs to end.

May 18

I posted what I surely hope is my last public post about this situation. In it, I repeat some of the data and statistics from the last couple weeks to try and remind people that everything should open, including sporting arenas.

May 18 Facebook post

I also replied to someone on another thread with a recap of the timeline.

May 18 comment thread