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Iceland was hailed as a leading example for how to control the spread of coronavirus by MSNBC on Tuesday during a segment that criticized the United States for failing to match the efforts of the Nordic island nation.

MSNBC's Ari Melber hailed Iceland for "taking far bolder action to stay ahead of the so-called curve" than the United States.

"Iceland has been out front, and they're testing a much larger portion of their population than basically any other country in order to learn about the virus and stay ahead of its spread," Melber said.

Melber and his guest, the Harvard Global Health Institute's Dr. Ashish Jha, credited Iceland's ability to get out in front of the virus to its decision to start testing early, criticizing the United States for its failure to beat back the virus as effectively as Iceland.

"We know how to beat the virus, it's actually not a mystery," Dr. Jha said. "Unfortunately, we started late, we don't have a good testing infrastructure, and we still can't do a lot of the things that Iceland is doing."

Mentioned only as an aside was that Iceland boasts a population of just 364,260about 0.1 percent of the 327.2 million people in the United States and about half the population of Wyoming, the country's least populated state. Iceland also benefits from being a remote island, with its closest neighbor Greenland a 186-mile swim away.

Melber said the case of Iceland should make viewers in the the United States question why "the richest country on earth" failed to match the effort in Iceland,which, according to the segment, has managed to test more than 10,000 people, turning up 648 cases of the coronavirus so far.

"Someone listening would say, Oh great, we actually have the solutions and we're the richest country on earth. And we talk about health care constantly, every presidential election, 10 years running with Obamacare,'" Melber said, asking Dr. Jha why the United States has failed to match countries like Iceland.

Dr. Jha said the reason was the United States got started too slow. "We wasted two months," Dr. Jha said, without any mention of the major differences between Iceland and the United States.

The coronavirus, as with other viral outbreaks, has proven to be more manageable in small, low-population areas. Iceland's chief epidemiologist has said the country has a unique ability to do wide scale testing because of its population.

"Icelands population puts it in the unique position of having very high testing capabilities with help from the Icelandic medical research company deCode Genetics, who are offering to perform large scale testing," Thorolfur Gunason told BuzzFeed News.

Similarly, Colorado's San Miguel County, due to its population of just about 8,000, was able to offer coronavirus tests to all of its residents.

Even with its small population, however, Iceland's health system is beginning to feel the strains of its aggressive testing. The government announced last Friday that it was running out of testing swabs, with only 2,000 remaining in the country.

The United States meanwhile says it has stepped up its testing. Dr. Deborah Birx, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, said Tuesday that the United States has likely conducted more tests in the past eight days than South Korea conducted in the past eight weeks.

The United States has thus far tested about 358,000 peopleand will soon have conducted more tests than there are people in Iceland.

Brent Scher is executive editor for the Washington Free Beacon. He graduated from the University of Virginia, where he studied foreign affairs and politics. Brent is originally from New York City and now lives in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scher@freebeacon.com.

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MSNBC Criticizes U.S. for Failing to Control Virus as Effectively as Iceland, an Island of Just 364,000 - Washington Free Beacon

Former coronavirus patient Jerri Jorgensen said Friday that the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus has gotten out of control, recalling when she was barred from a gym after undergoing quarantine.

All the toilet paper being gone -- I dont get the toilet paper, Jorgensen told Fox & Friends.

Jorgensen said that when she went to a gym after her recovery, she was bombarded with hugs from friends and also from strangers.

FORMER DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP CORONAVIRUS PATIENT DESCRIBES LIFE UNDER QUARANTINE

Jorgensen said that afterward when she got home, the gyms management called her to tell her to stay away to keep the senior citizens safe.

I go, I am a senior citizen! Wait, what about me?' Jorgensen said. And I am the safest one in the gym, probably the safest one in Utah because Ive been through quarantine and tested more than once negative.

And I have a letter from the Centers for Disease Control so it is what it is, she added.

Jorgensen -- who contracted the virus onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan -- said she exhibited zero symptoms when she was diagnosed.

My case was I had a slight fever the night before they took me off the cruise ship -- very slight, it wasnt even 100 degrees," Jorgensen told Fox & Friends. "Felt a little bit off for about twoto threehours and that was my only symptom throughout the whole time -- the whole quarantine up to now.

Although Jorgensen was being treated and monitored by the doctors on the ship, she never had to take any medications while aboard the Diamond Princess.

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Jorgensen described her experience in quarantine at a hospital very positive. She said that those who are staying in their houses for safety shouldkeep doing things that you love, such as reading and exercising.

I was quarantined in a hospital and they didnt have a lot for me, especially those that dont speak English, Jorgensen said.

I did get a yoga mat," she said, "and its so important to stay active.

Fox News Julia Musto contributed to this report.

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Woman who recovered from coronavirus says hysteria 'out of control': I don't get why the toilet paper is gone - Fox News

Cannuscio: I would recommend that people minimize social contact, and that means limiting all social engagements. That includes intimate gatherings among friends. I think the exception is if two households are in strict agreement that they are also going to reduce all outside contact and then those two households socialize together, to support one another. I can see social and mental-health advantages to that kind of approach.

Ko: Dating is usually one person and another person. What were really worried about in terms of public health are these large gatherings where you have people crowded together, and you can have what we call super-spreading events. The risk of those goes up exponentially the larger the size of the gathering. Dating is at the other end. I think you can still date.

Watson: I think dating is okay, if you believe with reasonable confidence that youre both well. I think were humans and we need human interaction; I think thats important for our sanity. Its important to focus on [avoiding] large crowds and indoor activities where you have lots of people touching the same surfaces.

Cannuscio: It is a time to be very cautious about initiating contact with new people. This seems like a great time to get creative with your text messages. [Or] take it to FaceTime or a phone call.

Ko: If you do go to the gym, again, maintain distances. Disinfect places in the gym people are always touching. Wash your hands regularly. Much of the transmission is person to person with people coughing, sneezing, or touching their nose and mouth and touching somebody else. You can get transmission on surfaces; thats probably a little bit lower-risk, but we still should disinfect surfaces that we touch.

Cannuscio: If youre going to go to the gym, try to go at a time when there are very few people there and definitely wipe down the equipment. However, as the weather warms in many parts of the United States, I would instead recommend that people go outside for walks or runs or bike rides in areas where there are not other people. This is really about depriving the virus the opportunity to move from one person to another.

Read: Heres who should be avoiding crowds right now

Cannuscio: I would say try to shop at times when there are very few other shoppers there. That [could mean] going first thing in the morning when the store opens, or late at night. I think many people will rely on delivery, and thats just the nature of our lives right now. For delivery workers, I would say, leave the food on the doorstep and ring the bell, rather than interacting face-to-face with the person whos ordered the food.

Cannuscio: First of all, people who have the opportunity or the option of working at home should absolutely use that option right now. For people who have essential functions and have to be at work, if they have any flexibility in their schedules they should try to ride at non-peak hours. On subways or buses, people should try to stand as far away from other people as possible. I think its important for planners to think about, for example, putting more buses on the most heavily traveled routes, to maybe thin out the crowds on those buses. In cities where its possible to walk, that would be a better option.

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The Dos and Donts of Social Distancing - The Atlantic

Ever since the coronavirus exploded outside of China at the end of January, Donald Trump has treated the public health crisis as a media war that he could win with the right messaging. But with cases now documented in 34 states and markets plunging, Republicans close to Trump fear his rosy assessments are fundamentally detached from reality in ways that will make the epidemic worse. He is trying to control the narrative and he cant, a former West Wing official told me.

Third rate Fake reporters, phony & boring hit pieces Donald TrumpSUBSCRIBE TODAY!

The problem is that the crisis fits into his preexisting and deeply held worldviewthat the media is always searching for a story to bring him down. Covid-19 is merely the latest instance, and hes reacting in familiar ways. So much FAKE NEWS! Trump tweeted this morning. He wants Justice to open investigations of the media for market manipulation, a source close to the White House told me. Trump is also frustrated with his West Wing for not getting a handle on the news cycle. Hes very frustrated he doesnt have a good team around him, a former White House official said. On Friday he forced out acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and replaced him with former House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows. Trump thought the virus was getting beyond Mick, a person briefed on the internal discussions said. Trump has also complained that economic adviser Larry Kudlow is not doing enough to calm jittery markets. Last week Kudlow refused Trumps request that Kudlow hold an on-camera press briefing, sources said. Larry didnt want to have to take questions about coronavirus, a person close to Kudlow told me. Larrys not a doctor. How can he answer questions about something he doesnt know?

Trump found a willing surrogate in Kellyanne Conway, but Conways dubious claim on Friday that the virus is being contained only made the P.R. situation worse.

Trumps efforts to take control of the story himself have so far failed. A source said Trump was pleased with ratings for the Fox News town hall last Thursday, but he was furious with how he looked on television. Trump said afterwards that the lighting was bad, a source briefed on the conversation said. He said, We need Bill Shine back in here. Bill would never allow this.

Trumps press conference on Friday at the CDC was a Trumpian classic, heavy on braggadocio and almost entirely lacking a sense of the seriousness of the crisis. I like this stuff. I really get it, Trump told reporters, his face partly hidden under a red Keep America Great hat. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors say, How do you know so much about this? Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I shouldve done that instead of running for president. At another point Trump compared the situation to the Ukraine shakedown. The [coronavirus] tests are all perfect. Like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect, he said.

By now many of the presidents advisers are numb to this kind of performance. Theres very little that fazes anyone now, a former official said. But one person who spoke to the president over the weekend saw the press conference as an ominous sign. Hes just now waking up to the fact that this is bad, and he doesnt know how to respond.

As Trump pushes a nothing-to-see-here message in public, sources said hes privately terrified about getting the virus. Donald is a famous germaphobe. He hates it if someone is eating nachos and dips a chip back in after taking a bite. He calls them double dippers, a prominent Republican said. Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg recalled Trumps response to the last major outbreak in 2014. When I worked for Trump, he was obsessed with Ebola, Nunberg told me. (One Mar-a-Lago guest disputed this and said Trump was handshaking with gusto this past weekend. He was acting like the opposite of a germaphobe, the source said.)

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Hes Definitely Melting Down Over This: Trump, Germaphobe in Chief, Struggles to Control the Covid-19 Story - Vanity Fair

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We are currently at the forefront of an IP revolution. For nearly 80 years, the broadcast industry relied on expensive, inflexible infrastructure comprised of bulky and disparate hardware systems and long-term vendor agreements that were ripe to be disrupted. But now, an industry that was slow to change has awoken to the possibilities of a more flexible, dynamic future and today we are seeing the adoption of IP for live and live linear video delivery across the media industry. We are going through one of the most rapid and significant industry transformations in history and IP is a huge enabler of this movement.

The media industry is migrating quickly to hybrid IP networks to transport broadcast-quality live and live linear video through and across its workflows. IP networks can be the internet, fiber, cellular (4G,5G), or IP over satellite, and with the right video platform can consist of combinations of hybrid networks with bonded or sequential hitless networks for 99.999% + reliability.

There are a number of factors driving this change:

Make no mistake, views are changing on how broadly to use IP networks as the backbone of media workflows, especially the open internet. Yet despite the prevalence of this IP Adoption trend, there remain some industry hold outs who still need to be persuaded that IP networks can be as, or even more reliable than satellite and fiber when architected correctly.

When I talk to folks still exploring the many faceted world of IP solutions, I often refer to a book I read recently from the 1800s called Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, an allegory intended to facilitate a new view of the realm of the possible. In the book, a square meets a sphere but since the square lives in a flat, two-dimensional world, it can only see the sphere as a circle. It is not until the sphere brings the square into its multidimensional world and experiences life in 3D, that the square fully realizes the potential of the sphere, and whats possible for itself in this new world view. Like the sphere, Zixi sees that IP is already enabling a more multi-dimensional world, full of possibility for broadcast infrastructures, cloud architectures and streamlined workflows. What is happening over IP today was unheard of only a few years ago. Only once you experience the multi-dimensional world of IP do you realize fully the potential of what IP can do for your business.

Zixi has been around for 12 years focused solely on live and live linear video transport over IP. In that long history, we have seen almost every use case out there and helped many clients scale from simple point-to-point solutions to point-to-multipoint with thousands of channels. To manage and enable broadcast-quality content across that type of scale, a Software-Defined Video Platform (or SDVNTM) is required.

A good metaphor for a Software-Defined Video Platform is the smartphone. Todays smartphone is hardware-defined communication and entertainment platform. The smartphone combines many disparate systems into one, but is open, so it is interoperable with many technologies and applications. In media, a Software-Defined Video Platform provides the feature capabilities of many disparate systems and is open to any IP network, any protocol, any cloud and any edge device. It must be complete, operate at true scale and be able to reliably distribute any live video from, and to anywhere in the world securely and at broadcast-quality.

There are 4 major components of a successful Software-Defined Video Platform. Think of a strong sturdy vehicle needed to transport your valuable content. You need wheels and tires (Protocol), you need the chassis of the vehicle (Video Solutions Stack), telemetry and steering (Control Plane) and the roads and infrastructure to get you there (The Network).

1) Protocol Acceptance:

A Software-Defined Video Platform should afford its users the ultimate flexibility, and this means the ability to accept any protocol content providers and distributors choose to utilize. The protocols in use should be congestion and network-aware, with the capability to dynamically adjust to varying network conditions and employ forward error correction techniques for error-free video transport. Not all protocols are created equal, so choose carefully.

2) A Video Solutions Stack:

A Software-Defined Video Platform should provide essential software tools and core media processing functions that enable broadcasters to transport live video over any IP network. The solutions stack should offer extensive media-processing features across all the protocols such as failover techniques to ensure reliability, compatibility with any public or private cloud, and any IP network type, protocol switching, live transcoding & repackaging, analytics and more.

3) A Control Plane to Cost-Effectively Manage Complex Deployments at Scale

A Software-Defined Video Platform must provide control over large complex networks with visual tools to configure, provision, orchestrate, manage and monitor live broadcast channels at scale across hundreds and thousands of compute instances. More than a monitoring tool, the control plane should also allow for control of the edge, network and cloud with full telemetry visualization of streams. Essential tools like workflow visualization, alerting, history, automation, scheduling, reporting, and root cause analysis across complex media supply chains is a must. This one centralized control plane allows broadcasters to manage complex deployments at scale with more cost-effective operations personnel rather than costly teams of video engineers, which are scarce.

4) A Network of Integrated Partners to Ensure Interoperability and Future Proofing The ANY Requirement:

A Software-Defined Video Platform must give its users the advantage of a wide range of hardware and software partners so that they can adapt to future pivots with ease. Users should be able to integrate seamlessly with hundreds of software and hardware partners to move live video across any IP network, any protocol, any cloud provider, and any edge device. With such openness and interoperability throughout the video supply chain, the extent of ones live streaming reach can be virtually boundless.

Given the great migration of TV audiences, the maturity of required technologies across networks and the relentless pressures to increase monetization while reducing costs, the age of broadcast IP has arrived. As you shape your strategy to adopt IP delivery, beware the Open Source is free trap. There is nothing wrong with Open Source at Zixi we support some Open Source protocols but Open Source is never really free and can be very expensive as you try to build your own Software-Defined Video Platform. Remember the protocol is just the tire of the vehicle you really need. One of our large customers did a build-versus-buy analysis and concluded that the total cost of ownership (TCO) to internally build versus buying was 4x more expensive. Analysis like this is why AWSs MediaConnect offering is built on Zixis Software-Defined Video Platform for the protocols they support.

The future of streaming is certainly over IP. In the global arena of media and entertainment companies, the acts of provisioning, deploying, orchestrating and monitoring large complex IP workflows require a full arsenal of capabilities that only a robust Software-Defined video solution can provide. If the major media networks and OTT providers trust IP solution for the Superbowl, Olympics, World Cup, Premier League, and much of the live linear TV that audiences enjoy today, you can as well, with confidence. As the great migration of the media landscape continues its trajectory, your success will be far greater with a Software-Defined Video Platform at your disposal.

Gordon Brooks is the Executive Chairman and CEO of Zixi. With more than 30-years of software and services technology leadership, Gordon not only leads Zixis strategic direction, but also oversees day-to-day execution of Zixis strategic plan. He has served as CEO for five different companies, founding, launching or turning around eight companies in total. Two of Gordons IPOs and five private sales created over $13 billion in value. Before joining Zixi, Gordon was President of C3 IoT, a big data, IoT and predictive analytics software platform company which provides the capability to design, development, deploy and operate complex large-scale AI applications. Gordon holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of New Hampshire. He has attended advanced graduate programs at Seton Hall University and Northwestern University.

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Why the future of IP streaming will be software-defined - NewscastStudio