Politico has done some great reporting about the global pandemic that’s changed our lives. I recommend you read that summary of what we know, what we don’t know.
“We’re not close to the peak. The rate of new cases continues to rise steeply and will explode next week as new testing capacity comes online. On March 12, the U.S. had 1,315 confirmed cases, today 11,723 – that’s a ninefold increase, according to the Covid tracking project.
“— We’re lagging on testing. After the Trump administration promised that 1 million tests would be available, just 103,945 people have been tested so far, up from 9,967 on March 12.
— It’s very contagious. Every person who gets the virus infects about two people, and that’s largely been the case in the U.S., though testing screw-ups are making it hard to track.
“— This is bad and will only get worse. New York’s hospitals said they’d run out of medical supplies in two to three weeks and California’s governor thinks half his population will be infected within eight weeks. That’s a preview of where much of the rest of the country, now in a quiet before the storm period, could be headed.
“— Testing, tracking and social distancing work. South Korea and Singapore have had great success in slowing the spread of the virus by rolling out mass testing, tracking the virus spread and keeping people apart. New cases in South Korea have leveled off. China, which shut down an entire province after the outbreak began there, reported no new cases Wednesday.”
Well, another “known” is that human avarice is once again rearing its head during a dire crisis. To wit the headline “Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness”. Richard Burr, GOPer from NC, better start packing for home if not prison.
https://www.propublica.org/article/senator-dumped-up-to-1-6-million-of-stock-after-reassuring-public-about-coronavirus-preparedness
But is anyone but a totally deluded, MAGA hat wearing Trump supporter surprised by all this?
The Politico article posted here states at the end, “We’re in uncharted territory and it turns out a lot of what we thought we knew was wrong.”
Huh? Really?
For years the wealthy have been hogging the nation’s cash and resources for themselves. Wait until hospitals start running out of ventilators -God help us it doesn’t come to that. Look already at who is getting the tests first.
Meanwhile, all these gung-ho capitalist free marketeers are running for the exits. If they are not cheating, they are sure hoping and praying that the government can bail them out. (What happened to all that hating of socialism? Poof! It’s vanished in just a few days.)
The New York Times nailed it down today in an article entitled “Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded” The government not only KNEW this could happen, they gamed a similar scenario. They thought about how to stop it. And, then Trump and his gang of idiots just blew away our chances of getting a jump on stopping this contagion.
Absolutely, totally, disgusting. Who is going to tell this story to our children?
“Goldman Sachs warns data point to a historic and frankly apocalyptic surge in unemployment insurance claims, from current 281,000 to 2,250,000 in next week’s report. Yes you read that right.”
I cannot imagine how bad this is going to get the next two weeks, when people start running out of money.
Worse than we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes, surely.
More evidence of just how fragile our society is and how many people are living on the edge of financial disaster. More evidence that the most prosperous and powerful nation in human history is, in many ways, a quasi-Third World nation.
The problem in this country is that for decades the wealthy have been rewarded and average people have been ignored. We have a weakened healthcare system that doesn’t cover everyone…the best is always available to the wealthy and they don’t care about anyone else.
The economy is tanking because the average American doesn’t have enough saved to cover a $400 unexpected bill.
Massive numbers of people are now losing their jobs. Congress can give two checks of around $1000 but that won’t help if the coronavirus doesn’t stop for 18 months.
The government is already in debt. How many times can it bail out people when it is also giving $50 billion to the airline industry that gave its tax break to buy back stocks and make money for the CEO’s and investors.
The US is in deep doo doo and we have an ignorant moron running the government. He doesn’t want scientists to give the facts about what is happening. He uses his new found press conferences to bloat his own version of facts. This country needs real facts not the stuff that Trump floats around, which is meant to cover up and still make him look fabulous.
In 2008, the U.S. was on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of banking crimes. Now in 2020, a pandemic brings the nation to its economic knees because the U.S. is a country of hourly workers. The pace between crises is going to quicken. A colony that has three people with wealth equivalent to 150,000,000 Americans is not sustainable.
Who will be left?
Well said, John! Health and safety to you and yours.
Thanks, Bob.
I was feeling a tad bit angry yesterday. Though now that I’ve slept half a night, well, I still feel angry. Ha, ha.
I continue pushing on looking for the good stuff amidst all this global chaos and misery.
The people on here fit easily into that category, “good stuff.” So, this blog is big relief.
I woke up this morning thinking about how I always play Jeopardy with my classes on Fridays. It’s usually for 10 or 15 minutes at the end of the period. I ask about material from class plus some fun things.
I told my classes when we left that I’d try to keep this routine up and running along with maybe a couple other fun things we do in class.
I set up a Facebook page for students and colleagues the day we bugged out. I know FB is anathema to a good number of people on here but given the times I’m trying whatever works to keep in touch with the kids.
I think I’m going to attempt to put the Jeopardy game on that FB page but who knows. We’re all making this up as we go along. I had suggestions from students about more complicated video streaming ways to set it up. But right now I’m into the “keeping it simple” mode of living -at least until this dive our nation is in levels out. (And it will.)
We’ll see if Jeopardy ala “Mr. O.” works. I’m planning on including a current events category called, “Not the Corona Virus” just for a break.
I’m thinking 11 a.m.
So, gotta get to work on it. Take care!
The page is at https://www.facebook.com/john.oh.18007
This is wonderful, John. I’m quite impressed!!!!
We played Jeopardy for three hours. It takes a while to key in all the questions and answers. But, it was fun. I’ve got some wonderful students.
Trump was in the background for a while talking during his nutcase press conference. My son had it on. It was much better to focus on something positive with the kids and the online game -though I couldn’t help but catch more than just a whiff of Trump’s verbal stink. His toadies, suck ups, boot lickers kowtowed to him. Then members of the free press were berated for asking real questions. Jaw dropping.
Take care!
The Politico piece claims that both treatments and vaccines are at least a year off. The claim about vaccines is accurate but I have not read claims elsewhere to the effect that treatments are also at least a year off. Treatments could come sooner. Vaccines likely cannot.
Not to alarm anyone, but about 1/5 of the working adults in California are going to be applying for unemployment, at the same time.
And the Trump Administration are holding press conferences where they spend the entire time attacking reporters. That’s Job One, apparently.
We’re watching this administration completely collapse, and this thing hasn’t even started to get bad yet. Give it two weeks. They won’t even come out of the White House- they’ll be “sheltering in place” in there, hiding from an outraged public.
But what happens when we leave our homes in eight weeks?
I think it’ll be a little like this:
Thanks to ALEC, the Kochs, the Waltons, Gates, et al, and the other free-market, weak-government advocates, profits and wealth have become more important than life.
That is the major difference between China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore where the whole is more important than the individualist, free-market concept.
All of those countries are collective cultures. The U.S. is an individualistic culture. It does not matter what kind of government rules a country. What counts the most is the culture.
“In particular, as countries with collectivist cultures develop economically, they will not necessarily evolve towards democracy or might do so more slowly or possibly only under the effect of an exceptional crisis. Countries like China, Vietnam or Singapore, which have experienced considerable economic success in recent decades have not adopted Western-style democracies. Similarly, countries that have experienced a genuine democratisation process like Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Korea have done so relatively recently and their average polity scores over the last 30 years have not been better than Guatemala, Panama or Peru.”
https://voxeu.org/article/role-culture-democratisation
“In individualistic cultures, people are considered ‘good’ if they are strong, self-reliant, assertive, and independent. This contrasts with collectivist cultures where characteristics like being self-sacrificing, dependable, generous, and helpful to others are of greater importance.”
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-individualistic-cultures-2795273
Tracking the Progress of the Moronavirus
https://bobshepherdonline.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/tracking-the-progress-of-the-moronavirus/
Scientific name Moronavirus trumpinski
Causes serious infection of the body politic leading to rabid racism and xenophobia and rapid cognitive decline
How can Trump have cognitive decline when he has never had a process for thinking?
He was always stupid, but it’s clearly even worse now.
How stupid can he go?
Donald “J for Jabba” the Trump. Slugs can have about 18,000 neurons, as opposed to the 100 billion or so in H. sapiens. I would say that most of those 18,000 are dedicated to self-congratulation and a few to feeding on cheeseburgers.
Donald “Jabba” the Trump was born from the mold found in week old cheeseburgers tossed in the trash.
Even Jabba’s mother couldn’t figure out how she created someone like Trumpty Dumpty.
“Mary Trump died, at 88, in 2000—10 years after she wondered how she had created this kind of son.”
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/03/mary-macleod-trump-donald-trump-mother-biography-mom-immigrant-scotland-215779
But I was thinking of the 33 percent of the population infected by Moronavirus trumpinski orangii
The one thing that should concern everyone is the seemingly high rate of asymptomatic carriers and, related to this, the propensity of infected people to express the disease after a relatively long period of no symptoms. This is where this administration has let us down the most. It is something they have known for weeks and is just now becoming known. Both cases make spread more sinister than most viruses. An oncologist I respect has a great analogy to understand how genes evolve to resist drug treatment that applies in this case: The lion only has to be faster than the slowest gazelle to survive. But the fastest ones evolve into smarter and faster ones who now not only outrun the lions, they become come calculating in the process. The lesson is that everyone’s a suspect, a reactionary’s dream.
And please don’t be taken in by age, i.e., the younger one is, the less severe it will be or that it is an automatic death sentence for older or immunocompromised people. Each case is unique. But the potential numbers are staggering (emphasis on potential, possible, not imminent). Based on a population of 331 million, if all were infected, at a death rate of 2%, that would translate into more than 6.5 million.
We are in for interesting times here in Flor-uh-duh. Lots of international travelers. Lots of folks off cruise ships. Lots and lots and lots of heedless Spring Breakers here from all around the country, partying (even as I write this) like it’s 1999. Many, many Repugnicans who heeded Trumpty Dumpty and his boyz Limbaugh and Hannity and thought this was all some sort of “Democrat hoax.” Lots and lots of elderly. A republican leadership reluctant to put in place any mandated checks on behavior. A big gun show just last week in Tampa. Lots of bubbuhs concealed carrying. Huge numbers of low-wage workers dependent on tourism and hospitality jobs. High number of uninsured persons. Supermarkets emptied of toilet paper. Gun shops emptied of ammunition.
Watch this blossom here. Les fleurs du mal.
Ring around the rosy.
Pocket full of posies.
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down.
when we were all young, the noise we used to taunt our fellows was nah na na nah nah, exactly the same rhythm as the plague song, Ring Around the Rosy (I am not privy to the original source history that produces this widespread belief).
If this is true, it is an eerie thing to contemplate. We have a taunting noise I our culture from the 14th century plague.
Lord, Roy! What an observation!
A taunting noise today may be, “o.k.boomer”. Given Trump’s age and the average age of members of Congress i.e. the people who botched the response to the pandemic, to global warming, and to income inequality, collectively, it may be a fair criticism.
Members of Congress botched the COVID-19 response? Did I read your comment out of context and get it wrong?
The GOP majority in the Senate is guilty and then they came around a week later to join the House.
The House majority did not botch their response. They were helpless to do anything without cooperation from the White House and Senate. They passed legislation to deal with the outbreak the week the Senate was on vacation.
The real culprit is Brain Dead Trumpty Dumpty and his woo-woo administration.
“The Trump Administration Fumbled Its Initial Response to Coronavirus. Is There Enough Time to Fix It?”
https://time.com/5805683/trump-administration-coronavirus/
Who has been doing the most work in the U.S. to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic?
ANSWER: state governors
This piece breaks it down state by state.
“What Governors Are Doing To Tackle Spreading Coronavirus” Dates the 12th of March
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/12/815200313/what-governors-are-doing-to-tackle-spreading-coronavirus
@Linda…well this “Boomer” knows how to can/preserve food, plant a garden, sew, bake bread, cook and stretch a dollar! When my kids hit me with the “OK Boomer”, I am inclined to remind them of these simple facts that have kept them in existence their whole lives. My niece, her boyfriend and a friend (all with pricey educations!) are living in CA huddled into a small apartment. As of yesterday, none of them have any jobs……they were EACH working 2-3 part -time jobs to support themselves. I might be a “Boomer ” but at least I’m a boomer who knows how to survive!!…If I don’t get this thing and die. The OK Boomer, I’m so smug crowd will be eating their words soon enough.
This is going to be a huge wake-up call for the survivors.
LisaM
Multiple jobs, the only choice for many Americans, is the result of a substantial number of baby boomers voting for the politicians who ignore the interests of working Americans in favor of multinational corporations.
Lloyd-
The legislative branch “helpless”?
Which U.S. Senators and Representatives spoke at podiums to warn their constituents about the Corona Virus? Trump has been a predictable failure. The legislative branch could go to the public directly, using the clout they have. But, those who refuse to hold town meetings, aren’t working for us.
I can think of at least “one” who is speaking out publicly and that is AOC.
“AOC rips Trump pick to lead coronavirus response: ‘Pence literally does not believe in science’”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/aoc-rips-trump-pick-to-lead-coronavirus-response-pence-literally-does-not-believe-in-science
These are the times that reveal what or who people really are. Some of the answers will be quite surprising.
https://slate.com/business/2020/03/the-republican-plan-to-mail-checks-to-everyone-still-found-a-way-to-screw-the-poor.html
Of course they did.
Thanks for the link
Dr. Trump speaks on Fox news: On chloroquine, Trump said it’s shown “very, very encouraging early results. And we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.”
According to NIH, chloroquine is currently being studied in a clinical trial in China but no results have been posted yet. There is nothing that says it has encouraging early results.It is estimated that the study will be completed on Dec. 31, 2020
Study Design ….ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT04261517
Go to sections
Study Type : Interventional (Clinical Trial)
Estimated Enrollment : 30 participants
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Official Title: Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine for Treatment of Pneumonia Caused by 2019-nCoV ( HC-nCoV )
Actual Study Start Date : February 6, 2020
Estimated Primary Completion Date : August 31, 2020
Estimated Study Completion Date : December 31, 2020
This Christian site also asks we pray against the one world order that I guess the devil is working to achieve. Only Trump can keep our nation sovereign. I agree with the pray for the idiots who surround him. How about praying for the Orange Moron himself.
I have a conservative Christian friend who sent me this:
……………………………….
Patients ‘Completely Recovered’: Doctors May Have Found COVID-19 Cure, and Trump Just Announced It’ll Be Available in the US ‘Almost Immediately’
Michael Foust (Mar 19, 2020)
“Prior to the clinical trials going ahead, the medications were given to some of the first Australian patients infected with COVID-19, and all have completely recovered without any trace of the virus left in their system.” -David Paterson of the University of Queensland
EDITOR’S NOTE: The drug mentioned in this article, hydroxychloroquine, which has shown such promise in fighting COVID-19, is now going to be available in the US. In an updategiven by President Trump this morning, he said, “This is a common malaria drug … it’s been around for a long time, it’s very powerful … and it’s shown very, very encouraging early results [against COVID-19], and we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately…” Praise God! -Aimee Herd, BCN (Image: via FOX News)
[ChristianHeadlines.com] A common drug used to treat malaria might be the cure to COVID-19 until a vaccine is developed, doctors and researchers around the world say.
Doctors in Australia, France and elsewhere say they’ve had success treating coronavirus patients with hydroxychloroquine, a readily available drug that treats malaria, lupus and arthritis… Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
Continue reading here.
Chinese Doctors Pulled Back on Trump-Backed Coronavirus Drug Due to Deadly Overdose Fears
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Updated Mar. 20, 2020 6:43AM ET /
Published Mar. 20, 2020 5:56AM ET
REUTERS
President Donald Trump endorsed a decades-old malaria drug as a possible treatment for coronavirus patients on Thursday. The only problem is that it seems to be incredibly lethal in some dosages.
Bloomberg News reports that Chinese researchers in Wuhan waved off doctors from the drug, known as chloroquine, during the height of their outbreak because they found it could kill an adult who took twice the daily recommended amount, or two grams. In China, the drug was initially recommended for infected patients after some good results in clinical trials—but doctors were later warned about the drug’s deadly side-effects and its usage has been rolled back. Trump said chloroquine had been approved and could be given to patients by doctors with a prescription. He said Thursday: “It’s been around for a long time, so we know that if things don’t go as planned it’s not going to kill anybody.” An FDA spokesperson contradicted Trump and said the drug hadn’t been approved for use in COVID-19 patients. However, U.S. doctors can legally prescribe a drug for any illness if they think it’s appropriate.
Read it at Bloomberg News
Thanks for the link- drug not recommended for those over 65.
It would not surprise me if IQ45 started touting Trump-branded magic toxin-removal pads to put in one’s shoes. He’s now everyone’s idiot great-uncle.
I think the people who believe this are offspring of those Appalachian snake worshippers from a number of decades ago. Having worked in cancer patient education for more than 20 years, I never cease to be amazed by how people readily accept stuff like this, even people who work in medicine!
The Trump Administration Drove Him Back to China, Where He Invented a Fast Coronavirus Test
A federal crackdown on professors’ undisclosed outside activities is achieving what China has long struggled to do: spur Chinese scientists to return home. In this crisis, it’s costing the U.S. intellectual firepower.
March 18, 5 a.m. EDT
On the fourth floor of the University of Florida cancer research building, the once-bustling laboratory overseen by professor Weihong Tan is in disarray. White lab coats are strewn over workbenches. Storage drums and boxes, including some marked with biohazard warnings, are scattered across the floor. A pink note stuck to a machine that makes copies of DNA samples indicates the device is broken.
No one is here on this weekday afternoon in February. On a shelf, wedged next to instruction manuals and binders of lab records, is a reminder of bygone glory: a group photo of Tan surrounded by more than two dozen smiling students and employees.
As the Florida lab sat vacant, a different scene unfolded half a world away in China, where a team of 300 scientists and researchers worked furiously to develop a fast, easy test for COVID-19. The leader of that timely project? Tan, the former Florida researcher.
The 59-year-old Tan is a stark example of the intellectual firepower fleeing the U.S. as a result of a Trump administration crackdown on university researchers with ties to China. Tan abruptly left Florida in 2019 during an investigation into his alleged failure to fully disclose Chinese academic appointments and funding. He moved to Hunan University in south-central China, where he now conducts his vital research…
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-trump-administration-drove-him-back-to-china-where-he-invented-a-fast-coronavirus-test
More data …. my husband’s mathematics.
This is an EXPONENTIAL CURVE, not just linear or geometric one.
I have the graphs, but can’t put it here. The graphs are so telling, too.
Quote from today’s blog, “On March 12, the U.S. had 1,315 confirmed cases, today 11,723 – that’s a ninefold increase, according to the Covid tracking project.”
Note that by the end of today, there will be more than 15656 infections according to hubby’s math. This is an 8 day, 4 hour cycle.
By 4/19, there will be more than approximately 72,790,742 infections. This is SOBERING.
Hubby has not calculated DEATHS, because not enough information from cdc.
Standard error = 0.017
Must watch moment! As someone else put it, “you can spot the exact moment Dr. Fauci died inside” listening to Trump. Trump was blathering on about the “deep state” amidst a global disaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKXoJIDIPc&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2i3Ut7q3hRtAiqff3E2d-SK2WxLMaJMVpw82RinfBYXcweA0jVggnpwcg
Thanks for the link
I told my grandson that the corona virus was like a Zombie Invasion. If the Zombie touches you, then you become a Zombie. That’s why we have to stay away from the others, because we don’t know which ones are zombies and which ones aren’t,
Coronavirus: to save lives, Trump must learn from China, not fight it…from South China Morning Post
The Chinese authorities rightly deserve a lashing at home and abroad for their initially bungled handling of the outbreak, which infected more than 81,000 people and killed over 3,200. And it’s quite right, too, that the government’s credibility has suffered dearly.
But subsequent draconian measures China introduced have succeeded in containing the outbreak at a time when the epicentre has moved to Europe and very possibly soon to America. The number of confirmed cases and deaths in the rest of the world is now greater than in China.
So what should one make of Western governments that wasted weeks underestimating the looming threat, and, in the case of the Donald Trump administration, even deliberately attempting to play it down, at least initially? In many ways, the consequences of their inaction or reactive approaches were as bad in failing the public as those of China’s bungled initial response….
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3076086/coronavirus-save-us-lives-trump-must-learn-china-not-fight-it
From what I have heard and read from and about China, the hearing mistakes were caused by local authorities in Wuhan who were attempting to hide what was happening from the national leaders. Because of Doctor Le Weliang, China’s leaders learned what was going on in Wuhan and stepped in taking drastic measures.
“Widely known as a whistleblower who spoke up about the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, China, the 34-year-old doctor was initially punished by local authorities. They said he was “spreading rumors” in early January, after he had tried to warn others about the emergence of the novel coronavirus that has now become a global pandemic.” …
“News of his death, coupled with accusations that the government was covering up the outbreak, triggered an avalanche of outrage from a wide cross-section of Chinese society. In response to popular demand, the central government dispatched investigators two days later to look into the circumstances surrounding his police reprimand and death.” …
“Beijing’s investigators now conclude that Wuhan authorities acted ‘inadequately’ when they reprimanded the late doctor and failed to follow ‘proper law enforcement procedure.’ They did not, however, explain what the correct response should be.
“Investigators also characterized his efforts to sound the alarm on the coronavirus as a positive influence that aided in raising awareness.
“Shortly after the official findings were published, Wuhan police announced that the two officers responsible for improperly reprimanding Li have been disciplined.”
https://dianeravitch.net/2020/03/19/politico-whats-known-whats-not-known-about-the-epidemic/?replytocom=3011019#respond
Think of it this way. The local authorities in Wuhan reacted just like President Donald Trump did in the United States vs China where that country’s president acted fast once he discovered what was really happening thanks to that young doctor who died of COVID-19.
What does it mean when someone in government is “disciplined” in China? If they were really disciplined, then they’d lose their job, end up in prison, and possibly be executed.
Thom Hartmann’s blog
Roll Back Republican Tax Cuts!
Congress is debating how much money to give to corporations and average Americans to try to blunt the economic impact of this pandemic. Republicans have repeatedly blocked or reduced efforts to get more money to individuals at the low-end of the economic scale, saying that we can’t afford to spend this much money. But those same Republicans enthusiastically voted for a $1.5 trillion tax cut for billionaires and big corporations just two years ago.
Shouldn’t any efforts going forward begin by repealing the Trump tax cut? And, while we’re at it, repealing the Bush tax cuts and the Reagan tax cuts and taking us back to an economy that actually worked for everyone?
-Thom
Rolling back all those GOP tax cuts will not happen as long as the GOP holds power in any of the three government sectors: White House, Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, we’d also have to vote out the majority of Democratic corporate-loving neo-liberals, too.
Should we throw up in unison?
……………………………………………………
[NWI Times] Surgeon general’s TV praise of Trump earns his ‘star’ label
Associated Press 9 hrs ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. surgeon general caught the eye of Donald Trump in a tried-and-true way: praising the 45th president on television.
At a recent briefing with his coronavirus task force standing behind him, Trump turned to Dr. Jerome Adams and declared the previously low-profile 20th surgeon general among the administration’s “stars” to emerge from this crisis.
“I watched him the other day. It was such a fantastic job you did, and I really appreciate it,” Trump said.
Trump didn’t specify what media appearance he was referring to. But during the span of a few days, Adams had said that Trump sleeps less than he does but was in better health, echoed Trump’s argument that most Americans should be more worried about the seasonal flu than the new virus and defended the Republican president’s claim that Democratic lawmakers’ politicization of the crisis was, in Trump’s words, a “new hoax.”
At the same news conference where Trump praised him, Adams scolded the media for “bickering” and “partisanship” in their coverage of the administration’s missteps.
“No more criticism or finger-pointing,” Adams said…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/surgeon-general-s-tv-praise-of-trump-earns-his-star/article_ab9de036-4caf-5556-8e8f-cc9023441ccf.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
241,000 possible job losses in Indiana within three months. I can’t think of the misery.
[NWI Times] Possible 15% unemployment in Indiana from COVID-19
Mar 20, 2020 Updated 1 hr ago
A new study by a Ball State University economist projects Indiana’s 3.1% unemployment rate could soar to 10% over the next six weeks, and approach 15% by mid-June, due to government imposed “social distancing” measures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.
The study, led by Michael Hicks, director of BSU’s Center for Business and Economic Research, also estimates social distancing — such as closing retailers, restaurants, entertainment and other public gathering spaces — will reduce Indiana’s gross state product by 0.4% over 45 days, and 0.7% in 90 days.
Hicks said the job losses over three months could affect 241,000 Hoosiers and 21 million unemployed workers nationwide.
“These are likely very conservative estimates, yet it argues that job losses in March, April, May and June may be the four largest in U.S. history, topping the 1.9 million jobs lost in the weeks following (the end of World War II) in September 1945,” Hicks said…
https://www.nwitimes.com/business/jobs-and-employment/possible-unemployment-in-indiana-from-covid/article_9588de28-1525-5391-aca0-c0748b35d943.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
But everything is just fine. Just ask Dr. Trump and his worshipers.
Coronavirus testing faces new challenge as key supplies run low
03/21/20
…The involvement of commercial labs has vastly increased testing capacity in the U.S., but now they are running into the same problems facing public health labs: There aren’t enough reagents, swabs, pipettes and other supplies that are crucial to the testing process.
As the coronavirus spreads worldwide, those products are in increasingly high demand.
“The fact is the demand for testing has really created a run on everything associated with tests,” said Michael Fraser, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, which represents state public health agencies. “What we’re hearing from states is they’re running out of reagents, and they’re not going to be able to test everybody.”
As a result, states and municipalities have had to impose strict criteria on who is eligible for testing, meaning it is generally reserved for health professionals in direct contact with coronavirus patients, people who are hospitalized, and older Americans who have symptoms and are most at risk for death or severe illness.
But states like Ohio have already run out of reagents, Fraser said. States are also struggling to find swabs, which are used to collect samples from patients.
Governors say they are struggling to get the help they need from Washington.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) told reporters Friday that his state received notice the previous day from the federal government that its requests for reagents and swabs are on an “indefinite backlog” with no timeline for delivery…
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/488752-coronavirus-testing-faces-new-challenge-as-key
Republicans CAN’T get over the need to fund corporations nor keep them from doing another buy back of their stocks. This I find infuriating. PEOPLE NEED HELP NOW!!!
……………………
Coronavirus stimulus talks face make-or-break moment
03/22/20
…A source familiar with the GOP bill text said Republicans are “refusing to add strong worker protections” and have included language requiring companies keep employees “to the extent possible.”
Democrats worry the language is vague enough that corporations could take federal help and still fire workers.
The GOP bill, according to the source, also increases a “corporate bailout fund” to $500 billion. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo(R-Idaho) had pushed to increase the $208 billion proposed in the original GOP plan to ensure distressed industries have access to capital.
A Democratic aide confirmed the change, characterizing the bill as currently drafted as a “non-starter.”
“We cannot stop Republicans and the Trump administration from behaving irresponsibly, but we can block irresponsible legislation that is a giveaway to Trump’s favored industries at the expense of working Americans,” the aide added.
Democrats also wanted strong restrictions on corporations who take federal help, but the source said the GOP bill included “very weak” stock buyback restrictions that could be waived by Mnuchin…
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/488865-coronavirus-stimulus-talks-face-make-or-break-moment
Dr. Trump is doing a fantastic job of containing the virus. /s We don’t even know how many are infected. How much will have to happen before Trump’s followers realize that this is something to be concerned about and NOT fake news/?
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Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening with COVID-19 on Sunday in the Chicago area
MAR 22, 2020 | 2:40 PM
Before the order took effect Saturday evening, state officials announced another coronavirus-related death, a Cook County man in his 70s. It’s the state’s sixth death associated with COVID-19. State officials reported 168 new cases of the virus, bringing the total since the start of the outbreak to 753.
Nationwide, there were 26,747 cases and 340 deaths as the U.S. overlook Germanyas the country with the fourth-highest number of cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, nearly 312,000 people have been infected and over 13,400 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University…
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-pandemic-chicago-illinois-news-20200321-4c2y77ijgzhlbj7mpkxq4takpy-story.html
Curious about what was happening in Russia because the U.S. media is all but ignoring Russia, I did a bit of research last week and discovered that Putin is responding to the COVID-10 outbreak very much like Trump is, but Putin is having more success with his lies and denial because Putin control the media in Russia.
Putin says he has it under control (just like Trump keeps saying), but Russian doctors speaking off the record allege that Putin is hiding the deaths by forcing them to write on death certificates that the deaths were caused by pneumonia and not the virus. The virus is not mentioned.
Death by pneumonia on death certificates in Russia has increased by more than 30 percent (over expected averages) since the pandemic exploded out of China.
…But in recent days, as U.S. health officials have raised growing concerns about the outbreak, Trump’s efforts to play down the pandemic have been amplified by the same multi-platform propaganda apparatus he’s relying on for reelection in November. From the White House communications office to the MAGA meme warriors of Instagram, from the prime-time partisans on Fox News to the Trump campaign’s Facebook feed, the overarching message has been the same: Pay no attention to the fake-news fear mongering about the coronavirus. It’s all political hype. Things are going great.
Urgent Messages from Italians in Coronavirus Quarantine
Mar 16, 2020
Terrified residents of Italian cities record messages to themselves 10 days ago, when the pandemic hadn’t yet killed 1,809 people and infected more than 24,000 across the country. The messages serve as a disturbing warning from the future—especially for the United States, which is expected to be just a week behind Italy in the progression of the novel coronavirus.
Alleged Results from 2020 election:
Trump loses the popular vote by 3.8 million instead of his 2.7 million popular vote loss in 2016 after 1.1 million Americans die from COVID-19 pandemic.
President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested health care workers sanitize and reuse masks when treating coronavirus patients, rather than “throwing away” masks that are in short supply.
“I have to tell you, the throwing away of the masks, being in private business, the throwing away of the mask right away, they’re throwing it away,” Trump said during Saturday’s White House coronavirus briefing.
Suggesting that health care workers instead clean and reuse the masks, the President said: “We have very good liquids for doing this, sanitizing the masks, and that that’s something they’re starting to do more and more. They’re sanitizing the masks.”
It is unclear which type of mask the President was describing, but US Food and Drug Administration guidelines for the common N95 respirator masks state they “should not be shared or reused.”
Neither the FDA nor Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines suggest the possibility of sanitizing masks for safe reuse.
During the briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cautioned that hospitals should consult the CDC’s guidelines for extended use and limited reuse of N95 masks. But Fauci, a doctor for the National Institutes of Health for more than 50 years, did not discount the idea of reuse.
“There are CDC guidances about how you can minimize the use of masks by different things that you could do with testing and when you have masks, how you might reuse them, which ones you can reuse,” Fauci said.
In fact, the CDC’s guidance on coronavirus does mention “limited re-use of facemasks,” but cautions “it is unknown what the potential for contact transmission is” for coronavirus. It also states that “not all facemasks can be re-used”
At a briefing with his coronavirus task force on March 21, President Trump said “sanitizing the masks” is something that is starting to be done “more and more.”
https://wapo.st/3dlBJze