"Remember when we were locked down and we all said we need to use the time to suppress the virus and put infrastructure in place? Testing, tracing, ppe and all sorts of stuff to keep it from coming back. We did none of those things and then the CDC issued guidelines on how to open safely. But Trump pushed states to ignore those guidelines, which many did and they reopened too early. And now, what do we have? We have a curve that looks like this. (See graphic). Unlike anywhere else in the world the virus is on a huge upward spike in this country, setting records with the number of cases nearly every day. ..Cases are increasing in 38 states and we've now seen more deaths than anywhere else in the world.
All the while this president has been focused on one thing, his re-election. He believes that depends on economic growth and getting back to normal. So now Trump, his administration and the Republicans are out pushing the message so hard that 'things are good and we're moving in the right direction'. But it is so preposterous that even Trump TV is not buying it.
I mean, there's 130,000 people dead, it's a burning garbage fire. A bit hard to sell that message. Yet, instead of dealing with the virus this president pushed everyone to reopen to get the economy restarted. So jobs could come back and he could get his growth and get re-elected. And so he is doing the same thing with schools right now.
There are a long list of problems that need to be solved before schools can reopen, but the president is incapable of solving them. He just wants them to reopen so people can go back to work. So things can be normal and he can get re-elected. And he actually threatened to cut off funding if they do not reopen. Also today he said he disagreed with the CDC guidelines for opening the schools. So he's now pushing the CDC to override their own guidelines.
So if I've got that right, we don't want the guidance of the nation's top health agency on how to stay safe in a pandemic to be the reason why we don't send our kids to school, while we're suffering from the worst outbreak in the world. So the president will tell them to change the guidance. And it's not the first time he's done that. He did it back in April and May when he didn't like the CDC reopening guidance for business. He even pressured governors to ignore that guidance, just like he pushed the CDC to change their guidance for reopening churches. And now he's not happy with the CDC guidance on schools.
So what do you think is going to happen? Look, the last person in the world you can trust right now with the safety of your kids is Donald Trump. Not only because he's willing to change or ignore scientific guidelines to keep Americans safe, or because he's threatening to cut off funds for schools - when what they need is a massive amount of money- for all the changes needed in order to safely bring back students.
But also because the best laid plans are not going to survive first contact with an outbreak. This is the fundamental problem for everything right now, from elementary school to the NBA. Other countries suppressed the virus and kept it suppressed. We NEVER did that! And now we're trying to figure out how to live in a burning building, as opposed to putting the fire out. It's not going to work."
- Chris Hayes intro on 'All In' last night
All you need to know about the metastasizing pandemic nightmare we find ourselves in can be gleaned from Chris Hayes' superb summary - from his introductory remarks on All In- in tandem wit the WSJ graphic above. Look at it, interpret it, read Hayes' words... and weep. This is the gutter stage of hopelessness and incompetent response we're been brought to by Trump the White Trash Traitor. An infernal maggot, who as Chris Hayes has observed, is solely occupied with his re-election not the lives he was supposed to protect on taking his oath of his office. Putting all the unsavory aspects together it now appears we may not be able to get control of this virus until we get rid of the human virus - Trump.
It now appears the virus wreaking havoc is airborne and, if so, it means even more stringent procedures will be needed if the U.S. is to return to any kind of normality. It also means we will have to get rid of Trump - the new virus ally - as soon as feasible. Chris Hayes summary of Trump's total feckless response and aggression in the cause of making more virus cases- makes that abundantly clear. Put simply, we cannot expect the ship of state (the U.S.)to be steered through this Covid storm if the captain is drunk, demented and devoid of any moral character.
Some of the recent headlines that indicates Trump is part of the problem, not the solution:
WSJ, July 8, p. A3: 'White House Wants Classes To Open In Fall'
WSJ, July 8, p. A1, 'Trump To Pull U.S. Out Of WHO'
Washington Post:
Retail workers are being pulled into the latest culture war: Getting customers to wear masks
Mixed messaging and politicization have turned a public health safeguard into a lightning-rod issue. As a result, workers have been berated, even assaulted, by aggressive anti-maskers.
Trump Criticizes CDC Guidelines for Reopening Schools - WSJ
The preceding is a sampling of how the "great" leader is working at cross purposes to the welfare of the American people amidst this once -in -a -century pandemic. Faced with a severe test of rationality and intellect, Trump has failed miserably, even telling the atrocious lie that "ninety-nine percent of cases are harmless". As if dealing with him alone is bad enough, we must now also deal with his verminous, brain-fucked followers as the WaPo piece about aggression by anti-maskers reveals. And Trump set these loons and baboons to such actions, i.e. beating up workers -even some health, frontline workers - because Trump shunned masks as "unmanly' and these mindless minions do as well.
This is why Dr. Joseph Varon at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center decided to allow direct filming of scenes inside an ICU - as televised on Maddow last night. In an interview later he explained he hoped by actually seeing these scenes of what front line medical staff are doing, people will drop the infernal (and idiotic) belief that it's all a "hoax" or "Plandemic". Yes, the scenes were intense and they will surely be able to achieve that end, but only for those with IQs over 100. Meanwhile, masked patrons - on seeing the unmasked scofflaws running amuck at assorted businesses - may simply decide to stop patronizing them. So you can pretty well chalk up many more Chapter 11 filings, and more economic devastation. After all, in the end any economy prospers only at the whim of public confidence.
Clearly then, with his mixed messaging (or none at all) we cannot afford to have a maggot of the malignant dimensions of Trump steering us out of the morass we're in - and all because of him. As Chris Hayes said last night: "This is not a test you can get anyone else to sit for you."
Indeed, and especially given this test - which has now seen national failure on all fronts - as hospitals from Houston to Miami are overrun (WSJ, 'Coronavirus Cases Are Surging Amid Strains On Hospitals', June 30), and supplies again have to be rationed as medical workers burn out. Where is Trump? Making every dimension worse! This is particularly unsettling given we now have evidence that this virus is of an airborne variety which means rates of transmission are likely to go ever higher if we don't get our act together, and that includes testing and contact tracing. In regard to the former, we are currently doing 700,000 tests a day and it should be 3-4 million a day according to Dr. Ashish Jha of Harvard's School of Global Health. Worse, some people are having to wait in line up to 8 hours to get a test, and then up to 7 days or more to get the result. This makes the test all but useless because in the interim said person can be reinfected.
What about the airborne aspect? According to demonstrations using sophisticated videos tracking a sneeze, cough or loud talk, the airborne droplets could spread as far as 9 feet in a closed space and last an average of 1.5 minutes and up to 12 minutes. See e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDE5J7og_xM
And:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/14/science/coronavirus-transmission-cough-6-feet-ar-ul.html
The preceding videos and demonstrations may help to explain the exponential increase in cases since Memorial Day and now the 4th (and again, I remind readers it's the cases with sick patients needing special care that will overrun hospital ICUs, not deaths) . Indeed, any large gathering for any reason will be subject to the virus particles in droplets shot out by super spreaders, talking loud, laughing, or coughing - who are not visibly ill themselves.
The separation between what is referred to as ‘airborne spread’ and ‘droplet spread’ is really a spectrum,” especially when talking about relatively small distances, says Joshua Santarpia, an associate professor of pathology and microbiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Airborne spread has also been hypothesized for other deadly coronaviruses, including the ones that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). A handful of studies suggest the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, can exist as an aerosol in health care settings. But all the incoming evidence now indicates this is real and the latest aspect we need to treat seriously.
To put it bluntly, the coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby.
If airborne transmission is a significant factor in the pandemic, especially in crowded spaces with poor ventilation, the consequences for containment will be significant. Masks may be needed indoors, even in socially-distant settings. Health care workers may need N95 masks that filter out even the smallest respiratory droplets as they care for coronavirus patients.
Ventilation systems in schools, nursing homes, residences and businesses will need to minimize recirculating air and add powerful new (HEPA) filters. Ultraviolet lights may be needed to kill viral particles floating in tiny droplets indoors. All this will cost money and Trump and his Repuke enablers have no intention of providing any.
In an open letter last week to the W.H.O., 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations. The researchers plan to publish their letter in a scientific journal, and by then perhaps the WHO will accept the proof.
What's the WHO's problem? Mainly too little funding coupled with too large a portfolio and a tendency to operate in glaciation mode when new evidence emerges (Which can be counterproductive in a pandemic). The infection prevention and control committee in particular, is bound by a rigid and overly medicalized view of scientific evidence, is slow and risk-averse in updating its guidance and allows a few conservative voices to shout down dissent.
What all this means also is that Trump in his ignorance and yen to put re-election above all else, is actively trying to kill tens of thousands more of our countrymen with his reckless directives, pressures and autocratic B.S. Like ordering the CDC to revise its rules for reopening schools, as well as pushing public schools to reopen without proper systems in place. Is there a way to rationally get through this waking nightmare without killing ourselves and the economy too? Yes, and the basis was given in a superb WSJ piece yesterday, e.g.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-japan-beat-coronavirus-without-lockdowns-11594163172
Noting how this was achieved by focus on contact tracing (specifically retrospective tracing) and 'cluster busting'.. However, to implement this plan requires leaders of intelligence, courage and skill which alas, the current crop in power (starting at the top with Trump) lack. Hence, I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel until we first dispense with Donald Trump.
See Also:
And:
Surge in hospitalizations strains hospitals in several states
And:
by William Rivers Pitt | July 9, 2020 - 6:16am |
And:
Excerpt:
Donald Trump thinks his voters are morons. This universal truth was once again demonstrated this week by a Facebook ad working Trump's new statue-oriented campaign strategy. The ad declared, "WE WILL PROTECT THIS" and featured a photo of ... no, not some racist-loser Confederate general astride a horse but "Cristo Redentor," the famous statue of Jesus Christ that sits atop Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, which, for those keeping track, is not in the United States but in Brazil, a sovereign nation in a different continent.
It's small story in the grand scheme of things, but one that illustrates yet again that Trump doesn't really see Republican voters or politicians as fellow travelers, allies or even really as a "base" to whom he owes fealty. Trump sees Republicans primarily as marks, to be fleeced for all they're worth and then abandoned the second he sees no value in them. Trump's burning hatred for any American who didn't vote for him is well documented, but just as true and just as disturbing is his utter disregard for the lives or well-being of people who did support him, and continue to do so.
