COVID19 Update - Day 21

US Tests: 1,048,971
US Cases: 184,770
US Deaths: 3,746
Worldwide Cases: 858,785
Worldwide Deaths: 42,139

Trump continues to kill people:

President Trump: "We are holding back quite a bit. We have almost 10,000 ventilators."

He said the federal govt has to hold back ventilators because the "surge" will be "strong."

Note: Governors in NY, NJ, Montana & elsewhere have been urging Trump to send ventilators asap.

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 31, 2020

And not only that --- he's doing it to feed his ego: 

Trump said last week that he is inclined not to speak with anyone who is insufficiently appreciative of his administration’s efforts. He has touted his personal relationships with several governors while also declaring that the federal government won’t be “a shipping clerk” for local officials who seek help in obtaining masks, ventilators and other critical supplies. States should buy the materials themselves, he said.

“All I want them to do — very simple — I want them to be appreciative,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true. I want them to be appreciative. We’ve done a great job."

Or for political advantage:

One White House official said Trump is attuned to the electoral importance of Florida in November, giving added weight to the arguments DeSantis has made to the administration that his state’s economy should reopen as soon as possible.

“The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection, so when DeSantis says that, it means a lot,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank. “He pays close attention to what Florida wants.”

On the personal side, I'm still feeling healthy, so I'll be giving blood tomorrow --- a double set of red cells (or whatever the appropriate description is).  I'll be interested to see how the experience is different now.  After that, I'll be hitting Target, Costco, and the local grocery to stock up before coming home to remain for the next week-plus.

I'm fortunate that I'm not sick, and I haven't yet heard of anyone I know personally testing positive, either.  Fingers crossed.

 

COVID19 Update - Day 20

US Tests: 945,793
US Cases: 160,530
US Deaths: 2,941
Worldwide Cases: 777,286
Worldwide Deaths: 37,582

Trump continues to be an inept dick, slamming reporters for asking perfectly valid questions, and bringing sycophants like Mike Lindell, CEO of something called MyPillow, who literally thanked God that Trump is president.

He also made an effort to set the bar low enough that even he can get over it, proclaiming that if 'only' 200,000 Americans die (more than the number of soldiers killed in Vietnam and WWI combined), then he will have done a very good job.

Mind you, this is coming from a man who, less than five weeks ago, confidently predicted that the number of cases in the U.S. would soon be 'close to zero'.

On the personal side, sheltering-in-place continues without incident.  I'm still feeling healthy, and so I'm planning to donate blood on Wednesday.

Otherwise, the weather in Minnesota is getting nicer.  I went for a walk for about an hour today, and for a few minutes I was actually uncomfortably warm.  It was nice.

COVID19 Update - Day 19

US Tests: 766,761
US Cases: 122,157
US Deaths: 2,056
Worldwide Cases: 713,171
Worldwide Deaths: 33,597

Not to sound like a broken record, but ---

Trump is incompetent:

Trump is blaming Obama for lack of Personal Protective Equipment to combat the coronavirus, but his administration sent tons of vital US supplies to China.

. . .

According to a press release from the State Department, the US gave 17.8 tons of supplies including ventilators and masks to China.

Trump is deliberately withholding aid from states:

In Massachusetts, where there are major outbreaks around Boston and in the state’s western Berkshire County, only 17 percent of requested resources have been shipped out. Maine has received about 5 percent of what it has requested, and Colorado has received about a day’s worth of supplies, according to the Post.

On Sunday, Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appeared on Meet the Press to say that her state received 112,000 masks from the national stockpile Saturday, but that even with that number, “We’re going to be in dire straits again in a matter of days.”

President Donald Trump has been critical of Whitmer’s requests for aid, and her criticism of his administration’s response, referring to her as “the woman in Michigan.” By contrast, he has praised Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, where Trump resides, and that state has received multiple shipments of everything it has requested, and is awaiting another, according to FEMA data.

Trump is an abomination.  He will get one thing we wants, however: He will always be remembered in our history --- albeit as a corrupt, stupid villain.

I'm glad I spent an enjoyable weekend with my kids, because reality is horrifying, and it's only going to get worse.  The lone bright spot at the moment is that apparently COVID19-related deaths in the U.S. are up only slightly from yesterday --- a mere 4.6%.  Unfortunately, I suspect that's just a delay in reporting, and so we'll an unusually large spike in reported deaths tomorrow.

Stay home, stay safe, maintain social distance.

COVID19 Update - Day 18

US Tests: 735,704
US Cases: 118,234
US Deaths: 1,965
Worldwide Cases: 659,367
Worldwide Deaths: 30,652

You may be asking: What happened to the update for Day 17?  Well, I'm pleased to report that I had something better to do yesterday.  Specifically, after a fairly tough day 'at work' (this is, working from home, but working fairly hard), my kids came over and we had a Breaking Bad marathon.

And we had a fairly wonderful day today as well, staying home and not interacting with anyone.  We watched even MORE Breaking Bad, AND we played Clue, AND we played video games.  And for roughly 24 hours now, I haven't thought about the pandemic and its attendant horrors much at all.

And I won't.  I'm taking a break from reality (but not from responsibility!  I wiped down my groceries after I brought them home yesterday; we didn't leave the house today; we're still being responsible), because I desperately need it, and we're fortunate enough that no one in our family is sick yet.

Reality will intrude again soon enough.

COVID19 Update - Day 16

US Tests: 519,338
US Cases: 80,735
US Deaths: 1,163
Worldwide Cases: 526,044
Worldwide Deaths: 23,709

For those of you keeping track at home, that's a 27.4% increase in confirmed cases since yesterday, and a 31.1% increase in deaths.  From the time of the first confirmed case in the US, it took more than 2 months for the death total to break 1,000.

We are virtually guaranteed to climb to more than 2,000 deaths in the next two days.  That's exponential growth for you.

According to Johns Hopkins, the United States now has more confirmed cases of COVID19 than any other country in the world.  And our total of 80,735 is almost certainly too low, because we still don't have enough tests.

Heckuva job, Trumpie.

The Senate finally passed a coronavirus relief bill.  The House is expected to pass it tomorrow.  Why in the flaming hell do we have to wait until tomorrow?

Apparently Trump gave another news conference.  Apparently it was embarrassing, as usual.  It would be nice to just ignore the guy, but, like a malignant tumor, ignoring him is hazardous to your health.

No personal news of note to share.  I got outside and took a walk today.  The weather is FINALLY warming up in Minnesota.  What a shame the virus has cast a gloom over everything.

COVID19 - BONUS Update! - Day 15

I just saw this map, and thought it was worth sharing.  It has projections for the severity of the disease for all 50 states, given different response levels:

https://covidactnow.org/

COVID Update - Day 15

US Tests: 418,810
US Cases: 63,375
US Deaths: 887
Worldwide Cases: 466,955
Worldwide Deaths: 21,162

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. jumped 22% since yesterday.  The number of deaths jumped 31%.  It's certain that the death total in the U.S. will break 1,000 tomorrow.

Today, the pandemic reached a critical point in New York City.  Hospitals there are on the brink of being overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, and one hospital saw 13 coronavirus deaths in one day:

Elmhurst, a 545-bed public hospital in Queens, has begun transferring patients not suffering from coronavirus to other facilities as it moves toward becoming one dedicated entirely to the outbreak. Doctors and nurses have struggled to make do with a few dozen ventilators. Calls over a loudspeaker of “Team 700,” the code for when a patient is on the verge of death, come several times a shift. Some have died inside the emergency room while waiting for a bed.

A refrigerated truck has been stationed outside to hold the bodies of the dead. Over the past 24 hours, New York City’s public hospital system said in a statement, 13 people at Elmhurst had died.

“It’s apocalyptic,” said Dr. Bray, 27, a general medicine resident at the hospital.

Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Expect things to get much, much worse.  Not only in New York, but everywhere.

Meanwhile, our nominal Commander in Chief still hasn't invoked the Defense Production Act, thus guaranteeing that there won't be anything close to adequate supplies of PPE or ventilators.  People will die, sometimes horribly, as a result.

Additionally, Congress STILL hasn't passed emergency legislation for economic relief and support to medical professionals, in part because, well ---

In a statement, Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said the bill could provide a "strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work" because some people could theoretically make more by being unemployed.

Yep, that's the concern.  In the midst of the greatest crisis America has experienced since 2001, Republicans want to make sure that low-income wage-earners have the proper incentives to keep doing their jobs.  As if simply wanting to keep the job isn't incentive enough.  As if no one who earns less than $40,000 a year takes pride in their work.

As if, even if their concerns weren't completely ridiculous, this is sufficient justification to hold up the bill.

On a personal note --- the Governor of Minnesota finally issued a statewide shelter-in-place order.  Honestly, I don't really understand how this is any different from the way things have been for the past week and a half.  But that's news, anyway.

I don't yet know anyone who has the virus, or who has lost their job.  I do know one woman whose hours have been cut back to 3 days a week.

Fingers crossed that the number of new cases and deaths peaks soon.

COVID19 Update - Day 14

US Tests: 344,728
US Cases: 51,970
US Deaths: 675
Worldwide Cases: 417,966
Worldwide Deaths: 18,615

One week ago, the United States accounted for 5,923 confirmed cases out of 197,133 worldwide --- about 3%.

Today, the United States accounts for 12.4% of confirmed cases worldwide.  Which means the virus is spreading here more rapidly than just about anywhere else.

One week ago, the United States accounted for 100 deaths out of 7,905 worldwide, or about 1.27%.

Today, the United States accounts for 3.63% of all COVID19 deaths worldwide.

This is what exponential growth is.  It means things will get much worse before they get better.

And the sub-literate moron who sits in the White House (still!  Despite it being obvious for months that he's incompetent and dangerous) is babbling about opening up the country by Easter --- which is just 19 days away.

The number of confirmed cases in the US has been doubling every 2-3 days.  Which means --- unless we get very lucky and things change --- we can expect 3.2 MILLION confirmed cases by the time Easter gets here (and at least 11,000 deaths).

As usual, Idiot Boy can only ever think about how this affects him:

Usually we’ll have 50 governors that will call it the same time. I think we are doing very well. But it’s a two-way street. They have to treat us well, also. They can’t say, 'Oh, gee, we should get this, we should get that.' We’re doing a great job. 

He's completely oblivious to the fact the he's the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and as such, his job is to PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

Not just the people in the red MAGA hats.  Not just the people who treat him well.  Everyone.  No exceptions.

Completely unfit for office.  From day one.

I'm so torqued about this completely self-absorbed and whiny baboon, I can hardly bring myself to talk about the personal side of the pandemic tonight.

And you know what: it doesn't matter.  Nothing interesting happened to me anyway.  Just wrap your mind around the fact that this will get very real, very soon.  People you know will die from the vrius, because people you DON'T know were too ignorant of selfish to do the things required to prevent it.  There's a lot of blame to go around, and it starts at the top.

COVID19 Update - Day 13

US Tests: 279,485
US Cases: 42,164
US Deaths: 471
Worldwide Cases: 378,287
Worldwide Deaths: 16,497

The Idiot in Chief continues to do idiotic things:

On Monday, Trump began sending retweets that seem to be encouraging an end to strong social distancing measures after the current 15-day period, despite concern from public health officials that it won't be long enough to blunt the worst of the coronavirus.

Remarkably, Trump (and the uncredentials know-nothings he chooses to retweet) still don't seem to fully grasp the seriousness of the situation.  In one week, the number of COVID19 deaths in the U.S. has jumped from 71 to 471 (a 660% increase), and the number of confirmed cases has jumped from 4,018 to 42,164 (a 1050% increase).  If the disease keeps spreading at this rate, then by the time Idiot Boy wants to drop all social distancing and reopen the economy for business on March 30, we'll be at 442,460 cases and 3,124 deaths --- and opening things up again will ACCELERATE the pain and death!

Idiot Boy still refuses to invoke the Defense Production Act in order to make sure there are enough gloves, masks, tests and ventilators.  And really, at this point, it's too late to ever have ENOUGH of them.  But every day he waits will eventually add a few thousand to the final death toll.

But at least he has a completely ghoulish reason for holding off:

Shortly after announcing he would be invoking the Defense Production Act, the White House received pushback from business leaders who expressed concern that the act which could cause major unforeseen problems, including profit loss.

Even when the lives of thousands, possibly millions of Americans are at stake, Trump never forgets his top priority: maximizing profits.

And not to be a broken record, but Senate Republicans are just as bad.  Instead of passing the bipartisan coronavirus relief bill passed by the House TEN DAYS AGO, they passed their own bill which, among other things, includes $500 billion for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to spend however he likes:

As Senate Democrats went to the floor Sunday night to vote — the first time they’d been there in days — they had one thing on their minds: a secret “slush fund” for Corporate America.

That’s what Democrats are calling a $500 billion “Exchange Stabilization Fund” included in the massive Senate GOP proposal to rescue the U.S. economy from the coronavirus crisis. The fund, which would come under the control of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is designed to aid distressed industries. It includes $58 billion for U.S. airline and air cargo companies, a source of significant controversy during the last three days of closed-door talks between senators of both parties and the White House.

But the language drafted by Senate Republicans also allows Mnuchin to withhold the names of the companies that receive federal money and how much they get for up to six months if he so decides.

No personal news worth sharing today.  Still working from home, still bored.  But I'm feeling healthy, and so I scheduled an appointment to give blood next Wednesday.

COVID19 Update - Day 12

US Tests: 225,374
US Cases: 31,888
US Deaths: 398
Worldwide Cases: 331,273
Worldwide Deaths: 14,490

I was afraid to post this update, because I knew the numbers were going to be bad.  But I was stunned to see how bad they actually are.

Since yesterday, there has been a 26% increase in tests, a 37% increase in reported cases, and a staggering 46% increase in reported fatalities in the U.S.!

In one day.

Please point this out to anyone who still insists that this is no big deal, or that we're overreacting.  It seems almost certain that before this is all over, the death toll --- just in the U.S., mind you --- will be well over 1 million.

If anything, Trump and the rest of the idiot caucus (the GOP) are underreacting:

"No. We haven't yet," Gaynor replied when asked on CNN's "State of the Union" if the Trump administration has ordered any companies to make critical medical supplies needed on the front lines of the coronavirus fight.

The FEMA chief insisted that donations and voluntary offers of assistance from companies are presently sufficient. "It's happening without using that lever," he explained, adding, "If it comes to a point we have to pull the lever, we will."

It's pretty simple.  There is a dire, life-or-death need for personal protective equipment (gloves and masks, abbreviated PPE) for the medical professionals fighting the virus; for tests which can identify infected individuals, and ventilators for the very sickest.  The whole point of the Defense Production Act is to make sure that in times of crisis, America has the supplies it needs.

What possible reason is there for Trump NOT to invoke the DPA?  And why, rather than acting like, I don't know, a Commander in Chief, is Trump delegating all responsibility for crisis management to the governors --- some who are responding well, others not --- to compete with each other for supplies?  If Trump's actions aren't the result of sheer incompetence, then they can only be corrupt somehow.

On the personal side, I made the 6-hour round trip voyage with my son today, to clean out his dorm room in Morris, MN.  It was fairly uneventful, although it was a bit somber, for me anyway.  This is certainly not the time or circumstances under which I saw myself moving my son out after his first year of college.  Ordinarily, there might be kind of a party atmosphere, as all of the students say their summer goodbyes.  I might have been able to meet some of Nik's friends and their parents, and exchange a few stories about the year just completed, and look forward to next year.

But there was none of that.  The campus intentionally staggered the times for students to clean out their rooms, so there were very few other people there.  There was no sense of community and celebration.  There were no introductions, no goodbyes, no hugs, no handshakes.  Everyone scrupulously practiced social distancing.

And of course, if this is the worst consequence I personally have to deal with from COVID19, I know I should consider myself lucky.  But it was a stark reminder of the times we're now in.

COVID19 Update - Day 11

US Tests: 179,220
US Cases: 23,203
US Deaths: 272
Worldwide Cases: 304,528
Worldwide Deaths: 12,973

UPDATE: Jesus Christ!  Trump STILL hasn't invoked the Defense Production Act!  This is an impeachable offense!  PEOPLE ARE DYING!

The key thing I want to focus on today is exactly how badly Congress and the Trump administration have bungled their response to COVID19:

Taken together, the reports and warnings painted an early picture of a virus that showed the characteristics of a globe-encircling pandemic that could require governments to take swift actions to contain it. But despite that constant flow of reporting, Trump continued publicly and privately to play down the threat the virus posed to Americans. Lawmakers, too, did not grapple with the virus in earnest until this month, as officials scrambled to keep citizens in their homes and hospitals braced for a surge in patients suffering from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The effects of the virus in the U.S. will be much more far-reaching and severe than they would have been if we had competent leadership.  There aren't enough tests, there isn't enough personal protective equipment for medical personnel, and there aren't enough ventilators for everyone who is likely to need them.  And by abdicating his position as national leader, and leaving the heavy lifting to individual state governors, Trump has allowed the disease to flourish in places like Florida:

For much of this week, revelers continued to cram four and five to a hotel room, swarm beaches over hundreds of miles of coastline, and then gather shoulder-to-shoulder in bars and clubs – almost a model process for spreading contagious diseases.

Now, with their campuses likely shuttered, most spring breakers will return to hometowns across the country where any exposure to coronavirus could set off a contagion, public-health experts warned. They called for greater vigilance in those communities and sharply criticized Florida authorities for their slowness in closing beaches and nightspots.

It only takes someone who has been paying casual attention to the news --- like myself --- to identify the myriad lapses in the adminstration's response; lapses WHICH WILL COST LIVES.  Every day he is allowed to continue his 'leadership', the higher the final death count will be.  Yet members of his administration continue the charade of pretending that Trump actually knows what he's doing.

It's maddening.

On the personal side, I engaged in my first social activities since the emphasis on social distancing began.  First, I went on a hike on a number of people from my meetup group.  It was outdoors, we were all asymptomatic, and we kept a decent distance from one another the whole time.

See how far apart we are?  Social distancing!

The other social thing I did today was I had a virtual 'happy hour' on Zoom.  I have a feeling that kind of meetup will become more and more frequent over the next weeks and months.

COVID19 Update - Day 10

US Tests: 135,185
US Cases: 17,038
US Deaths: 219
Worldwide Cases: 272,351
Worldwide Deaths: 11,310

This is going to be a brief update today.

I finished my first full week working from home.  It was a bit of a challenge to remain focused on work.  On the other hand, I guess I should count myself lucky --- a lot of people are already losing their jobs as the economy shuts down.

There was some speculation today that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would issue a 'shelter in place' order, similar to the ones now in effect in New York and California.  Fortunately that hasn't happened yet; it would have complicated my planned trip out to Morris on Sunday to clean out my son's college dorm room.

I have a Meetup planned for tomorrow to go on a hike with people.  It sounds like that's still going to happen.  I'm looking forward to it, and it should be within the limits of social distancing --- it's outdoors, there will be relatively few of us, and I'm confident everyone will give everyone else plenty of space.

Meanwhile, there has been talk recently of having virtual meetups on Zoom.  It sounds like a nice alternative to isolation.  We'll see.

On a national scale, Republicans continue to find new ways to be some of the worst people on the planet:

• Trump threw a temper tantrum during a press conference.
• It appears that a couple of Republican Senators realized that the pandemic was serious enough to cash out of the stock market before it crashed, but didn't bother to wave the red flag for their constituents or prevail upon Trump to drop his happy talk.
• In more practical matters, Senate Republicans finally offered their alternative to the relied legislation passed by House Democrats more than a week ago, and because they're Republicans, they went out of their way to screw the poor.

It is truly remarkable --- like the Democrats' package, the Republican bill includes cash payments to many Americans, but the poorest Americans are left out because --- well, it's not really clear.

An early analysis showed the vast majority of middle class people would receive the cash payment, but the percentage doing so falls dramatically toward the bottom of the income distribution. About 22 million people earning under $40,000 a year would see no benefit under the GOP plan, according to an initial analysis by Ernie Tedeschi, a former Obama administration economist.

 It's times like these when it would be tremendously helpful to have some actual leadership in Washington.

COVID19 Update - Day 9

US Tests: 100,920
US Cases: 11,723
US Deaths: 160
Worldwide Cases: 242,726
Worldwide Deaths: 9,870

Today, we saw a 36% increase in tests administered, but a 51% increases in new cases.  Which means (unfortunately), that the increase in new cases isn't solely attributable to increased testing.

Things are still rapidly getting worse.

I'll report the personal news first today, although there isn't much to tell.  My alma mater, Grinnell College, officially cancelled its reunion today.  The reunion was scheduled to occur the weekend of May 29, which means Grinnell believes there will still be a need for social distancing 10 weeks from now.  Unfortunately, I expect they're right.

In other college-related news, the University of Minnesota at Morris has informed all of its students that they have a week to return to campus to clean out their dorm rooms, since the campus is shutting down for the year (like most colleges, they will continue courses via distance learning).  Students have to sign up for a specific 2-hour window to retrieve their belongings, to prevent crowding.  We were lucky enough to get a time slot for Sunday.

Today was also my son's birthday.  Hopefully this will all be but a distant memory when his next one comes around.

Now to document the atrocities ---

Trump had another press conference today.  I don't know why he keeps having them, since he has no clue what he's talking about, and he presents tons of misleading information.  Today in particular, 'he left the misleading impression that [two] drugs were “approved” to treat the coronavirus and available for “immediate delivery.”

One of them, chloroquine, is an anti-malaria drug, and no one has any idea whether it will be effective in treating COVID-19.

The same is true of the other drug, remdesivir, which isn't actually used to treat ANYTHING, but apparently it "has shown promise in animal models for treating Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which are caused by other coronaviruses".

Also in the category of general awfulness, today we learned that back in February, Republican Senator Richard Burr may have profited off privileged information he received about COVID-19.

Finally, COVID-19 has made its way into the halls of power, as two members of Congress have had positive tests for the illness.  And in a reminder that COVID-19 is non-partisan, one of the affected members is a Republican (Mario Diaz-Balart), and one is a Democrat (Ben McAdams).  And as we all know, the older a person is, the greater the risk the virus poses to them.

Most members of Congress are REALLY old.  This could wreak some real havoc on Congress.

Since today's report is pretty grim, I want to close by directing everyone's attention (yes, both of you) to the fabulous work of Sally Campbell-Galman, another Grinnell graduate whom I know slightly.  She has done some fabulous work in telling the story of the helpers among us.

COVID19 Update - Day 8

US Tests: 73,956
US Cases: 7,731
US Deaths: 112
Worldwide Cases: 214,894
Worldwide Deaths: 8,732

We're starting with the personal side today, because a college friend of mine reported the following today:

Last night, [my 15-year-old] showed me a Snapchat of her friends -- 6 or 7 of them, faces pressed together -- hanging out. A short while ago, [she] told me one of the boys in the group (from the Snapchat last night AND in her friend group), whose father is an ER doctor and has been testing for COVID-19 likely has it. Apparently her friend's parents thought he had it while school was in session but didn’t test him because they suspected school was going to get closed and did not want him to miss too much school.

About an hour ago, she came to me telling me she didn't feel good. She was flushed, dizzy, nauseous. Exhausted. She has been asleep ever since. No temperature at the time, but I'm betting she will have one when she wakes up. A short while ago, her older sister came to me -- similar complaints, temperature of 99.4. I have no idea what they have, but I fear this boy and his family spread it widely...

A few takeaways from this:

1. SOCIAL DISTANCING, PEOPLE!!!
2. The kids in this story are all in their teens.  Their lives almost certainly are not at risk, but they're definitely miserable.  And probably all of them are now wishing that they hadn't all crowded together for the group selfie.
3. SOCIAL DISTANCING, PEOPLE!!! 

The number of cases in the U.S. jumped by more than 30% overnight --- but this is actually good news, because the number of tests administered jumped by 33%.  So although the number of tests administered is still woefully inadequate, at least it looks like the situation is finally starting to improve.

The Senate still hasn't passed the bipartisan pandemic relief legislation, but the holdup is no longer Republican goon Louie Gohmert, or Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell --- it's Republican nutjob Rand Paul:

The sources said Paul is forcing a vote on his amendment, which would "require a social security number for purposes of the child tax credit, and to provide the President the authority to transfer funds as necessary, and to terminate United States military operations and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan."

In conclusion, Thomson-Reuters provides some insight into the contrast between the South Korean response to the pandemic, and the absolute disaster that has been the U.S. response:

South Korea’s swift action stands in stark contrast to what has transpired in the United States. Seven weeks after the train station meeting, the Koreans have tested well over 290,000 people and identified over 8,000 infections. New cases are falling off: Ninety-three were reported Wednesday, down from a daily peak of 909 two weeks earlier.

The United States, whose first case was detected the same day as South Korea’s, is not even close to meeting demand for testing. About 60,000 tests have been run by public and private labs in a country of 330 million, federal officials said Tuesday.

COVID19 Update - Day 7

US Tests: 55,589
US Cases: 5,923
US Deaths: 100
Worldwide Cases: 197,133
Worldwide Deaths: 7,905

Today was a watershed moment in the U.S. spread of the virus.  Total deaths jumped from 71 to 100, marking a nearly 40% increase from yesterday, and, obviously, breaking the century mark.

And before we chronicle today's buffoonery from our Republican-led government, a new and very important link to let you learn about hospital capacity and availability in your area.  This link is now at the top left of the page, along with links from Johns Hopkins University (where my data for worldwide cases and deaths comes from) and the COVID tracking project (where my U.S. data comes from).

In national news, Trump has decided that he's tired of being an embarrassment, and so has switched to the only other mode he understands, being a liar:

This is a pandemic.  I've felt that it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.

This is standard Trump revisionist history.  But since he now wants credit for having the prescience to see that this was 'a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic', let's review how poorly he's handled things, shall we?

• One week before Trump was inaugurated, the Obama administration provided training to the incoming Trump team on how to handle a global pandemic, emphasizing that 'it could face specific challenges, such as shortages of ventilators, anti-viral drugs and other medical essentials, and that having a coordinated, unified national response was “paramount”'.
• In May 2018, Trump's National Security Adviser, John Bolton, disbands his pandemic response team:

The abrupt departure of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council means no senior administration official is now focused solely on global health security. Ziemer’s departure, along with the breakup of his team, comes at a time when many experts say the country is already underprepared for the increasing risks of a pandemic or bioterrorism attack.

• January 22, 2020, when asked if he was worried about a pandemic, Trump responded: "No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine."
• February 27: Trump predicts “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”
• March 10: “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

The statements from this year, along with more of Trump's perfidy, are detailed here --- including the criminal lack of tests.  The U.S. has never had a sufficient number of tests available for COVID19, because the Trump administration turned down tests that were offered and ready to go from the World Health Organization.

The good news is that Trump is finally SAYING the right things about the pandemic.  The bad news is, he's still not DOING the things he needs to do to save lives.

One key area where the Trump administration is failing us: ventilators.  For those who catch the coronavirus and get critically sick, access to a hospital ventilator can mean the difference between life and death.  But if there is a surge in infections --- and it seems likely there will be --- the demand for ventilators could easily outstrip the supply, which would lead to needless deaths.  In spite of this reality --- something the Trump transition team was explicitly warned of before Trump every took office --- it appears that the administration has done nothing to demand or encourage that ventilator manufacturers step up production:

The German government just placed an order for 10,000 mechanical ventilators. What’s the U.S. government doing about a potential shortage here? Not much, it seems. President Trump alluded to the matter in a press conference but did not spell out any plans.

And meanwhile, Republicans in Congress continue to take their time working out a relief bill.

As for personal news, there is none, really.  I'm down to 16 rolls of toilet paper in my house.  There have been no other major developments of note.

COVID19 Update - Day 6

US Tests: 41,792
US Cases: 4,018
US Deaths: 71
Worldwide Cases: 181,377
Worldwide Deaths: 7,119

In retrospect, there will be a lot of things to criticize about the U.S. response to COVID-19.  But there is probably no more damning indictment of our government's response than the number at the top of the page.  In about 2 months since COVID-19 emerged as a health threat, the U.S. has conducted a TOTAL of just under 42,000 tests for the disease, or about 700 per day.

By contrast, South Korea is conducting 10,000 tests per day.

And while it seems that --- FINALLY --- people are starting to recognize the threat and behave responsibly in terms of social distancing, there are still some stragglers.  And unfortunately, some of these stragglers are in a position to do great damage.

Right-wing Texas nutjob Louie Gohmert is holding up the COVID-19 relief bill in the House, for reasons that only he can comprehend.  And that's probably just as well, since right-wing Kentucky nutjob (and Senate majority leader) Mitch McConnell appears to be in no hurry to vote on the legislation in the Senate.  Mind you, this isn't even about partisan politics, since this bill passed the House with only 40 'No' votes, and also has the backing of the Trump White House.  Apparently these guys are just holding thing up to be dicks (Mission Accomplished!).

On the personal side --- there's not a lot of news to report, actually.  I guess at this point, no news is good news.  My first day working from home was uneventful.  There was a small amount of excitement when one of my coworkers reported, during standup, that he had been in a store with someone who later tested positive.  I don't know all the details, and obviously I hope everyone is all right.  But I'm not concerned that it will affect me personally, since this apparently happened after I last saw this coworker on Thursday.

Another coworker sent out an email letting everyone know that person X had joined the team today, and so to celebrate, donuts were available and sitting outside his office for everyone to pick up.  This confused me, because I thought we were all SUPPOSED to be working from home.  Also, it's strange how the pandemic changes your attitude about this kind of thing --- eating a donut from a communal box of donuts right now is one of the last things I would consider doing.

Stay home.  Stay safe.

COVID19 Update - Day 5

US Tests: 28,339
US Cases: 3,303
US Deaths: 62
Worldwide Cases: 167,457
Worldwide Deaths: 6,454

It would be really great if Trump could manage to get through even ONE day without saying/doing something evil and/or stupid.  And that may well happen before the pandemic subsides.  But today is not that day:

A biopharmaceutical based in Germany reportedly rejected a proposal by the US to purchase the exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine, according to the German news organization Mannheimer Morgen.

CureVac AG, a vaccine and therapeutics developer headquartered in Tübingen, Germany, was approached by the Trump administration to bring the company to the US, in exchange for funding, according to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

A German official reportedly claimed that Trump was trying to obtain the scientist's research exclusively, and that the administration wanted to get a potential vaccine "only for the United States."

I'm no legal scholar, but unfortunately, the desire to deny a vaccine to the rest of the world --- or to engage in price-gouging with a life-saving vaccine --- probably doesn't rise to the definition of 'high crimes and misdemeanors', since the United States and its citizens would benefit from it.

But it does mean Trump is one evil, inhumane bastard.

In more useful news, the New York Times and the Washington Post both have cool, interactive explanations of the benefits of social distancing.  If you still doubt that social distancing is necessary (or know someone who does), you should check them out.  Furthermore, the CDC is now strongly urging people to avoid and/or cancel any event or gathering of more than 50 people until Mothers' Day.

In an effort to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic, the Fed has now cut interest rates to zero.

On the personal side --- I feel like society has basically shut down.  As I mentioned earlier, today I went out and talked to 5 of my neighbors (a sixth wasn't home), and exchanged phone numbers so that we have some sort of support network for the time when (not if, but when) one of us needs emergency assistance from the others.

Just before that, my boss texted me to inform me that I should plan to work from home until further notice.  As a software developer, I'm well-prepared to do that.

And before THAT --- the governor of Minnesota declared that all schools will close, effective Wednesday, March 18.  My daughter's school district, however, decided to beat the rush and close effective immediately.  Teacher and staff will spend the next 2 weeks planning how to provide distance learning to students --- and presumably that distance learning will start up on Monday, March 30.

I went shopping again today, and was still unable to buy toilet paper, sanitizing wipes, or foaming soap.  Fortunately, I still have reasonable reserves of all of those things, and I'm optimistic the shortages won't last too long.

I also have plenty of food for one person.  And my chili is done, so I'm going to go eat now.

COVID19 Update - Day 4

US Tests: 21,954
US Cases: 2,739
US Deaths: 54
Worldwide Cases: 156,396
Worldwide Deaths: 5,833

The most important news of the day is that House Democrats worked with Republicans and the Trump White House to pass a bipartisan relief bill aimed at improving our response to the coronavirus:

The legislation includes 14 paid sick days for employees, as well as three months of paid emergency leave throughout the coronavirus crisis. Employers will be reimbursed for some of these costs through tax credits. At GOP insistence, the emergency leave provision will expire in a year. And Republicans were able to insert language exempting smaller businesses from the requirements.

The legislation helps provide free food for children whose schools are closed during the crisis, as well as other initiatives to make sure seniors and food banks get help as well.

One of the biggest provisions involves free testing — which has been one of the major shortcomings in the U.S. response to the outbreak so far.

"This legislation is about testing, testing, testing," Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues announcing the agreement. "To stop the spread of the virus, we have secured free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured. We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested can get their test free of charge."

Unfortunately, since Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate on Thursday night, we'll have to wait until Monday night before a Senate vote.  It's not hyperbole to say that every minute counts in a pandemic, and so it's really too bad McConnell is wasting 2 days like this.

To be fair, however, some Senate Republicans were still focused on the pandemic, even though they were out of town:

Be smart; don’t panic. We will get us through this #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/SyvOAWXItK

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 14, 2020

Other people showed similar levels of concern.

Look, if you're under the age of 60, it's unlikely the coronavirus will kill you.  However, younger people stand a better chance of recovering, at least in part, because those who do get seriously sick can recover with medical assistance (going to the hospital).  However --- if we don't "flatten the curve", then our health care system will be overwhelmed, and the resulting shortage of care will result in more suffering and more deaths:

According to some experts, more than 120 million Americans eventually may be infected with COVID-19, though Rutherford believes these estimates to be high. If 2 million were in critical condition, that could easily surpass the 98,000 intensive care unit beds and 62,000 full-feature ventilators available in the U.S. “If they all came in the same week, the results could be catastrophic,” said Rutherford. “But if that can be spread out over 40 weeks, it’s more like 50,000 critical cases a week and more within our range to handle.”

And even if you never feel sick, spending a lot of time in crowds means that you can still transfer the virus to someone who IS at risk.  So, let's get with the social distancing, people!

In that spirit --- after staying out until 3:00 AM last night at a friend's birthday party --- I have decided to get serious about social distancing myself.  I have already been washing my hands regularly at work, and have recently stopped shaking hands with people.  I'm now going to take that one step further, and avoid crowded, enclosed spaces such as restaurants and bars.  And actually, the lack (until recently) of paid sick leave makes eating at a restaurant a dicey affair even if it's not crowded.

Otherwise, there have been few additional changes in my life.  The one change is that my son isn't going back to college after spring break, at least for now.  On-campus classes may start up again after April 1.

I guess we'll see.

COVID19 Update - Day 3

US Tests: 17,892
US Cases: 2,182
US Deaths: 49
Worldwide Cases: 145,374
Worldwide Deaths: 5,429

So Trump finally declared a national emergency, only 6 weeks after the WHO declared the virus to be a global emergency.  Great work, Donnie.

And not only that, Trump & Co. continued to lie about stuff, like the great coronavirus testing website from Google that Trump promised, but which doesn't exist.  Good Lord.  Why does anyone listen to a word coming out of his mouth?

On a more personal note --- yesterday, I forgot to include the fact that the annual banquet for my daughter's dance team has been cancelled.

Also --- I'm wondering about dating in the age of the COVID19 pandemic.  You may have picked up on the fact that I'm a single guy (and I'm a catch!) --- but dating now seems kind of futile.  Best case scenario, you end up kissing a stranger.  Who wants that, with the threat of COVID19 hanging over your head?  It gives a whole new meaning to the term 'safe sex'.

So --- I don't know.  I don't think celibacy is what people are referring to when they talk about social distancing.  But it kind of seems like the right thing to do.

COVID19 Update - Day 2

US Tests: 13,953
US Cases: 1,583
US Deaths: 38
Worldwide Cases: 128,343
Worldwide Deaths: 4,720

After last night's embarrassing national address from Trump, for which he was rightly excoriated, presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden showed America the kind of speech a real president gives:

For their part, the Republicans demonstrated that they don't care about the human cost of the pandemic, by:

• The White House continued to advocate for a $9.5 billion cut in the budget of the CDC, the Center for Disease Control (this actually happened on Tuesday, the day before Trump's awful national address).
• Senate Republicans blocked a House bill which, among other things, would have guaranteed free COVID19 testing to anyone who thinks they might be infected, and paid sick leave for all affected Americans.  Then, instead of offering any alternative legislation of their own, they left town for a 3-day weekend (although he did cancel a planned week-long recess).

To be fair, Republicans WERE quick to bail out the constituency most important to them, however:

In the latest sign that even the soberest of American economic policymakers are freaked out by the coronavirus, the Federal Reserve announced on Thursday it's going to drop an extra $1.5 trillion on the financial system. The Fed actually made an emergency cut of 0.5 percentage points to its interest rate target just the other week.

So to summarize: Republicans are willing to loan $1.5 trillion to banks to combat an economic slowdown, but not a dime to the people actually suffering from the virus.  And they actually want to CUT funding for the main federal agency tasked with responding to the pandemic.

Remember this in November.

At least there was ONE bright spot.  U.S. Representative Katie Porter (D - CA45), the first Democrat to represent Orange County in quite a long time, got the director of the CDC to commit to FREE coronavirus testing for all Americans.

I did the math: a full battery of coronavirus testing costs at minimum $1,331.

I also did the legal research: the Administration has the authority to make testing free for every American TODAY.

I secured a commitment from a high-level Trump official that they’d actually do it. pic.twitter.com/RmolCtmNbG

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) March 12, 2020

Remember this in November, too.  And maybe show Katie some thanks.  Even in this political climate, a Democrat in Orange County faces an uphill climb to win re-election.

On a more personal note, the pandemic is affecting my life in numerous ways.  In just the past two days:

• My alma mater, Grinnell College, decided to ask students to leave campus when spring break starts, and not to return.  Classes will be conducted online for the rest of the semester.  This affects me personally in that I had planned to take my daughter to campus for a prospective student visit, and that visit was cancelled --- which left me on the hook for a non-refundable hotel room reservation.
• Grinnell is also considering cancelling commencement and reunion --- and my college reunions are some of the most enjoyable events in my life.
• My son's college, University of Minnesota at Morris, has also decided to conduct classes online until at least April 1, although students may still choose to attend classes on campus.
• A college friend of mine was supposed to be a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Morris, and I was planning to go out in a few weeks to visit her and my son.  But Morris has cancelled her appointment due to the pandemic.
• My daughter's long-planned school trip to France has been postponed.
•  Just today, my scrum master made a point of telling everyone on our team to be sure to take their laptops home with them every night, 'in case' the office shuts down and we need to work remotely for the foreseeable future.

This is going to get much worse before it gets better.

COVID19 Update - Day 1

When we look back on this time in years hence, I expect that March 11, 2020 will be identified as the day the country first really started to take COVID19 seriously.

If you've come here looking for information about COVID19 and how best to respond --- then you're really bad at doing internet research.  Nevertheless, here are two resources I recommend:

• FlattenTheCurve - information about what all of us can do to minimize the impact of the pandemic.
• Suggestions about how you can network with your neighbors to support each other through what are likely to be grim times ahead.

Donald Trump --- the most embarrassing politician in U.S. history --- kicked things off with probably the least inspiring presidential address in U.S. history:

Notably, Trump did NOT do the one thing which might have been the most effective in blunting the impact of the virus on America --- declaring a national emergency.

A bit more than an hour after his speech, US markets, which were already in freefall, were anything but reassured:

In the category of 'you can't make this up' --- almost contemporaneously with Trump's address, the previous holder of the title of America's most embarrassing politician, former half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin, was bouncing around like an idiot on the reality TV show The Masked Singer:

Personally, I am anticipating that most Americans will ultimately be infected, including myself, my ex-wife, and my children.  We're all under the age of 60, and so the expectation is that we will all survive --- although there's no telling how severe our symptoms will be when we get sick.

All four of our parents (mine and my ex-wife's) are still alive, although obviously they are elderly.  My ex-wife's parents in particular are in ill health.  My parents are already in a senior living facility, and I hope the people in charge there take all appropriate precautions to prevent spread of the virus, in which case they have a better than average shot at surviving.  The same cannot be said for my former in-laws.

This is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) ordeal which will leave an indelible mark on those who survive it for the rest of their lives.  So I'm making use of the blog to chronicle events as much for my own sake as for the entertainment of any internet travelers who may trip over it.