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.