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.