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.