COVID19 Update - Day 28

US Tests: 2,054,462
US Cases: 392,594
US Deaths: 12,621
Worldwide Cases: 1,428,428
Worldwide Deaths: 82,020

The New York Times has done some investigation into multiple cases of federal authorities seizing/confiscating shipments of PPE and other medical supplies, and come to the conclusion that it's being done merely out of incompetence, and not something more sinister:

The intervention has confused some local officials and company executives who have watched as the administration has repeatedly called on states to find medical supples on their own without relying on the federal government. But hundreds of hospitals continue to struggle with widespread shortages of test kits, protective gear for staff members and ventilators, according to a new report by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The chaotic race to procure such supplies has also drawn fraudsters looking to hoard items and resell the equipment at a steep price. A number of F.B.I. investigations are already underway.

. . .

Adding to the disarray is the White House’s ad hoc system of disaster response in which the right call to Mr. Trump can result in one county getting priority over another. Advisers to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, have surprised FEMA officials in recent weeks to deploy supplies to communities after the area’s representatives got through to Mr. Trump, even if the state had not yet gone through the formal process to secure supplies.

Incompetence has been the hallmark of this administration.  There is a common expression for someone who is disorganized and clueless, that he can't find his ass with his hands.  Trump is so disorganized and clueless, he can't find his ass with his hands tied behind him:

The USNS Comfort hospital ship and an emergency hospital at the Javits Center are meant to be relief valves for hospitals in New York City, where more than 14,000 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19. But the facilities have been largely empty, leading officials to try to streamline their operations.

Similarly, although the military has offered its labs to assist in conducting tests for the coronavirus, as of March 25, no tests had been conducted.  The response to the pandemic has been so ad-hoc and chaotic, you wonder who's in charge.

And pretty soon, you realize that no one is.

And finally, here's a story about a potentially quite promising development in COVD-19 treatment for critically ill patients:

In the editorial, Dr. Gattinoni and his colleagues explained further that ventilator settings should be based on physiological findings — with different respiratory treatment based on disease phenotype rather than using standard protocols.

“This, of course, is a conceptual model, but based on the observations we have this far, I don’t know of any model which is better,” he said in an interview.

Anecdotal evidence is increasingly demonstrating that this proposed physiological approach is associated with much lower mortality rates among COVID-19 patients, he said.

While not willing to name the hospitals at this time, he said that one center in Europe has had a 0% mortality rate among COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit when using this approach, compared with a 60% mortality rate at a nearby hospital using a protocol-driven approach.

No personal news of note today.