COVID19 Update - Day 112

US Tests: 32,206,245

US Cases: 2,621,831

US Deaths: 120,336

Worldwide Cases: 10,434,835

Worldwide Deaths: 509,779

Instead of criticizing Trump, let's try to put the best possible spin on his handling of the pandemic:

“The federal government is not ending funding or support for COVID-19 testing sites,” Giroir said last week. 

But the funding and support which remains in place is very limited. Out of 67,000 pharmacies in the U.S., HHS is extending direct support to 600 of them. 

“The Trump Administration will continue to fully support the public health needs of all states as they respond to recent increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,” Giroir said in a Tuesday statement. “To maintain or increase our COVID-19 testing footprint, especially in areas of high social vulnerability, we are extending this partnership through August 2020.”

Joe Goode, a CVS spokesman, told TPM that the drugstore chain had set up 1,400 testing sites without help from HHS. 

Dr. Bob Kocher, a member of California’s coronavirus testing task force and an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford, told TPM that California had around 750 sample-collection sites for COVID-19 tests. 

“600 sites in America does seem like a very small number given the sites that there are to collect samples — certainly every hospital can do it, every urgent care facility can do it,” Kocher said.  

The extent of the federal help also falls far short of the 1 million tests per day number that experts say would provide adequate testing for the U.S. population. HHS told TPM that as of June 25, its community-based testing program had performed a total of 1,021,161 tests since the program’s inception in March.

Think about that for a minute.  HHS is priding itself on its level of support for coronavirus testing, because it is support 600 of the 67,000 pharmacies in the U.S.

Meanwhile a single pharmacy chain, CVS, has set up 1,400 sites all by itself.

And again I want to emphasize: This is the BEST thing one can say about the administration's handling of a pandemic which has been raging for nearly 4 months. 

COVID19 Update - Day 111

US Tests: 31,557,407

US Cases: 2,577,473

US Deaths: 119,761

Worldwide Cases: 10,277,084

Worldwide Deaths: 504,927

What's worse than a pandemic?  Two pandemics:

It emerged recently and is carried by pigs, but can infect humans, they say.

The researchers are concerned that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and trigger a global outbreak.

While it is not an immediate problem, they say, it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to infect humans and needs close monitoring.

As it's new, people could have little or no immunity to the virus.

The article goes on to say that 'measures to control the virus in pigs, and the close monitoring of swine industry workers, should be swiftly implemented.'  So you can be certain that the Trump administration will be working to implement those actions approximately never. 

COVID19 Update - Day 110

US Tests: 30,988,013

US Cases: 2,540983

US Deaths: 119,429

Worldwide Cases: 10,114,726

Worldwide Deaths: 500,882

It seems that Mike Pence --- the coronavirus czar --- is finally starting to show some leadership:

The VP went on to note that “roughly half the state is under local ordinances strongly recommending” mask wearing, before saying that complying with the ordinances is “just a good idea.”

“If your local officials — in consultation with the state — are directing you to wear a mask, we encourage everyone to wear a mask in affected areas,” Pence said. “Where you can’t maintain social distancing, wearing a mask is just a good idea. It will, we know from experience, will slow the spread.”

Pence’s latest remarks strongly recommending mask wearing demonstrates a notable shift within the Trump administration to encourage the practice in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Or maybe not.  In the very next paragraph:

Earlier Sunday, Pence defended Trump’s refusal to encourage Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus by saying during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the White House wants “to defer to governors” and local officials. The VP previously shared the same stance during the first briefing in nearly two months from the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Friday.

Also Pence, who is very public about his religious faith, went to a church service Sunday morning.  Like most church services, this one was indoors, and many people didn't wear masks --- including notably, the choir:

In footage of the event, which CNN reported was held at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Pence could be seen wearing a mask, clapping along with other members of the audience to the choir’s performance. According to the news network, the choir performed multiple times during the event without the masks, which they would reportedly put on when they took their seats.

Honestly, I'm not sure which is worse --- Trump's adamant refusal to wear a mask, or Pence's steady stream of mixed messages.  I think we can all agree, however, that neither of them is showing any real leadership. 

 

COVID19 Update - Day 109

US Tests: 30,401,644

US Cases: 2,498,822

US Deaths: 119,156

Worldwide Cases: 9,949,767

Worldwide Deaths: 498,100

Yesterday, we discussed the incompetence.  Today, we discuss (yet more) criminal malfeasance.  One of the mysteries of the virus over the past 3 months has been that some people who tested positive for having COVID19 antibodies --- indicating that they had already been exposed to the virus --- would later get sick.  This was truly alarming, because it suggested that successfully recovering from the virus does not give one immunity.

Well, guess what:

Federal officials failed to immediately stop the distribution of many COVID-19 antibody tests they knew were flawed, leading to inaccurate data about the spread of the virus. Congress is now investigating why the FDA did not review the tests it allowed to be distributed widely throughout the U.S. Sharyn Alfonsi's three-month investigation into the faulty tests will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, June 28 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

. . .

Laredo, Texas, wound up getting thousands of antibody test kits from a Chinese company. The untested kits were then tested by the city's health director, Dr. Hector Gonzalez, who found the tests accuracy to differ wildly depending on when it was given and how long after a person was exposed to the virus. The small sample he tested was only about 20% accurate. "We had such high hopes to test… we were ready to do public drive-through testing… Now we couldn't. We were on hold," recalls Gonzalez.

 

Laredo officials reported the faulty tests to federal agents at Homeland Security and officials came to town to seize the tests and start an investigation, but the federal government did little to halt the spread of other un-proven antibody testing kits.

This certainly led to unnecessary deaths, by giving essential workers and others the false sense that it was safe to return to work when they were still at risk of catching the virus.

Of course, there is a staggering body of evidence right now that Trump and the Republicans who still support him don't care about deaths of Americans --- whether it's the nearly 120,000 who have succumbed to the virus, or the U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who were the targets of a Russian bounty.

 

 

COVID19 Update - Day 108

US Tests: 29,810,767

US Cases: 2,455,351

US Deaths: 118,650

Worldwide Cases: 9,777,889

Worldwide Deaths: 493,609

Another day, another detailed report about Trump's incompetence.  This one comes from the GAO, which is a legislative office and thus not subject to Trump's strongarm tactics.  And the results are sadly unsurprising:

The report also found that because of an interpretation of the law Treasury was operating under, they did not use death records to ensure that the direct payment checks were going to people who filed taxes in 2019 and were still living. Therefore according to the report, the IRS paid out $1.4 billion in payments to descendants.

The report laid out that the Strategic National Stockpile was not equipped to handle the demand generated by states and localities in need of personal protective equipment, ventilators and other critical medical supplies.

According to officials from the Offices of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response who were interviewed by GAO "the Strategic National Stockpile did not have the capacity to provide states with supplies at the scale necessary to respond to a nationwide event such as the COVID-19 pandemic."

Of course, this report is rightly getting buried by the revelation that Russia offered the Taliban bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

And Trump has known about it for at least the past 3 months.  During which time, he has invited Putin to meet with the G7 nations and proposed to withdraw one-third of U.S. troops from Germany.

COVID19 Update - Day 107

US Tests: 29,207,820

US Cases: 2,410,978

US Deaths: 118,031

Worldwide Cases: 9,583,144

Worldwide Deaths: 488,740

If it's not the corruption, it's the incompetence: A play in two acts.

Act One:

Lucas Rensko was making money through a popular handyman-for-hire app called TaskRabbit, doing odd jobs and delivering groceries, when he picked up a task that led him to a leaky-roofed warehouse on a tattered road in northwest San Antonio.

Inside, a man named Jaime Rivera had set up long tables where five or six other “Taskers” earning about $20 an hour were ripping Chinese masks out of plastic bags and stuffing them into new ones that were identical but for one potentially deadly difference. The old packages were labeled in all caps “MEDICAL USE PROHIBITED,” meaning not to be used by doctors and nurses who need the strongest protection from tiny particles carrying the novel coronavirus. The new bags, intended to make their way to Texas hospitals, simply omitted that warning.

This seemingly small deception highlights a huge problem for medical workers whose best defense against a virus that ravages the body with horrifying complexity is a simple, but trustworthy, mask. That trust has eroded as Chinese-made masks claiming, sometimes falsely, to be 95% effective at filtering virus-laden particles made their way into hospitals and now local convenience stores. You might have bought them: KN95s.

Act Two: 

The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress’s independent watchdog reported Thursday.

The Washington Post previously reported that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service disbursed some payments of up to $1,200 each to dead people. But the astonishing scope of the problem had not been known.

. . .

The IRS has previously said that stimulus payments issued in the name of dead people have to be returned. But aside from announcing on its website on May 6 that stimulus payments made to dead or incarcerated individuals should be returned, the IRS does not have plans to take additional steps toward recouping the payments, the GAO said.

Not only are dead people receiving checks, but 35 million living people still haven't received theirs, more than 3 months into the pandemic.

Epic incompetence.

 

 

COVID19 Update - Day 106

US Tests: 28,567,355

US Cases: 2,369,039

US Deaths: 115,531

Worldwide Cases: 9,407,078

Worldwide Deaths: 482,162

Here's a damning indictment of Trump and Republican leadership specifically, and of America more generally:

Data available here.

Not only has all most of Europe, and Australia, seen their number of new cases per day drop sharply, the U.S. is the only one of these countries where the number of new cases daily is clearly and dramatically rising.

Whenever this ends --- and it won't be over any time soon --- it will go down in history as the most baffling and irresponsible instances of government malfeasance in American history.

It doesn't help that a small but determined group of assholes continue their zealous campaign to oppose the single most effective countermeasure the general public could engage in.

WEAR A MASK, DAMMIT!!!

COVID19 Update - Day 105

US Tests: 28,065,065

US Cases: 2,330,367

US Deaths: 114,809

Worldwide Cases: 9,237,691

Worldwide Deaths: 476,911

Trump doesn't want tests, so he's pulling funding for tests.  Trump has rightly been taking a lot of heat for telling the pitiful crowd at his recent rally in Tulsa that he asked his staff to 'slow the testing down'.  And while his acolytes have tried to contain the damage by telling the media that Trump was only joking, Trump as usual doubled down, saying 'I don't kid'.

As it turns out, he was deadly serious:

The Trump administration is ending funding and support for local COVID-19 testing sites around the country this month, as cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing in many states.

The federal government will stop providing money and support for 13 sites across five states which were originally set up in the first months of the pandemic to speed up testing at the local level.

Local officials and public health experts expressed a mixture of frustration, resignation, and horror at the decision to let federal support lapse.

Texas will be particularly hard hit by the decision. The federal government gives much-needed testing kits and laboratory access to seven testing sites around Texas. But in the state, which is seeing new peaks in cases, people still face long lines for testing that continues to fail to meet overwhelming demand.

Everyone with a shred of objectivity knew back in February that Trump would bungle the response to the pandemic.  But I doubt that anyone anticipated he would screw things up this badly. 

COVID19 Update - Day 104

US Tests: 27,559,492

US Cases: 2,297,383

US Deaths: 114,034

Worldwide Cases: 9,062,837

Worldwide Deaths: 470,716

We hit a new milestone today, in that the total number of cases worldwide passed the 9 million mark.  And yesterday, we hit a new milestone in the U.S., when we finally administered the number of tests Mike Pence promised we would have by the end of March.

Meanwhile, Trump will be setting foot in unfamiliar territory tomorrow: a church.  But of course, consistent the the #TrumpDeathCult, the senior pastor at the church is an obvious charlatan, telling lies that endanger the public health for pure political gain:

“When you come into our auditorium, 99% of COVID is gone! Killed! If it was there in the first place. So you can know when you come here you’ll be safe and protected,” Dream City Church Senior Pastor Luke Barnett said in a Facebook video on Sunday, standing alongside the church’s COO.

“Thank God for great technology and thank God for being proactive!” Barnett added.

Why the confidence amid a global pandemic? Well, it’s the church’s new air purification system. Experts have dismissed the notion that air purifiers alone can eliminate the risk of COVID-19. But why let that get in the way of a heartwarming story?

Trump's following is truly a death cult. 

COVID19 Update - Day 103

US Tests: 27,084,900

US Cases: 2,269,455

US Deaths: 113,749

Worldwide Cases: 8,928,652

Worldwide Deaths: 467,671

Don't call it a second wave.  The spikes we're seeing in various states (like Arizona) really shouldn't be called a 'second wave', because the first wave hasn't ended:

In The Wall Street Journal last week, Vice President Mike Pence wrote in a piece headlined “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave'” that the nation is winning the fight against the virus.

Many public health experts, however, suggest it’s no time to celebrate. About 120,000 Americans have died from the new virus and daily counts of new cases in the U.S. are the highest they’ve been in more than a month, driven by alarming recent increases in the South and West.

But there is at least one point of agreement: “Second wave” is probably the wrong term to describe what’s happening.

“When you have 20,000-plus infections per day, how can you talk about a second wave?” said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health. “We’re in the first wave. Let’s get out of the first wave before you have a second wave.”

The Trump administration --- including Mike Pence --- haven't taken this pandemic seriously for a single day.  That's not going to change.  But the numbers don't lie.

Look closely. When exactly did the 'first wave' end?

 

COVID19 Update - Day 102

US Tests: 26,566,553

US Cases: 2,241,990

US Deaths: 113,452

Worldwide Cases: 8,770,629

Worldwide Deaths: 464,039

It really is a death cult.  These poor, misinformed and quite possibly mentally unwell people are going to prove their love for America's most corrupt president by putting their lives at risk --- and the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with them --- just for the hell of it:

“I’m a nurse. I’ve worked ER for 15 years, and if we want to come to a rally, it's our decision," said Sheri Todd from Park Hill, Oklahoma. "I’ve had friends who had it; they were sick for a couple of weeks. But it's still our choice.”

"As far as I know, I’m still an American," said Tom Todd, Sheri's husband and a retired welder.

"This is a free country and I can do what I want. If I want to wear a mask, I wear a mask. If I don’t, I don't. If I get sick, I get sick. That's my choice," Tom continued, adding that he thought the number of coronavirus deaths was being "padded."

Sheri agreed: "Some of these numbers aren't real."

Personally, I think an ER nurse who shows such an abject failure to understand basic hygiene shouldn't have a job.  But there is one bright spot.  Despite obvious lies from Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale of the 800,000+ people who registered to attend the 19,000 seat event, they didn't even fill the venue:

Ignoring health warnings, Trump went through with his first rally in 110 days in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the largest indoor gatherings in the world during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 120,000 Americans, put 40 million out of work and upended Trump’s reelection bid.

In the hours before the event, crowds were significantly lighter than expected, and campaign officials scrapped plans for Trump to first address an overflow space outdoors. About a third of the seats at his indoor rally were empty.

Trump tried to explain away the crowd size by blaming the media for declaring “don’t go, don’t come, don’t do anything” and by insisting there were protesters outside who were “doing bad things.” But the small crowds of prerally demonstrators were largely peaceful, and Tulsa police reported just one arrest Saturday afternoon. 

Please let this be the beginning of the end of this nightmare. 

COVID19 Update - Day 101

US Tests: 25,982,613

US Cases: 2,209,665

US Deaths: 112,822

Worldwide Cases: 8,641,521

Worldwide Deaths: 459,468

Sorry to do this, but I'm bailing again tonight.

COVID19 Update - Day 100

US Tests: 25,403,498

US Cases: 2,177,888

US Deaths: 112,172

Worldwide Cases: 8,463,533

Worldwide Deaths: 453,268

It's amazing how coronavirus has lost its place as the biggest news story in America.  Even though the U.S. is still suffering from roughly 700 COVID19 deaths every day, and new infections are spiking in a number of states, media outlets are devoting as much, if not more attention, to the surprisingly positive Supreme Court decision on DACA, the use of Nazi symbols on Facebook by the Trump campaign, police brutality against people of color, and John Bolton's expose of Trump's stupidity and malfeasance.

Still, there are plenty of stories about Trump badly bungling the response to the virus, and you don't even need to look very hard for them.  Take for example this story about how the Trump administration paid millions of dollars for coronavirus test tubes, but got (dirty) soda bottles instead:

“It wasn’t even clean, let alone sterile,” said Teresa Green, a retired science teacher who worked at Fillakit’s makeshift warehouse outside of Houston for two weeks before leaving out of frustration.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency signed its first deal with Fillakit on May 7, just six days after the company was formed by an ex-telemarketer repeatedly accused of fraudulent practices over the past two decades. Fillakit has supplied a total of more than 3 million tubes, which FEMA then approved and sent to all 50 states. If the company fulfills its contractual obligation to provide 4 million tubes, it will receive a total of $10.16 million.

Officials in New York, New Jersey, Texas and New Mexico confirmed they can’t use the Fillakit tubes. Three other states told ProPublica that they received Fillakit supplies and have not distributed them to testing sites. FEMA has asked health officials in several states to find an alternative use for the unfinished soda bottles.

Just another day in Donald Trump's America! 

COVID19 Update - Day 99

US Tests: 24,937,877

US Cases: 2,150,932

US Deaths: 111,477

Worldwide Cases: 8,329,221

Worldwide Deaths: 448,474

The U.S. response to the coronavirus is embarrassing.  As we've seen for the past 3 years, Trump is an ignorant, corrupt, egocentric stain on the office of the presidency.  But it's not just Trump.  The country generally has more or less decided the hell with it, they're willing to risk their lives to go to the bar, or go to the gym, or go cheer on their favorite white supremacist.

And the numbers show it (subscription required).  The U.S. is distinctly failing in the way the rest of the western world is not:

This represents a profound failure. The clearest explanation is the lack of any clear national mitigation strategy and a failure to follow even the limited strategy the federal government outlined for ending the lockdown. Since early May the federal government’s clearest strategy has been to turn the page and move on, both in messaging and action. Most of the country felt the epidemic only in a very limited way in March, April and May. It is simply human nature that people in those states would assume some level of invulnerability and be less mitigation-compliant. The federal government has encouraged and enabled this tendency. Indeed the President has single-handedly made resistance to masking – which a growing body of evidence suggests are quite effective at scale – a badge of right-wing political identity.

Image from Our World in Data.

 

COVID19 Update - Day 98

US Tests: 24,449,307

US Cases: 2,127,047

US Deaths: 110,695

Worldwide Cases: 8,152,885

Worldwide Deaths: 441,407

We need to talk about Arizona again.  The state set a record for new COVID19 cases on Monday:

The state logged 1,506 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on Monday, setting another record, along with 340 ventilators in use and 502 ICU beds taken up by COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Murtaza Akhter, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and a supervisory emergency physician at the Maricopa Integrated Health System, told TPM that the recent surge came as a surprise.

“COVID was here a couple of weeks ago, but nothing like at this level,” he said.

Akhter described to TPM an emergency department brimming with COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom had already tested positive and who arrived at the ER knowing what was going on.

“It felt like all hands on deck,” Akhter said, adding that he was “constantly” getting calls for incoming COVID-19 patients.

"The recent surge came as a surprise".  This is a troubling statement coming from a medical professional of Dr. Akhter's status.  The article goes on to point out that:

The state’s stay-at-home order was lifted on May 15.

Epidemiologists and public health officials have noted that Arizona’s case count began to increase sharply on May 25 — a long enough time after the stay at home order was lifted to suggest the virus has begun spreading widely again.

This was entirely foreseeable, and should have come as a surprise to no one. 

COVID19 Update - Day 97

US Tests: 23,984,592

US Cases: 2,103,549

US Deaths: 109,982

Worldwide Cases: 8,014,554

Worldwide Deaths: 436,306

In 5 days, Trump will (unintentionally) be conducting a historic science experiment.  He will be holding his first campaign rally in three months, in what is likely to be a jam-packed 19,000 seat venue in Tulsa.  Trump and the cult members in attendance are literally gambling their lives --- and those of their families --- on their firmly-held belief that if you just ignore coronavirus, it will go away:

The Tulsa Health Department said in a statement obtained Sunday by CNN that it is "concerned about the safety of any large gathering of people in enclosed spaces where social distancing is difficult to maintain."

The department last week encouraged caution regarding large gatherings after an investigation in Tulsa "identified an outbreak linked to indoor gatherings, which large groups of people congregated in close contact for prolonged periods of time."

There was a "meaningful increase" in cases of coronavirus last week in the city, according to the statement. As of Friday, there had been 1,443 total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Tulsa County, and 62 deaths.

Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Bruce Dart told the Tulsa World newspaper over the weekend that he wishes the campaign would push back the date of the event.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of Trump's coronavirus task force, specifically warned about the dangers of gatherings like the rally.

In a related story, Trump's campaign manager, Brad Parscale, insists on tweeting that an unlikely number of people have registered to attend the event in the 19,000-seat arena --- 800,000 at last count.  But strangely, it seems that the Trump campaign is still offering to pay certain people to attend.

COVID19 Update - Day 95

US Tests: 23,040,304

US Cases: 2,063,789

US Deaths: 109,249

Worldwide Cases: 7,786,042

Worldwide Deaths: 430,128

While America is focused on systemic racism and/or the pandemic, the Trump administration is busy rolling back environmental regulations:

President Trump signed an executive order that calls on agencies to waive required environmental reviews of infrastructure projects to be built during the pandemic-driven economic crisis. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that changes the way the agency uses cost-benefit analyses to enact Clean Air Act regulations, effectively limiting the strength of future air pollution controls.

Together, the actions signal that Mr. Trump intends to speed up his efforts to dismantle environmental regulations as the nation battles the coronavirus and a wave of unrest protesting the deaths of black Americans in Georgia, Minnesota and Kentucky. They will also help define the stakes in the 2020 presidential election, since neither effort would likely survive a Democratic victory.

Ironically, rolling back these environmental regulations will likely worsen the effects of the pandemic:

By reducing emissions of the tiny, lung damaging particles known as PM 2.5, clean air rules that are primarily aimed at controlling different pollutants can have the effect of saving thousands of lives by lowering rates of asthma and lung disease. And, last month, researchers at Harvard released the first nationwide study linking long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and Covid-19 death rates.

“At a time when more than 100,000 Americas have died from Covid and we know about this connection, the Trump administration is going to put in place some analytical techniques that will make it easier for them to kill more Americans,” said Richard Revesz, an expert on environmental law at New York University.

In sum, if you want a cleaner environment, vote for Biden.  If you want to be protected from a pandemic like COVID-19, vote for Biden.

And I guess if, for some reason, you want polluters to freely pollute without any fear of punishment, and for disease to spread unchecked across America, then vote for Trump. 

COVID19 Update - Day 94

US Tests: 22,517,262

US Cases: 2,037,530

US Deaths: 108,554

Worldwide Cases: 7,632,377

Worldwide Deaths: 425,385

If you want a vision of what the future will be like, look to Arizona:

Since May 26, the state has seen the now all-too-familiar continual upward trend in COVID-19 cases, hitting a single-day record in case growth on Friday at 1,654 new cases in one day and with a reported total caseload increase of 76 percent since May 28.

The unhindered growth in cases has sparked concerns that the state’s hospital capacity will be overwhelmed, with major hospital networks in the state publicly saying that they could see their ICU beds full in the span of a few weeks, if case growth continues unabated.

Since the state’s stay-at-home directive ended on May 15, Arizonans have largely lived without mandates to socially distance or wear masks when in public.

“When the stay at home order ended, the governor didn’t put any criteria for enforcement, compliance, or expectations on businesses that were enforceable whatsoever,” Will Humble, director of the Arizona Public Health Association and a former head of Arizona’s Department of Health Service, told TPM.

Banner Health, a hospital chain with a large Arizona presence, said last week that its hospitals were nearing capacity. Eighty-four percent of the state’s ICU beds were occupied this week; in Phoenix, it was higher, near 90 percent.

This demonstrates two things.  First, the various measures put in place to respond to the virus --- staying at home, masking, social distancing --- were clearly effective in reducing the spread of the disease, and thus in saving lives.

Second --- many Americans would literally rather die than accept even a mild inconvenience for an extended period of time.  From the same article (emphasis mine):

State officials have taken what might be described as a hands-off approach towards the situation. State health director Cara Christ said at a Thursday press conference that “we are not going to be able to stop the spread but we can’t stop living as well.”

Governor Doug Ducey (R) has downplayed the idea that the state was nearing capacity in its hospitals, saying that “we are not in a crisis situation” and adding that field hospitals could pick up the burden.

It's going to be truly fascinating to see how bad the government in Arizona lets things get before they do anything about it.  For the sake of Arizonans, let's hope not too bad.

Meanwhile, at home in Minnesota, I went back into the office to work the past two days, because reasons.  I couldn't be in my house, and as a contract worker paid hourly, I didn't want to just forego two days of billing.  And anyway, even with things semi-open in Minnesota, there's not a lot for a person to do, anyway.  It's not like I can go to the movies, or a play, or a bar, or the gym (not that I ever go to the gym --- talk about a boring way to throw away money!).

I probably would have just sucked it up and eaten the 2 days' pay, except that essentially EVERYONE in my office is still working from home still.  So the place is basically a ghost town, and thus not a high risk environment.  Plus, even though no one is around to enforce them, we are still expected to follow proper public health protocols, like social distancing and wearing masks in common areas.

And we will continue to work from home through Labor Day, at least.

COVID19 Update - Day 93

US Tests: 21,933,301

US Cases: 2,013,778

US Deaths: 107,803

Worldwide Cases: 7,502,278

Worldwide Deaths: 421,032

Yeah, sorry.  This is all I can do again tonight.

I promise I'm busy, not lazy.  Okay, yes, I'm lazy too.  But laziness isn't the reason why I'm doing a crappier-than-usual job of posting lately.

COVID19 Update - Day 92

US Tests: 21,467,820

US Cases: 1,991,527

US Deaths: 106,870

Worldwide Cases: 7,357,011

Worldwide Deaths: 416,116

We'll never know the extent to which Trump's idiocy about injecting bleach into the lungs caused people to do stupid things.  What we do know for certain is that a lot of people have done a lot of stupid things since the start of the pandemic.  And also, we know for certain that Trump didn't help to prevent any of this stupidity.

Yesterday, the CDC released a report on misuse of household cleaning products such as bleach as a response to the pandemic.  The results were disheartening:

COVID19 Update - Day 91

US Tests: 21,048,183

US Cases: 1,970,596

US Deaths: 105,981

Worldwide Cases: 7,238,723

Worldwide Deaths: 411,177

Sorry folks, that's all I have time for tonight.

Busy.

COVID19 Update - Day 90

US Tests: 20,615,303

US Cases: 1,952,401

US Deaths: 105,040

Worldwide Cases: 7,097,717

Worldwide Deaths: 405,168

The good news is, according to one recent study, the various lockdowns across the U.S. prevented approximately 60 million additional infections.

The bad news, of course, is that we're in the process of throwing away those gains:

But as the pandemic persists, more and more states are pulling back on the measures they’d instituted to slow the virus. The Trump administration’s Coronavirus Task Force is winding down its activities. Its testing czar is returning to his day job at the Department of Health and Human Services. As the long, hot summer of 2020 begins, the facts suggest that the U.S. is not going to beat the coronavirus. Collectively, we slowly seem to be giving up. It is a bitter and unmistakably American cruelty that the people who might suffer most are also fighting for justice in a way that almost certainly increases their risk of being infected.

*sigh* 

COVID19 Update - Day 89

US Tests: 20,235,678

US Cases: 1,936,161

US Deaths: 104,400

Worldwide Cases: 7,007,948

Worldwide Deaths: 402,709

Some grim new milestones were reached today, in that the total number of infections worldwide cracked the 7 million mark, AND the total number of deaths surpassed 400,000.  The good news is, at the moment, the rate of deaths in the U.S. seems to be slowing down.

Sadly, that's unlikely to last.

Just recently, my attention was directed to this resource from the Washington Post.  While the daily number of new cases nationally has been decreasing gradually since about the beginning of April, it appears that trend has started to reverse itself in the last week or so.  And for some particular states, the situation looks very bad, indeed:

11/ And Arizona, North Carolina & South Carolina — each not just at the worst moments of the pandemic in that state, but new cases double what they were at reopening for each state.

The pandemic is on fire in:

CA
TX
FL
NC
SC
AZ

— (((Charles Fishman))) (@cfishman) June 8, 2020

It's unfortunate that new cases are spiking in North Carolina, where my parents live.  Just today, my dad told me that EVERYONE in their retirement community (residents and staff) had been tested, and EVERYONE tested negative.  Which means that they can return to more or less normal activity, such as eating in the main dining room (although apparently few people are doing that).

However, they can also leave campus and return without quarantining themselves.  And given the alarming spike in new cases --- roughly 1,000 per day, compared to 500/day when the state reopened a month ago --- I fear it's just a matter of time until the virus makes its way in.

COVID19 Update - Day 88

US Tests: 19,778,873

US Cases: 1,916,053

US Deaths: 103,947

Worldwide Cases: 6,855,858

Worldwide Deaths: 398,321

It's all about him, all the time.  In the same way Trump had federal agents use rubber bullets and teargas against peaceful protestors --- including clergy --- just so that he could stand in front of a church and pointlessly wave a Bible around, yesterday he visited a manufacturer of swabs for coronavirus testing, and as a consequence, that manufacturer lost a full day's worth of production:

"The running of the factory machines is very limited today and will only occur when the president is touring the facility floor," Virginia Templet, the company's marketing manager told USA TODAY in response to questions about the event. "Swabs produced during that time will be discarded."

And naturally, Trump continued to wear a mask, presumably because he thinks his precious face is too beautiful to cover up, or because he thinks hygiene is unmanly, or some other equally ridiculous reason.

In the unlikely event a Trump supporter is reading this, let me just say --- you may love Trump.  Your reasons are inscrutable to me, but at least I understand that you love him.

What YOU need to understand, however, is that however much you love Trump, he loves himself more.  In fact, the only person or thing Donald Trump loves is Donald Trump.

His stunt at the church, his stunt today, and hundreds more like it show that he doesn't care whether you or I die --- or our children or families --- if it means even another five seconds for him to feed his precious ego.

If that's the man you want to support, that's your right.  But you should take a moment to really think about your priorities.

COVID19 Update - Day 87

US Tests: 19,231,444

US Cases: 1,892,727

US Deaths: 103,201

Worldwide Cases: 6,734,088

Worldwide Deaths: 394,875

The pain, and the hate, and the isolation, and a few other things got to me today.  At about 1:30 this afternoon, for no particular reason, I just started crying, and cried for about 5 minutes.

Usually, I handle stress pretty well, I think.  And I compartmentalize well.  I don't bring my work home with me --- even now, when I've been working from home for the past 12 weeks --- and I don't let my personal life interfere with my work.

Usually.

But let's face it.  We live in a uniquely trying time.  I'm sure that all of us, at one time or another (and probably more than once), have hit our limit.  And it occurred to me, when I got done crying, that practically everyone must be twisted and worn out and raw right now.  And I do mean everyone.

Medical professionals.

Those who have lost their jobs.

Those who have sheltered in place for months.

Those who don't know where their next meal is coming from.

Those who make sure to wear masks every time they go to the store, and those who get outraged when they're required to wear masks in the store.

Those who have lost loved ones.

Those who are protesting against stay at home orders, and those who are protesting 400 years of racism in America.  The police trying to maintain order, and yes, even the police who are abusing their power. 

Black people everywhere, no matter which of the above buckets they find themselves in.

The oppressed and the oppressors.

Seriously --- is ANYONE in America happy with how things are right now?  As someone who loves the principles of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and just plain freedom, I know that I'm not happy with America under Trump, and no one else who thinks as I do is, either.

I know most black people aren't happy.

And I can't believe that Trump or the members of his death cult are happy, either.  Trump knows most of America hates him, and his sycophants know they've debased themselves for a deeply stupid and amoral man.  I have to believe that most of the rank and file Republicans know that they're on the wrong side of history; they're just scared to admit it.

Why are we still doing this?  Inertia?

Seriously, Republicans.  Would removing this cancerous growth from the White House REALLY be worse than what's happening now?

COVID19 Update - Day 86

US Tests: 18,680,529

US Cases: 1,864,112

US Deaths: 102,101

Worldwide Cases: 6,600,692

Worldwide Deaths: 389,620

Today, Al Sharpton announced there will be another march on Washington on August 28, the 57th anniversary of the historic march on Washington for civil rights.

I think I'm going to go.

You should, too.

COVID19 Update - Day 85

US Tests: 18,214,950

US Cases: 1,843,315

US Deaths: 101,192

Worldwide Cases: 6,430,705

Worldwide Deaths: 385,873

Any time someone takes an objective look at the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, the degree of stupidity and incompetence is staggering.  Today, the New York Times presented an in-depth look at the inept CDC response.  A taste:

The moment underscored the challenge for [CDC Director Robert Redfield] and his agency. To combat the virus, he would have to manage the mercurial demands of the president who appointed him and the expectations of the career scientists he leads.

The sensibilities could not be more different. At one point that month, administration officials asked the agency to provide feedback on possible logos — including “Make America Healthy Again” — for cloth face masks they hoped to distribute to millions of Americans. The plan fell through, but not before C.D.C. leaders agreed to the request, according to one person familiar with the discussions.

White House aides saw Dr. Redfield, 68, as an ally, but as the coronavirus crisis intensified, his meandering manner in television appearances and congressional hearings irritated a president drawn to big personalities and assertive defenders of his administration.

A former military virologist who specialized in H.I.V., Dr. Redfield was Mr. Trump’s second choice after his first C.D.C. director resigned. He had no experience leading a government agency — though he had been considered for jobs in previous Republican administrations — and often told associates that he was happiest treating patients in Africa or Haiti.

While everyone's attention is rightly focused on Trump's decision to bring U.S. military force to bear on peacefully protesting civilians, we shouldn't forget that roughly 1,000 Americans a day are dying dur to Trump's corrupt and incompetent handling of the pandemic. 

COVID19 Update - Day 84

US Tests: 17,757,838

US Cases: 1,823,269

US Deaths: 100,197

Worldwide Cases: 6,378,239

Worldwide Deaths: 380,250

That's all I've got today.  Been busy.  Sorry.

COVID19 Update - Day 83

US Tests: 17,340,682

US Cases: 1,799,761

US Deaths: 99,005

Worldwide Cases: 6,265,496

Worldwide Deaths: 375,526

There needs to be a national strike until Trump resigns.  Because:

President Trump delivered his first formal address Monday evening amid mounting protests nationwide in the wake of George Floyd’s death, saying that he has “strongly recommended” that every governor deploy the National Guard to “dominate the streets.”

The President’s remarks in the Rose Garden came as federal police used tear gas and flash bangs to disperse a seemingly peaceful crowd outside the White House, creating a surreal split screen as unrest boils over in cities across the country.

The aggressive police tacts were apparently used so that Trump could make a surprise visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church — a historic church near the White House that was vandalized during protests the night before. The President stood in front of the church and waved alongside senior officials, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General Bill Barr, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for a photo-op. Trump also awkwardly waved around a Bible.