COVID19 Update - Day 118

US Tests: 36,032,329

US Cases: 2,928,418

US Deaths: 122,915

Worldwide Cases: 11,589,382

Worldwide Deaths: 537,419

If it's a Monday, it must be time for another story about the Trump administration using the pandemic to hand out money to the Trump family and its most obsequious sycophants:

Businesses tied to President Donald Trump’s family and associates stand to receive as much as $21 million in government loans designed to shore up payroll expenses for companies struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal data released Monday.

A hydroponic lettuce farm backed by Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., applied for at least $150,000 in Small Business Administration funding. Albert Hazzouri, a dentist frequently spotted at Mar-a-Lago, asked for a similar amount. A hospital run by Maria Ryan, a close associate of Trump lawyer and former mayor Rudy Giuliani, requested more than $5 million. Several companies connected to the president’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner, could get upward of $6 million.

What's stunning isn't that Trump's corruption has infected the pandemic response (see what I did there?) --- it's the fact that this story would be a huge scandal in any other administration, but for Trump it's such small potatoes that it will be forgotten in less than 48 hours.

And now for something completely different.  Last week, I drove my kids (ages 17 and 19) from Minnesota to North Carolina to (a) Visit my parents at their retirement community, and (b) Pick up my mom's car and drive it back to Minnesota for my daughter to use.

As you might imagine, it was both a joy and thrill.  But the part of the story relevant to our purpose here has to do with the screening process we needed to undergo every time we entered the retirement community property.

The scene: A guard shack at the entrance of a senior living community on a hot, humid July day during the summer of The Virus.  A car drives up containing three weary travelers, Dave, Nik and Gwen, a father and his two somewhat-adult children.  They are coming to the senior living community to visit Dave's parents, Don and Elaine.  A battery of nurses emerge from the guard shack to screen the weary travelers, so as to protect the citizens of the senior living community from The Virus.

Nurse A (to Dave): Name?

Dave: David Bailey.  Here to see Don and Elaine Bailey.

Nurse A: Daily?

Dave: No, Bailey.

Nurse A: And who are you here to see?

Dave: . . . Don and Elaine Bailey, my parents.

Nurse B: I'll take their temperatures. (Proceeds to go from Dave to Nik to Gwen, taking their temperatures by aiming a Star Trek-style device at their foreheads)

Nurse C (to Nik): Name?

Nik: Nik Bailey

Nurse C: Billy?

Nik: No, Nik Bailey

Nurse C: And who are you here to see?

Nik: . . .

Dave: . . .

Gwen: . . .

Nik: Don and Elaine Bailey

Nurse B (to Nurse A): All of their temps are elevated.

Nurse A: Okay.  Use this other thermometer.

Nurse B puts down the first Star-Trek style device, picks up a different one, and proceeds to once again go from Dave to Nik to Gwen, taking their temperatures)

Nurse C (to Gwen): Name?

Gwen: Gwen Bailey

Nurse C: And who are you here to see?

Scene.