COVID19 Update - Day 253

US Tests: 150,287,768*

US Cases: 11,373,310*

US Deaths: 241,704*

Worldwide Cases: 56,178,674*

Worldwide Deaths: 1,348,348*

* - Numbers are a lower bound.  True numbers are being suppressed by the Trump administration

It's heartbreaking to think how many lives might have been saved if the Trump administration had said this clearly and repeatedly starting in March (instead of weaponizing hygiene, calling the virus a hoax, promoting quack cures like hydroxychloroquine or --- god help us --- injecting disinfectant, and holding daily superspreader rallies):

Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health who leads the government’s COVID testing efforts, sounded the alarm on Wednesday that the country is in an “absolutely dangerous situation” as COVID-19 cases continue surging ahead of the holiday season.

During an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday, Giroir said that both COVID-19 hospitalizations and fatalities being up by 25% week over week means that the country is “not going in the right direction.”

Giroir stressed that the country is at an “absolutely critical, dangerous point” as he urged the public to wear a mask to reduce the spread of COVID-19 because it’s “the only way we get out of this” until there’s a vaccine for the pandemic that has killed more than 249,000 Americans thus far.

“Right now, we are in an absolutely dangerous situation that we have to take with the utmost seriousness,” Giroir said. “This is not crying wolf. This is the worst rate of rise in cases that we’ve seen in the pandemic in the United States and right now there’s no sign of flattening.”

Giroir reiterated that the public needs to be “incredibly concerned.”

And of course, the #TrumpDeathCult are continuing to exacerbate the problem by stamping their tiny feet, throwing a temper tantrum, and refusing to let the grownups take charge of the situation:

President-elect Joe Biden rebuked President Trump on Wednesday for standing in the way of his formal transition, especially because the sitting president’s refusal to concede will put the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine during the Biden administration “behind by weeks or months.”

During a roundtable with workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, Biden particularly expressed his dismay over General Services Administration chief Emily Murphy’s refusal to sign an “ascertainment,” which would allow Biden’s transition team to contact federal agencies or access the millions of dollars set aside for it, despite his legitimate election victory and amid surging COVID-19 cases.

This behavior should guarantee that Trump gets what he wants, though.  He will forever stand out from all other American presidents --- for his corruption, his incompetence, and his malfeasance.