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Tallex

Administrator

Covid19 file

Update:

March 2023.
It looks like the worse of this pandemic is over but millions of people continue to suffer from "long covid"  and some will still get infected.
We simply can't under estimate the threat of emerging strains as well as other dangerous biological threats that will undoubtedly emerge in the future.

We  started this Covid19 file so as to not interfere with more on topic posts, all links/comments related to Covid19 should be posted here exclusively.
This is a far too important issue to simply label "OT".
It's vital to document updates on this pandemic, good or bad.
No need to panic but this is deadly serious.

Donald Trump Triggers Furious Backlash Over ‘Go To Work’ With Coronavirus Claim
"DEFINITELY DO NOT GO TO WORK IF YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS PLEASE AND THANK YOU," MSNBC's Chris Hayes responded to Trump's suggestion.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/don … 126b761e42

Twitter users took President Donald Trump to task after he suggested in a rambling interview that it would be OK if people infected with the coronavirus ignored official advice to isolate and went to work instead.

"A lot of people will have this and it’s very mild. They’ll get better very rapidly. They don’t even see a doctor. They don’t even call a doctor. You never hear about those people. So you can’t put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and/or virus. So you just can’t do that. So, if you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better."

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

The Trump Administration Is Enshrining Its Anti-Science Policy in the Midst of an Epidemic
The “Censored Science Rule” at the EPA just made another advancement.

https://www.motherjones.com/environment … -epidemic/

As more states learned they have rising numbers of confirmed cases of coronavirus Tuesday evening—now 16 states report at least 135 cases—the EPA made an important announcement: The agency is moving closer to finalizing a policy for restricting what health studies it can consider for any of the EPA’s scientific work. That would mean the agency would be forced only to consider studies that can publish their raw data, which in effect means ignoring entire fields of epidemiology research that relies on private, anonymized medical data to study the impacts of pollution.

snip

In effect, the Trump administration is enshrining its anti-science policy in the midst of an epidemic, when science should be leading the way to protect public health.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Larry Kudlow Again Insists Coronavirus Is 'Contained,' Urges Americans: 'Stay At Work'
Donald Trump boasts: "We stopped it," apparently referring to blocking travelers from China.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/lar … 616454647b

As health experts warn of increasing coronavirus cases and encouraged workers to telecommute, President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, declared again on Friday that the disease is “contained” and urged Americans: “Stay at work.”

Trump also insisted Friday: “We stopped it,” apparently referring to cases coming in from China.

The men made their comments on the same day that two more coronavirus deaths were reported — in Florida — bringing the national toll to 17.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

As Americans Continue To Get Coronavirus, Trump Shows He Doesn't Really Care
In the face of a global crisis, the president can't stop making it about himself.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/cor … 6164551e41

A meeting between President Donald Trump and health officials that was meant to reassure the public about the coronavirus instead became a sideshow in which the president praised himself, asked about television ratings and suggested sick passengers on a cruise ship stay there because he didn’t want to include them in U.S. infection numbers.
During a tour of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, Trump donned a red campaign hat and boasted about himself amid an ongoing global crisis that has killed at least 3,000 people. At least 17 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus and more than 200 people in the country are infected. That number could be much higher, but the CDC has bungled its response and limited the number of diagnostic tests that can be administered.
None of these facts stopped the president from patting himself on the back as he bragged about being as smart as the public health experts tasked with handling the situation.

“People are really surprised I understand this stuff,” Trump said during a press briefing at the CDC. “Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability.”
In a meeting with health experts on Monday, Trump asked why doctors don’t just administer the flu vaccine to combat the virus.

snip

From the outset of this crisis, the Trump administration has downplayed the growing threat and obfuscated basic facts about the administration’s handling of the virus.
“It’s going to disappear,” Trump said of the coronavirus last month. “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
The virus, of course, has not just disappeared. And Trump’s pick of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the administration’s response to the health crisis isn’t exactly instilling confidence in the American public.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Those so called entitlements are because people earned them and are therefore entitled to them.

Trump Reportedly Weighs Tax Breaks For Travel Industry Hurt By Coronavirus, Benefit Cuts For Americans
While the president aims to cushion the blow for businesses, he appears to be throwing out his 2016 pledge not to cut Medicare and Social Security.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/tax … 5728054a6d

The White House is considering tax breaks for travel and tourism businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak, The Washington Post reported.
The news comes a day after President Donald Trump said at a Fox News town hall meeting that he’s also looking to cut so-called entitlement programs for Americans that include Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.

snip

Fox News host Martha MacCallum told the president that if “you don’t cut something in entitlements, you will never really deal with the debt.” Trump responded: “Oh, we’ll be cutting.” He then pivoted to the U.S. economy, noting its strong “growth.”
He has raised that point previously concerning program cuts, perhaps suggesting that people are so much wealthier in a strong economy that they can pay for their own retirement income and health insurance.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 17 As Virus Prompts Cancellations, Closures

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/cor … 616454292e

As more cases of coronavirus are confirmed daily around the globe, the death toll in the U.S. rose to at least 17 late Friday, with two new deaths reported in Florida.

snip

Across the U.S., there have been over 160 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Reported cases so far span more than 20 states.
The number of cases are growing daily around the world, reaching nearly 100,000 reported cases across at least 85 countries, per the World Health Organization. More than 3,000 people have died.
WHO director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged in a Thursday news briefing for countries worldwide to take a “collective, coordinated” approach to tackling the virus.
“We are calling on every country to act with speed,” he said, adding he was “deeply concerned” about the number of additional countries reporting cases. “This is not a drill. This is not the time to give up. ... This is a time for pulling out all the stops.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

'National Scandal': ER Doctor Slams Trump Administration's Coronavirus Testing Logjam
“I’m a practitioner on the firing line, and I don’t have the tools to properly care for patients today," warned Manhattan physician Matt McCarthy.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/mat … 2f50e6e3e5

A visibly frustrated McCarthy, who is on staff at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, complained on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he has to “plead” for COVID-19 testing for patients.
“In New York state, the [first] person who tested positive is only the 32nd test we’ve done in this state,” he said. “That is a national scandal.” The “longer we wait to get testing up and running, the worse this is going to be.”
While other countries are testing 10,000 people a day, “we can’t get this off the ground,” said McCarthy, author of the book “Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic” and an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine. “I’m a practitioner on the firing line, and I don’t have the tools to properly care for patients today.”

snip

At latest count Monday evening, there were 102 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. “There are going to be hundreds by the middle of the week; there’s going to be thousands by next week,” warned McCarthy. “And this is a testing issue.” He cautioned people to “not believe” the “false reassurances” coming from the Trump administration.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

President Donald Trump is “patient zero” of a looming “pandumbic” in a scathing, spoof news segment released by “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” on Friday.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/tru … 57280575f2

The 68-second clip ― a parody version of similar explainers about the ongoing coronavirus outbreak ― criticizes Trump’s haphazard handling of the crisis by warning of the spread of the “misinformation virus” that is “transmitted directly” from Trump’s mouth to “anyone within earshot.”

Symptoms include “uncontrollable bullshitting,” while those most susceptible are “people over 50 with pre-existing cable subscriptions.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Flight Attendant Union Chief Slams Trump 'Chaos' Over Coronavirus
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, accused Trump of putting “both my members and the traveling public in harm’s way."

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/fli … 616454bf13

Nelson, whose union represents nearly 50,000 attendants from 20 airlines, contrasted the messy way in which the Trump administration is tackling the spread of the coronavirus to how the Obama White House dealt with the Ebola crisis.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” Nelson recalled to host Lawrence O’Donnell how, under Obama’s “Ebola czar” Ronald Klain, she and other industry leaders were repeatedly brought together to discuss action both on the front lines and in the U.S.
But, with the Trump White House amid the coronavirus outbreak, she said, “we can’t even talk here about what we can do in a coordinated way, with good information in this country, to be able to contain this.”

snip

Critics have accused Trump of trying to manage the publicity aspect of the crisis over the crisis itself in a bid to boost his 2020 reelection chances.
“I can’t even believe where we are today and I’m extremely disheartened that the president of the United States is putting my members at risk, my members’ jobs at risk, our entire economy at risk and not taking this seriously,” Nelson added. “We can take this on as Americans, but not with this kind of chaos from the White House.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

White House sidelines Azar from coronavirus response
HHS Secretary Alex Azar has gone from the face of President Donald Trump's virus team to a supporting character.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/0 … rus-122250

There will be a notable omission when Vice President Mike Pence visits Washington state Thursday as part of the Trump administration's coronavirus response: health Secretary Alex Azar.
The White House on Wednesday also benched Azar from a coronavirus task force press briefing, the latest sign of diminished standing for an official who was the face of the U.S. response to the disease just a week ago.

snip

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

New York State Coronavirus Cases Jump to 76, Gov. Cuomo Declares State Of Emergency
Most of the cases of COVID-19 in New York are concentrated in the state’s Westchester County.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-york … 6164553ee7

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of novel coronavirus cases surge across the US.

Twenty more people in New York have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 76.

Cuomo said there are 11 confirmed cases in New York City, 57 in Westchester County, two in Rockland County, four in Nassau County, and two in Saratoga County.

The total number of confirmed cases across the US is 312, and there have been 17 deaths as of Saturday.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump’s CDC Director Has a History of Controversial Opinions on Controlling Viruses
Robert Redfield has long allied himself with conservative politicians and their pet theories about disease.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 … g-viruses/

Redfield, 68, is a well-known virologist who spent decades working on HIV/AIDS research in the military and as the head of the University of Maryland’s Institute of Human Virology. He also has a long history of being a close ally to conservative politicians and their pet theories on HIV and AIDS.

snip

According to Foreign Policy, in the introduction of a book by ASAP’s founder, Redfield rejected the medical norms for handling the epidemic and called for a more faith-based approach:

“It is time to reject the temptation of denial of the AIDS/HIV crisis; to reject false prophets who preach the quick-fix strategies of condoms and free needles; to reject those who preach prejudice; and to reject those who try to replace God as judge. The time has come for the Christian community—members and leaders alike—to confront the epidemic,” he wrote. Redfield named the breakdown of family values and increasing number of single-parent households as key factors responsible for the spread of AIDS.

snip

He also publicly lobbied for legislation sponsored by a conservative member of Congress that would force medical workers to get tested for HIV and AIDS and lose their licenses to practice if they were infected.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

American Hospital Association "Best Guess Epidemiology" for #codiv19 over next 2 months:

96,000,000 infections
4,800,000 hospitalizations
1,900,000 ICU admissions
480,000 deaths

vs flu in 2019:

35,500,000 infections
490,600 hospitalizations
49,000 ICU admissions
34,200 deaths

One slide in a leaked presentation for US hospitals reveals that they're preparing for millions of hospitalizations as the outbreak unfolds

https://www.businessinsider.com/present … ons-2020-3

Hospitals are confronting the rising threat of the novel coronavirus in the US.
The spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the US could push the healthcare system to its limits.
In a February webinar presentation hosted by the American Hospital Association, an expert laid out "best guess" estimates about how many Americans could be impacted.
He projected that there could be as many as 96 million cases in the US, 4.8 million hospitalizations, and 480,000 deaths associated with the novel coronavirus.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

'We're gearing up for something extremely significant': Top hospitals across the US told us how they're preparing for the coronavirus outbreak

https://www.businessinsider.com/present … ons-2020-3

Hospitals around the US are preparing for the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened more than 200 people in the US and 100,000 worldwide.
They want to make sure workers and equipment are ready to go in the event of a worst-case scenario.
"We've not yet seen an epidemic or pandemic in our lifetimes of this size and scope," said Becca Bartles, the executive director of infectious disease prevention at Providence St. Joseph Health System. "We're gearing up for something extremely significant."

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

CPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus

(CNN)The American Conservative Union announced on Saturday that one of the attendees at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, has tested positive for coronavirus.

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials attended the conference, though the ACU says the attendee did not come into contact with the president or vice president, nor did they attend events in the main hall.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

https://twitter.com/LizSpecht/status/12 … 0459003909

Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
How quickly could we ramp up production of new masks? Not very fast at all. The vast majority are manufactured overseas, almost all in China. Even when manufactured here in US, the raw materials are predominantly from overseas... again, predominantly from China. 17/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Keep in mind that all countries globally will be going through the exact same crises and shortages simultaneously. We can’t force trade in our favor. 18/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Now consider how these 2 factors – bed and mask shortages – compound each other’s severity. Full hospitals + few masks + HCWs running around between beds without proper PPE = very bad mix. 19/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
HCWs are already getting infected even w/ access to full PPE. In the face of PPE limitations this severe, it’s only a matter of time. HCWs will start dropping from the workforce for weeks at a time, leading to a shortage of HCWs that then further compounds both issues above. 20/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
We could go on and on about thousands of factors – # of ventilators, or even simple things like saline drip bags. You see where this is going. 21/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Importantly, I cannot stress this enough: even if I’m wrong – even VERY wrong – about core assumptions like % of severe cases or current case #, it only changes the timeline by days or weeks. This is how exponential growth in an immunologically naïve population works. 22/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Undeserved panic does no one any good. But neither does ill-informed complacency. It’s wrong to assuage the public by saying “only 2% will die.” People aren’t adequately grasping the national and global systemic burden wrought by this swift-moving of a disease. 23/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
I’m an engineer. This is what my mind does all day: I run back-of-the-envelope calculations to try to estimate order-of-magnitude impacts. I’ve been on high alarm about this disease since ~Jan 19 after reading clinical indicators in the first papers emerging from Wuhan. 24/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Nothing in the last 6 weeks has dampened my alarm in the slightest. To the contrary, we’re seeing abject refusal of many countries to adequately respond or prepare. Of course some of these estimates will be wrong, even substantially wrong. 25/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
But I have no reason to think they’ll be orders-of-magnitude wrong. Even if your personal risk of death is very, very low, don’t mock decisions like canceling events or closing workplaces as undue “panic”. 26/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
These measures are the bare minimum we should be doing to try to shift the peak – to slow the rise in cases so that healthcare systems are less overwhelmed. Each day that we can delay an extra case is a big win for the HC system. 27/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
And yes, you really should prepare to buckle down for a bit. All services and supply chains will be impacted. Why risk the stress of being ill-prepared? 28/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
Worst case, I’m massively wrong and you now have a huge bag of rice and black beans to burn through over the next few months and enough Robitussin to trip out. 29/n
Liz Specht
@LizSpecht
·
Mar 6
One more thought: you’ve probably seen multiple respected epidemiologists have estimated that 20-70% of world will be infected within the next year. If you use 6-day doubling rate I mentioned above, we land at ~2-6 billion infected by sometime in July of this year. 30/n

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Hand Sanitizer (WHO Formula)

https://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2020 … o-formula/

Can’t find hand sanitizer at your local supermarket or drugstore? You’re not alone. My local Hannaford and CVS both sold out of the stuff weeks ago. Fortunately, sanitizing hand rub is easy and inexpensive to make right at home. I made a batch this morning, using the formula that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The ingredients and measurements:

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump: Keep ’Em On the Ship. I Don’t Want Our Coronavirus Numbers To Go Up.

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/ … -to-go-up/

"I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship"

snip

A minute later a reporter asks Trump about disbanding the White House pandemic response team in 2018. His answer: “I just think this is something that you can never really think is going to happen.”

snip

This is all so, so unfunny. In just a couple of weeks, Trump has gone from being a boob, but a relatively benign one, to a boob who could end up killing a lot of people. As near as I can tell, he thinks about the rate of coronavirus infections the same way he thinks about Nielsen ratings or golf scores. The only thing that matters is whether the numbers reflect well on him or not.

Holy hell.

snip

Needless to say, the numbers “count” regardless of whether the victims are on a ship or on dry land. Trump’s idiocy truly knows no bounds.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

The US could face shortages of crucial medicines like antibiotics and a heart drug because of the coronavirus. Here's what you need to know.

https://www.businessinsider.com/drugs-a … eak-2020-3

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt business in China, it could lead to a shortage for some prescription drugs.
Already, the US Food and Drug Administration reported a shortage for one drug connected to the outbreak, though it didn't name the drug.
China makes a lot of the key ingredients used in pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics and the heart medication heparin.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

White House Overruled CDC Push For Elderly Not To Fly Due To Coronavirus: Official
A spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence denied the unnamed official’s claim, calling it “complete fiction.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-ho … 5728065f86

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan this week as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed, said the official who had direct knowledge of the plan. Trump administration officials have since suggested certain people should consider not traveling, but they have stopped short of the stronger guidance sought by the CDC.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Ted Cruz Self-Quarantines After Interacting With Coronavirus Patient At CPAC
The Texas Republican said he isn't experiencing any symptoms, but will still self-quarantine until 14 days have passed since the interaction at the conference.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ted … 61645623cf

Sen. Ted Cruz announced Sunday that he will self-quarantine after finding out he interacted with an individual at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference who later tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19,” which is the disease caused by the virus, the Texas Republican said in a statement, adding that the interaction involved a handshake and a “brief conversation.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

It’s Long Past Time For Donald Trump to Quit the Clowning

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/ … -clowning/

The more that Donald Trump’s latest coronavirus press avail sinks in, the angrier I get. There he is, wearing a campaign cap and mugging for the camera. Interrupting Alex Azar when he’s on the verge of telling the truth about something. Bloviating about how he’s an innate medical genius. Complaining that he doesn’t want to unload passengers from a cruise ship because it might hurt his “numbers.” Griping that the Dow was all set to hit 30,000 until this whole virus thing hit. Bragging about the small number of deaths so far. Apparently demanding that every actual professional kowtow to him in public. Saying that he’s not to blame for cutting back on pandemic preparedness because “this is something that you can never really think is going to happen.” Clowning about how the testing has been perfect, “like the letter was perfect.” Snickering about how he told Mike Pence not to compliment a governor who had been mean to him. Bragging that he’s not bothering to take any special protections.
Jesus. Does he think this whole thing is just a big joke? Is he going to keep acting like a combination of court jester and Pollyanna-in-chief when the number of deaths hits a hundred? Or a thousand? Is there anyone left on his staff who can tell him to start acting like a president?

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar will self-quarantine after interacting with individual with coronavirus

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/08/politics … index.html

Washington (CNN)Two Republican members of Congress on Sunday announced they will self-quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona separately said they will take the step out of caution and don't currently have any symptoms related to the virus.
Cruz said he will remain in Texas until a full 14 days after the interaction has passed. The Texas Republican said his interaction with the individual consisted of a "brief conversation and a handshake."

snip

Gosar said in his own statement later Sunday that, along with three members of his staff, he was with the infected individual "for an extended period of time, and we shook hands several times." He said he'll remain at home in Arizona for 14 days and that his office would be closed for the week.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis
Current and former administration officials blame the president for creating a no-bad-news atmosphere that stifled attempts to combat the outbreak.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/0 … yle-123465

For six weeks behind the scenes, and now increasingly in public, Trump has undermined his administration’s own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak — resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear. Members of Congress have grilled top officials like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield over the government’s biggest mistake: failing to secure enough testing to head off a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. But many current and former Trump administration officials say the true management failure was Trump’s.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump administration budget cuts could become a major problem as coronavirus spreads

https://fortune.com/2020/02/26/coronavi … -us-trump/

The cuts started in 2018, as the White House focused on eliminating funding to Obama-era disease security programs. In March of that year, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, whose job it was to lead the U.S. response in the event of a pandemic, abruptly left the administration and his global health security team was disbanded.
That same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to slash its efforts to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% as its funding for the program began to run out. The agency, at the time, opted to focus on 10 priority countries and scale back in others, including China.
Also cut was the Complex Crises Fund, a $30 million emergency response pool that was at the secretary of state’s disposal to deploy disease experts and others in the event of a crisis. (The fund was created by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)
Overall in 2018, Trump called for $15 billion in reduced health spending that had previously been approved, as he looked at increasing budget deficits, cutting the global disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services (HHS) in the process.

The effects of those cuts are being felt today. While the CDC announced plans to test people with flu-like symptoms for COVID-19, those have been delayed and only three of the country’s 100 public-health labs have been able to test for coronavirus. The administration’s request for additional funding came roughly two weeks after officials said HHS was almost out of funding for its response to the virus.

snip

Brian Schatz
✔
@brianschatz
The Coronavirus is not contained. It will not fade in the spring. Trump cut CDC by 9 percent. Trump eliminated the position at the global health security teams at NSC and DHS. They don’t know what they are doing. They are fixated on the politics and the stock market.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Coronavirus is mutating: Chinese scientists find second strain

https://fortune.com/2020/03/04/coronavi … han-china/

As healthcare officials fight to stem the outbreak of coronavirus, researchers in China say preliminary research shows that COVID-19 is mutating and there are at least two types of the virus now.
One of those, the more aggressive strain, has infected 70% of the people tested, while a less aggressive strain was linked to the rest, according to doctors at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai.

snip

Researchers say the different strains were likely caused through a mutation of the ancestral version of the virus. And that could mean more are coming. They urged the scientific community to come together to battle and contain the outbreak.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Why are patients who recover from coronavirus testing positive again?

https://fortune.com/2020/03/06/coronavi … ive-twice/

The number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases worldwide reached over 98,600 on Friday, including 233 in the U.S., where 12 people have died. Germany's health minister called the outbreak, which has spread to at least 84 countries, a "global pandemic."

Along with the global rise in infections and deaths is an increase in recoveries—more than 55,000 people have recovered from the disease as of Friday. While those recoveries are welcome news for a world on edge, public health officials in China and Japan have reported cases in which patients see their symptoms subside and are discharged from hospitals—only to test positive for the coronavirus again.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Mark Meadows To Self-Quarantine After Potential Contact With Coronavirus Patient
The incoming White House chief of staff is the latest GOP lawmaker who may have had contact with an infected person.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/mar … 6164595cf9

At least three other GOP lawmakers have announced their own self-quarantines: Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.). Gaetz rode on Air Force One with President Donald Trump on Monday.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

D.C. Officials Ask Hundreds To Self-Quarantine After Priest's Coronavirus Diagnosis
An Episcopal church has canceled all gatherings after its priest was diagnosed with COVID-19.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/chr … 57280981f2

Health officials in Washington, D.C., are urging hundreds of worshippers who recently visited a local Episcopal church to self-quarantine after the parish’s rector tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Rev. Timothy Cole, leader of Christ Church, Georgetown, identified himself as a confirmed novel coronavirus patient in a letter to congregants on Sunday. He received the diagnosis about a week after he participated in Sunday services attended by around 550 people on March 1, including one service in which he helped distribute Holy Communion.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump Can Keep Lying About Coronavirus, But He Won't Be Able To Hide The Deaths
We have a president with an unusual knack for avoiding the consequences of his lies. A disease outbreak might be the thing that could change that.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/tru … 616458fefe

Trump lied when he said the number of Americans infected with coronavirus was declining even as health officials told him and the public the truth about it rising. He lied when he said there were enough coronavirus tests for every American even when Vice President Mike Pence ― who’s leading the administration’s response ― said that wasn’t true, and he lied when he blamed the shortage of tests on former President Barack Obama. He lied when he compared a year’s worth of influenza deaths to a few months’ worth of coronavirus fatalities in an effort to mislead Americans about the severity of the new disease.
But his constant downplaying of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak is about to run headlong into reality.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

White House: We're Doing A ‘Remarkable Job,’ Can’t Say How Many Tested For Coronavirus
Trump declined to say if he had been tested for the virus himself amid reports he was in contact with two lawmakers who interacted with a coronavirus patient.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/whi … 0e72fd1889

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

What Could Warming Mean for Pathogens like Coronavirus?
Scientists expect to see changes in the timing, location and severity of disease outbreaks as global temperatures rise

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti … ronavirus/

President Trump assured the American public that the onset of warmer weather could halt the spread of the coronavirus. But experts caution there's no evidence to support that idea.
His assertion raises new questions about the role temperatures have on infectious diseases as Earth gets warmer. The impacts of climate change on the coronavirus are unknown, but research related to other illnesses suggest that the risk of pandemics is growing as rising temperatures ignite animal migrations and other changes.
The COVID-19 virus continues to spread even as the first hints of spring begin to appear across the Northern Hemisphere.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Coronavirus live updates: More than 114,000 people have been infected and at least 4,000 have died. The US has reported 26 deaths. Here's everything we know.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-v … ead-2020-1

The coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 114,000.
The virus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 100 other countries.
Nearly 900 deaths have been reported outside mainland China, including 26 in the US.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

‘It makes me very angry’: Coronavirus damage ripples across the workforce
Employers and employees across the U.S. are confronting how to navigate an unusual economic shock.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/0 … nty-124191

The evidence is expected to show up through lost consumer spending, derailed business plans and swift damage to lower-wage workers across the nation. The extent of the damage will rest largely on how long it takes for businesses and consumers to gain confidence that the threat is under control.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump attacks second Democratic governor over coronavirus criticism
The president blasted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo days after targeting Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/0 … ism-124216

President Donald Trump on Monday accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of attempting "political weaponization" of the coronavirus crisis, attacking another Democratic governor who has declared a state of emergency as a result of the outbreak.

Responding to a Saturday interview on MSNBC in which Cuomo criticized the "mixed messages" put forth by the federal government in response to the coronavirus, Trump wrote on Twitter: "There are no mixed messages, only political weaponization by people like you and your brother, Fredo!"

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump’s Misplaced Blame on Obama for Coronavirus Tests

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/trump … rus-tests/

Amid criticism over his administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that he had to overcome an Obama-era Food and Drug Administration “rule” to more quickly provide diagnostic tests to the American people. Experts, however, told us no such formal regulation was ever implemented under the previous administration.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump and the Coronavirus Death Rate

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/trump … eath-rate/

The World Health Organization says that 3.4% of reported COVID-19 patients worldwide have died – a global fatality figure that President Donald Trump dismissed as “a false number.” It’s not a false number, although experts say Trump has a point that the fatality rate may ultimately be quite a bit less than 3.4%.

Trump says the true rate is much lower because the WHO’s rate does not take into account unreported cases. The WHO rate comes from the actual number of known cases and fatalities.

The dispute began March 3 when the head of the WHO announced that the mortality rate for the new coronavirus was 3.4%, which was higher than previously believed and made it far more deadly than the seasonal flu.

“Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 (the disease spread by the virus) cases have died,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a briefing. “By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

China’s aggressive measures have slowed the coronavirus. They may not work in other countries

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03 … -countries

Chinese hospitals overflowing with COVID-19 patients a few weeks ago now have empty beds. Trials of experimental drugs are having difficulty enrolling enough eligible patients. And the number of new cases reported each day has plummeted the past few weeks.

These are some of the startling observations in a report released on 28 February from a mission organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese government that allowed 13 foreigners to join 12 Chinese scientists on a tour of five cities in China to study the state of the COVID-19 epidemic and the effectiveness of the country’s response. The findings surprised several of the visiting scientists. “I thought there was no way those numbers could be real,” says epidemiologist Tim Eckmanns of the Robert Koch Institute, who was part of the mission.

But the report is unequivocal. “China’s bold approach to contain the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic,” it says. “This decline in COVID-19 cases across China is real.”

The question now is whether the world can take lessons from China’s apparent success—and whether the massive lockdowns and electronic surveillance measures imposed by an authoritarian government would work in other countries.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

U.S. Hospitals Say They’re Ready for Coronavirus. Their Infection Control Violations Say Otherwise.
An outbreak would demand peak performance from America’s medical professionals — especially in hospitals. But many of the facilities that may be on the front lines have well-documented histories of failing to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

https://www.propublica.org/article/us-h … -otherwise

But infection control has been a recurring problem at some of the very hospitals that would likely be called upon to treat COVID-19 patients, a ProPublica review of hundreds of hospital inspection reports found. This raises concerns that they could become hotbeds for disease, putting patients at risk and rendering infected workers unable to care for others.

“Health care workers are my top worry,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He noted that in China, so far, about 15% of infected hospital workers have become severely ill. “If this takes place in the U.S., and we see those numbers of workers sent home or in the ICU, being taken care of by their colleagues, things will start to unravel. This is the soft underbelly of our preparedness system right now.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Fox Business Host Claims Coronavirus Is ‘Impeachment All Over Again’ In Bonkers Rant
Trish Regan spins a conspiracy web as the number of infected patients jumps again.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/tri … 0e72fd58df

Fox Business host Trish Regan claims the coronavirus outbreak is just “another attempt to impeach” President Donald Trump. 

On Monday, Regan claimed that Democrats “blame him and only him for a virus that originated halfway around the world.” She said they were trying to “create mass hysteria to encourage a market selloff” and “stop our economy dead in its tracks.” And she said Democrats, the media and even investors were allowing their hate to “spiral out of control” and cause markets to crash.

As she spoke, a graphic reading “CORONAVIRUS IMPEACHMENT SCAM” appeared on the screen:

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Donald Trump's Coronavirus Response Will 'Cost Lives,' Washington Post Board Warns
The newspaper's editorial slammed Trump for being “more concerned with his own image than the well-being of the nation."

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/was … 0e72fd8855

“Mr Trump’s counter messaging does more than cause confusion,” the newspaper warned in an editorial published Monday.

“It will cost lives,” it said.

Trump has peddled multiple falsehoods and repeatedly sought to downplay the threat of the virus, which has infected more than 700 people in the U.S. and killed 26 nationwide.

In its editorial — titled “Trump is endangering lives with his contempt for truth” — the newspaper’s board bashed Trump’s “constant minimizing of the seriousness of the crisis” and for being “more concerned with his own image than the well-being of the nation,” citing the president’s suspicion of federal agencies who should be working together to combat the crisis.

“President Trump has spent three years demeaning and weakening the U.S. government,” the paper wrote. “Now that the United States desperately needs that government to function well, we are paying a steep price.”

The New York Times opinion columnist Jennifer Senior in a similarly scathing column declared Trump “unfit” to lead the country through the crisis, calling his narcissism “a grave danger to our health.”

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Trump Indulges In Twitter Binge As Markets Nose-Dive
While the bottom fell out, President Trump was busy revisiting old grudges on social media.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/tru … 572808bfe2

“So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu,” he tweeted. “It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”

Stock markets around the world opened sharply lower Monday, with coronavirus fears and a turbulent oil market conspiring to prompt heavy sell-offs and a temporary halt in trading.

While the bottom fell out, President Donald Trump was busy ― on Twitter. Trump sent 13 tweets over a span of about three hours Monday morning, ranting about everything from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) comments last week about abortion to the state of the Democratic primaries.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Conservative Columnist Max Boot Says Trump's Turning Into 'Baghdad Bob' Over Coronavirus
Max Boot compares the president to the Iraqi official known for his comically false disinformation.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/max … 57280a3923

Conservative columnist Max Boot called out President Donald Trump on Monday for delivering misinformation instead of the calm and steady leadership needed as the nation faces the twin crises of the coronavirus outbreak and spasming financial markets. 

“Panic is spreading even faster than the coronavirus because there is no leader to reassure a jittery public,” Boot wrote in The Washington Post,

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

White House Stopped Officials From Recommending the Elderly Not Fly Amid COVID-19: Official

https://time.com/5799117/white-house-co … rs-flying/

(NEW YORK) — The White House overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, a federal official told The Associated Press.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan this week as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed, said the official who had direct knowledge of the plan. Trump administration officials have since suggested certain people should consider not traveling, but they have stopped short of the stronger guidance sought by the CDC.

Tallex

Administrator

Re: Covid19 file

Only 6,563 Americans Have Been Tested For The Coronavirus So Far
But confusion about the exact number of people tested persists even at the highest reaches of government.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/american … 57280cede6

Despite vows to drastically expand the coronavirus testing regime, federal and state public health authorities have tested only 6,563 people for the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numbers provided by all 50 states.
That count includes people tested by the federal government and by state laboratories. Because those laboratories may not always report people who tested negative for the coronavirus, the true number of people tested is probably somewhat higher.
Confusion about that exact number persists even at the highest reaches of government. Earlier on Tuesday, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he couldn’t provide the figure. “We don’t know exactly how many because hundreds of thousands of our tests have gone out to private labs and hospitals that currently do not report in to CDC,” he said in a CNN appearance.
That number stands in stark contrast to the promises made by leading members of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, who have variously asserted that 75,000 people would be tested by last week’s end and that laboratories across the United States would have the capacity to conduct 1.5 million tests by the beginning of this week.