Government Response to Coronavirus 3: Locked Down

[Howl]

There's probably more than a little flop sweat and desperation going on at Trump World Headquarters;  they're hemorrhaging money and my guess is that they have more financial exposure than is publicly known. 

Turmp Org is asking Deutsche Bank for relief on their $350,000,000 in loans, while Deutsche Bank is being investigated by DOJ. 

Trump's insistence on spruiking  hydroxychloroquine as a cure and a preventative is beyond bizarre.  GMA interviewed the head of the US public health service this morning and he said it's a decision between a patient and their doctor, that it's FDA approved, without explaining off-label use, yada yada.  To my mind, he was throwing gas on a fire and endangering the lives of those who currently depend on taking hydroxychloroquine to stay alive.  I wouldn't be surprised if that guy replaces Fauci at the daily presser Trump agitprop insanity. 

People are on it and researching the possible connections of Trump anything related to pharmaceutical and medical companies that are set to prosper from anything CV 19 related. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Howl

[GreyhoundFan]

This is a good, albeit disturbing, read:

 

[Howl]

  

43 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

This is a good, albeit disturbing, read:

Damn, that's the understatement of the year.  All along, although it's accelerated now, any independent thinker at a high level has been replaced by a Trump loyalist and this is the result. 

I'm starting to wonder if Trump is pushing this because he is desperate to be seen as the hero who made sure the life-saving medicine is given to the people, and POOF! just like that, the pandemic is over, he's hailed as the President Who Saved America, and everything goes back to normal, including people playing golf while staying at his hotels.  Meanwhile, Trump, a notorious germophobe, doesn't seem to be worried about the virus, and stands shoulder to shoulder with others at his pressers.  

Meanwhile, people with lupus are so f**ked. 

And by the way, Trump had no scheduled events yesterday, but showed up at the presser anyway, because who the hell knows what that rogue  and unrepentant truth teller Fauci was going to say. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Howl

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

People are on it and researching the possible connections of Trump anything related to pharmaceutical and medical companies that are set to prosper from anything CV 19 related. 

That's the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post. Follow the money.

[fraurosena]

Daily update:

• The official number of corona-related deaths in the Netherlands has risen to 1867. The actual number is presumably higher, as not everyone is tested.
  There were 260 new hospitalisations, bringing the total up to 7135 (including recoveries). There are now 1409 patients in ICU's.
  A total number of 18.803 people have tested positive.
  The military is deploying more of its medical personnel to aid in hospitals in Arnhem, Beverwijk, Delft and Den Haag.
• Germany is treating more than 200 foreign patients; 130 from France, 44 from Italy and 37 from the Netherlands. Germany has a relatively high number of ICU beds in comparison to other European countries.
• Boris Johnson will remain in hospital for the foreseeable future. He has a bad cough and he's running a fever. The government is emphasising that this is only a precautionary measure. (I have my doubts about that though - this is the 11th day after he announced he had tested positive, so he's had symptoms for longer than that, which is not a good sign).
• Last week, the British government promised to acquire millions of tests that would be available within a couple of days. It turns out that these (Chinese) tests aren't reliable and are therefore unusable.
  The number of deaths in England has risen to 4897. According to the NHS, 15 of these patients did not have underlying health issues.
• An Indonesian barber still offers haircuts, even with the 1.5 meter social distancing measures. He has found a unique method of protecting himself:
  Spoiler

  

  The suit is made from garbage bags.

• Belgium has 185 new corona-related deaths. Hospitals are under extreme pressure with 1257 patients in the ICU, of which 984 need ventilation. 
• German newspaper Die Welt is placing a picture of foreign journalists who have been arrested for reporting critical articles on the pandemic on its front page every day.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is deliberating calling a state of emergency today. This would give governors the ability to take longer term measures against the corona virus. Abe is doing this after growing public criticism from medical experts who say the Japanese government is too soft and slow in its reaction to the outbreak. Japan is not in lockdown, but a state of emergency would enable governors to take comparable measures.
  Japan has 3500 confirmed cases and 85 deaths.
• For the first time since February 29, South Korea is reporting less than 50 new cases. Their death toll is now at 186. Although South Korea seems to pretty much have the outbreak under control, their  government decided on Saturday to extend the social distancing measures with an additional two weeks. 
• For the fourth day in a row, Germany also has less new cases. The number of new cases rose with 3777 to 95.391 in the last day. The day before there were almost 6000 new cases. A total number of 1434 German patients have died. German authorities emphasise that these are 'merely' the official numbers and that the actual numbers are presumably much higher.
  Germany wants to intensify the quarantine measures. Anyone who has been abroad must go into quarantine for fourteen days after their return home; exemptions are made for international truck drivers and other people who have to cross the border for necessary reasons. 
• China reported 39 new cases, 9 more than the day before. There are fears for a renewed outbreak.
• Apple is going to produce one million face masks per week, Tim Cook announced on social media. According to Cook Apple has also donated twenty million N95 masks to organisations that urgently need them.
• A tiger in the Bronx Zoo in New York has tested positive for the virus. The animal was presumably contaminated by an employee without symptoms. The tiger has a dry cough and a diminished appetite, but is expected to make a full recovery. There are four other animals with symptoms, but they haven't been tested.
• Catherine Calderwood, chief medical officer for the Scottish government has resigned because she ignored her own corona-measures. Newspaper The Scottish Sun found out that she and her family had traveled to their holiday home on the Scottish east coast. 
• French Economic Minister Burno Lemaire has said that France is heading for the worst economic crisis since WWII.
• Spanish authorities have reported less deaths (637; the lowest number in four weeks) and less new cases (4273).
• Austria is the first country in Europe that is preparing to ease its corona-measures. After Easter small shops will be allowed to open their doors again, with the proviso that customers cover their mouths and keep their distance from each other. Chancellor Kurz explained that as Austria was one of the first to instate corona-measures means that they can be one of the first to open their shops again. Two weeks after Easter hotels and restaurants may open again. Schools will remain closed until the middle of May. Their Minister of Health says the corona virus situation has stabilised; the number of new cases has been lessening for a good number of days now. The government is emphasising that people still need to take care and should adhere to the rules for the time being.

[fraurosena]

At least we know where his priorities lie: advertising numbers of news outlets he doesn't like are so much more important than the pandemic.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmazonGrace]

Pretty sure the fucker has bought stock in the company that makes this drug.

 

[SassyPants]

35 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Pretty sure the fucker has bought stock in the company that makes this drug.

 

So at first he didn’t want people, even those with respiratory symptoms, to get tested, yet now he wants asymptomatic people to take prophylactic medications? AND America (and Russia) elected this man to be POTUS? What a joke.

[clueliss]

It must be a workday/weekday - I'm crunching numbers and listening to CNBC.

By the way - CNBC just said something about Boris Johnson being admitted to ICU and someone taking over the government for now.  

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by clueliss
Found an article

[Howl]

For a moment of levity...

 

[AmazonGrace]

It is understood Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit just short of an hour and a half ago.

The decision was made by his medical team after his condition worsened over the course of Monday. The prime minister is understood to be conscious and to have been moved as a precaution in case he needs ventilation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/06/coronavirus-live-news-boris-johnson-admitted-to-hospital-as-trump-again-touts-hydroxychloroquine

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been moved to an intensive care unit after his condition worsened, Downing Street has said. A No 10 spokesman said:

 

Since Sunday evening, the prime minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.

Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the prime minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the intensive care unit at the hospital.

The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the first secretary of state, to deputise for him where necessary.

The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

[clueliss]

Wisconsin Primary is delayed

 

[fraurosena]

6 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

It is understood Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit just short of an hour and a half ago.

The decision was made by his medical team after his condition worsened over the course of Monday. The prime minister is understood to be conscious and to have been moved as a precaution in case he needs ventilation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/06/coronavirus-live-news-boris-johnson-admitted-to-hospital-as-trump-again-touts-hydroxychloroquine

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been moved to an intensive care unit after his condition worsened, Downing Street has said. A No 10 spokesman said:

 

Since Sunday evening, the prime minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.

Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the prime minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the intensive care unit at the hospital.

The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the first secretary of state, to deputise for him where necessary.

The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

Who is admitted to a hospital as a precaution at 10.00 pm on a Sunday evening? And now he's in the ICU as a precaution on Monday night? 

This is not a good sign at all. Precautionary measures my ass.

 

[clueliss]

Social Media limiting conspiracy theories related to 5g (which is only going to fuel conspiracy theories about 5g because nutjobs)

Spoiler

 

 

CDC says 3 kids have died from suspected covid19 in US.  

Spoiler

 

STL County Health Dept needs cloth  masks

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

14 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Who is admitted to a hospital as a precaution at 10.00 pm on a Sunday evening? And now he's in the ICU as a precaution on Monday night? 

This is not a good sign at all. Precautionary measures my ass.

 

Ikr?  Makes me wonder how stupid they think the public is.  He's in for "routine tests" which was the phrase I heard used.  Those don't land you in ICU.

[fraurosena]

Wut?!

 

[AmazonGrace]

Who needs medical science when there's history and an old fart with an opinion.

[fraurosena]

And here you have it guys. Just as we thought. 

 

[fraurosena]

Trump vs. Biden on coronavirus: The timeline is utterly damning

Quote

We’re now learning that President Trump’s efforts to promote an anti-malarial drug for use against the coronavirus is causing internal administration tensions. Anthony Fauci, the administration’s own leading expert, privately challenged this optimism about hydroxychloroquine, and fittingly, Trump prevented Fauci from publicly reiterating this skepticism at Sunday’s briefing.

Only hours earlier, Joe Biden presented a striking contrast. On ABC’s “This Week,” Biden called on Trump to exercise the Defense Production Act to marshal the private sector to speed lifesaving equipment to hospitals, urged stricter social distancing and reiterated the need to “follow the science” and “listen to the experts.”

It’s now clear that this stark contrast could define the 2020 campaign. Democrats are unveiling new ads highlighting Trump’s serial failures to take the coronavirus seriously. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is urging surrogates to claim, laughably, that Trump is “leading the nation” in the “war against coronavirus,” and to cast the former vice president as “the opposition in that war.”

So let’s talk about who said what about coronavirus, and when they said it.

I’ve compiled a timeline that compares public statements by Biden and Trump throughout the early days of this crisis, when extraordinary levels of failure by Trump and his administration squandered crucial lost time whose consequences are only beginning to be felt.

What’s notable is that this contrast — Trump defying science and experts on one side, and Biden calling for a response shaped around science and expertise on the other — has been omnipresent throughout:

Trump, Jan. 22: The president tells CNBC that “we have it totally under control” and “it’s going to be just fine.”

Top Biden adviser, Jan. 22: Ron Klain, a Biden adviser who managed the 2014 Ebola response, co-writes a piece excoriating Trump for “brashly” dismissing coronavirus as “under control,” while calling for “expertise” to “guide critical decisions” and noting “reasons for great concern.”

Trump, Jan. 24: Trump praises and gives thanks to China for its efforts to contain the coronavirus, and adds: “It will all work out well.”

Biden, Jan. 27: Biden publishes an op-ed in USA Today hitting Trump for “shortsighted policies" that "have left us unprepared for a dangerous epidemic,” and warning that the coronavirus “will get worse before it gets better.”

Trump, Jan. 30: Trump says at a rally in Michigan: “We think we have it very well under control.”

Biden, Jan. 31: Biden tells reporters in Iowa that “science” must “lead the way,” adding: “We have, right now, a crisis with the coronavirus.”

Biden, Feb. 1: Biden tweets: “We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science.”

Trump, Feb. 2: Trump goes on Sean Hannity’s show and claims: “We pretty much shut it down, coming in from China.” Trump extols our “tremendous relationship” with China, and adds: “We did shut it down, yes.”

Trump, Feb. 10: Trump claims that “a lot of people” think the coronavirus “goes away in April with the heat,” adding that we only have “11 cases,” and that “we’re in great shape.”

Biden, Feb. 11: Biden goes on “Morning Joe” and excoriates Trump for claiming the coronavirus will disappear in the warm weather, crossing himself while doing so, and adding: “You couldn’t make it up.”

Trump, Feb. 26: Trump claims the media is conspiring with Democrats to hype the coronavirus to rattle the markets. Trump also says the coronavirus is “going very substantially down, not up.”

Trump, Feb. 27: Trump hails his administration’s handling of the coronavirus, and while he does reveal a hint of uncertainty, he says: “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

Trump, Feb. 28: Trump shouts at a rally in South Carolina that Democrats’ criticism of his response (which proved entirely accurate) is “their new hoax.”

Biden, Feb. 28: Biden goes on CNN and says Trump has yet to “gain control” of the coronavirus, while calling on Trump to stop downplaying it and urging him instead to “let the experts take this over” and “let the experts speak.”

Trump, March 9: Trump dismissively compares the coronavirus with flu, claiming flu kills tens of thousands annually and that “life & the economy go on.”

Trump, March 10: Trump again hails the “great job” he’s doing on the coronavirus, and declares: “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

Biden, March 12: Biden gives a speech stressing the importance of presidential truth-telling amid crises, noting that Trump’s ongoing falsifications risk leaving Americans without reliable guidance, compounding “public fears.”

Trump, March 13: Asked about the administration’s epic failure to ramp up testing, Trump declares: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

Biden, March 15: Biden responds to that Trump quote by reiterating his call for widespread free testing, and by declaring: “It is the job of the president to take responsibility — and his response is unacceptable.”

Trump, March 17: After all that, Trump preposterously proclaims: “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”

It’s worth stressing that all this public dismissiveness by Trump reflects a mind-set that has had horrifying and extensive real-world consequences.

As The Post’s weekend exposé revealed, it took 70 days from the time Trump initially learned of the coronavirus to the point at which he treated it as a serious threat to untold numbers of American lives. Trump’s instinct to minimize and lie about the coronavirus saturated his government’s response, to catastrophic effect:

In reality, many of the failures to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the United States were either a result of, or exacerbated by, his leadership.

For weeks, he had barely uttered a word about the crisis that didn’t downplay its severity or propagate demonstrably false information. He dismissed the warnings of intelligence officials and top public health officials in his administration.

Obviously one cannot know how successfully a President Biden would have managed this crisis. But it has become inescapably obvious that under a different president, things probably would look rather different right now.

One shudders to think how many lives that might have saved, and how many will now be lost.

 

[Ozlsn]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

Yeah I bet he appreciates them now. If that could lead to not gutting the system that would also help.

I have to admit my first thought on reading about his ICU admission was a flashback to 3(? only 3?) weeks ago when the UK's strategy was going to be "everyone at risk stay home, and the rest of us will keep going" which an epidemiogist described as "a bold strategy".  Anyone who grew up watching Yes Minister will hear that in Sir Humphrey's voice, with the clear subtext of "that is a stupid idea, are you sure you want to do that?"

I honestly didn't think it would come back to bite the PM though. Plenty of his constituents yes, but not him.

[Ozlsn]

Link to graphs showing international trends.

Australia is flattening, along with Ireland (and presumably NZ which doesn't seem to be marked). South Korea is maintaining their line. Singapore and Hong Kong have had some increase but still controlled. Interested to see where Taiwan is, as their response was very effective in stopping spread. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

26 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

I honestly didn't think it would come back to bite the PM though. Plenty of his constituents yes, but not him.

Probably because Trump is Teflon and seemingly immortal - I think that's why I'm shocked.

[GreyhoundFan]

Anybody who has to be near him should be issued pepper spray:

 

[fraurosena]

No matter how hard Trump peddles it,  somehow I don’t think Johnson’s doctors will suddenly start giving him hydroxycloroquine...