Coronavirus Freakout 47: A Summer Plague

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GREAT subject title!

FUCKING LOVE the faceslap!

Good work!

Thanks SylviaFowler!👍

Georgia Hospital Worker Sounds Alarm: 'I Have Never Ever Seen Anything Like This'

. . .

This week, there was no room. Desperate, the health care worker said, administrators began checking available hospitals in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

The distance stretched more than 850 miles north to south, from Louisville, Ky., down to Orlando, Fla.

"When you have to start shipping patients out of state, it's bad," the worker said. "When the hospitals are full, that's when it becomes really dangerous for everybody."

more at link

3 Delta passengers test positive for coronavirus after landing in NY

Three passengers on the same Delta Airlines flight tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in New York, officials announced

The three individuals began feeling symptoms on July 6, the day after traveling from Atlanta to Albany on Delta Flight 4815, Rensselaer County Health Department officials said in a statement.

“Three passengers, all from Rensselaer County, became symptomatic on July 7. The cases were confirmed to the county Health Department today, Friday, July 10, after testing,” county officials wrote on Facebook Friday.

The airline is now warning any other passengers on the flight from Georgia to “immediately contact the county Health Department in their home county.”

Delta received $5.4 billion in bailout money from the federal government earlier this year, MarketWatch reported. The company’s website says it plans to block middle seats and limit capacity on its planes until Sept. 30.

The airline also requires all passengers to wear masks.

A Delta rep said the agency provided local health officials with a copy of the flight’s manifest for contact tracing purposes.

“We have been made aware of three customers who tested positive for Covid-19 and recently traveled on Endeavor from Atlanta to Albany,” spokesman Anthony Black told CNN.

“We are following the guidance of local healthcare officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The health and safety of our customers and crews is our top priority.”

New York state requires travelers from 19 states with rising coronavirus rates — including Georgia — to self-quarantine for 14 days.

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said air travelers from those states must fill out identification forms upon arrival in New York — or face a $2,000 fine.

“Out-of-state travelers from the states that are quarantined must provide a location form before they leave the airport,” the governor said.

“We know there’s been instances of noncompliance. Noncompliance can lead to outbreaks.”

3 Delta passengers test positive for coronavirus after landing in NY

Three passengers on the same Delta Airlines flight tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in New York, officials announced

The three individuals began feeling symptoms on July 6, the day after traveling from Atlanta to Albany on Delta Flight 4815, Rensselaer County Health Department officials said in a statement.

“Three passengers, all from Rensselaer County, became symptomatic on July 7. The cases were confirmed to the county Health Department today, Friday, July 10, after testing,” county officials wrote on Facebook Friday.

The airline is now warning any other passengers on the flight from Georgia to “immediately contact the county Health Department in their home county.”

Delta received $5.4 billion in bailout money from the federal government earlier this year, MarketWatch reported. The company’s website says it plans to block middle seats and limit capacity on its planes until Sept. 30.

The airline also requires all passengers to wear masks.

A Delta rep said the agency provided local health officials with a copy of the flight’s manifest for contact tracing purposes.

“We have been made aware of three customers who tested positive for Covid-19 and recently traveled on Endeavor from Atlanta to Albany,” spokesman Anthony Black told CNN.

“We are following the guidance of local healthcare officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The health and safety of our customers and crews is our top priority.”

New York state requires travelers from 19 states with rising coronavirus rates — including Georgia — to self-quarantine for 14 days.

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said air travelers from those states must fill out identification forms upon arrival in New York — or face a $2,000 fine.

“Out-of-state travelers from the states that are quarantined must provide a location form before they leave the airport,” the governor said.

“We know there’s been instances of noncompliance. Noncompliance can lead to outbreaks.”

There is absolutely no safe way to fly during a pandemic.

And the dumb keep getting dumber .............

R5 Hold me David. I'm scared.

After weeks of declines, cases are quickly rising again here in Belgium. +32% during 7-13 July compared to the previous seven day period. The higher trend is continuing in the current period which started on 14 July. 199 new cases were rereported this morning for example which is about 57% higher than the average for the previous period.

We are sorry to inform you r9 that David has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

A note he left at the scene mentions something about a soul-sucking limpet clinging to him at all hours of the day and night.

Please direct any further requests to your next victim.

I had to fly three weeks ago and then got tested over a week ago to make sure I’m not passing it around. Still waiting for the results. I feel okay, but was in contact with someone who tested positive. This lag in test results is awful, I didn’t leave the house all day yesterday but this can’t go on forever. I have to work and have many responsibilities.

My county is now Coronavirus threat level Red, along with the rest of Central Ohio. Masks required when leaving the house. This is going to be very popular with our conservative population.

2020 is more like a kick in the cunt than a slap on the face.

- Connie Ford

It was reported on MSNBC a few minutes ago that Kelly Ann Conway thinks Trump should go back to having COVID press conferences. Maybe she does hate him.

Almost as much as she must hate herself r15.

Florida has the most Covid-19 cases per capita

From CNN's Brandon Miller

For five consecutive days, Florida has led the nation in coronavirus cases per capita.

Currently, Florida is averaging just over 55 cases per 100,000 people according to analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

Florida took over the top spot from Arizona on Monday. Arizona — which had held the top spot for over a month — has now dropped to third as of today. Currently the top three per capita states, based on the 7-day average of new cases, are:

Florida – 55.24 cases per 100,000 people

Louisiana – 44.30 cases per 100,000 people

Arizona – 43.06 cases per 100,000 people

India resumes international flights despite rising cases

From CNN's Swati Gupta

India will allow scheduled international flights into the country, despite the nation recording more than 1 million coronavirus cases and restricting people in multiple states from leaving their homes in local lockdowns.

During a news conference on Thursday, Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed the establishment of "air bubbles" between India and the US, France and Germany.

Until international civil aviation can reclaim its pre-Covid situation in terms of numbers, the answer lies through these bilateral air bubbles, which will carry as many people as possible but under defined conditions," said Puri.

"Because many countries are still imposing entry restrictions, as are we, it's not that anyone can travel from anywhere to anywhere. You need permission."

On Friday India registered a record 34,956 new infections in just 24 hours. On the same day, more than 400 million people in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Karantaka's capital city Bengaluru re-entered lockdown conditions after a spike in cases.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23, with the exception of repatriation flights.

As of July 15, nearly 690,000 Indian nationals have flown home on these flights, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

India resumes international flights despite rising cases

From CNN's Swati Gupta

India will allow scheduled international flights into the country, despite the nation recording more than 1 million coronavirus cases and restricting people in multiple states from leaving their homes in local lockdowns.

During a news conference on Thursday, Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed the establishment of "air bubbles" between India and the US, France and Germany.

Until international civil aviation can reclaim its pre-Covid situation in terms of numbers, the answer lies through these bilateral air bubbles, which will carry as many people as possible but under defined conditions," said Puri.

"Because many countries are still imposing entry restrictions, as are we, it's not that anyone can travel from anywhere to anywhere. You need permission."

On Friday India registered a record 34,956 new infections in just 24 hours. On the same day, more than 400 million people in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Karantaka's capital city Bengaluru re-entered lockdown conditions after a spike in cases.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23, with the exception of repatriation flights.

As of July 15, nearly 690,000 Indian nationals have flown home on these flights, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

UK Health Secretary calls for “urgent review” into England’s coronavirus death toll after doubts emerge over data

From CNN's Hilary McGann and Anna Stewart

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called for an “urgent review” into how England's health authorities calculate the coronavirus death toll in England, after questions were raised about the quality of the data.

On Thursday, the UK's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), pointed out a “statistical flaw” in how Public Health England (PHE) calculates coronavirus deaths occurring outside hospitals.

"In summary, PHE’s definition of the daily death figures means that everyone who has ever had Covid-19 at any time must die with Covid-19 too,” CEBM’s statement said.

According to the organization, the data is calculated by counting anyone who died that has ever tested positive for coronavirus, without considering how long ago that was, or the cause of death.

"By this PHE definition, no one with [coronavirus] in England is allowed to ever recover from the illness,” CEBM said, “even if they had a heart attack or were run over by a bus three months later.”"

The organization suggested that this approach meant there were now approximately 80,000 recovered patients currently out of hospital, who will be monitored by PHE for the daily death statistics.

Boris Johnson announces further easing of England's lockdown

From August 1, employers can choose whether or not their employees work from home.

"Instead of government telling people to work from home, we're going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff could work safely," Johnson said at a Downing Street press briefing.

"Whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees."

“In the end, human interaction and face to face conversations are important,” Johnson added. “Whether people should or need to go into work is not something the government can decide.

The PM said workers could use public transport where they need to but that alternative means of travel should be considered.

Beauty salons will be able to reopen from August 1 and indoor live performances can also resume if successful pilots have been carried out.

Wedding receptions for up to 30 people will also be permitted from that date but nightclubs remain closed under the updated guidance.

Johnson added that schools, colleges and nurseries would be open to all students from September.

"Throughout this period we will look to allow more close contact between friends and family," he added, cautioning that the easing of restrictions is conditional on cases continuing to fall.

The Prime Minister also announced sweeping new powers for local authorities as the UK government's focus turns to local lockdowns as opposed to a national one.

"We can control [the pandemic] through targeted local action," he said.

“From tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas, will be able to close specific premises, shut outdoor spaces and cancel events,” Johnson said.

“These powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount," he added.

New draft regulations for Britain's central government will also be published next week, proposing that "where justified by the evidence, ministers will be able to close whole sectors, or types of premises in an area, introduce local stay-at-home orders, prevent people entering or leaving defined areas, reduce the maximum size of gatherings beyond national rules, or restrict transport systems serving local areas.”

Johnson also announced £3 billion ($3.7b) in extra funding for the NHS in England to help it prepare for the winter months. Extra health funding will also be granted to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The PM said his government was "hoping for the best, but planning for the worst."

Almost 2 full weeks since I was tested after traveling to the South. STILL no results! It’s absurd. 4 months into the pandemic and we basically can’t test. The results are useless at this point. And likely biologically flawed - as the samples has been sitting around for 2 weeks. A disgrace. While the pandemic may have been unavoidable, the failure of the govt to develop testing, make enough PPE and create consistent messaging and rules is perfectly symbolic of the US devolution into a failed state. China and Third World countries are proving more capable than the US is handling crises.

R20 - OK, so how many deaths outside of hospitals are we talking about? I'm sick of the bullshit statements like people who get hit by a car who had COVID are being marked as COVID deaths.

Prove it. Take a month and look at the data and tell us how much we should adjust downward. But don't make dangerous statements like this without proven data and make it sound like there was some conspiracy to inflate death numbers.

And can we balance it with other deaths (like pneumonia) where the deceased may not have been tested?

For all the deaths that were misdiagnosed are there more that weren't diagnosed? This doesn't read well.

Switch to decaf.

And, the large uptick in cardiovascular-related deaths, R23 - heart attack, strokes, etc.

In neck of the woods, we are starting to see people who have survived the initial brush with COVID only to later die due to organ failure. They are released from long stays in the hospital but have then gone onto die once released as their organs are too damaged to function properly. When is the media at large going to focus on the longer-term effects of this virus?

PA has ordered restaurants to reduce indoor dining to 25%. What is the point? Just shut it down completely! I guess they're hoping that no establishment will think it's worthwhile to only operate at 25% capacity and stop indoor dining voluntarily, because god forbid the yahoos bitch about a state-mandated closure.

I find it rich that the UK government is questioning deaths now when they have one of the largest known gaps between excess deaths and COVID-19 deaths in the world. What about all of the ones they didn't count because of the lack of testing and their inept strategy at the beginning of the crises?

Who would have thought that abandoning all evidence-based planning and implementation of coordinated public health measures to combat a pandemic could have such dramatic results?

Barcelona residents told to stay home. Cases are increasing in Belgium and now this news from France. Today, the freeway was packed with vacationers. Here we go again..

Guardian-Covid-19 cases in the France’s Brittany region, which is popular with tourists, have risen sharply in less than a week, according to government data. This is the latest indication that the virus is again gaining momentum in France. According to data released on today, the disease’s reproduction rate, known as the R0, in Brittany had risen from 0.92 to 2.62 between July 10 and July 14, Reuters reports. The number is one of several indicators authorities are watching when deciding on whether to reimpose tougher restrictions after ending the country’s lockdown in May. A reproduction rate of 2.62 means that each Covid-19 infected person is, on average, passing the disease on to between two and three other people. A rate of less than one is needed to gradually contain the disease.

I’ve been behind our PA Gov Wolf - and our trans Health Commissioner Rachel Levine - since the start, but PA is being illogical and inconsistent now In saying gyms can open on Monday but bars have to go back and shut down again now unless you order food with your drink. Basically creating an artificial need for bars to serve a potato chip or some other 25 cent food with your beer. And the reduction from 50% to 25% is purely symbolic and meaningless - as if it creates any meaningful change in exposure.

I know our numbers in PA are going up - slightly - and now exceeding NJ. But I think we should have remained status quo - don’t open gyms and leave other things as is. Most colleges are hell-bent on going back in person - so they can make money on room and board. So we are going to have a flood of interaction starting in about a month anyway.

R28, I know right? You just can't explain this kind of thing. It's a real mystery!

R30, that's like Ohio's plan to have the kids come back to school two days a week and distance learn 3 days a week. It's like the virus knows not to show up and spread between kids and teachers for those two days.

Okay Dorothy Zbornak at R24!

R29 No one ever died from NOT going on vacation, dumb motherfuckers!

God, I am so sick of these people, all over the planet.

Mr. Colbert...

I have the sinking feeling that the virus is lying in wait until the guards (if any) come down. Then, it will REALLY hit us. Perhaps the first wave was only a precursor of what is to come? Stay woke. Stay alert!

I feel you Sylvia. Why on earth would you drive 1000's of kilometres in your camper to a place where the restaurants are half closed, where you have to wear a mask in public in the heat of the summer and where you risk your own health and the health of the people around you? Many of these travellers are retired and are in the "vulnerable" category yet they go anyway because this is what they always do. Why can't people simply stay home this year?

That was so they could disinfect the classromms during the off days, r32. LAUSD proposed the same thing in a parent survey and was promptly handed its collective ass. We don't have enough custodians to sweep or mop floors but we're supposed to believe they will meticulously clean every surface in every room?

[quote]The PM said workers could use public transport where they need to but that alternative means of travel should be considered.

If they're taking public transport, they probably don't have and can't afford alternative means of travel. 🙄

Can we all line up AIRPLANE!-style and schlapp Mercedes senseless?

I wish they would have someone who could flash a chyron of 'lie', 'unsubstantiated', or other when these lying motherfuckers go on TV.

They've used the media to spread lies and misinformation for decades, when are they going to wake up?

And I'm sick of Cuban-Americans licking Republicans' asses all the time - I'm looking at you Mercedes. It boggles the mind why they do this - and sorry but the Bay of Pigs scenario is a bullshit excuse.

I got tested in DC before coming up to Cape Cod, I had results in 30 minutes.

Exactly R41. Same in NJ and NY (results in 30 mins). I don’t know why test results are taking 1-2 weeks+ in other states.

Guardian-A top medical official has linked a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Canada to groups of young people gathering in bars, nightclubs and parties. Deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo said during a briefing: When we examine recent trends in case reporting, there is some cause for concern. After a period of steady decline, daily case counts have started to rise.” Njoo said the daily case count had risen to an average of 350 over the last week up from 300 a day earlier in July. More than 430 cases were reported on Thursday. This coincides with increasing reports of individuals contracting COVID-19 at parties, nightclubs and bars as well as increasing rates of transmission among young Canadians.”

Guardian-Trump’s handling of the crisis continues to draw widespread scrutiny. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 38% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, down from 46% in May and 51% in March. Disapproval has simultaneously climbed to 60%, up from 53% in May and 45% in March.

FEMA troops in Palm Springs.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Since its first case in mid-March, Rwanda — with a population of 12 million and a higher average population density than any U.S. state — has recorded just over 1,200 coronavirus cases.

Ohio has a similar population size and has been reporting roughly 1,200 cases per day.

An unpublished document prepared for the White House coronavirus task force recommends that 18 states in the coronavirus "red zone" for cases should roll back reopening measures amid surging cases.

The states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

The report outlines measures counties in the red zone should take. It encourages residents to "wear a mask at all times outside the home and maintain physical distance." And it recommends that public officials "close bars and gyms" and "limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer," which would mean rolling back reopening provisions in these places.

Who is Connie Ford and is she slapping a trans in that photo, OP?

I woke up early to get to my walmart hoping to find some cleaning supplies. They're almost always out of everything.

I was the first person in line to get in when the doors opened at 7am. They had one case/cardboard tray of Lysol spray! They've only had the new Microban (sp) and the walmart brand disinfectant spray, which is what I bought the last time I went shopping, so I was giddy that I got some name brand Lysol spray that has officially been proven to kill Covid19. They didn't have a posted number of how many we could take, so I bought five.

They were completely out of wipes and all other cleaners.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 17 ~ 4:00 PM EST

😜 WORLD EMOJI DAY !

🍑 PEACH ICE CREAM DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 14,102,439

DEATHS: 595,434

CRITICAL: 59,916

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 3,743,448

DEATHS: 141,635

CRITICAL: 16,471

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 4 ME ~ 4 U

🗣️ [bold] Covid19 Is The NuFlu

Ohio-ans, how’s the Wayne county area? My niece is supposed to go back to college but the college administration is saying it’s not bad there. It looks to me like it’s heating up in the area.

R42 - took 5 days to get results in California just last week.

India has only a million cases (out of 1.4 billion people)? I'm multiplying that by at least 100 for a more truthful number.

R56 - from an epidemiologist in India working on COVID:

"The mortality per million people in India is expected to be lower because of the low average age of India’s population. (Older people are more likely to die from this infection.) So, we can take some comfort in the fact that deaths are fewer, especially in the rural population.

But the problem with death as an indicator is that a COVID-19 death has to be certified as such. The only way to do this is through an RT-PCR test (a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test, which looks for viral genetic material in nose and throat samples). And with a population of 1.3 billion, what do you think is the proportion of people that has access to this kind of testing? It is very low.

So, it is very difficult to count all deaths due to COVID-19. There is no way you can get it done, unless rapid tests become more widely available. Remember that at least half of all deaths will happen in rural villages — around 66% of our population. And there are no real mechanisms to ascertain causes of deaths in these villages."

Plus, their death certification process isn't formalized - a lot of deaths aren't counted or aren't associated to COVID due to lack of testing.

And, Hindu custom usually has the body burned within 24 hours. Not exactly enough time to do the appropriate work.

R51, Okie, I noticed the same. From May to June, I went out every week. At first, nobody had Lysol anything. About three or four weeks ago, I started noticing a few bottles of actual Lysol bathroom cleaning spray and some other brands of spray cleaners for tub and tile cleaning. I actually got a few bottles of various brands here and there.

Now it’s all gone again. Walmart had it, now they don’t, Winco had it, now they don’t. Costco had a Kirkland brand box of bleach wipes once. I’ve never seen it again. People are still selling bleach, for now. Maybe get some in case you can’t get anything else.

We’ve become complacent. Things were getting a bit better and suddenly they’re worse. Some of this has to be going back to some states doing very badly. People must be quietly panicking there and stores must be shipping extra out there. That part will only get worse.

But I want to know, why haven’t these manufacturers solved the supply problem yet? Run three shifts. During WWII, they were making entire airplanes in a few minutes on an assembly line. The factories are already tooled up to make these exact products now. Put plexiglass floor to ceiling between every employee and put face and head shields on them. These factories have the opportunity to make the biggest profit of a hundred years, but what’s stopping them?

In reality, I think part of the issue is the supplies and parts are manufactured in China, and there’s still some shipping delays there for whatever reason, and I think Trump is also selling products out the back door. There’s no other explanation that makes sense. It’s been about six months. There’s no explanation for why *every* manufacturer can’t catch up. Some, sure. But all?

We have got to stop all the manufacturing coming from China. This will sound weird to young people, but it’s good Biden is old. He can remember when manufacturing was done in the U.S., and he understands why we have to get back to that. It’s a national security issue. People may die because of it.

Trump hijacked shipments of Lysol and Clorox for vaccine development and non-clinical trials. You'll find them in Top Secret Laboratory #2, located in the White House sub basement, directly across from the Secret Medical Supply Wharehouse.

Texas shattered its single-day dearh record of 129 — set yesterday — with 174 deaths today.

R50 Watch and learn, my child.

Whatever the fuck THAT means.

For sure the situation in India is much worse than reported. They simply do not have the means to adequately diagnose cases and deaths. Late last year, a young friend of mine who works at a popular hotel there was very ill with a mysterious illness. He spent several days at a local clinic connected to an IV drip. I am wondering now if it was the virus. Very plausible due to the high number of tourists coming and going. Fortunately he got better and is doing fine now. He is 24.

R58, oh I stocked up on bleach in March. In case of a worse case scenario, I'll dilute some bleach to clean and disinfect.

I liked going early in the morning; all of the buggies were newly sanitized, and there weren't many people in the store.

Okie, check the expiration date on bleach. The time until it is less effective is not very long. Maybe six months. After a year it’s not worth much IIRC. Keep it in a cool dark place.

You may want to re-buy, knowing we’re going to be barricaded inside our houses from November until...? Six months to a year goes by fast.

Here’s the Clorox site. This is an answer to a question by a nurse’s daughter: how long is homemade diluted bleach cleaning solution good for?

“Disinfecting Bleach Solution (½ cup Clorox® Regular Bleach2 added to 1 gallon water) The disinfecting solution has very specific instructions for mixing and use because Clorox® Regular Bleach2 is registered with the EPA as a disinfectant, with efficacy assured by following label instructions. Your mom’s hospital was correct to ensure its effectiveness (critical in a hospital environment) by mixing a fresh solution daily, but I can also understand that you don’t want to make it up every day if you don’t have to. To simplify things for you, you could make a smaller amount (2 tablespoons diluted in 4 cups water) that you use up over several days for general countertop cleaning. However, when you are cleaning up after things that are highly likely to spread bacteria (like raw meat), you would want to use a freshly mixed solution. You could also try Clorox® Clean-Up®. It’s really convenient for home use, with a specially designed sprayer mechanism that’s compatible with bleach and won’t corrode.”

There’s also a video called “Bleach 101.”

[quote]NEWS: The White House will NOT allow @ CDCgov to testify at next week’s Committee hearing on safely reopening schools. - (House) Committee on Education & Labor

Can they submit a written statement? Can they use video of them talking on some other occasion?

^So much (obvious) blocking, lying, hiding, it is fucking ridiculous. At least we can get the new cases and deaths (via worldometers, for now).

R54, I asked my sister in Akron and she replied that because Wayne County is fairly rural, hey've onky had 3 deaths so far, with 21 new cases this week. Given their sparse population, 21 cases are not good news, especially when the college kids will be bringing their COVID with them in a few weeks and living on top of each other in the dorms. She advises that your niece not come for this semester.

Ohio had 1,200 new cases as of this morning.

Just don't drink the damn bleach.

Thank you r69! I appreciate it!

From the Cleveland Clinic-

Here's a calculator that figures the PROBABILITY that you are infected with Covid-19, based on age,race, zip code, symptoms, comorbidities, etc.

USA: 74,744 new cases today. +944 deaths.

R66 The CDC, Fauci, every person with real knowledge and a position of authority, just needs to go rogue now. Call in to CNN, start telling the unvarnished truth.

🤡[italic] "We're doingng great. We're really doing great, much greater than every other country in the word. It won't be long before we reopen the entire country, all the schools, all the colleges, all the stores. And we'll be cranking out hundreds and thousands of respirators for everyone who needs them. We even sent them to China because we had so many. No one in this country who needed to be on a respirator was ever denied access to one. I know that's what some people said, we ran out of them, but the truth is we never ran out of anything. There was never a shortage of PPE, if there was it was mishandled by the hospitals and the governor's office."

Trumpkins are now claiming that they stood in line for testing but left because it was taking too long and they got the results back and they were positive.

The groceries thread had been prime timed.

I know I should know this but how is the White House able to prevent the CDC from testifying? They didn't even offer a reason from what I can see.

IDK - Trump stomps his feet and cowards listen?

I think this may speak to Trumpians...

It is bad enough they aren’t wearing masks. Don’t give them ideas R80.

A Trump adviser tells WaPo that when it comes to the pandemic, the president is “not really working this anymore. He doesn’t want to be distracted by it. He’s not calling and asking about data. He’s not worried about cases.”

Ruh roh. He's starting to decompensate.

"He doesn’t want to be distracted by it. He’s not calling and asking about data. He’s not worried about cases.”

Was he ever worried? And distracted from WHAT?

His reelection, which is the only thing that can keep him out of prison.

Distracted from coming up with distractions.

I can't shake Covid-19: Warnings from young survivors still suffering

From CNN's Ryan Prior

Daniel Green is still hobbled by the severe viral infection that struck him in March and left him coughing up blood.

Three months ago, the 28-year-old postdoctoral research associate from Newcastle, United Kingdom, was on the road with friends in a band as they toured venues in the French Alps.

He came down with Covid-19 symptoms, and like many coronavirus patients, spent weeks in bed.

Unlike other people, however, Green's life hasn't returned to normal.

"Since then it's been on and off with extreme tiredness and fatigue," he said.

Every day he has brain fog, difficulty concentrating and problems with short-term memory that make reading, writing and speaking harder.

"Breathing has been very difficult," he said. "I don't feel like I have my full breath capacity. If I go for a walk for one minute, I'll be really exhausted."

The profound mark the disease has made on Green's life isn't uncommon.

"About 80% are going to experience a mild or asymptomatic version of Covid. It's the other 20% that we're worried about," said Dr. Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School.

"One out of five patients are going to get a severe form of the disease."

Some young people are not getting better: As case counts among young people rise, Green and others in their 20s want to share stories of the wreckage Covid-19 has wrought in their lives.

Those patients can potentially experience permanent lung damage, including scarring and reduced lower respiratory capacity.

"The thing that we don't yet fully appreciate is what happens when you get infected, and you get serious disease, and you recover?" said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the BIO International Convention in June.

"We don't know the extent of full recovery or partial recovery, so there's a lot we need to learn," he said.

Young people, who are less likely to die from coronavirus than their grandparents, are an important target of those lessons.

Whether they contracted the virus among the snow-capped peaks of the Alps or in the heart of the outbreak in New York City's borough of Queens, some 20-somethings are getting sick from Covid-19. And staying sick.

Their stories are a warning from millennials to millennials: Don't play the odds with coronavirus because this disease could permanently damage your body.

The thing Trump don’t get is his lack of interest and more people getting sick will reduce his chance of being re-elected, as his supporters continue to erode...His lack of interest is what is hurting his chances of getting the one thing he wants. This is self-sabotage, not preservation.

R87, re the young man with lasting fatigue.....I’ve posted this before, after the usual symptoms fade, the fatigue and foggy brain are so frustrating to deal with. From super active now to a slug. I have to force myself to mow the lawn, walk, vacuum etc.

That sucks r89. Did you have any pre-existing conditions? Allergies? The medical community should be paying more attention to cases like yours.

r89 I'm the same way, I can only work for 4 hours and that is it for my day. I can't exercise, I used to 5 days a week and I lost a ton of muscle weight that I can't put back on. I think my immune system just can't clear the virus. It's been almost 4 months now. Also, sometimes my resting heart rate drops into the low 40's and no doctors I have seen will take me seriously because I had a negative antibody test and when I caught it, there was no testing unless you needed hospitalization.

Thank you r90. No preexisting. Just kinda old. Taste is A-OK now but still no smell. Such a weird disease.

Why the Trump-Bots don’t take this seriously (MASKS!) is beyond me.

One last post and then I’ll shut up. I got my little gift in NYC early on in the pandemic. My experience doesn’t jive with folks back here at home in California....symptoms and recovery. I’ve often wondered if there are slight variations of the virus rather than the patient conditions.

And R91, very sorry to hear of your situation. It’s like your brain has a chore list to do and the body says Hell No.

It's jibe, r93.

r93, there are 3 strains that we know of in the U.S.- the NY (via Italy), the CA (via Asia) and the Chicago strain (via NY).

Symptom tracker app reveals six distinct types of COVID-19 infection

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists analysing data from a widely-used COVID-19 symptom-tracking app have found there are six distinct types of the disease, each distinguished by a cluster of symptoms.

A King’s College London team found that the six types also correlated with levels of severity of infection, and with the likelihood of a patient needing help with breathing - such as oxygen or ventilator treatment - if they are hospitalised.

The findings could help doctors to predict which COVID-19 patients are most at risk and likely to need hospital care in future waves of the epidemic.

“If you can predict who these people are at Day Five, you have time to give them support and early interventions such as monitoring blood oxygen and sugar levels, and ensuring they are properly hydrated,” said Claire Steves, a doctor who co-led the study.

Besides cough, fever and loss of smell - often highlighted as three key symptoms of COVID-19 - the app data showed others including headaches, muscle pains, fatigue, diarrhoea, confusion, loss of appetite and shortness of breath.

The outcomes also varied significantly; some got mild, flu-like symptoms or a rash and others suffered acute symptoms or died.

The study, released online on Friday but not peer-reviewed by independent scientists, described the six COVID-19 types as:

1 ‘Flu-like’ with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.

2 ‘Flu-like’ with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.

3 Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.

4 Severe level one, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.

5 Severe level two, confusion: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.

6 Severe level three, abdominal and respiratory: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, abdominal pain.

Patients with level 4,5 and 6 types were more likely to be admitted to hospital and more likely to need respiratory support, the researchers said.

Please don't shut up unless you want to, r93. I understand you are worn out and it isn't your job to entertain us but I feel we learn so much from comments like yours.

R96: Where is the kiddie anti-inflammatory syndrome kind? I don’t see it on their list.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 18 ~ 12:15 PM EST

👤 NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY

🙉 WORLD LISTENING DAY

🌎 GLOBAL:

CASES: 14,264,601

DEATHS: 600,916

CRITICAL: 59,821

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 3,790,373

DEATHS: 142,400

CRITICAL: 16,667

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 LOOKING AWESOME !

This uproar from the UK government about "exaggerated" deaths is disengious. Currently, there are +65K excess deaths this year v. 45K reported Covid-19 deaths. They are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

As of today I've had 19 customers who have had it. All survived but AAAAALLL of them have lingering effects. One guy used to devour books and he can barely read because he gets confused easily, even when he tried rereading old favorites. He's 45 at most. Another woman was a long distance runner, meaning she'd run like 40 miles at a time and she is selling her condo because now the stairs exhaust her, she picked it up on a trip to Europe in March, she's not even 40. One guy, a very fit (and hot firefighter) can't lift more than 20lbs. He's in his 50s, but everyone in his fire house got it within 30 minutes of one young guy showing up for work, starting to cough uncontrollably and being sent home. One of them is a search and rescue diver and he's in amazing shape and hasn't been able to work yet. He will be moved to inspecting, but he gets very winded. He's not even 30. My older customers had their voices change, or still can't smell or taste food. One gets "phantom smells" like her oil heater when she was a little girl. One can't use cash anymore because she doesn't understand it. She was sharp as a tack at Christmas. Then there are the weird headaches, one hears people talking but can't hear what they're saying, random chest pains, a cough that never left, random blood pressure spikes and lightheadness, racing hearts and feelings of panic, shortness of breath and those are just the ones I can think of now. Many of these were considered mild cases. All have said their energy level isn't 100% yet. I'm terrified of getting this.

*big Pharma rubbing hands together*

R96 So many unanswered questions: Were the app results just from UK cases? Europe? Worldwide? I want to see the types overlaid on a map.

R101 Fucking hell.

Wow R101 My aunt got it. 66 year old healthcare worker. She got it twice (or it never went away as she tested positive in March and then tested positive in May)

She was sick 5 days in March - and fully recovered with no lasting signs. Then tested positive in May as is asymptomatic.

Numerous fellow staff also got the illness - they all recovered and are back to work.

The residents of the nursing home she worked at - who got the illness - many weren't as lucky. I think they had are found 32 deaths.

R30 Tom Wolf and Rachel Levine can go fuck themselves. I'm also in Pa. They ordered Covid patients to be admitted into the nursing homes - all while Rachel made sure her 95 year old mother was taken out of a nursing home and put in a hotel. Fuck them both.

She'll make out like a bandit either way. Her husband is a principle with the Lincoln Project and they are pocketing a lot of funds they raise rather than spending it on anti-Trump advertising like other PACs do.

R93, thanks for your input here.

My symptoms started appearing in early April. Chest tightening, a steady dry cough, headaches in the front of my skull (something I’ve never experienced before), an in and out low-grade fever, accelerating heart palpitations, amplified tinnitus, conjunctivitis in my left eye (where I think the virus entered) and, worst of all, this buzzing/tingling/vibrating/tremor sensation in my head and body simultaneously. This would last for about a half an hour, always late at night, and it scared the living crap out of me so much I was often afraid to go to sleep.

In May when my chest tightening was replaced by a constant heartburn-type feeling I was in an ER for five hours and had x rays/blood tests. My lungs got the all-clear but I now have a non life threatening heart condition known as “premature atrial contractions.” I went to see a cardiologist a few days later, had an EKG and it was confirmed. She told me it’s not clear if it was due to a direct infection of the heart via infected blood vessels or secondary to the stress caused by the inflammatory response to the virus. I had an MRI a week after that-an experience I hope never to repeat. After three months my chest finally calmed down. It took six weeks for my conjunctivitis to finally vacate my left eye. I think I’m what’s termed a “long hauler.”

As an American, it truly saddens me to admit this but many people in the US and UK are truly dumber than dirt. Especially the have nots who blindly support the establishment no matter what. In what world does "freedom of expression" outweigh the safety of society? Certainly not in most so-called "advanced countries". Most people in China and Japan understand the importance of wearing a simple mask in public to help combat the virus regardless of their educational level or place in society. It is very basic common sense. Many places in Europe are also willingly complying to such requests, despite their previous aversion and jokes about masked Asian tourists visiting their countries. It is what it is and people have adapted to the new reality. Except for the crazy zealots and ignorant people in the US and UK. Why? In some ways, it reminds me of rich celebrities with children who were spoiled rotten and truly believe that ALL of this is their destiny, that they are the chosen ones, and that their shit doesn't stink as much as the others.

R107 - the right has exploited freedom of speech and has been allowed to demonize the left with lies and propaganda. The UK seems actually a lot better off than the US.

The same week Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered his state reopened, earlier than any other, his administration began presenting data in a way that made the state appear healthier than it was.

The technique involved backdating new cases to the time of first symptoms or taking a test, instead of reporting them as they were reported to the state, like Georgia had previously done -- and like most states do.

The effect -- as states were being told to predicate their reopenings on two weeks of declining case numbers -- was to artificially make Georgia’s trends look better. The state began adding new cases to past dates on its trend line, making current numbers both too low and incomplete.

The chicanery continues: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's analysis based on new reported cases had numbers soaring through July 16. The state's Kemp-ordered symptom-onset version showed them plummeting after July2.

The newspaper’s chart counted 3,441 new cases Thursday. The “preliminary” number on the state chart: 20.

^^Trump has said America is at war with the coronavirus. If that's true, he, Kemp and a whole lot of other Republicans need to be arrested for treason, because they've aided and abetted the enemy at every turn -- leading directly to the death of American citizens.

I wonder if the corrupt politicians are getting kickbacks off of sick people...More sick people = more money in their pockets. Something is up besides the economy (which is in the shitter either way).

R108. Maybe so in some ways. But not with respect to this virus so far. The US is 5 times the size of the UK but has reported just over 3 times the deaths so far. Sadly both countries are still in denial. The virus us coming for both

You are not alone, R111. I posted this speculative thread in the Brian Kemp discussion.

[quote] Uline’s role in the PPE market is now undeniable. Lets meet the owners of Uline now. Liz and Dick Uihlein. They are a pair of GOP mega donors who’ve backed very controversial candidates including mall frequenter Judge Roy Moore.

...

[quote] Now here is the kicker. In the month of March where Trump had his call with Liz and where UPS announced their COVID collaboration with Uline. Liz and Dick made a whopping $750,000 set of contributions to Trumps main super pac, America First Action. This is the PAC where Kelly Loeffler’s husband paid the 1 million dollar bribe to keep the FBI off his stock dumping barbie wife’s tail.

When all the money in the world doesn't matter

Thanks for putting it in perspective r106. Unfortunately the people who need most to hear of your story are the least likely to listen.

NY's numbers will go up soon...people are so fucking stupid!------

Wild video shows people flooding streets in Queens without masks

I just saw this from JoeMyGod: “The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida reported 10,328 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, along with 90 new resident deaths, according to the state health department’s latest update. In total, 337,569 people have been infected, including 4,368 non-residents. 5,002 people have died since the pandemic began, including 107 non-residents.”

I’m no expert but Florida is like a Forrest Fire. 10k in one day. Crap.

R117: +10K is on the low side for FL... They hit +15K a few days ago.

I thought there were five strains. The only reason I thought that is because a Nevada doctor noted that that state is one of the few to have all five strains, primarily because of the tourist trade.

Let's say Florida COVID is affecting younger people and 10% will become critically ill instead of 20%.

That's a shit load of sick people in the past week alone.

And this is with the disclaimers and the lying and the cheating. We can only imagine what the true numbers for Florida really are.

BREAKING: Hospitals with small ICUs have 3x the COVID death rate of those with at least 100 ICU beds.

A new study found that 784 of 2,215 adults (35%) admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) at 65 hospitals from Mar 4 to Apr 4 died within 28 days of hospitalization.

The researchers identified advanced age, male sex, higher-than-normal body mass index (BMI), coronary artery disease, active cancer, low oxygen levels, and kidney and liver dysfunction at admission as risk factors for death.

After adjusting for different risk factors, death rates ranged widely across hospitals, from 6% to 80%. The number of prepandemic ICU beds in the hospital was strongly linked to death rate. Patients admitted to hospitals with fewer than 50 ICU beds had a more than three-fold higher risk of death than those admitted to hospitals with at least 100 ICU beds.

Why the covid-19 death toll is likely worse than what's being reported:

On second thought, I can perfectly imagine the REAL situation in Florida. A very popular destination throughout the world, with many old people and direct ties to NY and elsewhere and a killer virus lurking about. Ding, ding ding. The true number of cases and deaths must be off the fucking charts.

Same as Vegas. A shit load of tourists came in on the 4th from LA and Arizona. What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, but sometimes it does.

These threads well and truly make one want to slit their wrist.

This reminds me of the point in Daniel Defoe's "Journal of the Plague Year" in which, after a horrific summer, the death rate started to decline and everybody went back to their normal routines, which led to another wave of deaths that fall.

The difference was that the plague had become less virulent over time and eventually it died out (the "herd immunity" result that the Swedes were aiming for.) Unfortunately, COVID-19 shows absolutely no signs of becoming milder and in fact as it infects more people, as mentioned above, we're all learning (including the Swedes) that just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean you're going to be just fine.

R116, so much street trash in that video. I hope they infect each other and die off. The world (and not to mention social services) will be better off without them. Selfish pigs.

r119, you may be right, the 3 strains was from back in April or May I think.

R128 - street trash?

Did you call everyone out in the streets "street trash" when they were protesting BLM?

My partner's mother, announced that her daughter and son in law are driving out with a 3 month old baby. Her area is currently spiking, and the other people live in another state, right where Coronavirus took hold in the US. I can tell you with absolute certainty, they will not be socially distancing. I told her that it is millions of people thinking they are the exception is why we are where we are.

With coronavirus antibodies fading fast, vaccine hopes fade, too...................

I wouldn't put my mother in a nursing home even if Covid19 never existed.

R130, I call ‘em as I see ‘em. The pieces of shit out partying last night in Astoria in defiance of social distancing are street trash. Because of selfish motherfuckers like them the rest of us suffer.

I don’t give a shit what you think of my opinion.

West Virginia University announces 28 football players have tested positive for Covid-19

The University of West Virginia announced Saturday that 28 members of its football program tested positive for Covid-19.

The school has tested 518 people since June, resulting in 41 positive results.

As well as the 28 members of the football program who tested positive, there were also five cases in men’s basketball, six in women’s basketball and one in women’s soccer. One staff member also tested positive.

In a statement, the university said: “All individuals entered self-isolation for 14 days at the time of their positive result and contact tracing was initiated.”

I've been reading these posts since #1 and now that so many have gotten this zombie virus, I hope we hear from more people who have tested positive. Keep us posted. If I test positive, I'll do the same .

During his hour-long sit-down with Chris Wallace this morning, Trump says he disagrees with the assessment by Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that "if all of us would put on a face covering now for the next four weeks, six weeks, we could drive this epidemic to the ground."

"I don't agree with the statement that if everybody wear a mask everything disappears," Trump said. "Dr. Fauci said don't wear a mask, our Surgeon General, terrific guy, said don't wear a mask. Everybody was saying don't wear a mask. All of a sudden everybody's got to wear a mask, and as you know, masks cause problems too, with that being said, I'm a believer in masks. I think masks are good."

#CovidStreetTrash

Great article on Fauci and the early days of AIDS:

r130, I haven't been to any BLM protests but the people in the news footage and photos I've seen are for the most part wearing masks, maintaining reasonable social distancing considering they're in large groups, and they're there for a good cause, to peacefully demonstrate for their constitutional rights. None of which you can say for the silly pricks partying in the street and bars.

for r130

From r139:

"AIDS was far from only a medical challenge. Talking about homosexuality in the public square was uncommon 40 years ago; talking about a sexually transmitted virus that was ravaging the gay community was rarer still. Millions of Americans ignored the peril, wishing the whole thing away, and amid the ignorance misinformation flourished — suggesting, for instance, that people were putting themselves in jeopardy by touching the infected or merely passing them on the street. Scaremongering moralizers weren’t treating the enemy as natural, but as divine: a punishment for the freewheeling lifestyle of city dwellers, drug users and of course the favorite boogeyman of the bigoted: homosexuals.

It didn’t help that politicians wouldn’t talk about AIDS either. President Ronald Reagan didn’t utter the word until his second term — but he was only the biggest man among many who preferred to ignore a burgeoning genocide because it could prove inconvenient to do otherwise. And then there were Fauci’s fellow scientists, who held sway over what research to do with scarce dollars.

So the doctor would have to win over the politicians and win over the scientists. But before that, he had to win over the activists.

Those activists, as veteran AIDS organizer Peter Staley put it, were “a scary bunch,” and because Fauci was the bespectacled face of the slow-to-act federal medical bureaucracy, they trained their fire on him. Fauci had realized by 1984, the year the world posted its greatest increase in HIV infections and eight years before the disease’s peak in the United States, that he finally had a reason to take a job he had tried to avoid: director of NIAID, the government arm for research on infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases. Only then could he occupy a perch prominent enough to get the money and attention needed to address what he guessed was the “emerging disease that would dominate the field” of medicine. (“Unfortunately,” he tells me, “I was correct.”)

Fauci accepted the role on the condition that he could continue to see patients and work in his lab — a deal he retains today, 36 years and five presidents later. His perch, however, also meant some unpleasant attention. Fauci’s bloodied likeness was held aloft on a pole outside NIH headquarters; his effigy was burned; his motivations and morality were assailed as suspect. Larry Kramer, the playwright and venerable AIDS activist who died in late May, summed it up in the San Francisco Examiner, calling Fauci “an incompetent idiot.” The NIH, Kramer declared, was an “Animal House of Horrors.” Fauci was a “murderer.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to set up a nationwide network of testing sites, commence a small number of moderately sized treatment efficacy tests on a population desperate to participate in them, import any and all interesting drugs (now numbering approximately 110) from around the world for inclusion in these tests at these sites, and swiftly get into circulation anything that remotely passes muster,” Kramer wrote. “Yet, after three years, you have established only a system of waste, chaos, and uselessness.”

The activists wanted access to experimental drugs that they believed they would perish without — drugs that were held up in the regulatory approval process and available only through controlled trials limited to a tiny portion of those infected. They wanted to stop going through “buyers clubs” to get drugs they thought might save them; they also wanted a seat at the table where the decisions about medicines — and how they were okayed — were made. “Some people would hide behind the walls of academia and cloak themselves in the mantle of science and ‘we know better,’” says Peggy Hamburg, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and one-time employee of Fauci’s. “Tony decided to open the door and let them in.”

Just remember, your mask protects other people, but doesn't necessarily protect you from those people. Don't kid yourself, EVERYONE needs to wear to wear a mask for the most effective protection possible.

Protesting during a pandemic is not a good idea. But feel free to put yourself in danger, gurl. Who am I to judge?

This is the last week that Americans will receive the $600 coronavirus unemployment payments.

It's also the last week for federal eviction protection.

Things are about to get even uglier.

More pregnant moms turning to at-home births amid COVID-19 concerns at hospitals

Jackie Griggs with Midwife in the Heights says before COVID, they had six to seven moms a month. Now, they’re booked solid at 10 moms a month.

r136, there was a thread that had people posting about their symptoms, but the thread stopped in late April:

I don't want to read too much into why it stopped.

On the news this AM, they said that people 22-29 are the biggest group that are contracting the virus.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 19 ~ 1:00 PM EST

🍨 NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY

🍹 NATIONAL DAIQUIRI DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 14,525,919

DEATHS: 606,718

CRITICAL: 59,937

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 3,859,590

DEATHS: 143,042

CRITICAL: 16,663

📉 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 MORE THAN JUST A FASHION ACCESSORY !

Share this with pro-lifers: Trump & the GOP are now killing babies.

CNN--Los Angeles mayor tells CNN he is "on the brink" of reissuing stay-at-home order

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he is on the “brink” of reissuing a stay-at-home order for the city.

In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Garcetti said on this issue that some openings happened too quickly, but not at the city level.

“Mayors often have no control over what opens up and doesn't. That's either at a state or county level. And I do agree that those things happened too quickly. But we are smarter, Jake, about this. It's not just what's open and closed. It's also about what we do individually.”

California has experienced a resurgence in the number of coronavirus cases. As of this morning, California reported over 380,000 cases and over 7,000 deaths.

When asked by Tapper at what point he would reissue a stay-at-home order, he did not indicate what specific measurements they would need to see, but said, “we haven't had the level of deaths. So, we're following those very carefully. Deaths have been pretty steady. Cases have gone up, but we also have the most aggressive testing.”

Garcetti added that he wants to take a “surgical” approach to the situation, “I want to be more surgical. I want to go into those factories where we're seeing spread. I want to go into those communities, especially our lower-income communities.”

CNN--Los Angeles mayor tells CNN he is "on the brink" of reissuing stay-at-home order

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he is on the “brink” of reissuing a stay-at-home order for the city.

In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Garcetti said on this issue that some openings happened too quickly, but not at the city level.

“Mayors often have no control over what opens up and doesn't. That's either at a state or county level. And I do agree that those things happened too quickly. But we are smarter, Jake, about this. It's not just what's open and closed. It's also about what we do individually.”

California has experienced a resurgence in the number of coronavirus cases. As of this morning, California reported over 380,000 cases and over 7,000 deaths.

When asked by Tapper at what point he would reissue a stay-at-home order, he did not indicate what specific measurements they would need to see, but said, “we haven't had the level of deaths. So, we're following those very carefully. Deaths have been pretty steady. Cases have gone up, but we also have the most aggressive testing.”

Garcetti added that he wants to take a “surgical” approach to the situation, “I want to be more surgical. I want to go into those factories where we're seeing spread. I want to go into those communities, especially our lower-income communities.”

Vermont has reported no Covid-19 deaths in more than 30 days

From CNN’s Lauren Del Valle

Vermont has reported no new coronavirus-related deaths since June 19, maintaining 56 deaths in the state for more than 30 consecutive days, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Vermont has in total reported 1350 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the outbreak in March.

CNN has reached out to the Vermont Department of Health for comment.

Vernon probably doesn't have a high population segment of 18 - 25 year olds.

When you lose Ben Sasse ...

“I want more briefings but, more importantly, I want the whole White House to start acting like a team on a mission to tackle a real problem,” Mr. Sasse said. “Navarro’s Larry, Moe and Curly junior-high slap fight this week is yet another way to undermine public confidence that these guys grasp that tens of thousands of Americans have died and tens of millions are out of work.”

But some of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers are adamant that the best way forward is to downplay the dangers of the disease. Mark Meadows, the chief of staff, has been particularly forceful in his view that the White House should avoid drawing attention to the virus.

(Those 150,000 dead Americans? Those tens of thousands with lasting health problems? Just ignore them - problem solved!)

Walmart is installing "health ambassadors" at each of its location to help implement its face mask rule.

“Our Health Ambassadors are receiving special de-escalation training to help make the process as smooth as possible for customers,” Walmart spokeswoman Rebecca Thomason said in a statement to The Post. “They will work with customers who show up without a face covering to try and find a solution.”

The best solution, of course, would be to commit the scofflaws to a mental health facility, but we don't really have those anymore. Thanks, Ronnie!

R156 Do the "health ambassadors" get to carry a gun? It might also help if they're all over 6'4 and 225 lbs.

Walmart can make it simple for non compliant customers..........

Sell them a disposable mask for $25 each, or they can turn around and go home.

[italic] NO EXCEPTIONS !

[quote] It might also help if they're all over 6'4 and 225 lbs.

Would you settle for one out of two?

[quote]It might also help if they're all over 6'4 and 225 lbs.

Show me a bulge and I'll show you a return customer.

[quote] 🍨 NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY

[quote]🍹 NATIONAL DAIQUIRI DAY

Time to hit Baskin Robbins for some Daiquiri Ice cream!

[quote] Walmart is installing "health ambassadors" at each of its location to help implement its face mask rule.

Will guys who don't wear a mask be taken to a back room and given a personal lesson on the rules?

Oh please!....a friend of mine lives in VT. There's no "there" there. And she'd be the first to say it.

Fewer than a quarter of Japanese in favor of holding Tokyo Olympics next year, survey finds

From Eric Cheung in Hong Kong and Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo

Ls than a quarter of Japanese are looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics next year amid the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a survey published by Kyodo News on Sunday.

The survey showed only 23.9% of Japanese residents supported holding the Summer Games beginning on July 23 next year as scheduled.

Meanwhile, 36.4% of respondents believed the games should be further postponed, while another 33.7% said the event should be canceled amid the pandemic.

Respondents said the main reasons were because the virus was unlikely to be contained anytime soon, and that the Japanese government should prioritize its fight against Covid-19 in the country.

Organizers have rescheduled the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to start July 23 next year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Kyodo said the survey sampled 1,041 respondents, who were chosen from randomly selected eligible voters' households and mobile numbers.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus reveals he and his wife tested positive for Covid-19 in March

From CNN's Homero De la Fuente

Gf legend Jack Nicklaus announced Sunday he and his wife, Barbara, tested positive for Covid-19 in March. The 80-year-old, who is hosting this week's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, told Jim Nantz on Sunday’s CBS telecast he dealt with a sore throat and a cough and that his wife was asymptomatic.

"It didn’t last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky. Barbara and I are both of the age that is an at-risk age," the 18-time major champion said."

Nicklaus said he and his wife tested positive on March 13 and stayed at their home in North Palm Beach, Florida, until they recovered April 20. Nicklaus tested positive for the virus four times and his wife tested positive three times, but both have since tested negative for the virus and positive for the antibodies.

"Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones, so we feel very strong about working with those who are taking care of those who have Covid-19,” Nicklaus said."

This week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where Nicklaus designed the course, has been played without spectators in attendance.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

This is a paper under consideration at Cell Press and has not been peer-reviewed

The SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptional Metabolic Signature in Lung Epithelium

Cell Metabolism

27 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2020 Sneak [bold]Peek[/bold] Status: Under Review

Let's hope r166 goes somewhere!

Why all the fucking travel? If you just can't force yourself to stay home, can you at least stay within a five mile radius of your fucking personal hotzone, selfish fucking assholes. I mean, WTF??

Speaking of travel: Bahamas closes borders to US tourists after COVID-19 cases spike. Visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union will still be permitted to visit.

Pro sports teams are hogging COVID-19 tests:

On July 2, Dr. Adrian Burrowes, a family medicine physician in central Florida, saw a patient who feared he might have contracted COVID-19. So he had the patient tested and submitted the test to a lab.

Sixteen days later, he’s still waiting for the results.

That same day, less than half an hour away in Orlando, about 180 players and staff members from four Major League Soccer teams had a similar test performed upon checking into their hotel. Their results came back within hours.

Sports leagues are cutting deals to have their tests expedited, pushing past hospitals, schools and drive-through testing sites.

Delta Airlines: Don't Fly if You Can't Wear a Mask.

From CNN: Delta Air Lines will now require medical screenings for passengers who can’t wear face masks due to health reasons — and asks that they reconsider flying altogether as the coronavirus pandemic rages.

“We encourage customers who are prevented from wearing a mask due to a health condition to reconsider travel. If they decide to travel, they will be welcome to fly upon completing a virtual consultation prior to departure at the airport to ensure everyone’s safety, because nothing is more important.”

[quote]A paramedic has found an innovative way to communicate with hard of hearing patients while wearing a face mask.

[quote] They discovered that the virus prevents the routine burning of carbohydrates. As a result, large amounts of fat accumulate

Let's start reposting this out of context everywhere on the internet. Suddenly every gay will be wearing a mask 100% of the time.

The Guardian and Kaiser Health News have identified 821 frontline healthcare workers in the U.S. who died of Covid-19.

One presumes many of the deaths are due to inadequate or nonexistent PPE. Shameful.

R175 I imagine worldwide the number of deaths amongst healthcare workers (and that includes everyone from the cleaning people, drivers to doctors and nurses) must be in the thousands.

Fuck WHO. Fuck Tedros. Fuck the Chinese Government. Fuck Trump and all the other world leaders who have denied this virus and undermined efforts to help ward if off and not undertaken a duty of care to their respective citizens.

And fuck all the deniers.

America and Brazil. Always America and Brazil. Week after week.

Truly countries full of morons.

Wouldn't be surprised if the Olympics do go on next year, but The U.S.A and other countries with continuing increased cases and deaths are ordered not to send athletes or attend at all.

A potential coronavirus vaccine in development by the U.K.’s Oxford University, in connection with drug giant AstraZeneca, produced a strong immune response in an early-stage human trial consisting of 1,000 participants, data published in the medical journal The Lancet showed.

Professor Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, told CNBC the strong immune response means the vaccine is more likely to provide protection against the virus, though it’s not guaranteed. He said scientists hope to begin human trials in the U.S. in the next few weeks.

^^“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr. Hill. “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system,” he said.

Hill said that neutralizing antibodies are produced — molecules which are key to blocking infection. In addition, the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body’s T-cells which help to fight off the coronavirus.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

It's reached the Cheeto-loving The Villages in FL.

Please post more stories of moron deniers getting the virus. TIA.

LOLOLOL

LOLOLOL

Thank r183.

And boo hoo

Another

Tennessee bimbo.

Fran Drescher is an airhead. She things 5G gives you COVID.

Australia has similar morons.

[quote]Almost as much as she must hate herself [R15].

But no where near as much as her daughter hates her.

OP, I love you for the picture.

Europe Said It Was Pandemic-Ready. Pride Was Its Undoing.

The coronavirus exposed European countries’ misplaced confidence in faulty models, bureaucratic busywork and their own wealth.

By David D. Kirkpatrick, Matt Apuzzo and Selam Gebrekidan

July 20, 2020

LONDON — Prof. Chris Whitty, Britain’s chief medical adviser, stood before an auditorium in a London museum two years ago cataloging deadly epidemics.

From the Black Death of the 14th century to cholera in war-torn Yemen, it was a baleful history. But Professor Whitty, who had spent most of his career fighting infectious diseases in Africa, was reassuring. Britain, he said, had a special protection.

“Being rich,” he explained.

Wealth “massively hardens a society against epidemics,” he argued, and quality of life — food, housing, water and health care — was more effective than any medicine at stopping the diseases that ravaged the developing world.

Professor Whitty’s confidence was hardly unique. As recently as February, when European health ministers met in Brussels to discuss the novel coronavirus emerging in China, they commended their own health systems and promised to send aid to poor and developing countries.

“Responsibility is incumbent on us, not only for Italy and Europe, but also for the African continent,” said Roberto Speranza, Italy’s health minister.

“The European Union should be ready for support,” agreed Maggie De Block, Belgium’s then health minister.

Barely a month later, the continent was overwhelmed. Instead of serving primarily as a donor, providing aid to former colonies, Western Europe became an epicenter of the pandemic. Officials once boastful about their preparedness were frantically trying to secure protective gear and materials for tests, as death rates soared in Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium.

This was not supposed to happen. The expertise and resources of Western Europe were expected to provide the antidote to viral outbreaks flowing out of poorer regions. Many European leaders felt so secure after the last pandemic — the 2009 swine flu — that they scaled back stockpiles of equipment and faulted medical experts for overreacting.

But that confidence would prove their undoing. Their pandemic plans were built on a litany of miscalculations and false assumptions. European leaders boasted of the superiority of their world-class health systems but had weakened them with a decade of cutbacks. When Covid-19 arrived, those systems were unable to test widely enough to see the peak coming — or to guarantee the safety of health care workers after it hit.

Accountability mechanisms proved toothless. Thousands of pages of national pandemic planning turned out to be little more than exercises in bureaucratic busy work. Officials in some countries barely consulted their plans; in other countries, leaders ignored warnings about how quickly a virus could spread.

European Union checks of each country’s readiness had become rituals of self-congratulation. Mathematical models used to predict pandemic spreads — and to shape government policy — fed a false sense of security.

National stockpiles of medical supplies were revealed to exist mostly on paper, consisting in large part of “just in time” contracts with manufacturers in China. European planners overlooked the risk that a pandemic, by its global nature, could disrupt those supply chains. National wealth was powerless against worldwide shortages.

Held in high esteem for its scientific expertise, Europe, especially Britain, has long educated many of the best medical students from Asia, Africa and Latin America. On a visit to South Korea after a 2015 outbreak of the coronavirus MERS, Dame Sally Davies, then England’s chief medical officer, was revered as an expert. Upon her return home, she assured colleagues that such an outbreak could not happen in Britain’s public health system.

Now South Korea, with a death toll below 300, is a paragon of success against the pandemic. Many epidemiologists there are dumbfounded at the mess made by their mentors.

...

...

“It has come as a bit of a shock to a number of Koreans,” said Prof. Seo Yong-seok of Seoul National University, suggesting that perhaps British policymakers “thought that an epidemic is a disease that only occurs in developing countries.”

Not every Western democracy stumbled. Germany, with a chancellor trained in physics and a sizable domestic biotech sector, managed it better than most. Greece, with fewer resources, has reported fewer than 200 deaths. But with several countries expected to conduct public inquests into what went wrong, Europe is grappling with how a continent considered among the most advanced failed so miserably.

Its downfall presaged the chaos now unfolding in the United States, where President Trump initially responded to the pandemic by blaming continental Europe and cutting off travel. “No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States,” he declared on March 11, assuring Americans that “the risk is very, very low.”

“The virus will not have a chance against us,” Mr. Trump said.

Today, the United States has the highest number of cases in the world and a death rate that is again rising, closing in on the European nations already humbled by the virus.

Belgium, by some measures, has the world’s highest death rate. Italy’s wealthiest region was shattered. France’s much-praised health system was reduced to relying on military helicopters to rescue patients from overcrowded hospitals. Britain, though, most embodies Europe’s miscalculations because of the country’s great pride in its expertise and readiness.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was so confident that Britain’s modelers could forecast the epidemic with precision, records and testimony show, that he delayed locking down the country for days or weeks after most of Europe. He waited until two weeks after British emergency rooms began to buckle under the strain.

With the number of infections doubling every three days at the time, some scientists now say that locking down a week sooner might have saved 30,000 lives.

Dr. Whitty, 54, initially praised in British newspapers as the reassuring “geek-in-chief,” has declined to speak publicly about his role in those decisions. His friends say the government has set him up to take the blame.

“The politicians say they are ‘following the science’ and then if they make the wrong decisions it is on him,” said Prof. David Mabey of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a friend and colleague. “I am not sure the politicians listen to him.”

Critics, though, say it is impossible to absolve the government’s scientific advisers of shared responsibility.

“They thought they could be more clever than other countries,” said Prof. Devi Sridhar, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh. “They thought they could outsmart the virus.”

Sir David King, a former British chief science officer, said, “The word ‘arrogance’ comes to mind, I am afraid.” He added: “What hubris.”

False Alarm

Fear swept the continent. It was spring of 2009 and a new virus that became known as swine flu had infected hundreds and killed dozens in Mexico. European vacationers swarmed airports to get home. Experts recalled the flu pandemic of 1918, which killed as many as 50 million people around the world.

European governments sprang into action. France asked the European Union to cut off travel to Mexico and began buying doses of vaccine for everyone in the country. British hospitals enlisted retired health workers and distributed stockpiled masks, gloves and aprons.

Every country in Europe had drawn up and rehearsed its own detailed pandemic plan, often running into the hundreds of pages. Britain’s plans read like the script of a horror movie, if written in the language of a bureaucrat. More than 1.3 million people could be hospitalized and 800,000 could die. Trying to contain the pandemic “would be a waste of public health resources.”

...

...

These doomsday scenarios drew on a new subspecialty of epidemiology pioneered by British scientists: using abstruse mathematical models to project the path of a contagious disease.

One early disciple, Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, had assumed a pre-eminence in British health policy. Professor Ferguson was an Oxford-trained physicist who shifted to mathematical epidemiology in the 1990s, after watching a close friend’s brother die of AIDS.

Other scientific advisers say Professor Ferguson, now 52, stands out for his self-assured style in delivering easy-to-understand answers under enormous time pressure.

“He is able to answer questions succinctly and clearly and with a very measured conclusion, and it is exactly the sort of information that politicians need,” said Peter Openshaw, a professor of medicine at Imperial College London who sits with Professor Ferguson on a panel that advises the government on respiratory viruses.

Traditional public health experts, emphasizing clinical experience and field observations, were skeptical. They warned that the projections were only as good as their data and assumptions, and that policymakers without a background in math might treat models as dependable predictions.

An epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock in Britain in 2001 was the first time policymakers relied on such modeling while addressing an outbreak. Over the objections of veterinarians, Professor Ferguson’s work guided policymakers to preventively slaughter more than six million pigs, sheep and cattle.

Later studies concluded most of the killing was needless. A review commissioned by the government urged that policymakers “must not rely on the model to make a decision for them.”

“‘Muddlers,’ we call them,” said Alex Donaldson, then head of Britain’s Pirbright Laboratory of the Institute for Animal Health. “In future epidemics the first thing that should be done is to lock up the predictive modelers.”

Yet when swine flu emerged, British leaders again turned to Professor Ferguson and the large modeling department he had built at Imperial College. He projected that swine flu, in a reasonable worst case, could kill nearly 70,000.

Elected officials were horrified. Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, presided over frantic meetings bracing for the absence from work of nearly half the city’s police officers and subway drivers.

“It is impossible to say how bad it will be,” Mr. Johnson warned soberly.

But the modelers’ “reasonable worst case” was wildly off. Swine flu ended up killing fewer than 500 people in Britain, less than in a seasonal flu. Dr. Catherine Snelson, then completing her training in critical care at a hospital in Birmingham, had been assigned to help transfer out excess patients.

“We actually sat there doing nothing,” she recalled.

For Mr. Johnson, the swine flu episode reinforced instincts not to impose restrictions in the name of public health.

“He believes people will make the right decisions on their own,” said Victoria Borwick, a former deputy mayor.

An official review cautioned: “Modelers are not ‘court astrologers.’”

Hollowing Out

Some experts now say Europe learned the wrong lesson from the swine flu.

“It created some kind of complacency,” said Prof. Steven Van Gucht, a virologist involved in the Belgian response. “Oh, a pandemic again? We have a good health system. We can cope with this.”

It also coincided with Europe’s worst economic slump in decades. French legislators were furious at the cost of buying millions of doses of vaccines and faulted the government for needlessly stockpiling more than 1.7 billion protective masks.

To cut costs, France, Britain and other governments shifted more of their stockpiles to “just in time” contracts. Health officials assumed that even in a crisis they could buy what they needed on the international market, typically from China, which manufactures more than half the world’s masks.

By the start of 2020, France’s supply of masks had fallen by more than 90 percent, to just 150 million.

...

...

“The idea of a government warehousing medical supplies came to seem outdated,” said Francis Delattre, a French senator who raised alarms about dependence on China. “Our fate was put into the hands of a foreign dictatorship.”

“France has a superiority complex,” Mr. Delattre added, “especially when it comes to the health sector.”

Two years after swine flu, Britain scattered three quarters of its spending for public health to local governments, where it was harder to track and more easily diverted. Four hundred health experts warned in an open letter that decentralization would “disrupt, fragment and weaken the country’s public health capabilities,” and in the following years per capita spending on public health steadily declined. A national network that had once included 52 laboratories was eventually reduced to two national facilities and a handful of regional centers primarily serving the internal needs of regional hospitals.

Health officials also chose to limit stockpiles of protective equipment to deal with an influenza outbreak: enough for use during certain procedures in hospitals, but not for more general use, emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, or nursing homes.

Scientists knew a coronavirus like SARS or MERS could require more equipment.

“It’s pretty difficult to build a stockpile for something you’ve not seen before,” said Dr. Ben Killingley, an infectious disease expert who advises the government on what to stockpile. “It depends how much you want to spend on your insurance.”

On the surface, Europe’s defenses still looked robust. European Union reviews of each country’s pandemic readiness seemed to provide oversight, but the process was misleading.

National governments barred the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control from setting benchmarks or pointing out deficiencies. So the agency’s public remarks were almost unfailingly positive. Britain, Spain and Greece were lauded for their “highly motivated experts,” “trusted expert organizations” and “confidence in the system.”

“We couldn’t say, ‘You should have this,’” said Arthur Bosman, a former agency trainer. “The advice and the assessment had to be phrased in an observation.”

European health officials recognized the vulnerability of national stockpiles. In response, the European Union in 2016 solicited bids to build a continent-wide repository. But the initiative fizzled because Britain, France and other large countries thought they had the situation covered. Belgium later destroyed tens of millions of expired masks from its own stockpile and never replaced them.

In 2016, Britain tested its readiness in a drill called Exercise Cygnus. Nine hundred officials across the country participated in a make-believe response to a “swan flu” that had emerged in Thailand and killed more than 200,000 people in Britain.

The planners evidently never imagined that acquiring protective gear from abroad could present a problem. “Ordering arrangements in place” was assumed as part of the background.

Over all, the drill revealed that many British officials were unfamiliar with the country’s pandemic plans and unsure of their roles, according to participants and a final report.

“It showed a hollowing out of the government, inside the infrastructure,” said Prof. Robert Dingwall, a sociologist who advises the government on respiratory viruses and helped draft the plans. “And that was never corrected.”

Two years later, in the real world, health industry journals reported a Chinese government crackdown on pollution shuttered a factory that was providing 1.75 million protective aprons each week to British hospitals. Shortages rippled through the system. Newspapers declared an “apron crisis.”

No one apparently imagined what would happen to Europe if all Chinese supplies were choked off at once.

Collapse

On Jan. 28, British scientists raised an alarm.

The expanding epidemic was setting off a global run on personal protective equipment, specifically on the face-covering mechanical hoods that provide the gold standard of safety.

...

...

A decision to stock up any later “could pose a risk in terms of availability,” warned the government’s respiratory virus advisory panel.

It is unclear when Britain began in earnest to try to augment its supplies of protective equipment.

The health ministry has said only that it began unspecified “discussions and orders” during the week beginning Jan. 27. But Matt Hancock, the health secretary, later acknowledged that by the time Britain began buying, the spike in global demand had made protective equipment “precious” and procurement “a huge challenge.”

The Doctors’ Association UK, an advocacy group, later said it received more than 1,300 complaints from doctors at more than 260 hospitals about inadequate protective equipment. At least 300 British health workers eventually died after contracting Covid-19.

“We worry that some died because of a lack of personal protective equipment,” said Dr. Rinesh Parmar, the group’s chairman. “It was very shortsighted to think that supply lines would continue to China.”

On the continent, governments that had resisted benchmarks from the European center for disease control now flooded the agency with desperate questions, including about what equipment to stock. The agency published a list of what was needed on Feb. 7, but by then global supplies had all but run out.

“It was already way more than what they could get their hands on,” said Dr. Agoritsa Baka, a senior doctor at the European center.

In Belgium, a shortage of masks became so desperate that King Philippe personally brokered a donation from the Chinese tech company Alibaba.

European and global health officials had thoroughly reviewed Belgium’s pandemic plan over the years. But when Covid-19 hit, Belgian officials did not even consult it.

“It has never been used,” said Dr. Emmanuel André, who was drafted to help lead the country’s coronavirus response.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron tacitly acknowledged the depletion of the government’s stockpile at the beginning of March by requisitioning all the masks in the country.

But he still insisted France was ready. “We are not going to stop life in France,” his spokeswoman assured radio listeners.

Ten days later, Mr. Macron declared a state of war and ordered a strict lockdown.

“I don’t understand why we were not prepared,” said Dr. Matthieu Lafaurie, of the Saint-Louis hospital in Paris. “It was very surprising that every country had to realize itself what was going on, as if they didn’t have the examples of other countries. ”

In Britain, Mr. Johnson told the public to stay “confident and calm.” But, the same day, Feb. 11, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or SAGE, privately concluded that the country’s diminished public health system was incapable of widespread Covid-19 testing, even by the end of the year.

“It is not possible,” the group’s minutes note.

The British scientists and officials nonetheless thought they knew better than other countries like China and South Korea. Those countries were driving down the infection rate by imposing lockdowns. The British science advisers thought such restrictions were shortsighted. Unless the restrictions were permanent, any reduction of the epidemic would be lost to a “second peak,” SAGE concluded, according to its minutes and three participants.

Britain reported its first death from the virus on March 5. Across Europe, the number of confirmed cases was doubling every three days. Much of northern Italy was already locked down.

Testifying that day before a parliamentary committee, Professor Whitty, the chief medical adviser, was steady and comforting. Slightly hunched over a table in a small hearing room, he told lawmakers to place their trust in Britain’s modelers.

They were “the best in the world,” he said. “We will be able to model this out, as it starts to accelerate, with a fair degree of confidence.”

Despite alarming reports from Italy, he said, there was no way yet to predict the virus’s ultimate punch.

...

...

But he emphasized that Britain had “quite a long period” before the outbreak would peak, and said modeling would allow the government to wait until the latest possible moment before imposing social restrictions.

“We are keen not to intervene,” he said, “until the point when we absolutely have to.”

Mr. Johnson was even more sanguine. “It should be business as usual for the overwhelming majority of people,” he said that day in a television interview.

But doctors in British hospitals were already feeling rising pressure. Intensive care wards were pushed to more than double their capacity in Birmingham, London and elsewhere.

“It became clear that the pandemic plan wasn’t going to cut it,” said Jonathan Brotherton, chief operating officer of University Hospitals Birmingham, England’s largest health system.

At an increasingly agitated SAGE meeting on March 10, the scientists concluded from the number of cases in intensive care units that there were at least 5,000 to 10,000 infections around the country.

“There will be thousands of deaths a day,” Professor Ferguson remembers warning surprised cabinet officials sitting in on a meeting.

Six days later, Professor Ferguson reported that SAGE’s modeling panel had moved up its projections. The peak was now almost at hand — within two weeks, at the beginning of April, not over the summer, as previously projected. Professor Ferguson released a public study that day that for the first time projected a potential British death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

Switching course, the committee urged sweeping social distancing measures, including school closures.

“It would be better to act early,” the group advised, according to minutes of the meeting.

Much of Europe, including France, had already shut down. Mr. Johnson waited another week, until March 23, to order a mandatory lockdown.

Reckoning

Britain, Spain, Belgium, France and Italy have now reported some of the highest per capita death tolls in the world. More than 30,000 people have died in France, and Mr. Macron has admitted his government was unprepared.

“This moment, let’s be honest, has revealed cracks, shortages,” he said.

After 44,000 coronavirus deaths in Britain, officials continue to defend their actions. The government’s response “allowed us to protect the vulnerable and ensured that the National Health Service was not overwhelmed even at the virus’ peak,” a health department spokesman said.

But Mr. Johnson has admitted that his government had responded “sluggishly,” like in “that recurring bad dream when you are telling your feet to run and your feet won’t move.”

Several scientific advisers have sought to distance themselves from his policies.

Professor Ferguson said in an interview that the decision not to intervene earlier was made by the government and health officials — not the modelers.

“They came back to us and say, ‘Can you model this? Can you model that?’” he said. “And we did.”

He insisted that he had warned privately in early March that Britain’s insufficient testing meant the scientists did not have enough information to track the epidemic.

Across Europe, he said, more testing “would have been the single thing which would have made the biggest difference.”

Other scientists say the intensive care reports in early March should have been reason enough to lock down without waiting for more testing or models. But there is another lesson to learn, said Dr. André, who spent years fighting epidemics in Africa before advising Belgium on the coronavirus.

“They keep on telling countries what they should do, very clearly. But all these experts, when it happens in your own countries? There’s nothing,” he said.

“One lesson to learn is humility.”

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson:

“These kids have got to get back to school.... And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals.... They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.”

1999 SF Pride was my undoing.

Show us some and we’ll let you know

You know what I thought when I saw the NYT headline to the article criticizing Europe's covid-19 response?

The NYT gotta lotta fuckin' nerve.

R199, I was just stunned by the stupidity of that statement.

Tough crowd!

DT is resuming the Covid19 briefings on Tuesday. More insane comments coming from him soon.

[quote] “To look at just one part of the immune response is woefully incomplete, especially if many COVID patients rely more on T cells,” said Eric Topol, a cardiologist and the founder and director of the Scripps Research facility. He pointed me to a study from France’s Strasbourg University Hospital, which found that some people recovering from COVID-19 showed strong T-cell responses without detectable antibodies. “There is a chance that if a similar longitudinal study looked at T-cell response, the outcome would be far more optimistic,” he said.

[quote] Second, the virologist Shane Crotty told me that while the decline in antibodies was troubling, it was hardly catastrophic. “It’s not unusual to have fading antibody response after several months,” he said. “The drop-off isn’t that surprising. When you look at something like the smallpox vaccine, you see the antibody response is down about 75 percent after six months. But that’s a vaccine that works for decades. We need a study like this to look at COVID patients six months after infection to really know what we’re dealing with.” It’s been six months since the first American COVID-19 patient went to the hospital. Those studies will surely come.

Thank goodness for equitable adjustments and the parts of the US government that are still working. R207 Sylvia

Coronavirus: Conspiracy Theories: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

*

Mr. Cena at 19:00. He's the reason the word beefcake was invented.

Bloomberg @business Warner Bros. canceled the Aug. 12 release of its major summer film “Tenet,” because of the worsening coronavirus pandemic

Bloomberg @business Warner Bros. canceled the Aug. 12 release of its major summer film “Tenet,” because of the worsening coronavirus pandemic

Wow, that's pretty much acknowledging that the U.S. theatre business won't be back for a long while. (Though WB hints it will release the film internationally.)

"Mulan" is scheduled to open August 21, but I don't see that happening, either.

R209, I'm sure Cena was saying something important, but I kept getting distracted. Maybe I should go watch that again.

Bloomberg: The Rich Are Looking to Buy Access to Covid Safe Havens

Just $2 million gets you the right to live, work and study in New Zealand.

The next time the world’s rich are forced into lockdown, they would like to have an escape ready to a remote and sunny beach. Or perhaps to New Zealand, one of the few countries that has eliminated Covid-19.

They are willing to pay for the privilege, of course.

They can turn to programs that guarantee citizenship or residency in exchange for investment in the host country, using specialty firms such as Henley & Partners, the world’s biggest citizenship and residency advisory firm. With the persistent threat of viral infections and sudden lockdowns, the company is helping those with deep pockets buy access to a safe haven.

For instance, you can acquire the right to live, work and study in New Zealand if you part with NZ$3 million ($2 million) or NZ$10 million, depending on the type of investor resident visa you choose. About 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million), including a property purchase, will get a married couple citizenship in Malta.

“They’re now realizing: Let’s actually get the contingency plan in place,” said Dominic Volek, Henley’s head of sales, said of his potential customers. “That’s why we’ve seen quite a spike now, not only in inquiries, but also in the families actually signing up and saying, ‘Let’s start the process.’”

New inquiries jumped 49% in the first four months of this year, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the company. There was a 22% increase in those wanting to proceed with an application for new citizenship or residency rights.

The wealthy aren’t just interested in Caribbean islands where they can self-isolate on sandy beaches. They're looking to Australia and New Zealand, countries that impressed with their handling of Covid-19.

Nadine Goldfoot, a managing partner at law firm Fragomen, said the pandemic has driven wealthy people to take action. “What is becoming and will continue to be very important now in people’s selection process is how the country has fared during the pandemic and how the government has approached it,” she said.

Additionally, people view the move as a wealth-management tool as much as a way to travel visa-free, according to Henley. Interest in Portugal’s residence-by-investment program increased in recent months, attracting clients hoping to invest in the country’s stable real estate market and take advantage of its relatively low coronavirus case count.

To be sure, even the world’s wealthiest can’t escape immediate quarantines and travel bans. Receiving second passports or residency rights takes time — at least three months for Caribbean programs and much longer for the ones in the European Union.

Still, even as travel-related businesses suffer, Henley is expanding. The company recently established an office in Nigeria and will soon open another in India, where surging virus cases and tensions on the border with China have increased the number of wealthy Indians planning for a potential escape.

Given that the virus and related lockdowns are “a risk people are going to be living with for the time being, they want to be somewhere where that’s a manageable experience,” Fragomen’s Goldfoot said.

R209, I watched it last night. The best part was when Oliver said he and Cena were born on the exact same day: 4/23/77

Tired of lockdown? Barbados is offering remote workers a 12-month visa.

One hitch: you can't be gay-hitched.

No way will WB release Tenet internationally if it can’t be released in the US.

👍👍 .......... What R169 Said

Grow up, were in the middle of a freakin' PANDEMIC !

Every nation was ready for the pandemic.

Until they weren't . . . . . . .

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 20 ~ 3:45 PM EST

🍭 NATIONAL LOLLIPOP DAY

🌜 MOON DAY

GLOBAL

CASES: 14,769,392

DEATHS: 611,768

CRITICAL: 59,720

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 3,936,078

DEATHS: 143,559

CRITICAL: 16,567

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 LOOKIN' GOOD !

You can stick a fork in the Hollywood film industry this year. Ditto for concerts and sporting events. The travel industry is barely getting by even with free cancellations and liberal refund policies. Meanwhile restaurants, hotels, theme parks, shopping malls, etc., are struggling to survive. Even fucking Christmas is highly in doubt at this point! A year like no other in terms of the worldwide impact. Crazy times indeed!

Christmas is fine as long as Amazon and Zoom are in business.

I'm guessing that we will never hear from him again. Putin has his ways, just sayin'

Guardian-The mayor of the Russian Arctic city of Norilsk on Monday announced his resignation after accusing regional officials of massively underreporting coronavirus figures, AFP reports. Rinat Akhmetchin, mayor of the Siberian city located 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, announced his departure during a briefing. His resignation came as Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that Russia’s virus situation is improving and numbers of cases and deaths are far lower than in many European countries. Akhmetchin last week sent a letter to regional officials accusing the regional health ministry of “concealing real information about the numbers of those ill from federal agencies”, Siberian news site Tayga.Info reported. He claimed that there had been 832 confirmed cases in Norilsk while the regional health ministry gave the figure of 293. He also complained hospitals lacked staff and patients were waiting for hours in corridors, the Siberian news site reported

r221, Hollywood is moving to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. I know at least 5 projects that were supposed to shoot in Atlanta fleeing to those countries.

R224. But who will go or be able to watch the films when they are released?

3 people at my brother's small restaurant near Atlanta have tested positive including the general manager. Fortunately my brother tested negative after mandatory testing was ordered for all employees. But for how long? He has no choice but to go to work even as the virus spreads out of control. No automatic quarantine, etc., Either he goes to work or he loses his job. I worry about him and all Americans in similar situations.

Which projects, R224?

Welcoming North Carolina to the 100K club!

Stay tuned: Louisiana is on deck to make it a dozen this week.

[quote] “These kids have got to get back to school.... And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals.... They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.”

And they're going to give it to their parents and their teachers, who WILL end up in the hospitals (or the mortuaries).

A week after he publicly donned a face mask for the first time following months of refusal, President Donald Trump — who still opposes a nationwide mask mandate — posted a photo of himself with a face mask while declaring that “many people say” that it’s “patriotic” to wear a mask. On Monday morning, meanwhile, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams literally begged Fox News viewers to wear masks to stem the spread of the virus that’s killed over 140,000 Americans.

Have we used, "Suddenly, Last Summer" as a thread title?

Many believe that the falling poll numbers for Donald Trump are a measure of his mishandling the coronavirus pandemic to the point of calamity or his divisiveness in the face of a racial crisis. While these things may be partially true, there is a far more important, overriding factor: his inability to hold ongoing rallies.

His loss of continual exposure to the public has meant his supporters would separate enough to see reality for themselves.

[quote]“many people say” that it’s “patriotic” to wear a mask.

No, what would be really patriotic is if someone with covid were allowed to cough on the inside of it before it was handed to shithead.

Nick Jack Pappas @Pappiness 2h Trump putting on a mask now is like wearing a condom after his mistress is already 4 months pregnant.

Testing is drastically decreasing thanks to Cheeto.

R235 but Trumpkins don't believe in the test results anyways. They claim they're fudged to make him look bad. At the end, it's a tragic situation because those who are positive will infect others but at this point, there's nothing to be done about it. Science is politicized.

AFP: Since last week, the small, rural northwestern US state of Idaho has been racking up 500 new coronavirus cases a day -- a sign of the exponential spread of the disease across the country.

With just 1.8 million inhabitants, Idaho is seeing a virus resurgence as it also sweeps through the US South and West.

Before June 15, Idaho was reporting fewer than 50 new cases a day. On Sunday, it reported 550, and more than 700 cases last Thursday.

Measured by size of population, Idaho's infection rate over the past seven days has put it in eighth place nationally, right after big southern and western states like Florida, Louisiana and Texas, according to data from The New York Times.

Not since the start of the pandemic have so many hospital beds in Idaho been occupied by coronavirus patients -- 224 on July 15. In April, the maximum number of hospitalizations was 71.

Cabbage could help fight COVID-19, study finds

According to a new study from France, foods containing raw and fermented cabbage may be beneficial against the coronavirus by reducing the levels of a compound that helps the virus infect the body, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

The study found that cabbage — whether raw, pickled in sauerkraut or mixed into coleslaw — as well as cucumbers and Kimchi, the Korean delicacy made from pickled cabbage and other vegetables, could help people build up resistance to the virus, which has killed more than 606,000 worldwide and 140,000 in the US.

The European researchers said the abundant antioxidants in the vegetables could explain why countries where cabbage is a key part of the national diet, like Germany and South Korea, had lower fatality rates than hard-hit countries such as the US.

Dr. Jean Bousquet, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Montpellier University in France, said diet may play a larger role in determining who contracts the virus and how well they fare fighting it off.

“Little attention has been given to the spread and severity of the virus, and regional differences in diet, but diet changes may be of great benefit. Nutrition may play a role in the immune defense against COVID-19 and may explain some of the differences seen in COVID-19 across Europe. I have now changed my diet, and it includes raw cabbage three times a week, sauerkraut once a week, and pickled vegetables,” he said.

“Understanding these differences, and protective factors, like diet, but many others too, is of paramount importance, and may eventually help to control these epidemics.”

The study, published in the journal Clinical and Translational Allergy, looked at virus death rates and national dietary differences.

It found Germany has significantly lower mortality, as did Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, the Baltic States and Finland, where cabbage is popular.

Bousquet, former chair of the World Health Organization’s Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases, said the antioxidant-rich foods could be another arrow in the quiver of researchers seeking to stem the pandemic.

“Fermented foods have potent antioxidant activity and can protect against severe COVID-19,” he said.

The study has not been peer-reviewed.

Cabbage could help fight COVID-19, study finds

According to a new study from France, foods containing raw and fermented cabbage may be beneficial against the coronavirus by reducing the levels of a compound that helps the virus infect the body, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

The study found that cabbage — whether raw, pickled in sauerkraut or mixed into coleslaw — as well as cucumbers and Kimchi, the Korean delicacy made from pickled cabbage and other vegetables, could help people build up resistance to the virus, which has killed more than 606,000 worldwide and 140,000 in the US.

The European researchers said the abundant antioxidants in the vegetables could explain why countries where cabbage is a key part of the national diet, like Germany and South Korea, had lower fatality rates than hard-hit countries such as the US.

Dr. Jean Bousquet, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Montpellier University in France, said diet may play a larger role in determining who contracts the virus and how well they fare fighting it off.

“Little attention has been given to the spread and severity of the virus, and regional differences in diet, but diet changes may be of great benefit. Nutrition may play a role in the immune defense against COVID-19 and may explain some of the differences seen in COVID-19 across Europe. I have now changed my diet, and it includes raw cabbage three times a week, sauerkraut once a week, and pickled vegetables,” he said.

“Understanding these differences, and protective factors, like diet, but many others too, is of paramount importance, and may eventually help to control these epidemics.”

The study, published in the journal Clinical and Translational Allergy, looked at virus death rates and national dietary differences.

It found Germany has significantly lower mortality, as did Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, the Baltic States and Finland, where cabbage is popular.

Bousquet, former chair of the World Health Organization’s Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases, said the antioxidant-rich foods could be another arrow in the quiver of researchers seeking to stem the pandemic.

“Fermented foods have potent antioxidant activity and can protect against severe COVID-19,” he said.

The study has not been peer-reviewed.

That's bad news for bottoms.

Now people will be buying cabbages in bulk. Good luck finding any.

[quote] Fermented foods have potent antioxidant activity.

I guess that doesn't include wine, since France had a very high death rate.

CNBC: Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest laboratory companies in the country, told the Financial Times that it won’t be able to meet the demand for Covid-19 testing in the fall with currently available technology.

For all we know, r233, that somebody may have actually done that !

A boy can dream ..............

How could anyone STILL believe in a President who never took this virus as a serious threat since day one?

And, despite the facts, he'll NEVER, EVER admit he was was grossly mistaken.

He should put the people of this country first, but he clearly doesn't care. His first and foremost concern is how any current event will add or subtract from his personal wealth.

👺 [italic] Donald Trump is not a patriot.

I have difficulty understanding how anyone could have been fooled by him in the first place.

Not only is he not a patriot, but he and his minions are traitors.

Barcelona's new virus outbreak puts its summer tourism plan at risk

Spain hoped its beaches would be the “safest holiday destination” in Europe this summer. Now, at the height of the tourist season, Barcelona and its surrounding areas are in the grip of a fresh coronavirus outbreak.

Almost 3,000 new infections were found in the Catalonia region over the weekend. Local officials urged the roughly 3 million residents of the Barcelona area to stay home on Saturday, but stopped short of making that mandatory. The next day, thousands flocked to the beach and many left for their summer holiday homes.

“It wasn’t clear. People can go outside Barcelona, but the recommendation is also to stay at home. You can go to the beach but you have to wear a mask. But if you are in a terrace, you don’t have to wear it,” said Barcelona resident Carolina Fernandez.

"My perception is: if something is not mandatory, we don’t do it," she added."

Epidemiologists say Barcelona's spike is a prime example of what happens when virus monitoring systems are neglected and government mandates aren’t clear.

“Why is it happening? Because the government did not introduce appropriate contact tracing,” epidemiologist Helen Legido-Quiqley told CNN.

By her estimate, Catalonia would need at least 2,000 contact tracers that should have been hired and trained during the previous lockdown. She warned that it would now be much more costly to impose a second lockdown.

“We had three months to prepare and they have not done it,” she said, adding:

Marti Angladan, a spokesperson for Catalonia’s government, admitted that the region needs to double the number of contact tracers.

“We should have doubled this figure. And we are trying to do so. But bear in mind, that we were readying ourselves for an outbreak at the end of October, September,” he told CNN. “[This is] much earlier than expected. We thought, we’d been told by experts, that the high temperatures would slow down, would calm down the virus.”

No such luck for Barcelona. The sunshine is not stopping the virus -- but it is still drawing in tourists.

Stepping off a plane Monday, British visitor Graham Parker was nonplussed by news of the outbreak. “If you’re going to catch it, you catch it here or in the UK,” he told CNN. “Just be careful, keep your distance, use face masks.”

China is now requiring all people flying into the country to show proof that they tested negative for Covid-19

From CNN's Shanshan Wang in Beijing and Eric Cheung in Hong Kong

China's Civil Aviation Authority announced on that anybody planning to board a flight to mainland China must provide authorities with proof that they tested negative within five days of their flight.

Foreign travelers will need to apply for a health certificate from the Chinese embassy in the country of origin, while Chinese passengers will have to present a QR code to prove their eligibility to board the flight.

China has recorded more than 85,300 cases of Covid-19 since the novel coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Doctor reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after recovering

A doctor in Israel has reportedly been reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after her first bout with the coronavirus.

While there have been several reports of reinfection of COVID-19 globally, the news comes amid ongoing uncertainty in the scientific community about whether long-term immunity is possible following an infection.

Channel 13 Israel reported that a doctor at Ramat Gan’s Sheba Medical Center first came down with the virus in April, according to the Times of Israel, while she tested negative for COVID-19 in May and June. Now, after reportedly coming in contact with an infected individual, she has again tested positive.

While doctors have observed antibodies in many patients immediately following the disease, there is concern that they may not last long in the body, or that some patients may not naturally develop antibodies at all.

Unfortunately, issues with testing and inaccurate results have made the study of antibodies and immunity all the more elusive, with studies pointing to a false negative rate of at least 20% and up to 38%.

Last month, a pair of studies revealed that patients may quickly lose antibodies they produced during their battle with the coronavirus, within months or weeks of recovery. In a report uploaded to open-access source medRxiv, while awaiting peer review, researchers in Wuhan, China, found that antibodies were undetectable in 10% out of almost 1,500 COVID-19 patients, just a few weeks after first signs of the virus. From their findings, they determined that “after SARS-CoV-2 infection, people are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus.”

The other paper, published in Nature Medicine, compared antibody levels between 37 asymptomatic coronavirus-positive patients and an equal number of severely symptomatic patients, based in the Wanzhou district in China. After two to three months, 60% of the asymptomatic individuals showed detectable levels of antibodies, while 87% of those with strong symptoms continued to demonstrate higher levels of antibodies. This suggests that those who do not develop severe illness due to COVID-19 may also be less protected in the future.

The seemingly inconsistent nature of the coronavirus antibodies is, like all things with this disease, uncharted territory. Compare these findings with what doctors know about SARS and MERS — two other types of coronavirus infections whose antibodies are known to linger for potentially a year or more following illness onset.

Earlier this month, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said “we do not know” how long the coronavirus antibodies can offer defense. He told the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Francis Collins, “With this spike protein that’s being presented in the way that we do it with primes and in some cases boosts, we’re going to assume that there’s a degree of protection, but we have to assume that it’s going to be finite.”

Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said coronavirus therapy “[is] not going to be like the measles vaccine,” which gives lifetime immunity.

That said, he’s skeptical of recent reports of reinfection, arguing that trace levels of COVID-19 had likely remained in the body all along, regardless of previous negative test results.

“There are no documented cases where people got better and actually got sick again in the sense of virus replicating,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a rare case of an individual who went into remission and relapsed … But Francis, I can say with confidence, that it is very unlikely if it’s a common phenomenon.”

‘SNL’ planning live Studio 8H return for Season 46

If NBC and Lorne Michaels have their way, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” this fall could move from being produced from cast members’ homes to being made the old-fashioned way — “from New York.”

Michaels and his team are making plans to bring the show back to NBC’s Manhattan studios for the venerable late-night program’s 46th season, according to two people familiar with the matter — the latest of TV’s wee-hours programs to try and navigate a new normal in the midst of a pandemic that makes the process of putting on a TV show anything but.

NBC declined to comment on its plans for the next cycle of “SNL.” To be certain, any concepts for the fall would hinge on how the nation is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and the safety of the “SNL” cast and crew. NBC has yet to announce a premiere date for “Saturday Night Live.”

One early strategy calls for the program to be made in a “controlled” environment, meaning a live audience is likely not part of current considerations, according to one of these people. There is a template already in place: NBC’s “Tonight Show,” which Michaels also oversees, last week started taping new episodes from the network’s studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Those broadcasts featured host Jimmy Fallon, a socially-distanced Roots band, and a handful of mask-wearing cameramen – all working from a smaller facility, NBC’s Studio 6A. Guests like Charlize Theron appeared via videoconferencing technology.

If producers can pull it off, “SNL” would look vastly different from the three final episodes the team put together at the end of a shortened 2019-2020 TV season. In those broadcasts, cast members devised “at-home” sketches — Chloe Fineman revealed impressions of Timothée Chalamet and JoJo Siwa, and Kenan Thompson offered a new take on an old “SNL” favorite, “What’s Up With That” — rather than hold forth from the show’s traditional perch, Studio 8H in NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters. Those programs featured taped sketches as well as surprise cameos from people like Paul Rudd and Martin Short. Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Kristen Wiig served as hosts. The episodes were fueled less by live-audience reaction and more by the editing and post-production effects that could be done by producers behind the scenes

There is reason for NBC to steer the show back into familiar terrain. “SNL” tends to thrive during the run-up to a presidential election, which will be in the offing this autumn. In 2016, impressions of Hillary Clinton by cast member Kate McKinnon and of Donald Trump by frequent guest Alec Baldwin proved winning. Ratings soared and viewers gravitated to seeing Melissa McCarthy’s impression of former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. “SNL” antics have long been part of the national conversation, but the show’s buzz was remarkable for a program that has been on the air for more than four decades.

Plans for a coming “SNL” season aren’t typically revealed until the end of the summer. Some cast members have a growing spate of commitments. Kate McKinnon’s involvement with a Hulu dramatic series has long been known, and Kenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant and Michael Che have other projects under the aegis of Michaels’ Broadway Video. NBC recently teased a new sitcom project featuring Thompson and Don Johnson. Whether all of those actors will juggle all their responsibilities or focus on one likely won’t be known definitively for several weeks.

The only reason that Chump is resuming the updates is because he knows the situation is going to get really bad and he wants to confuse people with his lies and false hopes. Florida and Arizona are already throwing up big numbers of deaths today. Critical cases are approaching 17K. Daily records are getting hammered in many places throughout southern and western states. Although he would prefer just to ignore the whole damn thing. He can't.

Guardian-This week’s Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index is out, and they are leading with the line that “most Americans believe others are making the pandemic worse”. They also find that more Americans, particularly Republicans, are denying the official toll of the pandemic. Almost a third of Americans believe the real death toll of the pandemic is less than the 135,000 officially reported as of mid-July. Republicans (59%) are the most likely to say that the real number of deaths is less than the official count while Democrats (61%) continue to mostly believe the real toll of the pandemic is greater than what has been officially reported. Most Americans overall still believe the actual number of deaths is either higher than (37%), or on par with (31%), the official count. With more restrictions in place as many states halted or rolled back their reopening plans, just under half of Americans - 44% - report seeing friends and family in the last week.

The fact that only 59% of repubs are doubtful of the numbers is a worrying sign for the party. Normally, they stick together like glue even when they are dead wrong. Surely the fake President knows this and it is threatening his election wild card which is that we can't trust the numbers. If a high number of repubs believe the numbers, his hand is busted.

While Arizona has the top spot in New Deaths today - the next five on the list are all in the Southern cluster of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

True. And already 840 deaths reported. +1K is almost certain now. There is a reason why orange is on tv today

Over 15M cases now worldwide. NO, this is not the flu! People need to wake the fuck up! Wear your masks!

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 21 ~ 4:45 PM EST

🍔🍟🍦 NATIONAL JUNK FOOD DAY

👽 INVITE AN ALIEN TO LIVE WITH YOU DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES; 15,005,427

DEATHS: 616,474

CRITICAL: 63,649

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,001,500

DEATHS: 144,726

CRITICAL: 16,608

📉 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 DON'T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN !

Thanks Corona Poll Troll! Wow! +4M reported reported cases now in the US. For sure, the true number is much higher due to the lack of testing but still a huge number nonetheless. We are fucked!

The CHINA virus...

I posted here a couple of weeks ago about the packed beaches in Barcelona and people partying and not social distancing in Palma and Austria and here we are. It's almost like clock work. People are so dumb. At this point I think this virus will never really go away. Why can't people just stay home this year and not spread this virus all over the globe again and again?

Oh, here. Have a brief respite from the thread's subject matter.

CNBC:

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he was not invited to Tuesday's White House coronavirus briefing

Trump's Briefing ?

He's reading from notes he scribbled at 3:00 AM, never even looks up at those attending. He's just rambling, sounds so immature and childish.

Has this man ever spoke the truth since he was sworn into office?

He looks really pale today without the heavy spray tan. Oh, goodness, I hope he doesn't have the Corona.

When Trump was asked why Birx and Fauci weren't invited tho the briefing, he stated that "Dr. Birx is back there somewhere. "

USA Today:

'Wear a mask.' Trump predicts coronavirus will 'get worse' as he returns to briefings

😴 July is Anti-Boredom month.

Whoomp there it is. After several weeks of increases, the US is reporting +1K deaths today according to Worldometer. Where will this wretched merry-go-round stop? Knowbody knows

new, unfortunate milestone

Sorry R259. Not in the mood for your shit tonight. Today, reported deaths in the US are +60 times greater than Italy and NY! This disaster is so much bigger than China! We had plenty of time to get this right and we blew it! Damn them all to hell!!!

R259, fuck off, Trumpette.

[quote]Walmart is installing "health ambassadors" at each of its location to help implement its face mask rule.

Was there yesterday and the mask monitor let people in who wearing their masks below their noses and chins. No employee is going to risk getting shot like that Dollar Store guy did, so this policy is pretty much a joke.

I would just like to know if I need to start hoarding toilet paper again.

Is Cuomo still doing press conferences? What would stop him from inviting Dr. Fauci on as a special guest?

[quote]I would just like to know if I need to start hoarding toilet paper again.

Yes, always.

Walmart Monday morning everyone properly masked up except for somebody's kid who was definitely old enough to be wearing a mask. I guess kids can't catch or spread the virus, right?

Walmart Tuesday afternoon (needed a quick run for a couple of things) everyone masked except two assholes, and one wearing it below her nose.

I'm expecting within a week or two it'll be back to a lot of people not wearing masks again once they get in the store. Hopefully this time there will be more masked than not.

Guardian-More than one in five people in Delhi have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a study released Tuesday, indicating that most cases in the Indian capital region have gone undetected, Reuters The National Centre for Disease Control tested 21,387 people selected randomly across Delhi, the state that includes New Delhi, and found that 23.48% had antibodies to the virus. Adjusting for false positives and negatives, it estimated that 22.86% of the population had been infected by the virus, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh, who heads the institute, said in a news conference Tuesday. Delhi, with a population of 29 million, has officially reported 123,747 cases and 3,663 deaths. The study, however, indicates more than 6.6 million likely cases, with most not identified or tested.

Guardian-A special police unit collected 420 bodies over the preceding five days in two Bolivian cities, and 80% to 90% of the deceased were thought to have succumbed to Covid-19, authorities said Tuesday.Colonel Ivan Rojas, director of the special crime-fighting force, said his officers recovered the bodies from streets, vehicles and homes in the capital, La Paz, and in Bolivia’s biggest city, Santa Cruz. Bolivia’s Institute of Forensic Investigations said that nationally from 1 April through Sunday, its workers had recovered 3,016 bodies of people in possible Covid-19 cases.

[Quote]Walmart is installing "health ambassadors" at each of its location to help implement its face mask rule.

Huge sign that you have to wear a mask and use a shopping cart in front of my local grocery store. A security guard makes sure no one enters without a mask (and will probably kick you out if you take it off inside). I don't understand why a huge corporation like Walmart can't enforce their own rules for everyone's safety.

[Quote]Is Cuomo still doing press conferences? What would stop him from inviting Dr. Fauci on as a special guest?

Isn't Fauci a federal employee and Trump has blocked him from many media appearances in the past? I think CNN was trying to get an interview with him for weeks and they said the WH was blocking him.

The president has way too much power and should not be able to block government employees from appearing in the media or congress and hide data from the public.

Feds order 100 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for $2 billion

The feds placed a $2 billion order for 100 million doses of Pfizer’s potential coronavirus vaccine under the Trump administration’s push to have a shot ready by next year.

Americans would receive Pfizer’s shots for free under the deal announced Wednesday — assuming the vaccine it’s developing with the German biotech firm BioNTech wins federal approval.

“We’ve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” Dr. Albert Boula, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

The pact is the largest yet awarded under Operation Warp Speed, the government’s effort to deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine by January. The Trump administration has committed billions of dollars in federal funding to four other companies racing to produce a vaccine, which is viewed as key to ending the deadly global pandemic.

The government would pay Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion once it receives the 100 million doses following Food and Drug Administration approval or authorization of their vaccine, according to a news release. The deal also gives the feds the option to acquire up to 500 million additional doses.

“Expanding Operation Warp Speed’s diverse portfolio by adding a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

BioNTech and Pfizer are working on four experimental COVID-19 vaccines, two of which have received “Fast Track” designation from the FDA to speed up their development. The companies released data earlier this month showing that the most advanced vaccine candidate can produce “neutralizing” COVID-19 antibodies in patients who receive it.

The firms said they expect to seek emergency authorization or some other kind of regulatory approval as soon as October if their ongoing clinical studies are successful.

Wednesday’s announcement came about two weeks after the feds pledged $1.6 billion to help biotech firm Novavax develop its coronavirus vaccine. Operation Warp Speed is also funding vaccine candidates from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and a joint effort between AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

Feds order 100 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for $2 billion

The feds placed a $2 billion order for 100 million doses of Pfizer’s potential coronavirus vaccine under the Trump administration’s push to have a shot ready by next year.

Americans would receive Pfizer’s shots for free under the deal announced Wednesday — assuming the vaccine it’s developing with the German biotech firm BioNTech wins federal approval.

“We’ve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” Dr. Albert Boula, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

The pact is the largest yet awarded under Operation Warp Speed, the government’s effort to deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine by January. The Trump administration has committed billions of dollars in federal funding to four other companies racing to produce a vaccine, which is viewed as key to ending the deadly global pandemic.

The government would pay Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion once it receives the 100 million doses following Food and Drug Administration approval or authorization of their vaccine, according to a news release. The deal also gives the feds the option to acquire up to 500 million additional doses.

“Expanding Operation Warp Speed’s diverse portfolio by adding a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

BioNTech and Pfizer are working on four experimental COVID-19 vaccines, two of which have received “Fast Track” designation from the FDA to speed up their development. The companies released data earlier this month showing that the most advanced vaccine candidate can produce “neutralizing” COVID-19 antibodies in patients who receive it.

The firms said they expect to seek emergency authorization or some other kind of regulatory approval as soon as October if their ongoing clinical studies are successful.

Wednesday’s announcement came about two weeks after the feds pledged $1.6 billion to help biotech firm Novavax develop its coronavirus vaccine. Operation Warp Speed is also funding vaccine candidates from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and a joint effort between AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

Mouth lesions could be a new coronavirus symptom, study says

Researchers involved in the study, published last week in JAMA Dermatology, examined 21 consecutive patients who presented with both a skin rash and COVID-19 at Ramon y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid between March 30 and April 8.

They were looking to determine whether the patients developed enanthem — lesions of the mucous membranes — inside their mouths.

Those lesions were observed in six of the patients, who ranged in age from 40 and 69, four of whom were women.

The researchers noted that the study “describes preliminary observations and is limited by the small number of cases and the absence of a control group.”

“Despite the increasing reports of skin rashes in patients with COVID-19, establishing an etiological diagnosis is challenging,” they wrote.

“However, the presence of enanthem is a strong clue that suggests a viral etiology rather than a drug reaction, especially when a petechial pattern is observed.”

The study also noted that due to safety concerns, many patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 do not have their mouths examined.

Some COVID-19 patients in Italy previously developed enanthem, according to the researchers.

The CDC has outlined multiple coronavirus symptoms, including fever or chills, coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue and muscle or body aches. Skin rashes are not on that list.

Those infected can experience a spectrum of symptoms — ranging from the mild to the severe, according to the CDC.

@ Aldi's, Everyone ages two years and older must wear a face mask to enter the store.

Brazil's president again tests positive for Covid-19

From CNN's Shasta Darlington in São Paulo

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told CNN affiliate CNN Brasil on Wednesday that he had tested positive again for Covid-19, just over two weeks after his initial test came back positive.

Bolsonaro, who spoke to a CNN Brasil reporter on the phone, has been working in semi-isolation from the presidential residence since July 7, when he first announced he had tested positive.

He initially said he had a low-grade fever, but he didn’t come down with any serious symptoms. A long-time proponent of the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, Bolsonaro announced he was taking it and has repeatedly said he believes the drug has helped him.

The Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, in a report published last week, urged medical professionals to stop using hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus, because it has been proved ineffective and can cause collateral damage.

Bolsonaro, who spent months downplaying the virus, often strolls out on the grounds of the presidential palace to greet supporters, and has continued to do so since his positive diagnosis earlier this month.

On Tuesday, he told the crowd gathered there that he hoped his latest test, the third since becoming infected, would come back negative so he could get back to work.

Brazil's president again tests positive for Covid-19

From CNN's Shasta Darlington in São Paulo

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told CNN affiliate CNN Brasil on Wednesday that he had tested positive again for Covid-19, just over two weeks after his initial test came back positive.

Bolsonaro, who spoke to a CNN Brasil reporter on the phone, has been working in semi-isolation from the presidential residence since July 7, when he first announced he had tested positive.

He initially said he had a low-grade fever, but he didn’t come down with any serious symptoms. A long-time proponent of the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, Bolsonaro announced he was taking it and has repeatedly said he believes the drug has helped him.

The Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, in a report published last week, urged medical professionals to stop using hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus, because it has been proved ineffective and can cause collateral damage.

Bolsonaro, who spent months downplaying the virus, often strolls out on the grounds of the presidential palace to greet supporters, and has continued to do so since his positive diagnosis earlier this month.

On Tuesday, he told the crowd gathered there that he hoped his latest test, the third since becoming infected, would come back negative so he could get back to work.

Victoria suffers worst day for new coronavirus cases, despite two weeks of lockdown

From journalist Angus Watson in Sydney

The Australian state of Victoria has suffered another record day of new Coronavirus cases with 484 people diagnosed on Tuesday, according to Daniel Andrews, the state premier.

Just 97 of the cases detected on Tuesday were linked to known outbreaks, with 387 under investigation. Two men in their 90s died on Tuesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 44 and Australia’s to 128.

The high figure comes despite Melbourne being two weeks into a six-week lockdown, with people only allowed to leave their homes for work, to buy food, to get or give care or for exercise.

Premier Andrews said Wednesday that “insecure workers” are a “big driver” in the uptick in cases because they are going to work when ill.

Acknowledging that shift workers risk not getting paid if they do not show for work, Andrews announced a $1500 hardship payment available to incentivize insecure workers to stay home instead of going to work when ill or while waiting for a test result.

“No one should be waiting for a test result at the supermarket or their place of work or anywhere else but their home.”

Masks become mandatory in public places in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire as of Thursday.

“Masks will have an impact, but I want to be clear, wearing a mask is not like a vaccine,” Andrews said Wednesday. “They are not an invitation to leave your home, they are a lawful reason to leave your home, but only when you need to.”

There are 3408 active cases in Victoria, 3305 in metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, and 103 in all other regions of Victoria.

Victoria suffers worst day for new coronavirus cases, despite two weeks of lockdown

From journalist Angus Watson in Sydney

The Australian state of Victoria has suffered another record day of new Coronavirus cases with 484 people diagnosed on Tuesday, according to Daniel Andrews, the state premier.

Just 97 of the cases detected on Tuesday were linked to known outbreaks, with 387 under investigation. Two men in their 90s died on Tuesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 44 and Australia’s to 128.

The high figure comes despite Melbourne being two weeks into a six-week lockdown, with people only allowed to leave their homes for work, to buy food, to get or give care or for exercise.

Premier Andrews said Wednesday that “insecure workers” are a “big driver” in the uptick in cases because they are going to work when ill.

Acknowledging that shift workers risk not getting paid if they do not show for work, Andrews announced a $1500 hardship payment available to incentivize insecure workers to stay home instead of going to work when ill or while waiting for a test result.

“No one should be waiting for a test result at the supermarket or their place of work or anywhere else but their home.”

Masks become mandatory in public places in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire as of Thursday.

“Masks will have an impact, but I want to be clear, wearing a mask is not like a vaccine,” Andrews said Wednesday. “They are not an invitation to leave your home, they are a lawful reason to leave your home, but only when you need to.”

There are 3408 active cases in Victoria, 3305 in metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, and 103 in all other regions of Victoria.

California now has the most Covid cases in the US, surpassing New York

From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Sarah Moon

California has surpassed New York as the state with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.

The current total number of cases in California is 409,305 and New York stands at 408,181, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

California has seen a surge in cases over the past several weeks, while New York’s case count has slowed significantly.

The number of cases per 100,000 people is starkly different between the two states, however, with California being home to roughly double the number of residents of New York. California is currently seeing about 1,036 cases per 100,000, while New York has 2,098 cases.

A similar disparity holds true for Covid-related fatalities between the two states. New York saw a huge spike in deaths early on in the pandemic and has recorded well over 32,000 fatalities, a rate about eight times higher per 100,000 than in California where the surge happened much later, and has seen 7,888 deaths to date.

The slow climb in California provided the state with the time to “limit not just the number of those with the worst outcomes, but even improve the clinical outcomes of those who’ve been hospitalized altogether,” California Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said Tuesday.

California now has the most Covid cases in the US, surpassing New York

From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Sarah Moon

California has surpassed New York as the state with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.

The current total number of cases in California is 409,305 and New York stands at 408,181, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

California has seen a surge in cases over the past several weeks, while New York’s case count has slowed significantly.

The number of cases per 100,000 people is starkly different between the two states, however, with California being home to roughly double the number of residents of New York. California is currently seeing about 1,036 cases per 100,000, while New York has 2,098 cases.

A similar disparity holds true for Covid-related fatalities between the two states. New York saw a huge spike in deaths early on in the pandemic and has recorded well over 32,000 fatalities, a rate about eight times higher per 100,000 than in California where the surge happened much later, and has seen 7,888 deaths to date.

The slow climb in California provided the state with the time to “limit not just the number of those with the worst outcomes, but even improve the clinical outcomes of those who’ve been hospitalized altogether,” California Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said Tuesday.

🤓 Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing double ?

It appears that COVID-19 can manifest itself as just about anything. I read an article from a physician who said they were getting people in the ER who thought they'd broken a bone because the pain was so bad. They would send the patients to x-ray as a matter of course and, finding nothing, sent them back home -- only to have them show back up in the ER a few days later with "classic" COVID symptoms. Hospitals need quick turnaround COVID tests so they can isolate positive patients ... but those are reserved for the Oval Office and major league sports teams.

"I don't really see us eradicating" Covid-19, Fauci says

From CNN's Health Gisela Crespo)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday the world may not eradicate Covid-19 – but we may be able to control it with a vaccine and good public health measures.

Speaking during a webcast hosted by the TB Alliance, Fauci explained that due to Covid-19's ability to transmit from human to human, he doesn't think it will disappear like SARS did.

"I think we ultimately will get control of it. I don't really see us eradicating it. I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine — which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get. I think when you put all three of those together, I think we will get very good control of this," Fauci said.

"Whether it's this year or next year, I'm not certain ... but I think we will bring it down to such a low level that we will not be in the position that we're in right now for an extended period of time," Fauci added.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization also said it is unlikely that the world can eradicate or eliminate Covid-19 any time soon.

[quote]Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing double ?

The reprint-the-full-article guy often posts twice. I don't know if it's a glitch in his system or DL.

R292 - hey, full article guy - typically we don't post the text of articles (certainly not twice) for non-paywall websites.

Just fucking link to it and give a synopsis instead of ruining this thread.

You only need to post the text if it is extremely important and new info or if it is behind a paywall. Nothing you've posted meets those criteria.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 22 ~ 11:00 AM EST

🌭 NATIONAL HOT DOG DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 15,154,448

DEATHS: 621,172

CRITICAL: 63,632

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,030,936

DEATHS: 144,987

CRITICAL: 16,710

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 SO PATRIOTIC !

I Spoke With Anthony Fauci. He Says His Inbox Isn’t Pretty.

DL doesn't allow links to CNN.

you can try posting a CNN link, it won't work.

No, but you can say it's from CNN and summarize the article in a paragraph or two. Anyone who wants to read the whole thing can find it themselves.

I just want to know the pathology behind the Mask Dodgers? Did Russian propaganda start it off? It's pretty widespread. All Trump's fault?

😵 I don't mind reading an article once, but don't think you're going to force me to read it twice.

[quote] I just want to know the pathology behind the Mask Dodgers?

It's bizarre, isn't it? It didn't surprise me that Trump would be clueless about the virus, or that he would mismanage the crisis. But I never thought there would be such strong, emotional opposition by many people to wearing a fucking face mask, even when there are thousands of people dying, and wearing a mask is one of the easiest and most effective ways to save lives. I just can't comprehend the mentality of "I'd rather let people die than cover my mouth and nose for 15 minutes while I'm in the grocery store."

Too little, too late for Trump. He's stupid and lazy. After three+ years of criticism and contempt toward much of America, he's finally realized the 2020 election isn't a slam dunk. He's just desperate, and will do whatever he can to dazzle the American population with his sudden faux concern.

His lights are on, but no one's home.

I don't usually link to TikTok, but I'll make an exception for this.

It's called a dress code, Kevin!

Is Kevin the male equivalent of Karen ?

Be nice with Full Article Guy: he's still using Internet Explorer and has been left a little behind... Oh look: Kim Kardashian is marrying Chris Humphries!!!

It is getting better in Arizona.

Why is mask wearing only an issue in the US though? Millions of people wear face masks in Asia every year for air pollution and don't think twice about it, but Americans always have a problem even with basic and ridiculous stuff like a tiny mask.

It's not an issue in East Asia, but it's an issue in a lot of other places, not just the US. Conservatives in the US just go all stupid-ass crazy over the most minor and made up nonsense. They're primitives stuck in a modern world, and determined to take it backwards.

In France, a bus driver was beaten to death by passengers who refused to wear mandatory face masks. So no, it's not just America.

America may have more anti-maskers per capita, though, thanks to the confluence of a president in denial, a news network dedicated to propping up said president and 40 years of the right wing fomenting distrust (and outright hatred) of knowledge and expertise.

It's all about, "Government is controlling us, taking our freedom to choose away". It was the same for the no smoking laws indoors, helmets for motorcycles and bicycles and seat belts in cars.

I believe it is also a pride/ego thing. Wearing a mask signifies they might have Covid-19 and contagious. They want to believe they are fine and don’t have the infection and resent giving the impression that they might have it. It is a case of “I am fine! I am not contaminated and I dare you say I am!!!” I still say if the CDC etc. had told people masks would protect the wearer also, people would be much more inclined to wear them. The mask protects others is counter-productive to selfish assholes who don’t care about protecting others or in denial about the possibility of having it.

Operation Warp Speed is quite the oxymoron, considering the Laggard in Chief.

RR's latest...

Mandatory Masks in Ohio

[quote] OHIO — Gov. Mike DeWine announced a mandatory mask order Wednesday that will go into effect for the entire state as coronavirus case numbers continue to rise daily.

Jesus Christ, my company is so fucking stupid! The Corporate office is about an hour outside of Houston. We've opened the office and people are going to work despite the fact that we have a voluntary return to work policy right nos. They are infecting their coworkers, for fuck's sake!! We receive updates a couple times a week.

+1100 deaths in India and Brazil. +900 deaths in Mexico. +800 deaths already reported in the US. And South Africa just reported nearly 600 deaths. Houston, we have a problem.

My company announced yesterday that we should not expect to be back on the office this year. I work as a programmer so it's easy to work from home with occasional network problems. It's turning into a routine. Some people in my department don't want to go back even if there is a vaccine.

It's like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Jack the ripper, the Zodiac killer and the 911 terrorists getting together everyday to kill as many people as possible. The stuff of nightmares

I can't link to the subscriber-only news item, but there's an article at today's "Wall Street Journal" that's reporting:

[quote] All the COVID-19 measures being enacted have all but wiped out the flu in the Southern Hemisphere this season.

[quote] From Chile to South Africa to New Zealand, countries report far lower numbers of influenza cases, which could be good news for the U.S. and Europe.

[quote] For the past two months, as winter descended on Chile, infectious-disease specialist Claudia Cortés worked tirelessly to keep a wave of critically ill Covid-19 patients alive in the hospital where she works. At the same time, she worried about what would happen when the usual wave of influenza patients arrived.

[quote] They never came.

In other news, though, Chile's COVID response started out really good, but then went to hell due to the social divide.

I've been wanting to try the pick-up option at Walmart. The thing is, I don't trust a random employee to properly select my produce or meat products.

Have any of y'all done this at your supermarket? How did it go?

It’s been two weeks since I got tested and still no results. That is completely useless.

Southwest Airlines now says all passengers must wear a mask, with no exceptions for medical reasons.

“If a Customer is unable to wear a face covering for any reason (even a verifiable medical condition), we regret that we are unable to transport the Customer."

This should be SOP for every business around the world.

USA: +1178 new deaths today (so far)

^the 2-3 week death lag is starting...

The Guardian: Researchers have identified a potent cocktail of antibodies that may help doctors treat Covid-19 infections and protect people at risk from falling ill with the disease.

The antibodies were collected from patients hospitalised with severe Covid-19, and they could be manufactured at scale by pharmaceutical firms and transfused into the blood to fight the virus or prevent it from taking hold.

Scientists at Columbia University in New York screened antibodies from 40 Covid-19 patients and identified 61 types from five individuals that effectively wiped out coronavirus. Among them were nine that displayed “exquisite potency” for neutralising the pathogen.

Tests on cells showed that the antibodies killed off the virus, while experiments with hamsters revealed that an infusion of one of the more potent antibodies protected the animals from disease. “It shut off infectious virus completely in the lung tissue of the hamsters we treated,” said David Ho, a professor of medicine at Columbia who led the research.

All you fear-mongerers can shut your fucking pieholes now.

A NY Times article quotes medical experts as saying it’s “highly unlikely” for anyone to be reinfected with Covid.

R326 = DJzT

The pick-up option obviously works, or it wouldn't be so popular or have lasted this long.

"Highly unlikely" is not a proven fact r326.

Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona.

Other than the fact that it is highly contagious.

Yeah, the complete statement in the NYT is:

[quote] It may be possible for the coronavirus to strike the same person twice, but it’s highly unlikely that it would do so in such a short window or to make people sicker the second time, they said. What’s more likely is that some people have a drawn out course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after their initial exposure.

Can't speak for Walmart's p/u option, but Instacart is 50/50. You can tell some pickers never eat fruits or vegetables based on their selection. But others do a great job.

You don't have access to any FoxNews sources, right? Okay then, here's something you may have missed.

[quote]Trump: I’d ‘Absolutely’ Be Willing to Be First to Take Coronavirus Vaccine

From Tucker Carlson Tonight-

[quote] Q: As commander-in-chief and leader of the free world, would you consider being one of the first to take this vaccine to send a message to the American public?

[quote] Trump: Well, you know the way it works, if I’m the first one, they’ll say, he’s so selfish. He wanted to get the vaccine first. And then other people would say, hey, that’s a very brave thing to do. I would absolutely, if they wanted me to, if they thought it was right, I’d take it first, or I’d take it last. You do know that if I take it first, I’ll be — either way, I lose on that one, right? If I take it first — and if I take it — if I don’t take it, they’ll say, he doesn’t believe in the program. But whatever I think is best, whatever we all agree is best, I would certainly do that.”

(No need to check the source for this because you know it's Trump speaking by how fucked up and confused it is.)

Donnie Trumps loves his 👃 candy.

Do does squinty eyed Melania.

Instacart is a crap shoot, R332. One shopper transformed an order of hummus into Miracle Whip.

My employer was planning on having people return to the office in July. They changed that, and have deactivated everyone's badge so we can't even get into the building. Apparently some people were coming in for unapproved reasons. I don't really care since I have worked from home 90% of the time since 2017 anyway. I mostly just stay home anyway. People in general have become very annoying and it is tiring trying to be around them. So much self righteous attitude about anything and everything and I have little patience for it.

A message for Karen.

Vegas hotels are starting with major "furloughs". Wynn let got of a lot of employees today and Bellagio and Venetian are also letting people go. Most are noting that without conventions, clubs, shows, etc. the city has less to offer. The international audiences aren't there and since Nevada has been declared a Red Zone, it seems as if people are now staying away after the initial surge.

Hilarious r335

Gosh what a surprise

Guardian-South Africa has recorded nearly 60% more natural deaths than expected in recent weeks, suggesting a much higher toll of coronavirus-related fatalities than officially reported. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) said in a report released late on Wednesday: In the past weeks, the numbers have shown a relentless increase – by the second week of July, there were 59% more deaths from natural causes than would have been expected based on historical data. The report by the council, which is government-funded but an independent unit, came as the health ministry announced a record increase of 572 coronavirus deaths over the previous 24 hours. The author of the report, Prof Debbie Bradshaw, said “the weekly death reports have revealed a huge discrepancy between the country’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths and number of excess natural deaths”.

I've been following Dr. John Campbell's webcasts daily, and many of his predictions seem to have come true over the past six months. This video liked below he posted mid-last month but starting at 13:00 he gives some sobering numbers on what he feels is true fatality rates in low and middle-income countries. How he quantifies this mathematically he explains in the video.

[quote]Campbell is a professor of nursing and has traveled around the world teaching nursing to people all over the world. His videos are watched by thousands of people and feature informative information on health in various topics. Since the onset of the pandemic he has provided the best information he can glean from a variety of trusted sources, about which he is very transparent. He posts 1-2 videos nearly every day. He readily admits when he is wrong about something.

[quote]“The world’s population is currently 7.7 billion people and I’m expecting at least half of them to get this infection at some stage over the next year. I’ve always hoped I’d be wrong; I still hope I’m wrong, but it’s looking less and less likely unfortunately.”

R341 I'm afraid he won't be wrong. Wait a minute he may be wrong. It will probably be more.

Our company is polling our workforce to determine if we should return to the office. Hopefully sanity will prevail but I am discouraged as we have plenty of people who think this is a hoax, others who don't care either way and just want to get back to their work "friends" and upper-level managers who want to resume flying around to meaningless meetings as they are fearful of how obvious it has become that their positions are unnecessary.

[quote]South Africa has recorded nearly 60% more natural deaths than expected in recent weeks,

NYT: Since Covid arrived, 179,000 more Americans have died than would in a normal year.

r343, I'm supposed to return to work this weekend and I'm terrified. Company isn't doing more than the bare minimum to return "safely." Not even offering masks - bring your own. Plus it's a shared workspace but they're not requiring masks once we're at our desks. Pretty clear how they value us.

That's horrible, R345. At least my state requires indoor masks, so companies are forced to be responsible. Maybe time to look for a new job?

Glad I work at a place where administrative staff can continue to work from home if able and want to and employees who need to be on campus are required to wear (provided) masks, social distance, stagger hours, etc. I understand that some sister offices at peer institutions have been forced back to working on campus recently. Two weeks in the office is a terrible trade off for seven weeks out sick. It is such a short-sighted decision. I told my staff my number one priority for them was to make sure they all stay healthy. And I love the internal emails warning employees who are back against violations of policy like eating lunch together. This is how we vanquish an infectious disease!

R343 - ouch, very true. I've posted this before, but I believe many upper mgmt people want everyone back in the office because:

1) They want to get out of the house and the associated duties with it - this is primarily for men. 2) They like the socialization, the lunches, after-work drinks, dinners with their position. 3) They don't trust those that work under them and yet rely on them for ideas for upper-level meetings. 4) Some of them only got to their levels by consistently kissing ass with top executives. They miss that daily check-in with their 'buds' that can make execs overlook their uselessness.

In my experience, about 1/3 of managers and upper execs are inefficient and a waste of resources. The quiet, hard-working managers and execs rarely get their due because things just run smoothly and they don't need to be hand-held. This is true of most of the workforce.

I can't tell you how many people I see of all levels who consistently are engaged in casual conversations. It is important to socialize, I get that, but some do an excessive amount to the point where you ask yourself - what the fuck do they do all day?

Amtrak on Thursday announced that face masks or face coverings were mandatory on trains or thruway buses. Amtrak says that it will “remove customers or ban them” from future travel if passengers don’t comply.

You guys have my sympathy. Like ElderLez, I can work from home in perpetuity. It has me thinking about moving to the 'burbs. I've always wanted a vegetable patch. And a big dog who loves cats.

Guardian-The total number of coronavirus cases reported in the United States passed 4 million on Thursday, reflecting a rapid acceleration of infections detected in the country since the first case was recorded on 21 January, a Reuters tally of state totals has shown. It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases, but just 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million, according to the tally. The average number of new US cases is now rising by more than 2,600 every hour, the highest rate in the world.

CNN: White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx privately told a group of state and local health officials Wednesday about a concerning rise in coronavirus cases in 12 cities as President Donald Trump continues to tout progress amid the coronavirus pandemic at scripted, on-message briefings this week.

Birx singled out Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Baltimore during the call.

R352: I heard that on the 11th Hour. Even Dr. Birx is sounding the alarm. When she stops kissing Trump’s ass to sound the alarm, you know it is VERY bad!

Guardian-Dr Deborah Birx said the current US crisis is ‘very different’ to March and April. Dr Deborah Birx, the chief medical officer on the White House’s coronavirus task force, has called the surge in infections across the United States, “a very different epidemic than we had in March and April”.Speaking on Fox news, Birx said that the the virus event across the South and West of the US really started after 10 June: “This was an event that we think can be traced to Memorial Day, opening up and people travelling again.”

Meanwhile Chump was blaming the BLM protests for the rise. IF what we are experiencing is rrally linked to freaking Memorial Day, I dread the impact of the 4th of July! May God (or whatever you believe in) help us!

[quote]When she stops kissing Trump’s ass to sound the alarm

Somehow I feel sure that Trump's ass sounds an alarm just fine on its own.

Birx decided which side she was on a long time ago. See the task force briefing with trump talking about ingesting bleach. If she was for real she would have rang the alarm then and pushed harder against reopening/and harder for mask mandates. Shameful that she is sharing this info privately and not letting residents in those areas know to absolutely stay home. F-her.

But the info did manage to get out, r357. I don't think that was a surprise to her.

Congratulations Louisiana!

With over 5000 new cases in the last two days, the state jumped ahead to join the 100K Club a day or two ahead of schedule. Way to go!

Cue the William Tell Overture.

Stephen Miller's grandmother died of COVID-19 at the beginning of July.

David Glosser, Miller's uncle, posted a Facebook note announcing the death:

[quote]This morning my mother, Ruth Glosser, died of the late effects of COVID-19 like so many thousands of other people; both young and old. She survived the acute infection but was left with lung and neurological damage that destroyed her will to eat and her ability to breathe well enough to sustain arousal and consciousness. Over an 8-week period she gradually slipped away and died peacefully this morning.

In response to a request seeking comment from Miller, a White House spokesperson sent Mother Jones this statement:

[quote]This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one. His grandmother did not pass away from COVID. She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road.

Informed that Ruth Glosser’s death certificate cited COVID-19, the White House spokesperson replied, “Again, this is categorically false. She had a mile [sic] case of COVID-19 in March. She was never hospitalized and made a full and quick recovery.”

Miller is Squidward channeling Beelzebub.

They even continue to lie when the cause of death is on the official death certificate. Every day I wonder what happened to this government and truth and decency. Not one honest person is left in this administration. I pray they all have to leave next year and this country will return to what it used to be.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 23 ~ 5:00 PM EST

🍦 VANILLA ICE CREAM DAY

🤒 HOT ENOUGH FOR YA' DAY ?

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 15,553,694

DEATHS: 633,498

CRITICAL: 66,194*

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,154,014

DEATHS: 147,073

CRITICAL: 19,15*

*CRITICAL CASES, BOTH GLOBALLY & IN THE UNITED STATES, HAVE ALSO BEEN RAPIDLY INCREASING........NOT A PROMISING SIGN.

📉 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 NON-NEGOTIABLE

CORRECTION: UNITED STATES CTITICAL CASES = 19,151

[quote] Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona.

I hate the "nobody knows nothing" posts and that whole attitude.

But then I have to admit that it's still mostly right.

I read a July 22nd article about how the virus may be mutating and what that means for us going forward.

And this is what Dr. Heidi J. Zapata, a Yale Medicine infectious disease specialist and immunologist, recently said to the CNET about what we know about this.

[quote] “Currently, we do not have sufficient evidence to come to any conclusions about the virus becoming more malicious or benign,” Zapata told CNET.

Thanks, Heidi.

For sure critical cases are a key indicator of what's to come. Expecting +1500 daily deaths now in the US in the coming week(s).

One reason that Vermont is doing so well is that we took it pretty seriously early on and continue now to take it seriously.

We almost immediately put all the homeless /at risk/ not able to social distance in residence in hotels and campers when it was warmer. Many are still there.

Our businesses were quick to embrace work from home where possible and require masks where not.

Plus we have a weird cultural mix of 'neighbors helping neighbors' combined with 'keep your distance and I will keep mine'.

I still work from home most days but when I have to go in we are required to fill out an online document regarding our health and exposure and include our current temperature.

Tonight, our 10 points go to.....Columbia for reporting 52% more deaths compared to yesterday. Sadly, very rough times ahead for our brothers and sisters in Latin America

🤔 [italic] Heidi Zapata Don't Know Nothin 'Bout The Corona

Had a feeling that the US would fuck this up. Deaths and cases are down throughout Europe relative to the peaks. Same for the east coast. So where did we go so terribly wrong. "Can it be that it was all so simple then. Or has time rewritten every line. If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we?"

R371, this is no time to break out lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman.

Today was supposed to have been day one of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Also it’s opening day of baseball, Washington Nats vs. NY Yankees. Televised from Nats Stadium in DC, no fans present. Very strange.

And no one knows what back to school next month will look like or even if there will be school at all.

Such a weird sad summer.

R373 Big storms rolling into DC. They’re gonna have to call the game soon.

R363 - no, I don't want to return to normal - not without some jail sentences. Otherwise, they'll do all this shit again and worse.

R369, would that be Columbia University?

Heidi does not have sufficient, r366.

Just found out I have pneumonia. I have been sick since April and for some reason it turned into bacterial pneumonia nearly 4 months later. This COVID is one nasty bitch, if you haven't got it yet I suggest doing everything you can not to get it. I am 49 and didn't have any risk factors. The ER doctor said you can get reinfected from what he has seen from patients, but I think it's the same damn infection not leaving my body.

Spain ... Back for more.

Again, why the fuck is everyone traveling during a fucking pandemic? Go sit in the park down the street, assholes.

Wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas. What are the chances the airports will still be open for holiday travel?

Viruses like this one don’t return. As R378 stated it’s the same damn infection via cells lurking in the body. His doctor should shut his fucking mouth. Enough with the fear mongering.

[quote] Viruses like this one don’t return.

How the fuck do you know that?

So many F bombs!

😁 Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Fuckin' Corona.

Vermont just put an all mask order into effect. basically, unless you are in your house you have to wear a mask.

thank goodness because it shouldn't be up to minimum wage check out clerks to enforce individual store mask rules. I had a guy in the pharmacy today behind me, no mask. the clerk was visibly uncomfortable and the guy behind me had a smug look on his face while refusing to make eye contact. I told him he better back the fuck up, I don't care about his conspiracy theory rebellion. back it the fuck up asshole. and he did.

R385 is absolutely correct on this. The best minds in Microbiology are urgently trying to determine of this is re-infection or re-activation. NIAID is adding millions of dollars in equitable adjustment mods to existing contracts to get the studies started fast. Anyone making definitive statements about this now is just talking out of their tushie.

Good for you R386! I would have liked to have seen it.

Good for you Rescue Chick.

AXIOS: GOP Govs. Ducey, Abbott, DeSantis and Kemp are not impressing voters:

30% spread in Arizona

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 24 ~ 12:15 PM EST

🍹 TEQUILA DAY

😸 TELL AN OLD JOKE DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 15,770,883

DEATHS: 638,624

CRITICAL: 66,264

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,197,515

DEATHS: 147,672

CRITICAL: 19,166

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 SELF SACRIFICE = SELF PRESERVATION

I have an inappropriate crush on the Corona Poll Troll.

R392 ....... Who is to deem what is appropriate vs inappropriate on DataLounge?

NEW: A coronavirus vaccine likely will not be "widely available" to people in the U.S. until "several months” into next year, Dr. Fauci said Friday during a Washington Post, Post Live event.

R390 What dies “30% spread” mean? 30% covid test positivity rate I could understand but 30% spread?

Business Insider: Republican National Committee said in a federal filing that it spent $14,000 last month on "building maintenance."

In reality, it was disguising a purchase of COVID-19 face masks — at the time, anathema among some conservatives. Like Trump.

I think disapproval vs approval for Governor Ducey R395.

My company is implementing a mandatory mask policy "at all times" on Monday even at our desks. +8hrs of mask wearing. How will we eat our cake?

You will NOT eat your cake. You will sit at your desk, work, not eat cake, and become thin enough by Christmas for someone to finally love you.

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark All the sweet, green icing flowing down Someone left the cake out in the rain I don't think that I can take it 'Cause it took so long to bake it And I'll never have that recipe again Oh, no

That's quite a hoax the deep state is pulling

r400 - Hey man, it's just...a cake.

Umm, that's not where the mask goes.

🎂 Let doze peeplez eet da cakes.

An extra large slice with two scoops of vanilla, please.

Good piece.

[quote] Biologically, a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus is unlikely to offer complete protection. Logistically, manufacturers will have to make hundreds of millions of doses while relying, perhaps, on technology never before used in vaccines and competing for basic supplies such as glass vials. Then the federal government will have to allocate doses, perhaps through a patchwork of state and local health departments with no existing infrastructure for vaccinating adults at scale. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has led vaccine distribution efforts in the past, has been strikingly absent in discussions so far—a worrying sign that the leadership failures that have characterized the American pandemic could also hamper this process.

+77K cases in the US today and +1.1K deaths. Yikes!

And, those 1100 deaths are a lagging number. Those skyrocketing numbers of infection will be dying, en masse, over the next two months.

Governor Newsom still refuses to issue a stay at home order. He claims that because the numbers are holding steady from last week to this week, there's no need to do so. So this asshole thinks because California broke its own record last week and kept that number steady, that this is a positive sign? Get this fucking asshole out of office.

R409, it is a positive sign insomuch that it's not a negative sign. Not saying it's a good thing but it is a positive that the numbers aren't still skyrocketing.

Don’t ever forget Liberate Michigan! Liberate Wisconsin! Liberate Virginia!!

Meanwhile, San Mateo County is only contacting 34% of the people who have tested positive and that number is dropping by the day, but the gyms, churches, hair/nail/skincare salons are still wide open.

The running and biking trails are packed with unmasked people; personal trainers are running illegal boot camps in yards and on quiet streets; people rip their masks off the second the cashier hands them their receipt; and the health commissioner just says he doesn’t want to spend money on case-control studies and that “we need to have less reliance on business sector closures and restrictions.”

Did Gavin forget we exist?

At this point, people know what to do to avoid spreading this virus and minimize the risk of contracting. So people need to do what they know they should do without waiting for the government to pass ordinances or health orders. Anyone who is high risk should stay home. Anyone in public should wear a mask. This is does not need to be such high drama political bullshit.

[quote] [R409], it is a positive sign insomuch that it's not a negative sign. Not saying it's a good thing but it is a positive that the numbers aren't still skyrocketing.

Umm, there is nothing positive about breaking your record, and then staying there the week after, no matter how you spin it.

Why is the lady slapping that Asian man with the blonde wig?

R414, it could have doubled like it's been doing in Florida. It has to plateau before it starts to drop. I'm in Illinois. That's what happened here. We were in the plateau for a long time. I think we're heading toward another plateau now after a secondary rise due to opening up around the end of June (too early, as far as I'm concerned). You have to plateau before you drop.

[quote] “Compared to other countries, we don’t have as many ‘fatties,’” said Dr. Hiroyuki Kunishima, professor of infectious diseases at St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Tokyo. “The people who will have the heaviest conditions after contracting the virus are the fat people, smokers and people with pre-existing conditions.” He said that the seasonal flu was a much bigger concern in Japan.

(Sounds like a DLer lol.)

Looks like Japan’s fucking up.

[quote] [R414], it could have doubled like it's been doing in Florida. It has to plateau before it starts to drop. I'm in Illinois. That's what happened here. We were in the plateau for a long time. I think we're heading toward another plateau now after a secondary rise due to opening up around the end of June (too early, as far as I'm concerned). You have to plateau before you drop.

Dear, it hasn't "plateaued." It's been climbing steadily and almost daily breaking records. We've now surpassed NYC with the most cases of Covid in the country. ONE day of going up 1/10th of 1% from the previous day is not a fucking plateau. We're out of control and Newsom needs to issue another shelter in place order and this time stand firm instead of being the huge fucking pussy he is and giving in at the first complaints. We should have been past this already, but thanks to him worrying about being re-elected, we're even worse today than we were in March.

R418, is it one day or two weeks? Go get your actual facts straight about what you are talking about and then maybe you can learn from someone who has already been through this.

R417 Japan has been in denial about COVID-19 since the outbreak began because they were so focused on hosting the Olympics. They need a major reality check. Just like the scheduled 2020 games, the 2021 games are not going to happen.

COVID-19 can't be wished away because you want to old an 'event'.

The Japanese were ragging on South Korea for mass testing, saying it would cause South Korea’s medical system to collapse. “Dirty Koreans” is a traditional slur and it was thrown about plenty on social media. .

Japan’s per capita deaths from COVID-19 is much higher than South Korea’s, and its per capita infection rate is approaching South Korea’s, where a cult was largely responsible for the mass spread.

The liberal country (South Korea) is transparent and conducts mass testing.

The conservative country (Japan) denies there’s a problem, refuses to expand testing, and keeps things open “for the economy.” The latter sounds like America under Cheeto.

Meanwhile in FL the mayor of Miami is telling people to wear masks IN THEIR OWN HOMES.

I'd hardly call Korea liberal, r421. They are just a conservative and face-saving as the Japanese. The difference is Japan still has its eye on the Olympics.

Good communication.

R423, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is progressive and dominates the legislature. The Democratic president was a human rights lawyer.

Japan had the Olympics, but for historical reasons, South Korea is just as concerned about face even without the Olympics. You know this. Chips, shoulders lol.

It’s about transparency winning out vs. facesaving when it really matters. South Korea just did it right, even when mocked as alarmist. See also, e.g., Tepco’s handling of Fukushima.

Visible sex districts do not a liberal society make. I’ve lived in over a year in both in the past decade. The difference is stark. Think Edwardian England vs. modern Ireland.

We should have followed the South Korean approach as closely as possible given the differences in testing capacity and population. Sigh. I think a Democratic president or even a normal Republican like Romney would have done so.

After Labor Day, the last blast of summer for the American party animals, the numbers will be staggering. Plan on being in your own home for the holidays.

Walmart has already announced that it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, and has also cancelled Black Friday sales events.

R426, I didn’t think about Labor Day. Crap it’ll be a huge mess. A disaster actually.

R423, actually you’re right, on further reflection. Heading in a liberal direction isn’t the same as being liberal, if one means liberal from a global perspective. While they’re neophiles and the pace of change is dramatic, South Korea isn’t West Los Angeles.

That said, one has a leftist government, and one has a very conservative (and creepy) government. Each made conscious choices in how to handle the virus. One primarily listened to scientists. The other primarily listened to its Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry.

*Economy, Trade, and Industry

To add to what R425 has said.

Part of the reason South Korea had a second wave of the virus is because the country is so conservative and homophobic. The second wave basically started in a couple of clubs including a gay venue. Because of the high level of homophobia in South Korea some people didn't come forward for testing as they would basically be outing themselves and were shit scared of the ramifications.

Singapore had a second wave because it completed overlooked the third world low-income workers that it exploits and houses in crowded conditions. Once the virus found an inroad into that group it took off with a vengeance.

Australia's second wave happening in Melbourne right now was only partially due to Government outsourcing of jobs and deregulation of much of the workforce that have stripped workers of protections including sick leave. This is the work of Governments from both sides of the political spectrum over the last quarter of a century. Essentially Australia had snuffed out the virus apart from Australians returning from overseas. Housed in hotels but guarded by outsourced security guards one or more who were horny enough to fuck some slut returning from overseas with a twitching pussy in quarantine for 14 days. Then the low paid security guard with no sick leave took the virus to their family and it spread through large family gatherings. Sydney hasn't encountered this problem because they used the state police & asked the federal Government for the use of the Armed Services to monitor the 14 days quarantined returned travellers. The small number of community transmissions that have popped up recently are traceable back to the Melbourne outbreak but have so far been prevented from spreading due to vigorous contact tracing and enforcement of stay at home orders to all possible contacts.

It is so easy for this virus to find a way in, generally caused by weaknesses within our respective societies:

South Korea: homophobia and intolerance; Singapore: explotation or low paid foreign workers; Australia (Melbourne specifically) deregulation of industrial relation laws by successive Governments over 25 years.

If three of the most able and efficient countries for dealing with bio-security outbreaks have had problems I can assure you that the rest of the world is well and truely fucked.

I lived in both Korea and Japan for over a decade r428, very strange places in many ways. South Korea is run by the Chaebols and weird cult churches have way too much power (looking at you, Park Gun-hye).

I think Korea's response is also because they dealt with MERS a few years ago, and saw how it could easily take hold. I was there for SARS and MERS, foreigner's passports were taken off us to make sure we didn't leave the country for our summer vacations, the whole thing was weird.

They are still blaming foreigners for HIV in Korea btw, because homosexuality doesn't exist in Korea.

Funny people.

Hong Kong Third Wave

Hong Kong reported 133 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday, breaking the city’s daily caseload record for the fourth day straight, as two more coronavirus patients were revealed to have died.

Health authorities said 126 of the new cases were locally transmitted, including 55 whose source of infection remained unknown.

CNN:

Doctors at a Texas hospital along the US-Mexico border may decide to send coronavirus patients "home to die by their loved ones" due to limited resources. At least 50% of ER patients who take #COVID19 test also positive—hospital overloaded by Covid.

"Those patients who most certainly don't have any hope of improving, we believe they are better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home," said the county's health authority.

(He left, "Where they can infect their loved ones," unsaid.)

If they’re going to triage them, they should at least put them down so they don’t infect others. That’s what they’re doing, writing them off, but they’re not saying that.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 25 ~ 10:45 AM EST

🤠 NATIONAL COWBOY DAY

🍷🧀 WINE & CHEESE DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 16,020,149

DEATHS: 644,030

CRITICAL: 66,250

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,264,689

DEATHS: 148, 665

CRITICAL: 19,098

📉 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 DATALOUNGE SUPERHERO !

[quote] [R418], is it one day or two weeks? Go get your actual facts straight about what you are talking about and then maybe you can learn from someone who has already been through this.

Or maybe you could shut the fuck up since you don't even live here. I have a front row seat for what's happening in California. And I've posted stats.

R436 - and you need to calm the fuck down. Newsom has been on top of this - a statewide lockdown doesn't make sense.

He's in no way comparable to the Republican governors, like you're trying to make with his rhetoric. He just got into office LAST year and is 2 1/2 years out from re-election, so shut your trap about doing things for re-election only.

Of the problems in California, the biggest problem is with the Latino communities - that's where it is spreading the most and making the numbers spike.

Dr. Shi speaks.

I don't think this was engineered or escaped from Dr. Shi's lab but I also don't trust anyting that comes from China. You'd think that a nation that wants to be a first world leader would care more about their reputation and credibility on the world stage. Hopefully, we can at least get some of ours back after Cheetolini is gone.

My friend in Texas is still posting "fake" news reports on Facebook. Always quoting FOX news anchors. I love him in more ways than one (especially those special nights in our youth when he lived in California ) but FUCK him and his Facebook supporters! Enough is enough!

Enough is enough (is enough) I can't go on, I can't go on no more, no Enough is enough (is enough) I want him out, I want him out that door now I've always dreamed I found the perfect lover But he turned out to be like every other man Our love (I had no choice from the start) Our love

Amen R439

[quote] They are still blaming foreigners for HIV in Korea btw, because homosexuality doesn't exist in Korea.

Nonsense, R431. A top personality, Hong Seok-cheong, is gay and they have gay characters on TV. The broadcast media is relatively liberal (cf., the newspapers).

In which decades did you live in Korea and Japan? Things change quickly in the former.

These Elite Contact Tracers Show the World How to Beat Covid-19

... The work of such so-called Immediate Response Teams offers a look at how South Korea -- once the second worst hit by the coronavirus -- has succeeded in largely quelling its spread without the lockdowns that have derailed lives worldwide. At a time when cities from Los Angeles to Melbourne to Tokyo are grappling with resurgences, South Korea’s playbook offers one of the most successful blueprints yet for containing a disease that’s killed more than 600,000 worldwide.

The tally of new cases in the Asian country -- which pioneered the testing blitz strategy -- has never fallen to zero, but the number of daily new cases have largely ranged from 30 to 60 for two months after peaking at more than 800 in February. Compare that with Los Angeles county, which added 2,014 cases on Thursday alone.

South Korea’s strategy is also a contrast with the harsh shutdowns instituted in parts of China or the tourism blockade implemented by New Zealand in an attempt to completely stamp out the virus. The Asian nation meticulously targets dangerous hotspots and then simply allows most people to lead lives and run businesses unimpeded.

...

[quote] [R436] - and you need to calm the fuck down. Newsom has been on top of this - a statewide lockdown doesn't make sense.

Yeah, he's real on top of it. That's why four months after this all started, California leads the nation in cases. You should really just shut the fuck up. You're an idiot.

[quote] He's in no way comparable to the Republican governors, like you're trying to make with his rhetoric. He just got into office LAST year and is 2 1/2 years out from re-election, so shut your trap about doing things for re-election only.

You dumb fuck, not only have I never compared him to anyone else, I've not mentioned Republicans at all. And everyone knows the first four years after an election are all about the next four years of an election, so spare us all. No one's buying.

[quote] Of the problems in California, the biggest problem is with the Latino communities - that's where it is spreading the most and making the numbers spike.

Last time I checked, Latinos were allowed to go anywhere they pleased in California. We're not herding them in camps.

Over 500 new cases in Belgium today. Time to lock my doors

r443 I was a lesbian in Korea in 2016. It is not a gay friendly country. We were still having to do yearly HIV tests even if we hadn't left the country. I was a teacher who talked to students, teachers and parents. When were you there and what did you do?

Guardian-Spain’s coronavirus death toll could be nearly 60% than the official total of 28,342, an investigation by Spanish daily newspaper El País has found. The country’s official death toll includes people who were formally diagnosed with coronavirus, not suspected cases who were never tested. A lack of widespread testing, particularly in the early stages of the outbreak, means the official count could underestimate the virus’ toll, like in many other countries. By counting regional statistics of all suspected and confirmed fatalities from the virus, El Pais reached a total of 44,868 deaths. If accurate, that would make Spain’s outbreak the second deadliest in Europe after the UK.

R445 - seriously dude? You're the one calling him an asshole and saying he needs to be removed from office. Newsom shut down CA very early on. He has daily one hour updates at noon and takes all questions from reporters and replies in thoughtful and intelligent responses. He has done so every day for almost 6 months.

These actions are more aligned with Cuomo's response than with any other governor. California has the highest population by far of any state, so yes it would make sense that eventually it would have the most cases. It also has performed more tests than any other state.

California is a big state - we are not in critical stages (although LA is getting there) like other states. AND California is not suppressing numbers unlike many of the red states.

Chill the fuck out. He can't do everything - there are still pockets of resistance throughout the state and law enforcement officials saying they won't enforce some of the laws. You want to kick him out of office after 1 year because of your hysteria. Nothing he does is going to please you except 100% complete lockdown which is not going to happen.

And yes I know Latinos are not being herded in camps - but I also am not buying into the frontline service worker excuse for their rise in infections. There are a lot of white and black people who are frontline workers too who live in multi-generational or share housing with others. There's something else that needs to be addressed in the Latino community - I'm not buying into the Latino angel / martyr scenario as the reason.

R449, I think a great deal of it has to do with the prevalence of undocumented workers. They work in jobs where employers don’t care about working conditions, and can’t risk taking sick days even if they come down with mild symptoms; even the poorest citizens have some protection. That’s why cases are exploding among farm workers in Imperial County. I also doubt there has been a lot of outreach among Latinos about mask wearing and social distancing.

At this point, I think California has adopted a two-tier strategy. Social distancing for some communities, herd immunity for others. And if the virus burns through East Los Angeles without really hitting Santa Monica or Sherman Oaks, those of us in the suburbs can pat ourselves on the back for wearing a mask all the time at Trader Joe’s and making sure our backyard happy hours follow all the social distancing rules, while remaining mostly unaffected.

It's not just California, but across the nation, Latinos/Hispanics have the highest infection rate, followed by Black people:

R451, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Latins and Blacks are on the front Iines.

Just my experience here in the Imperial Valley, Coachella and whereI live in the Salton Sea area. Mexicans are the ones out working their tails off in the fields, landscaping, construction jobs Etc and live in households of large groups. They don’t have the luxury of single or small family settings. And many may be sick but can’t afford to miss a day’s pay. Not blaming them for infections, just their circumstances.

Interesting article on the child care crisis in The Time of Corona and it's potential impact on the economy.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 26 ~ 4:00 PM EST

🥃 NATIONAL SCOTCH DAY

🥤 COFFEE MILKSHAKE DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 16,336,829

DEATHS: 650,445

CRITICAL: 66,161

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,352,069

DEATHS: 149,616

CRITICAL: 18,984

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 ~ BE 🐝 SAFE !

Why do some people, even without underlying conditions, get sicker than others?

July 25, 2020

[quote] Scientists Uncover Evidence That a Level of Pre-Existing COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Is Present in the General Population

[quote] The team tested subjects who recovered from COVID-19 and found the presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in all of them, which suggests that T cells play an important role in this infection. Importantly, the team showed that patients who recovered from SARS 17 years ago after the 2003 outbreak, still possess virus-specific memory T cells and displayed cross-immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

[quote] “Our team also tested UNINFECTED healthy individuals and found SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in more than 50 percent of them. This could be due to cross-reactive immunity obtained from exposure to other coronaviruses, such as those causing the common cold, or presently unknown animal coronaviruses. It is important to understand IF this could explain why some individuals are able to better control the infection,” said Professor Antonio Bertoletti, from Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) program.

The article also has some info to feed the "nobody knows nothing about Corona" troll.

[quote] While there have been many studies about SARS-CoV-2, there is still a lot we don’t understand about the virus yet.

[quote] What we do know is that T cells play an important role in the immune response against viral infections and should be assessed for their role in combating SARS-CoV-2, which has affected many people worldwide. Hopefully, our discovery will bring us a step closer to creating an effective vaccine,” said Associate Professor Jenny Low, Senior Consultant, Department of Infectious Diseases, SGH, and Duke-NUS’ EID program.

That's "Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona."

Now I'd like a very tall, very well chilled ice tea with fresh lemon & sugar.

This article at "BBC - Future" could be a companion piece to the one above R456. It discusses immunity and T-cells as well.

[quote] There is a catch, however. In many patients who are hospitalised with more serious Covid-19, the T cell response hasn’t quite gone to plan.

[quote] “Vast numbers of T cells are being affected,” says Hayday. “And what is happening to them is a bit like a wedding party or a stag night gone wrong – I mean massive amounts of activity and proliferation, but the cells are also just disappearing from the blood.”

[quote] One theory is that these T cells are just being redirected to where they’re needed most, such as the lungs. But his team suspects that a lot of them are dying instead.

[quote] “Autopsies of Covid-19 patients are beginning to reveal what we call necrosis, which is a sort of rotting,” he says. This is particularly evident in the areas of the spleen and lymph glands where T cells normally live.

[quote] Disconcertingly, spleen necrosis is a hallmark of T cell disease, in which the immune cells themselves are attacked. “If you look in post-mortems of Aids patients, you see these same problems,” says Hayday. “But HIV is a virus that directly infects T cells, it knocks on the door and it gets in.” In contrast, there is currently no evidence that the Covid-19 virus is able to do this.

[quote] “There are potentially many explanations for this, but to my knowledge, nobody has one yet,” says Hayday. “We have no idea what is happening. There’s every evidence that the T cells can protect you, probably for many years. But when people get ill, the rug seems to be being pulled from under them in their attempts to set up that protective defence mechanism.”

Damn, R456 I just came here to post that same article.

R458 That's terrifying.

From June 29, 2020

[quote] Is air conditioning helping spread COVID in the South?

[quote] Edward Nardell, professor of medicine and of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and professor of environmental health and of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said that hot summer temperatures can create situations similar to those in winter, when respiratory ailments tend to surge, driving people indoors to breathe — and rebreathe —air that typically is little refreshed from outside....

[quote] Airborne transmission would make people even more vulnerable to the virus in a closed room. Nardell said that in an office occupied by five people, as windows are closed and air conditioners turned on, CO2 levels rise steeply, a sign that occupants are rebreathing air in the room and from each other.

[quote] “As people go indoors in hot weather and the rebreathed air fraction goes up, the risk of infection is quite dramatic,” Nardell said, adding that the data, while gathered related to tuberculosis, would apply to any infection with airborne potential.

More on Air Conditioning-

July 2020-

[quote] COVID-19 Outbreak Associated with Air Conditioning in Restaurant, Guangzhou, China, 2020

[quote] During January 26–February 10, 2020, an outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease in an air-conditioned restaurant in Guangzhou, China, involved 3 family clusters. The airflow direction was consistent with droplet transmission. To prevent the spread of the virus in restaurants, we recommend increasing the distance between tables and improving ventilation.

R447, I didn’t say they’re gay-friendly. You have read more carefully.

And you call yourself a teacher lol. You taught English in Korea, didn’t you? That’s not being a teacher: that’s called running a scam.

Terrible.

During the last week I've been to the cinema a couple of times. They only allow a handful of people at a time (like about 40 in a cinema that can seat 400). They also haven't been having the air-condition on. Given its the middle of winter it isn't that bad but the cinema industry is pretty much fucked until there is a vaccine for COVID.

Nice r462, You sound like a really cool person.

Yes, I already established that I was a teacher in Korea. Now run along and tell Hongik University where I worked for six years as a professor about this 'scam.'

I’m still not hearing much about HIV poz people getting this in great numbers. I’ve spoken to several HIV docs and to a single person, each of them has only a handful of positive COVID-19 patients and none hospitalized.

They are on anti-virals, R465. That might explain that.

R466: If that is the case, won’t antivirals work for everyone else also? That is why I am making sure I get my flu vaccine! I don’t care what they say about the flu vaccine not having any impact on CV19. Any antiviral is better than none.

A flu vaccine is not an antiviral. Antivirals are given to people already suffering from the flu. They work best if given within 2 days of getting sick, to make symptoms milder and to prevent pneumonia.

R463 where are you located where it's winter?

I went to the cinema the very last day AMC (in L.A.) was opened on March 15th; I had a feeling it was going to be a very long time before they open/if they ever open up again. There were only a handful of us in there as well, all spaced apart because we could be.

Started a habit of getting tested monthly (this week is also two weeks since I went to the dentist) but this time around, the system wouldn't let me make an appointment. I then went back and said I had a cough/headache then of course slots opened up. I never declared any of those before and was able to book a time slot, so I guess more people are getting tested.

I didn't end up making the appointment though since I'd rather have someone who actually has symptoms to get that test instead of me just doing it for the heck of it. This would have been my third test since May.

R469 Sydney

Cinemas opened in Sydney & Melbourne on 2 July after being closed since late March along with the entire country. Some other states opened a little earlier than 2 July. Melbourne cinemas were shut down the following week again with the upsurge in COVID cases and the reintroduction of stage three lockdowns.

Of my family/friends/colleagues who have had it, the one person who I know is also HIV+ had the most quickly resolving case. But he’s also a large marijuana smoker and there is some thinking that that might be protective. And one case is pretty meaningless.

[quote]I’m still not hearing much about HIV poz people getting this in great numbers.

An analysis of the largest cohort of people living with HIV in the United States found that they were not more likely to contract the new coronavirus, and those who did so were not more likely to develop severe COVID-19.

Among those tested, the cumulative SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate at the end of June was about the same: 9.7% in the HIV-positive group and 10.1% in the HIV-negative group. Both groups saw a peak in positive tests in mid-April, at around 25%.

Interestingly, in both the HIV-positive and HIV-negative groups, people who currently smoked or were deemed to have a hazardous level of alcohol consumption appeared less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2.

For all the uncertainties that remain ahead for a COVID-19 vaccine, several experts were willing to make one prediction. “I think the question that is easy to answer is, ‘Is this virus going to go away?’ And the answer to that is, ‘No,’” says Ruth Karron, a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins. The virus is already too widespread. A vaccine could still mitigate severe cases; it could make COVID-19 easier to live with. The virus is likely here to stay, but eventually, the pandemic will end.

Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people from the central tourism hot spot of Danang after three residents tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. By imposing strict quarantine measures and carrying out an aggressive and widespread testing program during the pandemic, Vietnam has kept its total tally of reported infections to just 420, with no deaths.

Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs:

Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the coronavirus, sources tell me.

He apparently contracted the coronavirus at a family event. He's been isolating at home but still doing work remotely, I'm told.

😴 Corona Virus Fatigue Syndrome

AP: Trump's national security adviser has coronavirus

Researchers at London's King's College have identified six distinct symptom clusters associated with the virus:

1. Flu-like with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.

2. Flu-like with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.

3. Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.

4. Severe Level 1, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.

5. Severe Level 2, confusion: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.

6. Severe Level 3, abdominal and respiratory: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, abdominal pain.

[quote]😴 Corona Virus Fatigue Syndrome

Good, it'll be over by next week.

Over 150K reported deaths now in the US. Unfortunately this virus is not magically "disappearing" anytime soon.

The sweltering temperatures and high humidity are not producing the magical effect.

Next theory ............

Wait until Covid 21. And, Covid 25. And, Ebola 30 will really be fun.

As people keep fucking with Mother Nature by pushing further and further into formerly uninhabited lands and eating more and more animals they encounter, this is going to happen more and more often. And, it always starts in fucking China. A billion plus people scrounging for food in a country that doesn't give a shit about them, the environment, or the world in general is a recipe for disaster. And, that disaster could be human extinction. (Only a disaster for humans, the rest of the world would flourish.)

WaPo: People close to Trump say the president’s inability to wholly address the crisis is due to his almost pathological unwillingness to admit error; a positive feedback loop of overly rosy assessments and data from advisers and Fox News; and a penchant for magical thinking that prevented him from fully engaging with the pandemic.

In the past couple of weeks, senior advisers began presenting Trump with maps and data showing spikes in coronavirus cases among “our people” in Republican states – and predictions that virus surges could soon hit Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, which are critically important to Trump's re-election chances.

That convinced Trump to relaunch COVID briefings and stick (largely) to the script.

[quote]As people keep fucking with Mother Nature by pushing further and further into formerly uninhabited lands and eating more and more animals they encounter, this is going to happen more and more often.

We ain't seen nothin' yet:

Melting Glaciers and Thawing Permafrost Could Release Ancient Viruses Locked Away for Thousands of Years

[quote] All those studies that made COVID-19 seem likely to live for days on metal and paper bags were based on unrealistically strong concentrations of the virus. As he explained to me, as many as 100 people would need to sneeze on the same area of a table to mimic some of their experimental conditions. The studies “stacked the deck to get a result that bears no resemblance to the real world," Goldman said.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 27 ~ 2:15 PM EST

🐥 CHICKEN FINGERS DAY

👖 TAKE YOUR PANTS FOR A WALK DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 16,536,862

DEATHS: 654,862

CRITICAL: 66,404

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,398,184

DEATHS: 150,053

CRITICAL: 18,997

📉 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 NO MASK ~ NO SERVICE ~ NO EXCEPTIONS !

Yesterday was our worst day so far in Ohio (seems like I've been posting that pretty regularly). Almost 2,000 people diagnosed (1,993) and almost 50 more dead.

🧐 [italic] Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona.

I completely agree with the The Atlantic author (linked by Sylvia at R486):

[quote]Many of these establishments are boasting about their cleaning practices while inviting strangers into unventilated indoor spaces to share one another’s microbial exhalations. This logic is warped. It completely misrepresents the nature of an airborne threat ... By funneling our anxieties into empty cleaning rituals, we lose focus on the more common modes of COVID-19 transmission and the most crucial policies to stop this plague.

I have friends who are manic about sanitizing their mail and groceries and clothing and shoes ... yet take what (IMO) crazy risks around other people. One friend went to a wedding reception this past weekend, with 150 guests crammed into a backyard tent. He said he spotted three masks. He didn't wear one, but his wife did. But, he assured, me he "only stayed for an hour." SMH.

wear an effin' mask

[quote] Ohio: Almost 2,000 people diagnosed (1,993) and almost 50 more dead.

Can't find that on the Worldometer site or the Ohio site. (881 infections, 10 deaths.)

Here's a July 26th headline from a local TV station:

[quote] Ohio Department of Health reports 10 deaths, 889 new coronavirus cases

I'm not sure what your source is, but I don't doubt there are reported numbers and then revised numbers. I just didn't think the difference would be that great.

I went back to Ohio and my city was gone

This article is from the New England Journal of Medicine. It was written by a doctor who was treating COVID19 patients in the hospital, describing what happens.

I want you to read it and then forward it to every one you know. Everyone. I want you to post it on Facebook, and circulate it on twitter.

And then I want you to make sure you're registered to vote, and contact your state Democratic Party or the MoveOn.org. people and find out what you can do to help run that vile POS bastard out of our government and fumigate all the GOP vermin out with him.

R492, that's really strange. They must have put up the wrong numbers for a short time then updated them. I check the Ohio State Gov's Covid-19 Dashboard pretty regularly. When I posted the numbers were right, but going back to check it's now 1,104 new cases and 37 deaths, which is still bad, but not as bad, thankfully.

Sorry for the wrong information.

R494 that article is devastating. I just lost it reading it.

So why doesn't the clown @ r491 put the mask on his face, instead on his freaking elbow ?

[quote]wear an effin' mask

You are unable to type the word "fucking"?

The Brit in your link said fucking about 25 times.

Gay conservative believed COVID-19 was a hoax - until he contracted the virus at a family gathering he and his partner hosted. Multiple family members also got sick. One died.

"You cannot imagine the guilt I feel, knowing that I hosted the gathering that led to so much suffering. You cannot imagine my guilt at having been a denier, carelessly shuffling through this pandemic, making fun of those wearing masks and social distancing. You cannot imagine my guilt at knowing that my actions convinced both our families it was safe when it wasn’t."

Dear Gay conservative:

You cannot imagine how little I care about you.

Dr. Joseph Costa, the chief of the critical care division at Mercy Medical Center who treated patients battling COVID-19, died of the coronavirus on Saturday. He was 56 years old.

David Hart, Costa’s husband of 28 years, said the doctor was a scientist who “lived through his brain” and loved his job more than anything in the world. Hart said he placed his cheek next to Costa’s and held his husband in his arms until he died around 4:45 a.m.

A young "long-hauler" shares her story:

A young "long-hauler" shares her story:

💤 That novel has already been written, r499.

Congratulations are in order for Texas.

The Lone Star State is now part of the rather exclusive 400K Club.

A late surge in reported cases today gave them the added bounce they needed to join California, New York, and Florida.

From R499's link about the gay conservative who thought COVID-19 was a hoax and hosted a family gathering that led to one person dying and many others getting sick:

[quote] And so, believing the pandemic to be a hoax, my partner and I hosted family members on Saturday, June 13. On Sunday, June 14, I woke up sick.

It's one thing to have thought that the pandemic was a hoax back in February, but how could even the biggest idiot think it was a hoax in mid-June, by which point nearly 120,000 Americans had died?

He probably thought Sandy Hook was a hoax too.

These people think everyone is lying to them. I've seen them insist that they have relatives who work in hospitals and the hospitals force them to record every death as a Covid death or be fired. It's true! Their cousin/aunt/brother-in-law told them.

Peru says over 900 girls, women feared dead since pandemic began

. . .

The Andean nation home to 33 million people long has had a horrific domestic violence problem.

But COVID-19, which has compounded home confinement combined with job losses and a health crisis, has seen an already scary situation grow worse in just 3-1/2 months, according to Eliana Revollar, who leads the women's rights office of the National Ombudsman's office.

Seventy percent of that figure are minors, she added.

rest of story at link

R499 - I had read about him but had no idea he was a hoax-believing conservative.

Here's the thing - he will STILL VOTE REPUBLICAN this fall. Guarantee it. Fucking disgusting fat murdering fucker.

And R486's post was a breath of fresh air - I thought the whole surface thing was way over hyped. It's about masks and distancing. Period.

More signs COVID-19 leaves long-lasting mark on the heart.

Hold me David. I'm scared.

[quote]Poor Ron DeSantis (not really)! The Florida governor was inexplicably popular at the start of 2020. Now, his approval rating is a dismal 40 percent, and 58 percent of Floridians disapprove of how he's handled the COVID-19 outbreak. The remaining two percent might be dead.

[quote]😴 Corona Virus Fatigue Syndrome

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ JULY 28 ~ 10:00 AM EST

🍔 NATIONAL HAMBURGER DAY

🍫 MILK CHOCOLATE DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 16,689,533

DEATHS: 657,502

CRITICAL: 66,553

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES

CASES: 4,435,113

DEATHS: 150,515

CRITICAL: 19,100

📈 WORLDOMETER.COM

😷 TAKE A STAND !

That's troubling, R511. The article states that they do not know that the heart muscle inflammation causes long-term effects. But if a patient is experiencing this inflammation for a number of months (at least), would that not cause lasting damage to the heart tissue? Is there anyone on here in this field that can speak to the probability of this causing long-term effects?

Fauci on GMA this morning: new outbreaks could be brewing in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.

No, r515, no one can. Corona is a brand new beast.

🤔 Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

New Jersey health officials are concerned a house party attended by 700 people will lead to more cases From CNN’s Anna Sturla

New Jersey state health officials are concerned that a house party packed with partygoers openly flouting the state's Covid-19 crowd guidelines this weekend may lead to additional cases of coronavirus.

Police officers took over five hours to break up event, which was hosted at a house rented through Airbnb in Jackson, New Jersey.

“The OCHD is certainly concerned that the gathering in Jackson on Sunday may lead to additional cases,” Brian Lippai, chief of administrative services and public information for Ocean County Health Department, told CNN in a statement Tuesday morning.

“It’s still too early to determine what to expect but in the meantime it’s crucial to remind residents - especially our young adults - that neglecting to adhere to the mandated safety measures can have serious repercussions on a community. We’ve come a long way in the last several weeks and incidents like this can lead to serious setbacks in our efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."

🤓🤓

Are any of y'alls conservative and dump supporting friends sharing a video of "front line doctors" talking about covid19? It seems like they all are obsessed with sharing it.

R520 - how the hell do you have 700 people at a house for a party?

That AirBnB host is gonna be PISSED! And why would it take 5 hours to break it up? That's ridiculous as well.

OoHh NnOo ...... Ii'Mm SsEeEeIiNnGg DdOoUuBbLlEe AaGgAaIiNn ! !

OoHh NnOo ...... Ii'Mm SsEeEeIiNnGg DdOoUuBbLlEe AaGgAaIiNn ! !

r523, they're not all necessarily all inside, and not all at the same time.

[quote]Are any of y'alls conservative and dump supporting friends sharing a video of "front line doctors" talking about covid19? It seems like they all are obsessed with sharing it.

Yes. The most prominent frontline doctor is being discussed here:

As long as there are high school and college age boozing, toking, self medicated, non face mask wearing idiots roaming the planet, and their equally non-intelligent adult parents, were screwed.

I'd be fine with a shoot-on-sight policy for these house parties. I'd rather these young idiots get taken out of the gene pool now. Can you imagine if instead of Covid, this was Ebola?

Bill Gates predicts (based on his knowledge of vaccine/drug therapies development)-

[quote] Bill Gates says there could be a ‘substantial’ reduction in coronavirus death rate by end of 2020

[quote] Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said therapeutic drugs to treat the coronavirus could reduce the death rate substantially this year but a vaccine will be crucial to bringing back a sense of normalcy to the society. “You can see the therapeutic benefit faster than the protective benefit,” Gates said in an interview that aired Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “So I think there’s a good chance we’ll have substantial death-rate reduction by the end of the year with the combination of those new tools.”

[quote] The Microsoft co-founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said remdesivir was one of the leading treatments in the therapeutic research. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug from Gilead Sciences that has shown to have reduced the risk of death for severely sick Covid-19 patients by 62% compared with standard care alone.

[quote] Gates said there are two other antivirals that scientists are looking into, which can be administered orally instead of being injected with an IV like the remdesivir treatment.

[quote] “Also I’d say monoclonal antibodies are probably the most promising class. ...You have people like Regeneron, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca doing some pretty strong work."

[quote] Even though these new therapeutics will significantly help coronavirus patients suffering from severe symptoms, he said it won’t “drive us back to complete normalcy.”

[quote] “Until you really block transmission, have long periods of time without anybody going in the hospital, the concern is going to be there,” he said.

Florida reported 9,230 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, and 186 new deaths. The number of deaths is a single-day record during the pandemic.

Today, Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to provide high-quality, reusable masks to every American.

Sanders called it "a non-brainer."

So, of course, it will go absolutely nowhere in Congress.

R532 Some standard, regulation government mask sounds horrible. Like Hitler wanting everyone to drive a Volkswagen.

I want a collection of fashionable masks so that I can color coordinate with what I'm wearing, as well as wear something appropriate for the occasion, e.g. something spectacular for black tie events.

Honestly, I am really tired of this optimism about a vaccine that "may" be available by the end of the year. By then, the substantial decrease in deaths that Gates is talking about could be 5K or 10K per week instead of 10K to 20K. The time for action is now! Many well meaning people are forced to work and to expose themselves to the virus without adequate protection and/or testing. For the many people in denial, this talk about a possible vaccine only encourages them to continue with their careless ways because they believe that the end of the crisis is near. A vaccine would be great but can we please first focus on the problem?

Agreed, R534. Gates' projections are disturbing as they only focus on surviving the initial infection. The long-term effects to health are nowhere near known nor quantified. Just what we are seeing so far with the massive percentage of people - even initially asymptomatic - that are evidencing cardiac impacts is staggering. What are the stroke and cardiac arrest rates going to be going forward? There still discussing this in the context of a one-and-done infection and that is not what appears to be happening.

R533, I've been coordinating my masks with my outfits. I hate why we have to wear them, but I've sort of had fun collecting various patterns and colors.

I'm like a poor man's Nancy Pelosi.

[quote]Honestly, I am really tired of this optimism about a vaccine that "may" be available by the end of the year.

No worries, Russian officials told CNN today that they are working towards a date of August 10 or earlier to approve a vaccine.

I'm sure it will be safe and effective. Just ask our resident Borises.

r536, don't you mean Poor Man's Dr. Birx?

Even if a vaccine is available by the end of the year, doesn't mean it will be rolled out to everyone by the end of the year. Maybe by the end of year 2021.

[quote] “It’s very plausible that we could actually have an effective vaccine, and yet it might take a year and a half or two years for 300 million Americans to get to it because we haven’t planned properly and created the right kinds of infrastructure,” Emanuel said.

And then think of everyone on the planet in less developed nations and third world countries.

Either, r538. Birx has her fancy scarves, but I've had to repeat masks a few times, while Nancy has a seemingly endless number of fashionable masks to go with her outfits.

I don't see why we can't all get a good N95 mask supply for everyone who needs to work. There are KN95's, but they are from China, cheaply made with ear loops that come apart, and do not form a good seal. Only health workers need the medical grade N95's, but there should be something for the rest of us that is well made and trustworthy. Then we can wear cloth masks of our choosing over them to extend their usage.

China makes masks from much of the world.

Even the " good" ones.

China makes masks from much of the world.

Even the " good" ones.

Work in progress .....

speaking of masks, someone recommended this in the grocery thread. I ordered and it came today. really well made, tight seal, no air out the sides. my filti fabric will work fine with and I can just boil the mask.

Ooh thanks for the update, RC, you got yours before mine. Good to know about the Filti fabric.

[bold]NYT: GRU Caught Disseminating COVID-19 Disinformation on Three English-Language Websites[/bold]

Trump to use Defense Production Act to turn Kodak into a pharmaceutical company From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

President Trump said his administration will use the Defense Production Act to turn Kodak into a pharmaceutical company, an announcement he called “one of the most important deals in the history of US pharmaceutical industries.”

“With this new agreement, my administration is using the Defense Production Act to provide a $765 million loan to support the launch of Kodak pharmaceuticals,” the President said at a news conference.

Trump called it a “different field” for the company known mostly for its cameras and film, saying they had “hired some of the best people in the world.”

"“It's a breakthrough in bringing in pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States,” Trump said. "

Some context: The move is the 33rd time the Trump White House has used the DPA after facing criticism for not enacting it earlier in the pandemic.

“Remember when you were saying I didn't use it enough, I didn't use it enough?” he asked reporters rhetorically, “and now you heard it's the 33rd use. We don't talk about it all the time, we used it and we used it as a little bit of a threat, frankly, with certain companies that weren't doing as we were asking them to do, and it came through as both a threat and a usage. But this is our 33rd use of the Defense Production Act.”

The company will produce generic active pharmaceutical ingredients, Trump said, “using advanced manufacturing techniques Kodak will also make the key starting materials that are the building blocks for many drugs in a manner that is both cost competitive and environmentally safe will be competitive with almost all countries and soon with all countries.”

Flu vaccines are shipping to doctors' offices, but it's too soon to get one From CNN’s Maggie Fox

At least two companies that make influenza vaccines have started shipping them out to doctors’ offices, pharmacies and other customers in the United States, but it’s too soon for people to think about getting one.

GlaxoSmithKline said Tuesday it started shipping some of the more than 50 million vaccines it expects to supply for this US flu season. Sanofi Pasteur, another pharmaceutical company, said last week it also started shipments for the US market, but did not say how many doses it expected to make.

Why this matters: US health officials say it will be more important than ever to get a flu vaccine this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. It will be hard enough for hospitals and doctors to deal with one fast-spreading and potentially deadly respiratory virus, let alone two. Plus, no one knows what might happen if people get infected with both viruses at the same time.

Because of this, Glaxo and Sanofi both say they are increasing their production to meet the expected growth in demand.

“GSK expects to supply more than 50 million doses of its influenza vaccines for the US market in the 2020-21 season, an increase from the 46 million it distributed during the 2019-20 influenza season,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

But people will need to wait to get vaccinated.

“While vaccine shipments to healthcare providers have begun, getting vaccinated in July or August is too early, especially for older people, because of the concern that protection may be reduced if there is too much time between when a vaccination is given and peak flu season. According to CDC, September and October are good times to get vaccinated. However, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue, even in January or later,” Sanofi said in its statement.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says while it takes two weeks for a flu vaccine to take full effect, people should not get one in summer.

“Getting vaccinated early (for example, in July or August) is likely to be associated with reduced protection against flu infection later in the flu season, particularly among older adults,” the CDC says.

The CDC recommends that just about everyone over the age of 6 months get a flu vaccine every year. The vaccine formulation changes from year to year to try to match the regular mutations of the virus and the changes in what’s circulating.

Philadelphia extends ban on indoor dining until September

From CNN's Laura Ly The City of Philadelphia has extended their ban on indoor dining until Sept. 1 due to Covid-19 concerns, the city’s Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

"“Indoor dining is inherently risky. People are indoors, where we know the risk is greater. People are not wearing masks because they’re eating and drinking,” Farley said. "

Farley spoke of clusters that have occurred in restaurants in other parts of the country and the state. Such clusters have not yet been reported in Philadelphia.

“There have been clusters in restaurants that have occurred across the country, and in other counties in Pennsylvania. Now, we’re not seeing clusters occurring in Philadelphia involving spread in restaurants, but then again, we haven’t allowed indoor dining here,” Farley said.

Russia claims it will soon approve the world's first Covid-19 vaccine, but major questions remain

From CNN's Matthew Chance

CNN has learned that Russia intends to approve the world’s first coronavirus vaccine in less than two weeks, despite concerns about its safety, effectiveness and that the country has cut essential corners in development.

Russian officials tell CNN they are working towards a date of August 10 or earlier for approval of the vaccine, which has been created by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union

"“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he added. "

But Russia has released no scientific data on its vaccine testing and CNN is unable to verify its claimed safety or effectiveness. Critics say the country’s push for a vaccine comes amid political pressure from the Kremlin, which is keen to portray Russia as a global scientific force. There are also wide concerns human testing of the vaccine is incomplete.

Russians scientists say the vaccine has been quick to develop because it is a modified version of a vaccine already created to fight against other diseases. Russia’s defense ministry says that Russian soldiers served as volunteers in human trials.

In recorded comments provided to CNN, Alexander Ginsburg, the director of the project says he has already injected himself with the vaccine.

Russian officials say the drug is being fast-tracked through registration because of the global pandemic and Russia’s own severe coronavirus problem. Russia now has more than 800,000 confirmed cases.

“Our scientists focused not on being the first but on protecting people,” said Dmitriev, whose government fund is helping finance Russia’s vaccine program.

“Russia marshaled its leadership position in vaccine development and its proven Ebola and MERS vaccine platform to bring the first safe and efficient solution to the world’s biggest problem,” he told CNN previously.

The World Health Organization says there is no approved vaccine for MERS.

Are all the gays working out in gyms again? I drove past the gym today and it was packed. Gyms seem like the least safe place in the world to me.

Russian vaccine scientist from R556

Whoops...Dyatlov is meant for R552. The incompetence....it's contagious!

🤡 How big i$ my cut for procurement of these lucrative deal$ ?

🍰 Cayke & guud mask for everrbuddy een Yoonited State.

They're giving a $115 million camera company a $765 million loan to make pharmaceuticals one being hydroxychloroquine. It's a just a blatant handout for a company that's barely surviving.

This airline will cover funeral costs if you catch COVID-19 while flying

They’ll ferry and bury you.

Emirates airlines is attracting passengers during the pandemic in an unorthodox way — by covering the funeral costs of travelers diagnosed with COVID-19 after flying. The bizarre policy comes just days after the enterprising airline offered to foot travelers’ medical and hotel expenses to help recover coronavirus-caused losses during reopening.

“We’re keeping you safe on the journey and giving you extra security wherever you are in the world,” touts the Dubai-based flight firm, adding that they’re the first airline to offer such a policy. In accordance, anyone who contracts COVID in transit is entitled to $1,765 for the burial through NEXtCARE, a subsidiary of travel insurance firm Allianz, reports Business Insider.

Even sick passengers who don’t pass away after traveling with the airline can receive up to $176,000 in expenses as well as $118 per day to cover quarantine accommodations for up to two weeks. Coverage, Emirates adds, is free and automatically applied sans any registration process.

The package was implemented after business took a nosedive amid international travel bans. Founder Sir Tim Clark told Business Insider that the luxury airline is transporting about 10% of the number of people they’d normally carry. Emirates has tried to stem the financial hemorrhaging by converting passenger jets into cargo carriers.

They hope the COVID-19 insurance will further help them recuperate their losses.

“We are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative,” said Emirates Group CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum in a press release.

COVID-19 insurance covers travel between now and October 31, 2020, and is valid for 31 days from “the moment you take your first flight, and it covers you even if you travel onwards to another city,” said Emirates. However, passengers will have to pay for coronavirus tests out of their own pocket.

Unfortunately, despite this and other attempts by airlines to stay aloft in the time of corona, the sector is projected to lose a whopping $84 billion in 2020.

Head of China CDC gets injected with experimental vaccine

Coronavirus may close one-third of America’s museums for good

China reports more than 100 new coronavirus cases for first time since April From CNN's Isaac Yee in Hong Kong

China recorded 101 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day increase since early April, according to numbers released by the National Health Commission on Wednesday.

Among the new cases, 98 were locally transmitted, including 89 in the far western region of Xinjiang where a fresh outbreak has emerged this month. One local infection was also found in Beijing, and the remaining local cases were found in Liaoning.

On Tuesday, China also recorded a further 27 asymptomatic infections, which are not included in the tally of confirmed cases.

This is the first time China has reported more than 100 new infections in a single day since April 12, when the country reported 108 new cases -- most of which were imported.

It is the third consecutive day China has reported the highest daily spike in local infections since early March.

The rate of infection on the United States is rapidly approaching 5 million.

Who are we kidding here ? There isn't any safe way schools and colleges are going to be ready to reopen in a few weeks. We all know what happens 🍺 as soon as schools are in session.

🎯 Target joined Walmart in announcing that their stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, as well as cancellation of Black Friday sales events. What does that tell you???

r563, that tells me Halloween will be cancelled and that really sucks.

🚫 Best Buy Stores also cancel Thanksgiving/ Black Friday sales.

No tour buses here in NYC and now no Black Friday? These are good things.

I'm fine with Halloween being canceled.

Andy Slavitt: We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to.

Florida reported a record increase in new Covid-19 deaths for a second day in a row on Wednesday, with 217 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department.

The state also reported 9,446 new cases, bringing its total infections to over 451,000, the second highest in the country behind California. Florida’s total death toll rose to 6,457, the eighth highest in the nation, according to a Reuters tally.

🎃 #Celebrate@Home*

Nothing says "Halloween Love" like a few bags of your favorite candy, alcoholic/non alcoholic beverages of choice, and your favorite horror movies.

* 🤖 Costumes Optional

Any UK posters in here? What's going on over there? Are you seeing spikes? UK mandates on masks and distancing seem even more lax than the USA, yet we're not hearing that you're overwhelmed with cases.

[quote]We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to.

And I can virtually suck Brad Pitt's cock any time I decide to.

Japan, following Trump's lead on handling the virus. Terrible, Abe.

I just called my plumber last night to do some work. I called back today to reschedule for next week. His wife (and receptionist) is waiting for her Covid test results. She sounds sick.

I almost let him into my house. I wonder if they would have called me if I didn’t call them?

If I need a plumber or handyman, I will be outside while he's completing the work. I can talk to him through a window if he has questions.

And then you can deathly ill as soon as he leaves.

Yep R570! That is what we’re doing this year. Decorations, candy, horror movies. Actually, not so bad... My cool Dracula costume 🦇can be worn next year!

Statistical observation --- Besides big Brazil, a few other South American countries have now surpassed the Total Cases numbers of European hot spots like Spain, the UK, and Italy, and these countries have lower populations:

Peru 395K -- Spain 329K

Chile 351K -- UK 301K

Columbia 267K -- Italy 246K

And let's not forget Bolivia. Although they have only reported 72K cases, authorities are collecting bodies from homes, streets and cars as reported earlier in this thread. I recently watched a Netflix doc about streetfood in Latin America, including Bolivia. The food looked great but there is no way that these countries can properly combat this virus. Latin America is fucked!

666K deaths now according to Worldometer. You know who is hard at work

The situation here in Belgium continues to escalate. 11 deaths reported today which is a significant increase for our relatively small country. Cases, hospitalizations and critical cases are also higher each day relative to the previous 7 day period. Further plans to open things back up have been paused. Curfews are being imposed in some hot zones (such as Antwerp). People are worried again. For sure, Belgium will report the truth of the impact (our excess deaths are in line with Covid deaths) regardless of the impact. It's one of the reasons that Belgium has the most deaths per 1M people in the world

Next thread

Meanwhile Chump is using this opportunity to broaden his powers (and corruption). He MUST be stopped, like Caesar, before it is too late!

Guardian-US president Donald Trump has defended his push to use a coronavirus relief package to fund a new FBI headquarters near his Washington hotel despite opposition from fellow Republicans, citing his background as a real estate developer. The bill is facing tense negotiations in the Senate, as multiple provisions aimed at helping Americans stave off financial losses amid the coronavirus pandemic expire on Friday. The White House is at odds with both Democrats and Trump’s own Republicans, who control the chamber, over the package. Trump at first did not directly answer a question about whether he would drop his demand for $1.8bn to fund a new FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, one block from Trump International Hotel. He later said the provision “should stay.”

Losing the election is not enough. As long as he breathes, we are all in danger

BAJOUR!

I worry if he loses he will make life harder on us, like buy up all the vaccine for Americans and ship it to Russia out of spite. There is a lot of time between November and January to really fuck us over, hopefully someone is on this already and won't let it happen.

If Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others are cancelling Black Friday/holiday promotions, the $1200 kick back that Congress is discussing is almost laughable. A significant portion of the economy is linked to holiday shopping and sales from brick and mortar outlets as well as seasonal jobs for many Americans. Sure, internet sales from Amazon and others will soar but I do no not believe it will offset the loss of physical sales as whole. Think it's bad now? Just wait.

BOOM! Brazil is reporting +68K cases and +1500 deaths today. A nuclear explosion. The question now is who will finish first in the end? Brazil or the US?

Trump wants control over the construction of the new FBI building because he wants to hardwiretap it for Putin.

[quote]666K deaths now according to Worldometer. You know who is hard at work

Well, you know it ain't the president of these United States.

Guardian- Guatemalan hospitals say they have had to bury dozens of Covid-19 victims who have never been identified, and one hospital is creating archives in hopes that once the pandemic passes, their relatives will come looking for them. Workers at one of the country’s largest public hospitals have started photographing patients who arrive alone and too ill to give their personal details. Those who die unidentified are placed in body bags with transparent windows over the faces in case relatives do arrive.

Yes things are bad in the Americas. But let's also not forget about India! Based on a random antibody study in the Mumbai slums, 57% of the people tested had the virus. Yes, 57%!!! We can only imagine the true death toll there! There is a reason for their incredibly strict lockdown where people died trying to walk home. (Source The Guardian, can't post the link for some reason)

Wow they’re almost at herd immunity

Walmart.com online sales went ⬆️ OVER 75% this year.

People will spend money for the holidays.

For sure they will. But will it make up for the loss of seasonal jobs at the stores? I personally know many people (family, friends) who started their careers with a holiday job at Walmart. To be seen...

CNN: The earliest global spread of the novel coronavirus came from travel involving mostly three countries: China, Italy and Iran, researchers reported Wednesday.

Three-quarters of cases reported outside of China in January and February were linked to travelers from an affected country, mostly those three

While many studies have confirmed that the virus originated in China, genetic analysis shows that a new strain arose in Europe, likely Italy, early in the pandemic and that strain predominated in the US..

In an ABC interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if we might reach a point where masks are not only mandated, but eye protection as well.

“It might,” he replied, going on to explain that the only way to have “perfect protection” from the virus is by protecting the eyes, as well as the mouth and nose.

“If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it,” he said. “It’s not universally recommended, but if you really want to be complete, you should probably use it.”

(Stock up now, people.)

R594 It sounds good, but a lot of the increase in the online sales at Walmart were for grocery items and consumables, meaning profit margins are low. A friend who works in grocery says they're doing good when the make over 1%.

[quote] Gross margins for Walmart decreased from 24.3 to 23.7% compared to last year. Factors contributing to the decline are the mix of products being sold (grocery and consumables have lower margins) and the shift of products being purchased online. Typically, online businesses have high operating costs which can impact profitability.

[quote] Robin Lewis, CEO and founder of The Robin Report states, “E-commerce is costly for retailers. Factors include consumers ordering “onesies” which increases the costs of packaging, shipping, distribution and employee payroll.” Walmart is not alone in these added costs for e-commerce, as Lewis states, “This is the case across all retail segments.” This is probably one of the reasons Walmart decided to consolidate and fold jet.com into the Walmart ecosystem.

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