Tracker

Ten times as many New Yorkers are dying in their homes than normal and they aren’t being tested for COVID-19 Written by Joshua Holland April 7, 2020 As of this writing, 12,242 people have died in the United States as a result of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over 5,000 of those losses were in New York, which has become the global epicenter of the pandemic. But we don’t actually know what the true toll from this disease is. The actual number of deaths is higher–possibly much higher. In New York City, somewhere around 20-25 people die at home on a typical day. But according to City Council Member Mark Levine, who chairs the health committee, between 200 and 215 are dying at home every day at present. As Levine wrote on Twitter, only those “who are known to have a positive coronavirus test have the disease listed as the official cause on their death certificate.” Gothamist reports that the city Medical Examiner’s office “is not testing dead bodies for COVID-19. Instead, they’re referring suspected cases to the city’s health department as ‘probable.’” And those “probable” COVID-19 deaths aren’t included in the tallies. This is not a problem that’s unique to New York. BuzzFeed News reported that “medical professionals around the US [say] that the official numbers of people who have died of COVID-19 are not consistent with the number of deaths they’re seeing on the front lines.”

GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOUR!

As the Trump administration scrambles to get a hand on the spread of the new coronavirus across the U.S., it is keeping one eye on developments in China, the country where the pandemic originated. According to two officials with knowledge of those efforts and cables reviewed by The Daily Beast, the administration is monitoring China’s second wave of coronavirus cases, gathering data on the ground on the number of individuals newly infected and the reasons for the recent uptick. Over the past few days Chinese officials have noted an emergence of new cases, particularly in asymptomatic individuals. But U.S. officials say it is difficult to trust Beijing’s numbers because of its history of putting out unreliable data.

It will be interesting to see Faux News' reaction when the tide turns against Trump and the GOP and they are reviled as thieves and racists. Once they are thrown out of office and in disgrace, Faux will probably say that they knew it all along and cannot understand how it took so long for the public to see that as well.

President Donald Trump has a “small financial interest” in the maker of an anti-malarial drug that he has been touting as a “game changer” in treating coronavirus, according to The New York Times. Over the past two weeks, Trump and his Fox News allies have aggressively promoted hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure, despite top infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and others urging caution and noting that there was not enough evidence of the drug’s efficacy. The Times reports the president’s family trusts all have investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding is Sanofi, the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. Associates of the president, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, have also run funds that hold investments in the pharmaceutical firm. Read it at The New York Times

Boris Johnson remains in intensive care as of Tuesday morning, and British government officials have confirmed for the first time that the prime minister is taking oxygen treatment. Johnson spent the night in ICU following the shock announcement that he was moved there Monday evening after his office spent days downplaying his illness. Government minister Michael Gove told BBC News: “The prime minister’s not on a ventilator. He has received oxygen support.” Downing Street later confirmed that Johnson’s condition was stable overnight and he remains in “good spirits.” Britain has no formal succession plan should a prime minister become incapacitated, but Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to carry out duties in his place “where necessary.” Johnson announced 11 days ago that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. His symptoms have persisted and significantly worsened over the past few days.

Aaaand another nut heard from: APRIL 6, 2020 8:44PM (UTC) Comedian Roseanne Barr recently posited a wacky theory that the coronavirus pandemic is an effort to eliminate baby boomers like herself. "You know what it is, Norm? I think they're just trying to get rid of all my generation," Barr told Macdonald during the Sunday interview on his informal YouTube talk show "Quarantined with Norm Macdonald," in which he calls up his friends to chat. "The boomer ladies that, you know, that inherited their — you know, are widows. They inherited the money so they got to go wherever the money is and figure out a way to get it away from people."

I do not agree with that degree of rancor, but can understand it. He was quite prepared to let the disease run rampant without significant prophylactic measures and just accept the deaths as the most economic course. Just a notch below Trump.

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham told Judge Jeannine Pirro on Fox News that the coronavirus pandemic happened because the world “has turned its back on God.” “Well, I don’t think it’s God’s plan for this to happen,” Graham told Pirro after she asked Saturday why God would allow a pandemic to occur. “It’s because of the sin that’s in the world, judge. Man has turned his back on God, we have sinned against him and we need to ask for God’s forgiveness. And that’s what Easter is all about — it’s about God so loving the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have everlasting life.” He added, “Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world. And if we put our faith and trust in him, he’ll forgive our sins. And he’ll heal our hearts, and he’ll change the course of our lives. And this pandemic — this is the result of a fallen world. A world that has turned its back on God. And so I would encourage people to pray, and let’s ask God for help.”

Like that's gonna happen. Trump needs all the toadies he can get but this might start to turn the 25% of hard-core Trump supporters in the military against him.

He absolutely was. He appeared at Nazi rallies with the Nazi salute and all. He campaigned long and hard for the US to remain out of the war in Europe.

BBC website confirms that Johnson has been moved into and remains in an ICU ward.

Reporter Robert Costa revealed that Jared Kushner has been coordinating the distribution of medical supplies with Republican donors. The Washington Post national political reporter said President Donald Trump's son-in-law has sparked confusion in those efforts by placing himself in the chain of command, and both Kushner and trade adviser Peter Navarro were contradicting advice from White House medical experts. "When you ask about the inner circle, it is clear to me," Costa told MSNBC's "Morning Joe," "based on my reporting, that Peter Navarro, more than anyone now, whether it's on urging the president to take a position that's different than Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, or when it comes to the Defense Production Act, nudging corporations, sometimes pushing corporations to do what the White House wants, that Navarro is at the center." "Jared Kushner is there and he's really being a liaison to different donors, to different corporate allies of this administration, which has created confusion about the chain of command, about whether corporations should work through Jared, whether they should work through Vice President [Mike] Pence and the task force," he added. Navarro and other Trump advisers, including Rudy Giuliani, have been overriding medical experts on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus, and Costa said the president's confidence in that unproven drug was not matched by science.

And not doing well.

Better to ask Dr. Teeth. Lets see if anyone knows who this is.

You're asking the same people who thought Trump would be a good president to vote on this?

Trump's personality cannot conceive that he can be wrong about any concept he has , no matter how obviously flawed it is. His self-concept is based on his infallibility and if that is proven false, he would have to admit being mortal, and his ego cannot tolerate that. Therefore, he will continue to propose that he is an expert at everything, and defend it to the end.

Of course, medical authorities and local leaders have also been begging for widespread testing for the coronavirus. As the New York Times reported last week, months were lost while the president drifted along in denial about the crisis, to the point where testing became almost irrelevant, since the virus had spread so far and wide that the only recourse was to lock down most of society and keep our fingers crossed. Similarly, a blockbuster Washington Post story published on Sunday details how the Trump administration "often seemed weeks behind the curve in reacting to the viral spread, closing doors that were already contaminated ... infighting, turf wars and abrupt leadership changes hobbled the work of the coronavirus task force." There are many other reports that outline the administration's monumental response fiasco. It may seem as though all this White House does all day is create chaos and confusion. But in fact the Trump's administration is still busily "deconstructing the administrative state" one department at a time, even in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. For instance, even as people are dying in vast numbers, gasping for breath, Trump's EPA decided it was a good time to create more air pollution and roll back America's best attempt to combat climate change by weakening fuel efficiency rules for automobiles. As Carl Pope observes in a Salon commentary published on Monday, even the auto industry doesn't want this regulatory rollback, which seems to be an attempt to rewrite federal law. According to the Guardian, "the changes will allow vehicles to emit about a billion more tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide — equivalent to roughly a fifth of annual U.S. emissions." In other news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper have recently decided that the U.S. will withdraw from the "Open Skies" treaty with Russia, which was intended to reduce the risk of an accidental war. Our allies are unanimously opposed to abandoning the treaty, which is probably why this administration is doing it.

TRUMP'S EGO STRIKES AGAIN During a press briefing Sunday night purportedly aimed at providing the U.S. public with crucial information amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump refused to allow the nation’s top infectious disease expert to answer a reporter’s question about the efficacy of an anti-malaria drug that the president has recklessly touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment despite warnings from medical professionals. Before Dr. Anthony Fauci could respond to the question about hydroxychloroquine, Trump—who was standing back and off to the side of the podium—complained that Fauci had already spoken about the drug “15 times.” “You don’t have to ask the question again,” said Trump, stepping forward and moving closer to Fauci as another reporter began asking a separate question.

Coronavirus: Tech firms summoned over 'crackpot' 5G conspiracies By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor 5 April 2020 Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email Share TTY IMAGES The culture secretary is to order social media companies to be more aggressive in their response to conspiracy theories linking 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic. Oliver Dowden plans to hold virtual meetings with representatives from several tech firms next week to discuss the matter. It follows a number of 5G masts apparently being set on fire. The issue will test the companies' commitments to free speech. Earlier in the week, blazes were reported at masts in Birmingham, Liverpool and Melling in Merseyside. A spokesman for Vodafone's mobile network told the BBC there had been a total of four further incidents over the past 24 hours at both its own sites and those shared with O2, but did not identify the locations. "We have received several reports of criminal damage to phone masts and abuse of telecoms engineers apparently inspired by crackpot conspiracy theories circulating online," a spokeswoman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC. "Those responsible for criminal acts will face the full force of the law. We must also see social media companies acting responsibly and taking much swifter action to stop nonsense spreading on their platforms which encourages such acts." DCMS has yet to confirm which tech companies are being summoned. 'Complete rubbish' False theories are being spread on smaller platforms such as Nextdoor, Pinterest and the petitions site Change.org as well as larger ones including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok. Scientists have said the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is "complete rubbish" and biologically impossible. Several of the platforms have already taken steps to address the problem but have not banned discussion of the subject outright.

FWIW: ANTI-PARASITIC DRUG KILLS CORONAVIRUS CELL CULTURES IN 48 HOURS "WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT NOW WHETHER THE DOSAGE YOU CAN USE IT AT IN HUMANS WILL BE EFFECTIVE — THAT'S THE NEXT STEP." BY VICTOR TANGERMANN / APRIL 03 2020 A team of Australian researchers at Monash University in Melbourne have found that Ivermectin — an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug that has been used to effectively fight viruses including HIV, Influenza, and Zika — was able to stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from growing in cell cultures. While promising, the drug has yet to be shown to have the same effect inside the human body, because the Australian research was conducted “in vitro,” meaning it was in a Petri dish at a lab. The researchers are still trying to nail down funding for pre-clinical testing and clinical trials, after which they’d have to start the long approval process for the trials themselves. The results, though, are promising. In just 48 hours, the scientists say, all genetic material of the virus was eradicated. “We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,” Kylie Wagstaff, lead researcher and co-author of the study published today in Antiviral Research, said in a statement. “Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug,” Wagstaff said. “We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective — that’s the next step.” “As the virologist who was part of the team who were first to isolate and share SARS-COV2 outside of China in January 2020, I am excited about the prospect of Ivermectin being used as a potential drug against COVID-19,” Leon Caly, senior medical scientist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute, said. A vaccine for COVID-19 is likely still at least a year out, despite research teams across the world fast tracking work on potential vaccines. But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed. “In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner,” Wagstaff said in the statement. “Realistically it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.”

In the mid-70's, the Bomber d-line was so inept that Jack Matheson named them "four on the floor". Loved it.

Well, he can promise that everyone who follows his dictates will absolutely go to heaven on the express escalator and no one has yet come back to demand a refund.