Economy
Our Pandemic Summer (RS)
Absent any certainty, one group of health experts, led by Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and former adviser to the Obama administration, argues that stay-at-home orders must continue until at least May 20. Another team, led by Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, suggests that states should relax their restrictions only after new case counts have fallen for 14 consecutive days. Currently, the U.S. is still averaging about 30,000 new confirmed cases every day. “My sense is that we haven’t turned the corner,” said Rivers, who is a co-author on Gottlieb’s road map.
Stimulus checks may be delayed as Trump requires U.S. Treasury to print his name on them (dwatney)
The stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments, were included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by Trump late last March. The checks are intended to alleviate the financial burden now facing over 6 million American workers who’ve lost jobs or wages due to the coronavirus epidemic.
CDC, FEMA have created a plan to reopen America. Here’s what it says. (tmn)
CDC and FEMA officials have worked on the public health response for at least the past week, and the resulting document has been discussed at the White House, including by members of the coronavirus task force, according to two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Why Did The World Shut Down For COVID-19 But Not Ebola, SARS Or Swine Flu? (tmn)
SARS and MERS didn’t cause the same level of devastation that COVID-19 has largely because they aren’t as easily transmitted. Rather than moving by casual, person-to-person transmission, SARS and MERS spread from much closer contact, between family members or health care workers and patients (or, in the case of MERS, from camels to people directly). These viruses also aren’t spread through presymptomatic transmission, meaning infected people don’t spread it before they have symptoms. Once people got sick, they typically stayed home or were hospitalized, making it harder for them to spread the virus around.
UN chief: world faces misinformation epidemic about virus (Sparky1)
He said the United Nations “will be in touch with various social media companies,” adding that quite a few of them are actively trying to root out disinformation and suspending accounts of people pushing out information “that is plain wrong and dangerous.”
Dujarric said the U.N. recognizes the delicate balance between free speech and misinformation, saying “that’s a balancing act that is played out every day around the world even in the most free democracies.”
Millions of renters face hardship once back payments come due (Sparky1)
State and local officials have moved to provide some help, like barring landlords from evicting tenants. Under the varying rules, some states barred evictions for a few weeks while others are in place for the duration of the lockdowns.
NYC officials ask for rain ponchos as PPE supplies run low (Sparky1)
“We are facing unprecedented supply chain issues on a global level and doing everything we can to ensure the protection of our workers on the frontlines,” Meyer told CBS News. “That includes looking for alternatives in a time of crisis. We won’t let up until we have what we need to keep our health care workers safe.”
Anti-vaxxers spread fear about future coronavirus vaccine (Sparky1)
Larry Cook, an anti-vaccine proponent with almost 50,000 subscribers on YouTube, posted on Facebook: “Make no mistake, the purpose of the coronavirus is to help usher in vaccine mandates. Be woke. Know the Plan. Prepare. Resist.” The HighWire, a radio show hosted by film producer and anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree, pushed the unsupported claim that COVID-19 created in a lab and suggested it may have had something to do with vaccine development. A slew of conspiracies are also cropping up on Facebook groups geared toward vaccine skepticism.
Prominent scientists have bad news for the White House about coronavirus antibody tests (Sparky1)
But on the April 6 phone call, members of the National Academy of Sciences’ Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats told members of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy there are issues with the availability and reliability of the antibody tests in the United States right now.
“In three words: Work in progress,” said Dr. David Relman, a member of the National Academy of Sciences committee who was on the call.
Protecting Lives & Liberty (JK)
A problem with COVID-19: You’re contagious ~2 days before you know you’re infected. But it takes ~3 days to become contagious, so if we quarantine folks exposed to you the day you know you were infected… We stop the spread, by staying one step ahead!
Apple and Google partner on COVID-19 contact tracing technology (JK)
A number of leading public health authorities, universities, and NGOs around the world have been doing important work to develop opt-in contact tracing technology. To further this cause, Apple and Google will be launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy.
Figures show hundreds of COVID-19 deaths in UK care homes (Sparky1)
The mortality figure, which is updated daily, only includes people infected with the coronavirus who died in hospitals. The higher number, published weekly by the statistics office, includes deaths that took place in nursing homes or any other setting, as well as cases in which the virus was suspected but not tested for.
Deaths hit 45 at Virginia care home called ‘virus’s dream’ (Sparky1)
Canterbury, which has surpassed the death toll of 43 in the outbreak at the Life Care Center in suburban Seattle, is the kind of facility that’s particularly vulnerable to a coronavirus wildfire that has raged through the nation’s frail, elderly long-term care populations, claiming more than 4,300 lives.
Health care workers are 10%-20% of US coronavirus cases (Sparky1)
As of the middle of last week, the CDC had reports of more than 315,000 cases in the U.S. The new report focused on about 49,000 for which researchers had data on whether or not they worked in health care. About 9,300, or 19%, of them were medical professionals. That included 27 who died.
Emergency room doctor, near death with coronavirus, saved with experimental treatment (Sparky1)
The doctors tried a drug called Actemra, which was designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis but also approved in 2017 to treat cytokine storms in cancer patients.
“Our role was to quiet the storm,” said Dr. Samuel Youssef, a cardiac surgeon. “Dr. Padgett was able to clear the virus” once his immune system was back in balance.
Marijuana Has Been Deemed ‘Essential’ — But Essential for Whom? (Sparky1)
This is a triumph for marijuana advocates. However, the patchwork of emergency orders during coronavirus has been confusing and difficult to navigate for recreational, or adult-use, cannabis businesses, projected to hit $12 billion in retail sales in the U.S. this year. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Barker issued an order allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries to stay open, but halted recreational sales. In Colorado, recreational pot shops are limited to curbside pickup, while medical dispensaries can stay open. In Nevada, adult-use sales are only allowed through home delivery. It’s tough to keep track, since laws vary widely from state to state.
Who Really Failed to Stop the Coronavirus from Hitting American Soil? (thc0655)
The EIS did not identify the cause of the coronavirus and any rapidly implemented control measures proved a complete failure. So coronavirus victims have a right to wonder what these intrepid disease detectives are really about. As the CDC explains, EIS alumni have gone on to become CDC directors, leading CDC scientists, acting surgeons general, and even World Health Organization assistant directors-general.
Identity Politics Lied. New Yorkers Died (thc0655)
As the coronavirus bore down on New York City, Barbot and the Health Department were busy operationalizing social justice while remaining oblivious to the scientific realities of the pandemic. The department’s focus on health equity required it to discourage recent arrivals from Wuhan from going into self-quarantine or avoiding large public gatherings like the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Check Your Instruments (thc0655)
Pollyanna Roseyglasses would assume that everyone’s already exposed, and only 1/3rd of 1% of America having contracted it, and they’d paint the actual CFR as being 0.00015%, or 1/100th as serious as the annual flu. Which is utter bullshit, because we don’t need mass graves in the first month of flu season every year, nor swamp the hospitals in NYFC as if there was a Tet Offensive being fought in Flatbush with machineguns and napalm. NTTAWWT. But that’s the rosiest assumption set, based on happygas and a dearth of any actual evidence.
Armed men seize, release tanker off Iran by Strait of Hormuz (Sparky1)
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the seizure, though suspicion fell on Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Iranian officials and state media did not immediately acknowledge the incident and the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Refineries In Jeopardy As Gasoline Consumption Plunges (Michael S.)
The average price of gasoline in the United States as of last Friday was $1.883 per gallon, CNBC reported this week, citing data from AAA. That’s down by almost one-third from this time last year, and it could fall further as demand slumped to a 50-year low last week. According to AAA, gasoline prices could fall below $1.70 a gallon if demand destruction continues. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case.
Birding In Place: Your Starter Kit For Bird Watching From Home (tmn)
eah, so birds right now are coming back from Central and South America. They’re flying up through the Yucatan Peninsula, and then many of them actually cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. That’s a 600-mile flight, nonstop. It can take them anywhere from 15-25 hours to make that journey, depending on the headwinds.
When they get here, they’re exhausted. They land wherever they can find shelter and food and will try to refuel and drink water so that they can continue the journey northward.
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