COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[MU82]

All of these things can be traced back to one mad king.

There were a lot of things out of his control, especially in the first couple of months, when so many folks (even experts like Fauci) didn't know exactly how to handle it.

But yes, when it all boils down to it, it really does go back to the Mad King -- especially since April 17, when he decided it was best to LIBERATE states even though they hadn't achieved the benchmarks he himself had just introduced 18 hours earlier. Ever since then, he could not have been worse "leader," and governors like Noem have just followed his deranged, dangerous path.

When the "leader" of the country refuses to wear a mask while visiting a mask factory in which there's a sign on the wall saying that everybody must wear a mask ... I mean, nothing better captures his incompetence and unwillingness to take a deadly pandemic seriously.

When that same "leader" mocks those who do wear masks, goes against his own advisers to hold super-spreader events at which just about nobody wears masks (RIP Herman Cain), puts his own supporters at risk by attending a fundraiser even though he knows he is contagious with a virus that he himself called "more deadly than even your strenuous flus," screams that the coronavirus "affects virtually nobody" even as it is killing 1,000 Americans a day ... I mean, it's not just indefensible, it's criminal negligence.

It's sad that there are millions of Americans who think his response to the coronavirus was just swell. Thankfully, more millions of Americans said, "Enough!" -- and despite his demented, desperate attempts to subvert our democracy, he will be gone Jan. 20.

Less than two months. Can't happen soon enough.

[GooooMarquette]

For anyone who buys into the fiction that Trump cares about the American people....

President Trump makes brief appearance at Group of 20, but skips pandemic meeting.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/21/us/joe-biden-trump?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage#president-trump-makes-brief-appearance-at-group-of-20-but-skips-pandemic-meeting

On Saturday, Mr. Trump briefly participated in a virtual Group of 20 summit from the Situation Room. But he was not listed as a participant at a sideline event at the conference on “Pandemic Preparedness and Response.” Speakers at the event included Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany.

Instead, Mr. Trump continued the postelection weekend routine he has settled into. He sends out a tweet with a new, empty promise of “fraud” revelations and then heads to his Virginia golf course. It was the third weekend in a row that he has done so.

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I would call this 'shocking'...but it isn't.

[Uncle Rico]

For anyone who buys into the fiction that Trump cares about the American people....

President Trump makes brief appearance at Group of 20, but skips pandemic meeting.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/21/us/joe-biden-trump?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage#president-trump-makes-brief-appearance-at-group-of-20-but-skips-pandemic-meeting

On Saturday, Mr. Trump briefly participated in a virtual Group of 20 summit from the Situation Room. But he was not listed as a participant at a sideline event at the conference on “Pandemic Preparedness and Response.” Speakers at the event included Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany.

Instead, Mr. Trump continued the postelection weekend routine he has settled into. He sends out a tweet with a new, empty promise of “fraud” revelations and then heads to his Virginia golf course. It was the third weekend in a row that he has done so.

--------------

I would call this 'shocking'...but it isn't.

Best President of my lifetime, aina?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Now Peter Navarro is claiming that China "sent thousands of people" on "gleaming aircraft" to "seed the virus".

And people like rocket will slurp it down and beg for more.

[reinko]

 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Do COVID restrictions make a difference in rural states? Let's look at some numbers:

Two rural states with GOP governors and very different COVID-19 results

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/11/20/npr-two-rural-states-with-gop-governors-and-very-different-covid-19-results

One of America's governors most skeptical about COVID-19 has been South Dakota's Kristi Noem. She's loudly refused to impose any shutdowns or a statewide mask mandate.

Noem's devotion to keeping her state open has made her a celebrity in the Republican Party. She campaigned for President Donald Trump in 17 states, and touted her own record along the way. "What I did in South Dakota is what we say Republicans always believe," Noem says. "We just did it. We just did it, and look at what is happening in our state." One of the things happening in South Dakota is an infection rate that's among the worst in the nation, at about 8,000 cases per 100,000 people.

In Vermont, another small, rural state with a Republican governor, Gov. Phil Scott has embraced safety measures, and the differences are pretty stark.

Like South Dakota, Vermont has fewer than 1 million residents, most of whom don't live in cities. It has about 500 cases per 100,000 people. That's the lowest rate in the nation. Scott has embraced statewide shutdowns and mandated masks. When he reopened the state's economy, he did it slowly.

Northeastern Republicans vs everywhere else.

[Jockey]

The worst is yet to come - on both fronts.

Covid and democracy.  December and January will be brutal for both.

[GooooMarquette]

Yet another reason to #keepsciencing:

Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/world/covid-mutation.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

As the coronavirus swept across the world, it picked up random alterations to its genetic sequence. Like meaningless typos in a script, most of those mutations made no difference in how the virus behaved.

But one mutation near the beginning of the pandemic did make a difference, multiple new findings suggest, helping the virus spread more easily from person to person and making the pandemic harder to stop.

The mutation, known as 614G, was first spotted in eastern China in January and then spread quickly throughout Europe and New York City. Within months, the variant took over much of the world, displacing other variants.

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And before the deniers start saying "see, I told you scientists were wrong," this study does NOT change the fact that masks and social distancing are still your best tools in the daily fight against the spread.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-finalizing-recommendation-to-shorten-covid-19-quarantines-11606247975

CDC is coming close to shortening quarantine time from 14 to 7-10 days with an exit test.  This is good news for obvious reasons.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

If there was only some sort of professional field that could advise us on epidemiological issues.  Then again burn through sounds so attractive. 

https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/527478-top-epidemiologist-says-sweden-has-no-signs-of-herd-immunity-curbing-coronavirus

[Marquette Fan]

Millions still traveling for Thanksgiving - hate to see what the numbers are going to look like in the next couple weeks:

https://www.tmj4.com/news/coronavirus/millions-to-travel-for-thanksgiving-despite-covid-19-surge-and-warnings

[SERocks]

I predict a lot of very unhappy Christmases and New Years for a lot of families.   Thanksgiving is not worth it.... But alas, "you can't tell me what to do.". A lot of Americans truly are ugly....

[GooooMarquette]

Our current growth rate in perspective: Previously, the highs for most cases in a month was in July and October, each with about 1.9 million cases. November is on track for more cases than both months combined, with a projected total of 4.5 million cases.

And although treatment has most definitely improved as we have learned more about treatment, some epidemiologists are projecting that we could exceed the spring peak as the healthcare system is overwhelmed by the volume.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/25/us/coronavirus-cases-rising.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Some epidemiologists project that the number of deaths in the coming weeks could exceed the spring peak, in spite of improved treatment.

In the past week, the United States added an average of 173,000 new daily cases. If this growth pattern holds, the total number of cases reported for the full month of November is likely to hit 4.5 million. That would be more than double the number of any previous month.

With several days still left in the month, about 3.3 million people in the United States had already tested positive for the coronavirus as of Nov. 23.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

If there was only some sort of professional field that could advise us on epidemiological issues.  Then again burn through sounds so attractive. 

https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/527478-top-epidemiologist-says-sweden-has-no-signs-of-herd-immunity-curbing-coronavirus

ChicosWarriorDadArrow has a sad.

Well, that's not true: facts will never get in the way of his narrative.

[Jockey]

If you want to know why South Dakota is one of the hottest of the hotspots right now:

Sanford Health CEO says he had virus, won't wear mask

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/11/20/sanford-health-ceo-says-he-had-virus-wont-wear-mask

The head of one of the largest regional health systems in the Midwest has told his employees that he has recovered from COVID-19 and is back in the office — without a mask.

Sanford Health's president and chief executive, Kelby Krabbenhoft, said in an email Wednesday that he believes he’s now immune to the disease for “at least seven months and perhaps years to come” and that he isn’t a threat to transmit it to anyone, so wearing a mask would be merely for show.

The email from Krabbenhoft, who is not a physician, comes as hospitals throughout the region, including in his own network, are struggling to keep up with some of the country’s worst surges of coronavirus patients. And it comes at a time when mask wearing remains a politicized issue in many states.

—————

Of course there is no data to back up his claims of immunity and inability to transmit the virus, but then again data doesn’t seem to matter anymore…

Kelby Krabbenhoft and Sanford Health have agreed to part ways, Sanford announced in a news release at about 5:45 p.m. yesterday.


In other words, he was fired!

[Jockey]

I predict a lot of very unhappy Christmases and New Years for a lot of families.   Thanksgiving is not worth it.... But alas, "you can't tell me what to do.". A lot of Americans truly are ugly....

And then we'll be stuck with more newspaper articles imploring "please don't make the same mistake we did".

Well, most of us (at least here on Scoop) won't make the same mistake simply because we are not as stupid as these people.

[GooooMarquette]

Kelby Krabbenhoft and Sanford Health have agreed to part ways, Sanford announced in a news release at about 5:45 p.m. yesterday.

In other words, he was fired!

Glad to hear the adults in the room got the final say. I have a feeling some of the Sanford docs got the attention of the Board....

[shoothoops]

Supreme Court votes 5-4 against New York's imposed COVID-19 restrictions for religious services Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a decisive vote:

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1331837982433812480?s=19

[MU82]

Supreme Court votes 5-4 against New York's imposed COVID-19 restrictions for religious services Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a decisive vote:

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1331837982433812480?s=19

And so it begins.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

And so it begins.

Gorsuch has a point though.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.

[MU82]

Gorsuch has a point though.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.

The thing is, a bike shop or a liquor store might have 2 employees and a half-dozen customers, and hopefully all are wearing masks. When they talk, they can do so from a safe distance, at relatively low volume.

A full church service can have hundreds upon hundreds of parishioners. They are singing and chanting, often quite loudly, and there are handshakes and hugs and other personal interactions. I grew up going to a conservative synagogue, and that's the kind of stuff that every service included.

Now, talk about a Christmas service, which like Jewish High Holiday services usually draw big crowds, and you're talking about a super-spreader event.

I want to trust that churches will be responsible, will enforce social distancing and mask-wearing, but here in NC there has been evidence that the opposite has been true. Several churches here have housed deadly super-spreader events.

And, of course, those events don't just affect the church-goers. Parishioners leave church and go into the community. they go to their workplaces. Their kids go to school.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm not sure I've heard of a deadly super-spreader event taking place at the local Schwinn shop.

I'm gonna agree with Chief Justice Roberts on this one.

[shoothoops]

Gorsuch has a point though.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.

Other thoughts on the case:

Justice Sotomayor:

“Justices of this Court play a deadly game in second-guessing the expert judgment of health officials about the environments in which a contagious virus, now infecting a million Americans each week, spreads most easily.”

Justice Kagan:

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

The thing is, a bike shop or a liquor store might have 2 employees and a half-dozen customers, and hopefully all are wearing masks. When they talk, they can do so from a safe distance, at relatively low volume.

A full church service can have hundreds upon hundreds of parishioners. They are singing and chanting, often quite loudly, and there are handshakes and hugs and other personal interactions. I grew up going to a conservative synagogue, and that's the kind of stuff that every service included.

Now, talk about a Christmas service, which like Jewish High Holiday services usually draw big crowds, and you're talking about a super-spreader event.

I want to trust that churches will be responsible, will enforce social distancing and mask-wearing, but here in NC there has been evidence that the opposite has been true. Several churches here have housed deadly super-spreader events.

And, of course, those events don't just affect the church-goers. Parishioners leave church and go into the community. they go to their workplaces. Their kids go to school.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm not sure I've heard of a deadly super-spreader event taking place at the local Schwinn shop.

I'm gonna agree with Chief Justice Roberts on this one.

Last I checked, bike shops weren’t protected by the Constitution so the scrutiny cannot be the same.

Ultimately I fall to Kagans reasoning.

[pbiflyer]

Gorsuch has a point though.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.

Thankfully you weren’t alive in WWII. You’d have lit up your house on the coast and coal rolled your truck burning up gas because of freedumb!

[MU82]

Last I checked, bike shops weren’t protected by the Constitution so the scrutiny cannot be the same.

Ultimately I fall to Kagans reasoning.

Then I think we're pretty much in agreement. “The Constitution does not forbid states from responding to public health crises through regulations that treat religious institutions equally or more favorably than comparable secular institutions, particularly when those regulations save lives. Because New York’s Covid-19 restrictions do just that, I respectfully dissent.”

I also agree with Roberts that "it is a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety in the midst of a deadly pandemic," and that such a ruling was not prudent at this time.