Enough Is Enough? 200,000 ‘Nobodies’ Are Dead from COVID-19
County Supervisor Desmond apparently shares President Trump's take on "Enough."
Monday. September 21st, marked another milestone for the COVID-19 virus. More people died, and some politicians made it clear that they’re okay with allowing additional mortality.
The Johns Hopkins tracking site, considered to be the most conservative number of those keeping a tally, reported on Monday that there are 199,890 American dead as a result of the pandemic. It is now firmly in fourth place on the list of mass casualty events in US history. It’s probable coronavirus mortality will pass the numbers reported in the Civil War sometime shortly after the new year.
There is one thing we’re number one at that President Trump keeps forgetting to mention: From NPR:
The U.S. death toll is the highest in the world, by a large measure. Despite having less than 5% of the global population, the U.S. has suffered more than 20% of COVID-19 deaths worldwide.
In late March, Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's leading expert on infectious diseases, estimated that around 100,000 to 200,000 people in the U.S. might die as a result of the virus. Then, in early April, he predicted the toll could be far lower: 60,000 people.
Fauci cautioned that his more optimistic estimate was based on the American public adhering to physical separation and other restrictions in March and April — measures that, for a while at least, sharply reduced U.S. death toll projections.
But weeks after Fauci spoke, Georgia, Texas and some other states began relaxing their control measures.
Also on Monday...
Hundreds of people stood in front of the County Administration building and chanted “enough is enough” as Supervisor Jim Desmond advocated for profits over people, claiming it was possible for local businesses to reopen despite a surge of COVID-19 cases in San Diego.
A closed session of the Supervisors failed to reach a consensus on a proposal to initiate legal actions aimed at undermining the State of California’s restrictions on public activity should the County breach the threshold requiring additional public safety measures. While Desmond may be the public face of this resistance, Supervisor Kristin Gaspar --facing a tough re-election fight-- has been privately supportive of a less restrictive track.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher also brought people to the front of the County building. Following Fletcher’s public rebuke of Desmond and Gaspar, local health care officials shared information explaining the real life consequences of becoming ill from COVID-19 and the need to continue protective measures.
From the Union-Tribune:
“In particular, supervisors Jim Desmond and Kristin Gaspar are inciting a fight between government and small business,” Fletcher said. “They are exploiting the pain and suffering that small businesses are going through as a result of the COVID pandemic as a wedge for political gain. It is reckless and irresponsible leadership.”
Though Desmond seemed to shrug the remark off, it got a quick response from Gaspar, calling his “hellfire and brimstone” remarks inaccurate.
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The Washington Post reported that a $1 billion allocation by Congress for boosting the country’s supplies of medical equipment was diverted to purchase jet engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms, among other things.
The Cares Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, gave the Pentagon money to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” But a few weeks later, the Defense Department began reshaping how it would award the money in a way that represented a major departure from Congress’s intent.
The payments were made even though U.S. health officials think major funding gaps in pandemic response still remain. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in Senate testimony last week that states desperately need $6 billion to distribute vaccines to Americans early next year. Many U.S. hospitals still face a severe shortage of N95 masks. These are the types of problems that the money was originally intended to address.
https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1308393242988142592?s=20
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The administration’s claims about world respect for the US response to the pandemic are simply untrue, according to a new Pew Research Center poll
A poll of the citizenry of 13 wealthy democracies, from Sweden and France to Australia and South Korea, shows that just 15% of onlookers think the United States has done a "good job" responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. And 85% think the United States has not done a good job.
https://twitter.com/rickwtyler/status/1308357811248783362?s=20
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