Pandemic Responders Don’t Deserve Trump’s Disrespect
I’ve made it a point not to watch the daily coronavirus “rallies” emanating from the White House.
The fact is, aside from the spectacle of President Trump’s insecurities on display, the amount of worthwhile information being given out isn’t worth the anger/angst/anxiety experienced while watching.
The latest spin coming out of the Oval Office is that medical personnel/hospitals/governments are hoarding critical supplies.
And that having twice to four times the number of casualties as died in the Vietnam War is somehow a victory.
Also that any reporter who repeats the president’s own words back to him will be accused of “threatening” him.
Our doctors, nurses, and front-line people are getting thrown under the bus to protect the first crybaby’s feelings. That’s what losers do when backed into a corner with facts--blame somebody else.
The latest Trumpanista response to these accusations is to go out and shoot video of the exterior of hospitals in a vain attempt to “prove” the stories about massive coronavirus infections untrue. “See? There aren’t a lot of cars outside. That means nothing’s going on.”
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1244671170303189000?s=20
What should be a fountainhead of facts at the White House ends up as a shitshow. Good news these days is defined as the President backing away from his latest ridiculous idea.
https://twitter.com/DeanObeidallah/status/1244621174954504192?s=20
We’ve all made changes in our lives over the past month, and we need to make more.
One of those changes should be giving our full attention to those elected officials who are --at a minimum-- trying to keep us informed with facts and analysis based on reality.
California’s Governor Newsom’s daily press conferences have been moved up to midday, meaning that the information given will have an earlier impact than the late afternoon "briefings" coming out of Washington DC.
State of California COVID-19 Information
San Diego’s Board of Supervisors, led by Nathan Fletcher, have also stepped up to the plate, as has City of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
County of San Diego Coronavirus 2019 Information
The truth be told, some of what they’re doing is more flash than substantive. The State’s eviction promises are maybe worth the pixels they’re occupying on people’s screens. San Diego’s promises of hotel rooms for homeless humans aren’t translating into a safer reality for too many people living on the street.
Whether you agree or not with the quick fixes being proffered at these state and local briefings, the statistics and general advice are the real deal.
They're giving information you and your family should use in coping with the current crisis. If you still feel the need to watch something horrifying and bonkers at the same time, I suggest Netflix Tiger King.
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One of California’s failures has been the time it takes for COVID-19 tests to get analysed. We rank 46th out of the states in testing results. Some of that can be blamed on a lack of facilities able to process samples taken; some of it can be blamed on shortages of supplies.
What I’m reading from experts is that the real numbers of infected individuals could be ten times what has been reported. This would translate into 5000+ cases of COVID-19 as opposed to the 519 the county of San Diego was able to confirm as of Sunday, March 29. Eighty percent of those cases will be mild enough for stay at home care, and 1000 cases should require hospitalization.
Does this match the numbers we’re seeing? Who knows? There aren’t enough test kits to go around. And some results are taking more than a week to come back.
And that failure lies squarely on the federal government, as numerous articles, as this excerpt from the Washington Post indicates:
The president spent nearly two months issuing confusing and contradictory signals — leaving the bureaucratic machine of the U.S. government to chart the course for the coronavirus response.
The CDC designed its own test. The FDA picked a conservative testing strategy, allowing labs to use only the CDC test. When those tests failed, neither a new strategy nor a new test was available for more than two weeks. Azar failed to push the agencies to change direction, and the president didn’t intervene.
Even then, widespread testing was not immediately available. It’s not just the number of tests that are the problem — it’s getting the materials to do the tests and the personal protective medical equipment for providers to give those tests. That means we may never have a true count of how many Americans contracted the virus.
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On both the State and Federal level what the coronavirus pandemic has proven is that governments failed to take steps in advance to mitigate what just about every expert said was a foreseeable event.
It’s kinda like the games being played with climate change. Voice of San Diego’s article on the city’s lack of a plan for sea level rise is Exhibit A, if you’re looking for validation on this point.
On a national level, an article in the Intercept exposes the role of Koch Brothers front groups advocating for further dismantling the federal government’s preparedness agencies and their role in fomenting a faux-grass roots movement to end many of the stay-at-home orders around the country.
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https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1244604405376258048?s=20
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