Best COVID-19 advice: Stay At Home
On February 18 I was lambasting the Houston Astros for cheating and some of them lying about cheating … On February 26 President Trump said, “Because of all we’ve done, the risk to the American people remains very low. … When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”? We actually a few more than 15 at the time. O February 18 I was still taking in the reports about the coronavirus, not to mention I wasn’t getting the daily security briefings that the president was receiving since early January. My, how time flies with a pandemic is killing people.
So here we are, March 30 and the U.S. now has more infected people than any other country in the world: 155,375, with 2,810 deceased. That’s almost 100 in the past 24 hours. The spread of COVID-19 shows no signs of slowing down and in fact, just a few days ago the CDC said it looked like the disease was spreading even faster. By the end of April we should have approximately a half million people infected and roughly 5,000 deceased. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. could have 100k to 200k coronavirus deaths and millions of infections before this pandemic runs its course.
According to The Washington Post the U.S recorded its first 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a month. The second 1,000 in two days. Let’s say that fatality rate of 1k per day stays the same (it won’t) that’s 30k dead in the next 30 days, 60k by June. But, it won’t stay the same, the rate will continue to increase, for a variety of reasons, but none more vexing than the lack of equipment. Watch this video from an Emergency Room nurse.
Governors are competing with each other for the much needed ventilators and other equipment. Trump has finally ordered some major corporations to start building equipment, but it almost feels like too little, too late. Instead of preparing for this pandemic as he received the daily briefings about it, President Trump chose to ignore the warnings and say and do things — or refuse to take action — to try and prop up his holiest of holies, the stock market.
He even accused hospital workers of steaking equipment like masks and gowns. What a rotten human being.
We are still way behind the curve of testing, even though about 600,000 of people have been tested. Not quite a half percent of the U.S. population. One company is about to release 15-minute test kits and said they can start shipping 50k per day.
Here in California we have 6,366 cases with 129 deaths. The rate of infection skyrocketed since March 15, here in the Golden State. Los Angeles is the hot spot in the state with 2.47 cases and 37 deaths. Actually, it’s one big hot spot from Los Angeles down to the Mexican border: 3,097 cases with 48 deaths.
The USNS Mercy is in the Port of Los Angeles and has been accepting non-COVID-19 patients from area hospitals. By doing so the Mercy frees up land-based medical personnel to focus on just the coronavirus cases. But like everywhere else in the U.S., there is a shortage of tests and other equipment.
The hardest hit areas of Los Angeles are mainly on the west side: Long Beach, Melrose, West Hollywood, North Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Santa Monica, Brentwood — go to this L.A. Times link to see the list of where the virus is popping up. Shout out to the Los Angeles Times. After you subscribe to our site (free) subscribe to the L.A. Times.
The other day I saw the craziest, most insane conspiracy theory proffered up as the cause of this pandemic: George Soros. Apparently the nut bars would like us to believe Soros started the disease at a secret lab near Wuhan, China and actively started spreading it in order to ruin Trump’s chances of re-election. The virus is supposed to tank the world economy which would then diminish Trump’s support at the polls. His number actually went up after he started doing the daily briefings.
After being correcting by Dr. Fauci and other medical workers, Trump has started being somewhat more factual during the briefings, although today (March 30) he had business leaders go to the microphone do adverts for their companies (My Pillow) and for Trump’s re-election campaign.
He questioned how and why hospitals would need 300k masks after needing only 10k, implying the doctors and nurses were being shady. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips did the math to answer the question.
. @realDonaldTrump, you implied something today which made me think –
If 1000 nurses (say 2 hospitals in NYC) treat 30 patients a day and change their masks per safety guidelines each time, that’s 30K masks. Over a 10 day period, that’s 300K masks. No conspiracy, just math.— Lou Diamond Phillips (@LouDPhillips) March 29, 2020
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut put it well on Twitter: “Of all the rotten, despicable things Donald Trump has done since taking office, blaming health care workers for the lack of masks is like top 3.”
On Sunday Trump said if only 100k Americans died of coronavirus it would be “a win.” You just gotta hope neither you or your loved ones are part of that demographic.
And we found out Trump knows more about South Korea than anyone else. Goddam, that guy has no limits to his narcissism.
Important news: the stay-at-home order could last another 30-60 days.
Sad news: Singer/songwriter John Prine is in critical condition. Jeez, I’ve been listening to him for decades. His wife Fiona had it as well, but has recovered. She said John is in stable condition on a ventilator. Best wishes to the Prines. You can show your support when buy his latest album, The Tree of Forgiveness.
I have recovered from Covid-19. We are humbled by the outpouring of love for me and John and our precious family. He is stabile. Please continue to send your amazing Love and prayers. Sing his songs. Stay home and wash hands. John loves you. I love you
— Fiona Whelan Prine (@FionaPrine) March 30, 2020
There was a doctor on The Beat with Ari Melber, Dr. Anne Rimoin, the Director of the Center for Global and Immigrant Health, who had this bit of advice: Keep your droplets to yourself. Those of you that are walking around the Los Angeles area, stopping by grocery stores and Starbucks because you’re bored with this “Stay-At-Home” business, stay at home. If you do have to go out, were a mask, or bandana, or something over your mouth and nose. Don’t cough on everyone around you!
Someone I know is doing grocery delivery and she has encountered people coughing while in line at the supermarkets. Plus, she said, there are a lot of people on the roads. It boggles the mind.
In other words, just stay at home.
Top photo is screenshot of California Governor Gavin Newsom and
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (and others) in from of USNS Mercy at the Port of Los Angeles
Tim Forkes started as a writer on a small alternative newspaper in Milwaukee called the Crazy Shepherd. Writing about entertainment, he had the opportunity to speak with many people in show business, from the very famous to the people struggling to find an audience. In 1992 Tim moved to San Diego, CA and pursued other interests, but remained a freelance writer. Upon arrival in Southern California he was struck by how the elected government officials and business were so intertwined, far more so than he had witnessed in Wisconsin. His interest in entertainment began to wane and the business of politics took its place. He had always been interested in politics, his mother had been a Democratic Party official in Milwaukee, WI, so he sat down to dinner with many of Wisconsin’s greatest political names of the 20th Century: William Proxmire and Clem Zablocki chief among them. As a Marine Corps veteran, Tim has a great interest in veteran affairs, primarily as they relate to the men and women serving and their families. As far as Tim is concerned, the military-industrial complex has enough support. How the men and women who serve are treated is reprehensible, while in the military and especially once they become veterans. Tim would like to help change that.