Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

Trump is going to draw a dick on that dog with a sharpie, isn’t he?

This blog goes to 11…

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Lighten up, Francis.

Reality always wins in the end.

We have all the best words.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Screw the Judean People’s Front. Splitters.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn – Nancy Pelosi

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Gastritis broke my calculator.

I did not have this on my fuck 2020 bingo card.

There’s some extremely good trouble headed their way.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

We can agree to disagree, but i’m right.

How has Obama failed you today?

Historically it is a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Tick tock motherfuckers! Tick fucking tock!

Militantly superior in their own minds…

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Monday/Tuesday, March 23/24

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Monday/Tuesday, March 23/24

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Feels like I’m oversampling the stories from America, but right now we seem to be holding the (uncoveted) ‘most stupid & pointless reactions’ baton, so…


Via valued commentor Amir Khalid:

Thread –

DO *NOT* STICK A HAIR DRYER UP YOUR NOSE:

Almost certainly overstated (see below), but it’ll be widely circulated:

Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    Dear Mr. President, @realDonaldTrumpI wanted to thank you for ur recent decorum, sincerity, & care towards us. You’re taking charge & leading in a manner needed & wanted for this country. I highly commend you for ur boundless energy & willingness to solve problems. Thank you

    — Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) March 24, 2020

  2. 2.

    Chyron HR

    When and why did [Facebook] amass an emergency reserve of 720,000 masks?

    And more importantly, how did the stockholders take it when Zuck announced that they had to postpone the rollout of Lucifer Alpha?

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Gangs in the Rio de Janeiro favelas have enforced a lockdown from 8pm tonight. The statement reads: “If the government won’t do the right thing, organised crime will”

    For some reason, I assumed organized crime called themselves something other than organized crime.

  4. 4.

    germy

    America’s most influential journal of religion and public life weighs in:

    There is a demonic side to the sentimentalism of saving lives at any cost. https://t.co/jdLT0E31Wh— First Things (@firstthingsmag) March 23, 2020

  5. 5.

    donnah

    Just casting a glance across the messaging this morning, I found a horrifying number of rich white guys saying that perhaps we have overreacted to the virus and we cannot afford to jeopardize our economy for this “flu” thing. They’re comparing it to ridiculous things, like car accidents and having sex. (If having sex was deadly, we’d just have to find ways to make it safe). wtf?

    Thanks to the powerful corporations whispering into Trump’s already confused ear, we could see him relax restrictions across the country to protect his cronies and his beloved stock market. He believes he can recapture the votes and loyalty of his supporters to get back the momentum he has lost for re-election. He will stomp happily over the bodies of virus victims to satisfy himself and his rich white base.

    I don’t know if the individual states can override Trump if he decides next week to lift restrictions on travel and social interaction. I can’t imagine my governor Mike Dewine doing that because he’s been proactive and vigilant about the rules. I guess we have to wait and see.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Tx Lt Gov Dan Patrick says grandparents would be willing to die to save the economy for their grandchildren

    Yep, and that’s how we got trump, because these assholes are ready and willing to fall on their swords for their grandchildren.

    Jeebus that idiot is broken.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    I think last night was the moment the roller coaster stopped clicking its way to the top of the big hill. Buckle that seat belt.

    I knew he was going to lose it. I just didn’t think he’d lose it with some unhinged rant of letting millions die just like a James Bond Supervillain.

  8. 8.

    Calouste

    Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick is a grandparent himself. I’m sure as a Texas Republican he owns a gun that he could use to prove his own concept.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    ‘Where’s Fauci?’ America panics as doctor absent again from White House briefing

    The alarm reflected just how much the nation has come to rely on the wisdom of the straight-talking doctor from New York as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, with the worst yet to come. For many anxious Americans tuning in from the confinement of their homes, Fauci is a a voice of reason in a time of deep uncertainty.

    And his absence at yet another briefing was cause for concern. Had he been sidelined for contradicting the president? Was he in good health?

    Yep, WASF.

    ETA

    “I mean, I’m not, to my knowledge, coronavirus-infected,” he said, adding with a laugh: “To my knowledge, I haven’t been fired.”

  11. 11.

    Barbara

    @germy: There is a demonic side to the refusal to rapidly import and deploy testing kits because they don’t advance your jingoistic political program. Until those at First Things are first in line for the “patriotic” infection program they should stfu. Fucking sociopaths all of them.

  12. 12.

    Calouste

    @germy: Are these the same people who think a woman should die if there is even the tiniest chance that a fetus she carries could survive?

  13. 13.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Well, after 5 days of no new confirmed cases in Wuhan, there was a new case on 3/23. What do you know, the case is a doctor working in the very hospital in I was staying for the last two weeks, working in the very digestive illness department I was treated in!!!

    He worked in the buffer ward (and the outpatient clinic), where I stayed for three days. I saw a different doctor on duty each day. The daily checkups lasted only 5 – 10 minutes, with the doctor in the full body protective gear, and me in my N95 mask. We spoke from distance of 2 meters, and I had no physical contact with the doctors. I don’t see any path for infection. In any case, I was moved from the buffer ward to the standard ward on 3/9, which is 15 days ago, so I should be in the clear. He developed symptoms on 3/22, and tested negative on 3/23. I left the hospital on 3/19, which should be just before the start of his pre-symptomatic infectious period.

    Unfortunately, authorities believe he was infected at the hospital (versus outside of work, the girlfriend and a roommate living with him came up negative), that means patients or colleagues. May be he was infected at the out-patient clinic. While he did not work in the standard ward, no one knows yet if he interacted with his colleagues working in the standard ward. I am sure there is a furious effort to trace all of his close contacts. If I am deemed a close contact, I will be contacted and sent to a quarantine facility for observation.

    I am not overly worried right now, but it does mean that my one week self-imposed quarantine has now turned into two weeks, before I head home to my family.

    Wuhan has also been finding one or two asymptomatic cases a day from contact tracing or screening at hospital intakes. Not sure if Wuhan and other places in China are doing community survey testing. Per definition by China’s National Health Commission, asymptomatic cases are tracked separately from confirmed cases. These cases are treated the same as confirmed – medical quarantine, tracing and isolation of close contacts, etc., but they do not show up on the confirmed case tabulations. If they turn out to be pre-symptomatic, and ultimately develop symptoms, then they are counted as confirmed. From all the case reports I have read from China, South Korea, Taiwan, etc., I do not believe there has been much evidence of infection by truly asymptomatic cases, as opposed to pre-symptomatic ones. Otherwise, none of the East Asian countries and regions would be able to keep the epidemics in check.

    I am so ready for this epidemic to be over! And yet it will be a long haul…

  15. 15.

    Raoul

    It seems like the primary driver of the reckless ‘end the social isolation’ idea are panicked American oligarchs whose own finances can’t weather this storm — and of course have Trump and key GOP governors on speed dial.

    But the 40+% of our country who elected this deadly shitshow are also impatient morons who cannot grasp that China and a few other early wave countries put in the frunking work to get here.

    They see bans lifting elsewhere and say, see why can’t we?! The chaos and incompetence in the WH is why not. The beach blanket bingo in Florida last week is why not. I shudder to think how bad it is going to get in places like Texas.

    It’s not surprising that NYC is in such rough shape. High density, massive international gateway, deBlasio did dither too long.

    But there are a lot of MAGAs who are whistling past the graveyard as they point to NY. The three day doubling will be relentless as Republicans do far too little.

  16. 16.

    Joseph A Miller

    @germy: I just glanced at the article. Horrifying, pure right-wing religious fanatic bullshit, complete with references to Satan. Seriously, fuck these people.

  17. 17.

    WereBear

    @YY_Sima Qian: I hope you got your worst out of the way early :)

     

    @Raoul:

    But there are a lot of MAGAs who are whistling past the graveyard as they point to NY. The three day doubling will be relentless as Republicans do far too little.

     

    It’s blue state, big city density that prompted such governors, who tend to be Democratic, to lock everything down.

    Let them talk their game. Let’s see what they say two weeks from now, when they are frantic to follow blue state examples… and then realize it’s too late.

    I’m not a gloating person. Still not. But we’ve been warning them “no good will come of this” since Nixon’s embrace of the Southern Strategy.

    Also, let’s dig up Nixon and stake him. Can’t hurt.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Patrick needs to volunteer and lead the way to death. It’s what a responsible Christian would do. //

     

    Good news about the IOC. I had heard they were thinking of delaying just a couple of months. Next year is a much wiser choice.

  20. 20.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @germy: The pro-life party. The same people who would keep Terri Schiavo on a much-needed ventilator right now. Ghouls, the lot of them.

  21. 21.

    Barb 2

    Washington State’s governor has issued a stay at home order.

    Stay home – stay healthy.

    WA is one week ahead of the rest of the nation. As far as deaths and the number of confirmed cases go (& headline at vox.com) The stay at home order is voluntary but it can be enforced according to Gov Inslee. There is a list of essential services on the State gov website. Probably half the State tried to access the website last night.

    No weddings or funerals for 2 weeks.

    The media is an essential business/service. Indian casinos are doing their part and have closed down. Inslee thanked the tribes for their public service.

    We are getting more leadership from state Governors then the Dumpster fire in the white house. Well except for a few of the Republican Governors. Covid-19 will hit the red states and those suckers aren’t prepared. The Governors on the west coast, and New York state are working hard to increase hospital beds. Other states (mostly coastal) are working as well as some govs from inland states. Texas is being a jerk – they are working hard to speed the virus’s spread.

    The wound clinic has stepped up their prescreening. The waiting room has been closed down, we now wait in our cars and are signaled to come into the building for appointments. All other medical appointments are teleconference or postponed.

    I expect that this is probably happening in other states. Medical personnel should know that they need to protect themselves. Except for Rand Paul – libertarian nitwit.

    I’m wondering how other states are handling the information and closures. CA, OR, WA, IL, and NY, NJ have similar announcements from the governors. Some large cities are stepping up and getting ready for the expected spikes in the number of critical cases. Are the mayors of blue cities in red states getting ready?

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    Remember that most masks are single-use. 720,000 masks/45,000 staff is a 16-day supply.

  23. 23.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Amir Khalid: In medical situations each mask really needs to be replaced for each new patient being examined to avoid cross-infection — someone working the front lines doing COVID-19 testing might get through a dozen masks a day if they’re available. If they’re in short supply then they don’t swap them out and risk cross-infection rather than do without entirely.

     

    As for the nefarious stockpiling of masks by big companies, they probably date back fifteen years or so to the last epidemic threat like H1N1 or even SARS. They never got used back then but they’re way out of date for real medical use. The filter material ages and stops being effective enough to meet the N95 standard after a time, even stored in perfect conditions.

  24. 24.

    Soprano2

    There’s no leadership from our governor here in MO. He’s letting the cities and counties do all the heavy lifting. He finally issued an order saying groups of 10 or fewer only, but I don’t think that was a hard rule, just a suggestion. We had our first death from COVID-19 in Springfield yesterday – an 80-year-old resident of a nursing home where they have 4 cases so far. When we had a small meeting at work yesterday so people could ask questions about the leave policy, I asked if they had a plan for when we are told by the governor to stay home. They think that’s being discussed at “higher levels”. Most of us will probably be deemed essential, since we are the city government. The local utility company has put their field crews on 3-day rotating work days – one day on, three days off. Our crews would like to do that, but the city can’t afford to pay them for it. That’s what it comes down to – city government doesn’t have a huge amount of money to suddenly pay everyone to stay home. This whole thing is such a shitshow.

  25. 25.

    Van Buren

    I know that this is an exaggeration but I want some Democrat to say that the difference between Pelosi’s plan and McConnell’s plan is that we want to give 300 million people a thousand bucks each and they want to give a thousand people 300 million bucks each.

  26. 26.

    E.

    This fucker is going to get us all killed. I have elderly parents who do not deserve this. How can this be happening? Is it so sinister that they want to take out the old “takers” and give their stuff to the “makers”?

  27. 27.

    Soprano2

    Oh, and to make it even better, we’re going to be having epic levels of flooding here pretty soon if it doesn’t stop raining.  It’s coming down in buckets right now, and the ground is already completely saturated. When it rains hard water pools beside the north side of our house, but it usually sinks into the ground immediately after the rain stops.  Now, every time it rains even a half inch, the water stays standing there for a couple of days.  I bet we’re getting more than an inch this morning.

  28. 28.

    Sab

    So my governor issued a lockdown order Sunday afternoon, effective Monday night midnight.

    So my company’s brilliant response was to have everyone, even those working from home, come in for a brief meeting on Monday morning altogether crowded in the conference room to decide what to do. Then send us back home to our families.

  29. 29.

    WereBear

    @Sab: I am forever grateful I no longer work for a company like that. If I had decided to stay in the red states where I grew up, I’d feel like I had a target on my back.

  30. 30.

    Jinchi

    Tx Lt Gov Dan Patrick says grandparents would be willing to die to save the economy for their grandchildren

    I’m starting to believe that the Republican solution to high unemployment would be to execute anyone who files for unemployment benefits.

  31. 31.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @WereBear: We did stake Nixon, under the cover of darkness, not long after the burial.

    I never want to go through something that awful again. The fight he put up!

  32. 32.

    Origuy

    In Facebook’s case, I believe they got the masks after the big wildfires of the last few years made Bay Area air hazardous to breathe. I don’t know why it took them weeks to get them out of storage. Maybe because the person with the storage room key left it at the office, which was closed and locked.

  33. 33.

    misterpuff

    @Calouste: Lt.Gov. Death Panel should go on Morning Joe and the Volcano and offer himself up to the Animal Spirits of the Market Economy.

     

    I would cheer.

  34. 34.

    Emma

    Chiming in very late to add that my mom flew back to Singapore from Washington state a few days ago and is in her 3rd full day of quarantine at home. Seems that the government uses a spot-check system very similar to HK’s and Taiwan’s, where you have to have location services on, so that when a government official texts you, they know where you are when you respond. Spot-checking twice a day, so far.

    If Amir Khalid by some miracle reads this, can he elucidate on whether he thinks the political insanity going on with Malaysia’s PM-not-PM is impacting the response to COVID-19? Are the Agong and sultans doing anything concrete?

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