Coronavirus

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Jon,

May all your speculations about the future be correct.

They are more than plausible.

And they inspire hope, which is a very good thing right now.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

One upside to the pandemic.

Is there anybody left who doubts that President Trump will finish the wall?

Michael

[Peter]

I just went to the dump to hear the local news and found out there are now 3 cases in Berlin, MD, one a young male who works in a daycare (odd?), a 50 year old, and I have yet to find out the circumstances of that third case. I for one believe the local people, the President, and the CDC, but I also keep an eye out for those who seek to profit from the crisis.    

240689 cases globally  9967 deaths.  0.0414 or 4 percent are dying.

[anthony]

6 hours ago, Peter said:

 

The thing about Italy is that I'm not sure they did anything particularly wrong. In fact, they've done pretty much exactly what we have done: first imposing a ban on flights from China, then locking down a few local areas, then finally and reluctantly locking down the whole country. The only difference is that COVID-19 arrived there earlier, so Italy is just a few weeks ahead of us, giving us a preview of our own future.

 

No, seriously, look at this graph. The US and many other European countries are on exactly the same upward, geometric curve as Italy, just on a delay of about ten days. You will encounter a lot of arguments saying that this is all overblown, that we're getting carried away, that the national lockdown we're in right now is causing much worse damage than the virus ever could. Following President Trump's early dismissals of the pandemic as an attempt by the media to exaggerate the problem and tank the stock market (a self-fulfilling prophecy), many right-leaning commenters are still portraying the outbreak as some kind of media hoax.

 

.

Peter, In any graphs from some countries - and worldwide - I'm only seeing linear growth, a quite steady - for now - rate of increase, not exponential growth (the rate itself rapidly increases).

This exponential supposition can only be where insane predictions of 60-70% of populations from 'experts' are coming from. Perhaps - with a passive population and unaware, inept government it's possible. For example, as a microcosm and quite typical infection model South Africa has gone from 60 - 116 - 150 (today) in a week. Which is why, linear growth, some places have already stifled their pandemics, e.g. Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong. Of course being islands that helps with isolation. (And SA's govt is hardly the most capable, but we have the core of an excellent medical fraternity still, and no deaths).

Frankly, I find Merkel's and many Press and politicians' statements and choice of words irresponsibly stupid and alarmist.

I think Italy was a 'Ground Zero' of sorts, and suffered the greatest impact of almost simultaneous multiple infections from incomers, confined to a smaller, higher density area, in my inexpert knowledge. While some notice the same curve coinciding with the US for now, imo it isn't very meaningful.

[ThatGuy]

4 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Jon,

May all your speculations about the future be correct.

They are more than plausible.

And they inspire hope, which is a very good thing right now.

Michael

I hope so.
Right now, PA Governer Tom Wolfe just show down all "non-life essential" businesses in the state, with penalty for those who don't:

"Any business in Pennsylvania that does anything other than "life-sustaining" work must close its doors...
And if they don't, business owners could be fined, lose their business license, even be jailed -- and would give up the ability to file for disaster aid."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/coronavirus/pa-governor-all-businesses-not-life-sustaining-must-shut-down/2333625/

[ThatGuy]

And Fresno, California, is banning gun sales:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/19/ca-city-issues-coronavirus-emergency-order-allowing-ban-gun-sales/

[Peter]

1 hour ago, ThatGuy said:

And Fresno, California, is banning gun sales:

It does sound idiotic but I was wondering if the bi-pedal, semi-sentient "lower lifeforms" would think this is their hour to shine and rob a jewelry store or their neighbors. My 410 shotgun is locked and loaded and nobody is prying it out of my . . .  

[Peter]

2 hours ago, anthony said:

I'm only seeing linear growth, a quite steady - for now - rate of increase, not exponential growth (the rate itself rapidly increases).

Notice the word, "surged."

From The New York Times. The number of known cases of the coronavirus in the United States surged past 10,000 on Thursday morning as testing expanded and the virus spread. As of Thursday evening, at least 11,810 people across every state, plus Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a New York Times database, and at least 179 patients with the virus have died.

[Brant Gaede]

1 hour ago, ThatGuy said:

I hope so.
Right now, PA Governer Tom Wolfe just show down all "non-life essential" businesses in the state, with penalty for those who don't:

"Any business in Pennsylvania that does anything other than "life-sustaining" work must close its doors...
And if they don't, business owners could be fined, lose their business license, even be jailed -- and would give up the ability to file for disaster aid."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/coronavirus/pa-governor-all-businesses-not-life-sustaining-must-shut-down/2333625/

A chicken with its head chopped off running around. 

--Brant

[Peter]

When I got home from the dump and the store today, I washed my hands three times. I did have to get closer than ten feet at the store but that was it.

I just went to see what Hannity was saying, and he said we can prove China is responsible for ruining yours’  and the world’s life.

My question is what if China had acted like rational human beings instead of totalitarian barbarians? And what are we going to do about it?

Lara Logan on Fox. Italy’s death count is approaching China’s. Crap. She said America’s death rate is 4.5? Did I hear that right?

[Jon Letendre]

Everything will be stilled. Everyone will be with their most loved. Communications will go down. Everything that the targets in their many thousands must be denied, so we will be denied, necessarily. No phones, no internet, no radio, no “news” of any kind. Then you will hear dramatic things outside and see extraordinary things out your windows. Then the Emergency Broadcast System will come on on our phones and it will start to explain how the world is very different now. And we will have nothing else to do but sit and discuss what we just heard and saw before it starts again tomorrow. There will be no distractions, no “life” pulling of us away from the process of truly grasping how deceived and enslaved we had been.

[ThatGuy]

2 hours ago, Peter said:

It does sound idiotic but I was wondering if the bi-pedal, semi-sentient "lower lifeforms" would think this is their hour to shine and rob a jewelry store or their neighbors. My 410 shotgun is locked and loaded and nobody is prying it out of my . . .  

Some cities and states are relaxing enforcement...not just for non-violent crimes, but for robberies, retail theft, car break-ins, etc...

[Jon Letendre]

Q has said for over two years that Xi is with Trump. Trump said “the calm before the Storm” during his meeting with “the world’s great military people.” Q uses the phrase Where We Go One, We Go All, from the movie White Squall about surviving a great storm. The Q movement talks endlessly about the Storm that we have long known is inevitably coming.

For weeks I have written phrases like, another falls to the Storm, I mean the coronavirus, alluding to the suggestion that the latter is really the former.

Now Xi:

[ThatGuy]

55 minutes ago, Jon Letendre said:

Everything will be stilled. Everyone will be with their most loved. Communications will go down. Everything that the targets in their many thousands must be denied, so we will be denied, necessarily. No phones, no internet, no radio, no “news” of any kind. Then you will hear dramatic things outside and see extraordinary things out your windows. Then the Emergency Broadcast System will come on on our phones and it will start to explain how the world is very different now. And we will have nothing else to do but sit and discuss what we just heard and saw before it starts again tomorrow. There will be no distractions, no “life” pulling of us away from the process of truly grasping how deceived and enslaved we had been.

They're talking martial law in California, now, with reportedly Trump agreeing with the CA governor? If what you're saying is feasible, this is some 4-d chess on his part.
If not...

[Jon Letendre]

2 hours ago, Peter said:

It does sound idiotic but I was wondering if the bi-pedal, semi-sentient "lower lifeforms" would think this is their hour to shine and rob a jewelry store or their neighbors. My 410 shotgun is locked and loaded and nobody is prying it out of my . . .  

Get more shells. Single slugs or buck pellets if available, biggest pellets available. Get at least dozens of shells.

[Jon Letendre]

32 minutes ago, ThatGuy said:

They're talking martial law in California, now, with reportedly Trump agreeing with the CA governor? If what you're saying is feasible, this is some 4-d chess on his part.
If not...

Trump agreeing with Newsom. It was beyond impossible just weeks ago, right?  Newsom hates Trump, they hate each other. But look now at the incredible turnaround in Newsom. He was glowing last week about Trump’s administration getting him everything and more they promised and how great they are. He must have a gun to his head. And “agreeing with him” is a nice touch, isn’t it? For the lefties; their Newsom made a call and Trump followed. I think Newsom must be going along with orders as a deal to be spared execution. Totally controlled man now, which is very useful and good. Trump needs total shutdown martial law in CA as the enemy is deeply entrenched in a large area there. The takedown action is going to spill into commercial areas, retail, all areas, and the least number of people will get hurt if they are motivated to stay indoors at home. Final stages now, we are very close.

[merjet]

Trump-Mnuchin, Sen. McConnell, and Sen. Schumer have all proposed "stimulus" plans in response to financial hardships due to the coronavirus.

Relying on the news stories I have seen, Trump-Mnuchin's plan is stupid in my opinion. It pays everybody and hence is far off-target. Why send $1,000 to Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, the Clintons, or even me? Why send $1,000 to people who are retired, people who still have good paying jobs, or are wealthy? Sen. McConnell's plan is quite a bit better. His plan gives $1,200 to singles with 2018 adjusted gross income (AGI) < $75,000 and married filing jointly couples with 2018 AGI < $150,000. It gives $0 to singles with 2018 AGI > $99,000 and married filing jointly couples with 2018 AGI > $198,000. However, the link between 2018 AGI and current financial difficulty is weak. While Sen. Schumer's plan lacks detail, I believe his basic idea of expanding unemployment compensation is far more on-target -- people who were employed, but lost their jobs due to the coronavirus. Many of them were in low-paying jobs that were hit hard, e.g. at restaurants. His plan is probably slower to implement, but its aim is far better. 

[Ellen Stuttle]

On March 18, 2020 at 12:27 AM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

I keep seeing medical people say that many people get coronavirus and don't even realize they have it.

What kind of coronavirus, Michael?  There are four kinds which are common and which usually cause upper-respiratory symptoms.  They aren't the same bug as COVID-19.

I expect the COVID-19 4% death rate will fall.  It's heavily weighted by the deaths in Italy.  The US rate is currently running at about 1.5%.

(Incidentally, you quoted my post before I corrected a typo - a slight error in math: 1 in 25, not 23.)

Ellen

[anthony]

20 hours ago, Peter said:

Notice the word, "surged."

From The New York Times. The number of known cases of the coronavirus in the United States surged past 10,000 on Thursday morning as testing expanded and the virus spread. As of Thursday evening, at least 11,810 people across every state, plus Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a New York Times database, and at least 179 patients with the virus have died.

From this morning's daily headline: "Galloping coronavirus...". Excuse me, 150 cases yesterday to 202 today, in SA out of a pop. of about 50 mil. - is "galloping"?

Most people don't need scaring into self-preserving, responsible, considerate behavior by the powers that be. Not any longer.

An oddity. Sooth Africans are not infecting South Africans. So far anyway. Nobody seems to have picked up on this anomaly yet.

All 202 cases found and reported were of recent returnees from various overseas destinations - SIX, 3%, only, had not travelled abroad and evidently caught it here.

So some efficency and early preemptive actions by this government has to be applauded . Mostly the results of people with possible symptoms coming forward for testing. But enough with the hyperbole. Surged, shmurged.

[ThatGuy]

9 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

Q has said for over two years that Xi is with Trump. Trump said “the calm before the Storm” during his meeting with “the world’s great military people.” Q uses the phrase Where We Go One, We Go All, from the movie White Squall about surviving a great storm. The Q movement talks endlessly about the Storm that we have long known is inevitably coming.

For weeks I have written phrases like, another falls to the Storm, I mean the coronavirus, alluding to the suggestion that the latter is really the former.

Now Xi:

Any head-nods towards specifics on Q re: Xi? That sounds like a "if it sounds too good to be true" scenario...

[ThatGuy]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday opened the door to a radical shift in the U.S. government’s relationship to private industry as the coronavirus outbreak upends the nation’s economy, saying he would back the government taking stakes in certain companies.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-companies/trump-says-he-would-support-government-taking-stake-in-certain-companies-idUSKBN21634I

[Peter]

3 hours ago, anthony said:

An oddity. Sooth Africans are not infecting South Africans. So far anyway. Nobody seems to have picked up on this anomaly yet.

My ten year old granddaughter is with us today, and she is musing about going to the Galapagos Islands and I looked them up and they have no cases of the Covid 19.The islands are populated and have tourist attractions, hotel, marinas, etc. 

[Peter]

Ellen wrote: I expect the COVID-19 4% death rate will fall.  It's heavily weighted by the deaths in Italy.  The US rate is currently running at about 1.5%. end quote.

Right on, Ellen, we all hope. 255,729 cases world-wide      10,495 deaths    which is STILL .041 or four percent.

I have internet through cable and it is very slow this morning compared to the usual “very fast.” I am still pondering the following about selling stocks based on a government briefing. What if the Senators had bought food based on a government briefing? Remember the movie Deep Impact where the Sec. of the Treasury is discovered by reporter Tea Leone stocking up a boat with cases of food and Boost and Ensure nutritional drinks? Peter

Deep Impact (film) - Wikipedia James Cromwell as Alan Rittenhouse, the Secretary of the Treasury who resigns in light of the Wolf-Biederman comet threat.

Alan Rittenhouse: I know you're just a reporter, but you used to be a person, right?

Jenny Lerner: We know everything.

Alan Rittenhouse: Nobody knows everything.

From Newsweek. Sens. Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler Face Calls to Resign Over Stock Sales. Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler have faced calls to resign after it was revealed that the Republican lawmakers sold off stock holdings before the COVID-19 epidemic crashed markets. Both of the senators reportedly attended briefings on the novel coronavirus outbreak and publicly sought to calm nerves as they dumped chunks of their portfolios ahead of market turmoil in March.

ProPublica reported on Thursday night that North Carolina Sen. Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, sold between $628,000 and $1.7 million worth of stock on February 13. The stock dump came days after he co-authored a Fox News op-ed claiming the United States was "better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus."

Following the news of Sen. Burr's stock sell off, the Daily Beast reported that Sen. Loeffler of Georgia recorded a sale of stock on January 24 — the day of an all-senators briefing with administration health officials that covered the COVID-19 outbreak. In a Thursday night Twitter post reacting to the news of the stock dumps, former Democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang said: "If you find out about a nation-threatening pandemic and your first move is to adjust your stock portfolio you should probably not be in a job that serves the public interest."

"Burr knew how bad it would be. He told the truth to his wealthy donors, while assuring the public that we were fine," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted on Thursday. "THEN he sold off $1.6 million in stock before the fall. He needs to resign."

The freshman congresswoman also called on Sen. Loeffler to resign over her stock dump in a later tweet. "Senators Burr and Loeffler should be investigated by authorities and the Senate Ethics Committee," the Obama-era Housing Secretary Julián Castro said. "If the evidence suggests they engaged in insider trading, they should be charged and stand trial." . . . . 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

4 hours ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

What kind of coronavirus, Michael?

Ellen,

COVID-19.

The one the medical experts were talking about in public.

Granted, with fake news, anything is possible so it's conceivable they were lying.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

If the current world crisis was happening in my younger years, I might have joined these elephants.

They wandered onto a farm in China because the people that normally fed them were not around. The people were staying indoors because of the coronavirus  (see here).

The elephants discovered a huge vat of wine and got plastered.

Michael