All-time high
The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000 according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday, eclipsing the mark first set during one of the deadliest stretches in late April. It’s a resurgence that has led some governors to backtrack or at least pause the reopening of their states.
Wrong direction. Goal is down, not up.
… the Florida department of health reported that the state confirmed 8,942 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, breaking a record set earlier this week.
The Florida health department also reported a frightening rise in the rate of positive test results. On Thursday, 13.1% of test results come back positive, compared to 8.9% on Wednesday, confounding Donald Trump’s recent assertions, repeated on Thursday, that “if you did not do testing, you would not have cases”.
So…maybe…wearing masks would be a good idea?
On Friday, Texas governor Greg Abbott ordered a sharp reversal on reopening. He had pursued one of the most aggressive reopening schedules of any state and had not only resisted calls to order the wearing of masks but had refused until last week to let local governments take such measures.
Mandatory libertarianism.
And on Friday, just before the first White House coronavirus taskforce briefing in two months, the White House confirmed reports that Trump canceled his weekend trip his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Oh no, not his weekend golf trip!
He was severely criticized last month, when he went golfing over Memorial Day weekend as the US coronavirus death toll neared 100,000.
And there had been questions raised about whether Trump would have to self-quarantine in New Jersey because the state is currently requiring those who travel from states with high levels of community spread of coronavirus to do so for 14 days.
Earlier this week, Trump traveled to Arizona, which was included on New Jersey’s list of affected states.
Quarantine the shithead. Quarantine him forever.
And we get a lot of blathering about “quarantine fatigue”. Yes, it’s not fun to shelter in place, to social distance, to socially isolate, but seriously? Getting to the beach is more important than living a full life span? Walking through the grocery store naked faced, showing said naked face to within inches of strangers also in the store, is more important than living?
I guess there are a lot of people who haven’t gotten it yet who assume that means they won’t. Or they don’t believe it. Or something. Because if they believed it, and understood the risk, would they act so foolish?
His NJ golf trip was cancelled so that, according to the orange one, he could stay in the White House to make sure law and order was enforced. Oh, the sacrifices that man makes fo…..what?….he went where? Ah, he sneaked out to visit a golf course in Virginia.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/27/trump-visits-private-golf-course-us-battles-rapid-surge-coronavirus-cases
From today’s Washington Post (in case you need another reason that we’re doomed):
In the absence of a vaccine, wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and avoiding crowds is important. Except of course, in the case of Trump. He should inject himself with more disinfectant, fly spray and whatever, and also drink more Drain-O; as long as the problem persists.
I live in British Columbia (Canada) and as a retiree, I left my winter abode in Arizona earlier than normal when I began to realize that there was a deadly virus crossing the ocean (to both the US and Canada) so go “outa Dodge” and headed home. The other half has a compromised health issue (COPD) and we knew that whatever our health officials suggested, that is what we would do.
We had a supply of masks that we used when staining the fence and hauled them out of our 1st Aid supplies. By the time we arrived home, there were no masks available and (for some reason) not even toilet tissue on the shelves of my local super market. Entrepreneurs were grabbing them off the shelves and promptly advertised them on the internet (as well as other products advised by our health care professionals). Awww, the capitalist reign supreme!
I wear a mistake whenever I leave home, and only venture out every 2 week for foodstuffs. We even do the 2 meters with our son and his wife! So far, so good…… Good luck to all our friends south of the 49th!
“I am ready for any contingency! I have huge stockpiles of canned foods, and lots of guns and ammunition to protect myself! When the [Commies invade/ Zombie apocalypse comes / race war starts], I’ll be ready to hold out for YEARS, while all you liberal whiny babies will be the first ones killed!”
A couple of months into a pandemic in which electricity, utilities, and food supplies have remained intact:
“But I don’t WANNA wear a mask when I’m out shopping for charcuterie and chocolates at Trader Joe’s! It steams up my glasses, I tell you! I DON’T WANNA WEAR IT AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!!!!”
It’s a good thing that WWII didn’t turn on the ability of the American people to stand up to a Blitz of German rockets and bombs. These “patriots” would have surrendered the second they were asked to turn off their lights at night.
Hahaha too true. I just sent off my column for the Freethinker (which is UK-based) on EXACTLY that theme. (Mind you they’re being pretty dopy over there too – Bournemouth packed to the rafters the other day because it was sunny so everyone south of Birmingham went straight to the Dorset coast.)
@Lulymay
#5
I wear a mistake
Not a mask?
Just to be sure that as many people as possible had a chance of falling victim to COVID-19, the Trump campaign had volunteers removing social distancing warning stickers from seats around the arena in Tulsa prior to his rally. Thousands of ‘Please do not sit here’ stickers were removed against the wishes of the arena management, who were told by campaign staffers that they didn’t want any signs up regarding social distancing in the venue. Sweet, huh? And the result was that eight staffers have tested positive since the rally, so that’s on top of the six who tested positive beforehand. No doubt they’ll blame Obama.
Then there’s this quite bizarre order:
Is that how it works? Go to a testing station and ask for the result of one’s choice? I could understand them being told not to come to work unless they had actually been tested and the result was negative but that isn’t what the order tells them; it simply tells them to obtain a negative test. Maybe the tests are available in two forms, positive result/negative result. One obtains the former to get time off work, and the latter if one has a murderous psychopath of a boss intent on killing everybody.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/27/trump-campaign-stickers-social-distancing-tulsa-video
The completely awful Lori Alexander, who simultaneously believes that COVID-19 is a lib hoax and caused by BLM, and who has ridiculed mask-wearers, has bemoaned the lockdown because it prevents her buying beef tallow(!) which she uses as skin cream(!)
I guess it’s one way to get the dog to lick your face.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/27/texas-republican-party-convention-coronavirus-houston/
You know, the MAGAs’ determination to hold as many super-spreader events as possible may be the best hope for your country. The focus is on the death count, but the real impact on the economy is going to be the people who get sick from this and don’t die. If you’re not in the “lucky” percentage of people who have no or only minor symptoms, COVID-19 can lay you out for a month or more. I don’t want to see more people die from this, but it may take more people getting sick with it to finally get the message across.
Would be nice if your society didn’t have to pay that cost for its stupidity, tho.
Not only can it lay you out for a month or more, there are worrying signs that many survivors are taking a permanent hit to their health. COVID-19 is not just a respiratory disease – it can, and does, affect all organs in the body. Nasty virus.
Screechy, the thing is, during WWII, we did have to shut off lights. And ration sugar, gas, and most other foodstuffs. There was a lot of inconvenience, though nothing like being bombed as they had to endure in Europe. Americans pulled together (there was cheating, of course, but I presume there will be that in any society because there are always people who will cheat just to get away with it, and those who will cheat to get more for themselves).
My husband and I were discussing that the other day. 4 years of having curfews, shutting off lights, ration books that told you how much of each thing you could have…we would never be able to do that again, I suspect, no matter what the reason. This pandemic is a picture of our ability to pull together as a country. Some of us have it; many of us don’t. Right now, it looks like those who don’t outnumber those who do, but that may simply be a function of who shouts loudest. It woudl be an interesting study, I imagine.
@Harald
Yup. https://globalnews.ca/news/7111094/coronavirus-scientists-health-problems/
But acknowledging that requires that your interlocutor has to completely let go of “it’s just the flu”.
Baby steps.