Category: Health Care

An Unmitigated Disaster

The president of the United States takes no responsibility. Those are his words.

While the number of new deaths from the coronavirus has slowed, the number of new cases has continued to climb. The real question should be how many people have the virus that are self-quarantining themselves but are unknown to the data collectors. The number of new cases has exceeded 30k every day, except one, starting April 2.

Meanwhile the total of new unemployment claims in the past three weeks exceeded 16 million people (BLS figures). Bloomberg Economics created a model last year to determine America’s recession odds. The chance of a recession now stands at 100%, confirming an end to the nation’s longest-running expansion.

The “stable genius” did not believe there would be a widespread epidemic in the United States. He fired the entire pandemic response team in 2018. On March 19, 2020, former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ​called the changes elimination. He tweeted: “The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to prepare for future pandemics like COVID-19. Donald Trump eliminated it — and now we’re paying the price.”

This graph compares unemployment today to the unemployment during the 2008-2009 Great Recession. The United States is already in a recession and will remain that way for the first half of the year, according to a survey of 45 economists. The assumption is that everyone will be going back to work very soon.

In an interview on Fox News on today Friday April 10, Surgeon General Jerome Adams emphasized that “now is the time for us to continue to lean into” the social-distancing recommendations first issued in mid-March and extended last week until the end of April.

“There are places around the country that have seen consistently low levels. And as we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places actually can do surveillance and can do public health follow-up, some places will be able to think about opening on May 1,” Adams said.

“Most of the country will not, to be honest with you, but some will,” Adams continued, “And that’s how we’ll reopen the country: place by place, bit by bit, based on the data.”

Anti-vaxxers, are you ready to get your shots for coronavirus when it becomes available?

Tray of vacinnes for childhood diseases

The person credited with saving the most lives ever is Edward Jenner, inventor of the smallpox vaccine. The disease had a much higher mortality rate than the novel coronavirus that is confining many people to their homes right now; about 80% of children and 60% of adults who contracted smallpox died of it. In the 20th century alone, it killed more than 300 million people before the vaccine eradicated it worldwide in 1979.

CDC officials announced Tuesday that they believe the new vaccine currently under development aimed at controlling the rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 virus — responsible for causing COVID-19 — will be approved and ready to be utterly rejected by those in the anti-vaccination (anti-vax) movement by next year.

Anti-Vaxxers are terrified the government will ‘enforce’ a vaccine for coronavirus. Anti-vax groups on social media are claiming that the spread of the disease will lead to mandatory vaccinations and ‘unlimited surveillance.’ For most people, the news that a vaccine had been developed against the disease would come as a relief, but for anti-vaxxers it ties together two things. The first is, naturally, an overwhelming fear and distrust of vaccines; the second is a terrified certainty that someday the government will find a convenient excuse to enforce Orwellian degrees of control. This is a common theme in the anti-vax world, and conspiracy theorist communities more broadly: that every disease outbreak is a pretext to enforce a secret, frequently sinister agenda.

When available should we just let them die or force inoculations against their will?

The April Fool – A President Divorced from Reality

Quest Diagnostics had about 160,000 coronavirus test orders waiting to be processed on March 25, which amounted to about half of the 320,000 total orders for the tests the company had received up to that date, according to Quest internal materials obtained by CNN.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that there’s no longer a shortage of coronavirus tests, calling the assertion “just not true” and warning that no state has enough tests.

New Orleans Mayor appearing on MTP Daily said they needed 5,000 ventilators but have received about 150.

CBS News obtained audio of a call Monday between Pres. Trump and rural state governors about coronavirus. After Montana Gov. Steve Bullock discusses difficulty getting testing equipment, Trump says, “I haven’t heard anything about testing being a problem.”

At Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing President Trump said that there are almost 10,000 ventilators being “held back” from distribution because “the surge is coming.” Why would the government hold back ventilators that are needed now?

What is the first order of business in today’s briefing is an issue warning of deploying naval vessels searching for drug cartels trying to bring drugs into the United States. It was at that point that I turned off the press briefing and so did MSNBC.

The Blame Game – The Buck Does Not Stop Here

Donald Trump in the East Room discussing health care

The sign “The Buck Stops Here” was on President Truman’s desk in his White House office. In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, “The President–whoever he is–has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.

Sadly our current president takes no responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault. That is strange considering he repeatedly refuses to listen to the specialists in intelligence, health care, and every other department.

As president, Trump blamed “liberal judges” for rejecting his initial travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries. He blamed Obama for his own policy of separating families seeking asylum. He blamed the media and Democrats for perpetrating a hoax about the dangers of the coronavirus. He then blamed China for failing to apprise us about the pandemic, even though he was briefed on it before he took remedial action. He blamed a nonexistent Obama era regulation for his own failure to provide medical professionals with adequate testing kits for the coronavirus. He blamed governors for the lack of protective equipment for health care workers.

March 13: “I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said defiantly, pointing to an unspecified “set of circumstances” and “rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

March 27: The president blamed General Motors and its CEO, Mary Barra, for not manufacturing more ventilators to treat patients.

What’s next for our very “stable genius?” Or perhaps the question should be Mr. President, When will you take responsibility?

Coronavirus Confusion – Making America Great Again

Doctor Trump know best. Except he really isn’t a doctor.

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)Health officials in Nigeria have issued a warning over chloroquine after they said three people in the country overdosed on the drug, in the wake of President Trump’s comments about using it to treat coronavirus.

Washington Post reported that a man and wife in Arizona to chloroquine. He died. she is hospitalized in serious condition.
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Now the president is more concerned with the state of the economy than the health of the citizens of this country. It is evident that he intends to tell us that the emergency is over and we should all go back to work. Will anyone be listening?