COVID-19 Megathread 5: The Trumps catch COVID-19

[Torrain]

Looks like Trump got duped by a cult, y'all.

The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “miracle cure” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week.

In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.

A few days after Grenon dispatched his letter, Trump went on national TV at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted the idea that disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus. To the astonishment of medical experts, the US president said that disinfectant “knocks it out in a minute. One minute!”

Grenon styles himself as “archbishop” of Genesis II – a Florida-based outfit that claims to be a church but which in fact is the largest producer and distributor of chlorine dioxide bleach as a “miracle cure” in the US. He brands the chemical as MMS, “miracle mineral solution”, and claims fraudulently that it can cure 99% of all illnesses including cancer, malaria, HIV/Aids as well as autism.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/revealed-leader-group-peddling-bleach-cure-lobbied-trump-coronavirus

[DabbingSanta]

Please please please do not inject bleach or other cleaning products. Don't ingest them either. I've been busy at work and honestly thought this was just a twitter rumor. Trump says the darndest things.

[DabbingSanta]

In some ways I hope Joe Biden gets elected. It will fix the Republican party and we will have a way stronger and less insane candidate in 2024. My only qualm about the Democrats getting in is that it might reinforce their authoritarian response to the pandemic. A republican Senate with Biden as president may be the best (and most likely) outcome.

[Podgy the Bear]

At this rate, we'll hit 1,000,000 cases by Monday.

There are already over a million cases of coronavirus in the United States, and probably several million at this point, as the serology studies have indicated. However, why was there such a significant increase in the number of cases today? Coronavirus is on the verge of overtaking the Vietnam War in terms of the number of officially recorded casualties, and I don't think the White House's estimate of 60,000 is going to hold up.

I am sad to say that 60,000 is probably going to be reached by this coming Tuesday (4/28).

[Meclazine for Israel]

A couple of people have texted me asking about testing.

After Mike Pence's presentation, some people have suggested the following scenario occurs with increased testing:



Daily New Cases USA - https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

As a scientist, I do like seeing people thinking outside the box.

Are those "New Case" numbers:

• the addition of New York superimposed on other outbreaks in Boston, New Jersey, Louisiana and Detroit etc?
• reflecting under-reporting caused by testing levels not achieving scale?

Keep in mind that the green line is not the actual testing total number, but the diagnosed positive cases which may be stagnant due to an upper limit caused by the testing regime.

If the latter, will we see a sudden increase in New Cases as the US testing capability is being ramped up to an unprecedented level of 4.8 Million tests per month.

Food for thought as the numbers come out this weekend. Keep in mind that Friday has the highest numbers reported of any week day.

[wbrocks67]

https://twitter.com/smith31kev/status/1253889120767807489?s=21

.... we are in the thick of this and people are trying to act like going up a mere 100k tests in a week is a good thing? We're basically at May and nationwide we can only do 1 million tests a week. That is an incredibly horrific number and a great failure by this admin.

[GoTfan]

My girlfriend's in Oklahoma. How are they faring?

[Torrain]

Wuhan Is Returning to Life. So Are Its Disputed Wet Markets
Cars lined up this week at the main entrance to the Baishazhou wet market, one of the biggest in Wuhan, which is buzzing again. The Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged has stirred back to life following a lockdown lasting for months.

The challenge facing Beijing’s central government as Wuhan and the rest of the country seeks to return to normal life will be how to keep open such markets -- which function like a farmers’ market in Western countries -- while enforcing rules against the live slaughter of animals or sale of wildlife on site.

“Banning wet markets is not only going to be impossible, but will also be destructive for urban food security in China as they play such a pivotal role in ensuring urban residents’ access to affordable and healthy food,” said Dr. Zhenzhong Si, a research associate at the University of Waterloo who studies food security in China.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/wuhan-is-returning-to-life-so-are-its-disputed-wet-markets

I've got a horrible feeling that nothing is going to change on the ground in China

[Tender Branson]

At this rate, we'll hit 1,000,000 cases by Monday.

There are already over a million cases of coronavirus in the United States, and probably several million at this point, as the serology studies have indicated. However, why was there such a significant increase in the number of cases today? Coronavirus is on the verge of overtaking the Vietnam War in terms of the number of officially recorded casualties, and I don't think the White House's estimate of 60,000 is going to hold up.

I am sad to say that 60,000 is probably going to be reached by this coming Tuesday (4/28).

That is only the official number from hospitals and nursing homes ...

If European weekly death numbers of ALL people (also those at home) are any indicator, total deaths could be 50% to 2x higher ...

[Calthrina950]

At this rate, we'll hit 1,000,000 cases by Monday.

There are already over a million cases of coronavirus in the United States, and probably several million at this point, as the serology studies have indicated. However, why was there such a significant increase in the number of cases today? Coronavirus is on the verge of overtaking the Vietnam War in terms of the number of officially recorded casualties, and I don't think the White House's estimate of 60,000 is going to hold up.

Yes. I update the post from the same source every day at around the same hour. That's the net increase from yesterday at 8:00PM CST.

And, just from active cases alone and assuming not a single additional case take place after today, we're looking at around 100,000 deaths already. In reality, we can be looking at least a couple hundred thousand.

If states start opening up again in the midst of this (I'm looking at you, GA, FL, and TX), we can start thinking of parts of a million. This is really serious.

Georgia's reopening has definitely been ill-advised, but Texas seems to be taking greater precautions, comparable to those here in Colorado. What framework do you think should be established for lifting shutdowns? As I've noted before, I don't think they can be sustained beyond June. Nevertheless, it is very likely that coronavirus approaches or even surpasses the casualty figures of either World War I (116,516) or World War II (407,000).

I thought Colorado was also doing an (ill advised) early opening.

Not all of Colorado is, though. Denver, along with Boulder, Arapahoe, Jefferson, and Adams Counties, have extended their stay-at-home orders until May 8, which is nearly another two weeks after the statewide order that will end on Sunday (https://www.kktv.com/content/news/City-of-Denver-extends-Stay-At-Home-order-until-May-8-569909491.html). The Denver Metropolitan Area contains nearly half of the state's entire population, so they will still be under more restrictions. Douglas County and El Paso County decided not to extend the stay-at-home order, and they will be adhering to the "Safer At Home" guidelines outlined by Polis. Polis has also given some more flexibility to rural counties, that have been less affected by the pandemic, to enable them to lift more restrictions as practical. However, Weld County, where Greeley is located, seems to be going much farther than the state, and conflict has arisen between them and Polis. So we will see what happens there.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/DanWilbur/status/1253705434780893184

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/DanWilbur/status/1253705434780893184

President Dunning-Kruger.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

If I had a quarter for every time I read “Walls Are Closing In On Trump”, I would remain broke as I don’t read such drivel.

[Brittain33]

When I first saw Trump's allies in the media saying "Fake news, he never said 'inject yourself with bleach!'" I first wrote it off as the usual lying and gaslighting they do. But I thought more about it, and I realized this was their way of protecting their lives of their viewers, who uncritically follow Trump's advice... their was no ideologically approved space for them to contradict the President or allege he could possibly be wrong, but they knew people would die if they said nothing, so pinning it on the media was their way of helping their viewers without appearing to disrespect Trump.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

“The New York Department of Health, for example, made the decision in early April to count deaths in the state that were probably due to COVID-19, but the person was never diagnosed or treated for the disease. The addition raised the national death toll by over 3,700.”

Again, I posit: How can you possibly make any good policy decisions when you have completely inaccurate data. Beyond stupid.

[Holmes]

If I had a quarter for every time I read “Walls Are Closing In On Trump”, I would remain broke as I don’t read such drivel.

It's clear you don't read anything of substance or factual either.

[parochial boy]

“The New York Department of Health, for example, made the decision in early April to count deaths in the state that were probably due to COVID-19, but the person was never diagnosed or treated for the disease. The addition raised the national death toll by over 3,700.”

Again, I posit: How can you possibly make any good policy decisions when you have completely inaccurate data. Beyond stupid.

Because... as well as Covid-19 there is another mysterious pneumonia that is killing thousands of New Yorkers that no-one else has picked up on?

[Smeulders]

“The New York Department of Health, for example, made the decision in early April to count deaths in the state that were probably due to COVID-19, but the person was never diagnosed or treated for the disease. The addition raised the national death toll by over 3,700.”

Again, I posit: How can you possibly make any good policy decisions when you have completely inaccurate data. Beyond stupid.

Because... as well as Covid-19 there is another mysterious pneumonia that is killing thousands of New Yorkers that no-one else has picked up on?

This is how Belgium is counting Covid-19 deaths as well (by counting all suspected cases, even without tests). I guess by sheer coincidence our Covid deaths match excess deaths almost perfectly.

[Middle-aged Europe]

What the f**k does this mean? Can anyone decipher it for me, please?


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254145835450933249

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

How is the United States testing today I'm unable to see how many tests were conducted today

[T'Chenka]

What the f**k does this mean? Can anyone decipher it for me, please?


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254145835450933249

He's telling us he's mentally ill and thoight that he was having a convo with somebody else instead of Birx, even though it was on camera and everybody can see that he's wrong and/or lying.

Why he's sharing this out loud, I don't know. File it under "Crazy Trump Tweets".

[It’s so Joever]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-exclusive/exclusive-trial-of-gileads-potential-coronavirus-treatment-running-ahead-of-schedule-researcher-says-idUSKCN2262X3

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-exclusive/exclusive-trial-of-gileads-potential-coronavirus-treatment-running-ahead-of-schedule-researcher-says-idUSKCN2262X3

The Gilead stuff does not make sense to me because wasn't there a leak from one of the trials were turned out to be a major dud and they had to cancel it early because it showed no results

[Virginiá]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-exclusive/exclusive-trial-of-gileads-potential-coronavirus-treatment-running-ahead-of-schedule-researcher-says-idUSKCN2262X3

The Gilead stuff does not make sense to me because wasn't there a leak from one of the trials were turned out to be a major dud and they had to cancel it early because it showed no results

From the linked article:

Those hopes were dampened somewhat on Thursday, when details from a Chinese remdesivir trial in patients with severe COVID-19 inadvertently released by the World Health Organization suggested it provided no benefit.

Gilead pushed back on that interpretation saying the study, which was stopped early due to low patient enrollment, cannot provide meaningful conclusions.

[GoTfan]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-exclusive/exclusive-trial-of-gileads-potential-coronavirus-treatment-running-ahead-of-schedule-researcher-says-idUSKCN2262X3

The Gilead stuff does not make sense to me because wasn't there a leak from one of the trials were turned out to be a major dud and they had to cancel it early because it showed no results

From the linked article:

Those hopes were dampened somewhat on Thursday, when details from a Chinese remdesivir trial in patients with severe COVID-19 inadvertently released by the World Health Organization suggested it provided no benefit.

Gilead pushed back on that interpretation saying the study, which was stopped early due to low patient enrollment, cannot provide meaningful conclusions.

Of course they wuld push back on it. It's in their financial interest to do so.