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

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/funder/status/1255960473989677061?s=20

Fox being in that group is interesting.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Now they are saying we may be dealing with this for several more years. Are we still planning to shut the economy down into the mid 2020s now?

And after that I bet we will shut the economy down every winter due to seasonal cold and flu until 2030 when we are all required to wear hazmat suits everywhere.

We're not. We'll figure out a way to minimize risks and get back to our social and economic lives. Probably not in the exact same way as before, but a lot better than the current situation. Right now we need some time to study the virus and prepare for post lockdown management of the pandemic. Please don't think that "we need lockdowns now" and "the virus is not going away" means "we need lockdowns in perpetuity".

I am opposed to all the states reopening up next week. But right now it is like we have no plan on what to do to reopen the economy effectively.

Only thing I see is people proposing indefinite debt.

That ship sailed a long time ago. 

[GeorgiaModerate]

Now they are saying we may be dealing with this for several more years. Are we still planning to shut the economy down into the mid 2020s now?

And after that I bet we will shut the economy down every winter due to seasonal cold and flu until 2030 when we are all required to wear hazmat suits everywhere.

We're not. We'll figure out a way to minimize risks and get back to our social and economic lives. Probably not in the exact same way as before, but a lot better than the current situation. Right now we need some time to study the virus and prepare for post lockdown management of the pandemic. Please don't think that "we need lockdowns now" and "the virus is not going away" means "we need lockdowns in perpetuity".

I am opposed to all the states reopening up next week. But right now it is like we have no plan on what to do to reopen the economy effectively.

Only thing I see is people proposing indefinite debt.

That ship sailed a long time ago. 

The only way we get back to solvency is creating a situation where there are no longer any creditors to pay. Is that what you want?

Not sure if that was directed to me or jimmie, but my point is that this country was already in a de facto state of permanent debt; it's been obvious for some time that there is no political appetite for the combination of tax raises and spending cuts that would eventually bring the budget back into balance, let alone pay down the existing debt.  Personally I'm OK with this state of affairs.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Maybe I'm missing something but shouldn't we have the unemployment number by now?

It's scheduled for next Friday: https://www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/empsit.htm

[GeorgiaModerate]

Gallup, New Mexico placed under strict lockdown

All roads into the city have been closed, businesses must close between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. and vehicles can only carry two individuals, according to the governor's order. The governor is recommending that residents remain at home except for emergency outings and those essential for health and safety.

Lujan Grisham invoked the state's Riot Control Act to authorize these temporary restrictions. The move comes after the mayor requested the governor to declare a state of emergency in the city, according to a letter made public by the governor's office.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Conservatives rejecting remdesivir, still promoting hydroxychloroquine
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/02/donald-trump-coronavirus-remdesivir-229765

What a shame.
I never understood why hydroxychloroquine was so hyped when Remdesivir was obviously more promising since early February. I guess Trump supporters sometimes can’t think for themselves.

Trump and his followers don't understand the concept of admitting they're wrong--once they decide to get behind something they dig in and no amount of facts will convince them otherwise.

That’s why the Democrats should engage in as much voter suppression of predominately Trump supporting rural areas as possible, at least in the short term. I hate to say it, but it’s essential for our survival as a country in the long run.

No no no no no!  That "cure" would indeed be worse than the disease.  Don't try to restrict people's right to vote, no matter how good your intentions may be.  That kind of thinking weakens our democracy; fatally, if taken far enough.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I just went for the weekly grocery shopping and was happy to see that supplies are improving.  Some products still don't have full shelves, but pretty much everything had *some* presence, even toilet paper.  This includes some items I haven't seen for weeks, such as liquid soap refill bottles and fresh garlic bulbs.

On the down aide, the proportion of customers wearing masks seems to be down from the last few weeks.  Maybe 40% were masked, and many were ignoring the one-way aisles (which might be accidental, as it's new for this store and only marked on the floor at the end of each aisle).

[GeorgiaModerate]

538 isn't trying to create their own COVID-19 model, but they're tracking six of the leading models:

Columbia
MIT
Los Alamos
Northeastern U.
U. of Texas
IHME

Forecasts are available for each state and nationally, and for different dates.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Michigan State Police investigators are looking into reports that a Flint dollar store security guard was fatally shot Friday after an argument with a customer who refused to wear a mask in the store.
...
Michigan State Police 1st Lt. David Kaiser said Sunday that detectives are investigating a flood of reports on social media from people who say the violence sparked when the guard told a customer he had to wear a mask, a policy set forth by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/03/police-flint-guard-shooting-mask-family-dollar/3075515001/

[GeorgiaModerate]

Where do they come up with this nonsense? It's obviously not going to reach 3,000 a day.

That's not obvious to me at all. I would have thought it was unlikely, sure. But I have no idea.

The fact that the media even reported this is alarmist garbage, which is irresponsible, and is no help at all. I literally almost had another cardiac episode when I saw it.

They are literally trying to have an excuse to keep us locked down even longer.

I literally cannot take this.

Some advice for you and others having a hard time dealing with the stress of this situation: take a break from information sources for a while.  Avoid this thread, news sites, etc., for a few days, or at least for a few hours.  Nothing drastic is going to change in that time, and this is not the only thing going on in the world or in your life.  Try to focus on something else for a while, and you'll probably feel better.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1257372046897688576

[GeorgiaModerate]

Large metro Atlanta malls reopen, but shoppers are sparse

At Lenox, just a handful of cars sat in the parking decks and lots Monday afternoon. Few customers were inside and security guards were stationed at entrances to hand out gloves and masks. Phipps felt almost like a ghost town, with a few high-end retailers like Gucci and Tom Ford opening their doors but restricting the number of people that could go inside. At the Mall of Georgia, most of the shops that did choose to open were devoid of customers.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Regarding the leaked CDC model estimating 200K cases and 3K deaths per day:

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1257392630331293696

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1257432551683231759

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1257422726622519297

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1257740191399391234

[GeorgiaModerate]

A new Georgia hot spot is emerging in Gainesville, a northeastern exurb of Atlanta:

https://www.ajc.com/news/northeast-georgia-new-covid-hot-spot-emerges/ZgbPAH5CHeVQdDGy0KiJUN/

Poultry processing is a major industry in the area, although it's not clear whether the outbreak is tied to the poultry plants; the above article says it's not, but I've seen another that said there is a high number of cases reported in them.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/BahmanKalbasi/status/1258037663770259456

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1258087314561142785

[GeorgiaModerate]

A member of the US Navy who serves as one of President Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN has learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus.
...
A White House source said the valet, a man who has not been identified, exhibited "symptoms" Wednesday morning, and said the news that someone close to Trump had tested positive for coronavirus was "hitting the fan" in the West Wing.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/trump-valet-tests-positive-covid-19/index.html

On an unrelated note: would people please stop posting wide images and extra-long URLs?  It widens the page and makes it a pain to navigate.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/whereisdaz/status/1257586054363635714

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1258433129905340416

I believe this is the test the White House is using to regularly test the President and VP, and those who come into contact with them.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Record 20.5 million jobs were lost in April as US unemployment rate jumps to 14.7%

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1258770798564855817

[GeorgiaModerate]

Seeing so many people with masks makes me think of the Jack Vance short story The Moon Moth, in which everyone wears masks in public.  The style and design of the mask indicates the wearer's status in society.