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

[JA]

California Mayor is apparently trying to push the stay at home order through July (which isn't going to be necessary due to the case trend). Hopefully he realizes what that means and he will come back to reality, but expect riots if he doesn't.

I highly doubt there will be riots for that. I think most people have been expecting long lockdowns for a while now.

Through July? Lol no

Yeah, 4+ months of stay-at-home orders will not be tolerated well by many.

Too bad for them.

You must be one of those who prioritizes fighting the virus over gradually reopening the economy, a reopening process that would be attended with precautions. We've already seen the negative, and extensive economic impacts from the few months of shutdowns we've had. I think it would be in LA County's interest to adopt a "safer-at-home", phased reopening approach, similar to that occurring here in Colorado.

We are absolutely nowhere near prepared to reopen; look what is already happening to countries who’ve checked all the right boxes in order to reopen, yet are already seeing signs of a second wave. America half-assed its lockdowns, we have a large segment of our population unwilling to even wear a simple mask in public, have nowhere near enough PPE, and people think we are in any way prepared to begin reopening?

I'm certainly aware of the issues which we have seen for our reopening process, and it has been said for quite some time that there will be a second wave. However, would you advocate keeping large segments of the economy shuttered down for several months more? Let's say that we were to do that. What would be the economic consequences? The public health consequences? And by "public health consequences", I mean the risks associated with suicide, domestic violence, and other life-threatening diseases such as cancer and heart disease. These are in addition to the risks posed by coronavirus itself.

At some point, people will be forced to consider-as I've said before-their financial well-being, and balance it with concerns for their health. And many small business owners and workers cannot afford to be kept out of business for the duration which you propose. Unless if you welcome 30% unemployment, that is. And I'm certain, knowing your viewpoints, that you wouldn't.

You’re so close to a class conscious position, but you just can’t bring yourself over that line, huh? The response to that unfortunate situation is for the government to finally assume responsibility of securing people’s livelihoods. A few billionaires made obscene amounts of money during this crisis; as have other corporations and individuals well positioned to benefit. It’s time to halt this war of capitalists against workers; trying to coerce working people into sacrificing their wellbeing to maintain profits and this corrupt economic system. Anything short of shifting the burden onto the rich and privileged to secure the livelihoods of working people is unacceptable and will result in only more death and economic hardship.

We do eventually have to reopen. Now, I will argue we are doing it stupidly, and any reopening should probably include mask laws (I have changed my stance on this due to the inability of the American people to act sanely) and enforcement of social distancing when possible, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t  reopen. We can talk about government social networks as a way to alleviate some of the damage, but we can’t stay closed forever. FWIW, I do think Los Angeles should remain locked down now.

I’m not aware of anyone advocating permanent quarantines, least of all myself. But, at this stage, we simply aren’t able to reopen without hurting ourselves even more. We didn’t need to have such a prolonged lockdown; but Republican malice on this issue ensured that our lockdowns wouldn’t be as effective as we needed, nor do we have testing and tracing capacities near what is needed. I want us to reopen, but I want it done safely. Republican policy squandered the time we had during the lockdowns; sending workers back now is a right wing position that arises from their leadership’s realization that the disproportionate impacts will be on low income people, POC, and women. Since those groups are disposable, then business elites and public officials can easily reopen without putting themselves at much risk of death; the poor and POC will simply serve as fodder to keep the gears of profit moving.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Today is a really bad day for testing

[Skill and Chance]

Spain just completed a nationwide seroprevalence test, testing 90,000 people over the course of more than two weeks.

They found that 5% of their population had been infected.  

This would be about nine times the number of confirmed cases, which seems very plausible to me given that Spain has tested significantly more people per capita than any other large country.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/05/13/world/europe/13reuters-health-coronavirus-spain-study.html

IFR just over 1% for Spain as a whole if that study is accurate.  Matches very closely with the NYC antibody studies. 

[Grassroots]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

Ok and? Every state is significantly down

[Grassroots]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

Ok and? Every state is significantly down

Day isn't even over yet.

How many times do I have to say it. Your argument is invalid unless you are comparing it to like every other day at this exact time.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1260618505512120320

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1260618505512120320

Which is why I don't believe a lot of the numbers that are coming up from the tests because a lot of places use the Abbott testing and it's known that it's not accurate

[Frodo]

Dr. Fauci's days (in the White House) are numbered:

Republicans are increasingly turning against Fauci

But Paul’s line of questioning reflects an increasing conservative skepticism of Fauci — a skepticism that has grown over the past month in part thanks to people like him questioning Fauci’s advice. And a new poll this week reinforces that this skepticism is slowly taking hold: The CNN poll suggests a significant decline in GOP regard for Fauci’s expertise, when measure against other similar polls of Fauci in recent weeks.

While 84 percent of Republicans said they trusted the information they received from President Trump about the virus, just 72 percent said the same about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while just 61 percent said the same about Fauci, the CNN poll found.

That split in regard for Trump and Fauci is something that simply didn’t exist even a month ago.

[It’s so Joever]

Dr. Fauci's days (in the White House) are numbered:

Republicans are increasingly turning against Fauci

But Paul’s line of questioning reflects an increasing conservative skepticism of Fauci — a skepticism that has grown over the past month in part thanks to people like him questioning Fauci’s advice. And a new poll this week reinforces that this skepticism is slowly taking hold: The CNN poll suggests a significant decline in GOP regard for Fauci’s expertise, when measure against other similar polls of Fauci in recent weeks.

While 84 percent of Republicans said they trusted the information they received from President Trump about the virus, just 72 percent said the same about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while just 61 percent said the same about Fauci, the CNN poll found.

That split in regard for Trump and Fauci is something that simply didn’t exist even a month ago.

I dare Trump to fire Fauci, that will really help his re-election chances.

[Gass3268]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be the worst:

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?s=20

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260692925211488256?s=20

Lame duck showing its ugly face here. I wonder if Evers would try again once Karofsky is on the court, especially with Hagedorn writing the dissent.

[Skill and Chance]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be the worst:

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?s=20

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260692925211488256?s=20

Lame duck showing its ugly face here. I wonder if Evers would try again once Karofsky is on the court, especially with Hagedorn writing the dissent.

She doesn't join until August, but given Hagedorn flipped, he would presumably have the court's backing to act aggressively against a fall wave of COVID-19 and push the limits as DeWine did.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Hope the Supreme Court is happy when this inevitably leads to bad results.

[Gass3268]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be the worst:

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?s=20

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260692925211488256?s=20

Lame duck showing its ugly face here. I wonder if Evers would try again once Karofsky is on the court, especially with Hagedorn writing the dissent.

She doesn't join until August, but given Hagedorn flipped, he would presumably have the court's backing to act aggressively against a fall wave of COVID-19 and push the limits as DeWine did.

Another silver lining is I now assume Hagedorn wouldn't go along with the rest of the court in stealing redistricting veto power from the governor.

[Badger]

California Mayor is apparently trying to push the stay at home order through July (which isn't going to be necessary due to the case trend). Hopefully he realizes what that means and he will come back to reality, but expect riots if he doesn't.

I highly doubt there will be riots for that. I think most people have been expecting long lockdowns for a while now.

Through July? Lol no

Yeah, 4+ months of stay-at-home orders will not be tolerated well by many.

Too bad for them.

You must be one of those who prioritizes fighting the virus over gradually reopening the economy, a reopening process that would be attended with precautions. We've already seen the negative, and extensive economic impacts from the few months of shutdowns we've had. I think it would be in LA County's interest to adopt a "safer-at-home", phased reopening approach, similar to that occurring here in Colorado.

We are absolutely nowhere near prepared to reopen; look what is already happening to countries who’ve checked all the right boxes in order to reopen, yet are already seeing signs of a second wave. America half-assed its lockdowns, we have a large segment of our population unwilling to even wear a simple mask in public, have nowhere near enough PPE, and people think we are in any way prepared to begin reopening?

I'm certainly aware of the issues which we have seen for our reopening process, and it has been said for quite some time that there will be a second wave. However, would you advocate keeping large segments of the economy shuttered down for several months more? Let's say that we were to do that. What would be the economic consequences? The public health consequences? And by "public health consequences", I mean the risks associated with suicide, domestic violence, and other life-threatening diseases such as cancer and heart disease. These are in addition to the risks posed by coronavirus itself.

At some point, people will be forced to consider-as I've said before-their financial well-being, and balance it with concerns for their health. And many small business owners and workers cannot afford to be kept out of business for the duration which you propose. Unless if you welcome 30% unemployment, that is. And I'm certain, knowing your viewpoints, that you wouldn't.

You’re so close to a class conscious position, but you just can’t bring yourself over that line, huh? The response to that unfortunate situation is for the government to finally assume responsibility of securing people’s livelihoods. A few billionaires made obscene amounts of money during this crisis; as have other corporations and individuals well positioned to benefit. It’s time to halt this war of capitalists against workers; trying to coerce working people into sacrificing their wellbeing to maintain profits and this corrupt economic system. Anything short of shifting the burden onto the rich and privileged to secure the livelihoods of working people is unacceptable and will result in only more death and economic hardship.

We do eventually have to reopen. Now, I will argue we are doing it stupidly, and any reopening should probably include mask laws (I have changed my stance on this due to the inability of the American people to act sanely) and enforcement of social distancing when possible, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t  reopen. We can talk about government social networks as a way to alleviate some of the damage, but we can’t stay closed forever. FWIW, I do think Los Angeles should remain locked down now.

I'm in favor of Legally enforcing mask and social distancing laws in theory, but in practice I fear they will be a klusterfuk by police. Taking New York City as an example we over and over saw how white sunbathers in Central Park were ignored by the cops while young blacks congregating too closely together wound up getting wrestled to the ground and handcuffed on the pavement. The end result being that 35 out of 40 people in New York prosecuted for violating social distancing laws were black.

But then I guess that could be said about any new law. The chance, or in some cases even the likelihood, that it would be enforced on equally does it mean it's not at heart a necessary law, and cops just need to have a tighter rein placed on them.

[Badger]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be the worst:

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?s=20

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260692925211488256?s=20

Lame duck showing its ugly face here. I wonder if Evers would try again once Karofsky is on the court, especially with Hagedorn writing the dissent.

She doesn't join until August, but given Hagedorn flipped, he would presumably have the court's backing to act aggressively against a fall wave of COVID-19 and push the limits as DeWine did.

A couple years ago the seven-member Ohio Supreme Court had 2 justices step down oh, and one of The Replacements was Justice Dewine from Hamilton County, and yes son of governor dewine. Amazingly, while on the Hamilton County Court of Appeals , he never recused himself from any case before him argue by the Attorney General's office even while his father was a g. That's a good lead into what happened next.

Weeks before the two old justices stepped down, there were two important criminal cases decided by 4-3 margins interpreting laws in favor of the defense. In both cases the government filed a motion to reconsider these decisions that were handed down in mid-December, and when Justice dewine took the bench he joined the original Three dissenters in granting the motion to reconsider as well as reversing the Court's decision rendered barely a month earlier. Stare decisis be damned, the court granted a ruling based on power rather than jurisprudence. It still pisses me off to this day.

And you know what? As revolting as I find that, anymore I feel like progressives are continuing to play Marquis of Queensbury rules versus right-wingers perpetually taking sucker punches and low blows. I don't care if I sound like a hypocrite. I would give it exactly zero f**** if once Kelly steps down she and the three dissenters hear reverse this law.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Hope the Supreme Court is happy when this inevitably leads to bad results.

Right-wing judges don't care about outcomes, only about naked exercise of power.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be the worst:

https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?s=20
https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260692925211488256?s=20
Lame duck showing its ugly face here. I wonder if Evers would try again once Karofsky is on the court, especially with Hagedorn writing the dissent.

Evers should just say, "The Court has made its decision.  Now let them enforce it."

[Gass3268]

Dane County will continue to keep the restrictions.

https://twitter.com/MayorOfMadison/status/1260705606098395140?s=20

[Grassroots]

Dane County will continue to keep the restrictions.

https://twitter.com/MayorOfMadison/status/1260705606098395140?s=20

"Safer at Home" is not a stay at home order.

[Grassroots]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

Ok and? Every state is significantly down

Looks like I take the W here.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1260684894042234881

[GeorgiaModerate]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

Ok and? Every state is significantly down

Looks like I take the W here.

Don't make this a competition (that goes for everyone, not just you).  This is too serious a matter.

[emailking]

There is no "W" here. No matter how many tests are done, the continued loss of life is tragic and a huge loss, for everyone.

[Koharu]

I'm so glad to be living in Dane county right now, but I live in the outskirts in a town that is frequented by folks from Green and Iowa counties.

I also can't believe they struck it down effective immediately, rather than with the six-day stay that Republicans requested. Business owners are going to have really difficult decisions in front of them.

For those curious, here's the statement from Madison & Dane County Public Health:

[DabbingSanta]

Looking at the responses to the WI supreme Court decision on Twitter really has me thinking. The left is so out of touch these days, it is unbelievable.  They are appealing to emotions and flat out accusing conservatives of murder without thinking of the true consequences of keeping these lockdowns in place. The death models overestimated this, which is good, and we need to open up, badly, ASAP. The economic toll this will have for the next decade is already immense. The authoritarian precedent this sets is also really bad. But you look at which party is advocating for what and maybe you start to see who is for freedom and who is for tyranny.