Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

Heck, considering my qualifications, he could make me director with my complete lack of experience in the medical field. Seems to be the primary determinant these days. Nobody told me there'd be days like this. Strange days indeed.

 

This has already happened.
US underprepared for coronavirus due to Trump cuts, say health experts
Funding has also been cut drastically to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), forcing it to reduce or discontinue epidemic-prevention efforts in 39 out of the 49 countries it had been helping. Among the countries where CDC efforts were scaled back were Haiti, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as China, where the agency provided technical assistance.

President’s budget would hinder US public health progress: Huge cuts proposed
At CDC, a reduction of that magnitude equates to a $750 million spending cut over fiscal year 2019. APHA member John Auerbach, MBA, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, said the proposed CDC cuts not only threaten federal public health capacity, they would have a “devastating” impact on state and local public health departments, which depend heavily on CDC dollars flowing down to the community level.

“Local health departments are still down more than 50,000 jobs from where they were in 2008,” Auerbach told The Nation’s Health. “If large cuts like these were passed, it would seriously harm the overall capacity of state and local public health departments to respond.”

Among its proposals for CDC, the White House budget calls for a more than $236 million cut to chronic disease prevention and health promotion, a $146 million cut for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a more than $102 million cut to emerging and zoonotic diseases, and about a $52 million cut to CDC’s environmental health activities, including funding for asthma and childhood lead poisoning.

 

No problem, we can just build a wall to make us safer. And maybe even have someone else pay for it.

 

He’s also proposed another 20% cut in his latest budget...

 

Seriously, Kudlow being in on this is pretty transparent. He’s a former CNBC financial guy ... so he gets sent out to downplay an international virus epidemic becasue the stock market is crashing? Seriously? There is no integrity in this admin...

 

Your worry should be with Democrats.
Bernie's state is full of heroin addicts and the jobless.
The coronavirus will be a walk in the park compared to his policies.

 

The unemployment rate in Vermont is 2.2%.

 

“Vermont’s low unemployment rate is due primarily to our shrinking labor force, not to exceptional economic growth. We shouldn’t be too complacent about our low unemployment rate, though. Of all the states with rates below three percent, Vermont is the only one with a shrinking labor force.”

Vermont has 7th lowest unemployment rate in U.S., but don't thank economy

 

Who cares about facts like this? "Bernie's state is filled with unemployed people" sounds so much better!

 

Again, facts are stupid things and data don't matta so long as I get's mine. Who cares about the other guy? MAGA baby, MAGA!

 

Thanks trump?

 

Why is Vermont’s population shrinking in this booming economy?

 

4 out of the 10 states that lost population were in the NE. Probably due to aging population that either retire in the sun belt, or pass away. For Vermont, the population loss is small and not a trend. Last year could be just a one off.

 

The Corona Outbreak filtered through the drug addled mind of Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh Claims The 'Common Cold' Coronavirus Is An Effort To ‘Get Trump’

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed on his show Monday that the potentially lethal coronavirus afflicting several countries is nothing more than a “common cold” blown out of proportion by the media to take down President Donald Trump ― even as he also asserted it was a “bioweapon” created by China in a laboratory.

“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said at the start of his lengthy, misinformation-filled rant.

“Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. ... I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”

 

"We expect we will see community spread in this country," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness."

CDC official warns Americans it's not a question of if coronavirus will spread, but when - CNN

"China is working very, very hard," Trump told reporters at a business roundtable at the US embassy in New Delhi. "I have spoken to President Xi, and they are working very hard. If you know anything about him, I think he will be in pretty good shape. They have had a rough patch, but now it looks like they are getting it more and more under control. I think that is a problem that is going to go away."

Trump spent the past 2 years slashing the government agencies responsible for handling the coronavirus outbreak

This is when we see the impact of Trump's decisions to cut away at the science and public health policies designed to protect Americans in favor of political appointees whose only expertise is to be loyal to whatever he says rather than what he needs to hear or have expertise in the field. The response from the WH has been reactive and insufficient to deal with this crisis. Who do you believe? (Apology if this is a duplicate thread)

 

My bad - I see there is another thread on this - mods please combine/delete

 

Sounds like offering some tax incentive to entice businesses to relocate to Vermont would be advantageous. I’m sure bernie’s all for that.

 

I hate to piss on the parade here, but there are a total of 57 confirmed cases of Coronavirus with Americans over the course of the past few weeks. Most of them will not die. For perspective, there are 102 automobile accident fatalities every day in the U.S. I'm just sayin..

 

The phrase "crazy as a sprayed roach" comes to mind.