Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

flying SW FLL to San Diego in a few weeks. the fact that they are having any holiday bonuses at all is surprising.

 

Still misleading the American people with phony figures. Inexcusable.

Trump makes misleading comparison between coronavirus and the flu

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/10/06/trump-kills-stimulus-talks/

 

HHS whistleblower resigns from CDC. Can no longer work for the great orange one and do so ethically. trump has dismantled so many good agencies.

HHS whistleblower Rick Bright resigns from government

Rick Bright, the federal vaccine chief-turned-whistleblower who was reassigned to a different agency and subsequently criticized the Trump administration's pandemic response, has left the federal government, Bright's lawyers announced on Tuesday.

"Dr. Bright was forced to leave his position at NIH because he can no longer sit idly by and work for an administration that ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists, resulting the [sic.] in the sickness and death of hundreds of thousands of Americans," lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks said in a statement.
............................................
Bright was abruptly removed as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in April and reassigned to NIH, and he alleges that he was demoted because he opposed political pressure linked to an unproven Covid-19 treatment. In his updated filing with the Office of Special Counsel, Bright said that he was assigned "no meaningful work" at NIH since Sept. 4, further alleging that NIH Director Francis Collins "declined to support" his recommendations about coronavirus testing "because of political considerations."

Bright testified to a House panel in May that he was punished by Health and Human Services Department leaders for raising concerns about hydroxychloroquine, the drug favored by President Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus despite scant evidence. Bright also used the hearing and other media appearances to speak out against the administration's handling of the pandemic, saying that HHS had missed opportunities to prepare for the spread of Covid-19 and raising further charges of cronyism.

 

Arkansas Republican County Chair Dies of COVID-19 Weeks After His Committee Hosted Maskless Gathering

 

Parts of NYC shut down restaurants and schools

Coronavirus Updates: Orange County, NY closes schools in Kiryas Joel, Palm Tree

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman ordered all public, private and charter schools serving students in the Village of Kiryas Joel and Town of Palm Tree to close effective immediately.

Citing a three-day COVID-19 positivity rate of 27.6%, the Orange County, NY Health Commissioner ordered all public, private, and charter schools serving students in the Village of Kiryas Joel and Town of Palm Tree closed effective immediately.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday new rules to help fight COVID clusters, including closing nonessential businesses in the main and surrounding areas of a hot spot.

Coronavirus clusters have impacted several parts of New York City, including several neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn.

 

Interesting about Kiryas Joel actually shutting down their schools. Hasidic Jews, perhaps more than any group in this country, struggle mightily with mitigation measures because they go against the very core of how they live their religion.

 

White House Knows More than FDA Officials......safety data be damned.....

White House rejects updated FDA guidelines on coronavirus vaccine approval

 

"the White House believed there was "no clinical or medical reason" for the additional requirement"

Yeah, there is a lot of stuff this White House believes that isn't true. I would prefer they not meddle in medical affairs.

 

This is the kind of idiotic cr@p that is going to drag out this pandemic for years. There is not one person with a functioning brain cell who would take a vaccine that even the watered down FDA guidelines would not approve, yet the President says is ok.

 

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2029812

 

Not really. Mitigation measures are consistent with Orthodox Jewish was, a Hasidic or traditional. My synagogue was shut down between March and September. After a bit, Service’s were outside. But, it is contrary to Jewish law to have gatherings where those gatherings will create a risk to life. When my synagogue reopened, it requires masks, distancing, hand washing, not touching the Torah, etc. I still don’t go because I don’t consider it safe and don’t want to pass along the virus. Where preservation of life is concerned, all of our rules are set aside except that one cannot commit idol worship, murder or adultery. There are things that cannot be done without a minyan of Jews, but it is not a violation of Jewish law to not have a minyan and having a minyan should not happen at the risk of life.

 

In south Florida, the state is shutting down testing sites except for Hard Rock. The small uptick in cases matches the uptick in the early days of the post Labor Day uptick. We are now returning to where we were with respect to testing in April. As the fall starts. In GOP land, ignorance is bliss.Message from the Mayor: October 7 COVID-19 Update

 

Didn't mean to suggest that mitigation goes against Jewish law, only that culturally, Hasidic life is far more deeply rooted in close proximity community in ways that make mitigation measures such as social distancing a major challenge in these communities. Quite a bit has been written about this already, including by Hasidic writers themselves--some of it in response to extreme and seeming anti-Semitic laced criticisms. This as you probably know has long been a problem in NYC and Hasidic communities outside NYC such as Kiryas Joel.

 

I say let the Trumpsters form a line. A very, very long line

 

I nominate this thread for the most misleading title award....Should change the title to Coronavirus in the United States - Take your shot at Trump.

 

Fair comment. Go back and read the beginning of the Thread when the right wing posters kept calling COVID a blue state problem.

 

UK opened up and is spiking.

Tighter England Covid measures likely next week

Cases way up in last week