All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (11 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[superchuck500]

 

[SaintForLife]

Check out the whole thread from the Director of the John Hopkins Center for Health Security:

 

[Andrus]

Hey guys... Naked linking, remember? Please don't post links without commentary.

 

[Taurus]

Bogus Russia collusion investigation panic.
Bogus Ukraine impeachment panic.

Neither were bogus and you know it.

 

[Taurus]

Check out the whole thread from the Director of the John Hopkins Center for Health Security:

That data collation would be much easier under most of the universal healthcare plans.
If they all feed into the same EMR system, pulling useful data is just a matter of running the right queries.
As it is, we can only track the grossest of trends.

 

[SaintForLife]

Dr Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner, said the Coronavirus will peak in April, in May we could possibly start to turn the corner, and by Summer then normal life can begin to return. He wrote this:

National Coronavirus Response: A Road Map to Reopening

This report provides a road map for navigating through the current COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. It outlines specific directions for adapting our public-health strategy as we limit the epidemic spread of COVID-19.

www.aei.org

 

[SaintForLife]

Just as we all expected in regards to China lying about their deaths:

 

[Optimus Prime]

.......The divergent approaches are evidence that not even a global pandemic can bridge the gaping political divisions of the Trump era.

The fierce tribalism that has characterized debates over immigration, taxes and health care is now coloring policy-making during a coronavirus outbreak that threatens countless lives and local economies across nation.

There are exceptions, but Republican leaders have been far more likely to resist the most aggressive social distancing measures, emboldened by President Donald Trump’s initial rosy outlook and a smaller early caseload in their more rural communities across middle America.

But in the more crowded population centers on the East and West coasts where the disease first appeared, the Democrats in charge have been more willing to embrace strict steps such as curfews, sweeping business closures and law enforcement assistance.

“This epidemic has been a window into our politics,” said Larry Levitt, who leads health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been tracking responses. “Particularly over the past couple of weeks, a political divide has emerged.”......

Many conservatives welcome the president’s preference to loosen restrictions.

“They have no right to tell me I need to stay in my house. They cannot impose a travel ban on me. They can’t. it’s unconstitutional,” said Texas-based activist Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots who now leads the Convention of States Project.

Meckler began conversations in recent days with other grassroots conservatives leaders to explore the possibility of filing lawsuits to block some of the more aggressive social distancing measures.

In the meantime, he’s encouraging like-minded conservatives to embrace “peaceful resistance.”

“I’m not going along with it,” Meckler said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t be smart, but we don’t want to be sheep.”.......

Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide

NEW YORK (AP) — In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has instituted a shutdown on a city of nearly 4 million people and threatened uncooperative business owners with power shutoffs and arrest.

apnews.com

 

[Nebaghead]

The "B" in "NBC" stands for the Biological component of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare.
So long as there was a Soviet threat, we stockpiled and maintained an enormous amount of equipment dedicated toward countering a biological threat on a strategic level.
For decades, the greatest fear for a pandemic was a Soviet-engineered contagion, released overtly or covertly to take down our armed forces on a regional or global level.
Once that threat evaporated, there was a huge down-sizing. The demarcation line between biological military threat and response versus civilian pandemic threat and response blurred. We continued cutting back.
The prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did not include a biological warfare component, except as a perceived terrorist threat which never actually manifested. So, the cutbacks continued.
Even so, as of 2018, the National Strategic Stockpile included over $8 billion worth of equipment. As with any strategic reserve, the concern is that if it's used for an on-going emergency, what happens if an attack occurs?
There have been calls by the media to dip further into these strategic reserves and reassign Active Duty troops to pandemic-related missions.
That's a commander-in-chief call.

https://www.phe.gov/about/sns/Pages/default.aspx

chemm server

When I was in the Reserves, we had the BIO gear in our warehouse. We used to have to inventory it every year. A couple of us joked about taking some home in case something happened. I still have my tent stakes and shelter half, so at least I am covered there.

 

[Lapaz]

I truly don’t think you’re implying that only the Republicans induce and incite panic, are you?

Nothing is 100%, but Republican leadership has been much worse. You tried to claim that they were comparable, but that is far from the truth. Republican leadership has been far worse, because first they were dismissive and second they frequently gave misinformation, and 3rd they've undermined the trust in our institutions, so their constituents have been slow to take the virus seriously. Most of the panic has been induced by misinformation from Trump. Most Democratic leaders are giving sound information. The only Democratic leader that I think has done poorly is DeBlasio, since he was as dismissive of the virus as Trump when the virus was just starting to spread. Until a couple of days ago, Trump was still saying we should re-open areas that aren't hard hit, but there are 2 problems with that. #1 it will cause the virus to surge in those areas, because #2 we haven't done widespread testing in most areas to be able to know that there aren't many more people infected in those areas.

China and other countries have given us a blueprint on stopping the spread, and none of them limited their measures to 2 to 3 weeks. All have needed closer to 2 months and widespread testing. We've only been doing widespread testing for about 1 week, so we need 4 to 6 more weeks of widespread testing, including blood tests to see who has and has had the virus.

 

[Nebaghead]

Just as we all expected in regards to China lying about their deaths:

China's cover up is nefarious. With as large as their population is and the amount of people who live in apartments and in close proximity to each other, they should have way higher numbers. I've been playing with a data model at work to correlate confirmed cases with an impact to our business. You look at all the countries growths and China's doesn't match the pattern. Even during the peak it is questionable. Using how it impacted New York, I would put it closer to half a million cases in China.

 

[Lapaz]

Bogus Russia collusion investigation panic.
Bogus Ukraine impeachment panic.

I guess you don't value your credibility, because Trump was guilty of collusion (not conspiring) with Russia and extorting Ukraine. The only reason he wasn't impeached for either of those is due to the vapid Republican party. If that is your standard for bogus, then you're either not very smart or not very honest. I think you're smart, so that only leaves one choice.

 

[Beach Friends]

Nothing is 100%, but Republican leadership has been much worse. You tried to claim that they were comparable, but that is far from the truth. Republican leadership has been far worse, because first they were dismissive and second they frequently gave misinformation, and 3rd they've undermined the trust in our institutions, so their constituents have been slow to take the virus seriously. Most of the panic has been induced by misinformation from Trump. Most Democratic leaders are giving sound information. The only Democratic leader that I think has done poorly is DeBlasio, since he was as dismissive of the virus as Trump when the virus was just starting to spread. Until a couple of days ago, Trump was still saying we should re-open areas that aren't hard hit, but there are 2 problems with that. #1 it will cause the virus to surge in those areas, because #2 we haven't done widespread testing in most areas to be able to know that there aren't many more people infected in those areas.

China and other countries have given us a blueprint on stopping the spread, and none of them limited their measures to 2 to 3 weeks. All have needed closer to 2 months and widespread testing. We've only been doing widespread testing for about 1 week, so we need 4 to 6 more weeks of widespread testing, including blood tests to see who has and has had the virus.

Just wanted to put a flag down here, Lapaz thinks China has given us the blueprint.

 

[Lapaz]

This Covid-19 response is very instructive. Republicans were dismissive of the virus for far too long, and we are now going to lose many more lives than we should. Similarly, Republicans are dismissive of other impending crisis like Climate Change, and will only take it seriously when it is too late to prevent most of the disastrous effects. The common link is a distrust of science and public institutions. It would be nice if somehow science and institutions gain credibility, particularly among Republicans, after this crisis has waned, and if they realize that more proactive action is needed.

 

[Lapaz]

Just wanted to put a flag down here, Lapaz thinks China has given us the blueprint.

Are you saying China hasn't controlled the spread much better than us?

 

[Beach Friends]

Are you saying China hasn't controlled the spread much better than us?

It's foolish to believe a damn thing China says. Having said that, China is a totalitarian regime that invokes methods are inconsistent with Western values.

 

[Lapaz]

It's foolish to believe a damn thing China says. Having said that, China is a totalitarian regime that invokes methods are inconsistent with Western values.

I don't have to trust China, because South Korea and others have followed the most important lesson from China and that is isolation for a long period of time. The key point that China, South Korea and other countries can teach us, which is the key point that you missed, is that we need to stay separated for 6 to 8 weeks AFTER widespread testing has started. We're 1 week into broad testing, so opening soon, as Trump has foolishly suggested is dumb or irresponsible or both.

 

[Nebaghead]

I don't have to trust China, because South Korea and others have followed the most important lesson from China and that is isolation for a long period of time. The key point that China, South Korea and other countries can teach us, which is the key point that you missed, is that we need to stay separated for 6 to 8 weeks AFTER widespread testing has started. We're 1 week into broad testing, so opening soon, as Trump has foolishly suggested is dumb or irresponsible or both.

Trump did back off of Easter Sunday return to normalcy. It has been extended to the end of April.