Tag: pandemic

Americans want to see what’s happening in hospitals now. But it’s hard for journalists to get inside.

Washington Post logoThe coronavirus pandemic has been likened to a war. But journalists are largely absent from the harrowing, heartbreaking front line of this crisis: hospitals.

In a disaster with an invisible enemy — no burning buildings or swamped towns to photograph — it is emergency rooms and intensive-care units where the day-to-day human toll of the deadly illness is most plainly visible. But a combination of health worries and privacy concerns has made it extremely difficult for the members of the media to go into these places and capture a vivid, firsthand portrait of this facet of the crisis.

When the New York Times produced a short Web documentary on one beleaguered hospital, it was with video clandestinely shot by a physician who worked there. Other journalists have been putting out the call to ask health-care workers to aid their reporting. But for the most part, the medical system’s struggle with coronavirus is a story told with secondhand observations and amateur cellphone footage. Continue reading.

Gov. Walz’s COVID-19 Update: April 4, 2020

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Below is an update on the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to Minnesota as of 7:00 PM on 4/4/2020.

Updates from the Governor

Yesterday, Governor Walz signed an Executive Order to lift hours of service requirements for certain truck drivers, in order to support the state’s agriculture community, while they work to keep Minnesotans fed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, there are heightened concerns within the agricultural industry about the decrease in the commercial driver workforce and the risk it poses to efficient movement of agricultural commodities. Executive Order 20-27 lifts certain regulations on hours of service, helping to facilitate safe and efficient movement of critical supplies.

“Minnesota agriculture is critical to both our economic health and our ability to keep Minnesotans fed and healthy during this pandemic,” said Governor Walz. “This measure will help ensure essential agriculture supplies can be transported quickly and efficiently.” Continue reading “Gov. Walz’s COVID-19 Update: April 4, 2020”

Gov. Walz’s COVID-19 Update: April 3, 2020

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April 3, 2020

Below is an update on the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to Minnesota as of 2:45 PM on 4/3/2020.

Updates from the Governor

Governor Walz today unveiled a new State of Minnesota COVID-19 dashboard that tracks the virus in Minnesota and provides the latest available data on available ventilators, ICU beds, personal protective equipment (PPE), and testing. The dashboard will be updated daily and is available at https://mn.gov/covid19/.

“During Minnesota’s Stay Home Order, we’ve worked to collect data, increase the availability of necessary equipment, and develop strategies to address economic and social impacts of COVID-19,” said Governor Walz. “This dashboard will provide Minnesotans with timely, accurate information about the data that informs our decisions on COVID-19 response, recovery, and resources.” Continue reading “Gov. Walz’s COVID-19 Update: April 3, 2020”

Thousands flood banks as federal small-business loan program has a chaotic first day

Washington Post logoFinal regulations for the $349 billion SBA program weren’t released until just hours before the program began, and many of the nation’s biggest lenders weren’t ready

The launch of a $349 billion loan program that is key to the government’s hopes of helping the nation’s small businesses survive the economic downturn got off to a rocky start Friday as the big banks in charge of doling out the money said they weren’t prepared or were limiting applicants to their closest customers.

Wells Fargo, Citigroup and PNC said they were still reviewing the program’s rules, which were released by the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration just hours before the program’s launch. JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, didn’t begin accepting applications until 1 p.m., after initially saying it wouldn’t be ready at all Friday.

Bank of America was one of the few big banks that began taking applications Friday morning, earning the praise of President Trump. “Great job being done by @BankofAmerica and many community banks throughout the country. Small businesses appreciate your work!,” Trump said on Twitter. Continue reading.

Rural America braces for coronavirus

The Hill logoRural health systems are bracing for a surge in patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, that could overwhelm small and underfunded hospitals in areas where populations are particularly vulnerable to serious symptoms.

The coronavirus outbreaks in the United States have been the most intense in major cities and suburbs like New York, New Orleans, Detroit, Seattle and the Washington, D.C., area. But experts in rural health say they know the virus is headed their way, and they worry that smaller communities are even less prepared to handle an influx of cases than their big-city colleagues.

“We just haven’t seen big numbers, thankfully, but I feel like everything I say with COVID I should end with ‘yet,’” said Jacqueline Barton True, vice president of rural health programs at the Washington State Hospital Association.  Continue reading.

The American South has resisted social distancing measures — and we’ll all pay the price

AlterNet logoAs you can see from the New York Times’ examination of travel patterns in the United States, there has been a wide and largely regional disparity across the country in terms of who was quick to self-isolate and who wasn’t. Most of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Upper Midwest, and the West Coast had issued stay-at-home orders by March 27. Other states that were proactive include New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, and Louisiana. The urban areas in Texas tried to be proactive even as their state government opposed them. The South, as a whole, did not instruct people to stay at home and the result is that their travel patterns remained normal, or close to normal.

This is going to matter later.

The inconsistencies in policies—and in when they are imposed—may create new problems, even for places that set limits weeks ago.

“Let’s assume that we flatten the curve, that we push transmission down in the Bay Area and we walk away with 1 percent immunity,” said Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco. “Then, people visit from regions that have not sheltered in place, and we have another run of cases. This is going to happen.”

Continue reading.

Democrats fear coronavirus impact on November turnout

The Hill logoCongressional Democrats are stepping up efforts to guard against a potential drop in voter turnout in November driven by the coronavirus crisis.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) are calling for a dramatic increase in funding to states to prepare for Election Day.

They worry the presidential and congressional contests could be wracked with difficulties if the pandemic is still upending daily life in November. Continue reading.

Right-wing media has turned a pandemic into an ideological purity test

Without a reliable adversary, the right-wing TV industrial complex crumbles. People like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are not Beltway policy consultants or think-tank lanyard-wearers; instead, as Fox News hosts, they are among the country’s finest purveyors of paranoia, ideological victimhood, and politics as a vicious personal bloodsport. Coronavirus, then, has presented them with a challenge. They can’t exactly thrill their audiences by waging war on the virus itself, in the blandly non-ideological style of the #FuckCancer movement. And with President Trump at the mantle, nor can they take too much issue with the federal response, as you can imagine they might have done if Hillary Clinton were president. Instead, they have been awkwardly split between denialism — initially accusing the media of overhyping the virus’s spread and lethality — and attempting to “own the libs” by accusing Democrats of distracting Trump from being able to properly focus on a global health crisis by launching impeachment proceedings.

A New York Times analysis of right-wing media over the past few months shows how this dynamic played out. As recently as Feb. 25, Fox News host Laura Ingraham described the disease as something liberals were exploiting as a political tool, rather than a genuine threat. “A coronavirus,” she said on air. “That’s a new pathway for hitting President Trump.” Continue reading “Right-wing media has turned a pandemic into an ideological purity test”

Rep. Melissa Hortman (HD36B) Update: April 3, 2020

Dear Neighbors,

We’re about a week into Governor Walz’s Stay at Home order — I hope you are staying healthy and safe. Minnesotans have done an excellent job social distancing, but we need to keep fighting to slow the spread of COVID-19, prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed, and save lives.

COVID-19 Public Dashboard

Today, Governor Walz unveiled a new State of Minnesota COVID-19 dashboard that tracks the spread of the virus in the state and provides current data on available ventilators, ICU beds, personal protective equipment, and testing. The dashboard will be updated daily and is available here.

During his video address, the Governor also highlighted the state’s priorities during the Stay at Home order, including efforts to collect data about COVID-19; increasing the number of ICU beds, ventilators, and personal protective equipment needed to care for a surge in patients; and developing strategies to address the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 in Minnesota — both now and after we come out of this crisis. You can watch the Governor’s comments here. Continue reading “Rep. Melissa Hortman (HD36B) Update: April 3, 2020”