Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response killed over 22000 Americans

On The Trail: A third coronavirus wave builds just before Election Day

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A new wave of viral infections is washing over the nation just weeks before Election Day, putting a new spotlight on a crisis that has come to define President Trump’s struggle for reelection.

For months, public health experts have warned of an increase in the number of cases that would accompany lower temperatures in the fall and winter. As people move inside more, they said, the coronavirus was likely to spread.

Those predictions have come true — earlier and more significantly than expected. Continue reading.

Trump’s Insistence On ‘Herd Immunity’ Means Mass Murder

Let us examine the Great Barrington Declaration with the respect it deserves, which is very little. The advocates, who include Dr. Scott Atlas, President Donald Trump’s preferred pandemic expert, argue that all these shutdowns are causing economic and psychological havoc that’s worse than the disease. Better to let the coronavirus infect the young and healthy, thus building immunity in numbers large enough to nearly stop the virus’ spread. The elderly and other vulnerable Americans can lock themselves away.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, most other Americans’ preferred pandemic expert, has called the idea “total nonsense.”

It’s true that the economy can’t be shut forever. But with a vaccine on the horizon, letting the virus just rip is idiotic. Why can’t we just minimize the transmission of the disease for a few months more until there’s an effective shot? Continue reading.

Obama blasts Trump on coronavirus response

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NOTE: This article is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

Former president Barack Obama delivered an emphatic rebuke of President Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic during campaign stops for Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Wednesday.

At a speech in Philadelphia, Obama said his successor has endangered the country and is “incapable of taking the job seriously.”

“Eight months into this pandemic, cases are rising again across this country,” Obama said. “Donald Trump isn’t suddenly going to protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself,” Continue reading.

With 219,000 Dead, Trump Says Media Are ‘Dumb Bastards’ For Reporting On Covid-19

Donald Trump referred to journalists reporting on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as “dumb bastards” during a campaign rally in Arizona on Monday.

“They’re getting tired of the pandemic, aren’t they? Getting tired of the pandemic. You turn on CNN, that’s all they cover,” said Trump, pointing to the press at the back of the crowd. “You know why? They’re trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren’t buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards. They’re not buying it.”

More than 219,770 Americans have died from the virus so far, and the death toll continues to rise by the hundreds every day. Continue reading.

Live updates: Nearly 300,000 more people have died in U.S. than in a typical year because of coronavirus

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NOTE: This article is being provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

The novel coronavirus has caused about 285,000 more deaths in the United Statesbetween Feb. 1 and Sept. 16 than in an average year, according to a Tuesday report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The health agency said that people ages 25 to 44 were particularly hit hard, with an “excess death” rate shooting up 26.5 percent over that in past years. Racial and ethnic minority groups, including Black Americans and Latinos, were found to be among the hardest hit. View the post and feed here.

What Fans of ‘Herd Immunity’ Don’t Tell You

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A proposal to let people with low risk of infection live without constraint could lead to a million or more preventable deaths.

No matter their politics, people nearly always listen to those who say what they want to hear.

Hence, it is no surprise that the White House and several governors are now paying close attention to the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a proposal written by a group of well-credentialed scientists who want to shift Covid-19 policy toward achieving herd immunity — the point at which enough people have become immune to the virus that its spread becomes unlikely.

They would do this by allowing “those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally.” This, they say, will allow people “to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection.” Continue reading.

CDC to passengers and workers: Wear a mask when you are on a plane, train, bus or other public transit

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strongly recommended in newly issued guidelines that all passengers and workers on planes, trains, buses and other public transportation wear masks to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The guidance was issued following pressure from the airline industry and amid surging cases of the coronavirus and strong evidence on the effectiveness of masks in curbing transmission, according to CDC officials.

The recommendations fall short of what transportation industry leaders and unions had sought, and come long after evidence in favor of mask-wearing was well established. Continue reading.

10 States Report Record High Covid-19 Cases As U.S. Surpasses 8 Million

TOPLINE: Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that the country is “turning the corner” on the coronavirus, on Friday, 10 states reported their highest number of new coronavirus infections since the very beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the same that the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the United States surpassed 8 million.

KEY FACTS

  • At least 909 new coronavirus deaths and 70,451 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Friday, according to a New York Times database. 
  • It’s the first time more than 70,000 cases have been reported in a single day since July 24th. 
  • Over the past week, there have been an average of 56,040 new cases per day, a massive increase of nearly 30% from the daily average just two weeks earlier.
  • Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming all reported their highest daily Covid-19 case count to date on Friday. Continue reading.