Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response

White House calls Arizona a coronavirus success story as state resets after huge spike in cases

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

Washington Post logoPresident Trump called Arizona a success story in managing the novel coronavirus Wednesday, as a new report suggested the summer’s surge of infections and deaths in that state and elsewhere has knocked the U.S. economy off its tentative path to recovery.

Hiring slowed dramatically in July, according to an estimate by ADP Research Institute, as businesses added fewer than 170,000 new jobs — far short of some economists’ predictions of more than 1 million — and reported a sharp falloff from hiring gains recorded just a month prior. Virtually no sector of the economy was untouched by the new slowdown.

Trump showed no sign of acknowledging the magnitude of the crisis as he welcomed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) at the White House and praised what he called a “fantastic job” in turning around what had been among the nation’s worst spikes in virus cases and deaths. Continue reading.

Facebook’s fact-checkers have ruled claims in Trump ads are false — but no one is telling Facebook’s users

Washington Post logoFact-checkers were unanimous in their assessments when President Trump began claiming in June that Democrat Joe Biden wanted to “defund” police forces. PolitiFactcalled the allegations “false,” as did CheckYourFact. The Associated Press detailed “distortions” in Trump’s claims. FactCheck.org called an ad airing them “deceptive.”Another site, the Dispatch, said there is “nothing currently to support” Trump’s claims.

But these judgments, made by five fact-checking organizations that are part of Facebook’s independent network for policing falsehoods on the platform, were not shared with Facebook’s users. That is because the company specifically exempts politicians from its rules against deception. Ads containing the falsehoods continue to run freely on the platform, without any kind of warning or label.

Enabled by Facebook’s rules, Trump’s reelection campaign has shown versions of the false claim on Facebook at least 22.5 million times, in more than 1,400 ads costing between $350,000 and $553,000, a Washington Post analysis found based on data from Facebook’s Ad Library. The ads, bought by the campaign directly or in a partnership with the Republican National Committee, were targeted at Facebook users mainly in swing states such as Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania. Continue reading.

‘Hell, Hug ‘Em!’ Gov. DeSantis Dismisses Social Distancing For Elderly

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday urged people to hug the elderly despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeSantis said that as long as people are wearing personal protective equipment, he sees no reason not to hug people when visiting.

“Look, I’m comfortable with the PPE,” the Republican governor said. “Hell, hug ’em! I mean, come on.” He added that maintaining social distancing of six feet during visits — as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — seems unnecessary because it’s “a reminder that it’s still not normal.” Continue reading.

Drop in new coronavirus cases in U.S. is muddied by reporting and testing snags

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

Washington Post logoThe number of new coronavirus cases recorded nationwide each day is dropping after peaking at more than 75,000 — but the declines are muddied by issues with testing and data-gathering in big states.

Populous California and Florida have the largest decreases in the past month in raw numbers: Florida’s average daily cases have tumbled to about 7,300 from a peak of nearly 12,000, while California surpassed 10,000 before dropping close to 7,000. Those two states also have reported major data snags.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) noted a big drop in daily cases, but officials warned a day later that issues with the reporting system were causing an undercount. Florida’s numbers, meanwhile, were disrupted by Hurricane Isaias, which led officials to suspend coronavirus testing at dozens of sites. Continue reading.

Test positivity rate: How this one figure explains that the US isn’t doing enough testing yet

The U.S. has performed more coronavirus tests than any other country in the world. Yet, at the same time, the U.S. is notably underperforming in terms of suppressing COVID-19. Confirmed cases – as well as deaths – are surging in many parts of the country. Some people have argued that the increase in cases is solely due to increased testing.

I am a statistician who studies how mathematics and statistics can be used to track diseases. The claim that the increase in cases is only caused by increases in testing is just not true. But how do public health officials know this?

Testing, confirmed cases and total cases

COVID-19 testing has two purposes. The first is to confirm a diagnosis so that medical treatment can be appropriately rendered. The second is to do surveillance for tracking and disease suppression – including finding those who may be asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms – so that individuals and public health officials can take actions to slow the spread of the virus. Continue reading.

CDC study finds kids of all ages may play key role in coronavirus spread

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have called for the nation’s public schools to re-open this fall, but a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that children of all ages are susceptible to coronavirus infection — and can efficiently transmit the virus to others.

The study analyzes a coronavirus super spreader event at a Georgia sleepaway camp in June. Several hundred campers (with a median age of 12) and staffers (with a median age of 17) were tested for COVID-19. Of the 344 individuals for whom test results were available, 260 came back positive for COVID-19, or more than 75%.

Of note: The highest percentage of children who tested positive were the youngest. The attack rate was 51% among those between 6 and 10 years old, 44% among those between 11 and 17 years old and 33% among those between 18 to 21 years old. Continue reading.

Fauci says family has faced threats, harassment amid pandemic

The Hill logoAnthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he and his family are getting death threats because people don’t like what he says about COVID-19.

“Getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security is just, I mean, it’s amazing,” Fauci said during an interview with CNN’s Sanjay Gupta on Wednesday.

“I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it and don’t like what you and I say, namely in the world of science, that they actually threaten you,” he added. Continue reading.

Warnings of ‘unconstitutional’ assault on Social Security as Trump threatens unilateral suspension of payroll tax

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday that he is considering circumventing Congress to unilaterally suspend collection of the payroll tax, a move advocacy groups and lawmakers said would be an “unconstitutional” abuse of power and a destructive attack on Social Security funding.

Trump said during a Covid-19 press briefing that his administration is examining a variety of potential executive orders should Congress fail to reach an agreement on the next stimulus package by the end of the week, a deadline Democratic leaders and the White House set on Tuesday.

“We are looking at it,” the president said of an executive order to extend enhanced unemployment benefits that expired last week. “We’re also looking at various other things that I’m allowed to do under the system, and—such as the payroll tax suspension. And so we’re allowed to do things.” Continue reading.

Trump Maligns ‘Bad States And Bad Cities’ Governed By Democrats

Donald Trump on Monday described states with Democratic governors as “very bad states.”

During a meeting with tech workers at the White House, during which Trump signed an executive order on hiring “American,” Trump claimed that Democrats had run “some very bad states” and “very bad cities,” adding that he didn’t want to reward any of them with relief funding for supposedly “doing a bad job” on their coronavirus response.

Cases have spiked in a number of states, including those run by Republicans, in recent weeks. Continue reading.

GOP lawmaker’s daughter blames Trump after her dad gets COVID-19: ‘My father ignored medical expertise’

AlterNet logoThe daughter of Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, called out President Donald Trump after her father tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

Gohmert had refused to wear a mask for months before contracting the disease. After testing positive, he attempted to claim that he got sick by incorrectly wearing a mask.

Gohmert’s daughter, Caroline Brooks, posted a statement on Twitter urging people to wear masks after her father’s diagnosis.

“Wearing a mask is a non-partisan issue,” Brooks, who is a musician, posted under her stage name BELLSAINT. “The advice of medical experts shouldn’t be politicized. My father ignored medical expertise and now he has COVID.” Continue reading.