COVID-19/Coronavirus thread

[The Beast]

Why in the hell can’t Trump just answer reporter’s questions without being a complete toddler? Well researched questions are not fake news and reporters asking them are not bad reporters. 

[hi8is]

1 minute ago, The Beast said:

Why in the hell can’t Trump just answer reporter’s questions without being a complete toddler? Well researched questions are not fake news and reporters asking them are not bad reporters. 

Because he’s not a president, he’s a reality TV star and shady business investor... who happened to get elected as president.

Oh, the irony.

[turnin' two]

22 minutes ago, The Beast said:

I think Biden brings us towards the middle, although he has to appease the far left with policies like the college tuition for families of a certain income. But it doesn’t have to be a Democrat to get my vote for any office, it can be a moderate republican like Kasich or Rauner who could as well.

It seems like the primaries keep pushing everything out wider and wider as candidates cater to their most frenzied supporters. 

[Quin]

58 minutes ago, Tony said:

Not sure if "most" is fair, but I agree with you. I've mentioned it a few times in this thread, but "woke" Twitter can be just as obnoxious as those on the far right. 

We need someone to cut the bullshit and bring us way closer to the middle. Just don't think that's realistic in 2020. Really, really hope I'm wrong. 

Yeah, the Democrats became the big tent party. You can have people like Manchin and AOC exist in the same party.

Meanwhile, outside of blue state Republicans like Hogan and Baker, the centrist Republicans have essentially been purged from the party. It's a direct result of the Tea Party knocking out people like Eric Cantor and Trump's populism elevating candidates like DeSantis and Kemp to governorships.

[The Beast]

This is also interesting, Navarro name dropped Dr. William Grace and Dr. Mitch Katz on CNN today. Grace was on Fox News with Laura Ingraham and Katz did a limited trial on the drug in question that only had a mild impact on symptoms. Links below, I call BS on Navarro’s claims and support Fauci who actually has medical training and is a doctor!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.amp.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/media/malaria-drugs-touted-by-trump-can-work-against-coronavirus-top-doc-tells-laura-ingraham.amp

[tray]

 

Health insurance is the primary issue between so-called moderate democrats and the rest of the Dem Party . If you are a Dem. and have good employer based coverage you should be in favor of keeping it.  If you don't, then I guess you may not be a "moderate."   It used to be that moderate and liberal meant something that had nothing to do much with health insurance coverage. 

My own opinion is the the employer based health insurance system is inherently unfair and that it has not been subjected to public oversight.

I would be fine with transitioning out of private health insurance  by  progressively ending employer based coverage and expanding Medicare.

I guess that makes me a flaming liberal.

Edited April 7, 2020 by tray

[Quin]

15 minutes ago, tray said:

 

Health insurance is the primary issue between so-called moderate democrats and the rest of the Dem Party . If you are a Dem. and have good employer based coverage you should be in favor of keeping it.  If you don't, then I guess you may not be a "moderate."   It used to be that moderate and liberal meant something that had nothing to do much with health insurance coverage. 

My own opinion is the the employer based health insurance system is inherently unfair and that it has not been subjected to public oversight.

I would be fine with transitioning out of private health insurance  by  progressively ending employer based coverage and expanding Medicare.

I guess that makes me a flaming liberal.

The thing is, most moderates support expanding to include a public option (Buttigieg's Medicare for All Who Want It as an example).

It pretty much comes down to keep the employer insurance or nuke it.

[StrangeSox]

I've been wondering lately, "when will it feel like normal again?"

 

Let's say everything goes really well and things start opening back up in May. When will you feel comfortable going back out to restaurants, seeing elderly or vulnerable friends and family, etc.?

[poppysox]

21 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Yep.  But we can't discount that he would make decisions to benefit himself instead of the country because we have seen that he is perfectly willing to profit from his Presidency.

You guys with your conspiracy theories are just plan nuts.  

[The Beast]

1 hour ago, StrangeSox said:

I've been wondering lately, "when will it feel like normal again?"

 

Let's say everything goes really well and things start opening back up in May. When will you feel comfortable going back out to restaurants, seeing elderly or vulnerable friends and family, etc.?

Not for some time, I’ll still keep my distance and go out whenever necessary. It depends on what developments occur with a vaccine, new cases and a second wave. It’s going to take a gradual return to any normal with the public feeling okay about things.

[The Beast]

7 hours ago, Quin said:

The thing is, most moderates support expanding to include a public option (Buttigieg's Medicare for All Who Want It as an example).

It pretty much comes down to keep the employer insurance or nuke it.

Agreed, I’m in favor of adding the public option and keeping employer based insurance primarily because of union negotiated benefits and because of the the number of people Medicare for All would put out of work.

[The Beast]

8 hours ago, Tony said:

He isn’t being a toddler. It’s an incredibly smart strategy given the set of facts he’s working with. 
 

1. He’s a terrible person that ZERO interest in anyone but himself 

2. He is widely unqualified for any job in government, let alone the highest office in the land 

3. Most importantly, he’s cultivated a rabid following that has shown time and time again they are extremely loyal to the Trump brand

4. Going back to 1. And 2., the media or “MSM” routinely calls him out for his daily mistakes, as they should. Well before he ever became president, he started his war against the media to discredit them. Every day, same message over and over and over again. We’re like 5 years into this, it’s just common place now. 

If you look at the common phrases he uses in his press conference, you’re right, it is the same message and playbook over and over again.

[Quin]

20 minutes ago, poppysox said:

You guys with your conspiracy theories are just plan nuts.  

Sanofi is the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.

From the Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html

Quote

Sanofi’s largest shareholders include Fisher Asset Management, the investment company run by Ken Fisher, a major donor to Republicans, including Mr. Trump. A spokesman for Mr. Fisher declined to comment.

Another investor in both Sanofi and Mylan, another pharmaceutical firm, is Invesco, the fund previously run by Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary. Mr. Ross said in a statement Monday that he “was not aware that Invesco has any investments in companies producing” the drug, “nor do I have any involvement in the decision to explore this as a treatment.”

As of last year, Mr. Trump reported that his three family trusts each had investments in a Dodge & Cox mutual fund, whose largest holding was in Sanofi.

 

[hogan873]

1 hour ago, StrangeSox said:

I've been wondering lately, "when will it feel like normal again?"

 

Let's say everything goes really well and things start opening back up in May. When will you feel comfortable going back out to restaurants, seeing elderly or vulnerable friends and family, etc.?

I think we'll forever be changed.  If things do start to open up in May, I think we'll see a slow return to restaurants and bars, movie theaters, etc.  There will always be that percent of the population that will view themselves as invincible and will be the first to the bar to get hammered.  But the majority of us will still practice some of the social distancing we're doing now.  I know for sure that my hand-washing habits have changed and will remain changed.  I believe we'll always be thinking about who might have touched a surface last and be suspicious of someone coughing.

Until there's a vaccine, we'll be more vigilant about taking care of ourselves, especially considering elderly or at risk relatives.  And once there's a vaccine, we'll probably see teh majority of the population opting to get it, unlike the flu vaccine.

[hi8is]

9 minutes ago, Quin said:

Sanofi is the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.

From the Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html

 

Stop it! You conspiracy theorists!!

[hi8is]

6 minutes ago, hogan873 said:

I think we'll forever be changed.  If things do start to open up in May, I think we'll see a slow return to restaurants and bars, movie theaters, etc.  There will always be that percent of the population that will view themselves as invincible and will be the first to the bar to get hammered.  But the majority of us will still practice some of the social distancing we're doing now.  I know for sure that my hand-washing habits have changed and will remain changed.  I believe we'll always be thinking about who might have touched a surface last and be suspicious of someone coughing.

Until there's a vaccine, we'll be more vigilant about taking care of ourselves, especially considering elderly or at risk relatives.  And once there's a vaccine, we'll probably see teh majority of the population opting to get it, unlike the flu vaccine.

Hard to argue with any of that. 👍🏻

[southsider2k5]

50 minutes ago, poppysox said:

You guys with your conspiracy theories are just plan nuts.  

Yeah, you don't get to pretend this isn't a thing.

[southsider2k5]

31 minutes ago, Quin said:

Sanofi is the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.

From the Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html

 

Its funny that it took this short of a time to get figured out.

[Chisoxfn]

11 hours ago, BFirebird said:

To be fair most of the left is the same just in the opposite direction.  I myself am independent as well because I don't identify with either party anymore.  I would prefer government more in the middle.  A president that could talk to both sides and come up with compromise that could help out both sides.  I don't get why all of a sudden everyone needs to be correct and it is my way or the highway.  Trump pretty much epitomizes what government has become...hence he gets elected pretty easily.

I felt Klobuchar was the closest thing to someone I can align with politically.

Agree with this a ton. It is why I am so disgusted at both sides of the equation with certain exceptions. 

[pcq]

1 hour ago, hi8is said:

Stop it! You conspiracy theorists!!

I thought Trump was promoting this drug because he loved us.  It was all hiding in plain sight. 

[caulfield12]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/health/coronavirus-coroners-uncounted-deaths-invs/index.html
Uncounted Covid-19 deaths climbing

[caulfield12]

2 hours ago, hi8is said:

Stop it! You conspiracy theorists!!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/20/family-matters-epipens-had-help-getting-schools-manchin-bresch/90435218/
 

I remembered the name Mylan from previously, it was the sky high epipen charges...when generic versions around the world cost fractions less.   

Look at the connections to the Manchin family, he’s barely a Dem but still counts.

 

Mr. Trump first expressed interest in hydroxychloroquine a few weeks ago, telling associates that Mr. Ellison, a billionaire and a founder of Oracle, had discussed it with him. At the time, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of television’s “The Doctor Oz Show,” was in touch with Mr. Trump’s advisers about expediting approval to use the drug for the coronavirus.

Mr. Giuliani has urged Mr. Trump to embrace the drug, based in part on the advice of Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a self-described simple country doctor who has become a hit on conservative media after administering a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin and zinc sulfate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html

So we have Giuliani, Larry Ellison (one of the richest in the world), Ken Fisher, Peter Navarro doing the Federal procurement of the drug, Dr. Oz (he’s as Fox News as you get)...as we said before much earlier in this thread, follow the MONEY.  Might as well add Sens. Burr and Loeffler.  Manchin (WV) family as well.

Edited April 7, 2020 by caulfield12

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/health/coronavirus-coroners-uncounted-deaths-invs/index.html
Uncounted Covid-19 deaths climbing

The post mortem on this will be fascinating.  There is no chance we get an accurate tally on cases and deaths while we are going through this.  It will be interesting when we have historical perspective to see how close and accurate that we are.

[Texsox]

15 hours ago, Moan4Yoan said:

“Black guy or woman?”  I will preemptively excuse you of your veiled accusation of racism.  But the Obamas were most recently in the White House prior to Trump.  I also mentioned the Clintons, just in case you missed it.

Serious question though — how are some people going to handle the next four years of their lives once Trump is re-elected?

I'm guessing like they have these past three years. Especially if once again he wins with a minority of the popular vote. 

These three years haven't been too horrible. He promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act and didn't. He promised to not golf much, and has. He promised to drain the swamp and he did, by moving the swamp to the White House. So overall I'm happy. Perhaps he can golf even more during his next term. 

[caulfield12]

This makes me feel a little bit better...but God knows how many countries/doctors/hospitals/pharmacies are ordering all around the world.  There was also a story over the weekend that India was the largest exporter/producer and considering holding it for domestic usage...haven’t see the follow-up.
 

Trump: We have purchased and we have stockpiled 29 million pills of the hydroxychloroquine, 29 million. A lot of drugstores have them by prescription — and they’re not expensive. Also, we’re sending them to various labs, our military, we’re sending them to the hospitals, we’re sending them all over.

STAT: Trump is mostly correct, but the units were donated by drug companies, not purchased by the federal government, and he’s actually underselling the number: It’s 31 million doses, not 29 million. Sandoz, the generic subsidiary of Novartis, donated 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate to the Strategic National Stockpile last month, and Bayer donated another 1 million doses of hydroxychloroquine phosphate.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/06/trump-hydroxychloroquine-fact-check/

 

We’re going to pass 11,000 in the next few hours.  Spain saw another surge in the last 24 hours, they’re at 14,000.   At this rate, US and Spain will catch up to Italy at about the same time US goes to #1 overall for deaths.   Something like a week now...of course, the US mortality rate is much lower, around 3% so far, but that also has been climbing.  The overall rate for the world at 5.6%, as opposed to SARs at 9.6%...months ago, we were all thinking 2.5% seemed like a realistic number, or even 0.75-1.25% (those who were trying to compare it to seasonal flu.)

 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by caulfield12