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Reports of protests are overblown. A few incidents around the country, but nothing major.

5 (45.5%)

A few major incidents in capitals, but nothing much in DC.

5 (45.5%)

A major incident in DC, but nothing much around the country.

0 (0%)

More than 10 capitals have major upheavals, but nothing much in DC.

0 (0%)

A major incident in DC plus more than 10 capitals with significant upheavals.

1 (9.1%)

More than half the capitals around the country have problems with protesters, but DC is quiet.

0 (0%)

DC has major problems, while more than half the capitals around the country also have considerable trouble with protesters.

0 (0%)

Huge disruption to the day.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: January 19, 2021, 10:49:21 PM

[bodiddley]

As for the face mask fiasco.
If the CDC and US Gov't just provided truthful info to begin with, many more Americans would have been wearing masks nearly a month earlier, which would have reduced transmission chains.  Folks could have been advised not to buy surgical masks needed for health care workers.  Companies could have gotten a much earlier jump on producing cloth masks (that's what I used in Shanghai, though mine came with good insertable filters to block out small particles).

More folks would have been using scarves in the colder March weather, or other improvised masks.  My doctor friends here have said all along that the public doesn't need great masks, just adequate masks since their encounters are low-risk.  Though you can understand folks wanting the best protection they could get. 

My parents looked around and found they had a few N95 masks that my father keeps for home repair work such as sawing or other dusty generating work.  They could/would have dug those out and started wearing them in public 3 weeks earlier if the guidance has been honest.

Of course having a mask provides some protection form breathing in airborne viral particles.  And all along, I've been saying the biggest benefit of masks is keeping your own germs out of the public air.  Two layers of mask protection (yours plus others), and everyone who is infected wearing a mask is obviously a useful prophylactic step.  I'm still reading articles that mentions staying home, staying 6 feet away and washing hands, without mentioning masks.  I'd rank masks as 2nd most important, but there doesn't need to be any ranking.  you combine all of the precautionary steps and the protection level increases greatly.  it's pretty simple.

And btw, the 6-foot rule is pretty arbitrary.  Not like the virus comes with a pair of yardsticks.  And even then airborne particles can linger and float.  There's an animation model of a grocery store cough that is a worrisome.  I'll look for the link.  Not sure how accurate, but the idea that someone can cough, walk away and you cna walk into their viral cloud a little after is unnerving.  masks of course would help with that.

[facilitatorn]

Checked out Spicer's show tonight

Holy shit ------

Awesome.

Spicey’s eighteenth replacement comes prediscredited. The job description is pretty clear at this point. Any personal qualities are an unalloyed detriment to fulfilling the boss’ expectations.

For his role as a candidate, imposter president, and criminal laundromat, trump deserves to be physically assaulted with books full of useful and accurate information, starting with bound copies of all the vital briefing memos we’ve paid for and that he has never read.

[josh]

Last I heard those 30K stores where testing would pop up all over the US resulted in exactly 5 test centers, none open to the public -- just for health care personnel and first responders.  I presume part of it was poor follow-up and organization by the Trumpeters.  But also these stores realizing that it's bad for business to have sick people and health care workers in hazmat gear hanging around in front of their stores.  Apparently there are a few more now(?)

I remember about a week after the announcement seeing a sign at the entrance to a Target, indicating that this was not a store location for testing.

But yes, there are many more drive through testing locations now than there were:
https://www.goodrx.com/blog/drive-thru-coronavirus-testing-near-me/

As of April 7, there are 536 drive through testing sites on the goodrx website, which looks as if it is among the best resources out there. (I cannot vouch for the claim that there are that many.)

Most websites only list their firm's sites (CVS has 3 states, but won't tell you where they are in those states without your filling out a ton of information. And they have no links for other states they aren't serving. This is less than helpful.) The NY Post provided a link that ostensibly has the information, but its search mechanism is terribly broken.

[josh]

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/04/08/kayleigh-mcenany-white-house-press-secretary-past-comments-president-trump-orig-me.cnn/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

"Trump Doesn't Lie"

She's going to fit in perfectly there. Full of shit before she even has her nametag in place.

[josh]

This is an example of why the conservative citizens of the United States don't treat the virus with the respect it deserves:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/media/fox-news-diamond-and-silk-reliable-sources/index.html

Talk show folks who are actively boosted by this president and by Fox declaring that to stay home is to make yourself sicker and you need to be out and about in the community to develop immunity to COVID-19.

This is grossly irresponsible. Twitter did right to take down their hazardous tweet, but... they still have voices and so long as the ostensibly responsible folks like Fox and Trump don't denounce them, their lies and misinformation will continue to gain footholds.

[josh]

In tentative good news, yesterday was the first time in a month that the worldwide ration of total deaths to closed cases (or to recoveries) has decreased. It only dropped a tiny amount (0.23%), but it's still noteworthy.

In the U.S., our equivalent ratio is doing anything but dropping. It jumped about 4% to 39+% of all closed cases having ended in death. That's compared to the 21% ration for the world. The hope is that as more folks recover both numbers drop significantly. We see far lower death rates in some places than others, but how much of that is because of broader testing?

We're 11th in the world for deaths per million people (among countries with more than 50 deaths), but our number is climbing. We're 24th in tests conducted per million. That, too, is climbing.

[josh]

Ignorant, stupid, and insensitive - and proud of it!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-o-reilly-coronavirus_n_5e8e7f44c5b6b371812bad00?fbclid=IwAR2ZIsgc18ZoeJ7GHwOXwNEBg8uKT8W03t7zyyHpOCRnsxxiqzI6ZNO5G68

Bill O'Reilly says the folks who died from COVID-19 were "on their last legs, anyway."

[josh]

More tentative good news:
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/02/2004168117?fbclid=IwAR3AM6NhRBqDc7sR4Fmn25EGuRwKV5OADLqi9IZ289tzLf053HqH0XEQaGY

The blood plasma transfusions seemed to have made a significant difference for some COVID-19 patients in serious condition compared to some historical control equivalent patients - folks not chosen for this experiment, but rather whose records were used.

Too small a population and the recipients were also getting a variety of other treatments, one from another and several for some individuals, making certainty of cause of recovery uncertain. But this certainly suggested a larger, more controlled clinical study is called for.

[josh]

Less positive news, unfortunately:

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/no-miraculous-recovery-some-icu-doctors-say-hydroxychloroquine-isn-t-n1177556

'No miraculous recovery': Some ICU doctors say hydroxychloroquine isn't helping sickest patients
Many doctors suspect that if the drug does turn out to be beneficial, it may work better early on in the course of the illness.

and
https://www.salon.com/2020/04/08/cdc-quietly-deletes-hydroxychloroquine-guidance-as-study-hyped-by-trump-is-called-into-question/

CDC quietly deletes hydroxychloroquine guidance as study hyped by Trump comes into question
The publisher of a French study cited by Trump put out a statement announcing it did not meet "expected standards"

The CDC had previously said "some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing" and both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are "reportedly well-tolerated in COVID-19 patients." It also said that both drugs "are currently recommended for treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in several countries."

All of that language is gone.

Instead, the first line of the page now reads: "There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19." The page adds that "hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are under investigation in clinical trials."

[LarryBnDC]

You need a Liberty machine to fight the “looting hordes from Atlanta and tyrannical Government in Washington”





https://youtu.be/22ZwhgeFvf0

[josh]

And some more tentative good news:

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-COVID-19-treatment-shows-100-percent-survival-rate-preliminary-data-624058?fbclid=IwAR3pgHW63e9fsbyDjSz29PaqqMZsjUi0pdQqyoFn-lFZ3LLcRHTlBQM9l1Y

Israeli COVID-19 treatment shows 100% survival rate - preliminary data
Not only have all the patients survived, according to Pluristem, but four of them showed improvement in respiratory parameters.

[bodiddley]

But yes, there are many more drive through testing locations now than there were:
https://www.goodrx.com/blog/drive-thru-coronavirus-testing-near-me/

Thanks for visiting! GoodRx is not available outside of the United States. If you are trying to access this site from the United States and believe you have received this message in error...

Are those all the drive through sites --including those set up by local governments?
I was wondering how many at the 4 chain stores that Jared had supposedly lined up.

[bodiddley]

'No miraculous recovery':
Some ICU doctors say hydroxychloroquine isn't helping sickest patients

Many doctors suspect that if the drug does turn out to be beneficial, it may work better early on in the course of the illness.

Exactly what I surmised here the other day.
It would be miraculous if an anti-malarial drug happened to be the exact right fit to cure Sars-CoV-2.  If it can help people in early stages or those not too sick, that would still be good.  But more limited.

[Hairy Lime]

And some more tentative good news:

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-COVID-19-treatment-shows-100-percent-survival-rate-preliminary-data-624058?fbclid=IwAR3pgHW63e9fsbyDjSz29PaqqMZsjUi0pdQqyoFn-lFZ3LLcRHTlBQM9l1Y

Israeli COVID-19 treatment shows 100% survival rate - preliminary data
Not only have all the patients survived, according to Pluristem, but four of them showed improvement in respiratory parameters.

So many possibilities to be tested and given clinical trials. It would be a shame of the enthusiasm of
 an election obsessed president with no understanding of or appreciation for science forced researchers to focus on one potential path just so he can claim personal credit.

[kiidcarter8]

Good morning.

I haven't seen Trump discount other remedies being deployed/tried.