Coronavirus in the US

[doschicos]

New York City will release 300 inmates immediately over coronavirus concerns
From CNN’s Laura Ly

New York City will move to release 300 city inmates immediately due to Covid-19 concerns, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

All of those eligible for release are city inmates convicted of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, all with less than one year left on their sentence, de Blasio said.

De Blasio noted that there are some inmates within that category with domestic violence or sexual offense charges that the city has determined they will not release at this time.

There are an additional 100 inmates that are awaiting trial that would require action from district attorneys, so the city will work with their offices to determine whether any of those inmates can be released, de Blasio said.

An additional 700 inmates who are “technical parole violators” will also be under consideration for release, and the city will work with state authorities on those ongoing conversations, de Blasio said.

New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea commented on the decision to release inmates at Tuesday’s news conference, saying the decision was very difficult, but that he was in agreement with the mayor and that the decision was based on a desire to be realist and humane.

[suzyQ7]

Trump doesn’t call Dr. Birx by her proper title - he calls her Debra. Same with Dr. Fauci - he calls him Tony. Small slights.

[Iglooo]

It is well known that entering the labor force during an economic downturn has lasting negative effects on career and pay progression. Greater midlife mortality is another effect.

That’s why we should think about opening g up before long. Another generation of young people will experience despair so soon after 2008.

[doschicos]

@MomofJandL

Locally Executed, State Managed, Federally Supported. Everybody knew those rules going in, and it looks like that is how the situation is in fact being handled.

The first two parts of that strategy have to do their jobs assertively for the third to be most effective.

You can flip that as well - the feds need to do their job assertively and timely for the 1st and 2nd to be effective.

[milee30]

@katliamom

I’m not going to advocate Florida fight for anything other than a national strategy that directs the scarce resources where they will most reduce ongoing infections. That may be NY, it may be FL or it may be WV - I would support any of that if it means the most targeted approach to reducing national infections.

To me that makes sense rationally and ethically. Apparently YMMV.

Agreed. We need a national strategy. The government knew this was coming in January if not earlier. They saw the deaths in February. It’s now second half of March and we’ve got bupkis.

I’m re-reading some of my posts because I was surprised you felt I was trying to get more for Florida, less for NY. I realize that’s because I keep comparing the two states. The only reason I keep comparing the two states is because I happen to know they have similar sized populations but that Florida has slightly more people. So it’s easy for me to compare what’s happening in the two states and see if things are disproportionate. IOW, I just read that link from another poster that showed number of tests per state and saw Florida has tested around 15k vs the 95k NY has tested and knowing they have roughly the same # of people, know that shows the testing isn’t being done by population. That probably makes my posts appear as if I’m saying Florida should get more an NY should get less, but that’s not my point at all and not something I’m pushing for - just using the data I know to point out things aren’t happening proportionately.

I’m not going to advocate Florida fights for more at the expense of other states. I just want there to be a national strategy and for people to be looking at this from a national level since there are no closed interstate borders.

[doschicos]

Mayor Bill de Blasio directly contradicted President Donald Trump during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, when he said it was “inconceivable” that the city would return to normal by April. De Blasio predicted that, in terms of the pandemic, April will be worse than March, and May may even be worse than April.

Trump – concerned about the impact on the US economy – has repeatedly insisted that he wants to see businesses reopen in the coming weeks not months, and today said he’s aiming for that plan to be enacted by Sunday 12 April.

De Blasio called the Covid-19 health crisis “a race against time” and implored the federal government to join local and state officials in that race. He emphasized the desperate need for ventilators, which he said now make the difference between life and death for some patients.

Though de Blasio was generally critical of the federal government in his address, he applauded the implementation of the Defense Production Act, which the administration announced it would use for the first time today to access essential medical equipment.

As advocates request that inmates in the city’s jails be let out, de Blasio said he believes anyone who is over 70 years old or has a pre-existing condition that makes them vulnerable to Covid-19 should be released. He’s also considering other inmate populations for release.

After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pressured the city to come up with a plan to address overcrowding in parks, de Blasio warned that he may have to close the city’s playgrounds if parents and children don’t observe social distancing rules and keep six feet apart from others. But de Blasio pushed back on Cuomo’s descriptions of teeming public places; he said most New Yorkers are abiding by the rules.

Trump said we are already “begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel”, even though cases of Covid-19 are continuing to rise in the US.

Guardian

[katliamom]

@milee30

I’m not going to advocate Florida fights for more at the expense of other states. I just want there to be a national strategy and for people to be looking at this from a national level since there are no closed interstate borders.

Agreed. We should have a national strategy. We’re ONE nation. One people (I still believe this) and nationally we have the resources to help each other. We need leadership at the national level, policies, and enormous investment in fellow Americans who are literally worried where their next meal will come from.

[doschicos]

Spain requests NATO assistance to tackle coronavirus pandemic
From CNN’s Ingrid Formanek in Madrid

The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) has received a formal request from Spain’s Ministry of Defense for international humanitarian assistance, NATO confirmed Monday in a statement, highlighting both medical and personal protective equipment as key areas of demand for Spain’s armed forces, who are supporting the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The Armed Forces of Spain request international assistance in their response to the global pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19. The Armed Forces of Spain are acting in favour of civil population to mitigate the virus spread,” NATO said in its statement.

“In order to prevent the spread of the virus in the military units of the Armed Forces of Spain and in the civil population, international partners are asked to provide assistance to the Ministry of [Defense] of Spain in supplying humanitarian assistance,” the statement added.

Equipment including 1.5 million surgical masks, 500,000 Covid-19 rapid tests, 450,000 respirators, and some 500 mechanic ventilators were outlined in the request submitted by the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

The request comes as the number of health care workers in Spain contracting the deadly virus continues to rise, with medical workers accounting for approximately 13.6% of the country’s total coronavirus cases, according to Fernando Simón, director of the Spanish Coordinating Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies.

Trump says his authorization of the Defense Production Act serves as “leverage”
From CNN’s Maegan Vazquez

President Trump suggested Tuesday that his recent authorization of the Defense Production Act serves as enough “leverage” to compel companies to produce medical supplies without invoking the act to force them to start up production.

“Private companies are heeding our call to produce medical equipment and supplies because they know that we will not hesitate to invoke the DPA in order to get them to do what they have to do,” Trump said during a White House press briefing. “It’s called leverage. … The threat of it being there is great leverage. Companies are doing as we ask, even better than that.”
Trump continued: “We didn’t have to exercise or utilize the DPA in any way. The fact that we have it helps but we didn’t have to and for the most part we won’t have to.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency describes the act as “the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of resources from the US industrial base to support military, energy, space and homeland security programs.”

[bluebayou]

@katliamom

I’m not going to advocate Florida fight for anything other than a national strategy that directs the scarce resources where they will most reduce ongoing infections. That may be NY, it may be FL or it may be WV - I would support any of that if it means the most targeted approach to reducing national infections.

To me that makes sense rationally and ethically. Apparently YMMV.

Agreed. We need a national strategy. The government knew this was coming in January if not earlier. They saw the deaths in February. It’s now second half of March and we’ve got bupkis.

Perhaps, but on January 14, the WHO sent out a message to the World that they (WHO) found “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission…” (If that had been accurate…)

Other key dates:

• Dec 31 China publicly admits that they have a problem in Wuhan
• Jan 11 was first confirmed death by China (at least the first that they’d admit to)
• Jan 20 was first known case outside of China
• Jan 30 WHO declares health emergency
• Jan 31 Trump closes US air traffic to China

https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html

[rosered55]

@“Snowball City” , it was announced in Wisconsin today that about 20% of the people who have tested positive have required hospitalization. The state has about 510 people with positive test results and 5 deaths.

[Empireapple]

NY is trying to do the RIGHT thing by its people.

Only the people in NYC. NYS is a big state and upstate continues to have no community testing. Only for health care professionals. Yet, NYC folks are migrating north for sure. Prior to community testing stopping there were positives. Upstate has no idea where they are with mitigating the virus.

[Greymeer]

Today I was driving around Austin and glanced over at a strip mall.

There was a line in front of a “Specs”.

Nothing like alcohol to boost your immunity.

[milee30]

@fretfulmother

Many of us in higher-tax / higher-service states have long advocated for the same kinds of investments in education, infrastructure, and healthcare for all states and at the federal level.

It’s not fair for the grasshopper to get mad at the ant for being (more) ready for winter. Maybe you can vote for less short-sighted policies next time.

…

That’s a pretty gross way of saying you believe that all people who live in states that didn’t disproportionately grab scarce resources deserve whatever their fate is because somehow it’s due to their own choice.

I guess if that’s how you feel you’ll be understanding when the very well armed rubes of states like WV come to take the supplies of the citizens who live in states that have very restrictive gun control. Gross.

And frankly un-American. We’re better than that. Or maybe we’re not. Time will tell. I’ll keep advocating for a national strategy and sharing, just like I’m not personally hoarding toilet paper or masks. But apparently YMMV.

[katliamom]

@bluebayou When it comes to this crisis, the World Health Organization has been behind the eight ball from the get go. Frankly, much of the UN’s endeavors are… And frankly, the current administration has never paid much attention to the UN, and I don’t see why it would now. To excuse the lack of response from the federal government by saying that the WHO has lacked a response is disingenuous.

What I’m asking for is leadership, strategy and financing from the federal government to the states, people, small businesses and (very last) major companies affected by this epidemic.

That has nothing to do with WHO, with the UN, and with anyone except our own president and his aides.

[milee30]

@katliamom

That has nothing to do with WHO, with the UN, and with anyone except our own president and his aides.

Or, if the federal government is unwilling or unable, then the states should work directly with each other to figure out a plan.

[mathKids]

@milee30

I hope the states that do not have enough tests for living people are not using those few precious tests on the dead. The data from the dead is important, but can be gathered at a later date.

Given the fact that we are mostly talking about people who died in the hospital, one would think they get tested when hospitalized.

Of course, going a few weeks back there were hospitalized people who didn’t get tested despite their symptoms, because they didn’t satisfy the CDC requirements.

[MarylandJOE]

@katliamom

That has nothing to do with WHO, with the UN, and with anyone except our own president and his aides.

Let’s no forget about our fantastic Congress. Apparently pushing for political priorities is more important than passing a clean aid package. No wonder they can’t anything done. Congress controls the purse strings.

[milee30]

@mathKids

@milee30

I hope the states that do not have enough tests for living people are not using those few precious tests on the dead. The data from the dead is important, but can be gathered at a later date.

Given the fact that we are mostly talking about people who died in the hospital, one would think they get tested when hospitalized.

But again - some states don’t have enough tests to do even that! The treatment doesn’t vary for the patients if they’re Covid 19 positive or not - it’s all just treating symptoms like supporting breathing. So some areas are simply treating, not testing. Because there still aren’t enough tests/materials to take or process the tests.

It is all flowing from the same flawed basis. NY quickly got more tests, so confirmed more cases, so is getting more supplies. And on and on…

[katliamom]

@milee30

@katliamom

That has nothing to do with WHO, with the UN, and with anyone except our own president and his aides.

Or, if the federal government is unwilling or unable, then the states should work directly with each other to figure out a plan.

I don’t think it’s possible without the federal government. That’s what its role is. Its responsibility. That’s why we fund it.

[Midwest67]

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489335-fda-to-allow-plasma-from-coronavirus-survivors-to-be-used-to-treat

FDA approves convalescence plasma treatment on a case by case basis.