Linkee-poo Thursday

Only minor alligators, but the network issues are killer.

"China reached a milestone: the epicenter city of Wuhan and the surrounding province reported no new domestic cases. Meanwhile, Italy was poised to surpass China in total deaths."

"Coronavirus Symptoms: Defining Mild, Moderate And Severe." If I posted it before, no harm in posting it again.

"Over the past few days, social media has lit up with reports, picked up by some media outlets, that taking drugs like ibuprofen to ease COVID-19 symptoms could actually worsen the progress of the illness… But most infectious disease experts say there's no good scientific evidence at this point to support that claim."

So much for "conventional wisdom"… "Up to 20% of people hospitalized with coronavirus in the United States are young adults between ages 20 to 44, a new federal study shows… While the risk of dying was significantly higher in older people, the report issued Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows younger people are making up a big portion of hospitalizations."

Also, "The World Health Organization said parents need to prepare their kids to guard against COVID-19 after a new study showed that babies and very young children can sometimes develop severe symptoms." Yes, Virginia, after weeks of "only the olds are at risk", turns out the virus doesn't give a good goddamn how old you are.

"A group of Italian volunteers distributed 3D-printed versions of a vital medical device — but it’s unclear if the original manufacturer threatened a legal crackdown. As we reported earlier, Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli used their 3D printer to create unofficial copies of a patented valve, which was in short supply at Italian hospitals. Business Insider Italia quoted Massimo Temporelli, the Italian professor who recruited the pair, saying that the device maker threatened them with an infringement claim." (Grokked from Matt Wallace)

From March 13th, but we haven't progressed very far. "Despite the fact that last week, Vice President Mike Pence promised that “roughly 1.5 million tests” would soon be available, an ongoing Atlantic investigation can confirm only that 13,953 tests have been conducted nationally. New York, which has shut down Broadway and has at least 328 coronavirus cases, is still failing to test patients who have worrying symptoms. As late as March 6, a busy clinic in Brownsville, Texas, a border city of nearly 200,000 whose population crosses back and forth from Mexico frequently, told me they could test only three people. By comparison, South Korea, which has one of the largest outbreaks outside China, is testing nearly 20,000 people a day."

"A pair of U.S. Navy hospital ships will be deployed to New York and the West Coast, where medical workers are anxiously expecting a major influx of patients as the coronavirus spreads." The Comfort and Mercy won't be treating COVID-19, but helping reduce the load on hospitals from other cases. Once they finish refits (which have been accelerated).

The BBC's live update page.

Meanwhile, over on Bullshit Mountain, there seems to have been a (contained) come to Jesus moment. "Over the past month, many Fox News anchors and personalities have gone from doubting the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic to calling it a public health crisis." (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)

That doesn't mean Bullshit Mountain has completely reformed. To wit(less)… "An emergency proposal to protect the American people from the coronavirus by quickly sending illegal immigrants and asylum seekers who cross our southern border back to Mexico should be approved as a short-term response to the pandemic." Note there is nothing connecting the coronavirus with immigrants from Mexico. This is just the same old racism in a new wrapper. Along with gratuitous boot-licking of the Dear Leader.

And then, "Mexican authorities and migrant shelters along the U.S. border are racing to respond to the coronavirus as fears mount that they will be overwhelmed by an intensification of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies."

"The Oregon Brewers Guild has compiled a frequently updating list of what breweries are continuing to operate and in what capacity, from beer to go, to food to go, to beer delivery." Hey, Ohio brewers, get on the stick.

Tired of the streaming services already? "CNN Style looks at some of the most fascinating, immersive concerts, museum tours and other virtual experiences you can explore from the comfort of your own couch." Then there's "19 immersive museum exhibits you can visit from your couch." Or let Maestro Yo Yo Ma serenade you. Yo Yo Mah's website. And the #SongsofComfort twitter stream (which includes more than just him and his cello, some professional, some not so much, but all heartfelt which is the best in music). This, my friends, is what social media can do for us. Thanks for everyone who shared (and shares).

"Instead of diving deep into the Martian sand where it could take the planet’s temperature, it’s been stuck half-buried. An intercontinental team of MacGyvers has spent a year devising successively daring plans to get the mole digging again, but still it flounders on the surface. Now their final gambit—directly pushing the mole into the soil—has shown tentative signs of success, NASA announced Friday on Twitter."

"I’ve spoken with Furman often over the years, and to put it bluntly, I’ve never heard him as alarmed as on Thursday. He believes the coronavirus could do more damage to the economy than the financial crisis did, and that policymakers aren’t even close to designing a large enough response. In addition, the virus is moving much faster than the financial crisis did, and the government officials who will need to respond to it are in danger of being infected by it." Remember when many of us said our economic system, tax system and Fed were not ready for a financial downturn. Whelp, ready or not here we go anyway. As a double whammy, this panic isn't about anything directly economic (yes, just like politics, everything can be economic).

"Democrats say that by Senate Republicans working solely with the White House to draft a third spending bill, they're only hindering Congress' ability to come to an expeditious agreement on a plan to help American businesses and workers." Well, the reason is simple, as the conservatives plan to use the coronavirus panic to push forward on their ideological goals, they don't want the Democrats to get a deep look at the policies or think about the long term ramifications in the bill before being asked to vote on it, or blamed for "holding it up." The gambit works well, if you only think 2 steps ahead. The 3rd step, where it comes out just what the long term effects are the conservatives will try the "but we had to do something right away, who could have known about this?" play. Again.

"The Fed is throwing all of its fire power at markets, and yet interest rates continue to rise, a troubling sign when the economy looks set to slow down dramatically… In times of stress, rates in the Treasury market, which move opposite price, usually fall. Rising rates could increase borrowing costs for all kinds of loans for businesses and individuals. The credit and rates markets also are the direct target of the Fed’s stimulus programs." Rhut rho.

I've put these next few items with the economics section because I feel they belong more here than with the coronavirus stories. "Bowing to increasing pressure to do so, President Trump announced Wednesday he would use a law dating back to the early years of the Cold War to address serious shortages of supplies needed for responding to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S."

"The act will hand Trump 'a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in the interest of national defense,' according to an updated Congressional Research Service report on the act released earlier this month." Or in other words, a command economy. The conservatives have another word for this. Nationalization without direct ownership of the corporation, or socialism if you like.

"That latest number, for the week ended last Saturday, was an increase of 70,000 from the prior week. But the numbers are expected to jump even more this week as several states reported that their unemployment claims websites had crashed with so many people trying to file at the same time."

"The Trump administration wants to give Americans an emergency shot of spending money, even as it's closing many of the places they would ordinarily spend it." That didn't take long to find the hole in the plan. But while the plan is sold on saving the "economy", most likely people will use it to pay debts and try to trend water. Those things don't really contribute to an economic recovery.

"A federal crackdown on professors’ undisclosed outside activities is achieving what China has long struggled to do: spur Chinese scientists to return home. In this crisis, it’s costing the U.S. intellectual firepower." Where he developed a test to check for SARS-CoV2 and get results in 4 hours. Good job, Sparky. (Grokked from Joy Reid)