There's talk about how dealing with COVID-19 and getting "back to normal" will be measured in weeks or months. With some of the new news, depending on what proves out, this maybe on the time scale of generations, the virus' or ours. Hopefully not, but if catching it once does not provide immunity (as it is with cold viruses), and the level of mortality continues to hold up (20-30% of infections require hospitalization, with a 3% mortality rate), this might very well be an example of evolutionary pressure. It's possible the same thing happened with previous cold viruses, which is why they now only have a 0.1% mortality rate.
"The Starship prototype, a gleaming cylinder of stainless steel, is SpaceX's fourth test vehicle for a massive reusable spacecraft designed to fly to the moon, Mars and beyond. Called Starship SN4 (for Serial No. 4), it's the centerpiece of a launch system SpaceX hopes will one day lead to a colony on Mars." Let's see if this one explodes.
"Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world…"
"As health officials across the country try to slow the coronavirus pandemic, a growing body of evidence and research suggests the virus may have been silently spreading in different parts of the country far earlier than initially believed and officially reported." Jazz hands. Welcome to what happens when you decimate the public health systems.
"In the global scramble for a COVID-19 vaccine, a select number of human trials are now under way, but it's scientists from England's University of Oxford who appear most confident that they're onto a cure. Professor Sarah Gilbert heads the Oxford team behind the potential vaccine being developed in partnership with the Jenner Institute. She's said it has an '80% chance' of success, and it could be available for wide use by the public as soon as September." This is bullshit and what's known as trying to bully the market.
"In a scientific brief dated Friday, the (WHO) said the idea that one-time infection can lead to immunity remains unproven and is thus unreliable as a foundation for the next phase of the world's response to the pandemic… As yet, it remains unclear precisely why (apparent reinfection) is occurring — whether it is a sign of a second infection, a reactivation of the remaining virus in the body or the result of an inaccurate antibody test." Ta-da! And also, if it proves true that developing antibodies doesn't prevent a recurrence of the disease (could be the virus either can or will adapt to replicate faster than your body can respond, or that it's evolution path renders previous immunity impotent) take a wild guess at what that means for the development of a vaccine.
"When Spain’s outbreak erupted in mid-March, many patients went straight onto ventilators because lung X-rays and other test results 'scared us,' said Delia Torres, a physician at the Hospital General Universitario de Alicante. They now focus more on breathing and a patient’s overall condition than just X-rays and tests. And they intubate less. 'If the patient can get better without it, then there’s no need,' she said." The debate surrounding intubation. Please note the argument is not "never intubate", it's "don't rush to intubation, because that may not be what the patient needs." And I can tell you first hand that CTs of COVID-19 patient lungs look like nothing else I've seen.
"More than 2 million people around the world have been infected with the novel coronavirus, but there's still a lot we don't know about how the disease affects the human body… With COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, doctors are also seeing blood clots in the lungs and bodies of patients. Clots can travel and create blockages in veins, leading to strokes, heart attacks, and other issues." And if the initial diagnosis is bilateral pneumonia (common with C19 patients), when they start having trouble breathing the doctor may jump to intubation, when the problem is actually a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the arteries of the lungs). Intubation may buy you time, but if you don't treat the clot, intubation won't save the patient (caveats here for all the variables, most people's bodies will try to breakdown the clot, but if it's big it won't happen fast enough). At this time, the gold standard to diagnose PEs (pulmonary embolism) is a CT scan with contrast. So if the patient is C19 positive, you need to transport them to the CT room which contaminates the hallways, exposes anyone in those hallways, and contaminates the CT machine.
"California saw its deadliest day since the coronavirus crisis began, with 115 lives lost over the last 24 hours, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at his daily briefing Thursday… The spike in the death toll represents an 8.5% jump from the previous day, bringing the number of fatalities associated with COVID-19 to more than 1,400." For al the talk of "we're flattening the curve" it certainly doesn't look like it.
"But how should states decide when to reopen? Epidemiologists and other public health specialists warn against moving too fast. They note that the coronavirus is still circulating. Cases could spiral up to catastrophic levels all over again unless proper measures are taken." Until we have wide-spread (and accurate) testing coupled with an army of contact tracers, opening up is playing Russian roulette with the populace.
"In early February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was looking for ways to stop the novel coronavirus before it got out of control in the United States… But that quick start to the project was far from quick in most places. Fully five weeks later — contrary to statements from top CDC officials — only one of those cities had in hand any results from completed coronavirus tests, according to an investigation by NPR." The failures of government and the lost of public perception tools.
"President Donald Trump will be holding a signing ceremony Friday for a bill providing a nearly $500 billion infusion of coronavirus spending, rushing new relief to employers and hospitals buckling under the strain of a pandemic that has claimed almost 50,000 American lives and one in six U.S. jobs."
"The ink is barely dry on Congress’ latest $484 billion check to combat the coronavirus pandemic, but an epic fight over the next massive relief bill is already in full tilt… Democrats failed to secure billions for reeling state and local governments in the last round, and they vow the money will be the centerpiece of the next chapter of talks. But they’re running into a buzzsaw named Mitch McConnell." Mitch wants to fuck over public unions and government workers and he's not going to let this crisis go to waste.
"Undeterred by a barrage of criticism, Georgia state officials moved ahead Friday with plans to allow some nonessential businesses to reopen, even as coronavirus deaths increase statewide… Gov. Brian Kemp, a first-term Republican, was one of the last state leaders to issue a stay-at-home order, effective April 3, to combat the spread of Covid-19."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued more than 100 recommendations to the Smithfield Foods pork-processing plant on Thursday, as the facility works to reopen following a coronavirus outbreak… The facility, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became one of the nation's largest Covid-19 hotspots before it closed earlier this month, with more than 783 employee cases and 206 cases stemming from employee contact, according to state health officials." But the CDC doesn't have the power to enforce their recommendations. "Plant managers told the CDC team 'that communicating messages to their diverse staff presented challenges due to the number of languages spoken,' according to the CDC's report." So just how did you interview and train all these employees, then? How do you assign them work? How do you communicate any safety messages?
"But in webinars and conference calls, business leaders and management strategists are discussing what steps must be taken to bring workers back to America's offices… The bar is likely to be very high, says David Lewis, who has been on a lot of those calls as CEO of OperationsInc, a human resources consulting company." Nothing will be the same. Who knows, maybe this will lead to the end of cubicle and open-workspace fanaticism (probably not, because those decisions are based more on floorspace costs than actual workflow).
"Restaurants say their industry needs its own targeted recovery fund because the bailout package Congress passed last month is making it more attractive for their staff to draw unemployment benefits than to continue working… The new Paycheck Protection Program waives repayment of small business loans if the borrower uses 75 percent of the money to maintain payroll, a measure intended to reduce layoffs. But with the expanded unemployment benefits included in the stimulus bill, some workers can as much as double their weekly checks if they stay unemployed." Again, I'm not familiar with all the state's unemployment regulations, but in Ohio if you refuse a job offered to you (any job you qualify for) you lose all unemployment. "(I)n 2019… the average weekly benefit nationwide was $370. A $600 sweetener… raises the average weekly benefit to $970, an amount that approximates average weekly pay nationwide and is nearly double average weekly pay within the food industry: about $500 nationwide for full-time workers." I think I see the real problem here. Pay your workers a goddamn livable rate.
"As the COVID-19 crisis took hold and schools in Lockhart, Texas, had to close and shift to remote learning, the school district quickly conducted a needs assessment… They found that half of their 6,000 students have no high-speed Internet at home. And despite being a short drive south of Austin, a third of all the students and staff live in 'dead zones,' where Internet and cell service aren't even available." Oh, hello digital divide. I wonder where you had gotten to. Also just noting at home I can only get DSL service (and it's crappy DSL at that) because the developer in my neighborhood put in substandard cable because in rural America construction codes are for chumps.
"Canada’s worst mass shooting started as a domestic dispute between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, a police official said late Thursday." Not entirely surprising. Although they make it sound like it was a crime of passion. "Police have said Wortman carried out much of the attack disguised as a police officer in a vehicle marked to seem like a patrol car. They say he shot people in and around their homes and set fires to homes in Portapique." Nobody in a fit of passion thinks, "hey, let me get a uniform, and then let me paint my car to look like a police car."
"Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had to have a discussion with her 12-year-old son after the pair received a racist text regarding her efforts to keep the city closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, she said Thursday… In a Wednesday night tweet, the mayor said she received a text addressing her by the n-word and demanding, 'just shut up and RE-OPEN ATLANTA!'"
So one of the more pernicious parts of 1984 (that's often overlooked, because it's only mentioned a few times) is that people feel the need to wear expressions of happiness and compliance for all the video cameras watching them (or may be watching them). "As social distancing remains in effect across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, people are moving from one video call to another. But there may be an unintended effect, mental health and communications experts warn: 'Zoom fatigue,' or the feeling of tiredness, anxiousness or worry with yet another video call." Big Brother is watching. And we invited him in.
Definition of a mensch. "US actor Tom Hanks has written a letter and sent a Corona-brand typewriter gift to an Australian boy who said he was bullied because of his name - Corona… Corona De Vries, 8, first wrote to the Toy Story actor and his wife Rita Wilson after they fell sick with the virus in Queensland."
What do real engineers do? "Researchers at NASA developed a 'high-pressure' ventilator for treating patients with the coronavirus in just 37 days and it is seeking expedited approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)… The new machine can be built more quickly and uses fewer parts than a traditional ventilator, according to NASA… NASA noted that the machine would not replace current ventilators, which can last for years and are built to help a larger range of patients than those with coronavirus. It said in a Friday statement that VITAL is intended to last up to four months and is 'specifically tailored' for coronavirus patients." Whispers, 4 months is actually pretty good. You would be astounded at how flimsily and poorly constructed most "medical grade" devices not for implantation are. We have machines which are specifically designed and sold as "portable" but can break going over the slightest bump.
"Amazon warehouse employees had been able to take unlimited unpaid time off during the coronavirus pandemic. But starting May 1, Amazon will instead ask workers who want to stay home to use their regular accrued time off or request a leave of absence." So the rollback begins.
They've got their dirty little fingers in everybody's pie. "Citi Tax’s clients — just like some clients of big tax brands such as H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and TurboTax — didn’t get their money for the very reason Congress wanted to get money to them quickly in the first place: They are poor. The Georgia customers, almost all black women, are among the likely millions of Americans who are having trouble getting the stimulus funds they are owed. The IRS’ difficulty in swiftly getting payments to Americans has a basic, root cause: There are multiple private actors sitting between the IRS and tax filers." The system is broken, and unfortunately the only solution people can think of is to make it more complex to extract more fees. It's exactly this kind of shit that the CFPB was created to solve. But conservatives have gutted that in the 3 years Trump has been president. So, conservatives, now that you know that people need to start spending money to save the economy (which is the only real thing you can campaign on, other than abortion restrictions) how do you like your system now? (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"A new government program that funnels taxpayer money to churches, synagogues and mosques has brought welcome relief to some financially stressed houses of worship, while leaving others — many of them serving communities of color — still struggling to survive."
"The CARES act, the $2 trillion coronavirus response legislation Congress approved late last month, calls for a government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, to monitor the spending and the overall federal response to the pandemic. And while President Trump has pushed back on other oversight, it will be difficult for him to block the GAO's work."
"Donald Trump is warning 'China will own the United States' if Joe Biden is elected president… But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term, financial records show."
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