Today's News (2020/5/29) Sabotage and COVID-19 Edition

[solarbird]

If you can read the entire last article at the New York Times, it's worthwhile.

1. North Carolina governor: Trump insisted on full convention with no face masks or social distancing
2. A positive COVID-19 case from out of the area visited the Lake of the Ozarks pool bars on Memorial Day Weekend
3. Fact check: A list of Trump's pandemic-related false claims from March 16 through May 3
4. Flawed COVID hypothesis may have saved Washington from being NYC
5. Federal judge demands ICE explain why it can’t immediately begin testing NW immigration detainees for coronavirus
6. Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything
7. Supreme Court, in 5-4 Decision, Rejects Church’s Challenge to Shutdown Order
8. Trump says U.S. to withdraw from World Health Organization and announces new broadsides against Beijing
9. Inside an Extraordinary G.O.P. Event: ‘Pressing Flesh and Kissing Babies’ Again

----- 1 -----
North Carolina governor: Trump insisted on full convention with no face masks or social distancing
CNN Digital Expansion 2017 Ryan Nobles
By Kate Sullivan and Ryan Nobles, CNN
Updated 10:39 PM ET, Fri May 29, 2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/politics/north-carolina-governor-trump-convention-no-face-masks/index.html

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump called Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday and insisted on a full Republican convention this summer with no face masks or social distancing, according to a spokesperson for the governor.

"The Governor spoke to the President today. When the President insisted on a full convention arena with no face coverings and no social distancing the Governor expressed concerns and suggested a scaled back event with fewer attendees," said Sadie Weiner, a spokeswoman for the governor, in a statement. "They agreed to continue talking about ways to have a safe convention in Charlotte."

The call comes days after Trump threatened to pull the convention from Charlotte and railed against Cooper. Trump said the governor is "unable to guarantee" that the arena can be filled to capacity, and said Tuesday that Cooper has about "a week" to decide whether the convention could take place in Charlotte.

CNN reached out to the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign for comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Washington Post was first to report on the discussion.


----- 2 -----
A positive COVID-19 case from out of the area visited the Lake of the Ozarks pool bars on Memorial Day Weekend
By Andrew Havranek
Posted: Fri 5:06 PM, May 29, 2020

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Camden-County-Health-Department-announces-positive-COVID-19-case-out-of-the-area-visited-the-Lake-of-the-Ozarks-pool-bars-on-Memorial-Day-Weekend-570877201.html

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. -- The Camden County Health Department said Friday a Boone County resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 visited the Lake of the Ozarks during Memorial Day Weekend.

According to Health Director Bee Dampier, the case arrived at the Lake on Saturday and started showing symptoms on Sunday. Dampier said it is likely COVID-19 was incubating illness during that person's visit.

"Due to the need to inform mass numbers of unknown people, we are publicly releasing the following timeline, which was provided by the case," Dampier said in a news release.

On Saturday, May 23, the positive case visited Backwater Jacks between 1 and 5 p.m. Then, they went to Shady Gators and Lazy Gators Pool from 5:40 to 9 p.m.

From Shady Gators, the case went back to Backwater Jacks from 9:40 to 10 p.m.

On Sunday, May 24, the case had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Ozark from 1 to 2 p.m., went to Shady Gators from 2:30 until around 7 p.m., then got a cab from Shady Gators to a private home.

The public who may have been in these places is asked to please monitor for symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell.

If you develop symptoms, you're asked contact your physician, and isolate until test results are known.

Backwater Jacks, along with several other Lake of the Ozarks pool bars made national headlines after videos and photos of large crowds not following social distancing orders.


----- 3 -----
Fact check: A list of Trump's pandemic-related false claims from March 16 through May 3
By Daniel Dale and Tara Subramaniam, CNN
Updated 2:04 PM ET, Fri May 29, 2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/politics/fact-check-trump-march-may-part-1/index.html

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump made numerous false claims about the coronavirus pandemic between March 16 and May 3. Here is a list.


----- 4 -----
Flawed COVID hypothesis may have saved Washington from being NYC
Researchers urge caution on genetic studies early in outbreaks.
Beth Mole - 5/28/2020

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/washingtons-covid-19-outbreak-may-have-begun-a-month-later-than-we-thought/

When cases of COVID-19 began popping up in Washington state in late February, researchers were quick to dive into the genetics of the viruses infecting residents. Based on what they knew at the time, they hypothesized that those cases in late February were genetically linked to the very first case found in the state—one in a person who arrived in Washington on January 15 after traveling from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began. The case was also the first infection identified in the whole of the United States.

If correct, the genetic hypothesis linking the late February cases to that very first case meant that early efforts to contain the pandemic coronavirus—isolating the initial patient, tracing contacts, etc.—had failed spectacularly. It also meant that the virus, SARS-CoV-2, had been cryptically circulating in the state for six weeks. And that would mean that, in addition to those early cases, there were potentially hundreds or thousands of others out there, undetected and possibly spreading the infection further.

The hypothesis played into state officials’ decision to issue some of the country’s earliest social-distancing measures. But now that we know far more about the genetics of circulating SARS-CoV-2 viruses, that hypothesis appears to be wrong.

At this point, researchers now have the full genetic blueprints of more than 25,000 SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from patients. And with all that accumulated knowledge, a new analysis suggests that the cases detected in Washington in late February were not linked to that first case in January. Rather, the Evergreen State’s February outbreak was likely sparked by additional introductions of SARS-CoV-2 strains. The analysis pegs the igniting introduction to February 13, two weeks before the cases became apparent.


----- 5 -----
Federal judge demands ICE explain why it can’t immediately begin testing NW immigration detainees for coronavirus
By Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporter
May 29, 2020

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/federal-judge-demands-ice-explain-why-it-cant-immediately-begin-testing-nw-immigration-detainees-for-coronavirus/

A federal judge has given Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials until Tuesday to explain why they can’t begin immediate testing for the novel coronavirus of the more than 600 immigration detainees at the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center.

U.S. District Judge James Robart issued the order late Thursday in response to a proposed class-action petition by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Northwest Immigration Rights Project (NWIRP) on behalf of four vulnerable center detainees, alleging inadequate testing could be allowing the virus to spread within the facility without anyone knowing. In his order, Robart noted that the center and its private-contractor operator, The GEO Group, have tested 16 of 645 detainees and 15 staff at the SeaTac facility since the coronavirus emerged in the U.S. more than five months ago. ICE maintains there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, at the center.

The center can hold up to 1,575 detainees and historically has operated near capacity. GEO and ICE argue the additional room, strict social distancing guidelines and aggressive screening of employees and detainees have prevented the virus from entering the facility.


----- 6 -----
Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything
Many of the infection’s bizarre symptoms have one thing in common
Dana G Smith
May 28, 2020

https://elemental.medium.com/coronavirus-may-be-a-blood-vessel-disease-which-explains-everything-2c4032481ab2

In April, blood clots emerged as one of the many mysterious symptoms attributed to Covid-19, a disease that had initially been thought to largely affect the lungs in the form of pneumonia. Quickly after came reports of young people dying due to coronavirus-related strokes. Next it was Covid toes — painful red or purple digits.

What do all of these symptoms have in common? An impairment in blood circulation. Add in the fact that 40% of deaths from Covid-19 are related to cardiovascular complications, and the disease starts to look like a vascular infection instead of a purely respiratory one.

Months into the pandemic, there is now a growing body of evidence to support the theory that the novel coronavirus can infect blood vessels, which could explain not only the high prevalence of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks, but also provide an answer for the diverse set of head-to-toe symptoms that have emerged.

“All these Covid-associated complications were a mystery. We see blood clotting, we see kidney damage, we see inflammation of the heart, we see stroke, we see encephalitis [swelling of the brain],” says William Li, MD, president of the Angiogenesis Foundation. “A whole myriad of seemingly unconnected phenomena that you do not normally see with SARS or H1N1 or, frankly, most infectious diseases.”

“If you start to put all of the data together that’s emerging, it turns out that this virus is probably a vasculotropic virus, meaning that it affects the [blood vessels],” says Mandeep Mehra, MD, medical director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center.


----- 7 -----
Supreme Court, in 5-4 Decision, Rejects Church’s Challenge to Shutdown Order
A California church argued that restrictions on public gatherings treated houses of worship worse than many businesses.
30 May 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/us/supreme-court-churches-coronavirus.html

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away a request from a church in California to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services.

The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four-member liberal wing to form a majority.

“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in an opinion concurring in the unsigned ruling.

“Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time,” the chief justice wrote. “And the order exempts or treats more leniently only dissimilar activities, such as operating grocery stores, banks and laundromats, in which people neither congregate in large groups nor remain in close proximity for extended periods.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh noted dissents.


----- 8 -----
Trump says U.S. to withdraw from World Health Organization and announces new broadsides against Beijing
By Emily Rauhala and DAVID J. LYNCH
29 May 2020

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/trump-says-u-s-to-withdraw-from-world-health-organization-and-announces-new-broadsides-against-beijing/

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Friday leveled an extraordinary broadside at the Chinese government, accusing it of a comprehensive “pattern of misconduct” and ordered U.S. officials to begin the process of revoking Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law.

That will eventually mean that the U.S. wouldno longer treat Hong Kong and China as separate entities for the purposes of extradition, customs, trade and visa issues, he said.

In Rose Garden remarks, Trump alleged that the Chinese government covered up the coronavirus outbreak and said it instigated “a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over 1 million lives worldwide.” The president also attacked the World Health Organization, which he said was effectively controlled by Beijing.

“We will today be terminating our relationship” with the WHO, the president said, adding that the organization’s more than $400 million annual U.S. contribution would be diverted to other health groups.

The president later issued a proclamation to protect sensitive American university research from Chinese spying and to bar an unspecified number of Chinese nationals from entering the U.S. for graduate study. He also directed an administration working group headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchinto evaluate Chinese corporations listed on U.S. financial markets as a potential target of additional restrictions.

The moves seemed certain to intensify growing U.S.-China tensions, though investors at least for now took them in stride.

But the president’s comments were as notable for what he did not say. There was no mention of his irritation with China’s failure to quickly purchases of American goods as required by the trade deal he signed in January and no word of any sanctions on Chinese officials. He also made no direct reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping even as he said “the world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government.”


----- 9 -----
Inside an Extraordinary G.O.P. Event: ‘Pressing Flesh and Kissing Babies’ Again
By Astead W. Herndon
May 29, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/us/politics/south-carolina-coronavirus-republicans.html

CONWAY, S.C. — The first mention of the coronavirus pandemic was a joke.

A master of ceremonies was explaining to a crowd of more than 100 people why the keynote speakers — home-state Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott — were running a bit late.

“You have to understand, they haven’t got to do any politicking for a while,” said the M.C., Robert Rabon of the Horry County Republican Party. “They’re like a kid in a candy store — they’re going wild!”

And with that passing mention, South Carolina Republicans returned to the normal rhythm of the campaign trail, coronavirus all the same.

The outdoor gathering here on Thursday was a send-off event for Cleo Steele, a longtime Republican Party operative in Horry County, who is retiring to Ohio. Speakers shared the same microphone. Local and state political candidates greeted voters with handshakes and squeezed tight for pictures. Of all the people gathered outside the county Republican office — many of them senior citizens — fewer than a dozen wore masks.

“Social distancing guidelines are recommended,” the invitation had said. “Hand sanitizer and face masks will be available.” In reality, according to interviews with more than a dozen attendees, the event was an active rejection of behavior that the hyper-conservative crowd has come to associate with liberal enemies in recent months — wearing masks and gloves, staying six feet away from other people, avoiding physical touch.

To treat the coronavirus as something to be feared, they said, was a political act incongruous with their values.

Dwayne “Duke” Buckner, who is challenging Mr. Graham in the Republican Senate primary next month and came to the event to meet voters, said he had recently stopped adhering to public health guidelines, which he described as overly burdensome.

...

Behind the outdoor podium, a full-fledged marketplace of pro-Trump merchandise attracted a gaggle of customers. In the center sat a bronze bust of the president, which some rubbed for luck and posed with for pictures.

At the program’s conclusion, Mr. Rabon called up more than a dozen state and local candidates, who introduced themselves to the audience, shared a portion of their political platform, and returned to the crowd for meet-and-greets.

“Candidates — State House, State Senate, and the House — line up,” Mr. Rabon said. “Don’t take a long time.”

He coughed into the microphone, and passed it to the first speaker.

Comments

[arethinn]

I hear North Carolina is at least leaning towards possibly maybe not permitting the RNC to occur as planned which is... something?

[solarbird]

Not occur the way Donkeyballs wants it to occur, which is to say, as if everything was normal and there was no pandemic. Everything opened back up, full buildings with full crouds, etc.