solarbird | Today's News (2020/7/10): COVID-19 edition

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Eeeeeeverything is terrible.

Anthony Fauci: ‘We are living in the perfect storm’
Trump: no funding for schools that don't return to normal operations, COVID-19 be damned.
Fauci on Trump’s 99% harmless claim: “I’m trying to figure out where the president got that number. What I think happened is that someone told him that the general mortality is about 1%. And he interpreted, therefore, that 99% is not a problem, when that’s obviously not the case”
Texas’s Governor Abbott warning Texans all the COVID numbers are going to get worse before they get better, pleading with folks to wear masks to help avoid more shutdowns.
Inslee: Trump threats on reopening schools ‘hogwash’
Alabama GOP Leader Says He Wants More COVID-19 Cases In Order To Build ‘Immunity’
This is a public apology to everyone who has lost a loved one to #COVID19
Washington State Department of Health, June Update: Statewide High-Level Analysis of Forecasted Behavioral Health Impacts from COVID-19
Iowa governor says cities can't require masks
COVID hits more legislators amid rapid spread in Mississippi
Here's what will happen if they open schools
Touting criticized study, White House presses FDA to authorize hydroxychloroquine — again
Florida governor finally releases the true numbers of people hospitalized with coronavirus

----- 1 -----
Anthony Fauci: ‘We are living in the perfect storm’
The straight-talking scientist on keeping the peace with Trump and the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine
Hannah Kuchler
10 July 2020

https://www.ft.com/content/57834c2c-a078-4736-9173-8fb32cfbbf4e

I hear Anthony Fauci before I see him. Out of view of our video call, he asks his tech assistant: “Have you wiped down the table?” The assistant, who has already sprayed down the 79-year-old’s chair, hurries to disinfect the desk. The top adviser on the White House’s coronavirus task force cannot afford to fall ill.

Of all the unenviable jobs in this pandemic, Dr Fauci may have the trickiest. He is a leading public health scientist in a world growing suspicious of expertise; an affable self-described humanist in a society where soundbites get more play than sound advice. After 36 years as director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he is facing a challenge that eclipses even the epidemics he has previously battled — Aids and Sars.

Now, Fauci reports to his sixth president: Donald Trump. The president flouts his advice — refusing to wear a mask and holding rallies — and, Fauci tells me, hasn’t even met him for more than a month. Trump appears to me to be preoccupied with polls and economic data, rather than the soaring case counts in the country hardest hit by Covid-19 in terms of confirmed cases and deaths.

We meet this week as the situation is becoming even more dire. Overflowing hospitals in Houston are beginning to look like New York’s in April, while areas of states including Texas, California, Arizona and Florida are starting to shut back down.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say we have a serious ongoing problem, right now, as we speak,” Fauci says, in an accent tinged by his native Brooklyn. He warned Congress late last month that the number of new cases could rise to 100,000 a day. “What worries me is the slope of the curve,” he explains, using his fingers to draw a chart in the air. “It still looks like it’s exponential.”

----- 2 -----
Qasim Rashid for Congress
twitter.com/QasimRashid (US House candidate, VA-1)
10 July 2020

Last week the mother of a student on the autism spectrum & w/other disabilities contacted me, worried about COVID19 & her child's education

Now, the President is threatening to withhold federal funds, monies used to support children w/disabilities

This is what GOP has come to

[QUOTED TWEET]

Donald J. Trump
twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
10 July 2020

Now that we have witnessed it on a large scale basis, and firsthand, Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus, Learning. Not even close! Schools must be open in the Fall. If not open, why would the Federal Government give Funding? It won’t!!!

----- 3 -----
Jeremy Diamond
twitter.com/JDiamond1
10 July 2020

https://twitter.com/JDiamond1/status/1281567882401521665

Fauci: ““I have a reputation, as you probably have figured out, of speaking the truth at all times and not sugar-coating things. And that may be one of the reasons why I haven’t been on television very much lately.”

[QUOTED TWEET]

Jeremy Diamond
twitter.com/JDiamond1
10 July 2020

Fauci on Trump’s 99% harmless claim: “I’m trying to figure out where the president got that number. What I think happened is that someone told him that the general mortality is about 1%. And he interpreted, therefore, that 99% is not a problem, when that’s obviously not the case”

[INDIRECTLY LINKS TO:

Anthony Fauci: ‘We are living in the perfect storm’
The straight-talking scientist on keeping the peace with Trump and the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine
https://www.ft.com/content/57834c2c-a078-4736-9173-8fb32cfbbf4e

]

----- 4 -----
Garrett Haake
twitter.com/GarrettHaake
10 July 2020

https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/status/1281643765782974464

Texas’s twitter.com/GovAbbott has been doing tons of local TV interviews. Lately they’ve been pretty bleak: warning Texans all the COVID numbers are going to get worse before they get better, and practically pleading with folks to wear masks to help avoid more shutdowns.

[QUOTED TWEET]

Wes Rapaport
twitter.com/wesrap
10 July 2020

https://twitter.com/wesrap/status/1281635925114720257

[THREAD]

Abbott says hospitals are beginning to get overrun in TX-- heading into time period where over multiple days TX will see triple-digit deaths... that's why he wants to get Texans to join in on effort to wear face masks.
#txlege #coronavirus #COVID19

[NEXT]

On education- some teachers worried about going back to class... Abbott says it's important to make sure everyone in ed community knows TEA worked with superintendents/principals/ed professionals statewide to prioritize safety of parents/teachers/students.

[THREAD CONTINUES AT SECOND LINK]

----- 5 -----
Inslee: Trump threats on reopening schools ‘hogwash’
July 9, 2020 at 4:13 pm Updated July 10, 2020 at 8:08 am
By RACHEL LA CORTE

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/inslee-trump-threats-on-reopening-schools-hogwash/

OLYMPIA — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said President Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week pressuring governors to open schools in the fall were “hogwash” and he said the state will not be bullied into making potentially unsafe decisions during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Decisions about school and how to have it, onsite or otherwise, will remain with the state of Washington,” the Democrat said at a news conference Thursday. “These are Washington students and Washington state has the legal authority to make decisions about their education.”

On Tuesday, Trump argued that some states are keeping schools closed not because of the risks from the coronavirus pandemic but for political reasons.

“They think it’s going to be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed,” Trump said at a White House discussion on school plans for the fall. “No way. We’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.”

----- 6 -----
Alabama GOP Leader Says He Wants More COVID-19 Cases In Order To Build ‘Immunity’
By Cristina Cabrera
July 10, 2020 9:07 a.m.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/alabama-gop-leader-says-he-wants-more-covid-19-cases-in-order-to-build-immunity

Alabama state Sen. Del Marsh (R), who serves as the Senate’s President Pro Tempore, tried to make the claim on Thursday that the astounding increase in COVID-19 cases rippling across the state is actually a good thing.

The number of hospitalizations in Alabama skyrocketed by 40 percent within 24 hours on Wednesday.

And on Thursday, 2,164 cases emerged in the state, marking its highest single-day caseload thus far.

Yet Marsh told reporters that day that he was “not as concerned” about the staggering caseload, per a video posted by WSFA 12 News reporter Lydia Nusbaum.

“In fact, quite honestly, I want to see more people [test positive] because we start reaching an immunity if more people have it and get through it,” he said.

However, health experts said that trying to combat COVID-19 with a “herd immunity” through natural infection, which would require hundreds of millions of people to catch the virus, is incredibly risky and could in fact worsen the pandemic.

The Mayo Clinic warns that there are “some major problems with relying on community infection,” as there is not any straight forward proof yet that someone who recovers from the virus won’t get infected again.

----- 7 -----
Craig Spencer MD MPH
twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer
9 July 2020

https://twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer/status/1281446545406283777

[THREAD]

This is a public apology to everyone who has lost a loved one to #COVID19. To everyone who got sick and is still living with complications.

All of us on the frontlines - nurses, infection prevention & control teams, lab techs, doctors, everyone - are doing everything we can.

[NEXT]

Every day, healthcare professionals around the country go to work, waging their own safety to take care of friends, neighbors and others in their community.

We are taking this risk despite still not having the tools we need to do our job safely. Yet everyone still shows up.

[NEXT]

All over the country, frontline providers are reusing disposable supplies. We still don’t have enough PPE, despite us warning for months that we will need so much more as this pandemic spreads.

Tens of thousands have fallen ill.

Hundreds of us have died.

But we always show up.

[NEXT]

Every one of us feels a responsibility to heal our communities.

To treat the sick.

To battle this virus.

But we are alone.

We don’t have the help and support we need.

We need more PPE. We need more testing. All over this country.

Without it, people are dying. More will die.

[NEXT]

We have a near complete abdication of leadership.

There is absolutely NO reason why the wealthiest country in the world & the most expensive healthcare system on the globe can’t handle this crisis.

Others have done it. We are an outlier.

And because of that, people are dying.

[THREAD CONTINUES AT LINK]

----- 8 -----
June Update: Statewide High-Level Analysis of Forecasted Behavioral Health Impacts from COVID-19
Washington State Department of Health
June 18, 2020
Publication 821-103

https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/program/covid-19-statewide-summary-forecast-of-bh-impacts-20200624.pdf

Purpose

This document provides a brief overview of the potential statewide behavioral health impacts from the COVID-19pandemic. The intent of this document is to communicate the potential impacts of the outbreak to response planners and behavioral health organizations and agencies in order for adequate preparation.

Bottom Line Up Front

● The COVID-19 pandemic is considered a natural disaster and as such, this document is heavily informed by research on disaster recovery and response.

● The behavioral health impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government and social actions have to-date caused a surge in behavioral health symptoms across the state. This trend is likely to continue. This surge will present differently based on the stage of the pandemic, the effectiveness of the overall response effort, and the populations being impacted. A second or third pandemic wave will dramatically change this forecast, as outlined in the scenarios that follow. This forecast will be updated monthly to reflect changes in baseline data.

● Ongoing behavioral health impacts in Washington State will likely be seen in phases(see Figure 1 and Figure 2), peaking around 6-9 months after the initial outbreak.1,2 This will likely coincide with a potential second wave of infections, in a pattern consistent with previous pandemics.

● For the majority of people across the state, the behavioral health outcomes from COVID-19 are related to experiences of isolation and quarantine, rather than exposure, illness, or threat to physical health.

** Experiences of isolation and quarantine are associated with increased behavioral health problems, such as depression, anxiety, mood disorders, psychological distress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, fear, stigmatization, low self-esteem, and lack of self-control.

** Problematic substance use is also a primary concern in disaster recovery. After the impact phase, approximately 20% of individuals will struggle with alcohol abuse. Less than 0.5% of these will be acute new alcohol use cases. The majority will be an exacerbation of pre-existing problematic behavior.4 Given the extended timeline of unknowns, restrictions associated with this pandemic, and additional stressors associated with the potential for multiple waves and subsequent disruption, substance use will likely surpass typical post-disaster levels.

** Violence against women increases after every type of disaster or emergency.5 Rates of intimate partner violence and child abuse have increased significantly in Washington State. Results of weekly surveys of Washington State law enforcement agencies indicate that domestic violence is consistently elevated by approximately 17% of the corresponding 2019 levels.

● Many individuals and communities are experiencing a significant lack of control over their personal and environmental circumstances in the current stage (3-6 months post-impact) of the pandemic. When individuals feel loss of control along with associated stress, worry, and fear, it is very common for those feelings to be expressed outwardly in the form of frustration and anger. These feelings are frequently managed with substance use. The“Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order extension combined with fast-evolving messaging related to COVID-19 risks and potential outcomes has created a high baseline level of uncertainty within many communities. For many people in Washington State, it is likely that the summer months of 2020 will include a significant sense of frustration and higher rates of substance use than might otherwise typically be present.

● The unique characteristics of a pandemic are lending themselves to a trend towards depression as a significant behavioral health outcome in Washington State, rather than PTSD as seen in other natural disasters.

● Certain populations, such as ethnic and racial minorities, disadvantaged groups with limited access to healthcare resources, those of lower socioeconomic status, and essential workers are experiencing disproportionately more behavioral health impacts than their counterparts.8,9,10,11,12

● Certain groups, such as healthcare workers, law enforcement officers, educators, and people recovering from critical care may experience greater behavioral health impacts. TheCOVID-19 Behavioral Health Group Impact Reference Guide (DOH publication number 821-104) provides detailed information on how people in specific occupational and social roles are uniquely impacted.

● In Washington, the highest risk of suicide will likely occur between October and December 2020. This is consistent with known cycles of disaster response patterns. Seasonal affective disorder exacerbates mental health challenges at that time of year due to increased hours of darkness and inclement weather.Winter holidays can also worsen mental health challenges for many people, as they are often an emotionally and financially difficult time of year.

● Outreach and support strategies need to be tailored based on the current phase of the incident and the impacted population. Resources are available to inform outreach and increased support strategies. Additional resources to support these efforts are currently under development.

● Efforts should focus on activating or augmenting existing community supports to increase social connections. This helps reduce behavioral health symptoms and encourages development of active coping skills.

● An eventual return to baseline levels of functioning for many people should occur around 12-14 months after the initial outbreak. This is assuming that the potential second wave of the pandemic is stabilized by that time in terms of both social and economic disruptions, and a sense of the new normal is underway.

● There are three different scenarios for the future of the COVID-19 pandemic as summer and fall approach, some of which are consistent with what occurred during past influenza pandemics(see Figure 3).13 The behavioral health symptom projections displayed in Figure 4 are based on the different scenarios and their corresponding behavioral health impacts.

----- 9 -----
Iowa governor says cities can't require masks
By Rebecca Klar - 07/08/20

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/506449-iowa-governors-says-cities-cant-require-masks

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) on Tuesday said city and county officials do not have the authority to require residents to wear masks in public.

“We don't believe that they can and that is in conjunction with the attorney general,” Reynolds said during a press conference, when asked about county and city ordinances mandating mask-wearing.

“We believe that when my — the public health disaster proclamation is in effect, unless the local government’s declaration or proclamation is consistent with the state proclamation, unless it’s consistent, then it’s not appropriate or it doesn't go into effect,” she added.

Reynolds has not ordered a statewide mandatory mask requirement as several other governors have in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a statewide face covering requirement on Wednesday, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Tuesday he is issuing an order mandating people in counties with high levels of coronavirus spread wear masks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week issued a statewide mandatory mask order, after he blocked local officials' authority to enforce face covering requirements.

----- 10 ----
COVID hits more legislators amid rapid spread in Mississippi
8 July 2020

https://wreg.com/news/covid-hits-more-legislators-amid-rapid-spread-in-mississippi/

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — At least 26 legislators and 10 others who work at Mississippi’s Capitol have tested positive for the coronavirus, a public health official said Wednesday, as the governor implored residents to take precautions amid a rapid rise in confirmed cases statewide.

The 174-member Legislature ended its annual session July 1, and many people in the Capitol did not wear masks or maintain distance between themselves and others during the last few weeks. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn are among those who publicly acknowledge testing positive for COVID-19. They are now quarantined at home.

The number of people infected at the Capitol could actually be higher. The reported number only reflects those who were tested recently in Jackson, said the state’s top public health official, Dr. Thomas Dobbs. Some legislators have also been tested since returning to their hometowns.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves — who has tested negative — said he will not issue a statewide order for people to wear masks, as some other governors have done. But, he hinted that he could restore some restrictions on bars or other places if people don’t stop congregating in large groups.

----- 11 -----
Melissa Hillman
twitter.com/bittergertrude
8 July 2020

https://twitter.com/bittergertrude/status/1280932693060907008

[THREAD]

Here's what will happen if they open schools:

1. Every teacher who can retire will retire at the last second making the nationwide shortage worse.

[NEXT]

2. There already aren't enough teachers to teach socially distant classes, & they're CUTTING funding everywhere, so they'll be impossible. They'll blame this on teachers & call it our "failure," or blame it on unions for not letting them hire low pd untrained "emergency teachers"

[NEXT]

3. The classrooms will not be sterilized between groups of students, & they will blame this on teachers. We don't have enough time between periods to do it & many have hall duty, prep for next class. We won't be given sterilization tools or PPE. No $$.

[NEXT]

4. This will all be blamed on teachers for being "bad" or "failing." When unions strike over this impossible situation, we'll be "union thugs" who "don't care abt students." All bc we don't want to die, don't want our students & families to suffer & die.

[NEXT]

5. Every teacher who can quit, will quit. Trust me, teachers are already looking for an exit. The shortage will get worse. You think you can't fine STEM teachers *now*? Hahaha. Just you wait.

[THREAD CONTINUES AT LINK]

----- 12 -----
Touting criticized study, White House presses FDA to authorize hydroxychloroquine — again
Trade adviser Peter Navarro leads the effort with support from Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, and Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News.
By Laurie McGinley and Josh Dawsey
July 10, 2020 at 1:50 p.m. PDT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/10/peter-navarro-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus/

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is leading a Trump administration effort to demand the Food and Drug Administration reverse course and grant a second emergency authorization for the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Navarro, armed with a new study that he says shows the drug’s effectiveness, is being cheered on by President Trump, who has long touted the drug as a “game changer” and even used it himself as a possible preventive measure. Trump praised the study on Twitter this week, urging the FDA to “Act Now.” The campaign also has been promoted by Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, and Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News.

----- 13 -----
Florida governor finally releases the true numbers of people hospitalized with coronavirus
July 10, 2020
By Sarah K. Burris

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/florida-governor-finally-releases-the-true-numbers-of-people-hospitalized-with-coronavirus/

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally caved in to pressure to release the actual numbers of coronavirus cases in the state’s hospitals.

Until Friday, DeSantis had refused to reveal the true numbers, leaving many in the state unaware of just how bad the cases were. According to the Orlando Sentinel, a whopping 7,000 Floridians are in hospitals hoping they survive the virus.

“The data, which for the first time breaks down the number of people in the hospital with coronavirus, was promised by the state two weeks ago,” the report explained.

...

Until now, Florida has been one of only three states hiding the truth about the COVID-19 hospitalizations from the public. DeSantis has been criticized for refusing to release the data, which researchers and epidemiologists have said is important for their calculations in measuring the spread of the disease.

President Donald Trump, who was in Miami-Dade County Friday afternoon, has celebrated the COVID-19 cases, saying that the death rate is going down and all is well. In fact, the death rates are beginning to increase.

Often what occurs is the cases of COVID-19 increase, then the hospitalizations increase, and then the death rate goes up. Trump’s victory lap occurred when people were just beginning to go into hospitals as the virus got worse for them.