Coronavirus Tidbits #89 10/7/20 COVITA special
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
News
Trump rollercoaster
includes hospitalization at Walter Reed, Rx w Remdesivir, Regeneron's monoclonal antibody (made with embryonic tissue). Decadron was added--that's given for folks w pneumonia and is not consistent w "mild" disease. No mention of Hydroxychloroquine. Decadron can cause agitation, delirium, etc...it can also => depression, coming off the high it gives some people.
He then staged his joy ride to meet his fans (the white supremacist Proud Boys), endangering his Secret Service Agents force to be with him in an enclosed space w minimal ventilation.
Trump claimed that "Covid is no big deal" and people should not let their lives be dominated by it...ignoring the 200,000 dead here alone. Facebook has deleted a post in which President Trump had claimed Covid-19 was "less lethal" than the flu.
Then yesterday (10/5) he insisted on returning to the White House, with a dramatic made-for-Hollywood entrance. Upon his return, he promptly removed his mask, exposing those around him, and showing that he has learned Zero from this experience. His balcony scene was reminiscent of Evita.
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US military chiefs in quarantine after Adm Charles W Ray, the vice commandant of the US Coast Guard, tests positive
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White House staff and senior Republicans who have contracted COVID-19-
but White House reportedly decided not to ask the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help “contact-trace” and none is being done
Melania -- "feels well"
Kellyanne Conway -- ill
Hope Hicks -- ill
Kayleigh McEnany -- asymptomatic; not wearing a mask to meet w press
Chris Christie -- checked into hospital
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wi) -- went to Oktoberfest
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)
Nicholas Luna, an assistant and ‘body man’ for Trump
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel
Notre Dame President John Jenkins
Other:
Claudia Conway -- who said Kellyanne lied to her that she had a negative test
Bill Stepian, campaign manager
2 military aides
a military staffer “directly assigned to support the President”
2 communications aides Chad Gilmartin and Karoline Leavitt both have coronavirus, Other mid-level staffers have tested positive
White House reporters, New York Times’s Michael Shear (and now his wife) and 2 others
Pastor Greg Laurie of Riverside, Ca megachurch
Stephen Miller!
https://twitter.com/sfpelosi/status/1313616485395251202?s=20
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Seriously though, with Stephen Miller getting covid, my deepest sympathies go to the families of....
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) October 6, 2020
the 26,000 innocent children that ghoulish fuck threw in a cage.
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More info on 2 White House residence staff members who tested positive - they worked for the housekeeping department on the third floor, and didn't come in direct contact w the first family. When their tests came back positive, they were told to use "discretion" in discussing it.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 5, 2020
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NEW: As the virus spread among the people closest to him, Trump asked one adviser not to disclose results of their own positive test. “Don’t tell anyone,” Trump said.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) October 4, 2020
More on the secrecy over positive tests in the West Wing, w/@michaelcbender:https://t.co/9rrP4tizHO
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While multiple photos were released showing Trump in different locations and with different clothes, the metadata shows they were taken 10 minutes apart, implying they may have been staged to create the impression of a full day of presidential business https://t.co/mWURETA45W pic.twitter.com/ZGF3QsrpYA
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) October 5, 2020
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BREAKING: Moments after stating “I learned a lot about COVID”, the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications.pic.twitter.com/q3uc3YYLrg
— Craig Spencer MD MPH (@Craig_A_Spencer) October 4, 2020
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Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.
— Dr. James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) October 4, 2020
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs:
Regeneron, an experimental drug which @POTUS took, relied on “human embryonic stem cells.” I support this research. I wonder if @realDonaldTrump and Amy Coney Barrett support this research? pic.twitter.com/NRdkl7tTrU
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 6, 2020
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Significant adverse events in vaccine trials:
Three patients taking part in clinical trials for Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate and two taking part in Pfizer's study have experienced intense side effects, according to a report published by CNBC. Those effects included high fever, pounding headaches, intense chills, and exhaustion.
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White House Blocks New Coronavirus Vaccine Guidelines (10/5)
A main sticking point has been the recommendation that volunteers who have participated in vaccine clinical trials be followed for a median of two months after the final dose before any authorization is granted...
(This would push results back past Election Day)
The Food and Drug Administration’s new guidelines were intended to assure companies developing vaccines that they were being held to a common standard and to reassure the public. Polls suggest that Americans are increasingly wary about taking a coronavirus vaccine: A survey published last month by the Pew Research Center found that 51 percent of Americans would either probably or definitely take one, down from 72 percent in May.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-guidelines.html?
10/6 White House backed down and FDA is sticking with their plan
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The US should join an international Covid-19 vaccine pool (COVAX)
and should contribute 10% of the country’s vaccine for redistribution to low-income countries, a panel of experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommended.
“Amid the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic, the United States should consider it a moral duty, as a leading nation and member of the G7/G20, to embrace its humanitarian legacy by re-engaging and leading on the international stage in support of lower-resourced nations,” said the report from the 18-member committee on equitable allocation of vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
“We need the world because in the worst-case scenario, what if none of our vaccines work and we have to go globally to buy vaccines? … The other thing is we really need to be able to get samples of the virus from different parts of the world to detect changes. So, we’re dependent on the world and the world’s dependent on us,” Foege said.
(Thus far, Trump has refused to join COVAX)
The plan also outlines prioritization for vaccines:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/10/02/covid19-vaccine-distribution-covax/?
Devices:
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Trump’s COVID-19 Timeline pic.twitter.com/IUDBSOJSA3
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 5, 2020
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NEWS: WH spokesperson Alyssa Farah -- confirming NYT reporting -- saying that the White House has *not asked the CDC to do contact tracing. She says instead there is an “in-house epidemiologist” who is doing it, following CDC guidelines. https://t.co/oEzJY0Z8Y8
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) October 4, 2020
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Entire Senate GOP was exposed at their lunches last week.https://t.co/y5bzF92pE4 pic.twitter.com/RaV3eD9Pd3
— Gregory Koger (@GregoryKoger) October 3, 2020
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A 16 second look into every possible way to contract and spread COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/ZEI6dcfUAC
— Albert MacGloan ➐ (@AlbertMacGloan) October 3, 2020
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I like a president who is not Patient Zero. Or Individual 1.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 7, 2020
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands.
Rinse and repeat.
Politics:
Infectious disease icon Bill Foege asks CDC director to expose White House, orchestrate his own firing
This letter from Foege to Redield is destined to be a classic; highly recommended.
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In a new video, top counterintelligence official Bill Evanina says foreign actors are trying to hack election infrastructure—after weeks of denials by FBI and DHS that this was happening.https://t.co/08fxiDlyCV
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) October 6, 2020
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PLEASE READ THIS THREAD.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 6, 2020
When Donald Trump banned critical race theory from being discussed at the federal level, maybe it was something that didn’t matter to you or you just ignored.
Below is why it was dangerous. The Autobiography of Malcolm X falls within this order.
VOTE https://t.co/JlDiJDW2PY
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https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1312882760466354177?s=20
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To get a photo op in front of a church, Trump tear gassed peaceful protestors.
— Zac Petkanas (@Zac_Petkanas) October 4, 2020
To get a photo op waving to the Proud Boys rallying in front of Walter Reed, Trump forced his Secret Service detail into a small car and exposed them to his coronavirus.
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Elections:
The Trump campaign is contacting local election offices, telling them to ignore their states' election laws -->
— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) October 5, 2020
“The NC Republican Party advises you to not follow the procedures,” Trump campaign operative Heather Ford wrote in an emailhttps://t.co/NkwkN8KPej
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Georgetown law school has created a fact sheet for all 50 states explaining the laws barring unauthorized private militia groups and what to do if groups of armed individuals show up near a polling place or voter registration drive. https://t.co/0B47DaAD0r
— Kim Zetter (@KimZetter) October 5, 2020
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Supreme Court sides with Republicans in South Carolina dispute over witness requirements for mail-in ballots
ballots already sent in without a witness should be counted.
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I can't decide if he thinks he's Evita or Madonna playing Evita... https://t.co/3EK2sx5O10
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) October 6, 2020
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Amy Coney Barrett:
She claimed not to know all the views of the anti-LGBT hate group — which include support for forced sterilization of trans people (guess she doesn’t do her homework?)
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) October 4, 2020
She also never returned or donated the money. She kept it.
She gave 5 speeches. https://t.co/rHtjngjU1I pic.twitter.com/mTBiHJvwhC
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Regeneron, the company that developed the experimental antibody cocktail used to treat Trump uses human embryonic stem cells in their research.
— Bex Lam, PharmD (@AryaKicksButt) October 4, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett thinks life begins at fertilization.
His Supreme Court pick is at odds with the company providing his treatment pic.twitter.com/WhDS0hPt4q
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Other/Action items:
The Department of Homeland Security recently proposed the reclassification of complaint records as “temporary” to the National Archives and Records Administration. If approved, the proposal would give the DHS the authority to destroy within four years records documenting a long history of abuse at the agency, and at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, one of its major operational components.
Join us in demanding NARA preserve these records so that we can hold the DHS and CBP accountable.
Feel good du jour:
Comic relief:
BREAKING. Trump’s chest x-ray with “findings as expected.” pic.twitter.com/73y21Fb5vx
— Pissed Off Radiologist (@responsibleMDs) October 4, 2020
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Don’t cry for my White House staffer. pic.twitter.com/AvF1pZleOE
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 7, 2020
Bonus: “In his 2004 book, “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life,” Trump wrote, “My favorite Broadway show is 'Evita' by Andrew Lloyd Webber, starring Patti LuPone. I saw it six times, mostly with Ivana,”’
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I still have the lung power and I wore less makeup. This revival is closing November 3rd. pic.twitter.com/vRQ4LepACv
— Patti LuPone (@PattiLuPone) October 6, 2020
Perspective/Poem
On cold night, seeing Secret Service agent outside Oval Office, JFK asked him inside but was told he couldn't—Kennedy brought out two cups of hot chocolate, which they both drank in the cold—years later, the weeping agent said, “That’s the kind of President I’ve been serving."
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) October 5, 2020
Bits of beauty:
