dagblog - Comments for "Swing states hit as coronavirus rips small businesses"

They are angry': Pandemic and

artappraiser — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:36:49 +0000

In reply to Swing states hit as coronavirus rips small businesses

They are angry': Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt

Coronavirus infections and unemployment filings are spiraling in parts of the Industrial Midwest where Donald Trump cleaned up in 2016.

By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, MEGAN CASSELLA and NOLAN D. MCCASKILL Updated: 05/14/2020 08:44 PM EDT

The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November.

The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans’ lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral. The confluence of a ferocious pandemic, deepening economic turmoil and rising political tensions is more pronounced here than anywhere else in the country. And it sets the stage for a combustible campaign season that is testing President Donald Trump’s efforts to move on and insulate himself from the crisis—and Joe Biden’s ability to blame him for the fallout.

On Thursday, Trump ventured to a swing county in Pennsylvania, stopping off at a Lehigh Valley medical equipment distributor where he used an official speech to mock “Sleepy Joe,” chastise governors for moving too slowly to reopen and assail the news media as a “disaster” while touting American workers.

“I say it’s the ‘transition to greatness.’ The transition is the third quarter," Trump said. "The fourth quarter is going to do very well. And next year is going to be through the roof.”

The numbers and interviews, however, paint a much grimmer picture. The virus has moved from urban centers like Detroit and Chicago into suburbs and more sparsely populated counties, a trend seen from western Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Iowa. In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania—Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall”—19 counties report coronavirus cases doubling in less than 14 days. Trump won all but one of those counties, by an average of 65 percent.

Democrats are working to ensure that doesn’t happen again by casting his stewardship over the virus and economy as a betrayal [....]

In 3 Key States That Elected

artappraiser — Fri, 15 May 2020 16:03:16 +0000

In reply to Swing states hit as coronavirus rips small businesses

In 3 Key States That Elected Trump, Bitter Divisions on Reopening

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Republican majority in the Legislature, ending a statewide stay-at-home order by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat.

With Democratic governors and Republican legislatures, ending stay-at-home orders mixes health guidance and partisan politics.

By Kay Nolan, Julie Bosman and Campbell Robertson @ NYTimes.com, Updated May 15, 2020, 10:38 a.m. ET

WAUKESHA, Wis. — In Wisconsin, residents woke up to a state of confusion on Thursday after the conservative majority on the State Supreme Court sided with the Republican majority in the Legislature on Wednesday night, overturning a statewide stay-at-home order by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat.

In Michigan, hundreds of protesters, many of them armed, turned out at the State Capitol in a drenching rainstorm. The state closed the building in advance and canceled the legislative session, rather than risk a repeat of an April protest in which angry protesters carrying long guns crowded inside.

In Pennsylvania, some Republican lawmakers urged defiance of the Democratic governor’s orders to keep nonessential businesses closed, and President Trump flew to Allentown for a politically charged visit to a medical supply facility.

The response to the coronavirus in those three states, which determined the 2016 presidential election and could strongly influence the one in November, is becoming a confused and agitated blend of health guidance, protest and partisan politics — leaving residents to fend for themselves.

“My anxiety for this pandemic is not having a unified plan, that we’re all on the same page, and listening to science and the same rules,” said Jamie O’Brien, 40, who owns a hair salon in Madison, Wis., that remains closed because of a local stay-at-home order.

Across Wisconsin, the court ruling left some residents in a festive mood, heading directly to one of the state’s many taverns to celebrate. Others were determined to stay home, worried that it was too soon to return to crowded restaurants and shops.

“You have the one group that’s like, ‘Yay!’” said Patty Schachtner, a Democratic state senator from western Wisconsin. “And the other group is like, ‘Man, life just got complicated.’”

It was an unsettling microcosm of a country increasingly unable to separate bitter political divisions from plans to battle a deadly disease. Democratic governors in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, backed by public health experts, have urged caution before reopening. Republican legislatures in the states have pushed in the opposite direction, citing economic necessity and personal freedom [.....]

on the above phenomenon:

artappraiser — Fri, 15 May 2020 03:51:49 +0000

In reply to High-risk states are seeing

on the above phenomenon:

Yup - very early, but encouraging. We shouldn’t be hoping for the states who are opening to have spikes. That’s certainly what it feels like on twitter.
— michael j (@mgrillo87) May 13, 2020

High-risk states are seeing

artappraiser — Fri, 15 May 2020 03:50:27 +0000

In reply to Swing states hit as coronavirus rips small businesses

High-risk states are seeing fewer new coronavirus cases

By Sam Baker @ Axios.com, May 13 with map

The first stages of reopening haven’t produced a surge in coronavirus cases in most states — at least, not yet.

Yes, but: The reopening process is still in its early stages, so a second wave of infections still remains distinctly possible.

Between the lines: Our chart compares each state's seven-day average of new cases from Monday, and the seven-day average from a week prior, May 4.

Comparing the averages of two weeks helps smooth out a lot of the noise in how states sometimes inconsistently conduct and report tests.

The latest average captures the first full week in which some states began to ease some of their lockdown measures.

Some of the states that skeptics were most worried about, including Florida and Georgia, haven’t seen the rise in total cases that some experts feared.

Florida’s new cases have actually declined by 14% compared to the previous week, and Georgia’s fell by 12%.

Nevada leads the pack with a 44% reduction, while several hard-hit states that embraced aggressive lockdowns to help contain early outbreaks — Michigan, New York and New Jersey — all saw reductions of at least 30%.

The other side: Cases are still increasing in other parts of the country [....]