Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said 33% of Iowa's 482 new Covid-19 cases have been linked to meat processing facilities https://t.co/R9A9UZRR3n
— CNN (@CNN) April 22, 2020
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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In the News
Contract farmer forced to lose his 61,000 chickens, and maybe his livelihood.
This is a very well-written article, and it is the first one that explains something you can do for yourself to check your status. It is not a virus test, but evidently the people who do the worst with this COVID 19 have a low Oxygen Saturation early on. In "hospital land" anything under 92% is an indication to provide oxygen support.
The article notes that people can be asymptomatic (not air-hungry) with saturations as low as 50. These people may be identified in ER's and Dr. Offices who come in for other things, and when the O2 Sat is done as a routine, they do a chest XRay and find widespread pneumonia.
I went out and bought myself an oximeter (~ $50). I will be interested to hear your thoughts.
Just two native New Yorkers shooting the breeze? Or "rut roh"? To be continued...
@ NYTimes.com Coronovirus Live Updates, April 21
[....] The two leaders, whose relations during the coronavirus crisis have been alternately antagonistic and conciliatory, are expected to discuss virus testing and ways for New York to increase its capacity to conduct it.
Mr. Cuomo and others have said that ramping up testing is a key to lifting restrictions and reopening the state’s economy.
In recent days, Mr. Cuomo has said that one of the main obstacles to doing more tests is the availability of the reactive chemicals in test kits known as reagents and that federal help was needed in getting the reagents to New York [....]
By Jon Campbell, New York State team @ lohud.com, April 21
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he will allow some New York hospitals to resume elective procedures, provided they are outside of the New York City area and not in a county likely to experience a COVID-19 surge.
The state's new policy comes after Cuomo halted all elective procedures March 22, causing a major drop in revenue for hospitals in some areas of the state that have yet to be hit hard by the novel coronavirus at the center of a global pandemic.
Now, hospitals will be allowed to reopen their doors to patients seeking elective, outpatient procedures, Cuomo said. But only hospitals in counties without a likely COVID-19 surge in the near future will be allowed to participate [....]
Still time to do something about this!
By Jonathan Tamari & Jonathan Lai @ (Philadelphia) Inquirer.com, April 21
[....] As states scramble to adapt elections for the coronavirus pandemic, the rules vary widely, each set by seemingly small bureaucratic decisions that together determine how easy or hard it is to vote — and how many people do or don’t.
Those rules are now subject to a growing legal and political battle across the country, especially in closely divided states like Pennsylvania, where tiny differences could influence who wins its 20 electoral votes and, ultimately, the White House.
Democrats in Congress are pressing for national standards to impose early voting nationwide and ease mail-in voting [....]
The choice is yours, Mayor De Blasio
By Gersh Kuntzman @ nyc.streetsblog.org, April 20
Editor’s note: After initial publication of this story, Editor Gersh Kuntzman was persuaded into seeing that readers were taking the story as an attack on a beloved and talented New York Times reporter. Since Kuntzman did not intend the story that way, we are allowing him to post a substantially rewritten version, recast to highlight the issues that he was trying to highlight. The headline has also been altered.
Note the quotation marks in the headline. Updated April 20 10:17 PM EDT:
The $349 billion program ran out of money Thursday, leaving traditional small businesses without funding and leading to a backlash that prompted one company to give the money back.With program out of money, backlash prompts executives at Shake Shack to return $10 million loan
By Jonathan O'Connell @ WashingtonPost.com, April 20
The federal government gave national hotel and restaurant chains millions of dollars in grants before the $349 billion program ran out of money Thursday, leading to a backlash that prompted one company to give the money back and a Republican senator to say that “millions of dollars are being wasted.”
Thousands of traditional small businesses were unable to get funding from the program before it ran dry. As Congress and the White House near a deal to add an additional $310 billion to the program, some are calling for additional oversight and rule changes to prevent bigger chains from accepting any more money.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House, a chain that has 150 locations and is valued at $250 million, reported receiving $20 million in funding from the small business portion of the economic stimulus legislation called the Paycheck Protection Program. The Potbelly chain of sandwich shops, which has more than 400 locations and a value of $89 million, reported receiving $10 million last week [....]
By Dana Thomas @ WashingtonPost.com, April 20
SAINT-TROPEZ, France — [....] Some individuals are hiding out in state-of-the-art bunkers. Some have leased seaside mansions to hunker down for the duration. In the Grenadines, billionaire entertainment mogul David Geffen posted pictures on Instagram from his 454-foot megayacht, Rising Sun, replete with a tone-deaf “hoping everybody is staying safe” message.
And here in this Riviera resort — one of Geffen’s favorite summer ports of call — a gated compound of some of the world’s richest people has its very own, very private testing site.
Set in the director’s office of the 270-acre Les Parcs de Saint-Tropez — where LVMH luxury group chairman Bernard Arnault, Ritz Paris owner Mohamed al-Fayed and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal have palatial villas — the medical unit is staffed with a doctor and lab technician to take and process samples from residents and their friends. Details were leaked to the regional newspaper, the Var-Matin, which reported that the effort was organized by Les Parcs’ association president, Jean-Louis Oger. The wealthy pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur owns several clinics and laboratories in the south of France [....]
Across France [...] most public hospitals are overwhelmed with covid-19 patients. Tests are in short supply or are completely inaccessible. Outside the compound’s walls, the situation is not much different at the Pôle de Santé du Golfe de Saint-Tropez hospital.
Medical personnel are “scandalized,” according to one hospital doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue on the peninsula. “It’s not normal that we have nothing — no tests — and that it is a nightmare for us to get a hold of one.” [....]
@ losangeles.cbslocal.com, April 19, with video
Ventura County is extending its stay-at-home order until May 15th, but the county is starting to ease its restrictions in hopes of reopening soon. The new order, which goes into effect Sunday, allows some business that were formerly considered “nonessential” to operate with 10 employees. This includes bike shops, car dealerships and golf courses.
All businesses, according to the order, must maintain social distancing inside. In addition, social gatherings are now being allowed with up to five people [....]
On coronavirus, he's basically down to the same 1/3 of the population who are conservative kooks and who have plagued us for the last 50 years at least.
Gabriel Wortman suspected of shooting spree in the coastal town of Portapique before he died during standoff with police
By Leyland Cecco in Toronto & Agencies @ TheGuardian.com, April 19, with video
A gunman in Canada posing as a police officer has killed 16 people after a 12-hour shooting rampage across Nova Scotia in the worst act of mass murder the country has seen in modern times.
Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, police said, and several homes were set on fire. Bodies were found at other locations and one police officer was also among the dead [....]