Is it really necessary for our Macho Man President to get very sick and indisposed for two to three weeks when we most crucially need leadership to stem the virus? He did have direct contact with the Brazilian Communications Secretary at Mar-a-Lago, who tested positive days after meeting with Trump. Wouldn’t that qualify the President for testing, or is it because he is not showing symptoms? The dinner was for Brazil’s President Bolsonaro. He is being tested, as well as others at the dinner. Is Trump worried that if he got tested positive, then VP Pence would take over, using the 25th Amendment? This is typical Trump, no matter who is affected by the situation, it always has to be about him. All the Press will have to do is to picture him in an infrared camera, and see if he is running a temperature.
Trump fiddles, while the Amazon Rain Forest burns.
Where is the Secret Service, in performing its protective roll? Shouldn’t it also be protecting everybody who meets with the President? What if the VP and the Task Force all get sick? Who will run things? Isn’t it strange how they all protect their reputations by passing all Truth-telling to Dr. Fauci?
It’s too bad that the House did not delay impeachment for two more months. I’d like to see any Republican Senator block it this week. Or next, or any time after that.
Trump said he was protecting the United States, but didn’t say that he was protecting the American people. The best thing Trump and VP Pence could do is to resign, so that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi become President. It would only take five minutes. Then if Mitch “Stonewall” McConnell would resign, all could be repaired.
I predicted a thousand drop in the Dow, even before Trump gave his 11 minute speech. Boy was I wrong. It dropped 2,353.
All right. Universities closing, schools closing, NBA, March Madness, those are one thing. But it was just announced that Disneyland is closing after Friday!!! This is not a comedic statement. Disneyland is the largest employer in Orange County. Yesterday, UC Irvine, said that Friday would be the last day of in-person classes. We would have on-line finals next week, and the entire Spring Quarter would be on-line. Students were told to go and stay home or off campus. The faculty and staff can still work on campus. UC Irvine is the second largest employer in Orange County.
The million tests, that have had three or four presentation dates according to the VP, are not appearing by the latest promise, this Friday. CNN said that Lab Corp said that they will have tests in 6 weeks! Only if you came from an infected area or had direct contact with an infected person, and have symptoms, can you be tested. Can Mar-a-Lago now be considered an infected area? We have only tested 11,000 people. Tourists are still stuck on the Grand Princess, because they have not been tested. Princess cruises are now being cancelled for a few months.
Can we buy tests from a Mexican or Canadian pharmacy or lab? Is there a black market in tests? Can the rich or famous get tests?
VP Pence has now announced that Americans who return home will be screened, and asked to self-isolate for two weeks. Travelers from Ireland or the UK are allowed in. Americans include those with work permits and relatives.
Today, the US has 1663 cases. Subtracting the 66 ship board who do not circulate, gives 1,597 land cases. Yesterday, there were 1246, yielding a gain of 351 land cases. The increase ratio is 351/1246 = 28.2%.
I had been looking for a graph of the rise of cases in Italy, and then CNN showed one. It tracks the rise with the days of the US delayed rise, and is below.
CNN Chris Cuomo showed a graph of leading countries’ case growth with respect to time.
This shows the 33% rate that I was calculating for the US growth for some days. Cuomo’s point was that Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong had a far slower growth because they took effective action.
If the Senate takes a week off recess, when they come back, it will be a total disaster.
The importance of slow growth is shown in this graph, since it will not overwhelm the health care system. It is called, flattening the curve.
Since New Rochelle went from one case to 148 in one week, people really do have to close down mass gatherings, especially since tests are not available.
I was just informed that OLLI has shut down all of its in-person classes, in accord with the University. We will be activating our remote system next week.
