Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
April 06, 2020

U.S. Will Cover-up Its Own Coronavirus Death Toll

The Trump administration has used the novel coronavirus pandemic to malign its perceived enemies. Now as the U.S. itself is at the center of the pandemic the accusations and lies come back to bite.

On March 21 the Daily Beast reported of an upcoming propaganda campaign the White House was launching against China:

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow at a rapid pace in the U.S., the White House is launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies that focuses on accusing Beijing of orchestrating a “cover-up” and creating a global pandemic, according to two U.S. officials and a government cable obtained by The Daily Beast.

The cable, sent to State Department officials Friday, lays out in detail the circumstances on the ground in China, including data on coronavirus cases and deaths, the local business environment and transportation restrictions. But it also issues guidelines for how U.S. officials should answer questions on, or speak about, the coronavirus and the White House’s response in relation to China.

The talking points appear to have originated in the National Security Council. One section of the cable reads “NSC Top Lines: [People’s Republic of China] Propaganda and Disinformation on the Wuhan Virus Pandemic.”

Soon the mainstream media started to spread the new talking points. A Google News search for the search term "China Cover-up" now finds 449.000 results.

On April 1 Bloomberg was called up by "officials" to reinforce the campaign by attributing the claim of a cover-up of China's case and death numbers to a "secret U.S. intelligence report". That report is unlikely to exist at all because the New York Times reported a day later that the CIA hunt for "authentic numbers" of deaths in China was still ongoing and failing:

So far, to the frustration of both the White House and the intelligence community, the agencies have been unable to glean more accurate numbers through their collection efforts.

We used the Bloomberg report to explain that the case fatality numbers, which China reported correctly, are very different from the total number of fatalities, or excess deaths, an epidemic causes. There was no cover-up by China but naturally incomplete reporting of all deaths. A day later the BBC published a similar explainer piece.

On April 3 the Economist also discussed wrong fatality numbers though it had found those in Italy and Spain: Covid-19’s death toll appears higher than official figures suggest. It also made this snarky cover-up remark:

[W]hen Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, America recorded only 64 deaths. A study later found that the surge in total deaths was close to 3,000. Many occurred in hospitals that lost power.

The excess deaths from Covid-19 in certain areas of Spain and Italy appear to be up to three times higher than the officially reported deaths.


bigger

As the U.S. is now in its own catastrophic phase of the outbreak the media are finally waking up to the fact that their claim of China's "cover-up" is bullshit.

Today both the New York Times as well as the Washingon Post report that the U.S. is "covering-up" the number of death that the pandemic  causes within its borders. The NYT headlines: The U.S. is undercounting the number of people who have died in the pandemic, experts say.

Doctors now believe that some deaths in February and early March were likely misidentified as influenza or only described as pneumonia.

Even under typical circumstances, public health experts say that it takes months or years to compile data that is as accurate as possible on deaths in infectious outbreaks.

The Post headlines: Coronavirus death toll: Americans are almost certainly dying of covid-19 but being left out of the official count

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts only deaths in which the presence of the coronavirus is confirmed in a laboratory test. “We know that it is an underestimation,” agency spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said.

A widespread lack of access to testing in the early weeks of the U.S. outbreak means people with respiratory illnesses died without being counted, epidemiologists say. Even now, some people who die at home or in overburdened nursing homes are not being tested, according to funeral directors, medical examiners and nursing home representatives.

The U.S.already "covered-up" Covid-19 casualties by not testing enough. And the U.S. CDC will now do exactly what China has done during the outbreak in Hubei province. It will only report confirmed cases and the fatalities thereof. That is exactly the "cover-up" the U.S. has accused China of.

Another Covid-19 story had been used to denigrate Iran when the Washington Post mocked the country about a row a fresh dug graves in Qom that were "visible from space" just like about everything else is:

In Qom, the spiritual center of Iran’s ruling Shiite clerics, more than 846 people have contracted the virus, officials say. Iran’s government has not released an official death toll for Qom, however, where about 1.2 million people live. But videos, satellite images and other open-source data from the cemetery — a vast complex six miles north of the city center — suggest that the number of people struck down by the virus there is significantly higher than the official figure.

Now the rows of graves "visible from space" are coming to the U.S. itself. The Chair of the New York city council sadly announced that the casualties of the epidemic will soon be temporarily buried in public parks:

Mark D. Levine @MarkLevineNYC - 1:33 UTC · Apr 6, 2020

Grieving families report calling as many as half a dozen funeral homes and finding none that can handle their deceased loved ones.
Cemeteries are not able to handle the number of burial requests and are turning most down. 4/

It’s not just deaths in hospitals which are up. On an average day before this crisis there were 20-25 deaths at home in NYC. Now in the midst of this pandemic the number is 200-215. *Every day*. 5/

Early on in this crisis we were able to swab people who died at home, and thus got a coronavirus reading. But those days are long gone. We simply don't have the testing capacity for the large numbers dying at home. 6/

Now only those few who had a test confirmation *before* dying are marked as victims of coronavirus on their death certificate. This almost certainly means we are undercounting the total number of victims of this pandemic. 7/

And still the number of bodies continues to increase. The freezers at OCME facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn will soon be full. And then what? 8/

Soon we'll start “temporary interment”. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right). Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line.

It will be done in a dignified, orderly--and temporary--manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take. 9/

New York will continue to have a high death rate for some time while Iran now has a gradual decline of new cases. A beautiful light show (vid) was projected on the Azadi tower in Tehran to honor the fight against the virus.

Iran is also contributing to the research of the disease.

A large scale Iranian study found that three quarter of those who had milder symptoms of Covid-19 reported also a very sudden smell blindness and sometimes also a loss of taste. The ability to smell recovered only very slowly. Other research suggests that a specific type of cells in the olfactory bulb might be the first place where the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks before it moves into the throat and then deeper into the body. Even people who did not fall ill, but were living with ill members in their family, often reported a loss of smell.

Those who experience a sudden loss of smell should therefore immediately isolate themselves to not infect others.

Posted by b on April 6, 2020 at 17:21 UTC | Permalink

Comments
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In France, the sudden loss of smell is considered proof of Covid-19 infection, no further tests required.

Posted by: marcel | Apr 6 2020 17:29 utc | 1

INDEED! As someone who worked in the field, in the front line, there was a HUGE pressure not test. It has become more liberal now though. I have no idea about the reporting by higher echelons but on the frontline, there is a strict secrecy policy, towards the public; which is comprehensible for 2 reasons:
1. Some underserved hospitals get MUCH more COVID patients (40X more compared to a neighboring hospital for the affluent, in the Tri-State) but don’t want to be branded as this has commercial implications.
2. They want to avoid panic

The numbers are passed to CDC though but I have no idea what they do with it

Posted by: Amie | Apr 6 2020 17:37 utc | 2

Latest version of the "secret report" has it from the UK
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/wuhan-lab-virus-leak-no-longer-discounted-cobra/

Posted by: Mina | Apr 6 2020 17:38 utc | 3

Besides falsificating death numbers Trump and his administration of neo-confederates are now stealing ventilators paid for by Barbados. Degenerate and incompetent Murikkkans making america great and showing the world why they're #1. When the dust settles after Covid-19, the pilgrims will stand alone on a shining pile of exceptional sh*t !
link

Posted by: Sol Invictus | Apr 6 2020 17:44 utc | 4

b,

You forgot to mention the malign accusation of being a "narco" can still go along way,

"Venezuela's democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro sent this open letter to the people of the USA, calling for peace and no war and sanctions. He warns that the Trump admin is trying to launch a war, based on lies about drugs, to distract from the coronavirus disaster."

https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1246832744493129733

btw... thank you!

Posted by: Andrew | Apr 6 2020 17:46 utc | 5

Lookit big picture. DoD sees Chine as enemy. DoD has BSL4 and "studies" CV. Closes last August Ft Det. DoD attacks. DoD lies. DoD serves masters, as Smedly said, thugs and gangsters for big business.

The rest is details.

Oplan 20 1) create righteous cause with FFA and silence public by incapacitation
2) weaken enemy states in all ways (they are doing their best!)
3) use force.

We're collateral and regrettable losses.

No antiwar demos if "chine did it" (repeat endlessly)

The more often they say chine did it the more certain that Sam did it.

Posted by: Walter | Apr 6 2020 17:51 utc | 6

New York's outcome response to nCOV to date seems to be significantly worse than Italy or Spain.
I graphed out the March 26-April 5 numbers I've been accumulating for respective mortality per 10M population
As is very clear from the top graph, New York has been accelerating to pass 2000 deaths per 10M; I time shifted the data at approximate equal start points vs. Italy and Spain (the 2 graphs below the main one) - the worse outcomes are very clear there as well.
If the trends continue, New York will pass up both Italy and Spain in just 3 days.
Figuring out how to set a curve fit to extrapolate now to get an idea how bad this can get.

Posted by: c1ue | Apr 6 2020 17:51 utc | 7

reminder: it is generally very difficult to define the cause of death. Numbers and statistics can be very wrong, I would not trust them.

Then I read recently (I don't know if it is true) that in the UK it would need two experts (a doctor and a coroner) to define the cause of death. And the doctor must have treated the deceased for at least 14 days. According to the source this has changed now. A doctor can issue a death certificate without having known or seen the deceased.

Death, positive coronavirus test, signature, done. We may very well see a huge discrepancy right now in those numbers and statistics, from today and from December to March.

Then, as shown and proven, these tests do not indicate the virus, only 'traces' of it. Which can originate from entirely different sources, for example exosomes. There's plenty of genetic material floating around in our bodies, and this material is used for the corona virus test. This is simply not scientific.

Why are so few people mentioning these obvious facts? Is this some kind of masochism? Some sort of self-flagellation?

Posted by: Phil | Apr 6 2020 18:02 utc | 8

Posted by: Mina | Apr 6 2020 17:38 utc | 3

Beware, the source is the Daily Mail (or more precisely the Sunday version). Notorious for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese stories, along with smearing anything even mildly left-wing.

Posted by: Laguerre | Apr 6 2020 18:05 utc | 9

USA For Profit health care will see to it that thousands or more die needlessly, the cover up is a secondary issue. Just 3 examples:

Hospital in Southern Arizona says it's on the brink of closure because of COVID-19 costs. Az central:

https://bit.ly/34g11KW

Overwhelmed Hospitals Face a New Crisis: Staffing Firms Are Cutting Their Doctors’ Hours and Pay.

“Multiple private-equity-backed staffing companies have cut hours for thousands of emergency room doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.” Pro Publica:

https://bit.ly/2JIA1ub

Medical workers nationally getting laid off by the thousands: ‘It’s quite surreal for all of us,’ one says.

“A tally of out-of-work medical professionals is elusive, since the coronavirus began taking a devastating toll on jobs only in mid-March. Many institutions have said nothing publicly, quietly making cutbacks, and the monthly jobs report issued Friday by the federal government showed 42,000 job losses in health care — just a small indication of what's to come..” Penn live

https://bit.ly/34eposF

Med staff fired en masse because - no profits to be made from Covid-19 patients.


Posted by: Noirette | Apr 6 2020 18:25 utc | 10

- Trump Campaign’s McEnany Told Fox, ‘We Will Not See Diseases Like The Coronavirus Come Here’

http://www.newshounds.us/flashback_trump_campaign_s_mcenany_told_fox_not_coronavirus_here_040520

Posted by: Willy2 | Apr 6 2020 18:27 utc | 11

Thanks b for shining the light.

Politicising a disease is very short sighted.

Joining the propaganda chorus - in the UK there is a demand on China to pay compensation for coronavirus.

CHINA owes Britain £351billion in coronavirus compensation
Be careful there is the 1839 opium war way deep in history that could offset. Good luck with that for Brexit trade talks.

and

Canadians are livid over Trump's banning export of 3M masks, said the US wants the masks and he doesn’t want others getting them.

Trump is reminded that the the town of Gander in the province of Newfoundland, population of 10,000, assisted 6,600 Americans diverted following the 9/11 attack.
Newfoundland Premier Dwight Ball said one of the great lessons in humanity is that in times of crisis you don’t stop being human.


“To say that I’m infuriated by the recent actions of President Trump of the United States is an understatement,” Ball said. “I cannot believe for a second that in a time of crisis that President Trump would even think about banning key medical supplies to Canada.”

Ball noted that in 2001, more than 6,600 passengers descended on Gander, Newfoundland, a town of 10,000 without warning as more than 200 flights were diverted to Canada following the attacks on the United States.

Flight crews filled Gander’s hotels, so passengers were taken to schools, fire stations, church halls. The Canadian military flew in 5,000 cots. Stores donated blankets, coffee machines, barbecue grills. Locals gave passengers food, clothes, showers, toys and banks of phones to call home free of charge.

“Newfoundland and Labrador will never give up on humanity . We will not hesitate for one second if we had to repeat what we did on 9-11. We would do it again,” Ball said.

“This is a time when we need to work together to continue to protect our residents and keep them safe from COVID-19 no mater where they live or what passport they hold.”[.]

Trudeau noted Canada supplies the U.S. with many supplies, including pulp for surgical-grade N95 masks, test kits and gloves. Canadian nurses also work in the U.S.

Question Canadians are asking. Those advising Trump, can they find Canada on the world map? Sanctions and tariffs equates loss of market share.

Posted by: Likklemore | Apr 6 2020 18:29 utc | 12

Noirette | Apr 6 2020 18:25 utc | 10

I cannot think of any words that would appropriately convey how disgusting this is.

This is a new low for america and capitalism.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 18:53 utc | 13

Noirette | Apr 6 2020 18:25 utc | 10

As stand alone datum is sad.

In context is "rational" "sacrifice" of nutzossenfolk and deadheads. Naturally the medic are withdrawn, and in a way that makes it seem "logical". But is part of design of system.

Lookit Big Picture. Is "regrettable" cull of baggage fodder units.

Apply coincidence theory....lotta coincidences?...find the agency, dude.

Target Chine...target Persia, target Rus - the rest is merely "losses" in Campaign to Glorious Victory.

Now then, remember the lies... It cannot achieve the grand goal.
It must, in Time, retreat.

Then it must undergo Changes. Quite probably at that point Regions will ask Chine and Rus to help. 5 years? 10? Nobody knows.

Thus "russian interference" while obviously a bald lie, shall occur in the future, also Chine assist also in Future. Is "echo from future".

Last time empire had big crises the Ruskie did interfere...ask Lincoln.

The geopolitic is much the same.

Posted by: Walter | Apr 6 2020 18:55 utc | 14

@Noirette

Here as long thread of U.S. hospitals firing people because their usual business no longer makes money:

U.S. healthcare system is so overwhelmed by COVID-19 that hospitals are laying off staff.

Yes, you read that right. Due to coronavirus lockdown and fears, no one's going except in absolute emergencies. Hospitals are getting slammed--by lack of business.
...

Posted by: b | Apr 6 2020 18:59 utc | 15

What does "nutzossenfolk" mean?

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 19:04 utc | 16

Here is the latest chart from the CDC. As can be seen mortality in the USA from Influenza and Pneumonia was much higher two years ago.

http://alongchat.com/stuff/influenzausa.jpg

The original report is here: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

It is panic for fake reasons.

Posted by: Alfred (Cairns) | Apr 6 2020 19:07 utc | 17

And then there's this:

US doctors warned they will be fired if they complain to media about lack of resources"

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 6 2020 19:08 utc | 18

Noirette @10 & b @15--

There's no better example for the argument to nationalize all healthcare within Outlaw US Empire that the existing "system" amplifying the death toll and showing its utter dereliction of duty in time of need, and thus its Gross Immorality.

David F @16--

Nuts--people like us who think--and folk--just plain old folk, the common people lacking insurance, jobs, savings, who Clinton called Deplorables.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 6 2020 19:20 utc | 19

How do you fight propaganda

Liars will shamelessly through mud against the wall, if you refute each lie you will sound as crazy as them.

World Health Organization reports
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports

The first 4 are sufficient. China reported the virus to WHO on 12/31. If they believed human to human transmission was impossible they would not have bothered, they said it was unknown.
On 1/12 China provided genetic sequencing data so that WHO could develop test kits, Japan did so by 1/16.

On 1/21 WHO rated the risk of a global pandemic as 'HiGH' for non-infected countries and 'very high' in China and recommended temperature screening for travelers from a country with known cases entering any other country. WHO declared human to human transmission. The idea of a Chinese coverup cannot go beyond this date.

Both Japan and S.Korea started implementing screening, quarantine, and contact tracing on 1/3 - 1/7 as per WHO reporting and Chinese data, were they in on the conspiracy? Both countries combined have less than 300 deaths to date.

Posted by: Christian J Chuba | Apr 6 2020 19:49 utc | 20


WHO 6 April daily News Briefing with Lady GaGa...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=7i1ipJoG7mE&feature=emb_logo

Posted by: JC | Apr 6 2020 19:52 utc | 21

The downside of punishing China

They withdraw from WHO and say, 'we got punished for doing the right thing, from now on we will handle these matters internally, you figure out how to handle these situations on your own based solely on our public response to what we are doing.' This is true for all international agreements and why no one country should be able to use them as part of their plan for World Domination. Iran has threatened to withdraw from the NPT citing unequal enforcement which is quite obviously true.

Posted by: Christian J Chuba | Apr 6 2020 19:57 utc | 22

The U$A doesn't have to lie, as they layoff medical workers, who counts the newly infected..

"SC’s Largest Hospital System Lays off 327 Employees
South Carolina’s largest private health employer is laying off 327 employees."

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-carolina/articles/2020-01-17/scs-largest-hospital-system-lays-off-327-employees

Posted by: ben | Apr 6 2020 20:04 utc | 23

Posted by: Phil | Apr 6 2020 18:02 utc | 8

Actually "cause of death" is a highly problematic subject - at times, almost farcically so. For example, a 2010 article in the peer-reviewed medical journal Preventing Chronic Disease reported that:

Only one-third of New York City resident physicians reported believing that the present system of documentation was accurate. Half reported the inability to record "what they felt to be the correct cause of death", citing reasons such as technical limitation and instruction to "put something else". Nearly four-fifths reported being unaware that determinations of "probable", "presumed", or "undetermined" could be made, and fewer than three percent reported ever updating a death certificate when conflicting lab results or other new information became available, and cardiovascular disease was indicated as "the most frequent diagnosis inaccurately reported"

Posted by: carl | Apr 6 2020 20:08 utc | 24

@Walter, 14

Apply coincidence theory....lotta coincidences?...find the agency, dude.

I have never seen so many coincidences. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Abraham Lincoln's statement that you can't fool all of the people all of the time holds true.

Posted by: cirsium | Apr 6 2020 20:12 utc | 25

I agree with you with the general analysis about the underreporting of deaths in many places. However, living in Madrid (Spain), I can tell you that the regional example from Spain you present is not the best one. Just 4 days before the start of the quarantaine (March 16th), schools and universities in Madrid closed, and thousands of people left the city to the surrounding regions, specially Castilla La Mancha, the one you are showing. This has produced an extra number of deaths because of the sudden increase in population.

If you look at the global number of deaths in Spain since the start of the quarantaine has been 31,472, while in the same period of previous years the average number was 21,381. This implies an "excess" of deaths of 10,091 people. In the same period (from March 17th to April 4th) the number reported of Covid-19 victims, has been 11,456. The difference can be attributed for very old people dying from the Covid that were already in very bad conditions and would have died anyway.

Here you have the report on excess deaths in Spain

Posted by: Ricardo | Apr 6 2020 20:18 utc | 26

cirsium

No need to fool all the people all the time in a democracy. A whisker over 50% is all that is required.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 20:22 utc | 27

Walter | Apr 6 2020 18:55 utc | 14
cirsium | Apr 6 2020 20:12 utc | 25

Learning of the medical staff layoffs is a kick in the gut. I am having a really hard time processing that. I am experiencing some cognitive dissonance.

I would think that a lot of the staff would be transferred to other areas to deal with the virus, and I can understand some other staff that might not necessarily be useful at this moment in time, when the hospital has been largely repurposed to deal with a specific issue. Do you think this is what is happening, or as I suspect you are saying, you guys/gals think there is a much more nefarious reason. Please do answer that, I don't want to argue the issue, I just want to know what you think.

Is there anyone here who can do more than speculate as to the nature of the layoffs in the hospital systems?

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 20:22 utc | 28

Sure is funny how all other causes of death, pneumonia, cancer, heart disease and so on, have all fallen dramatically over the past few months, it's almost like corona is curing all other causes of death or something.

Posted by: Man | Apr 6 2020 20:25 utc | 29

Boris the clown receiving herd immunity.

https://sputniknews.com/uk/202004061078859350-uk-prime-minister-boris-johnson-taken-to-intensive-care/
​""Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital," a Monday statement reads."

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 20:29 utc | 30

@Peter AU1 #27:

No need to fool all the people all the time in a democracy. A whisker over 50% is all that is required.

Actually, you probably only need the most vocal and crazy 20%. Once you have that, they are capable of shouting down and/or intimidating enough of the opposition to suppress most movements. This is one tactic used in the US quite often.

Posted by: Dr Wellington Yueh | Apr 6 2020 20:31 utc | 31

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 18:53 utc | 13
Posted by: Noirette | Apr 6 2020 18:25 utc | 10

"I cannot think of any words that would appropriately convey how disgusting this is. This is a new low for america and capitalism."

Capitalism died few years after me and family migrated to the US of A.

Let me share a short story. My neighbor a retired White. I am no racist nor anger against White or any races, I am an overseas Chinese. Let me assure you, it's hard to be a Chinese today. Few weeks ago my neighbor said to me exactly (from my daily log since 2000):

"China steals everything, never invent anything" 2:20pm 13March.

Background my neighbor... a retired White, claimed 2% native American with Hispanic wife. Last job school district pool's maintenance and a strong Jehovah Witness partitioner.

Disclaimer: Sorrie if I had posted this story earlier....

Posted by: JC | Apr 6 2020 20:31 utc | 32

@ Posted by: Man | Apr 6 2020 20:25 utc | 29

They didn't fall. It's just that nobody cares about them, so they are not published in the MSM.

Posted by: vk | Apr 6 2020 20:33 utc | 33

Fort Detrick sure has some explaining to do. That's why Veterans Today published the 'open letter to President Trump and the people of the USA'.

The undercounting of deaths will undercut poor ol Bill Gates efforts to command mandatory vacination and personal certificates. What a shame.

We could and likely should name this the Fort Detrick virus.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 6 2020 20:34 utc | 34

@ Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 20:22 utc | 28

It's a simple case of falling profitability. Hospitals are receiving less patients, therefore getting less money, therefore laying off its employees.

Posted by: vk | Apr 6 2020 20:45 utc | 35

I cannot think of any statistic coming from the us govt that I would believe.

I also believe that fauci is the front man for big pharma so anything coming from his mouth has be to colored by the big pharma agenda, i. e. greed and massive profits down the line.

Posted by: Thomas Minnehan | Apr 6 2020 21:03 utc | 36


"UK PM Boris Johnson Taken To ICU As COVID-19 Symptoms Worsen Dramatically"

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uk-pm-boris-johnson-taken-icu-covid-19-symptoms-worsen-dramatically

Personally I would immediately seek help from the best of the best china can provides Dr. Zhong NanShan. Otherwise BoJo is as good as dead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5IPe4RV8EY

Posted by: JC | Apr 6 2020 21:04 utc | 37

JC #32

What an awful neighbor. I recently got the same vulgar rant from my sister. Pure bigotry. I responded that it was so good to see the Cuban and China medical team with plane load of medicines go to Italy to support after the EU abandoned them. She came back with 'dirty people, unwashed' line and I gently reminded her of the people shitting in the streets of USA cities. Finally after a long ping pong exchange I pointed out the lack of high speed rail in USA UK Australia, etc and the extraordinary infrastructure rollout in China. All stolen technology she said. Not from us I replied with a chuckle. She ended the conversation. I wont be calling back.

Bigotry is ugly and many on this planet are afflicted. It remains a magnificent planet regardless of its occasional unpleasant life forms. Good luck.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 6 2020 21:10 utc | 38

Boris the clown receiving herd immunity.

​""Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital," a Monday statement reads."

Posted by: Peter AU1

I would not call him a clown, he just showed skepticism given the low reported numbers. I pray for him but am not hopeful. He would never really "get with the program".

Posted by: red1chief | Apr 6 2020 21:10 utc | 39

Thank you for another great piece. Your coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak is top notch and second to none. The propaganda against China is being ramped up to insane levels (Robbie Martin, brother of Abby, just did an in depth episode of their Media Roots Radio podcast dedicated to exposing this) and by using sources primarily from the MSM you are using the propagandists own words against them in the service of truth.

Hilariously, members of the Trump administration and some of the more fanatical anti-China “think tanks” are claiming that the media, and even the WHO, are in thrall to the Chinese and running interference for the CPC. But of course!

The right-wing’s leading fake “anti-establishment” hero and phony “anti-imperialist” Tucker Carlson, aka Trump’s favorite propagandist, is going to town with the rabid anti-China stuff. Not surprising as he has long-standing links to the deep state that he conveniently never mentions.

Now is a good time to revisit John Pilger’s excellent documentary film The Coming War On China (available for free on YouTube). Viewed in light of developing events it makes for grim but essential viewing.

The American offensive against China began with the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” and its ramp up was always inevitable. As is so often the case, a crisis was used as the catalyst to increase the level of belligerence and introduce the public to another “new normal” that has no benefits for it whatsoever.

Posted by: Daniel | Apr 6 2020 21:11 utc | 40

"Is there anyone here who can do more than speculate as to the nature of the layoffs in the hospital systems?"

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 20:22 utc | 28

Quite simply DF, in Capitalism, bottom line profits supersede even Pandemics.

Posted by: ben | Apr 6 2020 21:11 utc | 41

In the middle of last month the US was trashing Iran with stories like this:

Coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space

Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims just days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak. Together, their lengths are that of a football field.
By Erin Cunningham and Dalton Bennett March 12, 2020

Today the story is from New York:

New York City considers temporary mass graves as the death toll rises

'We are pretty full on capacity at temporary morgues and storage freezers now so it could be imminent ...'
Bloomberg News Henry Goldman April 6, 2020 2:51 PM EDTt

Exceptional nation - not!

Posted by: tourtière | Apr 6 2020 21:16 utc | 42

re Johnson

66% of patients with COVID-19 who enter intensive care die, according to British statistics. I thought the French figure was nearer 50%.

Good chance he's for the high jump, though of course a lower chance than those figures. He'll be out of action for a long time, at the minimum. COVID-19 is nasty and long-lasting, as we know.

Posted by: Laguerre | Apr 6 2020 21:18 utc | 43

David F 28 "Is there anyone here who can do more than speculate as to the nature of the layoffs in the hospital systems?"

No need to speculate. Plenty of articles come up in a search. The reason for the layoffs is not hard to rasp.
Hospitals in the US are a for profit business and like any other business, if they are not paid for their goods and services they cannot operate, same as any other business.

Exceptional nation health care at its finest.


Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 21:32 utc | 44

Man@29
The first to die in pandemics are those most vulnerable, many of them falling into that category because they have heart conditions, pneumonia, cancer and other problems that will eventually kill them. If the pandemic gets them first the likely result is a fall in the average age of those dying, as well as a shrinkage of those whose deaths would have been catalogued according to the ailments of which they would have died had all things been equal.
And then, look out of the window, is it surprising that there are fewer traffic deaths, fewer men dying on construction sites, fewer factory accidents, even fewer dying from 'social' diseases?

Posted by: bevin | Apr 6 2020 21:32 utc | 45

Ben & VK,

Thanks.

What I am trying to figure out is, is this just the result of re purposing hospitals to fight the pandemic, and laying off any staff that cannot be put towards that purpose.

I was looking for some numbers to put it into perspective or possibly someone who has experience with the mgmt part of a hospital.

One of the links the original poster provided was a hospital in AZ that was going to close its doors due to lack of funds by the end of the month. If our government allows that to happen, or allows critical staff to be laid off due to lack of funding, well, that's a very, very troubling thought. One that would cause me to have to rethink this entire situation.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 21:34 utc | 46

Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 21:32 utc | 44

I read a few articles, but none of them address my questions at 46.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 21:37 utc | 47

Does coronavirus help USA exit victorious from the Thucydides Trap?

Time was on China’s side. USA had to act.

Asian pivot. Tariffs. Coronavirus.

So this is how the tariffs will be made permanent. How the world is cleaved into “us vs them” trading blocks.

The timing/pacing seems “right”. It had gotten too quiet compared to previous years.

Very convenient.

Posted by: coronavirus bypass | Apr 6 2020 21:43 utc | 48

David F

My daughter works in a private hospital here in Australia. The cleared their elective procedures about a week ago in anticipation of corona patients. My daughter wondered if she would have a job from the time they cleared the last of the elective procedures until if or when covid-19 patients started coming in.
The town has a public hospital as well as the private hospital and the would only get the overflow of patients from the public hospital. At the moment she still has a job though no corona virus patients have materialised.

Articles like this do appear to answer your question.

Beaumont Health CEO John T. Fox was among of the first Michigan health care executives to warn that the pandemic threatened to bankrupt hospitals even as their corridors overflow with COVID-19 patients.

In an op-ed published in the Free Press on Mar. 20, three days before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued her statewide stay-at home order, Fox explained how Beaumont's conversion to "a large-scale COVID-19 screening, testing and treatment organization" had forced his hospital system to suspend most of the elective-surgery, out-patient procedures and diagnostic testing it depends on to pay the bills.

Without federal intervention, Fox predicted, Beaumont Health will see its revenue plunge by as much as 40% in 2020. When he made that prediction, it's worth noting, Michigan was reporting less than one-twentieth of the infections it had documented by the end of last week.

Other health care providers are already confirming Fox's prescience. Trinity Health Michigan, the state's fourth-largest hospital system, has announced 2,500 layoffs at its eight facilities, which include the St. Joseph Mercy Health System hospitals in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Howell, Livonia and Pontiac.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 21:54 utc | 49

Mina @ 3

These are the fuckwits who brought you the Skripal and Douma shitstorms. UK (total deaths = 5,373) is now ahead of China (total deaths = 3,331) and Iran (total deaths = 3,739), so it's hardly surprising they come out with this crap to cover up their incompetence. Ironically Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being stuck in Iran may mean that she's more likely to survive the coronavirus shitstorm than if she was back in dear old Blighty.

And yes I am aware that the UK, Iran and China may be under-reporting the number of deaths in their respective countries.

Posted by: Ghost Suip | Apr 6 2020 22:03 utc | 50

@ Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 6 2020 21:10 utc | 38

Mental gymnastics is that one thing your average American will never be bad at.

Schrodinger's China has been collapsing since 1949 while simultaneously the greatest threat mankind has ever seen, according to CIA sock puppets.

Posted by: JW | Apr 6 2020 22:17 utc | 51

I seriously doubt the US actions towards both allies and adversaries during this Coronavirus pandemic will be forgotten or forgiven. Once this pandemic is over, the US will find negotiations with other countries will be far more difficult. No doubt, The American people will told future diplomatic failures will be blamed on the other countries.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time; and those are the ones you have to concentrate on." -- George W. Bush

"When everything the US people believe is a lie, we will have succeeded." - William Casey, Former Head of the CIA.

Posted by: Dick | Apr 6 2020 22:27 utc | 52

David F @46

Lots of patients on the way whose cost of care will massively exceed their insurance payouts.

It's capitalism, baby! Nothing personal, just business!

For profit hospitals want to get ahead of that liability and protect themselves before the avalanche hits. They're figuring that the government will step in and direct-hire additional staff when things get rough, so why be on the hook for paying for that staff now? Bad for profits!

Posted by: William Gruff | Apr 6 2020 22:33 utc | 53

re: for profit "health care" going bankrupt


um. that says it all right?

round up the broads of directors and handcuff them to the furniture in a big city ER waiting room for an afternoon. not much else that can be done.

Posted by: ptb | Apr 6 2020 22:41 utc | 54

CCD DSU for April 6, 2020

As noted earlier, New York has shot past 2000 nCOV mortality per 10M population and is rapidly closing in on Spain and Italy's rates (2448 vs. 2718 and 2837).

Belgium, France and the Netherlands continue to rise past 100 (1432 vs. 1368 vs. 1098).

US overall is at 317, 183 excluding New York. Germany is at 199.

Posted by: c1ue | Apr 6 2020 22:45 utc | 55

"Another Covid-19 story had been used to denigrate Iran when the Washington Post mocked the country about a row a fresh dug graves in Qom that were "visible from space" just like about everything else is:

In Qom, the spiritual center of Iran’s ruling Shiite clerics, more than 846 people have contracted the virus, officials say. Iran’s government has not released an official death toll for Qom, however, where about 1.2 million people live. But videos, satellite images and other open-source data from the cemetery — a vast complex six miles north of the city center — suggest that the number of people struck down by the virus there is significantly higher than the official figure."

Is this US media allegation about mass graves in Iran (which can even be seen from space!), America's latest Kuwaiti Incubator-style Big Lie?

Washington Post hypes fake news on coronavirus ‘burial pits’ in Iran
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/03/14/620825/Washington-Post-fake-news-coronavirus-burial-Iran

Posted by: ak74 | Apr 6 2020 22:54 utc | 56

It isn't seriously disputed that Trump is a world-class con artist. He is used to "winning" by conning his opponent. The con skills that he has developed over a half a century of conning are his "first responders" in a sense so that his "first" response to a peril is to use these "skills" or tools: half-truths, gaslighting, fraud, flat out lies, misdirection when dealing with a situation. He is usually dealing with humans whom he can con, but viruses like all forces of nature [electricity, gravity, sharks, jackals, inertia] are not "con-able", so Trump will lose since he's using the 'wrong' tools-lies, when the correct [both morally and effectively] tool is truths. His 'marks' err I mean his followers will go for the con and will end up being victims since they will follow his medical advice. In a sense any deaths from the virus among his marks err I mean followers who "follow" his medical advice will be suicides. And, some might argue, not to be mourned.

Posted by: stevelaudig | Apr 6 2020 23:03 utc | 57

"On an average day before this crisis there were 20-25 deaths at home in NYC. Now in the midst of this pandemic the number is 200-215."

Yet we have idiots still claiming that since the cause of death on a death certificate may vary, it means there is no such thing as a coronavirus death. Or that "they would have died anyway" - once again ignoring the *fact* that 1) they would still be alive without the coronavirus, and 2) we do *not* know they would have died from a *normal* virus.

None of these morons comprehend the damage that this virus does to the lungs compared to a normal virus in severe cases.

They are all talking out their ass due to cognitive dissonance and complete lack of intellectual integrity to reveal their real agendas.

As an aside, that Boris Johnson is in ICU is significant. Your prognosis once you're in ICU is not good if you're over 60. From 4 days ago:

Ventilators Are No Panacea For Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/02/826105278/ventilators-are-no-panacea-for-critically-ill-covid-19-patients


The largest study so far to look at mortality among coronavirus patients on ventilators was done by the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre in London. It found that among 98 ventilated patients in the U.K., just 33 were discharged alive.

The numbers from a study of Wuhan, China, are even grimmer. Only 3 of 22 ventilated patients survived.

And a study of 18 ventilated patients in Washington state found that nine were still alive when the study ended, but only six had recovered enough to breathe on their own.

Not to mention that being ventilated at all is equivalent to being water-boarded in terms of how it feels - albeit you're under sedation since you have an irresistible urge to pull the tube out.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:09 utc | 58

Looks like Trump's request to Putin to tamp down oil output isn't panning out, as Russia says that the US would also have to lower its own production; shale cannot survive on lower output.


Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.

The Kremlin on Monday stressed that any deal would require the participation of countries that had not previously taken part in any co-ordinated cuts with Opec, in an obvious reference to the US.

“In order to stabilise the market, it will also require the participation of those countries that did not previously participate in co-ordination,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, said. “Indeed, those who are now in working contact are talking about this.”

https://www.ft.com/content/9c1b672f-7fc0-470b-8db6-ddf1874cb263

Posted by: occupatio | Apr 6 2020 23:13 utc | 59

thank you b.... the usa has become a laughing stock of many at this point.. the usa's actions towards other countries in need is really unfortunate and speaks of the complete absence of religion, ethics or morality...with leaders like trump, pompeo, esper and previously all the many others that have caused such havoc on the planet doesn't go unnoticed by many.. covid 19 is one hell of a wake up call, but like the war on iraq, the economic downturn of 2008 and a long list of other examples, it is very doubtful many americans will be able to see how messed up their actions on the world stage are.. they only need to see how there response to others in a time of need is completely bereft and adrift... look at jc's example for more clarity...

@ 32 jc... sorry to hear of yourchallenge of living in the usa at this point in time... i don't expect it will change for the better any time soon either..

regarding the hospitals laying off staff and those threatening doctors with speaking out in the usa - so very sad... i hope things change in the usa for the better but at present it doesn't look very promising..

Posted by: james | Apr 6 2020 23:14 utc | 60

I did a post on this myself a few days ago, here:

https://thenewkremlinstooge.wordpress.com/2020/04/01/the-covid-19-propagandemic-express-rumbles-onward-virtually-unopposed/

I also ran across a great article featuring the Assistant Director of the WHO, epidemiologist Bruce Aylward, in China at the time. A quick scan of it reveals the Chinese were forthcoming with details just as soon as they had a reasonable apprehension what they were dealing with, and in Aylward's estimation, their rapid and uncompromising closure of Wuhan and all of Hubei province saved lives worldwide. I'm sure many of you recall that the western response was to heap withering criticism on China for its 'assault on human rights' by using phone tracking to establish whom known infected cases had been in contact with. That would never happen in the west - too much of an invasion of privacy.

I was intrigued by Aylward's estimation of medical care in China - he was unequivocal that the high mortality rate initially suggested was based on data when all they had to go on was infections in Wuhan and nearby. He reported that outside Hubei province, China now has the mortality rate wrestled down to 1% or slightly lower, which is about the same mortality rate as the seasonal flu. But - and this is the interesting part - Aylward attributed that to the 'very sophisticated medical care' patients received in Chinese hospitals. Everyone who has trouble breathing is on a ventilator, and when that is not enough, Chinese medical personnel employ extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; cycling the patient's blood out of the body and oxygenating the red-blood cells. Aylward cautioned against extrapolating that mortality rate to cases outside China, because other countries are often unable to provide that level of care.

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/2/21161067/coronavirus-covid19-china

Embarrassing.

Posted by: Mark | Apr 6 2020 23:15 utc | 61

From what I can gather on the web, most of the health related layoffs are due to staff at hospitals that aren't suited to deal with the pandemic, and a lot of clinics and smaller doctors offices.

I saw my doctor on the second day of the "safer at home" order, she wanted a follow up appt in two weeks, and when I called to schedule it the next day they weren't taking any appts until after May 1. The follow up was conducted via email, and the prescription was actually delivered to my house. There were probably 100-200 or more people who worked at that clinic, I would guess a few might have found work at the hospital, but most probably got laid off.

I also found that quite a few people came out of retirement to work at hospitals. So, it seems to me that those lay offs were due to lack of work and not due to anything nefarious.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 23:19 utc | 62

The double-whammy that could hit... Imagine some percentage of 41 million people hitting the hospitals with coronavirus because of underlying susceptibility other than old age.

Why Coronavirus Is Making Young Americans Really Sick
https://tinyurl.com/rfjoh3l


There’s now emerging evidence that what matters even more than age are preexisting conditions. According to a new report from the CDC published on March 31, 73% of people hospitalized for the novel coronavirus had at least one preexisting condition. Even more striking, 94% of all people who died from the virus had an underlying chronic illness, the most common being diabetes, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Older people are more likely to have chronic health problems than younger individuals, which contributes to the age skew seen in deaths and severe cases. But according to an April 1 report from Kaiser Health News, there are still 41.4 million U.S. adults under the age of 65 who are at risk of developing a serious Covid-19 infection because of preexisting conditions.

What I would really like to see - but probably won't until the final stats are in - is how many people die from *each* underlying susceptibility. In other words, how many die from being diabetic (which I am, technically, but I have a prediabetic blood sugar level) versus heart disease, cancer, etc.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:29 utc | 63

From Chris Hayes of MSNBC on March 9

Just apropos of nothing, Iran's egregious mishandling of the virus led to 10% of its parliament infected. A good standard for a government that is Failing At Coronavirus Policy is senior politicians getting the virus.

Too bloody true! The Conservative UK government's coronavirus policy is a failure so I'm not expecting the UK to turn the corner any time soon

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 6 2020 23:35 utc | 64

ot but related - cbc article on swedens approach at present...
Swedes' trust in government put to test as coronavirus deaths spike

key quotes from the article as i read it...

"I think that all other countries that are closed down are going to be able to manage their health-care problems better," said Cecelia Söderberg-Nauclér, a infectious disease expert with 30 years experience studying immune systems.

"The problem is this virus is spreading so fast, which means there are too many people who get sick at the same time and you collapse the hospitals, so it just doesn't go together," Söderberg-Nauclér told CBC News in an interview.

"I usually say that this virus is more a dangerous virus for the society than it is for the individual."

One crucial step she says would be to close all of Sweden's schools immediately. While children appear to be less affected by the COVID-19 virus than adults, they act as carriers, she says.

"They can still be a driver of the whole infection in society. They are an engine, basically."

Posted by: james | Apr 6 2020 23:38 utc | 65

If you want to know when the US will get out of "lockdown"...based on this, I'd say at least a couple months, if not longer. The Pentagon previously estimated at least into June and possibly July.

How Will We Know When It’s Time to Reopen the Nation?
Experts offer four benchmarks that can serve as a guide for cities and states, eliminating some of the guesswork.
https://tinyurl.com/r87xml9


At the moment, there’s no reason to believe any area is over a surge of cases, and analysts’ models predict many places won’t peak for weeks to come.

Dr. Gottlieb and colleagues estimate that the nation would need to have the capacity to run 750,000 tests a week — this is after things have calmed down greatly. There are times we might need even more.


A robust system of contact tracing and isolation is the only thing that can prevent an outbreak and a resulting lockdown from recurring. Every time an individual tests positive, the public health infrastructure needs to be able to determine whom that person has been in close contact with, find those people, and have them go into isolation or quarantine until it’s established they aren’t infected, too.

This will be a big challenge for most areas. Other countries have relied on cellphone tracking technology to determine whom people have been near. We don’t have anything like that ready, nor is it even clear we’d allow it. The United States also doesn’t have enough people working in public health in many areas to carry out this task.

Building that capacity will take significant time and money, and the country hasn’t even started.


Gregg Gonsalves, a professor of epidemiology and law at Yale, said: “I’d feel better if we had serological testing, and could preferentially allow those who are antibody positive and no longer infectious to return to work first. The point is, though, that we are nowhere even near accomplishing any of these criteria. Opening up before then will be met with a resurgence of the virus.”

He added, “That’s the thing that keeps me up every night.”

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:39 utc | 66

My own county, Dane, in Wisconsin has the following stats for sickness by age:
0-19 8
20-44 139
45-64 79
65+ 66
Total 292
Deaths 11
I dont have a breakdown of deaths by age, but I do find it interesting that nearly half the cases are in the 20-44 range. I would note that we have a huge university here, but would also note that it is closed and most of the students went home to finish the semester with online courses.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 23:40 utc | 67

Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:39 utc | 69

The most telling signal for me was when they postponed the tax filing deadline to jul 15. That did that about 3 weeks ago, I am pretty sure that the feds at least, have known from day one that we were going to be home for a while.

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 23:43 utc | 68

Interesting charts. Perhaps someone could comment on them? I have no idea if they're even remotely likely to be correct. Please excuse if this has been linked to previously. The bed shortage is a notable figure.

Can anyone explain why everyone seems to be assuming that the US will be at peak by April 15 and subsequently trail off? I read another article yesterday which said "the next week will be the hardest". Why not the next two weeks? Or four?

COVID-19 projections assuming full social distancing through May 2020
Last updated April 5, 2020.
https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:46 utc | 69

Relative to peak predictions...and also how likely you are to die if placed on a ventilator...

When Will N.Y.C. Reach the Peak of the Outbreak? Here’s What We Know
It might be soon; it might be a month away. There’s reason to hope, and reason to be wary.
https://tinyurl.com/qmb8r2u


And it’s difficult to know what to make of the slight dip in deaths in recent days. There are indications that deaths related to the coronavirus are being undercounted — especially those who die of the illness at home.

Patients can die of the illness several weeks after they were infected — some after a lengthy period of time in a medically induced coma while a mechanical ventilator breathes for them.

For now, doctors expect that many of those placed on ventilators will die.

There are thousands of Covid patients currently on ventilators in New York, officials have said. We may yet see a rise in deaths as these patients possibly succumb to their illness.

The number of patients dying now in hospitals might offer information about the spread of the virus in the first weeks of March — but it says little about the rate of new infections.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 6 2020 23:55 utc | 70

Richard Steven Hack

US deaths now may be dependent on how often and how early doctors us some of the drugs that have been showing promise against the virus and associated problems.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 23:59 utc | 71


Medical group endorses anti-malarial drug treatment for coronavirus patients
America’s major medical society specializing in the treatment of respiratory diseases has endorsed using hydroxychloroquine for seriously ill hospitalized coronavirus patients.

The American Thoracic Society issued guidelines Monday that suggest COVID-19 patients with pneumonia get doses of the anti-malaria drug.

“To prescribe hydroxychloroquine (or chloroquine) to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia if all of the following apply: a) shared decision-making is possible, b) data can be collected for interim comparisons of patients who received hydroxychloroquine (or chloroquine) versus those who did not, c) the illness is sufficiently severe to warrant investigational therapy, and d) the drug is not in short supply,” the Thoracic Society said.
etc
https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/medical-group-backs-giving-hydroxychloroquine-to-coronavirus-patients/

Posted by: brian | Apr 7 2020 0:11 utc | 72

brian 75 "the illness is sufficiently severe to warrant investigational therapy"

That is what big pharma likes to see. Any treatment should begin early in the at risk group. The big pharma types like to cite cases where chloroquine ect are administered too late in the course of the illness to be of much benefit.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2020 0:17 utc | 73

The authoritarian police state in operation. Lucky us in the west hold tight to our liberties and values.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/202004071078861080-video-thousands-of-chinese-tourists-flood-national-park-after-coronavirus-quarantine-ends/

China’s Huangshan mountain range, also known as the Yellow Mountains, over the weekend saw tens of thousands of tourists flood the site after its reopening following the easing of restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic. The influx reportedly prompted park authorities to shut down the park.

The number of visitors to the mountain, located in the Anhui province of eastern China, exceeded 20,000, according to local media. The site saw heavy traffic following a decision by the Anhui government to offer free entry to 29 scenic sites in the period between 1 April and 14 April, in a bid to attract tourists after a lengthy shutdown over COVID-19.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2020 0:21 utc | 74

@76 Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2020 0:17 utc | 76

Yes, it is my understanding that the chloroquine/zinc treatment would be more effective if given early or even as preventive measure. Its effect is to reduce the rate of attack - or something like that.

Posted by: jared | Apr 7 2020 0:41 utc | 75

Leaving aside the aspect that we are discussive human lives...
Measuring the impact of the virus (significant impact) would not require any testind (first order) , it is simply the impulse of mortality, end of report. You can leave it to the accountants to dot i's and cross t's.

Posted by: jared | Apr 7 2020 0:46 utc | 76

Doesn't really matter how many are tested in a hot spot by PCR to confirm COVID-19, even being off by a factor of two or three doesn't matter. If some people are dying from influenza, does it matter that their death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause (and their charitable treatment may be free?)
The much more important issue is the denominator in the fatality rate calculations. If one uses only hospitalized patient numbers for flu, the fatality rate is similar to COVID-19: FROM the CDC "flu causes between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010". We KNOW nobody in America goes near a doctor or a hospital except as a last resort; it is expensive and you contract awful diseases while waiting. America desperately needs to know, like the "9 million to 45 million" flu cases a year, just how many COVID-19 cases there are in the non-hospitalized population. It is possible that >40% of the NYC area has been exposed and recovered from COVID-19, which would be wonderful; those people could be released from quarantine, immune from re-infection. Or it could be less than 1% (really bad). Serological surveys (antibody tests) should give an answer within a few weeks to a month and should be prioritized.

Posted by: michael888 | Apr 7 2020 0:52 utc | 77

SF Bay Area Covid updated April 6
The last census lists a population of over 7 million people in nine counties and 101 cities.
Latest Numbers By County

State Statistics
California Totals
14366 total cases
343 Deaths
2059 Hospitalized confirmed cases
1085 in ICU
2967 Suspected cases hospitalized
575 Suspected cases in ICU

Alameda county (not including Berkeley)
Positive Cases: 557 +18
Deaths: 13 +1

Berkeley
Cases 31 +4
Deaths Zero

Contra Costa County
417 Cases + 31
Deaths 7 +1
Total tested 5598 +358
Hospitalized 30 -1

San Francisco County
Positive cases 583 +15
Deaths 9 +1

San Mateo County
Positive cases 579 +24
Deaths 13

Santa Clara County
1224 Cases +17
Deaths 42 +3

Sonoma County
Active Cases 84 +1
Recovered 30 +7
Deaths 1
Tests 2484 +75

Solono county
Confirmed cases 88 +15
Deaths 1
Active cases 35 +2
Total hospitalizations 23 +1

Marin County No update
Confirmed cases 141
Deaths 7
Persons tested at County site 1485
Hospitalizations 17

Santa Cruz County
Total cases 71 +2
Tests 794 Negative
Hospitalized 9
Deaths 1

Napa County
Active cases 220+2
Deaths 2

Basically the numbers speak for themselves. Authorities continue planning and ramping up overflow sites in case of overflow. Obviously the numbers are not overwhelming like NY. We are a little more spread out than NY so that may be a factor.

The social order will break down if this lasts for months. No amount of free money from the G is going to stop the pain of lost businesses, foreclosures, hunger, sickness, increased homelessness, joblessness, lost medical benefits, and the like.

Posted by: dltravers | Apr 7 2020 1:07 utc | 78

Life is deadly. Everybody dies. No exceptions. The time of death is almost always sooner for the old and sick. What has happened though is unprecedented. It literally has never happened before. A mass global shutdown. Just like 9/11 this is the window of opportunity for sociopaths and psychopaths to thrive. Never let a crisis go to waste. It honestly doesn't even matter if you think it is real or not. Just like 9/11. There is no point in arguing about who did it or why. The only thing that matters is the policies put in place afterwards. We all sit around waiting for the "elite" to decide our fate. Do we stay in our homes until until we die? Or maybe until the banker police come for us? Or do they decide to let us live again once they have a better more thorough means of control? What power they have. It is a tremendous power. I am in awe over it. An online personality I follow stated in an article he wrote "An Incredible Will Is Reshaping Our World". It most certainly is.

Posted by: goldhoarder | Apr 7 2020 1:09 utc | 79

I was just told in the last half hour that LA Police Gear, an online store (with several real stores in California) have Chinese-imported KN95 respirator masks available for sale. I just ordered five for delivery in a week. They cost about $6.99 *each* (*not* a box of ten) which is substantially more than a paid for the ones I ordered in China. I asked for 7 day shipping for about $10, so my total cost was about $49.

They have about 5,000 left according to their order page. They also sell to police and other agencies, so expect these to sell out almost instantly.

https://tinyurl.com/s2g6nkv

Note: These are imported Chinese masks of *unknown quality* (described as three layer masks - the ones I bought from China were four-layer, I believe.) There are no refunds allowed. There is no guarantee.

I have purchased from LAPG in the past. They are recognized as a good place to shop for gear related to survival, weapons, tactical clothing, etc. A lot of their house branded stuff is very good quality at reasonable prices. But for these masks, there are no guarantees of LAPG quality. Presumably they got them from some place reputable in China, but who knows?

They did mess me up today. I tried logging in with the email and password I'd used before. No dice. They may have lost my account - although when I tried to the same info to create a new account, it said it was already used. They were supposed to send me a password reset - I haven't gotten it yet. That should have been an immediate automated response, so they screwed that up. So I created a new account with another email address and the same info to make my order.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 7 2020 1:30 utc | 80

No surprise about hospital and medical staff layoffs.
Medical procedures have been halted. Elective and even required surgeries have been postponed or eliminated entirely. Heart attack victims now are not being accepted in some hospitals if they can be resuscitated on site, and hospitals are basically closed to most all health problems other than certain claimed “coronavirus” cases. This is all being done by design, and is all due to government mandate. There are empty hospitals everywhere, but the truly sick (mostly elderly) are being left to die while critical care is abandoned. I guess thats one way to save medicare and social security

Then look at the number of suicides that will likely escalate due to economic factors and stress. The death toll due to the virus will pale in comparison

Dont worry about the hospital/clinic owners though. They will get some nice bail outs.

Posted by: Pft | Apr 7 2020 1:47 utc | 81

David F | Apr 6 2020 19:04 utc | 16

is nazi nsdap term, sorta...meaning uselesseaterpeople. useless feeders if one says fressen... (my German is from my youth and, what there is of it, fragmentary as simply the patois we speak at home...americanskieuropespeak...our "church" lingo.

anyway the NSDAP put, according to legal procedure, many of these useless people to death. Policemen I am told, often did the job.

Actually some 10 years ago I overheard two ladies in line at Walmart referring to themselves cynically as "useless eaters"...retired school teachers in poverty. They also knew the German phrase. They were of my own generation...anyway they knew abut the war.

Posted by: Walter | Apr 7 2020 1:48 utc | 82

Relative to people picking out specific contrarian doctors to push their agendas...

Dr. Drew Pinsky Played Down COVID-19, Then Tries To DMCA Away The Evidence
https://tinyurl.com/v2y9scb

As a response to information_agent | Apr 7 2020 1:33 utc | 87 - Are we having a bad day of realizing all your arguments are invalid? Hmmm? This is exactly the kind of post - that contributes nothing to the discussion - which *should* be removed from the site.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 7 2020 1:50 utc | 83

If one could develop virus which tens to lose potentcy with tranmission of could limit impact radius. Apparently there is also effort to develop virus which preferentially target by genetic differentiation. I've read that this has been field trialed. Will look for article but was admitedly conspiracy stuff.

Posted by: jared | Apr 7 2020 1:53 utc | 84

@90 Richard Steven Hack

That commenter is a troll. So is the one a few comments above who continually attempts to trash the real commenter "vk".

Both are best ignored. Feed 'em and they keep coming back - this was the Internet's first lesson learned, and always worth relearning.

Posted by: Grieved | Apr 7 2020 2:04 utc | 85

Carl 24, and others:

Well I sure am glad this issue of reporting the cause of death is coming up again. I raised it in an earlier thread, and suggested that all commenters talking about cause of death should read the Instructions.

The U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services provides very clear instructions for completing the Cause-of-Death portion of a death certificate (called the Blue Form). Read it here:

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/blue_form.pdf

If they are changing these guidelines in response to the Covid-19 situation so as make cause of death more speculative, that seems to be me to be cause for concern. Because the original guidelines are quite explicit. The reason for promulgating these instructions seems to have been to correct errors an sloppiness in reporting the cause of death. The idea that a doctor who has never treated a patient can complete the Blue Form is, IMO, totally unacceptable and is an invitation for massaging (and politicizing) results.

Posted by: Really?? | Apr 7 2020 2:08 utc | 86

I perhaps ought to have said nutzlossenvolk and "deplorables" are semantically equivalent.

Posted by: Walter | Apr 7 2020 2:09 utc | 87

"Is there anyone here who can do more than speculate as to the nature of the layoffs in the hospital systems?"

Posted by: David F | Apr 6 2020 20:22 utc | 28
++++++++++++

The Twitter thread that was linked contains many comments explaining layoffs: primarily, no one is going to the hospital for any elective surgery or any other reasons---in expectation of the "surge" in covid patients---so no money is coming in and people have to be laid off. Plus covid-related expenses such as PPE supplies are expensive, and so the hospitals' bottom lines are not being met by incoming funds.

Posted by: Really?? | Apr 7 2020 2:20 utc | 88

On cause of death. Doctors working with coronavirus patients will very quickly become very accurate at diagnosing the disease through symptoms.
This occurred in China and positive testing then becomes more a formality.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2020 2:46 utc | 89

information_agent@87

Mature bloggers do not make personal attacks. A proper approach is to provide evidence to the contrary in a neutral respectful tone with links to support the evidence. It is up to the audience to decide what is their truth.

This is "B" blog and no one else has the authority to censor other posters.

I hope this information is useful. Stay safe.

Posted by: krollchem | Apr 7 2020 2:59 utc | 90

I believe the German expression is "das nutzlose Volk," useless people.
A search of Google Books gives a number of hits---uses of the phrase---centuries prior to the twentieth. One use seems to be connected to the prophet Balaam.

Posted by: Really?? | Apr 7 2020 3:25 utc | 91

Richard Steven Hack @72

The IHME at the University of Washington is basing their model on the rapid response in China and assumes the same shape of the curves.
https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections.

This model fails to consider that the US does not have:
(1) The capability of mobilizing the resources of over 1,300 million people to drive the curve down (e.g. manufacturing and medical);
(2) localization of the pandemic to just 60 million people;
(3) a culture that follows the stay at home requirements;
(4) separation of infected people from their families to prevent secondary at-home infections;

A more realistic model is posted at:
https://covidactnow.org/

It is endorsed by Tomas Pueyo who authored the article titled “The hammer and the Dance” and “Coronavirus: Out of Many, One”
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo

Both models do not take into consideration secondary outbreaks outside the response window. Models change as more information is available and should be included in the assumptions.

Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 7 2020 3:27 utc | 92

A very sobering and shameful set of responses from the current US government, but thank you b for your report. I suppose if one has been able to deny climate change for so long, the self-abuse that allows a person to believe the unbelievable can't be turned off. I would have thought all Trump needed to do was become the Republican version of FDR - the playbook has been written. I can only suppose he's tired of being whatever it is that he is.

Sorry, folk. This is a nightmare. An incompetent government is ruining so many lives.

Posted by: juliania | Apr 7 2020 4:13 utc | 93

@Jared 78

In a nutshell HCQ allows zinc into the cells and the zinc messes up the ability of the viral RNA from successfully copying itself and spreading further inside the body.

therefore your comprehension is mostly correct. it needs to be administered relatively early. by the time respiratory distress sets in HCQ isn't going to be effective on it's own as the virus has already taken hold.

it is for the same reason that early recommendations or directives in the west that HCQ are only to be used for advanced cases were deeply flawed and likely causing unnecessary deaths.

my opinion is that HCQ and vit-C should be administered as soon as someone who has no contraindications is confirmed positive of covid19. preferably quarantined. current practice of sending them home until shit gets real is a monumental mistake.

Posted by: A.L. | Apr 7 2020 4:42 utc | 94

@Pete 98

indeed. it's becoming abundantly clear that what happened in China in respect to diagnosis, overwhelming of systems, death piling up requiring immediate disposal are all happening in the west.

what's different is in the west it's an emotional, humanitarian catastrophe but the same were painted as dictatorial crush on humanity.

demonizations, talks of bsl4 and reparations are pure deflections on ignorance and subsequent unprepardeness and incompetence, conditioning the people and paving the way to ww3.

Posted by: A.L. | Apr 7 2020 4:52 utc | 95

Posted by: JC | Apr 6 2020 20:31 utc | 32

You are not racist when you recount a racist's words spoken to you.

You are not racist to say that the Chinese invented the first wheel barrow, the first steerable ship's rudder, etc.

You are not racist to say that the British, forebears fo many Americans today, stole from the Chinese ( just look at the proof in the British Museum ).

If Mr Neighbour views himself as a Spanish, his forebears invented the idea of stealing from the original Americans.

If he thinks he is an American, his forebears invented the idea of stealing from another group of original Americans.

Unfortunately for you, Mr Neighbour has not been educated on how his forebears used to both invent and steal, LOL.

Posted by: kiwiklown | Apr 7 2020 5:17 utc | 96

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 6 2020 20:29 utc | 30
"Boris the clown receiving herd immunity."

Good one, Peter.

The more public the callousness, the more public the karmic backlash.

Just like the resignation of that Scottish Health Chief for breaking her own lockdown commandments.

Oh, and BoJo better watch his back: very bad things happen to political enemies on hospital beds.

Posted by: kiwiklown | Apr 7 2020 5:24 utc | 97

That was to be expected.
The left seizes a pre-planned corona virus pandemic to bring down Trump and he turns ot around for his America First agenda.
Better to insult China than to get vaxxed by the population control idiots Melinda and Bill.

Posted by: Christoph | Apr 7 2020 5:45 utc | 98

And if.. Boris Johnson is faking. He has always been a liar, midiatic clown for all his political career.
His herd immunity/social Darwinist talk has blow him in a negative way, add it with the numbers of deaths increasing daily like in Italy during the peak two weeks ago and the NHS collapsing. The clown is trying to get public empathy towards him and his failed regime. Next week he will appear publicly celebrating how he was healed and blahblah..

And the criticism against him will fade away for while. Unless he dies I don't believe in this ridiculous act.

Posted by: Nick | Apr 7 2020 5:53 utc | 99

Posted by: Christian J Chuba | Apr 6 2020 19:49 utc | 20
"How do you fight propaganda.... if you refute each lie you will sound as crazy as them."

Just write the truth, as directly, plainly, succinctly as you know how (eg. Wally / Walter's over-arching big picture comments here ). If the reader is seeking truth, he will chase down new ideas he encounters here on his own.

Trolls obfuscate truth. They draw you into trench warfare to frustrate you, waste your time, dilute your message, confuse new readers seeking truth.

Posted by: kiwiklown | Apr 7 2020 6:09 utc | 100

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