Althouse: Today's coronavirus press conference — quite good, I thought, in content and tone.

March 14, 2020

Today's coronavirus press conference — quite good, I thought, in content and tone.

COVID-19 UPDATE https://t.co/xzSHlNiS9K
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020

125 comments:

Mark said...: Sorry. The Washington Post headline was already written before Trump came out, saying basically that Trump is causing the virus to spread with his incompetence and lies.

"Trump lied, people died."; 3/14/20, 3:45 PM
Francisco D said...: It was interesting to compare the serious (and obviously tired) people on stage with the 4th graders (media) screaming to get the teachers attention.; 3/14/20, 3:48 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I wrote a few days ago that, at this point, if this disease doesn't turn into the predicted disaster, Trump will declare victory over the virus, leaving the media with sour grapes.; 3/14/20, 3:49 PM
Sebastian said...: Obviously a competent team.

About the actual policies, I have misgivings. Example: are school and college closings desirable?

Very few young people appear to catch the virus, if they do their suffering appears minimal, the cost of closings is enormous, and the likely stopping point is bound to be fuzzy so will add to the cost. Plus building up immunity among the low-risk population is itself valuable.; 3/14/20, 3:54 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: This was the event at which one of the doctors made clear that everyone who is going to get the virus is still going to get it, and the measures we are taking are now are in place simply to delay the spread. If your gonna get it you’ll still get it, but maybe not as soon as before. There will be fewer infections per day, but the same sum at the end. Interesting.; 3/14/20, 3:56 PM
Hey Skipper said...: I wonder what the overlap is between Warmenists and Wuhan hysterics.; 3/14/20, 3:59 PM
roesch/voltaire said...: Glad the House Bill passed, that is a good start but here is a link to put the issues in perspective
:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/politics/fact-check-trump-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Politics; 3/14/20, 4:01 PM
Mark said...: About this "everyone is going to get it" claim (which borders on scaremongering even if not intended)--

Every year people tell me to get the flu shot because I'll get the flu if I don't. And every year I don't get the flu shot and every year I don't get the flu. If I have gotten it, it was relatively mild and indistinguishable from a cold, of which I've had maybe twice in ten years.

MAYBE everyone will get it, that is, maybe I will get it. Maybe not. Maybe even probably not.; 3/14/20, 4:06 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "Very few young people appear to catch the virus."

They can, however, spread it to gramps and grandma.

I think most sensible people know that "OMG, we're all going to die!" is hysteria. I, and others, are justifiably concerned about older friends and relatives who already have health problems. My hairdresser is 50 and healthy. Her husband is 12 years older and undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. She doesn't want to bring the virus home to him.; 3/14/20, 4:07 PM
Charlie Currie said...: "Blogger Hey Skipper said...
I wonder what the overlap is between Warmenists and Wuhan hysterics."

A venn diagram would look like a solar eclipse.; 3/14/20, 4:07 PM
Mark said...: What I've seen with respect to the spread of bugs generally is that something gets passed around in schools and the kids give it to their parents and the parents give it to their coworkers.; 3/14/20, 4:09 PM
narciso said...: its a carp bill, of course little good would come out of norma desmonds peanut gallery, violating Hippocrates injunction,; 3/14/20, 4:12 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: How to make your own hand sanitizer.

so easy! know we can all have some for travel. weee.

Do we know if rubbing alcohol kills viruses?; 3/14/20, 4:15 PM
Jaq said...: Why would I believe anything the New York Times writes about Trump when they have been carrying out a vendetta against him since he rode down the escalator? They are the ones who printed that fake “secret ledger” that the Democrats had demanded that the Ukrainians produce, then pushed impeachment on Trump for looking into it.

New York Times has flushed their credibility by taking sides.; 3/14/20, 4:18 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Mark, yes but everyone who WILL GET IT still only refers to the set of people susceptible to that specific virus. You might be less susceptible overall with more natural resistance. Remember you could test POS for exposure but not have any symptoms because your body fought it off. It’s people like that from whom we have derived many prior vaccines.; 3/14/20, 4:21 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Once vaccinated I am as good as you Mark. Without annual flu shot I am highly likely to get the flu. I have green lungs that love to host visiting viruses. Used to get pneumonia too until I started carrying Tamiflu while I traveled. And the pneumoniciccal vaccine. That allows me to live fly-free like you. My body produces antibodies to the flus (usually three kinds) in the vaccine while your body just automatically does it. Consider yourself very lucky as there are so many ways to catch viruses! You might literally be the solution to this one.; 3/14/20, 4:27 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/14/20, 4:28 PM
n.n said...: "Very few young people appear to catch the virus."

They may be infected, but because of natural or inoculated immunity, or because of their general state of health, they may never develop the disease or exhibit symptoms.; 3/14/20, 4:28 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Please substitute “FLU-FREE” above where I wrote “fly-free” which are both technically true but one is more in context.; 3/14/20, 4:29 PM
etbass said...: Someone told me years ago that as you get older, you acquire immunities to various flu types illnesses. I have found it to be so in my case and never get a flu shot. And I never get sick anymore except for a sore throat or laryngitis maybe every 3 -4 years and it lasts no more than two days.; 3/14/20, 4:32 PM
Jaq said...: Every cloud has a silver lining.
https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1238936980966137856; 3/14/20, 4:36 PM
Ken B said...: “Paging passenger Althouse, paging passenger Althouse. Your flight to Cancelville is boarding at gate 7.”; 3/14/20, 4:36 PM
Jaq said...: "Do we know if rubbing alcohol kills viruses?”

No, it only makes them go blind.

(Maybe that one is a little too obscure.); 3/14/20, 4:37 PM
Michael K said...: Do we know if rubbing alcohol kills viruses?

Has to be 70% to denature the proteins.; 3/14/20, 4:38 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: OK, this is a trivial observation, but does anybody think the Surgeon General looks remarkably like Denzel Washington in "Glory"?; 3/14/20, 4:38 PM
Kai Akker said...: Do the people who still protest that this bug will bust in America look at the case trajectories? Every one I've seen shows the U.S. on the same trajectory as the hard-hit nations, just a certain number of days behind. Usually about nine to 11, IIRC. I'm no warmist, but I am definitely afraid of this bug.; 3/14/20, 4:39 PM
Howard said...: Hey Skipper, every time I see your Avatar, I imagine doing a wingover in a Corsair (ok, maybe a Cherokee).

100% overlap global warming and Wuhan alarmist... On the flip side, it's samey same 100% with Climate and epidemiology deniers.; 3/14/20, 4:39 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Over here Mark. Cmon.; 3/14/20, 4:41 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I don’t know about “bust” but I’ve always maintained that it would not overwhelm our system as it did to Italy. Accepting the pandemic reality of a flu type virus and saying don’t panic are entirely compatible. Just like whatever small amount of warming may occur will be mitigated by advancing technology. Why worry about 2 degrees? It’ll cycle back to cool too.; 3/14/20, 4:48 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Kai Akker said...
Do the people who still protest that this bug will bust in America look at the case trajectories? Every one I've seen shows the U.S. on the same trajectory as the hard-hit nations, just a certain number of days behind. "

We don't know what effect warmer weather will bring. Do the trajectories take that into account? A British commentator was saying the British media's worst case scenarios for swine flu fatalities in 2008 were 65,000. About 1,000 people died.; 3/14/20, 4:49 PM
narciso said...: that was the ridiculous bit about 'day after tomorrow' which was based on an art bell script
'the quickening' that there would be titanic floods and monster blizzards in the same year, well one of the ridiculous things, there was also jake gylenhaal,; 3/14/20, 4:52 PM
Michael McNeil said...: Someone told me years ago that as you get older, you acquire immunities to various flu types illnesses. I have found it to be so in my case and never get a flu shot.

You get immune because you've had those varieties of flu before. Nobody's had Coronavirus-19 before.; 3/14/20, 4:53 PM
ga6 said...: Being 77 I remember this no panic, no closings, get up go to school or work..

https://www.city-journal.org/1957-asian-flu-pandemic; 3/14/20, 4:57 PM
Howard said...: Being 77, have you noticed that the world has changed quite a bit in your lifetime. In ways that may exacerbate pandemics? Asking for a friend; 3/14/20, 5:01 PM
narciso said...: other pathogens, viral and otherwise,; 3/14/20, 5:03 PM
Jon Burack said...: At this time, the US has about 2500 plus cases. Of these about 2395 are still considered active. Of those only 10 are listed as serious or critical. At this site.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

This is a much better ratio than Italy. Also China, France, Spain. Iran I do not trust a single statistic from. Germany and South Korea of the heavily infected nations are close to our very low rate of critical cases. This tells me we are very unlikely to experience huge death rates. Also, I assume the critical cases are of older people. That overwhelmingly is who has died already here. I really wish we were putting more emphasis on the elderly, with special help sent to old people in their homes, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. I am less persuaded we need to be sending kids home and shutting down colleges, not even sure that will diminish their social interactions anyway.; 3/14/20, 5:03 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Howard: 100% overlap global warming and Wuhan alarmist... On the flip side, it's [the] same 100% with Climate and epidemiology deniers.

There is no objective reason why strong and minimal AGW should have such a bimodal ideological distribution, yet there it is.

Same with Wuhan alarmism.

Why?; 3/14/20, 5:05 PM
Howard said...: Hey skipper, it's just the macro psychological differences between the left and the right. I think it's some evolutionary thing so society doesn't go to whack job in one direction or the other; 3/14/20, 5:09 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Nobody's had Coronavirus-19 before.

Well, technically they just have to be exposed to the virus. Those who are exposed and don't get have robust immune systems like Mark's. But really, with the kid testing positive in the Puget Sound last October (D. Chu, the post the other day), maybe this is the second time around for this bug. Who's to know until it's all been done and analysed?; 3/14/20, 5:10 PM
Sebastian said...: ""Very few young people appear to catch the virus."

They can, however, spread it to gramps and grandma."

Yes, but that is an argument for isolating gramps and grandma, not for closing schools.

How many billions do we lose, at what cost to the lives of non-seniors, to save x number of QALYs?

Let me put it more provocatively: looking at the data thus far, is there any justification for forcing everyone under 40 to quit school, lose work time, and go into quasi-quarantine? Provided of course, that the at-risk groups do go into isolation -- but with much less harm to the economy.; 3/14/20, 5:15 PM
David Begley said...: Bill Kristol went whack on Twitter.; 3/14/20, 5:15 PM
Kai Akker said...: Exiled: re warmer temps. It's mid-March. We are into the beginning of the acceleration phase. We haven't even started testing. Not sure where we're at, obviously, but we are waaay beyond the official numbers, I'm sure. So in 14 days we will have better reading on severity and fatality (re Jon Burack's comment). I don't think the weather is going to save us on the basic surge. I wish I weren't typing that, but that is where the logic takes me. Just hoping it does help later.; 3/14/20, 5:15 PM
chuck said...: Journalists have nothing to worry about, none of them are over 10 years old.; 3/14/20, 5:16 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Has to be 70% to denature the proteins.

hmmm.

so if you mix the 90% alcohol and dilute it with aloe - does that count?; 3/14/20, 5:19 PM
David Begley said...: “I wonder what the overlap is between Warmenists and Wuhan hysterics.”

Same people. Yasha “Cancel Everything” Mounck worked in CAGW for Tony Blair.

When these Doomsday predictions based on flawed models don’t happen, maybe people will wake up to the CAGW scam.; 3/14/20, 5:21 PM
Rockport Conservative said...: I'm seeing posts on Facebook from friends and family members saying they are sure either they, or someone they knew, has already had this virus. My niece came down with flu last week, but it wasn't the flu, just "a flu" her doctor said. No one here in this little town has been tested for the covid19, but many have had that flu that tested negative to the common flu of the year.; 3/14/20, 5:22 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Kids are now calling it “Boomer Removal”.; 3/14/20, 5:24 PM
Michael K said...: You get immune because you've had those varieties of flu before. Nobody's had Coronavirus-19 before.

There are quite a few corona viruses. Influenza virus changes antigens every year. We are fortunate that this version of corona virus is not SARS or MERS. Both did not spread as widely or as fast but they were more lethal.; 3/14/20, 5:26 PM
David Begley said...: I’m a full CAGW skeptic, but not an anti-vaxxer. I’m not stupid or uneducated.; 3/14/20, 5:26 PM
Michael K said...: When these Doomsday predictions based on flawed models don’t happen, maybe people will wake up to the CAGW scam.

No, they will move on to the next scam. Remember what happened to the March of Dimes when polio was cured ? They found another cause that would never be cured; birth defects.; 3/14/20, 5:27 PM
John henry said...: Bleachbit,

Most hand sanitizer is rubbing alcohol (70%isopropyl) with some scent, thickener and lotion added

Some is just straight 70%isopropyl

John Henry; 3/14/20, 5:28 PM
Kai Akker said...: Sebastian, where do you draw your cutoff line for The Expendables?; 3/14/20, 5:29 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Bruce Hayden said...
Kids are now calling it “Boomer Removal”.

3/14/20, 5:24 PM

Many of the people who have died are older than Boomers. People in their 80's.

I guess those kids don't have grandparents they love.; 3/14/20, 5:31 PM
rhhardin said...: The trouble with Periscope is that my entirely up-to-date Windows 10 laptop gets frozen audio every five minutes or so. Their technical stuff sucks.

Youtube, no problem. So it's on their end.; 3/14/20, 5:34 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: One of the things that I like about Trump is that he gives credit where credit is due. He started the press conference off by thanking people and pointing out how many hours a day they have been working. Do you really expect that SLO Joe is going to remember to do that? (Esp if he can’t remember that he is speaking in front of an audience that happened very recently). Crooked Hillary, rarely did it, if ever. I first noticed this the day after the Republican convention than nominated Trump. He named names, pointing out the good jobs that different groups had done, including different groups of LEOs, the carpenters who built the stage, etc. on and on. Wonder why so many working class Americans would crawl across broken glass to vote to re-elect him? That is part of it, publicly thanking the people making his endeavors successful.; 3/14/20, 5:35 PM
Mark said...: Meanwhile, the Democrat National Committee is going to penalize Louisiana for taking safety precautions in postponing their primary.; 3/14/20, 5:37 PM
chuck said...: The trouble with Periscope is that my entirely up-to-date Windows 10 laptop

Same thing viewing with Chrome on Linux.; 3/14/20, 5:38 PM
rhhardin said...: My favorite theory of warmer weather and diseases is that the kids are out of school so a huge disease vector no longer exists from one to thousands of others.; 3/14/20, 5:39 PM
rhhardin said...: Trump is excellent with people. His insults are zingers against the insane ideas of the deep state, not specifically as people but as representatives of that entrenched power.

It's that that means Trump will work against those forces, to people who like Trump.; 3/14/20, 5:41 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Just got back from dinner at our favorite deli. If you have one... use it there was no one at dinner time. Pay in cash so they get full benefit. Tip generously keep em alive cause they work hard.; 3/14/20, 5:42 PM
M Jordan said...: It is becoming clear to me that the strategy of flattening the curve is basically an acknowledgement that the virus is going to infect who it is going to infect, we just want to distribute it more evenly for treatment purposes. I’m a type2 diabetic and this is exactly the dominant treatment strategy, lessen carbs which flattens the sugar spike. Same total sugar runs through the bloodstream in a day but more evenly.

It’s logical but perhaps not the best way to deal with CV. If we would just let the curve spike, don’t you think other parts of our society would rush in to meet the need? Like colleges with all those empty dorms ... how long would it take them to become hospitals? Trump on Friday showed this very idea by bringing in the private sector.

I’m not criticizing Dr. Fauchi’s strategy. I just think there are costs to it — like crashing our economy— that may be less if we tried the Boris Johnson approach of keeping things open, letting people get exposed.; 3/14/20, 5:48 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “You get immune because you've had those varieties of flu before. Nobody's had Coronavirus-19 before.”

“There are quite a few corona viruses. Influenza virus changes antigens every year. We are fortunate that this version of corona virus is not SARS or MERS. Both did not spread as widely or as fast but they were more lethal.”

I think that you could argue that it is SARS, just another variant, which is why the COVID-19 virus was named SARS-CoV-2. I linked to a chart in a previous thread that showed the two of them, and their close variants. I heard a month or so ago that researchers were going to try out serum from SARS survivors to see if it helped COVID-19 victims. Haven’t heard anything recently, suggesting that their tests were not successful.

Interesting to me is that the original SARS virus seems more deadly than this new one. Why? Eventually, I expect that we will have an answer. This does suggest though that it was not bioengineered, which many, including myself, wondered about, given its apparent source very likely having been the BSL-4 Wuhan virology lab.; 3/14/20, 5:49 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Howard: Hey skipper, it's just the macro psychological differences between the left and the right.

Okay, fair enough. The Wuhan virus will provide something of a test case. Many people who are strong AGW's are also strongly Wuhan alarmed.

My expectation is that Wuhan will end up being a minor addition to annual flu death toll, for reasons that are (IMHO) already ascertainable: it is very infectious, but with a low case rate (Michael K is no doubt laughing himself into an aneurysm as I type my ignorance): outbreak areas reach herd immunity quickly. The initial increase in cases is alarming, but seems to be short lived because of a perhaps huge difference between infectiousness and significant sequelae.

Fine.

Let's say I'm wildly wrong, due to a tribal inability to correctly apprehend important elements of objective reality. Should I be therefore be more inclined to strong AGW because I got it wrong with a structurally similar problem?

That question cuts both ways.; 3/14/20, 5:49 PM
FullMoon said...: I'm seeing posts on Facebook from friends and family members saying they are sure either they, or someone they knew, has already had this virus.

Gonna be plenty of that. Have seen it also.

If you haven't survive corona, you aren't cool. Of course, some may actually have had it. No way to tell.

Might go shopping later and see if a (fake) dry cough will clear the aisles..; 3/14/20, 5:59 PM
Michael K said...: AGW reminds me a bit of the March of Dimes. That was an FDR ploy to encourage people to think about polio and doing something about it.

Then Salk and Sabin cured polio. What to do ? Should the March of Dimes declare victory and close up shop ?

Of course not. There was a huge bureaucracy, probably not as big as The Red Cross, but still big.

So, they came up with a new cause. Birth Defects! Nobody will ever cure that and put the bureaucracy out of business.

AGW is already morphing into "Climate Change." Bidirectional opportunity.; 3/14/20, 6:00 PM
Michael K said...: Might go shopping later and see if a (fake) dry cough will clear the aisles..

Reminds me of the elevator scene in "Ghost."; 3/14/20, 6:01 PM
MadisonMan said...: Pay in cash so they get full benefit.

My favorite local coffee shop asks for cashless payments now -- less interperson touching. You just insert your card into a machine. I'll still pay cash though.; 3/14/20, 6:03 PM
MadisonMan said...: If you haven't survive corona, you aren't cool.
So Tom Hanks was just trying to get out in front of the trend and be the coolest of the cool!; 3/14/20, 6:04 PM
rcocean said...: Just saw it. Maybe the Press should be forced to behave in an adult, sensible manner during these press conferences. I'm tired of them shouting questions like 10 year olds and screaming Me, Me, Me. Anyway, we added UK and Ireland to the travel ban, which is a good thing, since the UK is taking a different approach to the virus.; 3/14/20, 6:08 PM
rcocean said...: They're obsessed with the idea that Trump is sick or hasn't been tested. I guess that's the new "Party Line", so they are all - they always march in lockstep- shouting dumb questions about it.; 3/14/20, 6:10 PM
FullMoon said...: They have the mild version. Hope it stays that way.

"In an Instagram video, Chet Hanks, Hanks and Wilson's older son, told fans his parents were "not really worried" about the diagnosis.

"I appreciate everyone’s concern and the well-wishes but I think it’s all going to be all right," he said."; 3/14/20, 6:11 PM
rcocean said...: We visited our local Whole Foods and of course the idiots are all acting like idiots. Last Saturday, the hot food bar was jammed, today at lunch time, it was completely empty! So we got ourselves some nice Lemon fish with grilled asparagus. lines were longer than usual, with morons stocking up on non-perishable food items.

At least they've stopped panic buying toilet paper.; 3/14/20, 6:14 PM
narciso said...: yes but their health undersecretary caught it, Nadine dorries, why no left wing figures in this country, chris murphy hung out with Iranians in munich, so did john Kerry,; 3/14/20, 6:15 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: What's the skinny on Charles Lieber of Harvard? Is he connected to Wuhan U?; 3/14/20, 6:15 PM
rcocean said...: Cities around the country are shutting down meetings and even closing libraries. I assume the shut downs are for the staff, since most people just check out their materials and leave.; 3/14/20, 6:16 PM
rcocean said...: It'll be interesting to know the provisions regarding sick leave in the House Bill. As usual, the Press is completely uninterested in telling us what the D's wanted, what the R's wanted, and what was actually in the Bill.

Who cares about that, when they can attack Trump over not being tested.; 3/14/20, 6:18 PM
mockturtle said...: In yesterday's presser I noted with dismay the number of handshakes that took place. Good f--king grief! So if Trump is positive for COVID-19, so probably are all those on the stage with him. Including Fauci, if he doesn't already have it.; 3/14/20, 6:19 PM
narciso said...: here are some hints; 3/14/20, 6:21 PM
mockturtle said...: I’m a full CAGW skeptic, but not an anti-vaxxer. I’m not stupid or uneducated.

Me, too.; 3/14/20, 6:25 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: rcocean said...
They're obsessed with the idea that Trump is sick or hasn't been tested"

He said he tested negative for it.; 3/14/20, 6:29 PM
walter said...: Hopefully we'll have a "the ocean ate my global warming" feature for Wuhanitis.
Flattening the curve might allow the virulence of the virus to decrease over time.

M Jordan said...I’m not criticizing Dr. Fauchi’s strategy. I just think there are costs to it — like crashing our economy— that may be less if we tried the Boris Johnson approach of keeping things open, letting people get exposed.
--
What I got out of the presser was they want to delay extreme interventions a bit so as to keep them sustainable when more needed.; 3/14/20, 6:29 PM
FullMoon said...: 82 years old, already had emphysema:
First New York Death As State Surges To Lead As Most Infected...; 3/14/20, 6:29 PM
walter said...: (I mean re Boris presser); 3/14/20, 6:30 PM
mockturtle said...: Rcocean: Go to this site then click on 'Bill' in the upper right hand corner. Law 360 It's a pdf and will go to your download files. There seems to be a lot of stuff in there regarding nutrition which has nothing to do with COVID-19 but at least I didn't see a rider for federally funded abortions.; 3/14/20, 6:32 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: My favorite local coffee shop asks for cashless payments now -- less interperson touching. You just insert your card into a machine. I'll still pay cash though.

3/14/20, 6:03 PM

Does it have a keypad that every customer is touching?; 3/14/20, 6:32 PM
Anonymous said...: @rocean@6:14

They've stopped buying toilet paper because there is none. I went into Publix today, plenty of food, but the paper product isle was completely empty. No TP, no paper towels, no napkins. Not a single thing in the entire store made of paper that could reasonably be used to wipe one's ass, although I didn't check the magazine isle.; 3/14/20, 6:35 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: FullMoon said...
82 years old, already had emphysema:
First New York Death As State Surges To Lead As Most Infected...

3/14/20, 6:29 PM

It would alleviate many people's fears if the networks reported on the health conditions and ages of the people who are dying, instead of just saying X number of people died.; 3/14/20, 6:35 PM
LYNNDH said...: Kids may get a mild case. They may pass it on to Gramps and Grandma. And both parents and of course the staffs at the schools. Teachers, people!; 3/14/20, 6:39 PM
FullMoon said...: This woman also had serious problems prior to getting the virus

"The patient was a woman in her 60s with chronic health conditions and had been hospitalized for a respiratory illness for several weeks, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. She died at Mountain View’s El Camino Hospital Monday morning."; 3/14/20, 6:46 PM
MayBee said...: The kids are still going to exist, and presumably still be around Gramps and Grandma. Perhaps even more, if mom or dad work and Grandma and Grandpa have to baby sit.
Are we thinking all the kids are going to sit at home with their own families all day every day?

What Hong Kong did when they opened the schools back up after SARS was require parents to take the kids temperature every day. If it was high, you couldn't send them. The teachers supervised hand washing.; 3/14/20, 6:47 PM
Kai Akker said...: Same people.

You guys are full of it. Sorry, quoting Dave Begley here, but to all those who make this facile equivalence of warmist = flu hysteric. I am the opposite of a warmist, and the same logical sequence based on physical evidence makes me concerned about this coronavirus. Those who think we're going to skip blithely through this are not being logical, IMO, although I sure hope you're somehow right. So here's one exception to the equivalence formula. I was also at a dinner party last weekend where everyone there was a liberal Democrat except me and my wife, and none of them seemed even to know a whole lot about the coronavirus. I had to work hard to get them hysterical. It took almost all evening, as a matter of fact, but I managed it!; 3/14/20, 6:50 PM
William said...: I'm getting familiar with the Clean Team. (They need a catchy nickname. I can't think of one, but they're way more deserving of one. than the Squad.) They all seem knowledgeable and likable. Fauci, I guess, has become the star. He's no nonsense and just the facts without ever slipping over into Dr. Doom. I like Dr. Brix. She seems very benign and therapeutic. She looks like a good doctor.....All the people on stage looked like they got to where they were because they worked hard and knew what they were talking about....The media not so much. They got to where they were because they were good looking and could strike a pose. So there they were--strking poses and jutting out their chins. They didn't look good.; 3/14/20, 6:54 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Anyway, we added UK and Ireland to the travel ban, which is a good thing, since the UK is taking a different approach to the virus.

The UK approach of just letting it play out is really interesting. I assume they have some plan for dealing with the the big influx of cases that is overwhelming the Italian health system now.; 3/14/20, 6:56 PM
tcrosse said...: Anyway, we added UK and Ireland to the travel ban, which is a good thing, since the UK is taking a different approach to the virus.

The UK and Eire airports were preparing for an influx of travelers from the Continent hoping to circumvent the travel ban. So we shut down that loophole.; 3/14/20, 7:08 PM
Josephbleau said...: "The trouble with Periscope is that my entirely up-to-date Windows 10 laptop gets frozen audio every five minutes or so. Their technical stuff sucks.

Youtube, no problem. So it's on their end."

I tried watching on my Ipad and when it timed out to the ID entry screen it crashed the podcast, no way to shut off the security except by tapping the screen every 5 min, fubar.; 3/14/20, 7:11 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Automatic_Wing,

That isn't the entire plan as it was described Thursday. Their plan is to flatten that curve by encouraging people with the symptoms to self-isolate for a minimum of 7 days- this is what they believe, based on modelling, is the most effective way flattening that curve and and shifting the peak to a later date giving them time to prepare for the influx of critical cases, and to isolate the most vulnerable people during the time period where they are most at risk of getting infected by someone else.

In short, the British worry that trying long term quarantines is just going to defeat itself- people won't obey such order for very long. The other thing is that they believe cancelling big events like concerts and sporting events, and cancelling school don't work because it doesn't mean the subjects just go home and isolate- they are just shifted to some other social activity that is just as efficient at spreading the virus.; 3/14/20, 7:26 PM
Browndog said...: PA State Wine, Liquor Stores To Close Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

All Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties will close Tuesday 'until further notice.'; 3/14/20, 7:30 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Browndog,

Does New Jersey and Delaware have state liquor stores?; 3/14/20, 7:35 PM
cfs said...: The university I work at has faculty and students off but staff have to report. Not sure if that means we are essential or expendable.; 3/14/20, 7:41 PM
Browndog said...: Does New Jersey and Delaware have state liquor stores?

Not sure. I know Massachusetts does.; 3/14/20, 7:43 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Prohibition, here we come!; 3/14/20, 7:45 PM
Gilbert Pinfold said...: PA state liquor stores will accept home delivery orders online. The King of Prussia mall is closed. Wife, dog, and I went for our usual walk on a trail. Parking lot has never been so jammed—so much for social distancing. Dog was thrilled to be petted by so many people, so he at least is happy.; 3/14/20, 7:50 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: YW - Thanks for the rundown. Very interested to see if their approach is more effective.; 3/14/20, 7:54 PM
Michael K said...: I like Dr. Brix. She seems very benign and therapeutic. She looks like a good doctor.....All the people on stage looked like they got to where they were because they worked hard and knew what they were talking about.

The doctors I see on TV (I don't watch much so YMMV) are all nice looking women. The only make doctors I see are Fauci and the Fox guy who is a professor at NYU. One last night was a female GP from somewhere.; 3/14/20, 7:55 PM
Tom T. said...: Half of the coronavirus deaths in France are people under 50.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/14/france-imposes-widespread-shut-down-to-stop-coronavirus-spread/amp/; 3/14/20, 8:00 PM
Narayanan said...: How do we factor in UK and Ireland people experience with single payer no private health care system?; 3/14/20, 8:13 PM
Krumhorn said...: I had to work hard to get them hysterical. It took almost all evening, as a matter of fact, but I managed it!

Really? To what end? This is clearly not a health catastrophe such as an avian flu that can be transmitted socially with a death rate of 60%. It's not even a crisis.

It is clear that this is a very hardy virus that has no impulse to mutate since it is very successful at what it does. It has a communicability on par with the flu with R0 over 1 but considerably less than 15 (like measles or chickenpox), and it generally produces mild symptoms in its hosts (not killing off the hosts is a good thing from a virus survival standpoint).

It cannot be contained. It is already endemic in humans and will not go away until a vaccine is developed. It will now join the existing 4 corona-viruses that cause colds as a recurring seasonal disease. Most of us will get a mild case of it just as most of us get colds, and considerably less than 1% of those who get it will croak. The croakers will be older and suffering from chronic disease.

Inducing useless panic isn't the least bit productive. Save it for when something really serious emerges. In the meantime, ordinary precautions that we should all be taking anyway with respect to colds and flu are all that are necessary.

- Krumhorn; 3/14/20, 8:14 PM
Krumhorn said...: Half of the coronavirus deaths in France are people under 50.

That is almost certainly untrue. In fact, the head of the national health agency, Jerome Soloman, reported yesterday that of the 91 deaths, 71 were over 75. However, 300 French patients are in critical care and half of those are under 50.

I love the NY Post and read it every day, but sometimes, they can't find their asses with a handful of toilet paper.

- Krumhorn; 3/14/20, 8:49 PM
Jaq said...: "Half of the coronavirus deaths in France are people under 50.”

A nation of smokers.

I shouldn’t talk, I went to a spring training baseball game, so I am a dead man walking anyways.; 3/14/20, 8:50 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "I am not an American. I am the American.
- Twain wrote this quote in his personal notebook #41 for the year 1897. A complete reading of the text of the notebook indicates Twain was quoting someone else--his friend Frank Fuller. Twain never wrote these words about himself." - http://www.twainquotes.com/American.html; 3/14/20, 9:09 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: That Frank Fuller is me.; 3/14/20, 9:11 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: What are you trying to grift from me you can't honestly sell?

Is what Fen didn't say, so he done up and went got himself banned. Not for content, but hatefully fulfilled disruption forms.

Even high IQs seemingly can't see any problems: Doesn't affect them.; 3/14/20, 9:22 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: When J. knoxville made his Devil's money, they aired a disclaimer.

Lawyers have adjusted so much they will sue biz for staying or not, out of biz or out of enough cheerleading, don't matter to them. Soon you will be sued if you uploaded something and now aren't uploading more somethings.

Like farming for arguments that allow you to confirm your bias.; 3/14/20, 9:32 PM
Ken B said...: Empty your mouth before reading on
...

Bill Kristol
@BillKristol
Trump REALLY, REALLY, REALLY should just shut up.; 3/14/20, 9:47 PM
Chuck said...: "Shitshow" is the word for this, Althouse.

From an Aaron Blake Tweet:

Trump yesterday: Don't take the test unless you need it.

Trump yesterday: I don't need the test, but will likely take one.

Trump's doctor last night: He doesn't need the test.

Trump today: I took the test last night.; 3/14/20, 9:59 PM
n.n said...: not an anti-vaxxer

Vaccines are part of a risk management protocol. They are not magical elixirs with perfect performance, without side-effects. Also, not all vaccines are created equal.; 3/14/20, 10:07 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: It's disturbing, all the wisdom foregone, so people can feel good talking about how uncurrent The Holy Bible has always been.

http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com

Boomers will with only mere cynicism begin to understand what Buckley clearly talked about a mere half-century ago.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0156006189?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1; 3/14/20, 10:13 PM
Jaq said...: ""Shitshow" is the word for this, Althouse.”

No, “shitshow” was Obama overthrowing Khadaffy and destroying order in Libya, and Hillary whipping up civil war in Syria, releasing millions of refugees.

Hillary was the choice, the ham-fisted war monger. Get some perspective.; 3/14/20, 10:39 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: There are many events that, if they were to have happened, well, then, by God, I'd be right.; 3/14/20, 10:47 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I told the guy to fund Laslo. I was drunk, in a far away city.

Boy, this guys' stories.

And then you know, the bars and stuff. And the band; I kinda liked their hit.

Made everybody money through perfection: referrals.

So Courtney Love ruined it for all time.; 3/14/20, 10:50 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Courtney Love is worse than all colds/bacteria/virus' combined.; 3/14/20, 11:44 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Buwaya win or are we all still standin'?; 3/14/20, 11:48 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Didn't I?

Wasn't there something about?

Weren't people just saying?

Huh?; 3/14/20, 11:49 PM
wendybar said...: Look at all the non diversity in that group. Is Stephen King blind now? because he must be. Either that, or the Trump Derangement syndrome is affecting his eyes, his brains and his twitter feed.; 3/15/20, 6:26 AM
Nichevo said...: Guildofcannonballs said...
What are you trying to grift from me you can't honestly sell?

Is what Fen didn't say, so he done up and went got himself banned. Not for content, but hatefully fulfilled disruption forms.

Even high IQs seemingly can't see any problems: Doesn't affect them.

3/14/20, 9:22 PM

Althouse isn't really making the effort to ban anyone, except she who should not be named. I'm sure Fen could come back and post, and I've seen him on Disqus several times and reminded him that we miss him, but he's holding out for an apology from Althouse, which is a good way to waste some time. Althouse doesn't apologize. I'd settle for a blowjob myself. AA is more likely to issue a blowjob than an apology.; 3/15/20, 9:32 AM