coronavirus

Infectious Thoughts On “The RONA” (My Facebook Posts)

Published by Papa Giorgio

JUMP TO: INFECTION RATES | HERD IMMUNITY | Uncommon Knowledge Bonus | EXCERPT FROM FACEBOOK CONVO | CAPACITY OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM | Ventilator Myths

  • (A quick note, I am not saying we should have done nothing, please do not infer that from what is below. However, I am saying that pushing the shutting down of our infrastructure for anything past two or three weeks ~ is ~ dubious at best.)

As An Aside, this is one of the most important article I believe regarding this whole “pandemic” issue we are dealing with. While it focuses on New York City, this is multiplied ad infinitum around our nation and globe. I would highly recommend this article at CITY JOURNAL:

My computer is down, and its a brand new build (something I did surely found out it is a bad motherboard). But my phone is allowing me opportunity to expand on some thinking. In a conversation about reopening Minnesota I had the other morning. I will include the conversations end below the raw numbers and pics. Take note I start with my old numbers of THE RONA’S estimated infection rates, with newer studies, as well as some HERD IMMUNITY stats/commentary. Enjoy number crunchers. I will add some other Faceboook posts as well.

INFECTION RATES

This portion was the earliest idea to how widespread the virus was. People would continuously mention the KNOWN infection rate of Covid-19 to the KNOWN death rate from Covid. And then in the same breath compare those stats to the ESTIMATED flu infection rate to the SOMEWHAT KNOWN flu death rate. And then they would say “see, Covid-19 is more deadly.” But I wanted to compare the same stats… so this was my way of referenced “estimations” to the infection rate of Covid-19. These were the two referenced numbers:

  • There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. (Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO)
  • That 86% of infections went undocumented (Journal SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST)

The above older work can be found at MY SITE — last updated end of March using above numbers: RPT — Here is an example from my post:

MY ORIGINAL ESTIMATES

(March 30th)

WORLD WIDE CORONA NUMBERS (KNOWN)

35,236 (known deaths) | 740,743 (known cases) = 4.75%

WORLD WIDE CORONA NUMBERS (ESTIMATED)

(There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. [Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO])

LOW # 18,561,550‬ (0.19% death rate with known deaths);

HIGH # 37,123,100 (0.09% death rate with known deaths).

(That 86% of infections went undocumented [SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST])

5,303,300 (0.66% death rate with known deaths).

UNITED STATES CORONA NUMBERS (KNOWN)

2,597 (known deaths) |  144,280 (known cases)  = 1.79%

UNITED STATES CORONA NUMBERS (ESTIMATED)

(There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. [Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO])

LOW # 3,607,000 (0.07% death rate with known deaths);

HIGH # 7,214,000 (0.03% death rate with known deaths).

(That 86% of infections went undocumented [SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST])

1,030,571 (0.25% death rate with known deaths).

Now, as the testing for antibodies is getting under way, we are finding confirmation for the above numbers. Here are some articles to make the point (as well as some media) HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND regarding the Santa Clara County information….

Closer to the publishing date of the information garnered from the 3,300 volunteers getting the antibody test in Santa Clara County, there were 32-deaths attributed to the Coronavirus, or, THE RONA. So what we can assume is that as the death toll rises over a time-line, so does the infection rate. Here is what the REASON.COM ARTICLE notes closer to the studies publishing date:

Between 48,000 and 81,000 residents of Santa Clara County, California are likely to have already been infected by the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, suggests a new study by researchers associated with Stanford University Medical School. The researchers tested a sample of 3,330 residents of the county using blood tests to detect antibodies to determine whether or not they had been exposed to the coronavirus. If the researchers’ calculations are correct, that’s really good news. Why? Because that data will help public health officials to get a better handle on just how lethal the coronavirus is, and if researchers are right it’s a lot less lethal than many have feared it to be.

Currently, the U.S. case fatality rate, that is, the percent of people with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 who die, is running at 5.2 percent. But epidemiologists have known that a significant proportion of people who are infected are going undetected by the medical system because either they don’t feel sick enough to seek help or are asymptomatic. For example, recent research in Iceland suggests that about 50 percent of people infected with the virus have no symptoms.

In the new study, the researchers sought residents through Facebook to whom they could administer the antibody tests. The results were an unadjusted prevalence of coronavirus antibodies of 1.5 percent. After making various statistical and demographic adjustments, researchers calculated the likely prevalence ranged from 2.49 to 4.16 percent. At the time that these tests were administered, there were about 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 32* deaths from the disease in Santa Clara County. The upshot is that “these prevalence estimates represent a range between 48,000 and 81,000 people infected in Santa Clara County by early April, 50- 85-fold more than the number of confirmed cases.”

Using these data, the researchers calculated the infection fatality rate, that is, the percent of people infected with the disease who die: “A hundred deaths out of 48,000-81,000 infections corresponds to an infection fatality rate of 0.12-0.2%,” they report.* That’s about the same infection fatality rate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates for seasonal influenza…..

  • COVID-19 Lethality Not Much Different Than Flu, Says New Study: Possible really good news from a population screening antibody test study in Santa Clara County, California (REASON | ABC NEWS)
  • Why A Study Showing That Covid-19 Is Everywhere Is Good News: If millions of people were infected weeks ago without dying, the virus must be less deadly than official data suggest (ECONOMIST)
  • Medical Experts Appear on ‘Life, Liberty, and Levin’ to Urge Leaders to Reopen America (PJ-MEDIA)
  • LA Study: Virus May Be More Widespread, Less Deadly Than Thought (NEWSMAX)

TWITTER: Andrew Bostom

YOUTUBE: Tucker Carlson

What is the actual death rate of COVID-19? (Multiple antibody tests mentioned)

See OANN’s video as well: The Best Argument against Govt Mandated COVID-19 Lockdowns

I mention to people that with all the precautions many states are forcing on its population they are retarding the rate of HERD IMMUNITY… which is important.

HERD IMMUNITY

Important because Dr. Fauci mentioned during one of his briefings that this is coming back in the winter season. But because we have chosen as a nation to not allow for normal contact that nature demands of us, we will be dealing with this at a higher rate than say Sweden.

Our governor, Gavin Newsom, thinks he “sounds” scientific — but has no idea [apparently] what or how to achieve “herd immunity.” Here is a MERCURY NEWS article discussing the issue statements by our “fearless” governor:

“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said. “So large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers altogether across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise, is not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and current expectations.”

Obviously he has no idea what he is saying, and, probably like Biden see’s this as an opportunity to advance a political agenda.

The article mentions no large gatherings until Thanksgiving… but then the flu and Covid-19 season starts again. Are we shutting down our economy (bars, restaurants, small businesses, etc) and flights, beaches, etc., in the 2020-2021 season? (THANKFULLY “Attorney General William Barr warned that states could find themselves in hot water from the Justice Department if their coronavirus lockdowns go ‘too far’.” | BREITBART)

  • Why Simply Waiting For Herd Immunity To Covid-19 Isn’t An Option: Waiting for enough people to catch the coronavirus could take a very long time (MIT TECH REVIEW)
  • Stockholm Will Reach ‘Herd Immunity’ Within Weeks (TELEGRAPH | AL ARABIYA)
  • Sweden Resisted A Lockdown, And Its Capital Stockholm Is Expected To Reach ‘Herd Immunity’ In Weeks (CNBC)

Sweden has allowed nature to provide a natural defense to future Covid-19 outbreaks. By doing so, the next time this comes around (2020-2021) Sweden will be the most prepared out of the Western Nations. Bravo Sweden, and they took the idea that destroying their economy was not the wisest of choices.

JOHN STOSSEL

UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE BONUS

March 27th

April 17th

Steve and I agree on a lot, I do not wish to put Steve here in a bad light… he is a guy that I would probably enjoy conversation with over a beer or two (or three):

EXCERPT FROM FACEBOOK CONVO

(ME)

  • Steve W — you do know Steve that the same amount of death from and infection due to Covid-19 exists under the trend line of doing nothing and the most strict quarentine rules…. right? In other words, we are not saving lives. And, in fact, we have made it worse for our economy next fall/winter because it is coming back as it makes its rounds around the world.

(STEVE W)

  • Sean Giordano I have heard that said but not seen it from a credible source. So I think that is false.

(ME)

  • Steve W what is false?

(STEVE W)

  • Sean Giordano “the same amount of death from and infection due to Covid-19 exists under the trend line of doing nothing”

(ME)

Steve Wallace now you are saying don’t listen to Dr. Fauci?

Many bemoan Trump for not listening to him (even though he has), and some I meet do not support Fauci in the idea that this was to elongate the process as to not put any undue stress on our health care system. Even though he clearly announced multiple times this was the reason to do so

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM mentions the following, and all the graphs of the United States shown by Doctors Fauci and Birx have all used this idea as well (graph below from CDC and WEF)

CHRIS WALLACE: All right. You talk about slowing the virus down. You talk a lot, and I’ve very used to this now, you can either have a bump like this of cases or you could make it maybe the same total cases, but it’s a much more gradual and slower and longer curve. I want to put up some numbers. We have in this country about 950,000 hospital beds, and about 45,000 beds in Intensive Care Unit. How worried are you that this virus is going to overwhelm hospitals, not just beds, but ventilators? We only have 160,000 ventilators. And could we be in a situation where you have to ration who gets the bed, who gets the ventilator?

DR. FAUCI: OK. So let me put it in a way that it doesn’t get taken out of context. When people talk about modeling where outbreaks are going, the modeling is only as good as the assumptions you put into the model. And what they do, they have a worst-case scenario, a best-case scenario, and likely where it’s going to be. If we have a worst-case scenario, we’ve got to admit it, we could be overwhelmed. Are we going to have a worst-case scenario? I don’t think so. I hope not.

What are we doing to not have that worst-case scenario? That’s when you get into the things that we’re doing. We’re preventing infections from going in with some rather stringent travel restrictions. And we’re doing containment and mitigation from within. So, at a worst-case scenario, anywhere in the world, no matter what country you are, you won’t be prepared. So our job is to not let that worst-case scenario happen.

(…. STILL ME….)

STEVE W for you not to understand the goal of all this, and then get on here sharing insights is itself insightful. I am not blaming you STEVE… I just see this fundamental misunderstanding of the underlying factors and goals of this whole endeavor of bending the curve as applicable to MANY A PERSON in these discussions here and elsewhere on social media. I am giving you, in fact, the most respectful benefit of a doubt, but am merely in conversation with you at this moment. This conversation is just multiplied (others are having) across social media many fold. Blessings to you and yours friend. Yet, this foundational view is not known well by others… that is, the reason behind flattening the curve as well as the data underneath the trend line.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Here I wish to switch gears a bit and start to discuss another “info graphic” post from MY SITES FACEBOOK I shared with my readers. And since the entire idea behind “flattening the curve” was to keep the health and hospital system working well by not getting inundated all at once, this should have lasted two or three weeks. Not as long as it has — our economy is important too! Damnit!

CAPACITY OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

The following was compiled after a conversation I had on Facebook. It touches on some of the issues above. Enjoy

  •  I note the bell curve because many are under the false impression we are doing this to “save lives.” This was never the case.

The quarantine was to lessen the apex of the bell curve as to not put pressure on the hospital/health system. The same amount of people in the elongated “quarantine bell curve” (the trend-line) would die and get sick. In other words, the same statistics exist below the line (POWERLINE). Here is a site cataloging the hospitalizations for the rona that POWERLINE used – US CORONAVIRUS HOSPITALIZATIONS  …they used both the CDC site and this one, but the CDC site has lower hospitalizations, so they opted for the most updated numbers. WHICH AS OF APRIL 21ST STAND AT 84,292 HOSPITALIZATIONS FROM JANUARY TILL NOW. This is important, because, the flu season of 2017-2018 we saw 810,000 hospitalization, and our health system didn’t collapse. Nor did the Swine Flu of 2009-to-2010, which saw 60-million American infected and 300,000 hospitalizations.

No quarantines then.

No exaggerated respirator shortages then.

SOME VENTILATOR MYTHS

  • The Ventilator Shortage That Wasn’t (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Report: New York City Auctioned Off Ventilator Stockpile (BREITBART)
  • New York City auctioned off extra ventilators due to cost of maintenance: report (THE HILL)
  • Gov Cuomo Refused To Buy Ventilators In 2015 Despite Knowing They’d Be Needed (INDEPENDENT SENTINEL)
  • Trump Was Right: Cuomo Admits New York Has ‘Stockpile’ of Ventilators, Says ‘We Don’t Need Them Yet’ (DIAMOND and SILK | BREITBART | WESTERN JOURNAL)

(What was different I wonder? Maybe the Orange Man Bad Syndrome?)

This then may explain why all the field hospital’s the ARMY CORE OF ENGINEERS built are being dismantled without a single bed being used.

  • The panic and fear among the people who cannot be bothered to read the actual statistics about this pandemic is what should concern most preppers. In fact, this virus has been so overhyped that the Army’s field hospital in Seattle, an “epicenter” of the pandemic has closed after three days without seeing one single COVID-19 patient. According to a report by Military.com, the hastily built field hospital set up by the Army in Seattle’s pro football stadium is shutting down without ever seeing a patient. [….] The decision to close the Seattle field hospital comes amid early signs that the number of new cases could be hitting a plateau in New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in the U.S., and other states. At a news conference Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “Overall, New York is flattening the curve.” — ZERO HEDGE (see: MILITARY TIMES | DAILY CALLER)
  • Unlike the Mercy, the Comfort is treating COVID-19 patients on board as well as patients who do not have the virus. The ship has treated more than 120 people since it arrived March 30, and about 50 of those have been discharged, said Lt. Mary Catherine Walsh. The ship removed half of its 1,000 beds so it could isolate and treat coronavirus patients. [The Mercy has seen 48 patients, all non-Covid related] (THE STAR)

And literally handfulls of patients on the Comfort (New York City) and the Comfort (Los Angeles) — *see comment below. There was never a shortage of respirators (NATIONAL REVIEW), and we may surpass the 2018-to-2019 flu death rate, but come nowhere close to the 2017-to-2018 flu death rate:

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

And it seems that we are reaching a plateau with The Rona, so there is good news in this regard (POWERLINE).

* Here is a comment from the Military Times article from a few days ago:

So, why did we spend all that Taxpayer’s money to move the Comfort to NYC and all the added Military medical personnel to staff the Javitt’s Center? Because Cuomo was crying WOLF.

“So far, the thousands of beds provided by a converted convention center and a hospital ship have not been needed, but the extra personnel are coming in handy for the city’s civilian hospitals.

About 200 doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and others are working in New York’s medical centers, where bed space has not been overwhelmed, but where hospital-acquired coronavirus cases have sidelined civilian staff.”

Some “Rona” Antibody Updates

Published by Papa Giorgio

CHICAGO CITY WIRE has this story (with thanks to FREE REPUBLIC):

A phlebotomist working at Roseland Community Hospital said Thursday that 30% to 50% of patients tested for the coronavirus have antibodies while only around 10% to 20% of those tested have the active virus.

Sumaya Owaynat, a phlebotomy technician, said she tests between 400 and 600 patients on an average day in the parking lot at Roseland Community Hospital. Drive-thru testing is from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. each day. However, the hospital has a limited number of tests they can give per day.  

Owaynat said the number of patients coming through the testing center who appear to have already had coronavirus and gotten over it is far greater than those who currently have the disease.

“A lot of people have high antibodies, which means they had the coronavirus but they don’t have it anymore and their bodies built the antibodies,” Owaynat told Chicago City Wire.

Antibodies in the bloodstream reveal that a person has already had the coronavirus and may be immune to contracting the virus again.

If accurate, this means the spread of the virus may have been underway in the Roseland community – and the state and country as a whole – prior to the issuance of stay at home orders and widespread business closures in mid-March which have crippled the national economy….

A hat-tip to an unnamed friend from Facebook who didn’t want to post a DAILY WIRE article on her Facebook for fear of retaliation…

…At a hospital in Chicago, a non-randomized sample found that 30-50% of patients tested for COVID-19 have antibodies in their system, suggesting they already had the virus and have potential immunity.

“A phlebotomist working at Roseland Community Hospital said Thursday that 30% to 50% of patients tested for the coronavirus have antibodies while only around 10% to 20% of those tested have the active virus,” Chicago City Wire reported Thursday.

“Sumaya Owaynat, a phlebotomy technician, said she tests between 400 and 600 patients on an average day in the parking lot at Roseland Community Hospital. Drive-thru testing is from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. each day. However, the hospital has a limited number of tests they can give per day,” the report detailed. “Owaynat said the number of patients coming through the testing center who appear to have already had coronavirus and gotten over it is far greater than those who currently have the disease.”

“A lot of people have high antibodies, which means they had the coronavirus but they don’t have it anymore, and their bodies built the antibodies,” Owaynat told Chicago City Wire.

[….]

An antibody test study is reportedly underway in California by researchers at Stanford University.

“Researchers at Stanford Medicine are working to find out what proportion of Californians have already had COVID-19. The new study could help policymakers make more informed decisions during the coronavirus pandemic,” KSBW 8 News reported. “The team tested 3,200 people at three Bay Area locations on Saturday using an antibody test for COVID-19 and expect to release results in the coming weeks.”

This study mentioned at Stanford was brought up in conversation last week by my oldest son, and we are all (as a family) curious if the most vulnerable already had it as my father-in-law was pretty sick a few months back. Here is Victor Davis Hanson speaking to this issue with reference to the Stanford study as well (VDH is part of the Hoover Institution).

This article from PATCH is a bit critical of Hanson, but all-in-all, the common sense factor is there for me. Let me just say I am not convinced by the rejection of something stated without a refutation of the evidences mentioned. Chicago is already disproving Patch’s “expert input,” plus, I do not have to be an evolutionary biologist to critique neo-Darwinian theory, nor a woman to discuss the factual ending of a human life in the womb.

I am a fan, however, of this CLASSIC statement by William F. Buckley:

  • “I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2000 people on the faculty of Harvard University.”

(See also this MERCURY NEWS article on what Stanford has and is doing):

….“When you add it all up it would be naïve to think that California did not have some exposure,” Hanson told KSBW 8.

Stanford Medicine is conducting a study that may back up his assertion.

Stanford researchers took blood samples from approximately 3,200 volunteers in Santa Clara County on Friday and Saturday according to The Stanford Daily.

The test will show whether someone has been infected with the virus, including those who experienced mild or no symptoms, Stanford Associate Professor of Medicine Eran Bendavid told The Stanford Daily.

“It’s hard to stand up in this epidemic and say, ‘Look, we really don’t know if this epidemic is impending Armageddon,'” Bendavid said. “In order to know and reduce that uncertainty, you need numbers.”

Hanson believes the numbers could show that more Californians have been exposed to the virus than was previously known.

“One less-mentioned hypothesis is that California, as a front-line state, may have rather rapidly developed a greater level of herd immunity than other states, given that hints, anecdotes, and some official indications from both China and Italy that, again, the virus may well have been spreading abroad far earlier than the first recorded case in the U.S. —and likely from the coasts inward,” he wrote in a March 31 National Review column.

“So given the state’s unprecedented direct air access to China, and given its large expatriate and tourist Chinese communities, especially in its huge denser metropolitan corridors in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, it could be that what thousands of Californians experienced as an unusually “early” and “bad” flu season might have also reflected an early coronavirus epidemic, suggesting that many more Californians per capita than in other states may have acquired immunity to the virus.”…

AMERICAN THINKER joins the fray as well:

…In my home state of Colorado, “Health officials now believe the new coronavirus was circulating in Colorado as early as mid-January, about six weeks before the state even had the ability to test people for the disease.” These individuals, if extremely sick, might test negative for influenza and other known viruses, yet might still have a rough course just as the current COVID-19 patients are experiencing.

Again, if cases were circulating in the U.S. in mid-January, first cases were a month or two earlier, some symptomatic, some asymptomatic, but all below the radar.

Where were these first patients coming from? U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports, “Some 14,000 people flew into the U.S. from China each day — almost 5 million for that year.” Let me repeat, 14,000 people each day.

This was likely higher during the Christmas holidays with American students studying in China, and vice versa, returning home in December, then back to school in January. How many of these young people were asymptomatic carriers, bringing the Wuhan virus to parents, grandparents, and their professors?…

Who Stands To Benefit from “The Rona” (China? Democrats? Socialism?)

Published by Papa Giorgio

(Why I now call it THE RONA)

FIRST and FOREMOST, I wish to set up the two audios well, as, I think the articles linked are MUST READS, and they describe the possibility of the post by OLD SCHOOL PATRIOT (Col Allen West, BTW) So, here is the description portion used for both Rush Limbaugh audios:

First, let’s lay up the main story with some earlier observations via the WASHINGTON TIMES:

  • Coronavirus May Have Originated In Lab Linked To China’s Biowarfare Program (WASHINGTON TIMES, January 26th — follow the two links that say “HERE” — also LINKED BELOW): 
  • Coronavirus Lab Escape Theory Advances (WASHINGTON TIMES, April 8th)

CNN has an interesting story as well regarding some arrests of Harvard University faculty that may be involved in bolstering the lab in Wuhan’s research:

  • Harvard Professor Among Three Charged With Lying About Chinese Government Ties (CNN, January 28th)

And finally — NATIONAL REVIEW notes an arrest by Border Patrol and detailing of suspicious activity in transporting SARS and MERS in and out of our country:

  • Border Patrol Stopped a Chinese Biologist Carrying Viable SARS, MERS Viruses at Detroit Airport in 2018 (NATIONAL REVIEW, March 30th)

THIS ALL leads to this post by COL. ALLEN WEST titled, “SOMETHING SMELLS“.

EXCERPT:

…It cannot be debated, we have been hit with a massive biological agent. The question is not whether there was intent, but rather the level of intent. Sure, there are such things as coincidences, but in this specific case, nah. The indicators, trends, and warnings all lead to a simple, and reasonable, deduction.

Wuhan to Shanghai = 839 km
Wuhan to Beijing = 1,152 km
Wuhan to Milan = 8,684 km
Wuhan to NY = 12,033 km

The coronavirus started in Wuhan, yet there has been no major effect of Chinese coronavirus in nearby Beijing or Shanghai. Yet, there have been many deaths in Italy, Iran, European countries, and America.  All business areas of China are now safe, so declared by the Communist Chinese government.

America is not just blaming China without a reason. The virology lab that does research on bats that carry the coronavirus is in Wuhan. The Chinese Army’s biological research lab is in Wuhan. The university that is connected to the Harvard University biology and chemistry professor who was arrested in January is the Wuhan University of Technology. As for the two doctors who treated the first cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, one is dead, the other is missing.

Even today, India is locked down, yet all the cities of China are open. China has also announced the opening of Wuhan beginning April 8th. Not a single leader in China has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

The virus has ruined many economies around the world. Many have had to close their borders in an attempt to contain and control the spread of the coronavirus. Thousands have lost their lives, millions have been exposed to this pestilence, countless people have been locked in their homes, and many countries have placed their citizens on lockdown.

The coronavirus originated in the city of Wuhan in China. We are told its origin is out of a wet market. Yet, these same wet markets remain open. Did someone release one of the lab bats into the local wet market? The Wuhan coronavirus has now reached every corner of the world, but the virus did not have deadly consequences in China’s capital of Beijing nor China’s economic capital of Shanghai, located in close proximity to Wuhan itself.

Or maybe it has and we just do not know about it?…

I found this post compelling due to the odd — to say the least — activity surrounding these viruses and this lab in Wuhan. Fact Checks of the story from January are rushed to a judgement based on incomplete evidence and a theory that it is a bio-weapon, strictly speaking. Here are two article refuting such nonsense (via the January Washington Times article):

  • Experts Know The New Coronavirus Is Not A Bioweapon. They Disagree On Whether It Could Have Leaked From A Research Lab (BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENCES, March 30th)
  • The Proximal Origin Of SARS-CoV-2 (JOURNAL NATURE, March 17th)

All this is VERY interesting indeed!

This whole adventure is a key time for Democrats to try and defeat Trump by various means. One being vote by mail and early voting (all harvested of course). Here are some articles about this:

  • Voting by Mail Is a Terrible Democrat Idea that Invites Fraud (BREITBART)
  • California Compromised (RPT)
  • Voter Fraud Is A Huge Problem In The Democratic Party (LIFESITE NEWS)
  • Voter Fraud – Guess Who? (RPT) — older post regarding Democrats voting fraudulently – in general
  • Coronavirus: Arizona Democrats Push for All-Mail Voting in 2020 Election (BREITBART)
  • Democrats Want To Use The Coronavirus Relief Bill To Seize Control Of Elections (WASHINGTON EXAMINER)
  • Citing Coronavirus Threat, Texas Democrats Sue To Expand Mail-In Voting (TEXAS TRIBUNE)
  • Democrats Introduce Bill To Expand Early And By-Mail Voting (HUFFPOST)

ALL THAT BEING SAID, here are the two audios I think are relevant considering the above:

China Back To Normal (Limbaugh Part 1)

Rush Limbaugh notes that the media, some “scientific acolytes,” and political figures seem to want to hurt Trump bad enough that they would root and actively work against our economy. But the reason I am using this audio is also to bolster the idea that it almost seems to be a purposeful manipulation against Europe and the Americas. Not saying this was virus was released purposefully (see PART 2 below), but that if an accident, it seems to be used to benefit China. Not a conspiracy as much as an observation. This description will essentially be the same for Parts 1 and 2…

Rush Refutes MSM’s Conspiracy Charges (Part 2)

A caller floats a plausible theory that segues into a response to the Media (and Democrats and #NeverTrumpers) saying he [the MahaRushdi] said the virus was a Chinese chemical bio-weapon unleashed on the U.S. purposefully. This is a good example of how the media and the “fact checkers” distort reality.

Drive Thru Churches (The “RONA” 2020 Update)

Published by Papa Giorgio

(First posted in 2011)

Good example of most Christians these days.

I am updating this post with recent events — the above is “orthodox humor,” the below is of a more serious [secular] matter. (The above is technically MORE serious, as the watering down of the Gospel Message would be more “life-threatening through all eternity.”)

Many churches are offering drive-thru prayer — and one church is even planning a drive-in service with a jumbotron — as congregations are no longer able to meet in person for large gatherings to limit the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Troy Brewer, senior pastor of 5,000-member OpenDoor Church in Burleson, Texas, in Fort Worth area, told Fox News the circumstances may hinder their outreach globally but now is the time to focus on the local community.

“We want to love people, bless people, and we want to pray,” Brewer said. “We want to be available to people and serve them.”…

(FOX NEWS)

I think a wonderful — related — article to read is THE FEDERALISTS’S article titled: Why It’s Unconstitutional To Keep Grocery Stores Open While Closing Churches.

RIGHT SCOOP has an article detailing how a county in Los Angeles is stopping drive through churches:

…Notice San Bernardino county is banning actions where people actually stay in their cars. The first is a “drive-up” church service, where people stay in their cars as they attend an outdoor church service. The other is “driving parades”, where people just drive by someone’s home in a line and wave in order to celebrate a birthday party or some other kind of event.

Basically, if you go out for any non-essential service, you risk being fined or put in jail! And if you do go out for essential services, you must wear a face covering or, again, risk a fine or jail time.

I’m all about trying to get people to stay at home to halt the spread of the coronavirus. But threatening people with jail time or a huge fine when they are protected in their vehicles or for not wearing a mask is just ridiculous and fascistic. Welcome to the People’s Republic of San Bernardino.

Why “Rona”?

Read My Lips, No New Cases | Dr. Fauci (Bonus Commentary)

Published by Papa Giorgio

Dennis Prager open up his 3rd hour on Friday by quickly going over Tucker Carlson’s noting Dr. Fauci’s understanding of when we can relax these quarantining and social distancing regulations (see more at DAILY CALLER)… and getting people back to work. Obviously, this cannot happen… we live in a world of trade-offs, as the Thomas Sowell video I added to this video points out (see more at RPT: “3-QUESTIONS LIBERALS NEVER ASK“). One comment I came across humorously noting the impossibility of Dr. Fauci’s statement is this: “Read my lips, no new cases!” ???????, get ready for the backlash from Leftists and #NeverTrumpers when Trump opens society before there are no new cases or deaths.

FYI — After the opening monologue, I truncated calls to almost exclusively include Dennis’ response… so while this sounds like almost an un-edited audio clip, stitch together portions of his third hour as well as add media.

Here are a few articles or blogposts I think are important to understand the irresponsibility of basing public policy on these faulty models:

  • WOW! Dr. Fauci Now Says, “You Can’t Really Rely Upon Models” …WTH? (GATEWAY PUNDIT)
  • Birx Warns of Inaccurate Models Predicting Large Spread Of Coronaviruses (FR24 NEWS)
  • Numerators and Denominators in the Coronavirus Saga (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • Are Covid-19 Models A Sound Basis For Public Policy? [With Comment By Paul] (POWERLINE)
  • Complicated Mathematical Models Are Not Substitutes for Common Sense (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Inaccurate Virus Models Are Panicking Officials Into Ill-Advised Lockdowns (THE FEDERALIST)
  • We Cannot Destroy The Country For The Sake Of New York City (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Coronavirus Modeling Had Faulty Assumptions, the Real Data Gives Us Hope (PJ-MEDIA)
  • The Scientist Whose Doomsday Pandemic Model Predicted Armageddon Just Walked Back The Apocalyptic Predictions (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Epidemiologist Behind Highly-Cited Coronavirus Model Drastically Downgrades Projection (DAILY WIRE)

BONUS COMMENTARY

TUCKER: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PRAISES CHINA, DENIES TAIWAN’S EXISTENCE: World Health Organization would rather deny Taiwan’s existence than offend the Chinese government; reaction from Gordon Chang, author of ‘The Coming Collapse of China.’

TUCKER: THE NEW YORK TIMES’ CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE CAN BE EXPLAINED IN 4 STEPS: The establishment press has botched coronavirus from the beginning.

INGRAHAM: WHAT IS THE NEW NORMAL? If it means abandoning the life we loved before coronavirus or using this the crisis as a vehicle for advancing a left-wing, freedom-killing agenda, count us out.

Trump Acted Quickley On Coronavirus (TIMELINES)

Published by Papa Giorgio

(Part 2 is here) I have seen multiple people I know (friends, family, acquaintances) pass along the very misguided idea that Trump dragged his feet on the response to the Wuhan Virus. This was in response to someone basically saying Trump got in the way of experts, and that he should just keep his mouth shut (adapted):

Dr. Fauci was interviewed at 3am the other morning [March 24th] (10 minutes of you time:DR. FAUCI INTERVIEWED BY WMAL) and the MSM hasn’t referenced his statements once. Also… the quote you are probably referring to is this one: when he was asked if he was worried about this becoming a pandemic:

  • “No, not at all. We have it totally under control,” Trump said. “It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” (Jan. 22)

This was essentially three weeks after the first Chinese case was announced, and only 10-days after China shared the genetic information of the virus. (The first American known to have it was January 21st.) So I think you may be wanting something from the President that you wouldn’t expect from another. (In contrast to the below excerpted timeline) Trump ordered all flights from China halted January 31st.

By the time he declared a state of emergency (March 13), we had had 49 deaths by that time. It took the previous administration till there were a thousand Americans dead to declare an emergency. I think this is an “orange man bad” scenario. You should listen to Dr. Fauci’s wise words. 

This move by Trump SHOWED how quick he acted and to what measures. A must read article excerpted below is a MUST read to show where everyone’s mind was (except Trump’s):

The Impeachment That Killed Americans: Instead of dealing with the virus, Dems focused on getting Trump.

The lethal price tag for the months of the Impeach Trump obsession by Democrats is now in — and rising.

Over there at Breitbart, Joel Pollak, one of the serious journalists of the day, has put together this telling timeline that shows exactly what Democrats were doing as the coronavirus loomed. Here’s the link to Joel’s story — and here’s his very revealing timeline:

  • January 11: Chinese state media report the first known death from an illness originating in the Wuhan market.
  • January 15: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a vote to send articles of impeachment to the Senate. Pelosi and House Democrats celebrate the “solemn” occasion with a signing ceremony, using commemorative pens.
  • January 21: The first person with coronavirus arrives in the United States from China, where he had been in Wuhan.
  • January 23: The House impeachment managers make their opening arguments for removing President Trump.
  • January 23: China closes off the city of Wuhan completely to slow the spread of coronavirus to the rest of China.
  • January 30: Senators begin asking two days of questions of both sides in the president’s impeachment trial.
  • January 30: The World Health Organization declares a global health emergency as coronavirus continues to spread.
  • January 31: The Senate holds a vote on whether to allow further witnesses and documents in the impeachment trial.
  • January 31: President Trump declares a national health emergency and imposes a ban on travel to and from China. Former Vice President Joe Biden calls Trump’s decision “hysterical xenophobia … and fear-mongering.”
  • February 2: The first death from coronavirus outside China is reported in the Philippines.
  • February 3: House impeachment managers begin closing arguments, calling Trump a threat to national security.
  • February 4: President Trump talks about coronavirus in his State of the Union address; Pelosi rips up every page.
  • February 5: The Senate votes to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment, 52-48 and 53-47.
  • February 5: House Democrats finally take up coronavirus in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia.

And there, in black and white, is exactly the problem. Republicans at the time warned that Democrats were so mindlessly obsessed with impeachment that other issues were being routinely ignored. Immigration, trade, health care, and on and on went the list of concerns that were being ignored in favor of the impeachment obsession.

But there was another issue Democrats were ignoring while they spent their time impeaching the president. A very, very big issue that involved life or death.

The American Spectator’s Dov Fischer took it head on right here. His title:

The Real Threat to Our Democracy During Coronavirus

Pelosi, Schiff & Co. were too busy dragging the country through impeachment to pay attention to ominous developments in Asia.

Dov Fischer nailed it exactly.

Yes, indeed, while all that impeachment obsession was happening, the coronavirus was making its debut. Note well in the Pollak timeline this date — January 11, the day that “Chinese state media report the first known death from an illness originating in the Wuhan market.” And with that virus news out there, a mere four days later, Speaker Pelosi focuses not on that — but on holding the House vote that impeaches the president, followed by an elaborately staged spectacle in which she signs her name to the documents with a stash of 30 gold pens resting on a silver tray. Then, in another elaborately staged spectacle, she formally parades the articles through the halls of the Capitol to deliver them to the Senate.

Then there is January 21, a full 10 days after news of the virus has gone public — and the first known person who had been in Wuhan arrives in America. Carrying the virus. Two days later Pollak notes this:

  • January 23: The House impeachment managers make their opening arguments for removing President Trump.
  • January 23: China closes off the city of Wuhan completely to slow the spread of coronavirus to the rest of China.

And not to be forgotten: on January 31, President Trump announced this, per the Washington Post:

Trump administration announces mandatory quarantines in response to coronavirus

Announcement comes as U.S. airlines cancel flights to China amid growing fears

Mere days later, on February 4, President Trump delivered his State of the Union address, in which he said this:

Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.

And the reaction to that speech from the Pelosi Democrats?

Famously, when the president reached the end of his speech, Speaker Nancy Pelosi ostentatiously stood and ripped the speech in half. That doesn’t count the Democrat members who made a point of walking out on the speech or labeling it, as Pelosi did, a “pack of lies.”….

(READ IT ALL)

I also wish to note the silliness of the media (in this case Joe Scarborough) saying that everyone knew this was coming. No. No they did not. Retired Admiral James G. Stavridis and Senator Tom Cotton were the lone voices on Hugh Hewitt’s Show, here Hugh talks about a special in the works:

I listen to Hugh first thing in the morning… and out of everything I heard from the MSM to talk radio… his voice was alone. Senator Tom Cotton and Admiral James G. Stavridis were the other lone voices…. on the Hugh Hewitt Show. I am looking forward to the special next week. (I inserted the videos BTW.) All Hugh had was audio — of course, radio — of Joe Scarborough saying “everyone knew.”

PJ-MEDIA has an excellent article noting easily some of the lies leveled at Trump and his administration. Here is their list:

10. Trump downplayed the mortality rate of the coronavirus
9. Trump lied when he said Google was developing a national coronavirus website
8. Trump “dissolved” the WH pandemic response office
7. Trump ignored early intel briefings on possible pandemic
6. Trump cut funding to the CDC & NIH
5. Trump “muzzled” Dr. Fauci
4. Trump didn’t act quickly and isn’t doing enough
3. Trump told governors they were “on their own”
2. Trump turned down testing kits from WHO
1. Trump called the coronavirus “a hoax”

I deal with both #1, #4, and #5 here: “CORONAVIRUS LIES VIA DEMOCRATS/MEDIA (UPDATED W/CONVO)” | And #8 and #6 are dealt with here: “WASHINGTON POST SWINGS AND MISSES” |  #2 (and #1) is dealt with here “LARRY ELDER DEBUNKS MEDIA’S LATEST LIES“

And no-one ever show this video of Trump and why it is so easy to take him out of context when one hates him, which is what FACTCHECK did:

….March 4: “Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number.” — Trump in an interview on Fox News, referring to the percentage of diagnosed COVID-19 patients worldwide who had died, as reported by the World Health Organization. (See our item “Trump and the Coronavirus Death Rate.”)

March 7: “No, I’m not concerned at all. No, we’ve done a great job with it.” — Trump, when asked by reporters if he was concerned about the arrival of the coronavirus in the Washington, D.C., area. 

March 9: “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!” — Trump in a tweet.

March 10: “And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.” — Trump after meeting with Republican senators…..

Yet, this is why Trump has said these things…

[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=246481773156957″ width=”690″ height=”388″ onlyvideo=”0″]

 

Articles Regarding the Wuhan Virus (UPDATED 4-2-2020)

Published by Papa Giorgio

I will add to these periodically, “NEW” – or the date – does not relate to when it was written, but to when I added it to my reading regimen:

ARTICLES

  • NEW: BLUE COLLAR LOGIC: Mixed Messages From The Experts (YOUTUBE)
  • NEW: BLUE COLLAR LOGIC: Trump’s Guilty Of Having Hope! (YOUTUBE)
  • NEW: Is the World Health Organization Putting the World’s Health First? (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • NEW: Kansas Dept of Health Using Cell Phone GPS Tracking to Monitor Coronavirus Compliance… (CONSERVATIVE TREEHOUSE)
  • NEW: How Government Is Standing in the Way of Lifesaving American Innovation (AMERICAN GREATNESS)
  • NEW: Boston Globe Editorial Board Claims Trump Has ‘Blood on His Hands’ (PJ-MEDIA)
  • NEW: Are People Catching On? (POWERLINE)
  • NEW: The Wuhan Virus: Where We Are Now (POWERLINE)
  • NEW: The Wuhan Virus: Six Notes & Queries (POWERLINE)
  • NEW: Wuhan Virus Watch: Nevada and Michigan Governors Reverse Decision Banning Chloroquine Treatments (LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • NEW: Prosecutors: Engineer deliberately ran train off tracks in attempt to smash the USNS Mercy (WEASEL ZIPPERS)
  • NEW: FLASHBACK: Nancy Pelosi Zones Out During State Of Union While President Trump Addresses Coronavirus (YOUTUBE)
  • NEW: Chinese Journalists Keep Disappearing, This Congressman Wants Answers (WEASEL ZIPPERS)
  • NEW: TUCKER CARLSON Covers Chinese Scientific Report Claiming Coronavirus Pandemic ‘Originated From A Laboratory In Wuhan’ (YOUTUBE VIDEO | LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • NEW: TUCKER CARLSON: A Chinese Research Paper Suggests The Coronavirus May Have Been Released Accidentally From A Lab (YOUTUBE VIDEO | HOTAIR)
  • NEW: REMINDER: Bernie Sanders Was Asked If He Would Close The Borders If He “Had To” To Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus (TWITTER VIDEO)
  • NEW: Right On Cue! Gov. Newsom Explains Why Pandemic Presents Opportunity To Usher In New ‘Progressive Era’ — And People Have Thoughts (TWITCHY)
  • NEW: CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: We Will Use Coronavirus to ‘Reimagine a Progressive Era’ (WEASEL ZIPPERS)
  • NEW: Laurence Tribe, Who Has Repeatedly Called Trump A ‘Dictator-Wannabe,’ Slams The President For Not Seizing Control Of Supply And Distribution Chain (TWITCHY) [Editor’s note: this is a good example of the degradation of language by Leftists. Words and ideas have certain meaning… except if you are a Democrat. rape, tolerance, aggression, racism, bigotry, etc… all have wild meanings to Democrats.]
  • NEW: Cooper Fails to Correct Carl Bernstein’s Error on Trump Denouncing Virus as a ‘Hoax’ (NEWSBUSTERS)
  • NEW: Infectious Disease Specialist Tells Fox News: ‘This is the Beginning of the End of the Pandemic’ (YOUTUBE VIDEO | RED STATE)
  • NEW: Welcome to the PC (Post Coronavirus) Era (FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE)
  • NEW: DAMN SON: Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Blasts China And WHO For Lying About COVID-19 And Endangering Millions (TWITCHY)
  • NEW: Watch: Irate Japanese Official Suggests a New Name for WHO (TOWNHALL)
  • NEW: Here’s An Irony For You: Tobacco May Save The World (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • NEW: Inside The Dark Money Dem Group Using An Umbrella Network To Flay Trump Over His Virus Response (DAILY CALLER)
  • NEW: Mitch McConnell Heads Off Talk Of Fourth Coronavirus Stimulus, Infrastructure Spending (DAILY WIRE)
  • NEW: Trump Spoke Of Coronavirus In SOTU. Pelosi Tore It Up, Called It ‘Manifesto Of Mistruths’ (DAILY WIRE)
  • NEW: Another Study Points to Lower COVID-19 Death Rate Than Previous Estimates; Trump Predicted as Much (CNS NEWS)
  • NEW: Dr. Oz Tells Cuomo To Lift Ban On Anti-Malaria Drug Used To Combat Coronavirus (HANNITY VIDEO | DAILY CALLER)
  • NEW: ‘Battlefield Medicine’: NY, NJ Doctors and Patients See Anecdotal Evidence of Hydroxychloroquine Benefits in Fighting Coronavirus (BREITBART)
  • NEW: NYC Health Department: Overwhelming Majority of Coronavirus Deaths Involve Underlying Conditions (BREITBART)
  • NEW: Report: Israel Team Days Away From Creating Active Component Of Coronavirus Vaccine (DAILY WIRE)
  • NEW: Shocking List of What’s Killed the Most People in 2020 (RUSH LIMBAUGH)
  • NEW: Preparing for the Wrong Emergency: Focused on climate change, Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to equip New York for the coronavirus crisis (CITY JOURNAL)
  • NEW: Identity Politics Lied. New Yorkers Died: How identity politics pseudoscience left New York exposed to the Coronavirus (FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE)
  • JOE ROGAN: It’s ‘Exhausting’ When Reporters Use Every Story As A ‘Chance To Shit On Trump’ (WASHINGTON TIMES | YOUTUBE VIDEO)
  • God and Coronavirus (AMERICAN SPECTATOR)
  • While Dems Lie About Trump’s CDC Budget, Turns Out Obama Requested Millions in Cuts (WESTERN JOURNAL)
  • The Truth about the National Security Council’s Pandemic Team (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Armchair Quarterbacks Try to Rewrite History on Coronavirus (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • How Will Coronavirus Change the Health-Care Industry? (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Coronavirus Tally In Israel: 21 Fatalities, 5,591 Confirmed, 97 Serious (DEBKA FILE)
  • NY Times Finally Admits Issues With China’s COVID-19 Statistics (ACCURACY IN MEDIA)
  • If It Bleeds, It Leads: Media Omits Us Fatality Rates In Reports (ACCURACY IN MEDIA)
  • President Trump: “I want to give people hope”… This Is The Side Of President Trump That The Media Doesn’t Want Anyone To See (YOUTUBE)
  • North Korea Privately Asking for COVID-19 Aid While Reporting Zero Cases (AMERICAN GREATNESS)
  • Time to Cancel the World Health Organization (AMERICAN GREATNESS)
  • Hockey Sticks, Changing Goal Posts, and Hysteria (AMERICAN GREATNESS)
  • ‘Medicare For All’ Wouldn’t Have Better Prepared Us For The Coronavirus (WASHINGTON EXAMINER)
  • Ending Covid: It Will Take Some Time, But Rest Assured: A Coronavirus Vaccine Is Coming, And It Will Work (CITY JOURNAL)
  • Mike Lindell, Not Yamiche Alcindor, Is the Hero (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • COVID Confirms It: Dems Don’t Understand Economics (ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
  • Trump Versus Biden? Maybe. Trump Versus The Media? Absolutely (THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE)
  • Beware China’s Masked Diplomacy (SPECTATOR USA)
  • The Coronavirus Is Washing Over The U.S. These Factors Will Determine How Bad It Gets In Each Community (STAT)
  • Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index: Rich Sheltered, Poor Shafted Amid Virus (AXIOS)
  • Hero-Worshipped Andrew Cuomo Is The Reason The Coronavirus Is So Widespread In New York (NOQ REPORT)
  • US Provides Nearly 15% Of Who’S Budget, China Just .2%. Now, A Gop Senator Is Calling For An Investigation (THE BLAZE)
  • Dr. Fauci Shuts Down CNN’s Acosta For Suggesting Trump Didn’t Act Early To Stop Coronavirus (DAILY WIRE)
  • Pence Task Force Freezes Coronavirus Aid Amid Backlash (POLITICO)
  • The Senator Who Saw the Coronavirus Coming (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Baltimore Pastor Vows To Continue Services Despite Police Threat, Another Pastor’s Arrest (DAILY WIRE)
  • TEXAS: Dozens Of Spring Breakers Infected With COVID-19 After Mexico Trip (DAILY WIRE)
  • Are Covid-19 Models A Sound Basis For Public Policy? [With Comment By Paul] (POWERLINE)
  • Barack Obama Falsely Accuses Trump of ‘Ignoring Warnings of a Pandemic’ (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Trump Destroys Connecticut Governor’s Claim the Strategic National Stockpile Has Been Emptied (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Did COVID-19 Originate in a Chinese Lab? And Why Is It Crazy to Ask? (PJ-MEDIA)
  • SUICIDE vs. CORONAVIRUS DEATHS: Study Finds Coming Economic Crisis Could Lead to 831,600 Suicides! — That is Four Times the Number of Estimated Coronavirus Deaths (GATEWAY PUNDIT)
  • As Long As Communist China Controls The World Health Organization, It’s Completely Unreliable (THE FEDERALIST)
  • The Coronavirus Is Making (State) Borders Great Again (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Coronavirus Has Driven A Stake Through Globalism’s Heart (THE FEDERALIST)
  • We’re Following A One-Size-Fits-All Coronavirus Strategy Right Into A Great Depression (THE FEDERALIST)
  • LGBT Bigots Denounce Christians Helping Coronavirus Patients (MOONBATTERY)
  • Joe Scarborough Says Everyone But Trump ‘Saw This Coming In Early January’ — Forgets His Show Didn’t Mention It Until The 24th (WEASEL ZIPPERS)
  • EXCLUSIVE: Spain Is One Of The Countries Hit Hardest By Coronavirus — Spanish Reporter Explains What’s Different About US Response (DAILY CALLER)
  • THE FIVE: Gutfeld On The Media And The Virus (YOUTUBE)
  • New O’Keefe Video: N.Y. National Guardsmen Say “It’s Just The Flu” (HOTAIR)
  • It Took 27 Days For CNN To Say What They Previously Accused Trump Of Lying About (HOTAIR)
  • China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says (BLOOMBERG)
  • ‘Impeachment 2: Resistance Boogaloo’! Dems Reportedly Exploring Commission To Scrutinize Trump Admin’s COVID19 Response (TWITCHY)
  • SUPERCUT! Dems Give Really Terrible Coronavirus Advice (TWITTER video)
  • Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Asks Trump Administration for Chloroquine After Reversing Ban (BREITBART)
  • HUD Secretary Carson: Quickly Evolving Coronavirus Treatments Could Change Landscape ‘In the Next Week or Two’ (BREITBART)
  • House Democrats Already Planning 9/11-Style Commission To Investigate Trump’s Coronavirus Response… (RIGHT SCOOP)
  • Michigan Governor Who Banned Anti-Coronavirus Drug Touted by Trump Now Asking for Shipments of It (RED STATE)
  • Report: Intelligence Officials Confirm China Hid the Extent of the Viral Outbreak (RED STATE)
  • Don Lemon Lies: Blame Trump Because He Called the Virus, a ‘Hoax’ (NEWSBUSTERS – See my post as well: “Larry Elder Debunks Media’s Latest Lies“)
  •  GOP Reminds Pelosi Her Impeachment Obsession Distracted From Wuhan Coronavirus Efforts (LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • Wuhan Virus Watch: Drs. Fauci and Birx Dispute Claim U.S. Didn’t Act Quickly (LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • LAURA INGRAHAM: Americans Want To Stay Safe And Free (YOUTUBE)
  • TUCKER CARLSON: ‘Wet markets’ reopening across China: Report (YOUTUBE)
  • If You Claim That Calling It ‘Wuhan Coronavirus’ Is Racist, You Are Part Of The Cover-Up (LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • Christian Round-Ups Continue: 7 Arrested for Praying Near Greensboro Abortion Clinic During Stay-at Home Order (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Coronavirus Reveals the Recklessness of Drug Pricing Reform (TOWNHALL)
  • Even on COVID-19, Left and Right Are Divided (TOWNHALL – Dennis Prager)
  • Will Coronavirus Kill the European Union? (CITY JOURNAL)
  • Why COVID-19 Rates Are Difficult To Compute (UNCOMMON DESCENT)
  • Trump Was Right: Cuomo Admits New York Has ‘Stockpile’ of Ventilators (WESTERN JOURNAL)
  • CBS Used Fake COVID Video: ‘NY Hospital’ Footage Was From Italy’s Hardest-Hit City (WESTERN JOURNAL)
  • A Disaster Foretold: Shortages Of Ventilators And Other Medical Supplies Have Long Been Warned About (NEW YORK TIMES)
  • US Gov’t Partners with Johnson & Johnson To Prep for 1 Billion Coronavirus Vaccine Doses (WESTERN JOURNAL)
  • Distillers’ Attempt To Fill Sanitizer Void Threatened By FDA Red Tape (WASHINGTON TIMES)
  • Chinese Markets Again Selling Bats — Likely Source Of Deadly Pandemic — Reporters Say (WASHINGTON TIMES)
  • Chinese Researchers Isolated Deadly Bat Coronaviruses Near Wuhan Animal Market (WASHINGTON TIMES)
  • China Caught Smuggling SARS/MERS Into US (FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE)
  • Shut Down Churches for Coronavirus, “Yes”, Shut Down Abortion Clinics, “No” (FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE)
  • Trump Cites Report Cuomo Passed On Chance To Buy 16,000 Ventilators In 2015 (FOX NEWS)
  • The Game Changer: President Trump Was Right: Regarding CHLOROQUINE, The Science Is On His Side, Not The New York Times’ (AMERICAN SPECTATOR)
  • The $20 Solution to Coronavirus: ‘Anecdotal Evidence’ Is a Life-Saver [HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE] (AMERICAN SPECTATOR)
  • Border Patrol Stopped a Chinese Biologist Carrying Viable SARS, MERS Viruses at Detroit Airport in 2018 (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • Wet Markets That Produced Chinese Virus Back Up and Running (MOONBATTERY)
  • Complicated Mathematical Models Are Not Substitutes for Common Sense (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • No, America’s Response to Coronavirus Isn’t the Worst in the World (NATIONAL REVIEW)
  • WashPost ‘Fact Checker’ Throws Misdirected ‘Four Pinocchios’ at Dr. Fauci (NEWSBUSTERS)
  • Twitter Removes Tweet Reporting ‘HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE’ As Treatment For Wuhan Virus (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Soros and the Coronavirus Pandemic (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • BLUE COLLAR LOGIC: Some Things You Might Not Know… We Are Not China Or Italy (YOUTUBE)
  • France Officially Sanctions Drug [CHLOROQUINE] After 78 Of 80 Patients Recover From COVID-19 Within Five Days (DAILY WIRE)
  • FDA Issues Emergency Authorization Of 2 Anti-Malaria Drugs For Coronavirus Treatment (CHANNEL 4 SAN FRANCISCO)
  • (RPT Recomends) Numerators and Denominators in the Coronavirus Saga (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • Once Again, Trump Was Right And The Media Were Wrong (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • Michigan’s Governor Is Fighting A Losing Battle With President Trump (AMERICAN THINKER)
  • BLUE COLLAR LOGIC: Sunset on New York. Is The City ITSELF A Casualty? (YOUTUBE)
  • LOUDER WITH CROWDER: Why Trump is Right on CHLOROQUINE! (YOUTUBE)
  • FDA Gives Emergency Authorization of HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE Use (BREITBART)
  • New York Orders Huge Amount Of CHLOROQUINE, Begins Trials; Trump Calls Out Media’s Double Standard (DAILY WIRE)
  • Coronavirus Patients Taken Off Ventilators After Getting Experimental HIV DRUG (NEW YORK POST)
  • More Evidence Of The Efficacy Of HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE And Azithromycin (POWERLINE)
  • Inaccurate Virus Models Are Panicking Officials Into Ill-Advised Lockdowns (THE FEDERALIST)
  • The Top 10 Lies About President Trump’s Response to the Coronavirus (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Cuomo Admits Trump’s Right: Coronavirus Shortages Are Fake News (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Coronavirus Modeling Had Faulty Assumptions, the Real Data Gives Us Hope (PJ-MEDIA)
  • French Expert Says Second Study Shows Malaria Drug Helps Fight Coronavirus [HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE] (YAHOO NEWS)
  • Governor Hit For HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE Crackdown As Political Debate Escalates (WASHINGTON TIMES)
  • TUCKER CARLSON: It’s Not Clear Why People Are Lying About The Effectivity Of HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE (YOUTUBE)
  • How Government Regulations Are Exacerbating The Corona Crisis (CHHAY LIN LIM)
  • WSJ Op-Ed: Two Physicians Weigh in on HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE, ‘We Don’t Have the Luxury of Time’ (RED STATE)
  • New controlled clinical study conducted by doctors ​in France shows that a combo of HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE and Azithromycin (Z-Pak) cures 100% of coronavirus patients within 6 days of treatment (TECH STARTUPS)
  • GOOD NEWS: Actor Daniel Dae Kim Credits ‘Drug Cocktail’ Which Included HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE And Z-Pak For His Recovery (TWITCHY)
  • These Drugs Are Helping Our Coronavirus Patients [HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE] (WALL STREET JOURNAL [paywall] | DISCUSSIONIST [non-paywall])
  • “There Is Hope”: Two Drugs That Could Help Coronavirus Patients Fight Back [HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE] (CBS)
  • California Once Had Mobile Hospitals And A Ventilator Stockpile. But It Dismantled Them (MSN)
  • Dr. Vladimir Zelenko has now treated 699 coronavirus patients with 100% success using HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE Sulfate, Zinc and Z-Pak [UPDATES] (TECH STARTUPS)
  • Media Peddle Bogus Wuhan Virus Stats To Bash America (THE FEDERALIST)
  • SEIU Healthcare Union Suddenly Finds 39 Million N95 Masks (BREITBART)
  • Michigan Attorney General Urges Residents to Call Cops on Neighbors Violating Stay-at-Home Order (BREITBART)
  • Cuomo Deserves No Plaudits for His Handling of Crisis (AMERICAN GREATNESS)
  • 5 Major Paradigm Shifts The Wuhan Flu Crisis Has Revealed Americans Need (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Cuomo Wonders If Coronavirus Quarantine May Have Backfired In Some Cases (NEW YORK POST)
  • Cuomo: Two Pieces Of Good News Out Of NY: Hospitalization Rate Drops, PPE (personal protective equipment) Need Filled (DAILY WIRE)
  • Israeli Firm Donates to U.S. Ten Million Pills (HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE sulfate) Touted by Trump for Coronavirus Treatment (BREITBART)
  • Trial Drug For Pneumonia In Cancer Patients Seeks FDA Approval For COVID-19 Clinical Trials (LEGAL INSURRECTION)
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Coronavirus Is Likely Seasonal. What Does That Mean? (DAILY CALLER)
  • Horowitz: Man who spooked the world with coronavirus model walks back his prediction (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • LAURA INGRAHAM: Is first Reporter to Out False WHO COVID-19 Mortality Rate that Led to Global Panic (YOUTUBE)
  • Stanford Medical Professors: Covid-19 Death Toll Estimates May Be ‘Orders Of Magnitude’ Too High (THE BLAZE)
  • Covid-19 Fatality Rate May Be Too High By Orders Of Magnitude (WALL STREET JOURNAL via RPT)
  • Wondered Why It’s Been So Hard To Ramp Up Production Of Surgical Masks And Respirators? Why Haven’t Private Companies Flooded Into The Market To Meet Peak Demand? (TWITTER account of Paul Matzco)
  • While Most Of Europe Is In Lockdown, Sweden Is Going Its Own Way (THE LOCAL)
  • The Scientist Whose Doomsday Pandemic Model Predicted Armageddon Just Walked Back The Apocalyptic Predictions (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Epidemiologist Behind Highly-Cited Coronavirus Model Drastically Downgrades Projection (DAILY WIRE)
  • Good News: Scientists Say Coronavirus Does Not Undergo Significant Number Of Mutations (DAILY WIRE)
  • Masks, Masks, Where Are the Masks? (FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE)
  • Coronavirus Cases Have Dropped Sharply In South Korea. What’S The Secret To Its Success? (SCIENCE MAGAZINE)
  • Horowitz: The Key Bad Assumption in The Bipartisan Panic Pander Bill (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Truckers Appeal To US To Keep Rest Stops, Gas Stations Open (MERCURY NEWS)
  • Taiwan Says It Warned WHO About Coronavirus In December, But Its Warnings Were Ignored (DAILY CALLER)
  • Why the Remedy May Be Worse Than the Disease (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • Some Coronavirus Humility (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • The Great Coronavirus War Is Upon Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Compared to What? (HEATHER MAC)
  • We Go From Hysteria to Hysteria (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • What We Don’t Know About the Coronavirus Is What Scares Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Coronavirus Comes for Europe (GATESTONE)
  • China’s Real Disease: Not Coronavirus (GATESTONE)
  • Israeli Virologist Urges World Leaders To Calm Public, Slams ‘Unnecessary Panic’ (ISRAEL TIMES)
  • 99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says (BLOOMBERG)
  • Obama’s Bad Stimulus Example (WALL STREET JOURNAL via RPT)
  • MIRACLE DRUG? Dr William Grace Says CHLOROQUINE Is Already Being Used In US, Explains CDC Coronavirus Test Delay (YOUTUBE)
  • DR. FAUCI Interviewed by WMAL (YOUTUBE)

MY YOUTBE

A Pandemic Caused By Red Tape (Government IS the Problem)

Published by Papa Giorgio

Regulations have delayed test kits, “telehealth”, and hospital innovation, making the coronavirus pandemic worse. They set America back months in responding.

Before the excellent PPE story from Front Page, On Wednesday-March 25th, New York’s PPE shortage was filled:

…On Wednesday, Cuomo announced via Twitter that the state received a donation of 1.4 million masks, clearly helping to fill the PPE gap.

“NEW: [Soft Bank] donated 1.4 million critically needed N-95 masks to us. New York State thanks you,” the Democrat said. “We are so grateful for this PPE that protects our healthcare workers.”…

(DAILY WIRE)

Supporting the above info from John Stossel comes this excellent FRONT-PAGE MAGAZINE:

…But why aren’t there any masks?

Surgical masks, like anything in the medical field, are tightly regulated. You can’t just make a mask. Some masks have to be certified by the FDA and others by the CDC. Some are certified by both the FDA and the CDC.

Until recently, the public had no problem buying N95 respirators for use in construction. These masks are certified by the CDC. Why is the CDC in the business of certifying industrial masks, you may wonder? Because, as discussed previously, the CDC does every possible thing except what people think it does. The component of the CDC that does this is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

NIOSH is not to be confused with OSHA, even though they were created at the same time, through the same law, and serve a very similar function: making this another skein in the infinitely tangled web of the federal bureaucracy.

The Open PPE Project launched an effort to quickly create N95 masks only to be told by NIOSH that approving a new mask production facility would take between 45 and 90 days.

Meanwhile there are reports of large stockpiles of masks sitting around waiting for an FDA inspector.

The United States government has a stockpile of 12 million NIOSH approved masks and 5 million that are expired, and are therefore not approved by NIOSH. Except it may approve some conditionally for use.

The FDA and CDC bureaucracy are not up to speed with the current crisis. There aren’t enough inspectors and the Wuhan Virus won’t wait on inspectors from the FDA or NIOSH to do their job.

Instead of streamlining its approvals and inspection process, the CDC lowered its mask protection recommendation for health care workers on the front lines.  

The CDC is willing to tell health care professionals to use scarves, rather than accelerate approvals.

Meanwhile N95 mask manufacturers feared being sued if masks meant for industry were used in surgical settings, which meant that they wouldn’t sell those masks to health care providers. At least not until a law protecting them against lawsuits was passed. All this, of course, took even more time.

Smaller manufacturers have tried to get in the game, only to discover the regulatory challenges of it. Fashion businesses that tried to jump in have settled for trying to make surgical masks that they hope will be FDA certified. Meanwhile the big manufacturers were making masks in the People’s Republic of China. And those masks are not leaving ChiCom territory except by the express will of its government.

Worse still, as the crisis grew, the People’s Republic of China bought up **THE WORLD’S SUPPLY OF MASKS, at one point importing 20 million masks in 24 hours. American companies even eagerly donated masks.

**…The U.S. mask gap stands in stark contrast to what other nations have on hand: the U.S. has one mask for every three Americans (masks are not supposed to be shared), while Australia has 2.5 masks per resident and Great Britain boasts six. “With the recent outbreak of the novel H1N1 influenza virus,” warned Representative Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, “it has become clear that we need to purchase more medical supplies and replenish the Strategic National Stockpile.” (Read “How to Prepare for a Pandemic.”)

Maskmakers are worried too, especially since ramping up production in the midst of a pandemic won’t be easy. Most maskmaking operations have moved outside the U.S., and 90% of masks sold in the U.S. now come from Mexico or China. But if the U.S. suddenly put in orders for millions of masks, Mexico and China would be unlikely to export their supplies before making sure their own populations were fully protected. “HHS knows the problem exists and yet they won’t tell the health-care industry,” says Mike Bowen of Texas-based Prestige Ameritech, the largest and one of the last remaining American mask manufacturers. “If they would only admit the problem exists, American hospitals would buy American masks and the manufacturing infrastructure would return.” (Read “Battling Swine Flu: The Lessons from SARS.”)… (TIME)

But why was the United States so unprepared for a run on masks before the pandemic arrived?

After Katrina, the Bush administration had set a goal of billions of masks in case of a major disaster. But that goal was never met. When the H1N1 swine flu outbreak arrived, we were badly unprepared.

The last run on masks took place during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak under Obama. Hospitals and health care providers began running low on masks and the Strategic National Stockpile released 85 million N95 masks. The stockpile was never replenished and today there are only 12 million N95s.

There were warnings back then that “maskmaking operations have moved outside the U.S., and 90% of masks sold in the U.S. now come from Mexico or China” and that “Mexico and China would be unlikely to export their supplies before making sure their own populations were fully protected.”

While the Obama administration threw billions at assorted solar and wind boondoggles, it failed to invest the money that would have set up reliable mask production in the United States of America. All the experts who claimed that “science” predicted the imminent demise of the planet had been too busy trying to control the weather through higher taxes to spend money on anything as crude as masks.

The secret warehouses where the strategic mask reserve was supposed to be kept are a mess and millions of the masks are expired. New York City asked for millions of masks and got 78,000 expired masks. Oklahoma got 500,000 expired masks. This is the situation, not just at the federal level, but state mask stockpiles, where they exist, also often consisted of storehouses of expired N95 masks.

Had the Bush administration’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza been followed, there would be no mask shortage. And had the Obama administration at replaced the masks that it withdrew from the Strategic National Stockpile, we might have had 100 million or so masks in the stockpile.

And had we brought mask manufacturing back to America, we would have a pipeline for making more.

Instead the Wuhan Virus brought a perfect storm, cutting us off from our manufacturing sources in the People’s Republic of China, after the Obama administration had depleted our mask reserve, while regulatory barriers make it difficult for companies quickly get in the game and produce more masks.

President Trump has done his best to cope with a sudden disaster that was decades in the making….

Armstrong and Getty read a letter from a listener discussing the “red-tape” of government stalling and interfering with supplies and innovation this pandemic needs.

George Gilder said something during an interview that stuck with me over the years:

  • “A fundamental principle of information theory is that you can’t guarantee outcomes… in order for an experiment to yield knowledge, it has to be able to fail. If you have guaranteed experiments, you have zero knowledge”

And that is the heart of the issue these guys tackled. During the above excerpt, Armstrong and Getty mentioned their extended podcast with Lanhee Chen:

  • An extended (and off-air) conversation with Lanhee Chen about “Bureaucracy Disease” and how our bloated government agencies can steered in the right direction. (LISTEN)

Larry Elder discussed a FOX NEWS article…

…to which I use the NEW YORK TIMES to make the point that the attack on Trump (as if this is his fault) is unwarranted:

….“So much that was predicted has come to pass,” said Marcia Crosse, former head of the healthcare section of the Government Accountability Office. Since the early 2000s, the GAO, the federal government’s leading internal watchdog, has issued a steady stream of reports about poor pandemic planning.

[….]

That is only the most recent warning. As early as 2003, the GAO cautioned that many urban hospitals lacked enough ventilators to treat a large number of patients suffering from respiratory problems that would be expected in an anthrax or botulism outbreak.

“Ventilators have long been recognized as a weak link,” said Crosse, who spent 35 years at GAO before retiring in 2018.

[….]

Federal policymakers concentrated heavily on pandemic preparedness in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and anthrax scare in 2001, which both exposed gaps in the nation’s emergency response system.

In 2005, the administration of President George W. Bush published a landmark “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza.” The document, among other things, highlighted the need for plans to distribute necessary medical supplies from the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile and to support state and local efforts to “surge” medical personnel and facilities to handle an outbreak.

Medical equipment such as masks and protective clothing in particular were given high priority as planners recognized that doctors, nurses and other medical staff were most vulnerable.

After the swine flu epidemic in 2009, a safety-equipment industry association and a federally sponsored task force both recommended that depleted supplies of N95 respirator masks, which filter out airborne particles, be replenished by the stockpile, which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

That didn’t happen, according to Charles Johnson, president of the International Safety Equipment Assn.

The stockpile drew down about 100 million masks during the 2009 epidemic, Johnson said…..

Covid-19 Numbers Compared To FLU Numbers (March 30th, 2020)

Published by Papa Giorgio

REAL CLEAR POLITICS has a “Counter” of Sorts

JUMP to updated numbers: March 30th

CLINICAL LABORATORIES via the CDC from Sept 2019 to March 2020 (“specimens” is people. Flu season is almost over for 2019-2020):

Article Relating To Estimates and Percentages

(Same info from that CDC page is incorporated below) Estimates for Covid-19 come from (I will include other articles related to rate of infections):

  • There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. (Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO)
  • that 86% of infections went undocumented (SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST)
  • WHO Official: 80% of people who are infected with coronavirus will have a mild disease (FOX)
  • Marc Lipsitch from Harvard University, who cautions that 40-70% of the world’s population will become infected (CBS)
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Coronavirus Is Likely Seasonal. What Does That Mean? (DAILY CALLER)
  • Horowitz: Man who spooked the world with coronavirus model walks back his prediction (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • The Scientist Whose Doomsday Pandemic Model Predicted Armageddon Just Walked Back The Apocalyptic Predictions (THE FEDERALIST)
  • Epidemiologist Behind Highly-Cited Coronavirus Model Drastically Downgrades Projection (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Good News: Scientists Say Coronavirus Does Not Undergo Significant Number Of Mutations (DAILY WIRE)
  • While Most Of Europe Is In Lockdown, Sweden Is Going Its Own Way (THE LOCAL)

MARCH 27TH, 8:30am

IMPROMPTU “EXCEL” (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

BTW, I made this graphic because I am not proficient in Excel, so this is the next best way for me to express the info in a similar way.


LATEST NUMBERS

(March 30th – 7:30am)

KNOWN

WORLD WIDE CORONA NUMBERS (KNOWN)

  • 35,236 (known deaths) | 740,743 (known cases) = 4.75%

UNITED STATES CORONA NUMBERS (KNOWN)

  • 2,597 (known deaths) |  144,280 (known cases)  = 1.79%

UNITED STATES FLU NUMBERS (KNOWN)

24,000 (best est. known deaths) | 242,330 (known infections) = 9.90% (CDC has the number at 7.3% – I do not know the criteria for them dropping the number?)

ESTIMATED

WORLD WIDE CORONA NUMBERS (ESTIMATED)

(There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. [Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO])

  • LOW # 18,561,550‬ (0.19% death rate with known deaths);
  • HIGH # 37,123,100 (0.09% death rate with known deaths).

(That 86% of infections went undocumented [SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST])

  • 5,303,300 (0.66% death rate with known deaths).

UNITED STATES CORONA NUMBERS (ESTIMATED)

(There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed. [Dr. Makary BIO | YAHOO])

  • LOW # 3,607,000 (0.07% death rate with known deaths);
  • HIGH # 7,214,000 (0.03% death rate with known deaths).

(That 86% of infections went undocumented [SCIENCE | NEW YORK POST])

  • 1,030,571 (0.25% death rate with known deaths).

UNITED STATES FLU NUMBERS (ESTIMATED)

  • 56,000 (estimated high death rate) | 38,000,000 (estimated infections) = 0.14%

Covid-19 Fatality Rate May Be Too High By Orders Of Magnitude

Published by Papa Giorgio

Here is another “behind a ‘pay-wall'” article I heard discussed this morning by the WALL STREET JOURNAL.

PECKFORD 42 has the article from which I will grab portions of:

…Current estimates about the Covid-19 fatality rate may be too high by orders of magnitude….

…The best (albeit very weak) evidence in the U.S. comes from the National Basketball Association. Between March 11 and 19, a substantial number of NBA players and teams received testing. By March 19, 10 out of 450 rostered players were positive. Since not everyone was tested, that represents a lower bound on the prevalence of 2.2%. The NBA isn’t a representative population, and contact among players might have facilitated transmission. But if we extend that lower-bound assumption to cities with NBA teams (population 45 million), we get at least 990,000 infections in the U.S. The number of cases reported on March 19 in the U.S. was 13,677, more than 72-fold lower. These numbers imply a fatality rate from Covid-19 orders of magnitude smaller than it appears.

How can we reconcile these estimates with the epidemiological models? First, the test used to identify cases doesn’t catch people who were infected and recovered. Second, testing rates were woefully low for a long time and typically reserved for the severely ill. Together, these facts imply that the confirmed cases are likely orders of magnitude less than the true number of infections. Epidemiological modelers haven’t adequately adapted their estimates to account for these factors.

The epidemic started in China sometime in November or December. The first confirmed U.S. cases included a person who traveled from Wuhan on Jan. 15, and it is likely that the virus entered before that: Tens of thousands of people traveled from Wuhan to the U.S. in December. Existing evidence suggests that the virus is highly transmissible and that the number of infections doubles roughly every three days. An epidemic seed on Jan. 1 implies that by March 9 about six million people in the U.S. would have been infected. As of March 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 499 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. If our surmise of six million cases is accurate, that’s a mortality rate of 0.01%, assuming a two week lag between infection and death. This is one-tenth of the flu mortality rate of 0.1%. Such a low death rate would be cause for optimism.

This does not make Covid-19 a nonissue. The daily reports from Italy and across the U.S. show real struggles and overwhelmed health systems. But a 20,000- or 40,000-death epidemic is a far less severe problem than one that kills two million. Given the enormous consequences of decisions around Covid-19 response, getting clear data to guide decisions now is critical. We don’t know the true infection rate in the U.S. Antibody testing of representative samples to measure disease prevalence (including the recovered) is crucial. Nearly every day a new lab gets approval for antibody testing, so population testing using this technology is now feasible.

If we’re right about the limited scale of the epidemic, then measures focused on older populations and hospitals are sensible. Elective procedures will need to be rescheduled. Hospital resources will need to be reallocated to care for critically ill patients. Triage will need to improve. And policy makers will need to focus on reducing risks for older adults and people with underlying medical conditions.

A universal quarantine may not be worth the costs it imposes on the economy, community and individual mental and physical health. We should undertake immediate steps to evaluate the empirical basis of the current lockdowns.

Dr. Bendavid and Dr. Bhattacharya are professors of medicine at Stanford. Neeraj Sood contributed to this article.

Mark Levin Covers The Hysteria Over the Kung-Flu (UPDATED)

Published by Papa Giorgio

This is the general public (and many on FACEBOOK) believing these headline makers lock-stock-and-barrel (ROLL CAMERA PLEASE):

REMEMBER THIS?

(If this does not play, WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE)

OR THESE?

Mark Levin asks just how much our economy can take… why aren’t we attacking this thing like South Korea did? Tactfully.

Mark Levin reads from or touches on at least four articles linked below:

  • Horowitz: The Key Bad Assumption in The Bipartisan Panic Pander Bill (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Truckers Appeal To US To Keep Rest Stops, Gas Stations Open (MERCURY NEWS)

America should have followed the South Korea model, per, SCIENCE MAGAZINE:

…Amid these dire trends, South Korea has emerged as a sign of hope and a model to emulate. The country of 50 million appears to have greatly slowed its epidemic; it reported only 74 new cases today, down from 909 at its peak on 29 February. And it has done so without locking down entire cities or taking some of the other authoritarian measures that helped China bring its epidemic under control. “South Korea is a democratic republic, we feel a lockdown is not a reasonable choice,” says Kim Woo-Joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University. South Korea’s success may hold lessons for other countries—and also a warning: Even after driving case numbers down, the country is braced for a resurgence….

EXTRA CREDIT

ARTICLES

  • NEW: Coronavirus Cases Have Dropped Sharply In South Korea. What’S The Secret To Its Success? (SCIENCE MAGAZINE)
  • Horowitz: The Key Bad Assumption in The Bipartisan Panic Pander Bill (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Truckers Appeal To US To Keep Rest Stops, Gas Stations Open (MERCURY NEWS)
  • Taiwan Says It Warned WHO About Coronavirus In December, But Its Warnings Were Ignored (DAILY CALLER)
  • Why the Remedy May Be Worse Than the Disease (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • Some Coronavirus Humility (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • The Great Coronavirus War Is Upon Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Compared to What? (HEATHER MAC)
  • We Go From Hysteria to Hysteria (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • What We Don’t Know About the Coronavirus Is What Scares Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Coronavirus Comes for Europe (GATESTONE)
  • China’s Real Disease: Not Coronavirus (GATESTONE)
  • Israeli Virologist Urges World Leaders To Calm Public, Slams ‘Unnecessary Panic’ (ISRAEL TIMES)
  • 99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says (BLOOMBERG)
  • NEW: Obama’s Bad Stimulus Example (WALL STREET JOURNAL via RPT)

MEDIA

  • MIRACLE DRUG? Dr William Grace Says Chloroquine Is Already Being Used In US, Explains CDC Coronavirus Test Delay (YOUTUBE)

MY YOUTBE