RE: COVID-19
Not good nor bad news, but realistic and up to date facts, and my opinion...
God help us. During the press conference today, when a rational question was asked Mr. Trump...to basically ask him to provide the American people some comfort in this time of a truly "Black Swan" health crisis...Mr. Trump attacks the reporter for asking the question. Unbelievable. Once again, our Commander-in-Chief is given the opportunity to provide a logical answer..."Such a lovely question"..."Smart guy, I feel good about it"...."What do you say to American people, sir?"...."I say you're a terrible reporter and that's a nasty question". Good God, the reporter is trying to get a straight answer out of someone who attacks the man, instead of behaving like a LEADER when we are facing a certain recession and possibly a 2nd Great Depression. Two additional reporters ask the same question in a professional manner, and Mr. Trump berates them. It appears DWT is in way over his head, he has zero empathy, and hopefully he shuts up long enough to let his scientific team provide clear and accurate answers and data. After today's shenanigans, I can't wait to see the bloodbath in the S&P futures starting Sunday night and will probably carry us through further down as the week progresses....
The total disregard for "Crimson Contagion" by the Trump administration, the loss of six weeks of preparation, during the Trump "hoax" and delaying acknowledging the reality of COVID-19...the closed door meeting in Congress in late January and the four Republican AND Democratic members of Congress who walked out of the doors of the meeting and dumped a cumulative total of over $12 million in equities 24-72 hours after the meeting. Hanging in public would be too kind, in my opinion but I may be wrong-Kelly Loeffler (R) US Congresswoman from Atlanta whose husband is the president of the NY Stock Exchange, Dianne Feinstein (D) the so-called constant liberal from San Francisco, Richard Burr and James Inhofe. If this isn't "insider trading" which is a direct violation of the Securities Federal Laws...I don't know what is.
We are hundreds of thousands short of ventilators, tens of thousands short of ICU beds, we can't get masks or surgical gowns-yup, I'm a physician and work in the OR everyday. I'm talking with my colleagues in TX, LA, NC, FL and the shortages are inexcusable. I pray for the cancer patients who need surgery or ongoing infusion/chemotherapy and all the difficulties they face in trying to keep up treatment regimens in this time of malaise.
Hydroxychloroquine/Plaquenil, a drug used for decades against Malaria/Lupus/Rheumatoid Arthritis...has been shown in China to be very effective in treating patients symptomatic with COVID-19...but Tony Fauci, fortunately, took the podium after the Orange Man berated a series of reporters and rational questions...and noted that this drug MAY be effective but there are not YET any clinical trials in the USA. From antidotal reports from my buddies in the states mentioned it does seem to blunt the intensity and duration of the course of the infection, with minimal adverse effects. The addition of Azitrhomycin adds to the effectiveness, based upon about a month of experience against COVID-19 with a drug that has been with us for decades. If the clinical trials allow widespread FDA approval, it's dirt cheap and let's pray the double-blinded studies prove it's effectiveness.
It's going to be up to the average American citizen to listen to...Dr Anthony Fauci...whatever he says, then listen and follow his recommendations. Tony Fauci has made it VERY clear that social distancing limits the spread and creation of new cells of the virus. The most effective action we can take is to take two weeks, stay at home, let the incubation period run out.
The virus has been shown in this week's New England Journal of Medicine to live 3-4 hours "in the air", 4 hours on stainless steel/copper, 6-8 hours on plastic/fiberglass, and 24 hours-plus on containerboard/cardboard boxes...Mr. Trump, again, showed no empathy for the American citizenry, only shows his narcissism, and while this Black Swan came out of nowhere and was totally unpredictable, a sane president would not be attacking the press, dragging his feet, changing his story every 3-4 days. We need leadership and this is not like the recession of 2008, it's worse, and we can't print our way out of it with the US Treasury.
And we ain't seen nothing yet. Time to get some sleep. It's been a long week, and the numbers are climbing by the hour.
Buckle down all y'all,
DWD
we would actually be in if Hilary Clinton was the president right now As for our hospitals already running short on personal safety attire I put a lot of the blame on the hospitals for not having the backup supplies on hand (excluding ventilators) for emergencies like this, I’ve got family thats doctors, nurse practitioners and registered nurses that told our whole family that they knew something like this could happen for the last 20 years that our hospitals were a lot to blame for Not being prepared.
