Oh, Great
Trump has decided that he will blame his VP, Mike Pence, for the disaster that is coming. Nothing like putting someone who thinks the Second Coming and and Apocalypse are good ideas in charge of a potential pandemic. I’m hearing echoes of “Deus vult!” ringing in the halls of Blair House.
Of course Elizabeth Warren “has a Plan” for an infectious disease outbreak, but Trump has made everything more difficult. As I noted back on February 1st Trump destroyed the US infrastructure for responding to pandemics because it was an Obama idea.
Laurie Garrett, the reporter who authored the article “Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response” in Foreign Policy was just on Rachel Maddow’s show. You should watch, unless you are depressed.
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Opening paragraph of a NY time story
WASHINGTON — The White House moved on Thursday to tighten control of coronavirus messaging by government health officials and scientists, directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearance with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, according to several officials familiar with the new approach.
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So it’s starting. I’m expecting the WH crime family to control medical supplies (e.g. N95 masks rerouted to red states vectoring infected patients to blue) and to also profiteer off the news they withold.
It is too late to divert the necessary supplies because US manufacturers have shifted production of some or all of the products or critical components to China or other Asian countries. I have masks because I have CPOD. I have immunizations up to date because there are babies among my tenants who aren’t old enough for immunizations. I work with chemicals when rehabbing apartments, so I have respirators and gloves, etc. They are not treating this as a public health emergency, they see it as a reelection concern. The CReEP is back and the people are screwed.
Mike Pence lacks the knowledge to make decisions about what Dr. Anthony Fauci has to say. Fauci has been around since Reagan and has dealt with HIV/AIDS, Bird Flu, Ebola, et al. Fauci has credibility that Pence lacks. Laurie Garrett has been on the medical beat just as long and I can’t believe medical professionals won’t talk to her.
Masks aren’t really very effective at controlling the spread of this virus anyhow, like the flu and common cold it appears to be spread mostly via touch, not via sneezing. We’ve got numbers on this, societies like Japan where masks are routinely worn during flu and cold season still get the flu and cold just as often as the United States, where they aren’t. A mask has to be properly fitted and unless it also covers the eyes people still touch their eyes, which ooze infected fluids and easily accept infected fluids. Most people don’t even know they are touching their eyes, it’s something we do automatically when our eyes feel itchy.
Wash your hands, people.
As for Pence, I presume he’s going to organize prayer circles to pray away the COVID-19. I mean, he believes you can pray away the gay, which people are born with, so surely a virus is nothing by comparison, right? Yeesh.
You need a N95 mask to be effective at all and disposable gloves. My Mother had asthma so I have lived with the requirements of preventing colds and flu. Even with my precautions I got the flu a couple of years ago. If I was really concerned I would use my respirator with disposable cartridges. People need to understand that the masks must be disposed every day and you can’t touch the exterior with your bare hands. The Japanese use cloth masks and reuse them. Cloth masks are infection vectors, as bad as ties on medical professionals.
You can’t buy the proper masks on Amazon now so you might as well forget them. With China closed for business a lot of what we need in the medical area for basic protection is in low or non-existent inventory. I have the supplies, but people need to do a lot of hand washing and stop shaking hands until this is over. gloves are a great idea.
Pence wants the Apocalypse. He “prays” for guidance to stall making decisions.