When asked if he would make the decision to loosen social-distancing recommendations even if it went against the advice of federal public health officials, Trump said: “If it was up to the doctors they might say shut down the entire world.”Washington Post
The US at time of posting has had over 43,000 cases, some 550 deaths, with 1000 in serious or critical condition.
Q: You’re standing there saying nobody should gather with more than 10 people and there are almost 10 people with you on the stage. And there are certainly more than 10 journalists there asking questions.That was from an interview with Dr Fauci,director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and apparently nanny to the toddler in chief in Science Magazine
A: I know that. I’m trying my best. I cannot do the impossible.
Q: What about the travel restrictions? Trump keeps saying that the travel ban for China, which began 2 February, had a big impact on slowing the spread of the virus to the United States and that he wishes China would have told us 3 to 4 months earlier and that they were “very secretive.” (China did not immediately reveal the discovery of a new coronavirus in late December 2019, but by 10 January, Chinese researchers made the sequence of the virus public.) It just doesn’t comport with facts.
A: I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, let’s get real, what do you want me to do?
Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has accused his political foes and the press of purposefully “tricking” citizens about the dangers of coronavirus, as Latin America braced for a spike in the number of deaths.The Grauniad
The pandemic has claimed nearly 15,000 lives across the globe and looks set to exact a deadly toll on Latin America in the coming weeks, with many regional governments closing borders and shutting down major cities in a desperate bid to limit the damage.
But Bolsonaro has resisted such drastic measures, dismissing media “hysteria” over coronavirus and calling the illness “a little flu”.
In a tetchy television interview on Sunday night Bolsonaro again downplayed the pandemic and attacked the governors of key states including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo who have ordered residents to stay at home and are imposing quarantines.
“The people will soon see that they were tricked by these governors and by the large part of the media when it comes to coronavirus,” Bolsonaro said, as his own health officials announced 25 deaths and 1,546 cases of coronavirus in Brazil.
2 comments:
Listen to the doctors, yes. But also listen to the economists. We can't shut down the world indefinitely waiting for this to go away. Farmers have to farm...but farmers can't farm unless they get paid, they can't get paid if "nonessential" people who eat can't work, we can't just print money to hand out and have it worth something. My industry has been deemed "essential"...but that has to be based on economics, the world can easily do without our products for a few months. Our contribution to the economy? That's probably harder to do without--but our contribution is no more important than "nonessential" but less visible sectors.
I fear the toll of a recession more than the toll from the virus. I also fear the politicians on both sides, the ones that tell us it's all a joke, and the ones that want us to panic...and then put windmills and carbon-neutral airliners in the emergency relief bill.
There are lots of reasons people die. The data is all made by those coding it into the computer. Doctors code which ever brings in the most money and loos good on their records. Many people have other problems and adding a little more only quickens death. The economy adds pollution on top of poor health habits. When money buys a quicker death and insurance pays the bills, what incentive is there to go out of your way to live healthy?
Lisa
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