Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

He really is that stupid.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

In my day, never was longer.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Consistently wrong since 2002

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Everybody saw this coming.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Republicans don’t trust women.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Trump News Conference – Live

Reader Interactions

359Comments

  3. 3.

    RobertB

    I saw his announcement Wednesday. Gonna wait for the Cliffs Notes on this one. Once a week of that orange dog fart is more than enough.

  6. 6.

    Brachiator

    How many briefings has he given specifically about the virus?

    Especially after generally dodging the press for so long.

  7. 7.

    Marcopolo

    They must still be writing his remarks

    ”No Javananka, I need better words.  Only the best words will do!”

  11. 11.

    Eljai

    Dump’s voice depresses my immune system, so Imma just wait for you to give me the highlights, or lowlights as the case may be.

  18. 18.

    sdhays

    @Cheryl Rofer: At this point, does it really matter? Even when he has a teleprompter, he says the opposite of what he’s supposed to say because he’s stupid and too vain to wear reading glasses.

  19. 19.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’m not going to watch or listen, and probably not refresh this thread much, but I’ve got a stock ticker up on another screen, so I’m sure I’ll know more or less what he said.

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Biggest drop in the DOW in elebenty years.

    That might be OK. The Dow doesn’t really matter that much in relation to the virus.

    But I love the idea that a big drop would drive Trump nuts.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    Interesting that they’re going to risk trundling the addled buffoon out to babble nonsensically again while the market is still open, and on a Friday the 13th, no less!

  26. 26.

    Gin & Tonic

    @sdhays: On Wednesday night he read precisely what was in the transcript. Exactly what shit-for-brains Jared gave him.

  27. 27.

    Marcopolo

    OT but a hospital here in St Louis announced today that they’d start doing drive through testing tomorrow. Not sure of all the details and I’ll believe it when it happens.

  29. 29.

    misterpuff

    I am invoking a National Emergency. This will allow state and local authorities to recieve help from the Federal Govt, after I wet my beak for my family and our Beautiful Wall./snark Not Snark

  31. 31.

    Marcopolo

    @schrodingers_cat: There was someone on twitter saying yeah it’s weird all these foreign folks around Trump who are testing positive.  What if they’re getting it from us?

  32. 32.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    Trump extemporaneously  declaring a national emergency on Friday the 13th.  What could go wrong?

  36. 36.

    GC

    @sdhays: I’ve been wondering if there is a transcript of what he was supposed to say. Still not clear from what I’ve seen.

  37. 37.

    Marcopolo

    @Gin & Tonic: No, he fucked up the wording for the travel ban, also went off script a bit there.  I dunno if the error where he said insurance companies would cover treatment costs—in addition to the costs of testing—was a reading error or the text actually said that.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    You guys probably all know this already, but I got caught on this without thinking while I was watching Biden’s speech, so I’ll mention it anyway.

    Whenever you post a comment, it refreshes the page, so if you were in the middle of watching the video, the page reloads and you have to restart the video and find your place.  To avoid that, and still comment, you can Ctrl-click on the thread title to open it in a new tab.  Then you can listen on that tab and comment in the other.

    Bonus!  You don’t have to watch the orange one speak.

    Like I said, you all probably knew all that already, right?

  39. 39.

    JWR

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    CNN’s @Acosta says President Trump will be speaking on coronavirus extemporaneously, without teleprompters.

    You’re kidding, right? No teleprompters? This should be good. (And by good I of course mean bad. Very very bad.)

  40. 40.

    Lapassionara

    @Gin & Tonic: Not really. He added a word that said goods were covered in the Europe travel ban, when the text had excluded goods.

    I’ve seen people expressing concern that Trump might call off the election next fall.

    I went back and looked at the Constitution, and the term of the president and Vice President is four years, and ends on January 20. So in my view, he and Pence lose their offices on January 20, 2021, unless there is a proper election and they win again.

  42. 42.

    Marcopolo

    @WaterGirl: Nope.  Last I checked we had 2 IDed cases in the state of MO.  But as with everywhere else there aren’t a lot of tests being done. We do have a lot of hospitals in StL.

  43. 43.

    Spanky

    I ain’t watching either. So have they wheeled him out yet? This presidency is getting too much like “Comfortably Numb”, and we’re way past “Uncomfortably Dumb”.

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    @Lapassionara:

    I’ve seen people expressing concern that Trump might call off the election next fall.

    He would get sued and would have to run to the Supreme Court to have Roberts give him an OK for this.

  51. 51.

    Kent

    This will make Trump’s head explode:

    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/jack-ma-coronavirus-test-kits-128522

    Chinese businessman to donate 500,000 test kits and 1 million masks to the U.S.

    Asia’s richest man announced his intention on Friday to ship 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks to the U.S. in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

    Jack Ma’s charitable foundation and his China-based company’s foundation, the Alibaba Foundation, have also sourced and donated supplies to other countries being hit by the virus, including Japan, Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain.

    The donation comes amid testing delays across the U.S. as state officials scramble amid a shortage of lab materials — sparking concerns that health officials are undercounting the number of Americans with the virus.

    “Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus,” the statement said. “We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!”

    Ma’s announcement also comes as Trump aides and allies cast blame on China, with some officials calling it “the Wuhan virus” — a reference to the Chinese city that is the epicenter of the disease. National security adviser Robert O’Brien has accused China of covering up a health crisis, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has labeled the outbreak the “Wuhan coronavirus.”

    “The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country,” Ma said in the statement. “Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.”

  54. 54.

    sdhays

    @Marcopolo: It’s also a bit premature to pivot from “it’s all a hoax” to “it’s a such a disaster, there’s no way the country under my disastrous management can figure out how to hold national elections in 8 months”.

  62. 62.

    Kent

    @Marcopolo:@Lapassionara: He can’t call off the election.  Language for national elections is in the Constitution. Prez has no authority over it.

    Plus we have no national elections.  They are all state run.  What is he going to do if blue states go ahead and hold all their elections in November.  There are a ton of other candidates and issues on the ballot from governors races to school levies.

    And if they claim public health crisis, then vote by mail.  That’s what we already do here in the PNW.

  63. 63.

    Marcopolo

    Whelp, this doesn’t sound good:

    CNN’s ‘flatten the curve’ chart is no longer modeling a scenario where the curve remains below the health care system’s capacity. pic.twitter.com/E0fbCTCNIG— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 13, 2020

    Also, I was at the grocery store here a couple hours ago (StL). It was pretty freaking busy. People here are starting the rush.

  66. 66.

    dmsilev

    “2 minutes. Allegedly”. And you can just _feel_ the sarcasm dripping from anonymous reporter guy’s voice.

  69. 69.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @Kent:

    Jack Ma has figured out to improve international relations and troll Trump at the same time.  Tip of the cap, sir.

  70. 70.

    Marcopolo

    @Kent: Nope, we do have national elections for Prez (and I think House, not sure if Senate is included).  The Constitution sets the date, not the state’s.

  75. 75.

    catclub

    Pelosi vows to pass coronavirus bill without word of a deal with White House or House GOP

     

    So will there be insults of Pelosi in the presser?

  76. 76.

    dmsilev

    “Compared to other areas of the world, what we’ve done is pretty incredible.”

    Well yes, but not in a good way.

  77. 77.

    bluehill

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I wonder what traders are going to do. Half-hour before market closes and I’m guessing that a lot of them are trying to figure out whether they hold their short-term positions over the weekend.

  80. 80.

    No One of Consequence

    My god, this fool.

    We’re on our own.

    Peace, and take care of yourselves, and help each other if you can.

    • NOoC
  84. 84.

    JPL

    He’s having trouble reading his script.   Why don’t they have him practice before hand?

  87. 87.

    sdhays

    @Joey Maloney: Possibly….although if Dump’s poll numbers are south of 30%, and at this point that’s a distinct possibility, I think a number of red states are going to quietly decide to go ahead with their elections.

  88. 88.

    Leto

    They would’ve been more effective simply having Doc Hawkings robot text-to-voice reader giving this speech. Would’ve been more coherent and shown more empathy.

  89. 89.

    David Hunt

    @yellowdog: The state of emergency should have been declared on day one of his presidency.

    The state of emergency should  have been declared on Day -72 at the latest.  After all, no one was talking about emails after that…

  90. 90.

    Marcopolo

    Apparently Trump can’t say FEMA. That’s the $50 billion dollar fund.

    Telehealth, fairly new for the last 4 or so decades in AK.

  94. 94.

    Leto

    @JPL: Because they can’t get every word needed down to 1 syllable. Also because he’s probably sick. He’s been around enough sick people and his paint looks more orange than usual.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    “[Business executives and medical professionals] are standing right behind me and inside of me.”

     

    Did he really just say that, or have I gone into the hallucinatory phase of Trump-speech-listening?

  101. 101.

    A Ghost to Most

    State of Emergency; elections are cancelled in the name of national security.

  103. 103.

    Leto

    “I doubt we’re going to need anywhere near that”

    I don’t know if you can hate someone to death, but I sure am trying.

  104. 104.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @dmsilev: He’s running a half an hour late. Handlers are waiting for the drugs to kick in?

    I suspect his handlers realized how badly an extemporaneous announcement could go, and insisted on prepared text – thus a delay while text is prepared.

    Or not. It’s just a guess.

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    That’s three times so far that he’s said taking the test is unnecessary. WTF.

  111. 111.

    patrick II

    @Joey Maloney:

    My problem with this is that, if given the excuse, Red States will find ways to make emergency voting measures even more repressive.

  117. 117.

    Marcopolo

    “What we’ve done is rebuilt something [not terribly well] that [I destroyed when I became president].

    Fixed it.

  119. 119.

    Leto

    This woman is saying that the president recognized that the testing wasn’t good enough, just as he literally said that he doesn’t think we’re going to need it. Is it just me seeing this? Like… I’m feverish and going insane, aren’t I?

  123. 123.

    dmsilev

    “The President immediately noticed” something that was blatantly obvious to the rest of the world two months ago.

  125. 125.

    PenAndKey

    @Brachiator: He would get sued and would have to run to the Supreme Court to have Roberts give him an OK for this.

    Six words for you: Sam Alito, Neiil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh.

    Do you trust them to make the right call? I don’t. I think the chances of a nightmare scenario (well, a different one anyway) are extremely low. But given that Trump has made jokes about three terms, and he’s a raging and mentally addled extreme narcissist, I wouldn’t put it past him.

  128. 128.

    Eunicecycle

    Whoever this woman is can’t resist praising dear leader. Yeah, he’s the one who realized testing was not going to be adequate. Bleh.

  129. 129.

    Betty Cracker

    @Leto: That’s why I’m wondering who she is. I don’t trust anyone who praises Trump or pretends he had an original thought.

  131. 131.

    Lapassionara

    I can’t watch. Does it have the same hostage-video quality that the remarks the other night had?

  136. 136.

    Marcopolo

    Now comparing this to AIDS. I may be wrong, but we’ve gotten a lot better at sequencing genes & doing the whole biotechnology thing since the 80s.

  140. 140.

    Leto

    WHY THE HELL DO I NEED TO GO TO GOOGLE WHEN MY FUCKING DOCTORS NEED THE GODDAMNED TESTS AND ARE THE ONES I WANT TO TALK TO ABOUT MY MEDICAL HEALTH?!?!?!

    My fucking doctors are the ones who need the screening questionnaire. I’m going insane…

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    You can have part of our parking lot. Which, by the way, we won’t be needing because everyone will either be sick, dying, or staying home.

  154. 154.

    TomatoQueen

    Just rec’d 2 updates, one wrt local schools–Alexandria (city of), Arlington (people’s republic of), Falls Church (entity within Fairfax County) closed for at least two weeks. Fairfax Cty not participating in this memo, but Monday is a teacher work day, so presumably they’ll get their minds right. Fairfax Cty closed schools today after what sounded like massive howling from local parents in response to a newsletter saying they’d remain open. But yet my lad’s program, which ordinarily follows Ffx schools, is open today. (Head shake, these are medically vulnerable participants.). 2nd update from my HR, which will bring a smile from the union, telework schedules are reverting to prior (excepting the public facing field offices), after a severe cutback just put in place ten days ago, thanks to the new Commissioner. Snicker.

    I am afraid to change the channel to the Talking Yam, so am half-watching something about Nazis.

  157. 157.

    Leto

    Shakes hands with dude from Target, with his top medical guy there saying don’t touch people.

    Is Tim Apple there? Maybe Charlie OutbackSteakHouse? Susan HomeDepot?

  158. 158.

    Spanky

    Dear God, the Dow shot up since he started talking. Further proof that they’re all insane.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Trump is shaking hands with everyone despite his song-and-dance with the Irish PM yesterday about  not doing that.

  163. 163.

    Kent

    My wife works for Kaiser Permanente which is the largest HMO chain on the west coast. Here in WA they are closing their normal primary care facilities and shifting all ordinary primary care to telemedicine and virtual video consults. So she will be working from home next week. I think they are getting ready to convert all of their clinic locations into coronavirus care wards and that sort of thing. Plus I think they want to avoid virus getting spread in crowded waiting rooms and clinics. They will keep crews staffed for ER and Urgent Care visits, but all routine exams, checkups, consults, etc. are now shifting online. If you aren’t injured or dying they don’t want to see you at the clinic or hospital.

  167. 167.

    JWR

    Brings up one fuckin’ doctor, and is now introducing one of his business buddies thank you, sir, conferences?

  170. 170.

    pamelabrown53

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I thought that the delay might be due to Pelosi and Mnuchin reaching an agreement for which Trump wants to take credit for Pelosi’s negotiating skills.

    Plus, after Biden’s presidential address, Trump wants a redo.

  172. 172.

    Marcopolo

    In a normal administration all these actions would happen but you wouldn’t need all these CEOs to make these statements cause the American people would trust the President when he says it.

    And not a word about costs. Who is fucking paying for all of this & what safeguards are in place to make sure there is no gouging.

  177. 177.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    That’s very smart of Kaiser. I’m sure you’re relieved your wife won’t be as exposed to sick patients

  181. 181.

    Leto

    What if your student loan isn’t held by a federal agency? Bailout to oil companies. Sweet. /vomit

  182. 182.

    p.a.

    @WaterGirl: Most hopeful response: kiss his ass in public to get access, know he doesn’t have the capacity or desire to stay engaged, then do the correct things once off camera.  My flirtation w Pangloss for the day.

  184. 184.

    MomSense

    Well fuck.  A person who works in an outpatient clinic around the corner from my office tested positive.  Our office anfnthat clinic have some clients in common.

    Portland City Hall is closing.  Schools are closing.  It’s happening.

  188. 188.

    scav

    @Spanky: Stands to reason.  Well, the markets know that any Republican-declared National Emergency is going to get subsidies to big industries and not the mere dying folk.

  195. 195.

    Raven Onthill

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    well, that means that a bunch of them will get sick.

    On the other hand, this sure looks like a plutocratic coup. At least we finally know who the leaders are, they’re right there, up on that stage.

  197. 197.

    trollhattan

    Shopping list for weekend: IPA, TP, IPA.

    Feeling a dad’s anguish on behalf of the kid, who is watching the sweet downward glide of her HS senior year dissolve before her. No sports, no classes the first three days next (and then what?), no performances, no senior ball, no college campus tours and overnights, no meeting those schools’ track teams, no…graduation ceremony? We don’t know about that last bit but I have a sinking feeling.

    This should be the greatest spring and summer of her young life, and it’s being snatched from her and millions of others. And it was avoidable.

  200. 200.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    @Kent:

    That’s very smart of Kaiser. I’m sure you’re relieved your wife won’t be as exposed to sick patients

    Gonna be nice.   I’ll be home doing online teaching, kids will be home doing online learning on their chromebooks, and my wife will be home seeing patients via video and phone.  Luckily we have a nice house with lots of space so it will be comfortable.

    I stocked up at Costco over the past few days so we can go at least a month without re-stocking.

  201. 201.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Trump is the reason my 65 y/o aunt and uncle aren’t taking this seriously. When it was suggested to them that visiting my 85 y/o grandmother should be limited as much as possible, wear a surgical mask even if feeling well during visits, stay 6 feet away etc, my uncle said, “That won’t be necessary.” in a text message. They’re both Trump voters too.

  202. 202.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    The White House has outsourced the management of a public health crisis to the free market.  They have no plan.

  204. 204.

    JPL

    What can Walmart and Target add to the discussion about a pandemic?   Is there a shopping cure?

  206. 206.

    The Dangerman

    @Betty Cracker:

    …and on a Friday the 13th, no less!

    Living on the edge!

    /aerosmith (there’s something wrong with the world today…)

    I didn’t watch; I know the play already. Unless he committed ritual seppuku at the end, I could give a shit.

    What the fuck were about half of us thinking (in the right places with the Electoral College, of course) in 2016? Seriously, someone needed to step the fuck and tell him to sit the fuck down. If I go to the Hospital and declare I want to perform brain surgery, I don’t make it to the operating room. There are controls for fuck sake.

    I’m basically in a state of shock at this point.

  207. 207.

    smintheus

    The other day I mentioned to my students, shortly before the college announced it was cancelling in-person classes, that when I designed the syllabus in January I realized we were probably going to come to this sooner rather than later. I flew back into Newark from Italy on Jan. 15 and there was not one precaution of any sort in the airport even though the airports in Italy and Germany were already doing basic things. Nearly all passengers had it on their minds after more than 2 weeks of alarming news from China, we were all concerned about fellow passengers that exhibited any signs of illness. But in Trumpworld there was zero preparation. The only heightened activity in Newark was a bunch of ICE agents dressed in frickin paramilitary gear hoping to arrest a dark-skinned grandmother or two. Otherwise, zippo in the way of preparation. I knew then that the US was in for a pandemic.

    I’d be surprised to learn that planning under Trump has even reached the state that Europeans had reached by mid January.

  208. 208.

    LuciaMia

    Holy fuck. Pence is absolutely shameless. This is sickening.

    Sounds like I hit the mute button just in time.

  211. 211.

    bluehill

    @Spanky: Low expectations. Given how much market has fallen, I think it just wants to know that the U.S. gov has joined the fight. Trump declares national emergency which states have been calling for because it opens up funding and the parade of ceos means that there’s a greater chance than some people that can actually manage things are taking over.

    In a nutshell, the government is starting to take this seriously, which is a long-term positive sign. There will still be volatility especially as the number of cases increases with the increase in testing, but this is the beginning of making a bottom.

  213. 213.

    Marcopolo

    The whole message of this is that the federal govt is incompetent & we need the private sector to come in and save us.

    Of course, the govt is incompetent under Trump.

    And the “real heroes” of this situation aren’t these fucking CEOs, it’s the ground zero healthcare workers performing above & beyond the call of duty.

  216. 216.

    Kent

    @trollhattan:

    Shopping list for weekend: IPA, TP, IPA.

    Feeling a dad’s anguish on behalf of the kid, who is watching the sweet downward glide of her HS senior year dissolve before her. No sports, no classes the first three days next (and then what?), no performances, no senior ball, no college campus tours and overnights, no meeting those schools’ track teams, no…graduation ceremony? We don’t know about that last bit but I have a sinking feeling.

    This should be the greatest spring and summer of her young life, and it’s being snatched from her and millions of others. And it was avoidable.

    My oldest is a college senior so same thing.  Her college town is getting deserted.  She’s across the country and will probably stay put for the duration.  She has her own big apartment (one roommate already moved out) and she does afternoon nanny work.  That might ramp up with the schools closed.

  217. 217.

    Gin & Tonic

    My son, who is in Kyiv, got an e-mail telling him he has until Tuesday to decide whether to accept an offer of “emergency” repatriation. After that, DoS doesn’t feel they will be able to assure a return to the US. Since he’s slated to be there until August/September, he’s inclined to decline the offer. I think at any rate he’s safer in a country with a functioning public health infrastructure. But it looks like I won’t be visiting him any time soon.

  220. 220.

    donnah

    I’m feeling nauseated by the sound of Mike Pence slathering Trump’s ass with praise and I can’t stand the sight of CEOs patting each other on the back. Yay for all of the money they’re going to make!

    Just shut up, all of you. You screwed up and you’re treating it now like a celebration.

  221. 221.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):Trump is the reason my 65 y/o aunt and uncle aren’t taking this seriously. When it was suggested to them that visiting my 85 y/o grandmother should be limited as much as possible, wear a surgical mask even if feeling well during visits, stay 6 feet away etc, my uncle said, “That won’t be necessary.” in a text message. They’re both Trump voters too.

    How many of his base is he going to lose in this crisis?  Likely a lot.

  222. 222.

    Brachiator

    The Los Angeles School District is shutting down

    The Los Angeles Unified School District has announced plans to cancel in-person instruction starting Monday as the coronavirus spreads worldwide. For the next two weeks, coursework all 472,000 students will continue online.

  223. 223.

    catclub

    @Raven Onthill: What I am not hearing is any support for the people who can’t work now.

     

    Is this presser to paper over lack of agreement on a big bill with Pelosi?

  225. 225.

    Mnemosyne

    @Spanky:

    @Cheryl Rofer:I think we should be very grateful to WaterGirl for doing the work of 1700 Google engineers

    Those 1700 are all guys

    I bet WaterGirl did her work backwards and in high heels, too. ?

  229. 229.

    Haydnseek

    @Kent:How do you examine someone online?  How do you look down their throat, tap on their back, ask them if it hurts in various places when they’re probed there?  I could go on, but I won’t.  This makes no sense to me whatsoever.  If I’m missing something, I’m more than willing to be enlightened.

  230. 230.

    patrick II

    @catclub:

    Is this presser to paper over lack of agreement on a big bill with Pelosi?

    Yes.

    Whoops, he got asked the question.  Answer: The democrats aren’t doing what’s right for the country.

  232. 232.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    If they don’t listen to me, I will tell them in no uncertain terms that I will physically stop them from visiting if necessary unless they follow proper precautions and take this seriously. I’ll even tell my grandmother not to let them in to her house if need be

  236. 236.

    Brachiator

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Pence talking about hygiene while kissing Trump’s ass

    Well, I am sure that Trump would say that he has a beautiful ass, a perfect ass.

  237. 237.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Haydnseek:

    I think it’s about preventing HCPs from getting sick from patients that probably will only have “mild” (read: not-hospitalized) symptoms.

  238. 238.

    Raven Onthill

    @Haydnseek: you can screen, though. That’s important, since the doctors offices and medical centers are going to be overloaded. It doesn’t sound like a terrible system, though it’s probably going to be more expensive than it needs to be. (Of course, they may fail of implementation.)

  239. 239.

    jonas

    @Lapassionara:. So in my view, he and Pence lose their offices on January 20, 2021, unless there is a proper election and they win again.

    In the event that should ever happen, the Speaker of the House becomes interim president.

  240. 240.

    Miss Bianca

    @The Thin Black Duke: I’ll take “living in interesting times” to “dying in interesting times” any day. I do *not* want to die in these interesting times!

    *shakes fist at universe

  245. 245.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I’m sorry you won’t be seeing your son for a while : (

    Do you have face time? Even tho it wouldn’t be exactly the same

  247. 247.

    JaySinWA

    It looks like a lot of people or maybe “people” going long in the stock market over the weekend. Risky move IMHO. Monday should be interesting.

  252. 252.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @opiejeanne:

    She lives alone in her house. She can still take care of herself. Anyone over 65 should be considered immunocompromised. I believe she also has (controlled) hypertension, which an additional risk.

  253. 253.

    Calouste

    Well, he achieved want he wanted, the stock market went up. And it will crash down again next week if* those half a million tests become available and the true scale of the epidemic in the US becomes visible.

    *) Not betting the house on that.

  254. 254.

    Another Scott

    It took two months for Trump to declare a national emergency over Coronavirus. He declared a national emergency the minute Congress wouldn’t buy him a wall Mexico was supposed to pay for.

    — LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) March 13, 2020

    We have to vote the monsters out.

    Eyes on the prizes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  255. 255.

    JWR

    Okay, Trump made another boo-boo, Fauchi rushed in to clean up his mess. (And ends his answer with a flat out lie.)

  256. 256.

    Raven Onthill

    And there’s going to be a Friday news dump of additional documents in two hours.

    Trump is not personally taking precautions. He takes no responsibility. It’s the fault of (wait for it) government regulation. Fauci is now covering for Trump, talking about the private sector and lying about the swine flu response. He has completely blown his  credibility.

  259. 259.

    Marcopolo

    It’s been 7-8 weeks since we should have started working on tests. The Obama admin tested 1 million for H1N1 within the first 30 days. Trump’s been lying about this.

    Kristin Welker just brought that up—Trump talked over her & ignored her.

  263. 263.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Raven Onthill:

    He takes no responsibility

    My friend who’s an ad exec just tweeted that Joe Biden’s entire ad team just had a spontaneous collective orgasm.

  264. 264.

    bluehill

    Sounds like Azar won the battle with Verma if he has “broad authority.” That’s a positive.

  266. 266.

    bemused

    @Kent:

    I know there are folks here in my part of MN that just seem to be learning there is a virus and that others are saying it’s a very dangerous situation. Probably only noticing because winter high school sports /tournies have been cancelled.

  268. 268.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Marcopolo:

    Kristin Welker just brought that up—Trump talked over her & ignored her.

    A reporter should shout down Trump

  270. 270.

    piratedan

    @Kent: similar items are shaping up with the hospitals I support Kent, doubling beds in CCU Units, additional room modifications to handle patients designated with the virus, limiting visitation for non-essential personnel.  No vendor visits unless in immediate support of distributing supplies or fixing essential equipment.

  273. 273.

    Martin

    ‘No, I don’t take responsibility’ is going to be the opener for every Biden ad.

    BTW, the screening thing Google is doing should have taken a CDC staffer armed with a credit card and an AWS credential no more than a day to set up. Should have been done in January.

    The rules that he’s complaining about, many of them are lifted the moment an emergency declaration is put in place, so all of that is on him. And the ones that wouldn’t he could have addressed again in January. They didn’t need to wait.

    And I don’t buy they can meet their claims. Logistics is hard, and they remain more dedicated to deflecting blame than to solve problems. It’s not sexy, it’s hard, grinding work that requires working well with others. They’ll fuck it up – trust me.

  275. 275.

    germy

    is the idea that trump wants to bring as many ceos on stage as possible and then shake their hands— Tracy Chou (@triketora) March 13, 2020

    this press conference is a real-time lesson in contact tracing— Tracy Chou (@triketora) March 13, 2020

  276. 276.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Calouste:

    It will crash anyway when hospitals fill up and people start dying in a few weeks. That’s what so stupid about this strategy.

  278. 278.

    Miss Bianca

    @WereBear:

    There is something sooooooo uncanny valley about Mike Pence. Like someone Golemed a Malibu Ken.

    OK, somehow I feel like I shouldn’t be laughing quite so hard at this. But I’ve got to be able to laugh at *something*, dammit! Malibu Kence!

  283. 283.

    Leto

    This fucking woman talking about how South Korea has id’d 4% of the population, but we’ve only id’d 2% so we’re doing better… THEY TEST MORE PER DAY THAN WE HAVE TOTAL! Why am I still watching this??? WHY???

     

    Edit: and trumpov was behind her with this big, smug shit eating grin. MF’er!

  284. 284.

    Raven Onthill

    Dr. Birx is deflecting on how many people will be affected. No-one has yet said these two critical things: (1) there is no immunity and (2) there is no vaccine.

  285. 285.

    opiejeanne

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Ok, she’s not in a facility. Good luck stopping them unless you park yourself on her doorstep, but I hope you can if they’re being that stupid.

    And yes, my husband and I are in the same boat as your grandmother: I’m 70, he’s 73. I know all about the risks. If we were in Italy we are among the age block that would be left to die in a hallway.

  286. 286.

    catclub

    so one takeaway from this is that Pelosi and Mnuchin could not come to any agreement

    on the big spending bill for this response.

  287. 287.

    sdhays

    @Raven Onthill: So, H1N1 happened in 2009 while the Obama Administration was still staffing up and dealing with a colossal economic crisis handed to them by the previous administration. Whatever went wrong or right, a lot of it was built on what they were left with by the W. Administration. How come they aren’t talking about Ebola, which is much more recent and happened long after the Obama Administration was established?

  288. 288.

    JWR

    “Blunting the curve.”? Flatten sounds better, but maybe all they can do at this point is blunt it a little bit.

  290. 290.

    Haydnseek

    @L85NJGT: LOL!  It took me awhile, but I did begin to detect a distinct pulling sensation on my leg.  A snark tag would have been nice, but not nearly as subtly funny.

  293. 293.

    germy

    @opiejeanne:  Is that what they’re doing in Italy?  I haven’t been following the news there.

    The only reports I’ve seen is that the tourist destinations are deserted.

    I was there about five years ago, and I saw more Chinese tourists than Italians.

  294. 294.

    HumboldtBlue

    @WereBear:

    That’s hilarious.

    I now have enough dry beans, rice, pasta and coffee to see me through the apocalypse. How the hell I’m ever going to find a job as the entire nation closes its doors is another matter altogether.

  297. 297.

    Raven Onthill

    African-American reporter asking about disbanding of the response team. Trump: “I think it was a nasty question.” “I don’t know nothing about that.” “We’re doing a great job.”

  299. 299.

    WaterGirl

    @JWR: On one of this afternoon’s threads said that the curve is already above the line of what is manageable for hospitals

    So “flatten” is no longer possible.

  303. 303.

    opiejeanne

    @senyordave: From Snopes and the CDC timeline on their site.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a detailed timeline of this pandemic on its website. It shows that the CDC first activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on April 22, 2009. At the time, there were only two confirmed cases in the United States. On April 25, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern, and the following day the Obama administration did the same. At that time, there were about 20 confirmed cases.

     

    There were approximately 60 million cases over the course of the following year, which resulted in nearly 275,000 hospitalizations and more than 12,000 deaths.

  305. 305.

    JWR

    Oh FFS, Yamiche Alcindor asked a really nasty question? (She asked about his dismantling of Obama era departments.)

  306. 306.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Trump just told NPR’s Yamiche Alcindor if he disbanded the White House Infectious Disease group that “quite frankly it’s a a nasty question”.  Also, too, he doesn’t know anything about such a thing.

     

    Nothing changes with this fucker. Nothing

  308. 308.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Martin:

    That was the subject of discussion soon after the clown took office. What will happen during a major crisis? And as we knew then and see now, Trump will make a colossal fuckup of the whole thing.

  310. 310.

    Martin

    @Haydnseek: This is a self-triage approach. It can work if the public is self motivated to be honest. If you’re just freaking out, say you have symptoms even when you don’t and get a test.

    If the public is honest and it can do more than just say ‘go get a test’, for instance, it knows where the test locations are, and can give priority to older individuals or those more susceptible, and directs people accordingly, then yeah, it can work.

    But I think we’re way past that point. That was a January opportunity. I think the public will game this, overwhelm the test locations and this will fail. And I question that they logistics will get worked out. Who is in charge of the drive through testing? Can they get their information organized and to Google? Can they track test inventory? The automated tests is great, but California currently has enough capacity to have done the entire US testing done so far in 2 months in 36 hours. The labs are not the bottleneck right now. It’s the logistics of getting tests out and properly distributed, with all of the necessary components.

    It seems to me they’re solving the problems already solved, and not the ones causing the problems. And they’re downplaying the real difficulties of getting a situation under control that they’ve allowed to get wildly out of control.

  312. 312.

    Raven Onthill

    @WaterGirl: this is different from flu. Flu does hit elderly people hard, but COVID-19 hits especially hard. It’s much worse than flu and we don’t know why.

    It is possible that the reason is that SARS-nCoV-2 is so lethal is because it itself infects the lungs – “primary pneumonia.” With flu, I think the pneumonia that kills is usually a secondary infection.

  313. 313.

    Kent

    @Haydnseek:@Kent:How do you examine someone online?  How do you look down their throat, tap on their back, ask them if it hurts in various places when they’re probed there?  I could go on, but I won’t.  This makes no sense to me whatsoever.  If I’m missing something, I’m more than willing to be enlightened.

    You can do a lot just talking and listening.   But for serious stuff you may have to send them into the lab for tests or to the urgent care clinic. It’s triage to try to keep the healthy away.

    You are thinking like a logical person who only goes to the doctor when actually sick.  But her normal caseload is a lot of elderly folks with no lives who like to go to the doctor to chat about their bunions and arthritis and have no particular reason to be there except that the doctor is the only one in their lives paid to listen.  Or diabetic cases, obese patients, or old diabetic obese patients they are just monitoring.  That sort of thing.  These are the people you least want sitting in a busy waiting room right now.   A normal primary care clinic is a parade of frequent flyer types who have no particular reason to be there on that particular day.

  314. 314.

    Duane

    Trumpov takes no responsibility. He didn’t do it. It’s not his fault. That’s a nasty question. Ask someone else. He’s a complete loser. The Bart Simpson of presidents.

  315. 315.

    Martin

    @HumboldtBlue: His response is consistently ‘this government isn’t running itself’. Yeah, no shit. It’s not a fucking air conditioner. You have to constantly manage it, rewrite rules, shift resources to where they’re needed. It’s the most complicated machine ever invented, and literally none of it is automatic.

  319. 319.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Kent:

    elderly folks with no lives who like to go to the doctor to chat about their bunions and arthritis and have no particular reason to be there except that the doctor is the only one in their lives paid to listen.

    Oh, so you’ve met my mother in law?

  322. 322.

    The Moar You Know

     

    so one takeaway from this is that Pelosi and Mnuchin could not come to any agreement

    on the big spending bill for this response.

     

    @catclub:  But they did.  Then at 7am EDT Trump tore it up and hit Pelosi with a giant list of demands, confident she’d cave since he was holding America hostage.

    She ain’t caving.

    He just cannot – is fucking utterly incapable – of learning.  Anything.

  325. 325.

    WaterGirl

    How long before there is viral information on how to answer the questions on the AWESOME google website  so you can game the system and be sure to be allowed to get a test?

  326. 326.

    Comrade Misfit

    Pence ought to have kneepads sewn into all of his trousers.  He did everything bup unzip Trump’s fly and start sucking.

    It was like watching a master class in toadyism.  What a pathetic excuse for an adult man.

  327. 327.

    Marcopolo

    Playing devil’s advocate, it actually is a good thing for COVID-19 tests to occur away from hospitals & dr offices. It reduces the infection rate, particularly among health care personnel. So that is a good thing. But other than that this has been a pretty shit show presser.

    Also, why can’t we get a point of testing result test from another country that is already doing them?

  329. 329.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    “Mr. President, you buffoon, it is only a nasty question because you were nasty enough to do it. Now tell us why – the world is listening”.

  331. 331.

    Haydnseek

    @Kent: Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I’m logical.  I’m also an old.  I understand what you’re saying, and it makes sense, especially now that were in crisis mode with all the unnecessary face to face exams.  I suppose I’m just having some difficulty accepting that a video chat equals an actual in person interaction.

  332. 332.

    Kent

    @Raven Onthill:@Haydnseek: you can screen, though. That’s important, since the doctors offices and medical centers are going to be overloaded. It doesn’t sound like a terrible system, though it’s probably going to be more expensive than it needs to be. (Of course, they may fail of implementation.)

    Kaiser has been gearing up their telemedicine capability for a couple of years now. They have very sophisticated interfaces built and all the doctors have been doing one or two shifts per week for some time.  So they are WAY ahead of the curve compared to most other operators.  Part of the luxury of being an HMO where your incentive is to keep people healthy rather than maximizing office visits:  https://business.kaiserpermanente.org/kp-difference/high-quality-care/telehealth-value-in-connected-system

  334. 334.

    opiejeanne

    @germy: I read this three days ago about Italy and their need to triage patients. Intubation is being given to the youngest patients needing it, because they don’t have enough supplies for everyone. So, everyone over 60 is not being intubated. They are being left on gurneys in the hallways, to die alone.

  335. 335.

    WaterGirl

    Arrogant pricks.  Tough shit if you can’t find hand sanitizer.  Or if you’re in a place where you can’t wash your hands.  What’s wrong with you that you can’t figure out what to do?

    They are so fucking arrogant.

  336. 336.

    Kent

    @Haydnseek:@Kent: Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I’m logical.  I’m also an old.  I understand what you’re saying, and it makes sense, especially now that were in crisis mode with all the unnecessary face to face exams.  I suppose I’m just having some difficulty accepting that a video chat equals an actual in person interaction.

    You would be surprised at how many patient visits are just routine stuff that doesn’t require physical exams or labs.  Lots of it is follow-up visits.  Or prescription refills, or whatever.  Normal busy people don’t run to the doctor all the time.  But a percentage of the population is always there for random reasons.  Especially in HMO medicine where the office visit copays are low or nonexistent for the medicare advantage plans.

  339. 339.

    WaterGirl

    @opiejeanne:

    So, everyone over 60 is not being intubated. They are being left on gurneys in the hallways, to die alone.

    That’s the idea that has been haunting me for days.  They never answered the question about respirators.  The honest answer should have been “yes, we’re past the point where we will have respirators for all the people who need them.  People are going to die.”

  342. 342.

    Mr. Mack

    This thread is likely dead…but I just have to say something.  I’ve been reading this blog for over 12 years.  I have learned a lot about our Government, our Party, my fellow Democrats, and I’d guess a smattering of Independents.  I miss some of the long time jackals, I don’t miss all of them.  But I am troubled by some of what I’ve read here today.  Hate is toxic, and contagious.  I get that we are dealing with some of the worst humanity has to offer, but wishing death upon anyone makes us no different from those lost souls on RWNJ blogs.  I link to this blog, and I constantly reference it on my social media.  I sing the praises of our Front Pagers, because I’ve come to trust their commitment to providing timely, relevant information.  I don’t want to be less inclined to keep reading and referring, but I am embarrassed by some of the comments.  I’m not a member of the established clique here, but I hope I’ve shown up enough to not be considered a troll.  Well that’s off my chest.

  343. 343.

    opiejeanne

    @WaterGirl: Respirators have been on my mind since I came down with whatever this is. Still not well, but not very sick either. Probably a little head cold, which I mistook for allergies at first and treated with a nasal inhaler (which for some reason can blunt the worst effects of a cold, at least for me).

    TL;DR: We won’t have to go to the store much over the summer.

    We had a decent sized garden and I have a bunch of seeds arriving today and next week, so we can grow a lot of our own veggies. We rarely buy them during the summer. We also have apple and cherry trees (don’t ask about the goddamned pear trees) and I’m going to fight the birds for every last cherry this year, but a lot of the buds look like they got snapped by the freezing weather a couple of weeks ago so it may be a slim crop.

  344. 344.

    opiejeanne

    @Mr. Mack: Good. I have twinges of conscience when I read the wishes of death for other people, despite the fact that I really do hate Trump and react viscerally to the mention of certain Republicans.

  347. 347.

    Martin

    @opiejeanne: I don’t think that’s happening yet. But they’re ready for that moment when it comes.

    China set up ‘cough clinics’ in Wuhan. Basically, if you thought you had this, you didn’t go to the hospital to infect others, you went to the clinic, which was basically a gym with cots in it. They had nurses and IVs and could do the tests, but they didn’t have ventilators. They’d send them to a hospital for the ventilator. They set these up in 48 hours, btw.

    This is what happened with the 1918 flu in the US.

  349. 349.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I find the ones that hope for it and celebrate it repulsive. Whenever I talk about it, it’s like talking about the wind blowing. It’s something that’s based on what we know of epidemiology and this virus and is likely going to happen. I don’t want these people to die.

    I’m angry that many apparent Trump supporters aren’t taking this seriously and will get many be killed by not taking proper precautions

    I admit I’ve wished it on Trump and Putin in the past. I’ve done so because I see them as actively trying to stoke chaos from this which is pretty fucking evil imo. I’ll try to refrain from it from now on, if only because they would continue the chain of infection

  350. 350.

    Aleta

    @MomSense: A person who works in an outpatient clinic around the corner from my office tested positive.

    The news reported the health care clinic has been closed, at least for now, as they quarantine the workers.  I hope it was able to offer its clients (who have no insurance, no other primary care, and are low income) another place they can go, and not just the ER.   It’s  such a lot to place on a small clinic and on the people who need it.   I remember it used to do needle exchange as well as health care.

  351. 351.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Gin & Tonic:

    You have my sympathies. This must be tough on your nerves. We just don’t have enough information to make informed decisions. I have to admit that when I look at the news a lot of my interest is based on calculations of whether I will be able to fly back to D.C. next Wednesday.

  353. 353.

    Nora Lenderbee

    I think that the wishes for people to get sick are the kind of things people express when they are angry and outraged and need to release some emotion. They aren’t indications of an evil soul.

  354. 354.

    WaterGirl

    @Mr. Mack:

    I am troubled by some of what I’ve read here today.  Hate is toxic, and contagious.  I get that we are dealing with some of the worst humanity has to offer, but wishing death upon anyone makes us no different from those lost souls on RWNJ blogs.

    I link to this blog, and I constantly reference it on my social media.  I sing the praises of our Front Pagers, because I’ve come to trust their commitment to providing timely, relevant information.  I don’t want to be less inclined to keep reading and referring, but I am embarrassed by some of the comments.  I’m not a member of the established clique here, but I hope I’ve shown up enough to not be considered a troll.  Well that’s off my chest.

    Happy to see this.  You might want to post it on a thread that’s not dead. :-)

  356. 356.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Do keep in mind that many of your fellow jackals are older and have other risk factors.  I’ve noted that I’ve scaled back some of my photo shoots(the weather seems to be taking care of that this week, due to much needed rain here), avoiding group shoots and locations(including transit) that require being around a lot of people.

  357. 357.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Oh, I know. I’m worried about all of you. I don’t mean to sound callous and I apologize if that’s how I’ve come across. I also don’t want to scare anybody and don’t wish this on any Trump supporters, no matter how angry they make me when they don’t take this seriously

  358. 358.

    patrick II

    @Mr. Mack:
    I have sympathy for your point of view, and have never wished for the death of anyone here. However, I think too many things can go unstated or dislcussed in terms that don’t get to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is this, many people high in the republican party do not care whether you or I live or die.
    The ACA has been the clearest example. According to several studies, one out of something slightly over 800 people die unnecessarily if they don’t have health insurance. Where I live, in Virginia, we went four years without expanded Medicaid. We had about 350,000 people who could have been covered who weren’t. And it is functionally free since most of the additional cost is covered by the feds, and the remainder covered by the boost to the economy. But still, we lost about 1,600 people in Virginia because our elected Republicans would rather let people die than do the minimum necessary to keep them alive. And that has been true for about five million people across the country, or about 6,000 deaths per year for the last 8 years. Somewhat less as states move over to expanded Medicaid. Yet you never hear Democratic politicians talk about those deliberately allowed deaths, only “people need health insurance”, not that Republicans have been responsible for over 40,000 deaths over the last eight years. And that number would be many times higher if John McCain didn’t hate Trump so much.
    Today, even now, if you listened to Trump speaking today at his presser he said “don’t get tested if you don’t need it” several times. He’s worried about too many sick people ruining his chance for re-election, not that the dearth of testing will certainly cause many more people to die. And even that isn’t putting it strongly enough. Their families will lose a loved one, or a wage earner, or someone to help them grow up, or just a friend. Trump doesn’t care if you die tomorrow, and neither do most Republicans elected to high office.
    Anyone elected, Democrat or Republican, to high office must make life or death decisions; that is part of the definition of power at that level. Funds aren’t infinite, things must be built, challenges met, there is risk in all of those as there is in life. But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about use of coercive power to the point that they will let you die for even the slightest gain, and sometimes not an actual gain at all, but to keep their fetid ideology intact so they don’t suffer the pain of doubt.
    So, no, you won’t catch me writing that I wish some of them would die because that would breed hate, instead of the cold contempt for life with which they treat us.

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