Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

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

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Oppose, oppose, oppose. Do not congratulate. This is not business as usual.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Monday/Tuesday, May 18-19

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Monday/Tuesday, May 18-19

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Note that this story came out *before* Trump’s latest sales pitch:

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22Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily numbers: 37 new cases, of which 22 are foreign nationals; 35 from local infection, two are repatriating Malaysians. Total 6,978 cases. (I guess we break 7,000 cases tomorrow.) 31 more patients recovered, total 5,646 recovered or 80.9% of total cases. Of 1,218 active cases, 13 are in ICU of whom six are on ventitators. One death, total 114. Infection fatality rate 1.63%, case fatality rate 1.98%.

    Who is Worldometer?

  2. 2.

    Brachiator

    Opening remarks of @DrTedros head of @WHO to the #WHA73 today, some of which seem directed to the USA: “For all the economic, military and technological might of nations, we have been humbled by this very small microbe. If this virus is teaching us anything, it’s humility.”

    Unfortunately, you can’t teach Trump anything.

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    A good thing related to the IRS Stimulus payments.

    The Treasury Department said Monday that it will start issuing some stimulus payments by sending a debit card to people in the mail.
    Until now, payments had been either directly deposited in an individual’s bank account or sent as a paper check.
    About 4 million payments will be sent on a debit card. It could mean that those people receive their money faster than if they had to wait for a check.
    The Visa debit card can be activated immediately and can be used to make purchases, to get cash at an ATM or to transfer funds into a bank account without being charged a fee.

    It’s likely that these payments to a debit card are being made to lower income people, who are under-served by banks. If they couldn’t use a debit card, a lot of these people might have to use check cashing businesses which might try to charge excessive fees for cashing the checks.

    I’d like to see the Democrats push proposals to provide more, and honest, banking and financial services to lower income people.  I know that there have been some ideas for using post offices. But I would also like to see other innovations tried as well. For example, we could try to adapt some of the models used in African countries and elsewhere allowing people to use smartphone apps for various financial services. We might also expand on Apple Pay and Google Pay type services using a phones NFC capabilities.

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    @Brachiator: I’d like to see the Democrats push proposals to provide more, and honest, banking and financial services to lower income people.

     
    I could not agree more. Especially now, with so many options which consist of software and little else for day-to-day operations.

  6. 6.

    Sloane Ranger

    Update on my annual burglar alarm service which I discussedyesterday.  It’s been postponed to 3 June due to a mix up. I had a phone call yesterday afternoon saying it had been cancelled because I hadn’t confirmed the appointment. I rang back to say I had and I had had a conversation about health and safety precautions. Lady was very apologetic, said they were very stretched as they were working with a skeleton staff and whoever took my call must have forgotten to update the paperwork. Was meant to have service by end of May to preserve guarantee but lady confirmed that the service period had been extended due to “the current situation”.

  7. 7.

    terben

    From Australian Dept of Health:

    ‘As at 3:00pm on 19 May 2020, a total of 7,068 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 99 deaths and 6,411 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19.

    Over the past week, there has been an average of 14 new cases reported each day. Of the newly reported cases, the majority have been from Victoria.

    To date, over 1,085,000 tests have been conducted nationally. Of those tests conducted 0.7% have been positive.’

    In the last 24 hours, there have been 8 new cases and late today another death has been reported. This death will be included in tomorrow’s figures, but is the 100th death from Covid-19 in Australia, a grim, sad milestone.

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    @Brachiator:

    We’ve been trying to get banking through the USPS but Republicans have been trying to privatize the USPS and destroy the public union employees for decades so they won’t pass it.

  10. 10.

    Mai naem mobile

    Sorry, I don’t trust this administration not to have bankers making a buck off the debit card. It may just be $10 but multiply $10 by 30M and it becomes $300M which isn’t an insignificant chunk of change.

     

    @MomSense:  Wall Street also wants to get its hands on the pot of pension money they’ve been forcing USPS workers to fund.  ‘Baining’ the USPS.

  11. 11.

    Sab

    @MomSense: One of my stepkids destroyed her credit with a bank issued credit card when she was 18. She is almost 40 now and has been struggling with that stupid mistake for her whole adult life.

    I cannot express in words how much I hate American banking executives.

  12. 12.

    Xentik

    @Mai naem mobile: This was my first thought as well. Back when I was working on my grad degree, our university helpfully distributed debit cards with the loan paperwork that the students could activate to get their student loan money “instantly”. I spent time reading into the details, and the card charged 50 cents a transaction on *any* transaction, and you got charged money monthly for having money left on the card. It was a complete scam. There’s no way that this administration is more honest and less corrupt than my university’s.

  13. 13.

    YY_Sima Qian

    3 new domestic confirmed cases were reported in China yesterday, 2 were reported by Jilin City, and 1 in Wuhan. The Wuhan case had tested positive on 5/10, and was deemed an asymptomatic case. He is a resident from the compound with the recent cluster, and had been under quarantine since testing positive. He did not and does not have any outward symptoms (fever, cough, exhaustion, etc.), but did have low lymphocyte count. He was assessed by medical experts team and was deemed a confirmed case yesterday.

    In addition to the 2 cases yesterday, Jilin City also reported 3 more domestic confirmed cases in the wee hours of this morning. Of the 5 cases, 1 is from Shulan, 2 are in the High Tech Zone (which had not reported any infection before) but recently moved from Shulan, and 2 are in the Fengman District. Four of the five are traced close contacts, and have been in isolation for 2 – 4 days before testing positive and deemed confirmed. One of the case was found from community screening of anyone who recently relocated from Shulan. The last one is more concerning, since the transmission chain is not yet established. Nonetheless, any case proactively found is better someone wondering into a fever clinic with clear symptoms. Jilin City is also belatedly publishing detailed case reports for recent cases. It appears that contact tracing in Jilin City is going for at least one additional degree of connection, meaning close contacts of close contacts are also identified and deemed as “connected”. Close contacts are immediately quarantine at centralized location, but the connected cases are asked to self-quarantine at home.

  14. 14.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Xentik: several years ago my job tried paying us using a debit card. I think it lasted for maybe two pay periods because of employee complaints. Anyhow what I remember was that you got charged for checking your balance because,you know, everybody keeps a ledger ready to go with their expenses. And,oh yeah, this was before smartphones were ubiquitous.

  15. 15.

    trnc

    And there won’t be enough of it either. Really hitting all the bases. https://twitter.com/rawstory/status/1262044276902461441 …

    Raw Story

    ✔ @RawStory

    HHS secretary says Trump’s ‘Warp Speed’ vaccine ‘may not be safe and effective but we’ll have it’https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/hhs-secretary-says-trumps-warp-speed-vaccine-may-not-be-safe-and-effective-but-well-have-it/ …

    Maybe not having enough of an unsafe and ineffective vaccine is ok?

  16. 16.

    Brachiator

    @Xentik:

    There’s no way that this administration is more honest and less corrupt than my university’s.

    Debit Cards are used to transmit the refunds for federal and state refunds for people who use various tax preparation services, including the government sponsored VITA program for free tax prep services. In California and other states, unemployment compensation and other social benefits can be put on a debit card. Congress and state governments have put tight limits on fees that can be charged. Even this vile Trump administration would have to work hard to mess with consumer protections.

  17. 17.

    YY_Sima Qian

    At the ongoing World Health Assembly, there is strong momentum behind a resolution drafted by the EU to support a global coordinated response to COVID-19, including a section calling for an “impartial, independent and comprehensive” evaluation of the WHO coordinated global response, as well as into the origins of COVID-19. Over 100 nations have voice support. To accommodate Chinese concerns, there is no specific language pointing to China and Wuhan in terms of the origin of virus, ensuring that the investigation will not be solely focused on China, presuming any kind of conclusion. Chinese Foreign Ministry has indicated that the current language is acceptable and China will also support the resolution. President Xi Jinping also pledged US$ 2B to the WHO over the next two years during his speak to the WHA.

    Trump administration has been missing in action so far at the WHA, other than continuing to sling mud at China and the WHO. Despite all of the intense rhetoric, the US has not taken any action to support Taiwan’s request to observer status at the WHA, further evidence that Taiwan (and the Hong Kong protest movement, for that matter) are nothing more than pawns in the great power competition and Cold War 2.0 with China. Taiwan’s application will go nowhere unless there is an a priori understanding with Mainland China. There was such an understanding from 2008 – 2016, when the KMT government on Taiwan recognized the so called “Sept. 2 Consensus” essentially stated that both Mainland China and Taiwan see themselves as part of a larger notional China, and sweep any disagreements (such as who represents that China) under the rug. Since the pro-Independent DPP government came to power, they tore up that understanding (the idea of Taiwan even being part of a notional China is anathema). Without that understanding, China vetoed any Taiwanese presence at any international organization that required statehood for membership (WHA, ICAO, Interpol). Hong Kong and Macau are full members of these organizations, as “Special Administrative Regions” of China.

    The Sino-Australian relationship continue to spiral downward, despite progress at the WHA with respect to investigation. Australia appeared to follow a bit too closely as the Trump administration started to try to shift focus to China, and did not quite have the good sense of the EU and other countries to be more nuanced and less directly accusatory toward China. It appears there will be a trade tiff element for a while, too.

  18. 18.

    TS (the original)

    France sees 70 cases linked to schools days after reopening

    As well as NSW, my state has schools fully open next week (it started with youngest & oldest years). Holding my breathe with hope that it goes well. School year down under is basically February till November –  so no summer vacation to allow things to improve.

  19. 19.

    Xentik

    @Brachiator: I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised, but if it turns out to not be a scam, that’ll be the first and last time in this administration.

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    @WereBear: I recently ordered some equipment for work from a company in Finland.  I got a note from them that their banking system is totally electronic and they can no longer handle paper checks.

    !

    As usual, the US is behind the rest of the modern (and not so modern) world….

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Jinchi This is both before and after President Xi Jinping announced during his speech to the WHA that any vaccine developed by China will be a global public good, and will be shared with the world. I have never seen the US being so inept and defensive in a soft power and propaganda contest (not even under the GWB administration). It is not because the CCP regime is particularly adroit when it comes to international propaganda (often just the opposite), but that Trump and his cabinet are so inept, deranged and unhinged that the CCP regime is sane, predictable and pragmatic in comparison, and comes out ahead by default.

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