I wonder........Maybe........Maybe........Maybe............Maybe...............!

Some real quantitative arguments there.

Just say what you mean........please oh please can we just let people die so I can save the starvation in the world!

Think that is going to stand up to scrutiny plank?

Thinskin

 

The US just ticked over 100,100 deaths.....

February 26...... tRump says "we have 15 cases and soon it will be zero".

May 26..... 100,100 dead.

And what does he do.....he goes and plays golf.

 

At this rate the rest of the world will have to restrict travel from the US!

At least until the sick man gets better.

Thinskin

 

Some updates.
(the short version)
Now that we will have had about two infection cycles (in level 3 & 2) since comming out of lockdown ,
if things hold ,
we will transition into level 1 after another 2 cycles , in 4weeks
June 29
fingers crossed

also
As of this Friday , "groups" can increase from only 10 , to up to 100 ,
for all activities , weddings , funerals , church , birthdays , whatever ,
but still with recording attendanee's , for tracing if necessary.


(we know we will have at least a few more cases , because we have literally hundreds of returnees in quarantine and or isolation ,
and a constant flow of hundreds more comming home all the time.
and
We still have significant known clusters with known contacts who are not yet out of risk of being infected )

We had one knew case in the last week , so that means at least two more weeks before we can be hopeful there's no more there.

 

Unprecedented
Colmar Brunton Poll shows:

93% Approval for government handling of the covid 19 crisis
and
87% Approval for their financial handling so far

That is huge , no matter how sceptical we are about any Polling ,
And certainly all my contact and discussions
back up that sentiment.
They made some pretty bad mistakes early , but over all , a big thumbs up

 

No new cases , for the fifth day in a row ,
and none left in hospital .
Only 21cases in the country still infected..

Amongst other things , the government is looking at ways to facilitate the return to study for foreign students , which I think would be a good move.

We have a large number regularly for all types of education , from ordinary school system , through language schools , tech , and uni , and so on , mostly from northern hemisphere countries , where their new semester/new year will be due to start in the next few months.
If they can't start in reasonable time , then they will be put back a whole year.

A couple of weeks in managed isolation , either here or at home , might well be worth their while , and they can easily be restricted in controlled environments longer , while still studying.
(also we already have a lot of infrastructure in place now for remote/on line learning ,
so they could spend a couple of weeks getting started that way if nescassary)

After all they (most) primarily come to study in a very limited area anyway ,
and
many , if not most , come from countries that have covid under reasonable or good control already.

In this small town , where international language schools were originally started ,
(from memory about or near 40 years ago)
we normally have literally dozens of them here all the time , and hundreds a year , for anything varying from weeks to months , to several years.

It would be a win win all round ,
for the students , their countries , our country , and the institutions set up for them.

 

A summary of the lastest developments from the Guardian as of three hours ago!

Summary

Here are the top developments from the last few hours:

• Known global deaths pass 350,000. More than 350,000 people have now lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The current toll stands at 350,456. The number of confirmed cases is 5,589,932, after the number of declared cases doubled in a month, with more than one million new cases registered in the last 11 days. There were 500,000 cases registered in just 48 hours, between Sunday, when cases passed 5 million, and Tuesday, when cases passed 5.5 million. True death tolls and cases are likely to be significantly higher due to differing definitions and testing rates, delays and suspected underreporting. The US alone accounts for less than a third of the global toll, with 98,916 deaths.
• Tory unrest increases pressure on PM to sack Dominic Cummings. There is growing revolt within Boris Johnson’s party over his refusal to fire Dominic Cummings, his chief adviser, over his lockdown breach. A junior minister has resigned, and 30 other Conservative MPs have called for Cummings to go. Eight more Tory MPs were publicly critical of Cummings’ actions and three said privately that he should be forced out, according to the Guardian’s Heather Stewart, Rowena Mason and Kate Proctor.
• The WHO says the Americas are the new epicentre of the disease. The World Health Organization’s regional director Dr Carissa Etienne said outbreaks were accelerating in countries such as Brazil, where the number of deaths reported in the last week was the highest in the world for a seven-day period since the coronavirus pandemic began. The number of coronavirus infections to accelerate in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, she said.
• New Zealand expects plan for safe travel with Australia in June. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that a draft blueprint on safely starting travel between New Zealand and Australia will be presented to both governments in early June, Reuters reports. The neighbours have been discussing the possibility of a travel bubble between them as both have slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus to levels well below those in United States, Britain and some other European countries. New Zealand has also reported a fifth consecutive day of no new cases of Covid-19.
• South Korea reports biggest daily jump in almost 50 days. South Korea South Korea has reported 40 new coronavirus cases for its biggest daily jump in nearly 50 days, causing alarm in a country where millions of children are returning to school. All but four of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to nightclubs, karaoke rooms and an e-commerce warehouse. Three cases were linked to international arrivals. South Korea has also jailed a man for four months for breaking quarantine rules, in the country’s first such prison sentence.
• Vietnam to readmit foreigners. Vietnam will resume issuing e-visas to citizens from 80 countries from 1 July, the government said, though it was unclear whether quarantine measures would be lifted. The country imposed a blanket ban on foreigners entering the country in March as part of its aggressive response to the pandemic, which has also involved mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing.So far, Vietnam has not reported any coronavirus deaths.
• Macron unveils €8bn French auto rescue, champions electric cars. President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced an €8bn (US$8.8bn) plan to revive France’s auto industry by making it the European leader in electric cars, boosting a sector brought to its knees by the coronavirus. Macron said the package would include one billion euros in subsidies to encourage purchases of electric and hybrid cars and set a target of France producing a million green cars annually by 2025.The “historic” intervention will aim to turn France’s rechargeable car industry into Europe’s biggest, the president said.
• Germany extends distancing rules to end of June. Germany has extended social distancing rules aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus epidemic to 29 June, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said on Tuesday. Merkel’s government had been embroiled in disagreements with the least-affected states, some of which wanted to ditch the measures and open up entirely. Germany’s virus caseload now tops 181,200 with just over 8,372 deaths - much lower than European counterparts such as Britain, France, Spain and Italy.
• India backs hydroxychloroquine for virus prevention. India’s top biomedical research body has backed the use of the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine as a preventive against coronavirus, after the WHO suspended clinical trials of the drug over safety concerns. The endorsement from the Indian Council of Medical Research came a week after US President Donald Trump said he was taking the drug as a preventative measure. India - which accounts for 70% of global production of hydroxychloroquine - on Tuesday reported 145,380 cases of the virus including 4,167 deaths.
• Spain begins 10 days of mourning. Starting on Wednesday, the country will mourn for the nearly 27,000 people who have died from coronavirus in the country. Flags will be hoisted to half-staff in more than 14,000 public buildings across the country and on Spanish naval vessels until 5 June. It marks the longest official mourning period in Spain’s four-decade-old democracy.

Thinskin

 

Senate GOP Has No Plan To Help Millions Of Americans Losing Health Insurance During Pandemic
Tara Golshan
HuffPostMay 27, 2020, 10:17 AM CDT


As millions of Americans slip into unemployment and lose their health insurance during a public health crisis, Senate Republicans still see no need to act on health care.

More than 36 million people have filed for unemployment benefits due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, meaning millions will be left without health insurance. In mid May, left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute estimated 16.2 million people have lost health insurance once provided by their employer — how roughly half of Americans get their health insurance. That number could be as high as 26.8 million if those who lost their jobs don’t sign up for other coverage, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.

But the Republican majority in the Senate isn’t interested in pursuing additional emergency relief for those who suddenly find themselves uninsured.

“I’d like us to put in place a better program than the one we have, the Obamacare program, but getting that in place for the country to take advantage of in the next few weeks is just not very likely,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said.

Staff for Susan Collins referred HuffPost to previous comments the Maine senator made to Bangor Daily News that she was “disappointed” in President Donald Trump for not allowing a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, but did not comment on Congress taking further action on health care specifically.

“I think that the enrollment period should have been reopened,” Collins said in the interview. “One of the reasons that I pushed the paycheck protection program so hard is that if we can keep people on their regular payroll, many more people will continue to receive their health insurance.”

The Paycheck Protection Program gives employers loans primarily to keep workers on payroll during the pandemic. Collins is part of a bipartisan push advocating an extension of these loans.

Sen. Lamar Alexander’s office declined to comment on what Congress should do on health care, saying they had “nothing to add” at this time. The Tennessee Republican is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee in the senate. Offices for Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mike Braun (Indiana) and Rob Portman (Ohio), who sit on either the HELP committee or the Senate Finance Committee, which collectively have purview over Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare, did not respond to requests for comment.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has repeatedly voted to repeal the ACA, encouraged Americans to sign up for Obamacare if they lose their health insurance.

“The good news is that if you lose your employer-provided coverage, which covers about a 180 million Americans, that is a significant life event, which makes you then eligible to sign up for the Affordable Care Act,” Cornyn said in a PBS Austin interview. “As you know, it has a sliding scale of subsidies up to 400% of poverty. So that’s an option for people.”


To get covered, Americans will have to navigate the country’s fragmented health care system ― there’s the ACA, known as Obamacare, public options like Medicaid, and COBRA, the federal program that lets individuals continue their former employer’s health care plan at personal cost. As HuffPost’s Jeffrey Young explained, there are barriers to all these options.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates there are 5.7 million people who are not eligible for financial subsidies under Obamacare, and who would have to pay for the entirety of their private insurance plan. COBRA too is cost-prohibitive for many families. The average monthly cost for individual coverage in an employer-sponsored plan is $490, amounting to nearly $6,000 a year — a steep cost for someone without an income.

And not all Americans will qualify for Medicaid, the public health program for low-income Americans.

“Unlike in past recessions, most of those who lose their job-based coverage will be eligible for health coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, though some may find coverage unaffordable even with subsidies,” Larry Levitt, who runs health policy at KFF, said in a statement. “As unemployment benefits expire, however, about two million more people in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs under the ACA will move into the Medicaid coverage gap and have no affordable option.”

The implication of leaving millions uninsured is a matter of life and death. A 2019 report on Medicaid expansion found there could have been 15,600 fewer deaths if all 50 states expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. There’s a growing body of research that has shown expanded public insurance has improved health outcomes, increasing preventative care and saving patients with chronic illnesses, like kidney disease.

To be sure, it’s hard to make a clear comparison between Medicaid expansion and growing numbers of uninsured, especially because health care providers have only recently begun loosening restrictions around preventative care checkups and other services that were deemed “nonessential” during the early weeks of the pandemic.

You want a social safety net that gives you things when you lose your job — that’s why we have unemployment insurance. It would be nice if your health side also looked more like that across the U.S.Sarah Miller, health economist at University of Michigan

That said, Sarah Miller, a health economist with University of Michigan, pointed out there are still real financial and health impacts.

“Even at a time when doctors offices are closed and elective procedures are not going on — though as time goes on those things are going to be open — even being able to pay for your prescriptions is where having insurance versus not having insurance is going to make a big difference,” Miller said.

Miller also described the potential for a downward financial and health spiral for some Americans, calling it a “double hit.”

If you’re caught in an insurance trap, where COBRA is too expensive, you live in a state that didn’t expand Medicaid, and aren’t eligible for subsidized private insurance through Obamacare, what happens when you need to go to the ER, Miller asked rhetorically: “You lose your labor market income and you can potentially face some financial hits if you need necessary medical care — you go to the ER — that can have an impact on your credit score.”

“You want a social safety net that gives you things when you lose your job — that’s why we have unemployment insurance,” Miller said. “It would be nice if your health side also looked more like that across the U.S.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and many Republicans have pushed back against the need for additional stimulus during the pandemic, saying they see no “urgency” in passing a fifth relief package. But among the ideas Republicans have put forward, like expanding the PPP program, implementing tax credits for hiring workers or bonuses for rehired workers, health care has largely been left out of the emergency relief debate.

Health care has been a politically damaging issue for Republicans, who before the pandemic repeatedly attempted to repeal Obamacare, end Medicaid expansion and significantly cut Medicaid funding. The Trump administration has continued to support a GOP lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and pushed an effort to add work requirements for Medicaid. Since the pandemic, the Trump administration promised to use some of the coronavirus stimulus funds to reimburse hospitals treating uninsured patients with COVID-19, but there has been no plan to address the growing millions of uninsured Americans more generally.

For weeks, Democrats have been in an internal policy debate around the issue of health insurance. House Democrats’ latest relief package included several health care provisions, expanding how much the federal government chips in on Medicaid payments, and subsidizing COBRA at 100%. In other words, it would have the federal government temporarily foot the bill for the health insurance plans employers were once covering.

Progressives have balked at the idea, calling it a giveaway to private insurance companies and big corporations that run their own health insurance plans. Subsidizing COBRA would direct federal funds toward private companies that pay higher rates than public programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Other health care proposals that have been championed by progressives in both the House and Senate would have Medicare cover Americans’ out-of-pocket medical costs during the pandemic, or allow Americans who have filed for unemployment to be eligible for Medicare.

But for now, Republicans aren’t interested in another health care fight.

 

Anyone collecting unemployment is also receiving $600 a week in additional benefits.
That should more than cover the cost of COBRA benefits for most.

 

Some good news in the fight against this fucking virus.......a French team from the Pasteur Institute have demonstrated the people who suffered a mild infection of covid-19 do exhibit a significant immune response that increases at least for four weeks after the infection........presumably this study is ongoing so we will learn more as it continues!

French tests show even mild coronavirus illness leads to antibodies
Study raises hope of immunity even for those without severe symptoms

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...coronavirus-infection-does-lead-to-antibodies

Here is a preprint of the orginal scientific article which is awaiting peer review.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20101832v2

Thinskin

 

I see were still going great guns ,
looking at over 6 million by the end of the month ,
still on a trajectory for a geostationary orbit.

From 14,533 cases Feb 1st ,
200,000 March 17 ,
2million April 15
6 million May 31st

Well done earth.
How long can we maintain this excellent momentum ?

Can we keep it going long enough for it to mutate into something useful that can depopulate earth ?

Imagine in a few hundred years , when surviving humans start to spread out ,
and discover hundreds of huge strange machines parked in deserts ,
miles from anywhere ,
with no apparent use ,
but adaptable for sheltering in .

or chicken coops

Machu Boeingu

 

New Zealand has no new coronavirus cases and just discharged its last hospital patient. Here are the secrets to the country's success.
amiller@businessinsider.com (Anna Medaris Miller)
Business InsiderMay 28, 2020, 12:03 PM CDT

The day the US mourned reaching a tragic milestone — 100,000 novel coronavirus deaths — people on the other side of the world in New Zealand celebrated a much more hopeful one: No new coronavirus cases over the prior five days.

What's more, the country's last hospitalized coronavirus patient was discharged, officials said during a press briefing on May 27, according to CBS. Now, only 21 people in the country have active COVID-19 cases.

Overall, the country confirmed about 1,500 cases and 21 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins' Coronavirus Resource Center.

Meanwhile, the US has confirmed 1.74 million cases (and counting) and, again, more than 100,000 deaths.

Of course, New Zealand is a much smaller country, with a population of 4.8 million to the US's 328.2 million, and more sparsely populated too — 46 people per square mile compared to 94 people per square mile in the US.

That alone hinders the coronavirus's ability to spread.

But overall, like Australia, the country has reported smaller-than-average coronavirus cases and deaths when compared to other Western nations.

"Here in New Zealand, we are all very aware of how lucky we are, and we connect with colleagues overseas and really feel for them," Auckland City Hospital intensive-care specialist Chris Poynter previously told Business Insider.

Experts say it's more than luck, but rather early lockdown efforts, citizen's adherence to the rules, widespread testing and contact tracing, and good communication that are the keys to its success.

New Zealand issued national lockdown efforts early
Beginning February 3, New Zealand began imposing restrictions on travel — even though it had no known cases, Insider's Rosie Perper previously reported.

It recorded its first case February 28 and less than a month later had 102 confirmed cases. At that point, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised the country's alert to Level 3 restrictions, which closed schools, canceled mass gatherings, and allowed people to speak to their doctors online.

Two days later, the country progressed to Level 4 restrictions, issuing stay-at-home orders country-wide and severely limiting travel.

"At least for New Zealand, it was relatively prompt action at an early stage to go for a strong lockdown," Nick Wilson, a professor and public health expert at the University of Otago in New Zealand, told Perper.

Citizens largely obeyed stay-at-home guidelines
New Zealanders followed those restrictions in earnest, and there's data to prove it.

"The Google data shows that New Zealanders have followed the lockdown rules ... with a remarkably high level of behavior change," Wilson wrote in an April 12 blog post. "Activity dropped almost instantly, by over 90% from baseline levels in some categories," he added.

That led to a leveling off of cases just 10 days after lockdown measures were put in place, he said.

The country instituted widespread testing and contact tracing
According to CBS, New Zealand conducted a total of 267,435 coronavirus tests, and on May 20, it released the NZ Covid Tracer app.

While released later than other countries like Singapore, the app will help to ensure the country doesn't experience a surge in cases as it begins to ease lockdowns. According to the American Enterprise Institute it works by allowing users to scan a QR code at entry points at various venues.

If later, they test positive for the COVID-19, contact tracers can review where the person has been and decide whether to follow up with the venues to alert them of their potential risk.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls contact tracing "part of a multipronged approach" to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Testing and tracing, taken together, "are the backbone of public-health work," Insider's Hilary Brueck reported.


The Prime Minister communicated well and is trusted by the public
According to Wilson, "New Zealand shows the benefit of having quite high levels of scientific expert input into the policymaking process and a Prime Minister who is a very good communicator who the public trust." Arden was also praised for taking a 20% pay cut, along with other top government officials.

In the US, by contrast, the messaging has been inconsistent, with President Trump first saying the outbreak "may get a little bigger; it may not get bigger at all," while health officials said it was inevitable that the coronavirus would spread inside the US.

Social media has also "spread erroneous rumors" about fatality rates, Rosemary Taylor, an associate professor of sociology and community health at Tufts University, previously told Insider. News media has delivered conflicting messages.

But in order for people to take threats seriously, she said, they need "government transparency, a robust belief in scientific data, and a faith in international cooperation — to all of which President Trump has expressed antagonism in the past."

 

I have seen our testing stations........look good........clean and tidy!

Tracking is in place.......June 1st midday we start opening!

Wish us luck!

Thinskin

 

Wisconsin reports record number of new coronavirus cases, deaths
Daniella Silva
NBC NewsMay 28, 2020, 11:09 AM CDT



Wisconsin saw a record number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported in a single day on Wednesday, two weeks after the state’s Supreme Court struck down its statewide stay-at-home order.

The state reported 599 new known COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 22 known deaths, according to Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services, the highest recorded daily rise since the pandemic began there. As of Wednesday, the state had more than 16,460 known cases and 539 known deaths, according to the department.

The previous record in new coronavirus cases was 528 the week prior.

Wisconsin also issued a record number of test results Wednesday, with more than 10,300 tests conducted, according to the department.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers spoke of the importance of wearing a mask in public Wednesday in order to keep others safe from the virus.

"One of the most important things you can do to help others is to wear a mask or other face-covering in public," he said. "Wearing a mask shouldn't be a political statement. It isn't controversial, and it's not hard to do."

On May 13, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s stay-at-home order during the pandemic as "unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable" after finding that the state's health secretary exceeded her authority.

The order had put Evers at odds with the state's Republic-controlled legislature.

Some local officials, including those in Milwaukee and Madison, have since instituted their own regulations.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court called Health Services Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm's directive a "vast seizure of power."

The order directed all people in the state to stay at home or at their places of residence, subject only to exceptions allowed by Palm, the ruling said. The order, which had been set to run until May 26, also restricted travel and business, along with threatening jail time or fines for those who don't comply.

“Republican legislators have convinced four justices to throw our state into chaos,” Evers said in a statement at the time.

"We cannot let today's ruling undo all the work we have done and all the sacrifices Wisconsinites have made over these past few months," he said in the mid-May statement. "I am disappointed in the decision today, but our top priority has been and will remain doing what we can and what we have to do to protect the health and safety of the people of our state."

Shortly after the ruling, the Tavern League of Wisconsin, an industry group, posted a message on social media saying that as a result of the decision, businesses could reopen "immediately."

Just hours after the order, several bars in West Allis reopened for business, according to NBC affiliate WTMJ.

At Limanski’s Pub, customers were greeted by a sign reading "please sanitize your hands upon entering" and "remain 2 bar stools apart unless from same household."

More than a dozen customers had gathered in the bar shortly after the reopening, the station reported.

Customer Katie Koutski told WTMJ the outing was much needed relief.

“I have a toddler at home and I’m a full-time nurse so it’s been very stressful and hard to not be able to go out and be with my friends and family at the bars,” Koutski said.

Kathy Goedde, the bar's owner, said she reopened soon after hearing the news of the ruling.

“I was watching the news, and I saw the order was overturned, so I was pretty happy about that, and then I just waited for the Tavern League to send out information and as soon as we got that, I mean, it was awesome,” she said.

Koutski later issued a statement apologizing for not wearing a mask while visiting her sister's bar.

"While my priority was to support my sister and her attempt to restart her business which has been devastated by this pandemic, I’d like to express my regret for not wearing a mask or practicing social distancing while there," she said in a statement, according to WTMJ. "It was a lapse in judgment on my part to not ensure I had my mask prior to leaving my house and to not maintain social distancing — even during the interview requested by the reporter."

Koutski said while she did not have any COVID-19 symptoms, out of an abundance of caution, she was going to voluntarily quarantine for seven days and per standard practice, undergo screening before returning to work.

 

Republican Lawmaker Reportedly Exposed Democratic Colleagues to COVID—and Didn’t Tell Them
Luke Darby
May 28, 2020, 11:57 AM CDT



Kentucky Republican Rand Paul made news in March, not just for being the first senator to test positive for coronavirus, but for his refusal to warn either his staff or his fellow senators that he had been exposed to the disease. Instead, Paul kept attending meetings per usual, and even swam laps in the Capitol's gym while awaiting his test results. After publicly confirming his diagnosis, Paul, a medical doctor, was indignant at the suggestion he should have changed his behavior out of concern for spreading COVID-19 to anyone else.

Apparently, Paul's cavalier attitude isn't unique among his Republican colleagues. On Wednesday, state representative Andrew Lewis announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 20 and he is now "completely fine." He added that "every member or staff member who met the criteria for exposure was immediately contacted and required to self-isolate for 14 days from their date of possible exposure."

What Lewis's statement leaves out is that not a single Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House was notified, even as their GOP counterparts were quietly self-isolating. In a statement, Pennsylvania House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody condemned Republicans' withholding of the information, writing, "While we are pleased to learn that this House member seems to have recovered, it is simply unacceptable that some House Republicans knew about this for more than a week and sat on that knowledge. Knowing how House members and staff work closely together at the Capitol, we should have been made aware of this much sooner."

Democrat Summer Lee tweeted, "We have colleagues who go home to their immuncompromised children, spouses, and elderly parents. That Democrats who had contact with him were not notified is not just a political stunt—this is beyond the fkn pale!"

Another Democrat, Dan Frankel, pointed out that all of this is happening as the Pennsylvania GOP is working relentlessly to roll back social-distancing guidelines. Frankel writes, "Republicans have gone to battle for the argument that personal responsibility to follow CDC guidelines alone was enough to protect the public. Now, we learn that they didn’t even attempt to protect their own members or the communities that their members return to."

One of those Republicans working so hard to undo Pennsylvania's efforts to fight the spread of coronavirus is Russ Diamond—who on Wednesday confirmed that he has been self-quarantining since May 21. But before he went into quarantine—the same day in fact—Diamond appeared on the floor of the state house to argue for ending Governor Tom Wolf's emergency order, which has been in place since March. Diamond refused to wear a mask during his appearance and, like the rest of the Pennsylvania GOP, didn't inform a single Democrat colleague that he had been exposed to the disease.

Democratic rep Brian Sims called out this hypocrisy in a video he posted to social media. Bordering on furious, Sims said, "Every single day that our gerrymandered Republican leadership has been calling us up into this building so they could pass these ridiculous bills, pretending that it was safe to be out there, they were covering up that it wasn’t safe."

 

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Angels weep.



Outstanding 'leadership.' Outstanding.

 

Those who are both non-social distancing AND have expectations of 'The Rapture'
​

'Pandemic Rapture', more a repeat of the admonition in the gospel by Jesus:
Matthew 24:23-24-King James Version
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Yet, two-score years after Jim Jones and Jonestown, even larger flocks follow their false prophet #Nondistancing4Covid19, ala their 'golden idol'-#Trump2020

 

I have been saying all along that things are not adding up in the red states and suspect the Governors there are cooking the COVID 19 books.


DjJon
@DjJon75
Replying to
@GovHowardDean
and
@eclecticbrotha
It's way more than. 100K

6:12 AM · May 28, 2020·Twitter for Android

 

Yee Haa , kiwi are on the move.

No new cases for seven days
No new deaths

and
As of midday , 6 hours ago , all gatherings are now allowed to include up to 100 people.

Still with some distancing restriction in place , depending on where you are.
eg seated only with service to the table in bars etc.

This is our first long weekend since lockdown ,
and kiwi are already on the move en mass , giving much of the tourist industry a bit of a boost.
(with no foreign travel , they all have to enjoy local ,
which seems to be very popular ,
partly because everywhere is not crowded out all the time , as it used to be)

(note: we did have one death added this week , but not a new one.
It was historic , a 97yr old , who's cause of death is not listed as covid 19 ,
but for some reason they have decided to include it in our covid statistics)