Category Archives: COVID-19
Social Distancing Violators Confined
Social distancing violators are being arrested. And some are going to jail.
But Paul Manafort was sprung from prison last week. The NYT reports the release of more than 2,500 prisoners into home confinement due to the virus. Just like the rest of us.
Okay, so Manafort’s not Scarface. What did you expect from a cartoon?
Follow The Science of the Covid Pandemic
We’re often told told that truth is relative. That is except when it comes to “The Science.” Then it’s absolute. And we must follow the science.
But it’s kinda tough to pin down “The Science.” It’s always changing. Especially when it comes to Covid 19 models.
A piece by an economist named Brian Wesbury appeared in Real Clear Politics comparing the 2008 mortgage crisis to the current covid crisis. Lenders in 2008 were required to value their assets at market prices. It’s called marking to market. The idea was to “insist on the truth.” But the truth was that the mortgage market didn’t want the stuff. So the banks failed and the larger markets crashed.
Now Wesbury says pandemic authorities want us to mark to scientific models. But the models have never been accurate:
States and municipalities shut down their economies — based on models that predicted 2.2 million deaths in the United States. Hospitals, they said, would be overwhelmed, so we must flatten the curve. The result? They flattened the economy, risking even more lives in the process, and generated panic that made the markets illiquid!
Brian Wesbury – Real Clear Politics
Re-Opening Day for the Economy
It’s time for re-opening… something. While some governors and President Trump are desperate to re-open the economy, many Democrats think otherwise.
We flattened the curve to give hospitals breathing room and delay the virus. But not to stop it.
So far so good. New York City got enough ventilators and made it over the hump. As for the economy – it’s been a bloodletting and it’s on life support. But polls show plenty of people want to keep it that way.
Rich Lowry says they’ve “moved the goal posts.”
Now, the rhetoric around the shutdowns has shifted, and not very subtly — flattening the curve and saving the hospitals are “out,” and not allowing any additional cases to emerge is “in.”
Corona Flat Curve Flattens Elective Treatments
The Corona flat curve flattened elective treatments. Suburban tent hospitals in New York sit unused. And the Navy hospital ship Comfort is shoving off.
Meanwhile hospitals put patients seeking elective treatment on hold. But elective surgery is where hospitals make their money. So healthcare workers have been laid off.
And elective surgery isn’t just nose jobs:
An elective surgery does not always mean it is optional. It simply means that the surgery can be scheduled in advance. It may be a surgery you choose to have for a better quality of life, but not for a life-threatening condition. But in some cases it may be for a serious condition such as cancer.
Johns Hopkins
Snitch on Neighbors is New Viral Ethic
Mayor de Blasio encouraged citizens to snitch on their neighbors:
“We still know there’s some people who need to get the message. And that means sometimes making sure the enforcement is there to educate people and make clear we’ve got to have social distancing,”
So, New Yorkers responded by overloading His Honor’s snitch line with middle fingers.
