I have been a news junkie from as far back as I can remember.
Some people don’t want to know what’s going on, because there’s so much crime, war, social unrest, and politics bombarding them from all sides. These folks want to put their heads in the sand, like an ostrich; what they don’t know won’t bother them, and they want to keep an upbeat, cheerful attitude. Life is short: enjoy it.
Other people, like me, want to absorb all the information they can to try and understand …”WHY?” I can’t help myself: I’m an analyst and problem solver. And, so, I’m constantly on the lookout for information that I can put in my toolkit for future us. I think that I enjoy life as much as the next guy, but part of my enjoyment is being aware of the world around me, what’s happening, and what lessons are to be learned.
As philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
I read the news each day from dozens of sources, watch the morning news, and top it off with the “Evening News” on CBS. This drama that we’re going through is the “story of our lifetime”; there’s something interesting about it just about every day. Some of it makes the hair on my neck stand up.
Like today, when I read about the World Health Organization (WHO) investigating reports out of South Korea that 91 patients who were thought to have recovered from the coronavirus tested positive again.
Health officials there are not sure yet whether these cases represent a re-activation of the initial infection or a situation where the recovered patient got re-infected from another source. Needless to say, South Korean and WHO health officials are looking carefully at the lab results to make sure there are no errors and to determine exactly what has happened to these patients.
This is scary stuff, particularly since South Korea has been touted as a model case of aggressive containment of Covid-19…seemingly they’ve done everything right. If what they’ve uncovered is part of the dreaded “second wave” of infection, it is very bad news for the world.
The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, consisted of three “waves” of misery that lasted about two years, with the virus apparently becoming more lethal as it moved through countries and continents. In all, the Spanish Flu infected an estimated 500 million, and killed 15 to 50 million, human beings.
Let us all hope that our political leadership in America is paying careful heed to history and the lessons learned thus far about Covid-19.
There is a fervent political urge in Washington D.C. right now to re-open the U.S. economy, despite the cautions expressed by epidemiologists. These experts, almost to a man, predict additional waves of coronavirus after the initial infection/death curve is flattened. It would be an unforgiveable tragedy if our political leaders “spiked the ball” before reaching the end zone.
Not that our Nation needs any more confused about this catastrophe, but now we’re hearing about charlatans and scam artists who are using the pandemic to defraud good people. Can you believe it?
Sure, it’s not unexpected, but what kind of person manufactures a fake Covid-19 test kit and sells it over the Internet to unsuspecting/scared people? Evidently, there are quite a number of these fake kits, manufactured by different companies. Also on the market are fake cures, including special toothpaste, silver, and essential oils, and fake N-95 masks. It has been estimated that this kind of fraud has already cost consumers $12 million.
I read today about a coronavirus scam which advertised a smartphone “app” which promised to detect contact with an infected person. Once loaded to the cellphone, the wonder “app” actually froze the device and demanded a bitcoin ransom. Jesus, Joseph and Mary…how depraved can one get!!!
The tragedy in a lot of this is that the legitimate CDC-approved testing that we all need so badly to determine what’s going on in our country…is still not available, even while 2,000 people are dying per day and the economy is shut down. WTF!
Covid-19 test kits are hitting the market right now, but they’re not CDC- or FDA-approved, so there’s no way of knowing whether they are accurate. What is worse? Not having had a test, keeping quarantined, and staying scared? Or, having been “tested” with an unapproved, possibly defective lab kit, and then confidently re-entering society and going back to work…while you may actually be infected?
How tragic would it be for someone who takes and “passes” one of these bogus tests to assume that he is immune or no longer spreading the virus, and then goes home and kisses his 90-year-old grandmother?
This seems to be one area where the Federal government needs to get its act right ASAP. First, there should be a mandate that all test kits for sale in the U.S. need to be CDC/FDA-approved. And, second, anyone selling an unapproved version is subject to a large fine and jail time. President Trump should ask Congress to enact these laws this week.
If not, certainly this should be one of the first tasks to be tackled by the newest coronavirus task force that the President says he will be announcing next week.
That’s right, folks, there apparently will be a fourth coronavirus task force. The other three are supposedly still operating and doing whatever they do. However, despite all the task-forcing going on, the Federal effort on Covid-19 seems to be very disjointed to this point…perhaps because there are too many cooks in the kitchen.
There is the official task force led by Vice President Pence, which meets daily and is, probably, responsible for the half-assed Federal effort thus far. Then, there is a “doctors group”, an offshoot of the larger task force, which huddles daily to discuss medical issues and provide some cover for the President’s ludicrous attacks on legitimate experts. A third task force is the one that reports to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose purpose, apparently, is to keep tabs on the other two task forces. The fourth task force, to be named next week, is going to be called the “Opening Our Country Council”. This one will advise the President on when it will be safe to rescind the “stay at home” and “wear a mask” recommendations to that the economy can resume speed.
There’s, of course, a fifth task force. It’s called Donald Trump’s “gut”, and it overrules the other task forces, facts be damned. That task force is the reason the Nation is floundering right now.
Public health experts say that, before returning to normalcy, we should have nationwide virus testing (to determine who has the virus), serological testing (to allow those who have been exposed to the virus and developed immunity to return to work), and contact tracing (quickly tracking all the contacts of an infected person, to halt further spread). All of data gathered will help elected officials make informed decisions about public health.
This is the game plan that South Korea used so effectively to halt the spread of the virus in its tracks.
The United States’ game plan, thus far, is no game plan. As one former senior administration official said, “Everything they’re doing is responding to something that’s already happened”. And, “Coordination (by) this White House has never been a particularly strong suit.”
There may be no seamlessly-executed game plan emerging from the many task forces, but the White House has a desired outcome that overrides all other tasks and activities. One senior administration official worried that some in the Administration are trying to reverse-engineer the re-opening of the economy. “They already know what they want to do and they’re looking for ways to do it.” And, added, “They think it’s time to reopen because some thought it was never time to close, and they’ve made that up in their minds.”
As in, “Okay, folks, we’ve observed the obligatory quarantines and grieving. Now, it’s time to get back to business. Let’s Make America Great Again!”