Good afternoon, this is the KBOO afternoon news and COVID update.
The death toll for Oregon from COVID-19 stands at 130 today, and Washington State has suffered 957 dead. Testing is still largely inaccessible as the US Federal government has avoided facilitating test distribution. Hospitals in Oregon report some cumulative effects from the COVID crisis, with 265 Adult ICU beds currently in use out of 786 available. Adult non-ICU beds are less impacted with 1927 out of 6812 in use. The total confirmed number of coronavirus cases around the world is nearing 4.2 million, with over 286,000 known deaths. In the U.S., the number of confirmed infections is over 1.3 million, with 80,900 reported deaths.
The credit analysis firm WalletHub has undertaken an extensive study to protect its profits in all 50 States, using a set of data points including homelessness, pervasiveness of comorbidity factors, aging and relative wealth to rank the States according to susceptibility to COVID-19 deaths. Ranking vulnerability in terms of medical, housing, and financial vulnerability, the worst States to survive COVID-19 are, in order, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Oregon ranked second worst in the housing vulnerability category, giving it a 23rd worst among the States' ranking overall. The worst health was found in West Virginia, the worst poverty in Louisiana, and the greatest house deprivation is in Hawaii.
As the infections, death and economic devastation of the pandemic hit Black, Indigenous, and people of color disproportionately across the nation, race aggression has also been on the rise. Radio Havana reports that In New York City, new data from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office show that 35 of 40 people arrested for social distancing violations were Black. Mayor Bill de Blasio has rejected comparison’s to New York City’s unconstitutional “stop-and-frisk” policies under former Mayor Bloomberg, but said in a tweet, “The disparity in the numbers does NOT reflect our values.” This comes as a new study by the Foundation for AIDS Research finds U.S. counties with a predominantly Black population account for over half of the coronavirus cases in the country, and nearly 60% of COVID-19 deaths.
Health experts around the globe have been warning that in most countries, it is too early to relax social distancing rules, particularly in cases like the United States where the general population is circulating the novel coronavirus, without substantial or effective tracking. The Federal guidelines for re-opening are loose by international standards, but even those rules are being flouted by twelve States that have begun to return to pre-pandemic business and social mixing patterns. Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said today that there is already a detectable rise in confirmed cases. He also said that the States that are re-opening early will likely be reporting increased suffering from the coronavirus in a few days. Speaking before the Senate via teleconference, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that if America rushes to reopen without declining infections and proper countermeasures in place for testing, quarantining those affected, contact tracing, hospital capacity, etc, the US faces “the real risk we will trigger an [further] outbreak that we will not be able to control." Responding to a question by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Dr. Fauci said that the pandemic in the US is "not under control." At the same hearing, Senator Bernie Sanders pressed Senate hearing witness Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health, that when a vaccine is developed to immunize people against Covid-19, it would be available to all Americans regardless of income. Giroir dodged a direct answer, saying it was his office’s job to serve “all segments of society”. When Sanders pressed him again on whether everyone would get the vaccine, Giroir dithered, saying “they should, I do not represent..” But Sanders cut him off, saying: QUOTE “You represent an administration that makes that decision.” Giroir then stated all Americans would have access to the vaccine regardless of ability to pay, or any health factors.
Quack medicine advice has been circulating in a widely distributed YouTube video called "Plandemic." The video, produced by a discredited former CDC scientist now denounced for demoagoguery and theft, claims that there are no vaccines for RNA viruses, that wearing masks is inherently unhealthy, and that hydroxychloroquine is the best treatment for COVID-19. All of the claims are demonstrably and factually false. Chloroquine has been shown to cause markedly worse outcomes from coronavirus, including death, masks are essential to reduce person-to-person spread of COVID, and vaccines for the rna viruses that cause rabies, rubella, mumps and measles have saved the lives of millions. YouTube has been trying to take down the video, denying it a platform in order to prevent self-harm by persons whose lack of education makes them vulnerable to false claims.
- KBOO