US News: US round-up: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-08-28/new-coronavirus-cases-nationwide-are-down-but-experts-warn-not-to-relax-mitigation-measures%20?src=usn_nl_coronavirus . Many experts believe the re-opening of schools and colleges will be the fall wave. Another NY college suspends in-person classes due to increased infections: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-york/articles/2020-08-30/suny-campus-to-shut-for-2-weeks-after-spike-in-virus-cases?src=usn_nl_coronavirus .
WSJ: US round-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-08-31-2020-11598862407 . US cases surpass 6 million, while cases for August have declined from July.
Some contrarian thinking on vaccine development: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/31/china-covid-19-vaccine-first-401636 . The details provided on the Oxford trials are not reassuring.
Some more contrarian thinking, at the White House: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/31/china-covid-19-vaccine-first-401636 . Atlas has previously been widely criticized for his lack of meaningful experience in public health generally or vaccine development in particular, and of course (1) the Swedish approach is widely regarded as a failure, as it produced substantial mortality with no evidence of significant movement toward herd immunity, and (2) Americans are more social and mobile than the Swedes, so that the Swedish experience is not regarded as clearly applicable to other societies, particularly the US.
And even more, AT THE FDA: https://www.ft.com/content/f8ecf7b5-f8d2-4726-ba3f-233b8497b91a .
Need2Know’s insightful comment on FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn’s statement that FDA would approve a vaccine before all clinical trials were completed if “appropriate”: So basically WE’RE the clinical trial. Got it.
WSJ: “Pandemic pods” for kids not attending public school: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-parents-forming-pandemic-pods-hunt-for-classroom-space-11598713200 .
WSJ: The problems in special education: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-remote-learning-children-with-disabilities-face-unique-challenges-11598866202 .
Census data quality headed downward: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/29/905846761/the-census-scales-back-a-critical-step-checking-its-own-work . Despicable.
Same for police forces: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report .
WSJ: The history of COVID-19 supply chain problems: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-trump-sowed-covid-supply-chaos-try-getting-it-yourselves-11598893051 . While this information is mostly well-known, the juxtaposition of the Massachusetts and Maryland resupplies hit me more clearly. In both cases, fearing a repeat of federal seizures of supplies bought by the states, the governor (one Republican, one Democrat) used state police to guarantee the feds could not intervene. Yes, I’m sensitized to this particular problem by living in Portland, but everyone should get the idea that having to expend state resources to protect medical supplies for the local population demonstrates how wrong-headed the federal government currently is (the double-entendre that emerged from “wrong-headed” was unintended but appropriate).
Loss of health coverage in the US: https://www.epi.org/publication/health-insurance-and-the-covid-19-shock/ . The estimate is that 6.2 million workers have lost coverage, which with associated dependents translates to 12 million Americans losing health coverage. The references are also of interest; this one shows a concentration of uninsured populations in the Deep South and Nevada: https://familiesusa.org/resources/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-resulting-economic-crash-have-caused-the-greatest-health-insurance-losses-in-american-history/ .
Sturgis: Attendees then visited 61% of US counties: https://apnews.com/3ea1a021f82fee05736f22138df90ddf . While much of the US has seen a gradual decline in cases, the upper Midwest is seeing increases. Over 100 coronavirus cases have been specifically traced to Sturgis.
Animals which have been infected with COVID-19 by humans: lions, tigers (handlers); domestic cats, dogs (owners); and minks (farmhands).
Election officials make adjustments for in-person voting: https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-08-30/coronavirus-worries-force-election-officials-to-get-creative?src=usn_nl_coronavirus .
No relief package in sight: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/514211-bad-blood-between-pelosi-meadows-complicates-coronavirus-talks . The article’s content indicates Meadows is generally not well liked or respected. The expectation has been that a deal would be cut primarily between Mnuchin and Pelosi, but that some Senate Republicans continue to be reluctant to provide any additional relief.
WSJ: More concern over financial oversight of pandemic loans: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sba-loan-program-contractor-and-rocket-loans-face-scrutiny-11598799601 .
WSJ: Fed reaching limit of effective tools: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-lays-out-new-goals-but-its-tools-could-be-lacking-11598796001 . Not a confidence builder …
WSJ: Weird times in US banking: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-coronavirus-is-doing-weird-things-to-the-banking-industry-11598779800 .
WSJ: Advisors fail to disclose misdeeds: https://www.wsj.com/articles/financial-firms-fail-to-own-up-to-advisers-past-misdeeds-11598698800 . Also not a confidence builder …
WSJ: TikTok deal slowed by Chinese rules: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-deal-talks-slowed-over-new-china-rules-designed-to-affect-sale-11598821033 . PUH-LEEZ sell the damn thing, or not – we are all tiring of this saga …
WSJ: California wildfires continue: https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-fire-season-may-worsen-with-resources-already-thin-11598717006 .
WSJ: COVID-19 forcing reverse Venezuelan migration: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-forces-100-000-venezuelan-migrants-back-to-broken-country-11598792401 . Being poor sucks.
Italy’s recession the worst since WWII: https://www.thelocal.it/20200831/italy-plunges-into-recession-following-coronavirus-shutdown . Still have my movie hat on from yesterday; this reminded me of another great movie, Life is Beautiful, winning 3 Academy Awards in 1997. The movie is sad, but if you remember Roberto Benigni, the great Italian comedian, jumping on the theater seats from row to row when he won Best Actor, you’ll smile.
India contraction worse than expected: https://sports.yahoo.com/india-economic-growth-hit-record-132451847.html .
The coronavirus in Africa: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-the-worlds-coronavirus-blind-spot-fears-of-a-silent-epidemic-11598806800 .
The third wave: global food crisis is building: https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/hunger-is-threatening-to-kill-more-people-than-covid-this-year . And: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/09/world-faces-worst-food-crisis-50-years-un-coronavirus .
A brief history of QAnon: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/26/1007611/how-qanon-is-targeting-evangelicals/ . The use of “gospel truth” in this article is ironic to say the least.
More on the politics of civil unrest: https://thedailynotable.com/2020/08/31/portland-shooting-amplifies-tensions-in-us-presidential-race-daily-notable/ (link replaced 10/8/20). The comment concerning “hundreds of trucks” does not appear accurate. Local reporting and videos in Portland indicate that there was a truck procession organized at a suburban mall that drove downtown but stayed on the 405 freeway. There is no video or reporting that “hundreds of trucks” were involved, and the organizing group has a very small number of supporters. It was a small split-off group that exited the freeway and went on downtown streets; video here indicates it was a handful of trucks (like 4 to 6).
Mike Baker was on “Meet the Press” yesterday (Sunday), and his reporting was to me quite accurate, although he did use the word “huge” in relation to the mall gathering: https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-august-30-2020-n1238812 (Baker’s comments are very near the start of the transcript).
Meanwhile, the governor has issued a plan to curb the violence: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/us/governor-brown-portland-plan-curb-protests/index.html . More local reporting: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/subdued-portland-protest-draws-forceful-police-response-sunday-one-night-after-fatal-shooting-key-takeaways.html . Yet more local reporting: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/30/portland-trump-cruise-rally-protest-rogue-river-pendleton/ . As to this last article, it does give an attendance figure of 2,500 at the mall and “hordes” of trucks at that location. It also indicates Mr. Trump’s calling out of Portland in his acceptance speech “energized” the organization and attendance of the mall gathering. WSJ: Still more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-portland-man-fatally-shot-as-rival-protesters-clash-11598769075 .
First college football game of the fall “season”: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/2020/08/29/austin-peay-central-arkansas-things-learned-return-college-football-first-game-covid-19-fcs-kickoff/5671882002/ . And: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/2020/08/30/austin-peay-central-arkansas-much-more-first-college-footbal-game-covid-19-era-social-injustice-fcs/5673458002/ . So they published two write-ups of the same game, by all accounts pretty awful for the first 56 minutes. These are not normal times.