US sets daily case record: https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-cases/u-s-breaks-daily-record-for-coronavirus-cases-with-nearly-84000-new-infections-idUSFWN2HE1ON . Well, we’ve turned a corner, all right …
US faces over half a million COVID-19 deaths by the end of February, 2021: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-us-masks/us-faces-half-a-million-covid-19-deaths-by-end-february-study-finds-idUSKBN27823B .
WSJ: Rocky Mountain states the latest hot spot: https://www.wsj.com/articles/rocky-mountain-states-emerge-as-new-covid-19-hotspot-11603454400 .
WSJ: Strange bedfellows in the vaccine race: https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-find-a-coronavirus-vaccine-glaxosmithkline-is-bonding-with-its-biggest-competitors-11603512029 .
WSJ: Merck misjudges vaccine response: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-merck-is-playing-catch-up-in-the-coronavirus-vaccine-chase-11603470832 . Note that Dr. Perlmutter announced his retirement earlier this month. That may not be a coincidence. If the RNA-based vaccines of competitors are successful, that may herald competition for Merck’s other vaccines.
Vaccine skepticism from a professional: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/21/covid-vaccine-immunisation-protection . While caution is reasonable, the sky is not falling. First, some early results indicated efficacies much higher than 75%. Second, there are so many vaccine candidates it will be possible over time not only to identify the most effective ones, but also to determine if different vaccines are more effective for certain ages or other subgroups. People can and will be revaccinated as we learn more. The new normal will likely include more remote work and handwashing. Mask-wearing may be used at the first sign of an outbreak. We will also figure out contact tracing at some point.
WSJ: Health data privacy in the pandemic: https://www.wsj.com/articles/french-court-asks-microsoft-for-safeguards-against-u-s-surveillance-of-health-data-11603445400 . As has been suggested previously in this newsletter, we need a 21st century definition of privacy.
WSJ: Modeling pandemic deaths: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-covid-19-death-rate-predictions-have-changed-since-march-11603445400 .
HHS hospitalization data flawed: https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-michael-brown-2dfc5b8a8a097470f9277db821c00ef5 . I’m glad the people involved don’t work in air traffic control.
Bubble dining: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/23/927171065/coronavirus-faqs-whats-up-with-bubble-dining-should-you-hand-out-halloween-candy . This article makes the important point that when you eat outdoors in a bubble, there’s no airflow. So, you probably need to be dining with people from your household. Also, given the airborne nature of the virus, you are at some risk from the last group in the bubble.
WSJ: US round-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-updates-10-23-2020-11603442326 .
WSJ: Pennsylvania is the battleground state hardest hit by COVID-19: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-deaths-job-losses-hit-pennsylvania-hardest-of-2020-battlegrounds-11603445402 . The by-county map in this article is quite interesting. The blue states in this map match the so-called Democratic (or “blue” states) quite well. So the Democratic states are hardest hit by the employment losses. This means their state and local budgets are suffering the worst from loss of revenue. These states are not mismanaged. They simply have the greatest revenue shortfall caused by the pandemic.
WSJ: Will a COVID-19 misstep flip a Senate seat?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tight-iowa-race-takes-center-stage-in-fight-for-senate-control-11603458000 .
WSJ: Fed again calls for stimulus: https://www.wsj.com/articles/officials-call-for-quick-stimulus-deal-to-forestall-lackluster-u-s-economic-recovery-11603450801 . I scream, you scream, everybody but Republican Senators are screaming for a relief package. https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-democrats-point-fingers-on-stalled-coronavirus-stimulus-talks-11603479678 .
WSJ: US consumer debt performance: https://www.wsj.com/articles/capital-one-opens-wallet-on-credit-performance-11603450802 .
WSJ: Uber, Lyft drivers are employees: https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-and-lyft-must-classify-drivers-as-employees-appeals-court-says-11603416727 . This will all be superseded by driverless cars. The question in the meantime is to what extent Wall Street can exploit the drivers.
Wells Fargo now agrees with Oregon woman that she’s alive: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wells-fargo-now-agrees-with-oregon-woman-shes-not-dead-after-all/ar-BB1al0co?li=BBnb7Kz . Thinking of doing business with Wells Fargo? Why?
WSJ: Intel weakens: https://www.wsj.com/articles/intels-cloud-thickens-11603449000 . After its exit from the memory chip business earlier this week, Intel seems adrift. Will 5G be the answer?
WSJ: The wall to nowhere: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-races-to-meet-border-wall-goal-11603454404 . We are spending billions for no apparent reason.
WSJ: Will developed economies stall?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/second-coronavirus-wave-destabilizes-european-recovery-11603443406 . This article’s conclusions seem disconnected from its facts. Europe is being hammered by the latest surge. The US is not far behind. Since the US surge is hitting rural areas, access to care is an increasing concern. In particular, many of the improvements in COVID-19 care involve rapid intervention.
WSJ: The lockdown naysayers: https://www.wsj.com/articles/epidemiologists-stray-from-the-covid-herd-11603477330 . While I profoundly disagree, this article is included in the interest of providing an alternative viewpoint. Broad lockdowns could have been avoided if we had contained the virus and implemented effective contact tracing and testing. The expansion of the pandemic into rural areas demonstrates the dangers of allowing a highly contagious virus to embed itself into the population. We have larger health AND economic problems as a result.
“The outlook sucks”: https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/10/23/rising-coronavirus-hospitalizations . Not very upbeat, but much more in line with my view.
WSJ: Huawei chip headaches: https://www.wsj.com/articles/huawei-shows-signs-of-strain-from-u-s-pressure-on-chips-11603453803 .
WSJ: Will China dominate the electric vehicle market?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-wants-to-be-the-worlds-ev-factory-it-may-succeed-11603453014 .
Trump’s secret Chinese bank account: https://www.nbcnews.com/rachel-maddow-show/secret-chinese-bank-account-remains-problem-trump-n1244505 . The story here: Once again, the President was aware of the problem. His preparation was to make up obviously stupid lies. Same old, same old …
Republicans litigate voting: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/23/trump-campaign-lawsuit-new-jersey-431626 . So, we know we’re going to lose, but we’re going to spend millions arguing frivolous lawsuits. Why? Why would anyone contribute to this campaign? Once the legislature passed a bill validating the governor’s actions, this goose was cooked.
A Trump media empire?: https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/22/kushner-floating-trump-branded-media-company/ . Actually, there already is one. It would be acceptable to see it migrate to cable, given that means from the White House.
The McConnell bruises: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/23/mitch-mcconnell-health-hands-bruising . This is really weird. It is clearly a health issue.
The fight over information about information: https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-seeks-shutdown-of-nyu-research-project-into-political-ad-targeting-11603488533 . Facebook is picking the wrong fight here.
Economic charts for the last 20 years: https://www.businessinsider.com/charts-contrasting-trump-economy-obama-bush-administrations-republicans-democrats-2020-10 .
Big 10 kicks off after an initial pass and now a COVID-19 rush: https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-ten-football-returnsas-covid-19-surges-in-the-midwest-11603450800 . We are typically more than halfway through the season by now. Last year, Ohio State was 8-0 on October 26, finishing 13-1 (losing the championship game to Clemson).