As we move into uncharted territory, remember that the virus doesn’t really care about cabin fever or the state economy. Herein, we try to address questions that keep coming up.
BuzzFeed:
Is It OK To Go To A Park Or Beach? We Asked Seven Experts.
Images of people in New York crowding a park and not wearing masks went viral this weekend. Here’s what coronavirus experts say about parks and beach trips.
I think we have to keep in mind that somewhat arbitrary distance of 6 feet. But I think 6 feet or farther is definitely safer than closer than 6 feet to people. So I think distancing is one measure that can help.
I think the other measure that can help is limiting the time that you’re closer than 6 feet with other people.
Jennifer Rubin/WaPo:
Trump’s damage is already done. He may not be able to save himself.
To the extent the election becomes a referendum on Trump’s handling of the pandemic, he will find it hard slogging, even in red states. Some stunning polls suggest the race is competitive in places where Trump should be winning easily. In Montana, a University of Montana poll finds: “Trump leading Biden by just 5 points, 45% to 40%, despite winning there by 20 points in 2016. A [Democratic] presidential candidate last won Montana in 1992, when Bill Clinton narrowly edged out George H.W. Bush by 2.5% as part of a landslide electoral college victory.” In Texas, the last two polls show Trump and Biden in a statistical dead heat. (Trump won by nine points in 2016.) And in North Carolina, which Trump won by almost four points, one poll shows Biden leading by seven points, and others show a dead heat.
Meanwhile, from WaPo, with more to come:
Ousted vaccine official alleges he was demoted for prioritizing ‘science and safety’
Rick Bright says in a whistleblower complaint that he resisted pressure from HHS leaders to make ‘potentially harmful’ antimalarial drugs widely available
A former top vaccine official removed from his post last month alleged in a whistleblower complaint on Tuesday that he was reassigned to a less prestigious role because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency” and raised health concerns over a drug repeatedly pushed by President Trump and other administration officials as a possible cure for coronavirus.
See Joan McCarter’s story on the whistleblower, icymi.
My twitter friend DemSign took something I wrote (the Burma Shave thing) and made it pretty:
WaPo:
Americans widely oppose reopening most businesses, despite easing of restrictions in some states, Post-U. Md. poll finds
The opposition expressed by sizable majorities of Americans reflects other cautions and concerns revealed in the survey, including continuing fears among most people that they could become infected by the coronavirus, as well as a belief that the worst of the medical crisis is not yet over.
About half of states have eased restrictions on businesses, but Americans’ unease about patronizing them represents a major hurdle to restarting the economy. Many Americans have been making trips to grocery stores and 56 percent say they are comfortable doing so. But 67 percent say they would be uncomfortable shopping at a retail clothing store, and 78 percent would be uncomfortable eating at a sit-down restaurant. People in states with looser restrictions report similar levels of discomfort as those in states with stricter rules.
Keep in mind that your opinion will depend on where you live. However..
And here is another strong point. The number of people who personally are aware of someone affected is growing:
Here’s some polling for you to consider.
KTVH:
MSU Poll: Bullock leads Daines in Senate contest
Bullock up 46-39; within margin of error
The online poll, which surveyed 738 Montanans in mid-to-late April, asked registered, likely voters who they would support, if the election for Senate were held now. Just over 46 percent said they’d choose Bullock and 39 percent supported Daines.
Read of the day is from Evan Osnos/New Yorker:
How Greenwich Republicans Learned to Love Trump
To understand the President’s path to the 2020 election, look at what he has provided the country’s executive class.
On the ground where I grew up, some of America’s powerful people have championed a version of capitalism that liberates wealth from responsibility. They embraced a fable of self-reliance (except when the fable is untenable), a philosophy of business that leaches more wealth from the real economy than it creates, and a vision of politics that forgives cruelty as the price of profit. In the long battle between the self and service, we have, for the moment, settled firmly on the self. To borrow a phrase from a neighbor in disgrace, we stopped worrying about “the moral issue here.”
Politico:
‘Viewers will get tired of another season’: Trump and governors shrug off White House guidance
After nearly two months of a nationwide shutdown, Trump and other officials are turning their attention to what comes next — despite rising warnings about undoing recent progress.
Trump’s own health advisers have expressed skepticism about some of the reopening plans at businesses like hair salons or spas. Some are simply urging Americans to stay 6 feet apart this summer and avoid large gatherings as the virus continues to spread, with no clear timeline for a cure. Other public health experts warn that restarting businesses across the nation now could undo the good caused by weeks of social distancing.
Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s School of Public Health, warned of repeating an earlier cycle of the outbreak by opening up too quickly while the disease continues spreading through thousands of transmission chains. “As each of those communities begin to open up, we won't have sufficient herd immunity for anything different to happen from what we saw in January or February,“ Mina said.
David Colton/USA today:
We need to mourn coronavirus losses, not just track the grim tally of deaths
Media coverage seems clinical and for-the-record when it needs to be somber and shared, like reading the 9/11 names or the ones on the Vietnam wall.
To compile anything approaching a definitive list of the dead would likely require a combined effort of federal, state and local health agencies, and cooperation by national and local media outlets across the nation. With newsroom employment cut by 50% since 2004, it is a challenge unprecedented in the news business.
But it is an effort, community by stricken community, worthy of the disaster facing us.
One of the media's challenges in a post-pandemic age will be to reveal many more of the faces behind the cold statistics.
He saw it on Fox News and flipped out.