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šŸ¤® Coronavirus (Community Thread)

Yesā€¦could be, right?! We are hearing about mutations or variations.
Saw that report tooā€¦and kidsā€™ heart issues.

Unreal and terrifying.

:mask:

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WARNING: This one is bad.

This thread might trigger some folks. Itā€™s really, really bad, on so many levels, but it also shows how our prison system is falling apart and violating the 8th amendment in the face of this mess.

Related:

Family of asthmatic inmate held at virus-ravaged prison fears ā€˜death sentenceā€™

Over 50% of the inmates at the federal prison on Terminal Island in Los Angeles have tested positive for COVID-19.


Dr. Rick Bright has formally filed an extensive whistleblower complaint alleging his early warnings about the coronavirus were ignored & that his caution at a treatment favored by Trump led to his removal.



In new whistleblower complaint, ousted vaccine expert alleges Trump put political gain above scientific fact

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This is more like CYAā€¦get away from being nailed for malfeasanceā€¦and keep it all up to the Governors. Say to the American public, thereā€™s nothing to worry aboutā€¦and the Governors are free to open up, even if they do not have numbers which have been continuously lowering for 14 days.

It is such a hack jobā€¦

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/05/coronavirus-update-us/

Live updates: Vice President Pence says coronavirus task force could be disbanded within a month

Vice President Pence told reporters today that the coronavirus task force created to manage the federal governmentā€™s response to the pandemic could be disbanded within a month because ā€œof the tremendous progress weā€™ve made as a country.ā€

The task force is headed by Pence and made up of officials from the administration, including public health officials who have urged a careful approach to easing social distancing restriction put in place to mitigate the outbreak.

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Two whistleblowers relating to the Administrationā€™s handling of the pandemic - Dr. Rick Bright, who complained he was removed from Dept of Health and Human Services (BARDA) and demoted because he did not agree with the hydroxychloroquine push, as well as an intern working for Jared Kushner in his under-the-radar task force.

Dr. Rick Brightā€™s whistleblower complaint

Dr Rick Bright, who was formerly leading the federal governmentā€™s coronavirus vaccine development, officially filed his whistleblower complaint on Tuesday. Bright reiterated that he believes he was removed from his post as the director of the Department of Health and Human Servicesā€™ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (and transferred to a ā€œless impactfulā€ position) because he refused to back President Trumpā€™s preferred, but unproven coronavirus treatment, hydroxychloroquine.

Additionally, Brightā€™s complaint echoes other reports that members of the Trump administration received early warnings about the possibility that Chinaā€™s coronavirus outbreak could result in a pandemic. He singled out HHS Secretary Alex Azar as someone who resisted Brightā€™s quest for resources to combat the virusā€™ spread. But his allegations donā€™t just revolve around COVID-19.

The complaint also describes a culture of ā€œcronyismā€ within the HHS since the nascent days of the Trump administration in 2017. While Bright was running BARDA, the complaint said, he was determined to award contracts to companies looking to develop essential drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics based solely on scientific merit. But he allegedly clashed with top HHS officials, including HHS Assistant Secretary Dr. Robert Kadlec, who ā€œpressuredā€ Bright to ā€œignore expert recommendationsā€ and "award lucrative contracts based on political connections." A lot of the tension reportedly stemmed from what Bright described as the ā€œoutsizedā€ influence of John Clerici, a pharmaceutical industry consultant with longstanding ties to Kadlec.

Eventually, the complaint alleges, that led to ā€œsome discordā€ between Bright and HHS leadership that lasted until his recent removal. Read the full complaint here.

complaint

Intern working for Jared Kushner - Spoke of difficulty with procurements, and lists set up with those who needed special priority, basically cronyism.

The volunteer team played a significant role in helping the government vet leads and send the results to a procurement team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where government officials made final decisions about purchases and procurements, two senior administration officials said. The teamā€™s problems underscore a broader pattern of missteps and missed opportunities that has plagued the Trump administration as it struggles to cope with the pandemic.

The complaint, obtained by The Washington Post, was submitted by a volunteer who has since left the group and who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the administration. Key elements of the complaint were confirmed by six administration officials and one outside adviser to the effort, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

A spokeswoman for the oversight panel declined to comment.

Cronyism and chaos reported in Jaredā€™s task force now expected to wind down.

ā€œThe nature and scale of the response seemed grossly inadequate,ā€ said a volunteer, who like the others signed a nondisclosure agreement and spoke only on the condition of anonymity. ā€œIt was bureaucratic cycles of chaos.ā€

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Very fishyā€¦and the only reason why? Donā€™t get caught in your denials that the State was not affectedā€¦sick numbers are larger than have been revealed/

Florida on Monday night removed data from the Department of Health website that showed 171 patients had coronavirus symptoms or positive test results in January and February, before any cases were announced to the public.

The novel coronavirus could have infected as many as 171 people in Florida as long as two months before officials announced it had come to the state, a Palm Beach Post analysis of state records shows.

Patients reported symptoms of the deadly virus as early as Jan. 1, when the disease was thought to be limited to China, Department of Health records reveal. The records donā€™t say if patients reported those symptoms to the state until months later or if local offices of the health department actively investigated the illnesses at the time or a combination of both.

The state pulled the records off its website late Monday without explanation. Department of Health officials and the governorā€™s office did not answer detailed questions on Tuesday.

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Wondering whyā€¦and how this happened. Murder-suicide is now the methodā€¦but why is the question.

A University of Pittsburgh professor on the verge of making ā€œvery significant findingsā€ researching Covid-19, according to the university, was shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide over the weekend, police said.

The research assistant professor, identified as Bing Liu, was found in his townhouse Saturday with gunshot wounds to the head, neck, torso and extremities, according to the Ross Police Department.

Investigators believe an unidentified second man, who was found dead in his car, shot and killed Liu in his home before returning to his car and taking his own life.

Police believe the men knew each other, but say there is ā€œzero indication that there was targeting due to his (Liu) being Chinese,ā€ according to Detective Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp.

The university issued a statement saying it is ā€œdeeply saddened by the tragic death of Bing Liu, a prolific researcher and admired colleague at Pitt. The University extends our deepest sympathies to Liuā€™s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.ā€

"Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 infection and the cellular basis of the following complications," his colleagues at the universityā€™s Department of Computational and Systems Biology said in a statement.

Members of the universityā€™s School of Medicine describe their former colleague as an outstanding researcher and mentor, and have pledged to complete Liuā€™s research ā€œin an effort to pay homage to his scientific excellence.ā€

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Inexperience and cronyism slowed Kushner-led efforts to procure medical supplies

How Kushnerā€™s Volunteer Force Lead a Fumbling Hunt for Medical Supplies

Young, inexperienced workers scrambled to sort through tips on equipment desperately needed to fight the coronavirus while warehouses ran bare and doctors made their own gear.

Whenever a member of the Trump family gets involved with a project, it is always smart to keep an eye out for the grift.

Save us all from Jared Kushner

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/06/save-us-all-jared-kushner/


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Kushnerā€™s Screwed Up His COVID Jobsā€”Now Heā€™s Got an Even Bigger One

HE WENT TO JARED, AGAIN

Operation Warp Speed is certainly ambitious. But Trumpā€™s own advisers say itā€™s overly so, even with his son-in-law involved.

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Preventing blood clots is becoming a crucial part of caring for COVID-19 patients, both in the hospital and after they leave


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From Axios - Jonathan Swan

A complete breakdown in communication and coordination within the Trump administration has undermined the distribution of a promising treatment, according to senior officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.

Why it matters: The drug, remdesivir, hasnā€™t made it to some of the high-priority hospitals where itā€™s most needed, and administration officials have responded by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, sources said.

Where it stands: Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, donated hundreds of thousands of doses to the federal government after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus patients.

  • More than 32,000 doses of remdesivir were shipped and delivered on Tuesday to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.
  • But many of these doses went to ā€œless impacted counties,ā€ an administration official said.

"Some went to the wrong places, some went to the right places," said one senior official. ā€œWe donā€™t know who gave the order. And no-one is claiming responsibility.ā€

Yes, but: Thatā€™s only about 5% of the total doses that will be distributed.

Behind the scenes: Senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx, were angered about what has transpired here.

  • At Wednesdayā€™s meeting of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Pence personally directed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to take more ownership for getting remdesivir to the places where itā€™s needed, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
  • In subsequent conversations with colleagues, Azar said he had not known about the arrangements that led to mass confusion and misaligned shipments the day before.
  • Azar distanced himself from the debacle despite the fact that one of his top officials, assistant secretary for preparedness and response Robert Kadlec, was intimately involved in the distribution plan.

Between the lines: HHS was supposed to work with FEMA to allocate and distribute remdesivir to coronavirus hotspots around the U.S., but as the problems became apparent to the wider team on Wednesday, neither agency took responsibility.

  • HHS was supposed to be the brains of the operation, using clinical expertise to allocate the drug to the places and hospitals around the country most in need, according a senior administration official, while FEMA was supposed to be the ā€œarms and legsā€ putting that plan into action.
  • But somewhere along the way, communication broke down. Thousands of doses were maldistributed, but as of Thursday, nobody was willing to put their name on this situation.

How it happened: The official said the criteria that determined where the drug was distributed was based off of outdated data, though it was nonetheless the best data the federal government had available

  • The official added that this failure of distribution highlights the need for better data. ā€œBut it more importantly highlights the reason why the administration continues to push a locally-executed response effort, because they [the local jurisdictions] know the data and the distribution better than the federal government.ā€
  • The administration will use more stringent criteria to target the remaining doses to the patients most in need, a source familiar with the planning said.

This dysfunction and blame-shifting inside the Trump administration was vividly highlighted in a CNN story Thursday about how doctors and pharmacists have been struggling to understand the administrationā€™s process for distributing the drug, as the two agencies placed the ultimate responsibility for the plan on each other.

ā€¦

What theyā€™re saying: ā€œAn initial allocation of the drug remdesivir was made to seven states on Tuesday, andā€”after consultation with health expertsā€”HHS will be managing distribution of the next tranche of the treatment to 16 states tonight and tomorrow, based on urgent need,ā€ Devin Oā€™Malley, a spokesman for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told Axios.

  • Trump administration officials worked throughout the day on Thursday on the distribution plan for its next batch of remdesivir.
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ā€œUnlikelyā€? Really? Theyā€™re loud, theyā€™re dumb, they stand against all science and medicine and reason.

No, I think anti-vaxxers and libbers are made for each other.

Reopen California protestsā€™ unlikely organizers: vaccination opponents

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Trump may be eating crow for breakfast.

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Some commentary about the mass deaths, at what point does it actually become genocide? And will we call it that? Human rights violations? How are we going to speak about the mass deaths from this time in the history books?

Iā€™m stunned and shocked by the lack of mourning by our nationā€™s leaders. How are you all dealing with this and how would describe what youā€™re experiencing?

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I was pretty shocked at this term when I read that last night and thought it was maybe a little dramatic, and then a mere split second later my brain was like, ā€œuh yeah that actually makes sense.ā€ I hate this so much. Itā€™s just a rollercoaster of rage and numb and rage again.

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Same, same :pensive:

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Iā€™m getting depressed and having to stay home, alone, on 10 acres isnā€™t helping. Iā€™m also having trouble finishing news articles. And my social media doesnā€™t help either.

I would have to say Iā€™m grieving; for the people who have died, for the medical professionals who have to put their lives on the line even for the idiots who donā€™t want to take precautions, for the death of the America I grew up in.

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I agree seeing the word genocide is really frightening to acknowledge - but for those who endanger the population and do the least amount they can to insure their survival are culpable of participating in the grave horrors like a genocide.

Unfortunately, the nature of a pandemic is that it is rampant, and virulent and gone unchecked, it will wreak havoc on all of our population. Ignoring that danger is no longer just incompetence, it is actively participating in the death of many.

We have a leader who is beyond negligent, passes the buck to the States, and takes no aggressive measures to insure that people will be saved via testing, protective wear, or at all protected (meat workers, convalescent homes and prisons) from this ā€˜unseen enemyā€™ as he likes to call it.

The deviousness of this leader to claim all the reasons he could not stop it were because of otherā€™s faults - Obama, China, bare cupboard etc when in fact he could have taken aggressive measures to curb it.

The upshot of opening early and discarding the CDCā€™s well thought-out considerations do create more conditions for an open trench warfare on those who may be in populations that do not vote Republican (disenfranchised, people of color)ā€¦(I hate to say itā€¦but we see itā€™s true)

It is a scourge, a horror and quite potentially a genocide by any other name. The huge numbers of people whose death could have been prevented and the sadness of their loss is such a sad chapter in our history.

Blessings to those who have lost family members, and those who have suffered.

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