Tag: coronavirus

Join Jim and Greg for three crazy martinis that could easily be all bad. First, they comment on oil prices plummeting faster than we can keep up with them and discuss why our economy suffers if prices are too low for too long. They also recoil as one vaccine expert says the public should brace for the possibility that it may be very difficult or impossible to develop a coronavirus vaccine – although he is from the WHO. And they hammer New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for urging New Yorkers to rat on their neighbors for not properly social distancing.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Member Post

 

Do you ever feel like you’re living in some kind of an alternate reality? How could you not? The United States of America, the most powerful and dynamic country in world history, along with most Western countries, is almost totally shut down because of . . . a virus! That’s right, the country is not […]

Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Get your first month free.

On this episode, Charlotte interviews Dr. Whitney Morgan who is a pediatrician in Texas! She answers all of Charlotte’s questions about viruses and what kids can do to stay safe in our communities!

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. A New Hope?

 

How many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 without being detected?

As everyone knows, that is the most important unanswered question in this sordid pandemic to date. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 is often mild or even completely asymptomatic, and with the tremendous gaps in testing in the US it is self-apparent that many cases have gone undetected, both by the authorities and by patients themselves. But knowing this figure is crucial for two major reasons: first, anyone who has been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (and survived) is now presumably immune and can re-enter society with few worries. But second, the larger the percentage of undetected cases turns out to be, the less menacing the virus becomes. Yet despite well over 5,000 scientific papers on the novel coronavirus in the past four months, there has not been a single reliable “antibody study” to date. Until today.

Join Charlotte Pence Bond as she explains to kids what the coronavirus guidelines are and why it’s so important – and selfless – of us to follow them! She also answers some questions from kids all over America!

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Trump Releases Plan for ‘Opening Up America Again’

 

President Trump spoke with governors on a conference call Thursday and released a plan to re-open the economy after a month of shutdowns. Titled “Opening Up America Again” (PDF link here), the document guides state and local officials on the loosening of restrictions on businesses and citizens with a phased approach.

Before a state or county begins to open, the White House recommends meeting the following criteria:

  • Downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses reported within a 14-day period and a downward trajectory of COVID-like syndromic cases reported within a 14-day period.
  • Downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period, or a downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests).
  • Ability of hospitals to treat all patients without crisis care, and have a robust testing program in place for
    at-risk healthcare workers, including emerging antibody testing.

It’s up to local leaders to tailor the measures to the facts on the ground (i.e., crowded city vs. rural county). It is the state’s responsibility to ensure testing, monitor hospital capacity, and provide specific plans to protect health and safety.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Gloomy Coronavirus Forecasts Ignore American Innovative Genius

 

Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the government’s coronavirus task force, on a tour of 3M’s Innovation Center in Maplewood, MN, March 5, 2020.
“Technology” and “innovation” aren’t magic words. And saying we need to “science the s—” out of the coronavirus pandemic (to paraphrase a quote from the 2015 film The Martian) isn’t some modern incantation. Doing things in a better way or a totally new way is how we solve problems. It’s how we make the future we want.

Of course, it’s easier to make forecasts if you assume none of that stuff is going to happen. That tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today. But such forecasts will miss a lot. A vibrant and open democratic capitalist society will have a powerful, bottom-up reaction function. In Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, a Greg Ip piece includes this great quote from Northwestern University economic historian Joel Mokyr: “We have this huge reservoir of creative energy spread around the economy. When you have an event like this all of a sudden, everyone says, ‘Oh wow let’s look at this problem let’s see what I can do to solve it.’”

Member Post

 

Jonah Goldberg has a worthwhile take in https://gfile.thedispatch.com/p/new-deals-old-arguments/comments Pointing out that the Democrats are going to repackage their Green New Deal, or something like it, as a Coronavirus recovery plan, he suggests a better analogy is the Marshall Plan. What kind of streamlining and governmental reform can be used as a force multiplier with government […]

Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Get your first month free.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. MI Governor Loses ‘Consent of the Governed’

 
Picture of Gov. Gretchen Whitmore (D-MI)
Gov. Gretchen Whitmore (D-MI)

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s handling of the COVID-19 lockdown has stood out as one of the most severe and arbitrary in the US. Michiganders are unable to purchase gardening supplies but lottery tickets are fine. They can travel to Walmart but not to their cabins in the countryside. They can paddle a canoe but can’t ride a jet ski.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Quote of the Day: Kimberley Strassel on how D’s and R’s respond to the Wuhan Coronavirus Crisis

 

From the Friday, April 3 column entitled “Pols Face a Coronavirus Test”:

Example: The Trump administration spent this week distributing ventilators, standing up small-business loans, dispatching hospital ships, erecting alternate care facilities, explaining virus modeling, revamping regulations to keep truckers on the road, and plastering the airwaves with information about hygiene and social distancing. Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent this week setting up a new House committee to investigate Donald Trump.

Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the late evangelical leader Billy Graham, joins Howard Husock to discuss his organization’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the volunteers behind these efforts, and how secular Americans can better understand faith-inspired philanthropic work.

In New York City’s Central Park, Graham’s disaster-relief organization set up a field hospital to treat patients overflowing from nearby Mount Sinai Hospital. Since the facility opened, its medical teams have treated more than 100 patients. Graham notes that he’s following in his grandfather’s footsteps, providing medical help not only in New York but also in China, where Samaritan’s Purse has donated supplies and personal protective equipment. “American civil society,” writes Husock, “diverse and self-organized, still responds to need.”

Member Post

 

In a way, it’s great that we’re now debating who really has the “authority” and the “power” to reopen our economy. It means that despite some 22,000 deaths thus far (the number will grow) – far less than the 100,000-240,000 estimated by modeling “experts” as little as two weeks ago – it appears we are […]

Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Get your first month free.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Flatten the Curve… or So We Were Told

 

Let’s not lose sight of the original objective. We were told the objective was to flatten the curve so as not to ‘overwhelm’ hospitals. Fine. The objective was never to eradicate the virus. In fact, we wanted to prolong the life of the virus so we could ‘flatten’ the curve.

According to the IHME, the worst is over in NY.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Sanitary Theater

 

For a long time, the procedures we go through with TSA at airports have been described as “Security Theater.” That is, they are less designed to actually be effective, but more to make people feel that something is being done.

I think we are now going through a similar “sanitary theater” now. Lots of blue gloves, but no-one ever changes them. At the local grocery store, an obvious point of contamination was the credit card reader keyboard which was used by everyone. That was “fixed” by putting a thin plastic film over the keyboard. Of course, that film isn’t changed, so it is basically the same issue as before.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Post of the Week Created with Sketch. Changing My Mind on “Country of Origin” Labeling Thanks to China

 

I’ve always tried hard to keep an open mind on all issues, whether religion, trade, national security, you name it. I’ve now changed my mind on an issue I’ve worked on for more than 20 years as a food lobbyist (now retired): country of origin labeling.

It’s been an uphill battle, until now. Most Americans have long been interested in knowing where their products come from, even if they have to meet the same safety standards as domestic products. That’s mostly true in the food world. My argument: all foods sold in the US have to meet the same safety and labeling standards, no matter where grown or raised. Even though we know that most of the world’s food safety “issues” seem to come from products made in two countries (there are others, in fairness): Mexico, but especially China. And frankly, most Americans really haven’t changed their buying habits because of country of origin labeling. But I think that’s about to change, and in a big way.