Daily review 27/02/2020

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, February 27th, 2020 - 21 comments
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Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

21 comments on “Daily review 27/02/2020 ”

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  1. SPC 1
    27 February 2020 at 6:02 pm

    Some bad news on the coronavirus, a Japanese person who got it in late January and recovered has come down with it again. Thus medical staff who get this could get it again treating their patients.

    Some related thoughts

    1. Medical Staff are like fighter pilots in 1940, losing them over France risked the security of the island, so Dowding demanded they be withdrawn from that theatre so island security would not be compromised.

    This means on-line information and diagnosis (and phone lines – video conferencing) and home delivery of chemist medication and prescriptions (pharmacists must also be kept safe). And home visit testing for the coronavirus and a set level for taking people in for treatment (the more people that can isolate and recover in their home the better – supported by business and or volunteer food delivery).

    2. Treatment centres have to be kept separate from the rest of the hospital (such as a separate food service lest their be a cruise liner type outbreak).

    3. Mass and asap flu vaccination to ease pressure on hospitals and workplaces and the health system

    4. China is the first nation to decide to enact a return to work after a mass outbreak quarantine (as this requires a lower level of public contagion, areas are under-estimating their local figures to enable this). This will mean new cases will be under-reported – its a judgment call given the death rate is under 2% and a prolonged quarantine would result in major economic (and political) consequences. Ultimately its a matter of ethical philosophy and utilitarianism.

    An interesting time to be having the euthanasia referendum and a difficult time to be in government in an election year – especially when there is an amoral opposition desperate to fulfill their mandate of greed first for their sponsors.

  2. joe90 2
    27 February 2020 at 7:17 pm

    Being told some of you aren’t rich enough to survive is what all those economically anxious tRump voters were hoping for when they voted for him.

    https://twitter.com/mmcauliff/status/1232784696792297472

    • joe90 2.1
      27 February 2020 at 7:40 pm

      Oh joy.

      A person in Northern California has contracted the coronavirus without traveling to regions hit by the outbreak or coming in contact with anyone known to have the infection, the first sign the disease may be spreading within a U.S. community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday night.

      […]

      The two hospitals are in Solano County, home to Travis Air Force Base, where hundreds of Americans repatriated from China and others brought home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been kept in quarantine. Many of them have been released.

      http://archive.li/kZylj#selection-1439.0-1443.74

      • Anne 2.1.1
        27 February 2020 at 8:09 pm

        No, no, no that's wrong.

        Donald Trump says the risk in America is very low and they are very, very ready for it.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51654494

        angry

          • Macro 2.1.1.1.1
            27 February 2020 at 9:33 pm

            Meanwhile – it's all go…

            The Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the U.S. government’s response to the increasing threat of the novel coronavirus. The agency has also been under the control of acting head Chad Wolf for more than four months, with no full-time replacement selected.

            And Wolf’s testimony Tuesday morning wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring — particularly for one GOP senator.

            Appearing in front of a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Wolf was on the receiving end of a brutal line of questioning from Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.). Throughout the exchange, Wolf struggled to produce basic facts and projections about the disease. Perhaps most strikingly, the hearing came at a time of heightened fears about the disease, with the stock market plunging over new estimates about its spread into the United States. It’s a moment in which you’d expect such things to be top of mind for someone in Wolf’s position.

            Wolf got started on the wrong foot almost immediately, when Kennedy asked him how many cases of the coronavirus there were in the United States. Wolf stated there were 14 but was uncertain about how many cases had been repatriated back to the United States from cruise ships, placing the number at “20- or 30-some-odd.”

            Asked how many DHS was anticipating, Wolf didn’t have an answer and suggested this was the Department of Health and Human Services’ territory. “We do anticipate the number will grow; I don’t have an exact figure for you, though,” Wolf said.

            “You’re head of Homeland Security, and your job is to keep us safe,” Kennedy responded, asking him again what the estimates might be. Wolf talked around the question, which led Kennedy to say, “Don’t you think you ought to check on that, as the head of Homeland Security?”

            “We will,” Wolf responded. He referred to a task force that is working on that issue.

            “I’m all for committees and task forces,” Kennedy said. “I think you ought to know that answer.”

            Things didn’t get much better from there.

            …

            Kennedy asked whether we have enough respirators, and Wolf again wasn’t totally sure. “To my knowledge, we do.” Kennedy responded the committee had been told that wasn’t the case. Wolf seemed to think Kennedy was asking only about equipment for DHS officials and not the broader public.

            A similar exchange occurred on masks. Wolf then tried to push back, noting Kennedy was asking him about “a number of medical questions.”

            “I’m asking you questions because you’re the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,” Kennedy shot back, “and you’re supposed to keep us safe. And you need to know the answers to these questions.”

            Kennedy then asked when a vaccine for the disease might be ready, and Wolf said “several months.” Kennedy again said that conflicted with what the committee had been told elsewhere.

            “Your numbers aren’t the same as CDC’s,” Kennedy said.

            Kennedy concluded by again begging Wolf to have answers to these questions. But as Wolf tried to respond, Kennedy was apparently finished with the whole thing, and he instead yielded his time back.

            The scene was jarring, but it wasn’t without precedent from Kennedy. The Louisiana senator has occasionally sent a message to the Trump administration by lighting into the president’s judicial picks — including in 2017 and last year. He also told administration officials during a hearing on the opioid crisis two months ago, “I don’t speak B.S.”

            Tuesday was particularly striking, though, given who Wolf is. President Trump has left acting officials in charge of major departments and in other Cabinet-level jobs for months and months without picking successors that people like Kennedy would vote to confirm. The downside of that is the people in charge haven’t been vetted as closely for situations such as a potential outbreak of a disease. (DHS has actually been under acting control for more than 10 months now.)

            Whether any one of Kennedy’s individual questions was fair or not, Wolf’s exchange with Kennedy suggested someone who was wasn’t terribly plugged in to what’s going on. That’s not a great sign.

            https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/25/chad-wolf-john-kennedy-coronavirus/

    • Sabine 2.2
      27 February 2020 at 11:16 pm

      It's all good, Pence will pray the flue away, and mother will do the same.

      Faith based healthcare, pray you die quickly and painlessly.

  4. Muttonbird 4
    27 February 2020 at 7:41 pm

    Simon Bridges gets a police escort to his ‘gang’ meeting at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club.

    Fascinating choice of venues for this meeting supposedly about fixing a problems caused on the 'other side of town'. It must be Simon's safe space. Got the police in to protect this high citadel too.

    This is the NACT way. Ignore everything, but create a Raptor Strike Force and build prisons big enough to handle the fall out.

    No action, just reaction.

    Wankers.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12312314

    • A 4.1
      27 February 2020 at 8:40 pm

      For a moment I thought I was reading something from The Onion.

    • Rapunzel 4.2
      28 February 2020 at 8:37 am

      The turnout was pathetic it was similar to the the party faithful & those given a day trip in buses from the local rest homes were escorted to the front of the halls when local turned seriously concerned over the damage from the Rena. It was for "effect" not solutions like the one called to talk to the public the previous week and at which police shared their position and information instead of having to drive around #Simonsworld which is closely resembling planetkey

  5. Muttonbird 5
    27 February 2020 at 8:41 pm

    Farrar watch:

    Does PDF realise he's being had by Chris Trotter when he uses quotes from him as an attack on the left?

    This from Trotter:

    Little’s reaffirmed commitment to introducing legislation aimed at curbing hate speech will, therefore, be received by right-wing New Zealanders as a direct assault upon their personal liberties.

    I think Chris is having a laugh here. He's an intelligent bloke so I wouldn’t want to consider he's dense enough to not see the impact of this statement.

    To me, Trotter is explaining that right-wing New Zealanders' personal liberties are directly linked to hate speech.

    We on the left know this already (how obvious it is after March 15) but it might not have dawned upon DFP and his follows yet.

  6. A 6
    27 February 2020 at 8:46 pm

    Worried for the USA…for a number of reasons the virus will hit them hard (people avoiding medical care due to costs, the fact they are heavily dependent on China for psychotropic medication which most of their population is on and if they are really unlucky are about to go into a rapid, uncontrolled detox from…)

    QUESTION: What happens to the US elections if they have widespread quarantine? The lead up has those rally/debate things which clearly would be impacted by this too.

    Guessed Answer: If the virus is not contained Trump will likely remain as president instead of the election taking place, and that this will cause massive civil unrest.

    • Graeme 6.1
      27 February 2020 at 9:37 pm

      Can't see this gong well for the US. Infection will spread rampant because of the cost of care, and any attempt to restrict movement, to reduce the spread of infection will result in civil unrest.

      Could get messy

      I've got doubts there will be elections in US, or even here. Won't want people congregating.

      At least here we’ve got a chance of a ‘government of national unity / emergency’

    • Sabine 6.2
      27 February 2020 at 11:18 pm

      with a test somewhere between to 1900 with insurance and 3600 without insurance i would not use the word 'avoiding' but rather use the words ' not being able to afford'.

      all the other stuff is par for the course. A dictator will dictate and when the masses upraise he will sic the police and army on them. Who would have thought?

  7. A 7
    27 February 2020 at 9:54 pm

    Aussies showing the world how smart they are…this time it's the Uni's…

    They have decided to pay Chinese students cash grants to go fly via another country, then on to Australia.

    14 days is not long enough and they are taking a huge risk.
    Aye.

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/university-coronavirus-cash-grants-labelled-unethical-and-risky/news-story/d76d993990ff42688da225e7463d83da

    • SPC 7.1
      27 February 2020 at 10:18 pm

      The problem is that it is now more likely we will follow that lead and also take in the students.

      Their universities are paying for these students to quarantine in another country.

      Ours want to to get them in free of cost, and have them quarantine in their places of study residence. Thus they would come here before quarantine – so they might spread on route to this place of residence (then there is the risk of a university hostel becoming a cruise liner petri dish part 2 – and just imagine the political damage if an outbreak occurred in a university hostel after allowing these students in).