outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

it took illinois about 3 weeks to get from 3700 to 5000 hospitalizations, and that was back in late April, a couple weeks before the deaths started peaking

in other news:

The Trump administration is ending funding and support for local COVID-19 testing sites around the country this month, as cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing in many states.

The federal government will stop providing money and support for 13 sites across five states which were originally set up in the first months of the pandemic to speed up testing at the local level.

Local officials and public health experts expressed a mixture of frustration, resignation, and horror at the decision to let federal support lapse.

...As the pandemic began to batter the United States in March, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency began to deploy Community-Based Testing Sites around the country.

The sites provide testing kits and laboratories, and notify patients of their results. The federal government covers costs, while providing staff and signing its own contracts with third-party vendors.

The Trump administration previously attempted to end support for the testing sites running under the same program in early April. The government reversed the move after a public outcry, extending the sites. The extension is now coming to an end.

Out of a starting number of 41 sites, 13 remain in operation across five states. In addition to Texas’ seven, Illinois and New Jersey each have two, while Colorado and Pennsylvania each have one.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/exclusive-feds-about-to-bail-on-supporting-covid-testing-sites-in-texas-and-other-states

It's all just a joke, hahahahahahahahahahaha

One day, we'll see, one day it will all go away like magic!

We will all be magically relieved of our lives

Fuck. I've been keeping a low profile and trusting that I haven't caught it, but I need to get a test soon before I travel and I heard the sites are starting to throttle who can get one because of decreasing availability.

“the flu”

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2645529/?utm_source=embed&fbclid=IwAR1uOsjF26w23XnKjIp_CXFbM1NAso6SVVKN8TFn7kuZ8e1SOXy_oRhchjU

go easy, sic

lol busted!

Please sic don’t hurt ‘im!

i imagine sic to be sifting through those URLs like the guy in Pi examines the stock market, looking for patterns and secrets

i secretly love it, i’m a pervert

so was the guy in Pi, iirc (not really, but it adds a fun undercurrent to the movie)

sic?

https://www.pinterest.com/mitchelljjohnso/sic-knives/?utm_source=embed&fbclid=IwAR1uOsjF26w23XnKjIp_CXFbM1NAso6SVVKN8TFn7kuZ8e1SOXy_oRhchjU

the sic-nal has been activated

https://i.imgur.com/9OPiETA.jpg

hahaha

A+++

pmsl

incredible

*applause*

:)

just so it's clear, i love sic's thing with those URLs

he doesn't even have to do it anymore

lmao karl

WE'RE DOING IT FOR HIM

xp exactly, it was a really successful effort!

i am sic-partacus

The Trump admin. plans to end federal funding and support for coronavirus testing sites at the end of this month,
@NBCNews
has learned.

smart

The level of proud, willful ignorance among Trump and the CHUDs is truly staggering.

no, that can't be right. that was all a joke, remember?

extremely bad

NEW: Houston’s intensive-care units are now filled to 97 percent of capacity.https://t.co/1iRAyBks9p

— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) June 24, 2020

we did it

The Washington Post reports:

Across the United States, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by state health departments on Wednesday — surpassing the previous single-day record of 34,203 set on April 25. Texas, Florida and California led the way, with all three states reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece.

Oh no, Tulsa...https://t.co/r2O0tT4QXZ pic.twitter.com/yGeaHO7auL

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) June 24, 2020

what will it take for abbott to shut down texas? anything?

depends on if Republicans are still death cultists

Ron Howard: “they were”

I feel like it's really down in the big 'first spike' cities i.e. London, New York, though? Both cases and deaths?

the sad predictability of it all.

the trump administration has the blood of these people on their hands for a hundred other reasons but one of the most immediate egregious and pernicious act of COVID-related malevolence has to be the years of "don't trust the news." They set these people up to disbelieve helpful warnings and months of opportunities to properly prepare. It's hard to believe the number of people south of the mason dixon I had to repeatedly swear to that this was about death and illness and was not open to political debate. New York was not a mirage!

So ... death numbers generally lag infections by a couple of weeks, right? Infection spikes in and of themselves are one thing, but spikes that translate to big spikes in deaths and/or ICU hospitalizations are another. Doubling rate is another important number. According to covidexitstrategy.org, OK doubling rate is at 20 days right now (for comparison, AZ is down to 12 and FL is around 19; IL is at 153, but was down to 2 at its worst). Def. going the wrong direction in a lot of places, which is ... one way to learn a lesson. Or not.

xpost New York doubling rate (state, not city) is currently 416 days, which, yeah, is a big improvement. There is no way to know until we know, but I guess we'll find out if the cold weather states spike again once people go back inside, or the hot weather states subside a little when people leave the A/C. Though of course we'll hit some point this summer where every place will be hot, so I guess we'll see then.

https://gothamist.com/news/ny-nj-and-ct-impose-14-day-quarantine-visitors-states-high-coronavirus-infection-rates
vaccine vs civil war conversations on the horizon

I feel like it's really down in the big 'first spike' cities i.e. London, New York, though? Both cases and deaths?

For the moment. I can't comment on NYC, but all it means is that London is going to be the big 'second spike' city.

... in the UK, that is.

Greetings from california where I just decided to do a massive food shop tomorrow because it feels like things are about to get really real.

Just saw a news headline that "experts" are saying the US death toll may hit 300,000 by winter. That seems like a very achievable number.

it's amazing that we're in month 5 of this and republicans are still in denial until it actually personally affects them

good luck everyone

Abbott made comments today suggesting that he is coming around to new restrictions, although very slowly

xxpost Well, I might say 'even after' rather than 'until' but yeah