CORONA Main Coronavirus thread

marsh said:

U.S. essential workers hold May Day strike, demand time off, hazard pay

Employees of Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, Fedex and other companies will walk off the job or call out sick on International Workers' Day in cities across the U.S.

abc7news.com

U.S. essential workers hold May Day strike, demand time off, hazard pay

By Christopher Weber
Friday, May 1, 2020 11:58AM

Video at site 2:05 min

Essential workers will strike nationwide on May Day to demand safer conditions during the coronavirus outbreak, while other groups plan rallies against tight stay-at-home orders they say are crippling the U.S. economy.

Organizers say employees of Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, Fedex and other companies have become the unexpected frontline workers of the pandemic. Employees will walk off the job or call out sick Friday on International Workers' Day in cities across the U.S. to demand unpaid time off work, hazard pay, sick leave, protective gear and cleaning supplies.

They say flawed policies by employers caused some of their co-workers to contract COVID-19.

"For these reasons, we are engaging in a mass sickout and exercising our right to refuse unsafe work conditions," according to a statement by Whole Foods workers.

Demonstrations are planned in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and other cities. Protesters are asking consumers not to cross picket lines or use those companies' services for the day in solidarity.

Meanwhile nurses will take to the streets outside more than 130 hospitals in 13 states to protest a lack of personal protective equipment and the punishments they endure when they speak out about the problem. More than 60 nurses across the country have died of COVID-19, according to organizers.

"Nurses signed up to care for their patient. They did not sign up to sacrifice their lives on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Bonnie Castillo with National Nurses United.

Across the country, workers who interact with the public - nurses, grocery store workers and delivery drivers among them - have taken action in recent weeks to protect themselves. Rolling job actions have popped up across the limping economy, including by Pittsburgh sanitation workers who walked off their jobs and fast-food employees in California who left restaurants to perform socially distant protests in their cars.

In response to planned protests by its workers, Amazon said in a statement: "While we respect people's right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis. We have gone to extreme measures to understand and address this pandemic."

Amazon said it has spent more than $800 million on COVID19 safety measures including masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and installing hand-washing stations at warehouses.

Walmart is conducting daily temperature checks and is providing masks and gloves to store and warehouse workers, the company said.

Pro-labor protesters who typically take to the streets on May 1 hope to get some of the attention back from recent headline-grabbing demonstrations demanding states loosen shelter-in-place orders and "reopen."

In Michigan, hundreds of protesters swarmed the Capitol on Thursday to denounce the state's stay-home order and business restrictions. They hoisted signs that said, "Shut down the lockdown" and "No work no freedom."

Similar protests occurred last month in Sacramento against Gov. Gavin Newsom's orders that people remain at home except for essential activities. Additional similar rallies have been happening across California and the nation, with more planned Friday.

The organization Freedom Angels said it will demonstrate at the California Capitol while a group calling itself We Have Rights will rally in Los Angeles and other Southern California cities. A protest in Huntington Beach will likely focus on Newsom's decision to close beaches in Orange County after thousands clustered on the sand last weekend.

Similarly, "MAGA May Day" car rallies by supporters of President Donald Trump will be protesting pandemic lockdown measures in locations including LA, Chicago, and Long Island, New York. Organizers concede the coronavirus threat is "very real."

"However, America cannot destroy the lives and dreams of the majority to protect a few. The cure cannot be more dangerous than the disease. We risk losing who we are as a nation by completely shutting down the country and the economy," said a statement on the MAGA May Day website.

In Los Angeles, anti-lockdown protesters will be met by counter-demonstrators who say opposition to stay-at-home orders is anti-science.

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30,000,000 potential replacements in the pipeline and these folks are walking off the job?

Not too bright...

Thousands of protesters flock to Huntington Beach following state-ordered OC beach closures


Thousands gather in Huntington Beach on Friday, May 1, 2020 to protest the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home mandate. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By SEAN EMERY | semery@scng.com, SCOTT SCHWEBKE | sschwebke@scng.com and JEONG PARK | jeongpark@scng.com | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: May 1, 2020 at 11:58 a.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2020 at 5:24 p.m.

Large crowds opposing the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home mandate took to the streets of downtown Huntington Beach on Friday, a day after the governor closed Orange County beaches and drew frustration and criticism from some residents and city leaders.

Protesters gathered near the Huntington Beach pier shortly before noon, with the crowd eventually swelling to some 2,500-3,000 people, according to Huntington Beach police Chief Robert Handy. The tightly packed crowd, with most people not wearing protective masks, repeatedly chanted “U.S.A.” as they waited for the demonstration to begin.

Big crowds gather on the corner of Main and PCH in #HuntingtonBeach to protest #coronavirus closures. @ocregister #virus #covid19 #fullyopenca #wehaveroghts #orangecounty #gavinnewsom pic.twitter.com/pv8o4jsJGZ
— Jeff Gritchen (@jeffgritchen) May 1, 2020

Click to expand...

The protesters held signs proclaiming, “All jobs are essential,” “My freedom is essential,” and “Newsom is not essential,” as well as “Open our businesses, stand up for our rights as Americans” and “The shutdown is killing us, open our state now.”

A stream of cars, many adorned with American flags, honked in support. Officers, some on horseback, pushed the crowd back as some protesters spilled into traffic lanes on Pacific Coast Highway.

The protest caused gridlock on PCH beginning at Beach Boulevard as traffic moved north toward the pier. It took as much as half an hour for cars to move a couple of hundred feet, with some motorists exiting their vehicles to stand on the roofs waving flags, as the sound of horns filled the ocean air.

There were no arrests or citations, Handy said.

“Anytime you get a crowd of that size it’s concerning, especially during a pandemic,” Handy said.

Handy said he empathized with the protestors, since the city has a tourism-based economy built on beach access, and is trying to balance that with public safety. Individuals found on the shore during beach closures will be asked to leave or face civil or misdemeanor criminal citations, he added.

Protesters said they wanted people to consider the protest as nonpartisan. But signs supporting President Trump were interspersed in the crowd, as they have been at other recent protests.

Some demonstrators contended that Newsom had overstepped by overruling local cities in closing the beaches. Aimee Barber of Seal Beach sat on a curb with her five children, who held various signs protesting the governor’s order, including one that read, “My Rights Don’t End Where Yours Begin.”

“We are fighting for our freedom,” Barber said. “The beaches are as much an essential business as liquor stores.”

Despite the close proximity to the shore, more of the criticism from protesters was aimed at the stay-at-home orders than at the beach closures.

Some expressed frustration at the governor’s continual extensions of the stay-at-home orders, which are currently expected to last at least several more weeks.

“He keeps dangling the carrot,” said Dave Elm, a factory worker from Huntington Beach whose hours have been cut to two days a week. “First he said 14 days, then two weeks, 30 days and now says it will be well in May. The numbers (involving the infection rate) don’t support it.”

Shannan Parks, who biked to the protest from her Newport Beach home with her dog Papa, said she felt many people are “fed up” with the quarantine measures and believes more businesses could reopen with the right social distancing and sanitation measures.

“We have the right to open up our city,” Parks said.

The rally is the largest in a series of demonstrations over the past several weeks in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and San Clemente. Organizers on a website announcing the Huntington Beach rally called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to “fully reopen” the state immediately.

Newsom, referring to the May Day protests around the state, urged attendees to at least take steps to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

“Wear a face covering, do justice to physical distancing,” the governor said. “You don’t want to catch this disease.”

Health officials say the statewide shelter-in-place order has helped slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevented hospitals from being overwhelmed, saving countless lives. They worry that re-opening too fast could risk a spike in the curve of infections. On Friday, Orange County reported 2,537 cases to date – including 50 deaths – for a total of 34,128 cases, with Friday’s 163 new cases marking the highest daily total so far.

Polls have shown consistent support for stay-at-home orders from a majority of Americans. But as the economic devastation from widespread shutdowns has grown, protests have increasingly sprung up across the nation, including by organizations spread over several states.

Statewide, Newsom noted that more than 2,000 have died, including 91 deaths reported over the past 24 hours, and there are more than 50,000 confirmed cases.

“Don’t think this virus has disappeared,” the governor said. “Just ask the families that have tragically lost loved ones.”

In recent days, Southern California’s beach communities have become the center of the ongoing debate over the scope of the statewide closures.

Gov. Newsom, citing large crowds that flocked to the sands during a heat wave last weekend, ordered all beaches along Orange County’s 42 miles of coast officially closed beginning Friday. Huntington Beach officials have challenged the governor’s order, but on Friday an Orange County Superior Court judge declined requests for temporary restraining orders lifting it.

Huntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta said city officials believe that Newsom’s order has seemingly singled out for closure.

“We felt it was an unnecessary overreach and unwarranted and not supported by public health data,” she said. ‘Orange County has some of the lowest mortality rates in the state.”

Rich Fancher, a biochemist from Huntington Beach, said he has been biking to the local beach over the last six weekends, and hadn’t noticed any problems with social distancing until last weekend. He applauded Newsom’s actions, which he felt were based on scientific information regarding the spread of the coronavirus.

A few dozen people remained on the sands during the nearby Huntington Beach protest. Police were making no apparent effort to remove them from the beach.
In recent protests, officers have focused on “educating” protesters about not violating local ordinances rather than citing or arresting them. At the previous Huntington Beach protest, one man suspected of threatening a TV cameraman was taken into custody, but has not yet been charged.

The Huntington Beach protest on Friday was among a number of demonstrations held across the state. In Downtown Los Angeles, dueling protests over stay-at-home orders led to skirmishes and yelling between opposing groups. Meanwhile, in San Bernardino and San Clemente, smaller groups of protesters gathered to oppose the stay-at-home orders.

On Thursday, a high-profile gathering at Michigan’s state capital drew hundreds of protesters, some armed. On Friday, Trump tweeted in support of the Michigan protesters.

Ragnarok said:

Remdesivir works, Remdesivir doesn't work.
Masks work, Masks don't work.
Lockdowns help stop spread, Lockdowns don't stop spread.
Why can't anyone make up their freaking minds?!?!

This is a circus...

Click to expand...

It's the double shuffle, razzle-dazzle, fist bump, confuse 'em an' dump 'em. Surely everybody remembers that, right? No? Well, it made as much sense as we're bein' 'shroomed with... Yep, same old shit- different day...

OA

Ragnarok said:

Remdesivir works, Remdesivir doesn't work.
Masks work, Masks don't work.
Lockdowns help stop spread, Lockdowns don't stop spread.
Why can't anyone make up their freaking minds?!?!

This is a circus...

Click to expand...

Don't forget...
Smoking increases risk, smoking decreases risk.
Antibodies confer immunity, antibodies don't confer immunity.

Public companies received $1 billion in stimulus funds meant for small businesses

Nearly 300 public companies have reported receiving loans. Some have returned them.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and President Trump at a signing ceremony for the Paycheck Protection Program. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
By
Jonathan O'Connell,
Steven Rich and
Peter Whoriskey

May 1, 2020 at 11:55 a.m. PDT

Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses from the federal government’s economic stimulus package, according to data from securities filings compiled by The Washington Post.
Nearly 300 public companies have reported receiving money from the fund, called the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the data compiled by The Post. Recipients include 43 companies with more than 500 workers, the maximum typically allowed by the program. Several other recipients were prosperous enough to pay executives $2 million or more.

After the first pool of $349 billion ran dry, leaving more than 80 percent of applicants without funding, outrage over the millions of dollars that went to larger firms prompted some companies to return the money. As of Thursday, public companies had reported returning more than $125 million, according to a Post analysis of filings.

Other companies have said they plan to keep the funds, saying the loans had been awarded according to the program’s rules and that they would use most of it to pay workers, as required, in order for the loans to be forgiven.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has defended the program as a success, saying three-quarters of the loans were for totals of under $150,000. But after the first batch of loans was issued, the administration also scrambled to release new guidance for the program to discourage large public companies from applying.

Officials have urged publicly traded firms with access to other capital to return the money by May 7. Mnuchin said this week that all loans of more than $2 million would be audited with potential penalties for those who don’t comply.

“I want to be very clear it’s the borrowers who have criminal liability if they made this certification," of being a small business he said on CNBC.

Millions of Americans will get a stimulus relief check this week. Here’s who won’t.

Post economics reporter Heather Long explained how certain groups of people are ineligible for the government stimulus relief payments. (Mahlia Posey/The Washington Post)

The Small Business Administration has refused to release the names of companies that have received the loans, despite having released such information on its loan programs for years.

Some of the companies that received the loans were large in another way: Their CEOs have been making millions.

Veritone, a company based in Costa Mesa, Calif., that provides artificial intelligence technology, paid chief executive Chad Steelberg $18.7 million in total compensation in 2018, the last year for which data is available. His brother, Ryan Steelberg, the company’s president, made $13.9 million. The company received $6.5 million in funding from the program. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

At least two other companies with highly paid CEOs have said they will return the money. Each changed its stance on the loans after the Treasury Department issued guidelines discouraging companies “with substantial market value and access to capital markets” from accepting the money.

Aquestive Therapeutics, a New Jersey pharmaceutical company, paid CEO Keith J. Kendall $2.6 million in 2019. That company received $4.8 million from the program but has said it will return it.

“As a small business, we were happy to qualify for a PPP loan, as it was originally written and intended, to continue to employ and provide health coverage to our 219 employees located around the country and provide important medicines to these patients during this period of crisis,” the company said in a statement. “However, the new guidance issued on April 23 by the Federal Government appears to change the criteria for small businesses to qualify for the PPP loans.”

Wave Life Sciences, a genetic medicine company, paid CEO Paul B. Bolno $5.8 million in total compensation in 2018. The company received $7.2 million from the program but has decided to return it, too.

“We made this decision after the SBA issued new guidance that states, in effect, that public companies are not appropriate recipients of these loans,” the company said in a statement.

Chain restaurants and hotels were able to obtain tens of millions of dollars from the first pool of $349 billion in forgivable loans because Congress and the administration allowed multiple subsidiaries of large owners to each apply separately.

Those recipients include a group of hotel companies chaired by Monty Bennett, a Dallas executive and Republican donor, including Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts. The companies used more than 100 filings to seek

On Friday, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) questioned how companies such as Ashford had received so much funding, writing to Jovita Carranzak, administrator of the Small Business Administration, to say that such companies “may be exploiting the Program to the detriment of small businesses around the country currently struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Some chains that have returned funds have done so at the expense of their workers. AutoNation, the Fortune 500 network of auto dealers, said last week that it would return the $77 million it received. The same day of the announcement, employees there said AutoNation put some workers back on furlough and rescinded wage guarantee deals to commission-based employees.
Marc Cannon, AutoNation executive vice president, issued a statement to The Post saying the pandemic had reduced sales by half and stores had rehired employees based on commitments of the federal program.

“It is regrettable that we must continue to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19,” the company said. “Those employees who were being funded by PPP are being re-furloughed. There is no FORGIVABLE loan available anywhere to rehire 7,000 employees."

Lindblad Expeditions, an operator of high-end cruises, also returned its PPP funds. The company initially said it planned to keep the money because it qualified for the loan and planned to use it to retain employees. On an earnings conference call Friday, chief executive Sven-Olof Lindblad repeated that the company met the application requirements, but said it would return the $6.6 million loan.

"We wanted to protect our employees for as long as possible,” he said, but added there had been “much negativity” around public companies that received the loans.

While much of the program’s criticism has focused on the relatively large companies that received the money intended for small businesses, there is some evidence that the program missed its target in other ways, too.

Research by academics at the University of Chicago and MIT indicates that the areas where small businesses have been most affected – New York and New Jersey, for example – were less likely to see loans from the program. The authors defined “most affected” using small-business employment data, cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and other factors.

According to the research, only about 15 percent of businesses in the congressional districts most affected by business losses were able to obtain PPP help; by contrast, in the least affected congressional districts, 30 percent were able to obtain them.

“The loans were disproportionately allocated to areas least affected by the crisis,” according to authors Joao Granja, Christos Makridis, Constantine Yannelis and Eric Zwick.

OldArcher said:

Juden, nicht wahr? Papiere, bitte?

Click to expand...

It's "Papiere bitte!" not "Papiere bitte?". This is a demand, not an inquiry.

Governor Newsom puts politics ahead of data in California shutdown


A sign on Superior Avenue in Newport Beach on Friday morning, May 1, 2020, lets motorists know that the beaches are closed after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all beaches and state parks in Orange County to temporarily close after crowds of people gathered at the beach last weekend despite the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By WILL O’NEILL |

PUBLISHED: May 1, 2020 at 2:50 p.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2020 at 3:40 p.m.
In closing Orange County beaches this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was relying on science, not politics. It’s unclear where he’s getting his science, so I’ll offer this.

Los Angeles County has implemented the most draconian beach closures in the country, and reports more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths. Orange County has taken a gentler approach, and reports 45 deaths.

Orange County’s low death rate should be national headlines. Our population of 3.3 million is larger than 22 states. If it were a state, Orange County’s death rate of 0.0014 percent would be the 49th lowest, right behind Alaska.

The primary hospital in Newport Beach has 475 beds available for coronavirus patients but has never treated more than 25 people for the illness at any given time. The leaders of that hospital system believe the curve has flattened, and that Orange County needs to responsibly reopen.

Against this backdrop of public health – and in favor of placing data and reality over politics and hysteria – the Newport Beach City Council voted this week to keep its beaches open.

In making our decision, we also relied on data from across the country – data demonstrating that open beaches do not drive up cases of COVID 19. Los Angeles County closed its beaches over a month ago, and data now shows that every single Los Angeles County beach community has a higher per capita COVID infection rate than Orange County’s open-beach communities.

Like Orange County, Brevard County, Florida (population: 600,000), has largely kept its beaches open throughout the crisis. That county has seen just eight deaths and 47 hospitalizations in total. Duval County, Florida, with a population of nearly a million, opened its beaches nearly two weeks ago and has seen no spike. On April 26, it had four new cases. In other words, sunlight, heat, and wide-open, outdoor spaces are not conducive to the spread of COVID 19.

This is especially true if people using the beaches practice commonsense distancing. In our decision to open the beaches, we also added more signs reminding beachgoers to use commonsense. We’ll also deploy additional lifeguards and police officers to ensure that beachgoers continue to use the beach responsibly. It was a good compromise based upon science and an understanding of local conditions.

However, 428 miles away in Sacramento and without consulting with a single Newport Beach official, Governor Gavin Newsom decided to substitute his will for our judgment, shutting down the entire 42 miles of Orange County coastline, including Newport’s. Did he use science to reach his conclusion? Nope. He said he issued his edict because of widely disseminated and wildly misleading media photographs that give the false impression that Newport’s beaches were packed with people refusing to practice distancing. Our own local fire and police authorities reviewed this media depiction and agreed it was misleading. What they “observed from land and by air,” our public safety leaders told me, “was the vast majority of beachgoers practicing social distancing.”

The fundamental question is whether going to the beach is dangerous. The idea that Californians are in greater danger at the beach than they are when visiting Costco or Walmart, or for that matter an open marijuana dispensary, is preposterous.

Children digging in the sand, teenagers surfing, and people reading a good book in a beach chair threatens the health and safety of no one. It is time for Gov. Newsom to stop pretending otherwise. Let cities and counties do their jobs and respond to the needs of their local populations. Let facts prevail over false media narratives. Keep the beaches open.

In the meantime, I’m weighing this counter measure: every single closure sign on an Orange County beach should have Gavin Newsom’s name on it. People will want to know who stripped them of their freedom of movement without data to support it.

Will O’Neill is the mayor of Newport Beach.

In a nation of edicts, we serve at pleasure of the king


Gov. Gavin Newsom updates the state’s response to the coronavirus at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Monday, (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By STEVEN GREENHUT | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: May 1, 2020 at 11:58 a.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2020 at 11:58 a.m.

SACRAMENTO >> During Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, she found herself in the presence of the King of Hearts. He wanted her to go, so he cited Rule 42: “All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.” Heads turned to Alice. “I’m not a mile high,” she objected. “You are,” said the King. The queen testified that Alice is nearly two miles tall. “Well, I shan’t go, at any rate,” Alice said, “besides, that’s not a regular rule: you invented it just now.”

Nearly seven weeks into our otherworldly adventures in COVID-related confinement — a home-prison sentence with occasional trips to the Save Mart — more of us are bristling at the irrational restrictions that our elected officials are placing on us. Americans gave them the benefit of the doubt for several weeks, acknowledging the unusual circumstances of a novel coronavirus that experts originally claimed could take millions of lives.

But now we’re left stuck in the King of Hearts’ court, amazed by the illogical and arbitrary nature of the newly imposed rules. In Michigan, you can go boating, but may get arrested if you use a motor. In California, selling marijuana is essential, but not giving a haircut. We can’t know what the exact rules are because they change so quickly and without the usual vetting. Who knows if we’ll be the next person handcuffed for playing in a park?

Our democratic system of sausage-making is odd enough and results in a crazy array of sometimes-oppressive laws. But there’s a process for making them, a system of checks and balances, and court systems that keep it all in check. It’s not perfect, but it’s not arbitrary and capricious. In a world of executive orders, though, truth is whatever the king — or the governor or president — says it is.

Rules don’t have to be logical, but we must obey. There’s no room for local decision-making or thoughtful disagreement. It’s all about power. As author Ayn Rand wrote, “The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”

And that’s where we are now. The government, under the auspices of addressing an admittedly serious health crisis, can criminalize virtually everything — from leaving your home for a stroll, to operating your business. Some states have begun loosening the restrictions, creating a path for the reopening of society so people can take care of themselves again. Have you noticed that Gov. Gavin Newsom keeps moving the goalposts?

The curve has been flattened and there’s plenty of hospital capacity. In fact, hospitals throughout the state are laying off nurses, given that there’s little for them to do. People are avoiding the hospitals except for true emergencies, and in California there aren’t that many COVID-19 patients.

The governor’s roadmap for reopening offers six indicators before he rescinds the orders. It requires the state to have “the ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating and supporting those who are positive or exposed.” It requires “the ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand.” But these are open-ended measures. Basically, California will reopen whenever it pleases the king.

Based on the latest developments, Newsom is tightening the reins. News reports showed crowded beaches in Orange County last weekend, which angered the King of Sacramento. I’m not sure why. The official statement by Newport Beach police and fire officials acknowledged that “the overwhelming majority” of beach-goers were “practicing social distancing.”

Nevertheless, Newsom announced a hard shut-down of Orange County beaches. He wasn’t pleased seeing Californians out enjoying fresh air and sunshine after many weeks of solitary confinement. It seems like a petty response, but in a world of unchallenged power, who am I to object?

On its Twitter feed, the Office of the Governor posted a catchy statement: “The longer we go out, the longer we all stay in.” That’s something of a threat. State officials want us to more strictly follow Newsom’s orders, or else they will punish us with them longer. Apparently, the beatings will continue until morale improves, even though there’s scant evidence that these outings imperil public health.

Unfortunately, the nationwide rallies have seemed ineffective. Newsom said he wouldn’t listen to them and the California Highway Patrol has banned protests at the state Capitol. There’s still a way for the out-of-work peons to proceed.
I went out for the first time in days and found the streets crowded, parking lots full and people following the social-distancing rules. Maybe our best approach is to begin to quietly live our lives as normally as possible. We won’t question the sensible measures, but, as Alice noted, we shan’t stay silent in the face of arbitrary nonsense.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute and is a member of the Southern California Newspaper Group editorial board. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.

Ragnarok said:

Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says

Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says

The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for Gilead's remdesivir drug to treat the coronavirus, President Trump said.

www.cnbc.com

Ok...

What's going on here???

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Wondered that myself. What happened to hydroxychloroquine?

MULLER V. NEWSOM

video at site 4:01 min

Governor Newsom ordered the closure of all public beaches in Orange County during an April 30 press conference, effective on May 1. The writ argues that Newsom does not have the power to do so and is prohibited by the Constitutions of California and The United States.

“Governor Newsom’s increasingly arbitrary—and in this case retaliatory—public decrees are piling up,” said Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Liberty, Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban). “This time, he violates the state constitutional right to access the beaches, as well as the rights to travel and assemble, and did so with zero factual or scientific basis, only a desire to punish a county whose trope toward freedom he views as out of step with his unilateral orders.”

“Orange County residents have been very outspoken about their opposition to the Governor’s overreaches regarding COVID19 nearly two months into this situation, and his increasing disregard for Californians’ civil liberties. Banning people from beaches doesn’t advance public health; it advances only the Governor’s ego,” Dhillon said. “Governor Newsom is not above the law, and he does not own the beaches — the people do. It is time for the Governor to check his privilege and the Constitution before issuing further irrational orders from Sacramento.”

__________________-

Facebook Post from Constitution and Election Law Attny. Mark Meuser:
View: https://www.facebook.com/markpmeuser/videos/943301359460180/?t=14

9:45 min

Just finished pulling an all nighter so that I could file my 7th lawsuit against Gavin Newsom in the last 19 days.

Yesterday we heard that Gavin Newsom was going to close down all of Orange County Beaches starting today. The Center for American Liberty helped me get a team of lawyers and we just finished filing our 7th lawsuit against the tyrannical governor of California.

I'm a little tired right this second, but it has been one awesome week of some great cases being filed to hold this governor's feet to the fire.

I noticed the police at these recent protests are not wearing masks. Most of them anyways.

Interesting

Well what do you know...

bw said:

It's "Papiere bitte!" not "Papiere bitte?". This is a demand, not an inquiry.

Click to expand...

Sorry about that! You're absolutely correct!

OA

Ragnarok said:

Because every country that has tried to come out of lockdown like China and Germany has seen a resurgence...

I am sure expecting one if people start mingling together, again?

I'm not too sure the person who wrote that question is even paying attention...

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The way I see it...if "they" don't get their desired results the first time around, "they" will make sure it keeps hitting us and the rest of the world over and over again, until they do.

Fauci made the one statement in 2017(?) and by dingy's, here we are. Now he makes another statement about it coming back in the fall and winter and on into the next year, and I'll bet my three legged dog, he will be found to be right again...because he "knows something"....hmmmm.

Yeah, he needs to go down with China, WHO, Gates and every deep state body that had any part in this...this was a bio weapon attack, not just on us but the whole world and his and the others backgrounds show just who's zoomin' who.

Hummm.....

Posted for fair use.....


Imported by the rich, coronavirus now devastating Brazil's poor
by Reuters

Friday, 1 May 2020 10:00 GMT

By Gram Slattery, Stephen Eisenhammer and Amanda Perobelli

RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, May 1 (Reuters) - Imported by the Brazilian elite vacationing in Europe, the new coronavirus is now ravaging the country's poor, ripping through tightly-packed neighborhoods where the disease is harder to control.

Public health data analyzed by Reuters for the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza show a shift in recent weeks from the wealthy boroughs that seeded the outbreak to the gritty urban outskirts.

The change has coincided with a spike in confirmed coronavirus deaths, which are now just shy of 6,000 in Brazil. Many scientists point to Latin America's largest country as the next deadly hotspot for COVID-19.

Researchers at Imperial College London estimate Brazil's transmission rate this week will have been the highest in the world.

The trend revealed by the data complicates Brazil's battle against the virus. Many favelas, as the labyrinths of cinder block homes that constitute the poorest neighborhoods are known, suffer from a lack of running water, septic systems and healthcare facilities.

Perhaps more challenging still, the state is weak in the favelas, with drug gangs often the de facto authority. That would make lockdown measures difficult to enforce - even if they had the support of the country's skeptical leader, President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly shrugged off fears about the coronavirus and described state and city measures to slow its spread as extreme.

Residents in Brasilandia, a poor district at the north end of Sao Paulo with the highest coronavirus death toll in the city, told Reuters that bars were still crowded and open-air dance parties attracted thousands of revelers on the weekends.

Brasilandia only had one confirmed case at the end of March, according to city data, at a time when the vast majority of cases were clustered in the wealthier center-west districts. The most recent report from this week showed 67 deaths from COVID-19.

"For those that haven't been through it, it's like the disease doesn't exist," said Paulo dos Santos, 43, who lost his father to the virus in Brasilandia.

In Rio, the tony neighborhoods of Leblon, Copacabana and Barra da Tijuca were the first to suffer at the start of the outbreak in Brazil, reporting 190 confirmed cases by March 27.

In contrast, the low-income areas of Campo Grande, Bangu and Iraja had only reported eight cases at the time.

That has changed in the past week, with those poorer neighborhoods reporting 66 new cases, while the wealthier trio saw 55. Reuters observed the same trend in Fortaleza, a northeastern state capital with over 25,000 cases.

Despite the rising death toll, calls are growing for lockdown measures to be relaxed. Bolsonaro has pushed to restart the economy, describing shelter-in-place policies as a "poison" that could kill more via unemployment and hunger than the virus.

In poor neighborhoods, where hunger is an acute threat, few are adhering to quarantine measures.

William de Oliveira, a community leader in Rio's poor hillside neighborhood of Rocinha, can rattle off the names of several friends killed by the virus. Yet it was clear on Wednesday that life continued more or less as usual, with shops and bars bustling, which he lamented.

"We can reverse economic problems," Oliveira said, "but we can't reverse deaths."

MAXIMUM CAPACITY

The number of cases in poorer areas is probably far higher than reported, due to a lack of testing, said Keny Colares, an epidemiologist at Fortaleza's Sao Jose hospital. Some low-income patients, he said, were showing up at hospitals days after they should have sought medical attention.

Poor Brazilians are also more likely to die if infected, due to higher levels of pre-existing conditions and less access to healthcare.

In Leblon, for example, just 2.4% of confirmed cases have resulted in deaths - roughly in line with global trends and suggesting a relatively accurate picture of infection numbers. In Iraja, the death rate is 16%. In Sao Paulo's Brasilandia, it is a staggering 52%.

Hugo Simon, head of the adult intensive care unit at Campo Grande's Rocha Faria City Hospital, said the public health service was at its limit. His hospital has had to start treating COVID-19 cases because there is no longer space at hospitals originally designated to deal with those patients.

Campo Grande's COVID-19 caseload is now among the biggest in Rio, at 146. Two adjacent low-income communities, Realengo and Bangu, are also in the top ten worst hit of Rio's 160 official districts.

"This really started in Rio's Southern Zone, and has come to my area after," Simon said, referring to the city's wealthiest area. "We're heading towards maximum capacity."

(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Rio de Janeiro, Stephen Eisenhammer and Amanda Perobelli in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Ricardo Morães in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Brad Haynes and Rosalba O'Brien)

Ragnarok said:

Because every country that has tried to come out of lockdown like China and Germany has seen a resurgence...

I am sure expecting one if people start mingling together, again?

I'm not too sure the person who wrote that question is even paying attention...

Click to expand...

What I don't understand is the math...or the ignorance of exponential growth with large numbers being at the point of the curve that we are at today. How many folks infected today? One million, ten million, thirty five million? Doesn't matter with and RO of 4-6. We are on our way to very large numbers, very soon...if this virus does not "burn out", but moves along at the rate it has been, or worse if things open up, we are looking at very large numbers to show up this month, and for months and months, as Doomer is pointing out. If they drop a second more lethal bomb on us, it could take the nation to it's knees....using the first one as a cover for the second one to really take hold...

If we are at war with China, and this bio weapon was intentional, then a second one is quite likely.

Shore up folks. The noose will be tightened.

Ragnarok said:

Remdesivir works, Remdesivir doesn't work.
Masks work, Masks don't work.
Lockdowns help stop spread, Lockdowns don't stop spread.
Why can't anyone make up their freaking minds?!?!

This is a circus...

Click to expand...

it is mass hysteria
and it was created intentionally

it is good to remember "you CANNOT roller skate in a buffalo herd."
which means . . . you either find something you can do in a buffalo herd"
or you gently sidestep out of the herd and find a nice roller rink.

The buffalo herd had herd immunity
and what happened to them?

Ragnarok said:

Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says

Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says

The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for Gilead's remdesivir drug to treat the coronavirus, President Trump said.

www.cnbc.com

Ok...

What's going on here???

Click to expand...

Bare with me because I am trying to recall this from memory.
I read that there was more than one study on remdesivir and the results were coflicting. A few weeks back, I remember something about a study being closed down in China and they would not release the data to Gilead. I remember mocking Gilead at the time for trusting the Chinese with anything pertaining to their study.

In the last week, China released a study (don't know if this is related to the first one or a new one) that says remdesivir does not work. But our NIH also released a study saying it does work. Then I also read that China got a patent back in January for remdesivir, except they reverse engineered it and created their own copy (but called it Redoxivir). When I connect all the dots, it sounds like China wants everyone to buy their drug, redoxivir, so they are bad mouthing remdesivir.

I still think hydroxychloroquine/zinc combo is the way to go and it frustrates me to see it demonized.

AP West Region
@APWestRegion
4m

A modern-day trading post on the southern outskirts of the Navajo Nation is on lockdown under the watch of National Guard troops and state police to discourage nonessential travel and commerce as local coronavirus infections soar.
View: https://twitter.com/APWestRegion/status/1256439184115617793?s=20

New Mexico takes more drastic measures against virus hotspot
By MORGAN LEE and FELICIA FONSECA20 minutes ago




1 of 6
This photo provided by Patrick Sandoval shows signs inside the Walmart in Gallup, N.M., on Friday, May 1, 2020, to advise shoppers that non-essential items aren't available for purchase. (Patrick Sandoval via AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A modern-day trading post on the southern outskirts of the Navajo Nation was on lockdown over the weekend under the watch of National Guard troops and state police to discourage nonessential travel and commerce as local coronavirus infections soar.
Invoking provisions of the state Riot Control Act, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered residents of Gallup to remain home except for emergencies and blocked roads leading in and out of town to nonessential travel and any vehicles carrying more than two people.
The restrictions were welcomed by local and state officials who have watched COVID-19 infections spread to nursing homes and homeless populations as well as overwhelm hospital intensive care units, leading coronavirus patients to be transferred to Albuquerque.

Some visitors were caught off guard as they traveled from the Navajo Nation to stack up on supplies, only to find entire sections of the Gallup Walmart cordoned off as sales were restricted to food and other essential commodities.
“They didn’t tell us on the radio or anything,” said Patrick Sandoval of Ganado, Arizona, who came in search of food, games, baby wipes and other items for his family and neighbors. “You don’t find out until you get in there that it’s just essential items.”

Despite restrictions, lines of shoppers outside Walmart stretched for hundreds of yards (meters) on Friday afternoon. Stores have been ordered to close under emergency provisions that expire at noon Monday and can be extended by order of the governor.
Gallup is a hub for basic household supplies, liquor sales and water-container refills for people living in remote stretches of the Navajo Nation — often without full indoor plumbing — and indigenous Zuni Pueblo. The Navajo Nation has imposed evening and weekend curfews on the reservation spanning parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
State Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, said the flow of visitors had gotten out of hand with little regard to state social distancing mandates, as federal stimulus checks arrived in March. He believes the crackdown had strong public support in Gallup.

COVID-19 infections in Gallup and surrounding McKinley County surpassed 1,060 confirmed cases on Friday and account for 30% of cases stateside, surpassing infections in much larger communities such as Albuquerque. In all, more than 3,500 cases have been reported in New Mexico, with more than 130 deaths.
Federal health officials have linked the severity of the problem in Gallup to an early outbreak at a detox center that was followed by infections among homeless people and nursing homes.

Homeless residents who contracted COVID-19 were being offered temporary shelter at four motels at the expense of the state to isolate them and slow the spread of the virus.
Lujan Grisham is holding fast to business restrictions and social distancing mandates until at least May 15 in the northwest of the state, including large portions of the Navajo Nation, where infections are surging.
She eased some restrictions Friday on nonessential businesses that can provide curbside service and allowed the reopening of gun shops and veterinary offices. Elective surgeries and procedures were reinstated at hospitals that resorted to furloughs and staff reductions as income from traditional sources plummeted.

City officials in Gallup requested the new state of emergency under the riot act that can prohibit people from walking the streets and using certain roads. Violations are punishable as misdemeanors on a first offense and as a felony on the second offense. Emergency declarations under the act expire after three days and can be renewed.
To the east, a pawn shop in Grants has been notified of a possible $60,000 fine for remaining open in defiance of a statewide public health order that restricted nonessential business operations.
That city of 9,000 has become a flashpoint of political conflict after Mayor Martin Hicks urged all businesses to reopen against the governor’s orders and advice from nearby Acoma Pueblo.
___
Fonseca contributed from Flagstaff, Arizona.

posted for fair use

Papiere?
Ich habe keine Papiere!
Ich brauche keine Papiere!
Ich muss dir keine stinkenden Papiere zeigen!

Another take on the virus.
Texican....
------------------------------------------

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3080360/why-covid-19-human-overpopulation-problem

Why Covid-19 is a human overpopulation problem – perhaps humans are the virus?

• There are too many of us, in too many habitats, and our impact on the natural world is devastating
• Yes, we must obliterate the illegal wildlife trade and the wet markets, but we must also stop proliferating

Stephen McCarty
Published: 10:00am, 20 Apr, 2020




Human population growth has brought pestilence upon itself.

Think
Covid-19
is animal in origin? Think again. It’s anthropogenic: caused by human activity. The pandemic, which won’t be the last zoonotic disease to cut a swathe through Homo sapiens, is a human overpopulation problem.
You don’t have to live in Mong Kok to know there are too many of us. There are now 7.8 billion people on the planet; the United Nations predicts the population will reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100 at the current rate of proliferation.
And we continue to spread out. As Agent Smith puts it in The Matrix: “You humans […] move to an area and […] multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism […] that follows the same pattern […] a virus.”

This unchecked expansion into new habitats is bringing humans into increasing contact with wild-animal pathogens against which we have no biological defences. But resource stripping is only stage one. While we’re destroying the animals’ homelands we might as well increase our profits by killing the animals (stage two) and selling them as “bushmeat” or shipping them, alive and suffering, to abominable wet markets across Asia. And let’s not forget to give a dishonourable mention to traditional Chinese medicine, with its conveyor-belt demand for tiger penis, rhinoceros horn and pangolin scale.


Along with Victorian-age “trophy hunting” and the rest of the appalling wildlife trade, this requires even greater access to habitats while exterminating all species great and small: stage three.

The latest potion trumpeted by traditional Chinese “medicine”, by the way?
A fake cure for Covid-19
, called tan re qing, which contains bear bile. Asiatic bears, which are barbarically “farmed” for their bile, are already listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
POST MAGAZINE NEWSLETTER

Population predictions are quoted so often that we tend to sleep through them and accept the inevitable. But who says we must have nine-plus billion people in 2050? Why is that considered a fait accompli? In the insoluble conundrum around global warming – which itself would be eased by the presence of fewer people – why are we not hearing incessantly from “experts” about how we should be stemming the population tide? Why are we not hearing the Catholic Church’s admission that the prohibition on artificial contraception was a dumb idea?

Obliterate the illegal wildlife trade. Bulldoze the wet markets. Stop proliferating – something social distancing should make easier than ever.

Alrightie- I want this Tee, & I want to know which TB poster this is

FRANCE 24 English
@France24_en
2m

US protests against Covid-19 lockdowns spread to liberal bastion California https://f24.my/6RPa.t

View: https://twitter.com/France24_en/status/1256460171896733696?s=20

US protests against Covid-19 lockdowns spread to liberal bastion California

US protests against Covid-19 lockdowns spread to liberal bastion California

Protesters marched in several cities across California on Friday demanding the easing of restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak and denouncing Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to shut down some…

www.france24.com

A man wearing a facemask walks past another standing with a US flag during a demonstration against stay-at-home orders near Los Angeles City Hall on May 1, 2020, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. - Rallies have been held at several state capitols across the country as protesters express their deep frustration with the stay-at-home orders that are meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus. © Agustin Paullier, AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Protesters marched in several cities across California on Friday demanding the easing of restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak and denouncing Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to shut down some beaches.

The protests were taking place in at least 11 cities, including the capital Sacramento as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Some of the demonstrators waved American flags and carried signs that read "Freedom is Essential," "Trump 2020," or "Gruesome Newsom," while voicing anger at stay-at-home rules put in place to slow the spread of the virus.

Most of the protesters, many of them chanting "Open California" and "Freedom" or ringing cowbells, did not wear face coverings or follow social distancing guidelines.

In Huntington Beach, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, several thousand people rallied to denounce Newsom's order to shut local beaches beginning Friday in order to avoid a repeat of last weekend when crowds flocked to the shoreline.

"It was the straw that broke the camel's back," protester Monica Beilhard fumed, referring to the beach shutdown.

"It was uncalled for, unnecessary and people out here are making that known," she added. "And we're also very much saying enough is enough, we have the right to work... and it's time for the governor to allow the healthy to be able to get back to business.

'We're Americans'

Officials in Huntington Beach and nearby towns have vowed to fight the beach closure order by taking the matter to court.

"We believe the governor's order is unconstitutional, vague and ambiguous," said Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates. "He doesn't have a rational basis for this. What he seeks is a remedy to something that wasn't a problem in the first place."

But a judge in Orange County, where Huntington Beach is located, late Friday refused to issue a temporary restraining order against Newsom's decision and scheduled a hearing on the matter for May 11.
In downtown Los Angeles, tensions flared as hundreds marched in front of City Hall to demand an end to the stay-at-home order as counter protesters waved signs that said "humanity first" while insisting the lockdown was necessary to save lives.

"The virus is no worse than the flu," Janet Gibson told AFP. "The sick need to stay quarantined. They need to take care of themselves. But let the healthy work. Let the healthy go out and be social."

Ali Taylor, another protester, said the lockdown went against what the United States stands for.
"We're Americans, we're free, we know how to take care of ourselves," she said. "We want our beaches and parks opened up, we want to be able to live free lives, and he (Newsom) is keeping us at home."
Newsom, who like other governors across the country is facing mounting pressure to lift restrictions, especially as the weather warms up, has vowed not to bow to pressure and insists that his actions are driven by public health concerns.

He told journalists at his Friday news conference that he empathized with protesters but urged them to continue to obey the stay-at-home order.

He also appealed to them to wear masks and practice social distancing while demonstrating.
"This disease doesn't know if you're a protester -- Democrat, Republican or if you support the election of one candidate or the ouster of another," he said. "It just knows one thing, and that is its host.
"Just protect yourself, protect your family... and the people you're protesting with."

California has registered more than 50,000 cases of coronavirus so far with more than 2,100 deaths, a fatality rate deemed modest given it is the most populous state in the country with nearly 40 million people.
Nationwide, the virus has killed more than 64,000 people.

Ragnarok said:

Remdesivir works, Remdesivir doesn't work.
Masks work, Masks don't work.
Lockdowns help stop spread, Lockdowns don't stop spread.
Why can't anyone make up their freaking minds?!?!

This is a circus...

Click to expand...

And that is why we do our own research and digging for ourselves and come to our own conclusions instead of waiting to be told what to do, say or think. I mask up and glove up if I’m going into a store and then carefully take them off and wiping down before I touch anything because I know how to do contamination avoidance and decontamination. Likewise I know what kind of supplements to take and when and how to take them because I did my own legwork, etc.

People who wait for the authority’s or ‘experts’ to tell them what to do are going to be tossed and mixed up not knowing what to do or who to believe. Know what you know, believe what you believe and act on it keeping an open mind as new evidence comes to light and above all keep your spiritual ears open and act on it and we won’t be lead astray.

Its 2:18 am so off to bed. I have been going over mother's medical bills.

God bless and goodnight to all.

Be careful out there.

Texican....

psychgirl said:

You know what ?

This means SO much.
I just can’t... I don’t even know anymore.
Thank you.

Click to expand...

This is very upsetting, there are no good words other than this should not be happening and if you want to vent feel free to PM me.

psychgirl said:

My husband just lost his job today, due to this scourge, this nasty sh##% that we call covid19.

His management team called today. They can’t reopen and the numbers are too bad.

We might “be done”. I’m in no mood for any of this shit.

This, will happen, all across America.

I’m crying too hard for ANY consolememt or discussion.

If I, all by myself, could personally strangle each and every Chinese epidemiology person right now I would.
Hands freaking down.

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to read this psychgirl. You and your husband and his management team and their families too are all in my prayers.

HD

Ragnarok said:

Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says
Gilead gets emergency FDA authorization for remdesivir to treat coronavirus, Trump says
Ok...
What's going on here???

Click to expand...

Remdesivir is not available as a generic yet. Someone is going to make a lot of money on this. Hydroxychloroquine is a generic drug. No one makes any money off of it. Do the math.

HD

Hfcomms said:

And that is why we do our own research and digging for ourselves and come to our own conclusions instead of waiting to be told what to do, say or think. I mask up and glove up if I’m going into a store and then carefully take them off and wiping down before I touch anything because I know how to do contamination avoidance and decontamination. Likewise I know what kind of supplements to take and when and how to take them because I did my own legwork, etc.

People who wait for the authority’s or ‘experts’ to tell them what to do are going to be tossed and mixed up not knowing what to do or who to believe. Know what you know, believe what you believe and act on it keeping an open mind as new evidence comes to light and above all keep your spiritual ears open and act on it and we won’t be lead astray.

Click to expand...

Well said. Everyone needs to do their own research and not rely on the MSM to tell them what to do. It's all out there, a lot of it can be found right here in the thousand plus pages of this thread. We have consistently been weeks if not months ahead of what the MSM reports.

HD

People with low levels of Vitamin D may be more likely to catch coronavirus and die from COVID-19 infection, study suggests
By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline
Published: 09:23 EDT, 1 May 2020 | Updated: 11:20 EDT, 1 May 2020

•Study compared average vitamin D levels in a country with coronavirus mortality
•Found a link showing low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher death rate
•Researchers 'believe they can advise vitamin D supplementation' to protect against the coronavirus

A preliminary study has found tentative evidence suggesting low levels of vitamin D may make it more likely an individual will die after contracting coronavirus.

The research compared average levels of vitamin D across 20 European countries with COVID-19 infection rate and mortality.

It revealed a convincing correlation where countries with low vitamin D levels were also the countries with highest mortality and COVID-19 infection rates.

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and scrutinised by other scientists and is unable to prove vitamin D is the reason behind this link.

However, the scientists from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia write in their study: 'We believe, that we can advise Vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.'

This finding backs up a separate study which also found vitamin D may improve a person's chance of recovery after contracting the coronavirus.

A ten-week trial from the University of Granada is currently ongoing after a recent study by Trinity College Dublin found adults who took Vitamin D supplements saw a 50 per cent fall in chest infections.


Pictured, a correlation graph showing the relationship between levels of viamin D (bottom, measured in nmol/l) and compared to infection numbers of coronavirus for 20 European countries. It reveals a convincing correlation where countries with low vitamin D levels were also the countries with highest COVID-19 infection rates


Pictured, graph showing coronavirus mortality compared to vitamin D levels per country (bottom, measured in nmol/l). The dotted line shows the overall trend revealing a correlation between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 death rates

The latest study used pre-existing data on vitamin D levels, including from a comprehensive 2019 study led by Paul Lips, Professor Emeritus of internal medicine at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

This previous study collected data on vitamin D levels of populations across Europe and the Middle East.

The study involved taking vitamin D measurements of thousands of individuals.

The latest study on the vitamin's effectiveness against COVID-19 narrowed this data to 20 countries, to negate any interfering factors, such as a country's latitude.

The average amount of vitamin D in serum samples was (56 nmol/l), with anything below 30nmol/l deemed 'severely deficient'.

The latest study took the existing database of vitamin D levels and found worryingly low levels of vitamin D in the elderly, a demographic more at risk of dying after contracting the coronavirus.

'[The study shows levels of] vitamin D of 26nmol/L in Spain, 28 nmol/L in Italy and 45 nmol/L in the Nordic countries, in older people,' the researchers write.

'In Switzerland, mean vitamin D levels are 23(nmol/L) in nursing homes and in Italy 76 per cent of women over 70 years of age have been found to have circulating levels below 30nmol/L.

'These are countries with high number of cases of COVID–19 and the ageing people is the group with the highest risk for morbidity and mortality with SARS-Cov2.'

Vitamin D can make its way into the human body either through certain foods, such as fish and mushroom, or can be produced by skin cells when exposed to sunlight.

A simple statistical analysis, called a t-test, was then performed on the two sets of data to determine any relationship which unearthed the correlation between deaths and vitamin D levels.

'The most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19 is also the one that was the most deficit in vitamin D,' the researchers conclude in their preliminary report.

The study was published on pre-print site Research Square.

It remains unknown why vitamin D may offer protection against infection by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent development of COVID-19.

However, the study is backed up by previous research that was published before the emergence of the novel coronavirus.

Healthy vitamin D levels have been linked to reduced risk of other respiratory diseases, such as influenza, tuberculosis and childhood asthma.

Recently, skin cancer researcher Dr Rachel Neale said that having low levels of vitamin D can be fatal if one also has the coronavirus.

'Now, more than ever, is not the time to be vitamin D deficient,' Dr Neale told The Australian.

'It would make sense that being vitamin D deficient would increase the risk of having symptomatic COVID-19 and potentially having worse symptoms. And that's because vitamin D seems to have important effects on the immune system.'

Last year, Dr Neale found that people with low levels of vitamin D are almost twice as likely as those with high levels of vitamin D oto develop acute respiratory infections.

According to the study of 78,000 patients, people with vitamin D deficiencies were more likely to be sicker for longer.

Dr Neale said she sits in the Brisbane sun for for five to 10 minutes everyday to stimulate her body's production of vitamin D.

Trinity College Dublin published research last month which found vitamin D may be able to help reduce the severity of COVID-19.

The Irish team found the vitamin is likely involved with suppressing the severe inflammatory responses seen in seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny, who led this research, said: 'We have evidence to support a role for Vitamin D in the prevention of chest infections, particularly in older adults who have low levels.

'In one study Vitamin D reduced the risk of chest infections to half in people who took supplements.

'Though we do not know specifically of the role of Vitamin D in COVID infections, given its wider implications for improving immune responses and clear evidence for bone and muscle health, those cocooning and other at-risk cohorts should ensure they have an adequate intake of Vitamin D.

'Cocooning is a necessity but will reduce physical activity. Muscle deconditioning occurs rapidly in these circumstances and Vitamin D will help to maintain muscle health and strength in the current crisis.'

Heliobas Disciple said:

Remdesivir is not available as a generic yet. Someone is going to make a lot of money on this. Hydroxychloroquine is a generic drug. No one makes any money off of it. Do the math.

HD

Click to expand...

HCL isn't a wonder drug when it comes to the Covid. It's function is as a zinc ionophore as I understand it. I use quercetin myself which is also a zinc ionophore and you can buy it OTC as a supplement with no prescription needed. Just take that every day with 50mg or so of zinc picolinate for the same effect.

Zinc ionophore activity of quercetin and epigallocatechin-gallate: from Hepa 1-6 cells to a liposome model - PubMed

Labile zinc, a tiny fraction of total intracellular zinc that is loosely bound to proteins and easily interchangeable, modulates the activity of numerous signaling and metabolic pathways. Dietary plant polyphenols such as the flavonoids quercetin (QCT) and epigallocatechin-gallate act as...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Heliobas Disciple said:

People with low Vitamin D may be more likely to die from COVID-19

Scientists from the University of East Anglia write in their study: 'We believe, that we can advise Vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.'

www.dailymail.co.uk

People with low levels of Vitamin D may be more likely to catch coronavirus and die from COVID-19 infection, study suggests
By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline
Published: 09:23 EDT, 1 May 2020 | Updated: 11:20 EDT, 1 May 2020

•Study compared average vitamin D levels in a country with coronavirus mortality
•Found a link showing low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher death rate
•Researchers 'believe they can advise vitamin D supplementation' to protect against the coronavirus

A preliminary study has found tentative evidence suggesting low levels of vitamin D may make it more likely an individual will die after contracting coronavirus.

The research compared average levels of vitamin D across 20 European countries with COVID-19 infection rate and mortality.

It revealed a convincing correlation where countries with low vitamin D levels were also the countries with highest mortality and COVID-19 infection rates.

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and scrutinised by other scientists and is unable to prove vitamin D is the reason behind this link.

However, the scientists from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia write in their study: 'We believe, that we can advise Vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.'

This finding backs up a separate study which also found vitamin D may improve a person's chance of recovery after contracting the coronavirus.

A ten-week trial from the University of Granada is currently ongoing after a recent study by Trinity College Dublin found adults who took Vitamin D supplements saw a 50 per cent fall in chest infections.

View attachment 195104
Pictured, a correlation graph showing the relationship between levels of viamin D (bottom, measured in nmol/l) and compared to infection numbers of coronavirus for 20 European countries. It reveals a convincing correlation where countries with low vitamin D levels were also the countries with highest COVID-19 infection rates

View attachment 195105
Pictured, graph showing coronavirus mortality compared to vitamin D levels per country (bottom, measured in nmol/l). The dotted line shows the overall trend revealing a correlation between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 death rates

The latest study used pre-existing data on vitamin D levels, including from a comprehensive 2019 study led by Paul Lips, Professor Emeritus of internal medicine at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

This previous study collected data on vitamin D levels of populations across Europe and the Middle East.

The study involved taking vitamin D measurements of thousands of individuals.

The latest study on the vitamin's effectiveness against COVID-19 narrowed this data to 20 countries, to negate any interfering factors, such as a country's latitude.

The average amount of vitamin D in serum samples was (56 nmol/l), with anything below 30nmol/l deemed 'severely deficient'.

The latest study took the existing database of vitamin D levels and found worryingly low levels of vitamin D in the elderly, a demographic more at risk of dying after contracting the coronavirus.

'[The study shows levels of] vitamin D of 26nmol/L in Spain, 28 nmol/L in Italy and 45 nmol/L in the Nordic countries, in older people,' the researchers write.

'In Switzerland, mean vitamin D levels are 23(nmol/L) in nursing homes and in Italy 76 per cent of women over 70 years of age have been found to have circulating levels below 30nmol/L.

'These are countries with high number of cases of COVID–19 and the ageing people is the group with the highest risk for morbidity and mortality with SARS-Cov2.'

Vitamin D can make its way into the human body either through certain foods, such as fish and mushroom, or can be produced by skin cells when exposed to sunlight.

A simple statistical analysis, called a t-test, was then performed on the two sets of data to determine any relationship which unearthed the correlation between deaths and vitamin D levels.

'The most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19 is also the one that was the most deficit in vitamin D,' the researchers conclude in their preliminary report.

The study was published on pre-print site Research Square.

It remains unknown why vitamin D may offer protection against infection by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent development of COVID-19.

However, the study is backed up by previous research that was published before the emergence of the novel coronavirus.

Healthy vitamin D levels have been linked to reduced risk of other respiratory diseases, such as influenza, tuberculosis and childhood asthma.

Recently, skin cancer researcher Dr Rachel Neale said that having low levels of vitamin D can be fatal if one also has the coronavirus.

'Now, more than ever, is not the time to be vitamin D deficient,' Dr Neale told The Australian.

'It would make sense that being vitamin D deficient would increase the risk of having symptomatic COVID-19 and potentially having worse symptoms. And that's because vitamin D seems to have important effects on the immune system.'

Last year, Dr Neale found that people with low levels of vitamin D are almost twice as likely as those with high levels of vitamin D oto develop acute respiratory infections.

According to the study of 78,000 patients, people with vitamin D deficiencies were more likely to be sicker for longer.

Dr Neale said she sits in the Brisbane sun for for five to 10 minutes everyday to stimulate her body's production of vitamin D.

Trinity College Dublin published research last month which found vitamin D may be able to help reduce the severity of COVID-19.

The Irish team found the vitamin is likely involved with suppressing the severe inflammatory responses seen in seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny, who led this research, said: 'We have evidence to support a role for Vitamin D in the prevention of chest infections, particularly in older adults who have low levels.

'In one study Vitamin D reduced the risk of chest infections to half in people who took supplements.

'Though we do not know specifically of the role of Vitamin D in COVID infections, given its wider implications for improving immune responses and clear evidence for bone and muscle health, those cocooning and other at-risk cohorts should ensure they have an adequate intake of Vitamin D.

'Cocooning is a necessity but will reduce physical activity. Muscle deconditioning occurs rapidly in these circumstances and Vitamin D will help to maintain muscle health and strength in the current crisis.'

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Dark skinned people have also been found to have low levels of D

Blacknarwhal said:

These numbers puzzle me.

1.1M

Recovered 133K

Deaths 63,851

Just over a million cases.



133,000 recovered.

64,000 dead.

Where are the other 900,000 cases? All still sick? All still carrying it? Seems like some of these people have "had it" for the last two months now.

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Some stay sick for months. Yes. That is exactly what the figures show. There are still over 50 people sick (in the hospital) fro the first cruise where people got sick.

Blacknarwhal said:

Some, undoubtedly. This thing looks and acts too much like the flu for it to NOT have been mistaken for flu at some point.

We've had people screaming THIS IS NOT THE FLU since it started. And that's true. It's not.

BUT.

It produces symptoms that are very similar to flu.

It has a transmission rate that's roughly similar to flu especially since it's a brand-new bug.

It even has a mortality rate that's roughly similar to flu.

IT IS NOT THE FLU. This is absolutely true. But man, does it look, act, and behave like the flu.

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I've had COVID19. I can say without a doubt -- first hand -- that you have no clue about these supposed facts. It's not like the flu. I've never had this type of sickness before. It is totally strange. Not the flu -- not even remotely like the flu. Strange illness. Absolutely strange. My opinion -- a bioweapon created in China with US NIH funds. They used CRSPR and AI to create a virus that was able to mutate itself when needed in its environment. This is not the flu and doesn't even remotely look like any flu that I've ever had.

bw said:

It's "Papiere bitte!" not "Papiere bitte?". This is a demand, not an inquiry.

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I haven't spoken or read german since I was 5 years old. I have or thought I forgot everything outside of a word or two. I actually understood that. Scary what our old minds will remember.

marsh said:

In a nation of edicts, we serve at pleasure of the king

Unfortunately, the nationwide rallies have seemed ineffective. Newsom said he wouldn’t listen to them and the California Highway Patrol has banned protests at the state Capitol.

www.ocregister.com

In a nation of edicts, we serve at pleasure of the king

Gov. Gavin Newsom updates the state’s response to the coronavirus at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Monday, (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By STEVEN GREENHUT | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: May 1, 2020 at 11:58 a.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2020 at 11:58 a.m.

SACRAMENTO >> During Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, she found herself in the presence of the King of Hearts. He wanted her to go, so he cited Rule 42: “All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.” Heads turned to Alice. “I’m not a mile high,” she objected. “You are,” said the King. The queen testified that Alice is nearly two miles tall. “Well, I shan’t go, at any rate,” Alice said, “besides, that’s not a regular rule: you invented it just now.”

Nearly seven weeks into our otherworldly adventures in COVID-related confinement — a home-prison sentence with occasional trips to the Save Mart — more of us are bristling at the irrational restrictions that our elected officials are placing on us. Americans gave them the benefit of the doubt for several weeks, acknowledging the unusual circumstances of a novel coronavirus that experts originally claimed could take millions of lives.

But now we’re left stuck in the King of Hearts’ court, amazed by the illogical and arbitrary nature of the newly imposed rules. In Michigan, you can go boating, but may get arrested if you use a motor. In California, selling marijuana is essential, but not giving a haircut. We can’t know what the exact rules are because they change so quickly and without the usual vetting. Who knows if we’ll be the next person handcuffed for playing in a park?

Our democratic system of sausage-making is odd enough and results in a crazy array of sometimes-oppressive laws. But there’s a process for making them, a system of checks and balances, and court systems that keep it all in check. It’s not perfect, but it’s not arbitrary and capricious. In a world of executive orders, though, truth is whatever the king — or the governor or president — says it is.

Rules don’t have to be logical, but we must obey. There’s no room for local decision-making or thoughtful disagreement. It’s all about power. As author Ayn Rand wrote, “The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”

And that’s where we are now. The government, under the auspices of addressing an admittedly serious health crisis, can criminalize virtually everything — from leaving your home for a stroll, to operating your business. Some states have begun loosening the restrictions, creating a path for the reopening of society so people can take care of themselves again. Have you noticed that Gov. Gavin Newsom keeps moving the goalposts?

The curve has been flattened and there’s plenty of hospital capacity. In fact, hospitals throughout the state are laying off nurses, given that there’s little for them to do. People are avoiding the hospitals except for true emergencies, and in California there aren’t that many COVID-19 patients.

The governor’s roadmap for reopening offers six indicators before he rescinds the orders. It requires the state to have “the ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating and supporting those who are positive or exposed.” It requires “the ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand.” But these are open-ended measures. Basically, California will reopen whenever it pleases the king.

Based on the latest developments, Newsom is tightening the reins. News reports showed crowded beaches in Orange County last weekend, which angered the King of Sacramento. I’m not sure why. The official statement by Newport Beach police and fire officials acknowledged that “the overwhelming majority” of beach-goers were “practicing social distancing.”

Nevertheless, Newsom announced a hard shut-down of Orange County beaches. He wasn’t pleased seeing Californians out enjoying fresh air and sunshine after many weeks of solitary confinement. It seems like a petty response, but in a world of unchallenged power, who am I to object?

On its Twitter feed, the Office of the Governor posted a catchy statement: “The longer we go out, the longer we all stay in.” That’s something of a threat. State officials want us to more strictly follow Newsom’s orders, or else they will punish us with them longer. Apparently, the beatings will continue until morale improves, even though there’s scant evidence that these outings imperil public health.

Unfortunately, the nationwide rallies have seemed ineffective. Newsom said he wouldn’t listen to them and the California Highway Patrol has banned protests at the state Capitol. There’s still a way for the out-of-work peons to proceed.
I went out for the first time in days and found the streets crowded, parking lots full and people following the social-distancing rules. Maybe our best approach is to begin to quietly live our lives as normally as possible. We won’t question the sensible measures, but, as Alice noted, we shan’t stay silent in the face of arbitrary nonsense.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute and is a member of the Southern California Newspaper Group editorial board. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.

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This is the result of what Obama did years ago. He basically voided the rule of law when he changed the rules for bankruptcy with GM. At that point, the courts were to give the property (GM) to the credit holders, and everyone else would be left out as per law. Obama, put for his edict and boom, the Unions got control of GM and the credit holders got screwed. Yes, they got something, but not what they were entitled to.

10 years or so later, we see the effects. Edicts left and right with no basis in law. In fact, we see Edict that are in opposition to the law. Our recourse? None. Sure they say you can go to court, but with no rule of law, what good does it do?

Court says "Governor you can't do that?"
Governor says "Really? Watch me!"

Police do what police do and follow orders and before you know it we have California / Michigan and others. Protests may erupt, but what good have they really done? None!

I am not offering a solution but rather a description of how we got to the problem.

Blacknarwhal said:

Wondered that myself. What happened to hydroxychloroquine?

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I believe the clinical trial for HCQ ended at the end of April. They still need to do analysis. Remember that effectiveness is subservient to profit. Whether or not HCQ works or not I don't know. I do know that I heard Fauci himself say that remdisivir FAILED to meet effective criteria because the P value was too low. FDA is in bed with big pharm. FDA immediately rubber stamped remdisivir for big pharm. Remember, HCQ costs ten cents per pill. Look at these prices for remdisivir.

Sicario said:

Well what do you know...

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So, if we take the inflated covid number and divide it by the the amount by which it exceeds last year’s other causes number, we get 3.666.

TorahTips said:

Some stay sick for months. Yes. That is exactly what the figures show. There are still over 50 people sick (in the hospital) fro the first cruise where people got sick.

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This would indicate we only know the floor count on the number of dead or the percentage this thing kills. If you do the simply recovered versus dead, it looks horrible.

Also, we know China screwed with the numbers. So they don't even count when providing evidence.

The other thing is that the world is showing a 7.5% death rate versus "official" sick rate. AT least 2 pts higher than the USA. If this holds true, I would expect there are a lot more sick out there and a lot more dead than is being reported.