What are your thoughts on how government is handling COVID-19

[missy]

Cuomo is having his afternoon press conference and he is saying he is working with the governors of NJ and Connecticut. He is saying NJ needs our help and we are going to give it. We now have 83,712 cases and 1,941 deaths. 12,226 people are hospitalized in NY and 3,022 are in ICU and critical.

NJ has 18,696 cases and 267 deaths.

And yes Trump is disgusting.

 

[lyra]

I just can't believe that your parks will open back up. So they want the hospitals to fail, and more people to die? That's awful.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Yup. I’m all for saving lives first and dealing with the economic fallout later. Not a popular opinion with some/many. Including some PSers.

This is a tough call. if we don't open up our economy soon people will kill/robb for a roll of TP.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Money? means nothing, I have enough to make my rent for a year and to eat.. and very lucky in my friendships.. my kids and furbaby and grand are fine, I'm lucky happy and blessed, xo

Really??? . are you gonna pay my bills?

 

[1ofakind]

I guess it really does make some people feel better if there is someone to blame.
Maybe it would be better if :
If China hadn't lied and covered up the situation from the start (as they continue to do)
If Obama administration had refilled basic supplies from the National Stockpile as recommended after H1N1.
If Trump administration knowing about the shortfalls had started to replenish it.
If for DECADES we hadn't been outsourcing our most basic needs in an emergency to cheap labor oversees in countries that are not even our friends.
If Governors of States had the common sense to have their own local/regional stockpiles and resources lined up instead of relying solely on the Federal Government.
If the State and Federal governments had all seen how serious this would be in January and started to prepare. Even those who say they saw this coming did little to nothing.

There are plenty of what if's to consider and places to point a finger. How many individuals are really prepared to miss paychecks for months, to deal with possible supply chain interruptions in our community, to do what we are having to do now? How many already have masks, extra supplies of meds and enough supplies to shelter in place for a month or more?

It's easy enough to look back and see what we think everyone should have done but from what I can tell there were not any short term measures that could have been taken to handle this on the scale and the speed in which it materialized across the country. No country was prepared. There were never enough masks. There were never enough respirators or beds. We might have been a little ahead on dealing with the shortages but there would still be shortages. We don't even know enough to do much more than treat the symptoms. A vaccine is not going to quickly materialize. The National Stockpile would still be depleted and either way people will die. It's terrible but inevitable.

I read somewhere and it rings true...we are pretty well prepared for the last emergency we faced.
I suspect some things will change this time too and if there's a next time we'll be better able to handle it. But then there will be something else....and we will be right back scrambling and unprepared and outraged.

 

[Tekate]

pardon?

Really??? . are you gonna pay my bills?

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

They've taken away our spring break

 

[Slickk]

They've taken away our spring break

Yup! And ours was happening right now. Over! Spent all day preparing for DL tomorrow.

 

[Tekate]

I guess it really does make some people feel better if there is someone to blame.

Not really, if there is someone to blame then there is, in this case if Trump had been more proactive rather than blowing this off, in the beginning face it he was informed in 19 what would happen if there was a pandemic, he's to blame for our lack of early response and we shouldn't just be blase about that.

Maybe it would be better if :
If China hadn't lied and covered up the situation from the start (as they continue to do)

Why did we believe China? that's my question, why did this administration believe what they were saying?

If Obama administration had refilled basic supplies from the National Stockpile as recommended after H1N1.

True

If Trump administration knowing about the shortfalls had started to replenish it.

True and they knew as the were briefed in January 17. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/trump-inauguration-warning-scenario-pandemic-132797

If for DECADES we hadn't been outsourcing our most basic needs in an emergency to cheap labor oversees in countries that are not even our friends.

What? that is how this global economy worked, AMERICAN BUSINESSES work. America has always had a policy of helping countries that are poorer than the USA. I was not and am not in favor of outsourcing everything, every layoff of workers in manufacturing in the USA affected me sadly, BUT business runs on their bottom line and they could pay LESS for (inferior imho) product and make a lot of money and their stockholders very rich, they did it. If a laborer in America needs 15-20$ per hour to live comfortably in America but a laborer in China makes 7,000 yuan (about 10K per year) and can live comfortably, where's manufacturing going to go? There are many reasons why the chinese can live on less, it's a communist country.

If Governors of States had the common sense to have their own local/regional st of relying solely on the Federal Government.

We have been governed by leaders who believe in low really low taxes (at least for the rich and business) and if the governor of a state says I'm going to buy 3 million masks (little own ventilators) he'd be voted out.. To me this is just not realistic to say the governors are any more at fault than our federal government.

If the State and Federal governments had all seen how serious this would be in January and started to prepare. Even those who say they saw this coming did little to nothing.


Well Trump was informed in 19 on what a pandemic would do to America, he did nothing. The NYTimes has a great piece on what the initial cluster---k of the Trump administration, it was a complete screw up.

The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19 (Published 2020)

Aggressive screening might have helped contain the coronavirus in the United States. But technical flaws, regulatory hurdles and lapses in leadership let it spread undetected for weeks.

www.nytimes.com

There are plenty of what if's to consider and places to point a finger. How many individuals are really prepared to miss paychecks for months, to deal with possible supply chain interruptions in our community, to do what we are having to do now? How many already have masks, extra supplies of meds and enough supplies to shelter in place for a month or more?

The states should have been more prepared I give you that but we had NO leadership, since Trump didn't believe it, Trump belongs to the low/no tax, libertarian view that 'it's not my job" There are very few people alive if at all who remember the 1918 pandemic and much has changed in 100 years, I don't give a bye to the feds but as I said the states should have been more prepared, we obviously need to be better prepared

It's easy enough to look back and see what we think everyone should have done but from what I can tell there were not any short term measures that could have been taken to handle this on the scale and the speed in which it materialized across the country. No country was prepared. There were never enough masks. There were never enough respirators or beds. We might have been a little ahead on dealing with the shortages but there would still be shortages. We don't even know enough to do much more than treat the symptoms. A vaccine is not going to quickly materialize. The National Stockpile would still be depleted and either way people will die. It's terrible but inevitable.

Isn't this what happens after ANY type of upheaval? looking back on what caused WWII, a train wreck, a car crash, a murder, etc.. We always look back, nothing wrong with that, it's called "Learn by experience" or "learn from your mistakes" Yes it's terrible and our president, our states, and our cities (shouldn't mayors have been better prepared?) yes we all should have been prepared, I have to say I was prepared because I had 10 N95 face masks that my spouse and I bought during the H1N1 virus. Read the NYTimes piece, there was a lot we could have done, we didn't do it.

I read somewhere and it rings true...we are pretty well prepared for the last emergency we faced.
I suspect some things will change this time too and if there's a next time we'll be better able to handle it. But then there will be something else....and we will be right back scrambling and unprepared and outraged.

Maybe yes maybe no. I can't be philosophical yet about this yet.

 

[Arcadian]

Finally we have a stay at home order that will take place on Thursday for 30 days. so from April 2 to May 2.

 

[1ofakind]

Finally we have a stay at home order that will take place on Thursday for 30 days. so from April 2 to May 2.

Welcome to the pajama party.

 

[Arcadian]

I just can't believe that your parks will open back up. So they want the hospitals to fail, and more people to die? That's awful.

Federal Parks you mean?

A huge issue is one being had now in Georgia in the black community. Many believe its a setup so they are congregating in some pretty big numbers( including churches) Even if there was a stay at home order I don't think it would matter.

I will say that in Florida, they arrested the pastor that kept having large church services, considering he said he'd do it again. (there are unfortunately a large number of mega churches in the south...)

 

[arkieb1]

If you're suggesting that Trump, or the feds in general, should be imposing lockdown restrictions - they can't. That is up to the governors of each state. Last I saw, 80% of US population lived in areas with stay-home orders. The severity of the orders and the degree to which they're enforced depends on the state.

Yes to some degree it is the same in Australia however there are decisions here being made like new laws and rules and regulations about this at a Federal level and then it is being left up to each State how much say they will fine people for breaking those rules. If it works here it would in theory work where you are too.

 

[1ofakind]

Tekate it seems like you could haved saved yourself the trouble of picking apart and responding as you did by simply saying 'Regardless of anything else, I still blame Trump'.

 

[1ofakind]

Yes to some degree it is the same in Australia however there are decisions here being made like new laws and rules and regulations about this at a Federal level and then it is being left up to each State how much say they will fine people for breaking those rules. If it works here it would in theory work where you are too.

But that can't happen here. If the Congress enacts new laws that go against The Constitution there will be instant lawsuits and month/years of legal battles. Some Governors may simply refuse to comply with an unconstitutional law from Congress. There would likely be a stay order until a final verdict or maybe a rush to SCOTUS. Either way this will most likely be over before it is settled in courts. In this case it is best that our Governors handle it state by state. Some are doing a better job than others.

 

[arkieb1]

This is a tough call. if we don't open up our economy soon people will kill/robb for a roll of TP.

But that is saying opening up your economy is more important than people's lives. Here what they have had to do is the government has stepped in and has given people who have lost jobs specific payments, when that was seen to not be working they have now offered incentives to business that they will pay a specific rate for each worker they keep until this is over so effectively our government has stepped in and said they will pay a basic wage for most workers in our society to be paid to the businesses and companies they work for to keep them employed, even if those businesses are not open any more.... to keep staff/workers on their books.

Imagine that, a country at the butt end of the world where the government has stepped in, stepped up and is paying billions to support workers and businesses. Yet a developed nation like yours is unable to manage this health crisis effectively on any level by comparison and manage your economy on any level by comparison.

 

[arkieb1]

But that can't happen here. If the Congress enacts new laws that go against The Constitution there will be instant lawsuits and month/years of legal battles. In this case it is best that our Governors handle it state by state. Some are doing a better job than others.

Yes and you would think that at a time like this when potentially massive numbers of people are dying (just like wartime because even Trump himself is now saying this is like going to war with a disease) that something as outdated as your constitution could be overridden for the collective sake of every single member of your society.
#whenyourconstitutionfailseveryone

 

[JPie]

Tekate it seems like you could haved saved yourself the trouble of picking apart and responding as you did by simply saying 'Regardless of anything else, I still blame Trump'.

You’d do well to simply say, “Regardless of Trump’s failures and utter incompetence, I’ll still deflect responsibility on everyone else and regurgitate Republican lies.”

 

[Dancing Fire]

Imagine that, a country at the butt end of the world where the government has stepped in, stepped up and is paying billions to support workers and businesses. Yet a developed nation like yours is unable to manage this health crisis effectively on any level by comparison and manage your economy on any level by comparison.

Is your country $25 trillion in debt?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Dr. Garry’s predictions for Australia:

I predict we will have another rough month and then we will see light at the end of the tunnel and within two or 3 months we will reach the relaxing stage.

• We are flat lining in the infection rates at about 300 new cases a day. That means more and more people are still catching the virus. But we will not be like Spain and Italy. Victoria has only 26 people in hospital and 6 in ICU’s with about 600 respirators.
• Testing testing testing – we are viral throat or nose swab testing at the highest rates in the world: more than 250,000 so far.
• The largest group of people getting infected are doctors nurses and frontline people. But many will be coming out after being mildly ill and have some immunity which means when they go back to work they cannot infect others or have little or no chance of being reinfected.
• They are now mass producing millions of cheap antibody or antigen tests. Anyone can prick their finger and do like a pregnancy test (someone will have to do it for me because I faint). Test takes 15 minutes. The test ID’s if you are late stage or have had Covid-19 (has some other false positives from other flu/colds).
• When an area like say Prahran has high known incidence they can do door to door compulsory testing and when they ID someone in a family or work group who then they do the viral throat swab test and lock that family down if anyone else is confirmed.
• This means we can get under 1.0 – where one person infects one other person, not 2.2 which results in exponential spreading.
• When we to say 0.5 it is likely the government will have the needed systems in place to allow almost social and economic normality as has happened in Korea.
• I predict we will have another rough month and then we will see light at the end of the tunnel and within two or 3 months we will reach the relaxing stage.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Tekate it seems like you could haved saved yourself the trouble of picking apart and responding as you did by simply saying 'Regardless of anything else, I still blame Trump'.

Welcome to never trumper land... . The left wingers are still in shock that H. Clinton lost in 2008.

 

[1ofakind]

You’d do well to simply say, “Regardless of Trump’s failures and utter incompetence, I’ll still deflect responsibility on everyone else and regurgitate Republican lies.”

Except that I didn't say anything of the sort. Why do you feel like you get to choose a side for me when I haven't declared one myself? It's true I did not demonize Trump but I have not praised him either.

 

[Calliecake]

The flipping Daily Mail was telling people what was happening in China back in January. Doctors in China were getting the word out. Italy has been warning us. The CDC was warning us in January. We knew about this virus in January, to say otherwise is disingenuous.

From January 1 to March 1, 2020, Trump tweeted 1,795 tweets and not one of those tweets was to warn Americans about Covid 19.

Keep laughing @Dancing Fire. Some of us see no humor in thousands of Americans dying. The next few weeks are going to be horrific.

 

[Dancing Fire]

You’d do well to simply say, “Regardless of Trump’s failures and utter incompetence, I’ll still deflect responsibility on everyone else and regurgitate Republican lies.”

So who's the honest Dem you wanna see in office?

 

[Loves Vintage]

Except that I didn't say anything of the sort. Why do you feel like you get to choose a side for me when I haven't declared one myself? It's true I did not demonize Trump but I have not praised him either.

Sometimes we are not who we say we are.

 

[Dancing Fire]

The flipping Daily Mail was telling people what was happening in China back in January. Doctors in China were getting the word out. Italy has been warning us. The CDC was warning us in January. We knew about this virus in January, to say otherwise is disingenuous.

From January 1 to March 1, 2020, Trump tweeted 1,795 tweets and not one of those tweets was to warn Americans about Covid 19.

Keep laughing @Dancing Fire. Some of us see no humor in thousands of Americans dying. The next few weeks are going to be horrific.

Trump banned chinese flights in late Jan. but of course the left called him a racist.

CC, If people don't return to work within the next 2 months there will a lot of murders in our country. People will robb and kill for food.

 

[JPie]

Except that I didn't say anything of the sort. Why do you feel like you get to choose a side for me when I haven't declared one myself? It's true I did not demonize Trump but I have not praised him either.

I didn't choose a side for you; I simply summarized exactly what you've done.

 

[Dancing Fire]

pardon?

You said "money means nothing" so are you gonna my bills?

 

[Babyblue033]

I hate getting into politics but when I saw this in my mailbox today I was a bit... hmm... I'll just leave it here.

Back of the card did contain sound advice.

 

[arkieb1]

Is your country $25 trillion in debt?

No, but you can blame economic mismanagement from both sides of politics in the US for that. Irrespective of your debt levels if you need to take on more debt to solve this crisis that seems the logical choice over letting people die. Instead you and many others seem in favour of letting people die because of the economic cost of shutting everything except medical services and basic supply services like food etc down.

Lets deal with the hypocrisy of that shall we - you can spend 6 to 6.5 trillion dollars on the war on terror in places like Iraq and Afghanistan (source);

The US has blown past $6 trillion in 'war on terror' spending since 2001 — and its cost to taxpayers will keep climbing for decades, study says

Back in March, the Pentagon estimated the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria have cost each US taxpayer around $7,623 to date.

www.businessinsider.com.au

Yet you cannot spend that amount helping people that experience job losses through economic assistance to do what is necessary to slow this virus down.

So to be blunt, it's O.K to let your citizens die from this virus, to save your economy because you are arguing you cannot afford it, yet you can spend trillions instead on other things, like for example, a war you will never win.....