Jerri-Lynn here. Am I being alarmist in crossposting this? Perhaps. But I am in good company, as COVID-19 ravages onward. The following post only reports the musings of Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
The US is number one in COVID-19 cases and deaths, and there’s plenty of blame for this debacle to go around. Trump’s pandemic policy has been a disaster, but no US political leader really comes off good here. Compare New York City’s response to Hong Kong’s. NYC has 8.5 million residents, and Hong Kong 7.5 million, so they are roughly the same size. I keep hammering this point, I know, and am in danger of not being invited to the best parties as I’m known to drone on and on about this subject. So be it.
Hong Kong never locked down completely and they are now opening up, despite being densely populated and on the doorstep of mainland China, To date, they’ve only endured IIRC 1100 cases or so, and suffered 4 deaths.Those aren’t typos. Read my series of posts to learn how they’ve achieved this success – despite the lack of leadership and the unpopularity of chief executive Carrie Lam.
By Eoin Higgins, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams
Confirmed global cases of the coronavirus hit 10 million Sunday, a grim milestone that came as reported deaths from the disease climbed toward 500,000 and a top U.S. health official warned the country’s chances of getting the outbreak back under control were fast disappearing.
“This is a very, very serious situation and the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control,” Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar told CNN‘s Jake Tapper Sunday.
NEW: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warns on CNN that the “window is closing” for the U.S. to get the coronavirus under control, calling the current state of the outbreak a “very, very serious situation.” https://t.co/fPJeGET2Ti
— Axios (@axios) June 28, 2020
Data from Johns Hopkins University, which has tracked the disease for months, showed the total confirmed cases around the world at over 10 million by early Sunday afternoon. Total deaths as of press time had nearly exceeded the 500,000 mark.
The U.S. leads the world in total cases with over 2.5 million and in deaths with 125,709. Brazil is a distant second in both categories with around 1.3 million cases and just over 57,000 deaths.
“We are 4% of the world’s population and we are 25% of the cases and the deaths,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on an appearance on ABC Sunday.
JUST IN: @GStephanopoulos: “Is it time to mandate the wearing of masks across the country?”
“Definitely long overdue for that,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, adding that the CDC recommended use of masks but did not mandate it as to “not offend” Pres. Trump. https://t.co/vK2j2gSewt pic.twitter.com/98dKafdYAv
— ABC News (@ABC) June 28, 2020
As CNN reported:
Thirty-six states are reporting a rise in positive coronavirus cases, and only two are reporting a decline in cases compared to last week.
On Friday, the U.S. reported the highest number of new cases in a single day, with at least 40,173 new infections. The previous daily high was reported on Thursday.
Several states, including Texas and Washington state, and localities have paused their reopening plans or reimposed some restrictions in hopes of curbing the spread of the virus.
President Donald Trump’s management of the disease has been blamed by critics for the nation’s high rate of infection and death count. Trump and members of his administration have blamed a host of other factors, including testing, on the high rate.
Former Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Tom Frieden told Fox News Sunday that rationale was simply untrue.
“As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where you’re seeing an increase, it is a real increase,” said Frieden. “It is not more tests, it is more spread of the virus.”
