UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized yesterday for treatment of COVID-19 (with which he had been diagnosed about a week ago), has just been moved to intensive care, as per BBC News:
Foreign Secretary Domenic Raab is apparently acting in the role of Prime Minister at the moment.
Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care… wow. His fiance is currently pregnant - she must be scared silly.
After the Republican legislature refused to postpone the Wisconsin election, the governor has issued an executive order to postpone it.
I already reported today’s big news from Austria, about the impending gradual lifting of the lockdown, in a previous post. Here’s what else has happened today:
[ul]
[li] Since Wednesday last week supermarkets have been distributing face masks for free. As of today, the wearing of face coverings while shopping is a legal requirement. And also as of today, many supermarkets are charging €1 per mask, though they are prohibited by law from profiting on such sales.[/li][li] The government has increased funding for its aid to cover the wages and salaries of laid-off employees, from €1 billion to €3 billion.[/li][li] The state of Upper Austria is planning some sort of one-off financial reward for its health care workers, which could take the form of tax relief or a 15th salary. (Fun fact: in Austria, “monthly” salaries are paid 14 times per year rather than 12.)[/li][li] The housing market is effectively frozen; with the government-imposed restrictions on movement, nobody is showing or visiting properties for sale or to rent. For this reason, the government has said that if your current housing rental contract expires during the coronavirus crisis, then you have the right to unilaterally extend it to the end of the year. This way your landlord cannot evict you for staying past the end of the originally agreed term.[/li][li] Border controls with Austria’s neighbouring countries will remain in place for at least another 20 days, according to the interior minister.[/li][li] The entire state of Tyrol was placed under a strict quarantine some time ago; this will be lifted tomorrow.[/li][li] Nationwide, electricity usage is down 13%.[/li][li] Current statistics: 12,297 confirmed infections, 220 deaths, 3463 recovered.[/li][/ul]
Isn’t some of that pattern due to the fact that each increase is part of a larger total? If the absolute number of new cases is relatively steady, then it would naturally be a smaller percentage increase at each iteration. I don’t know how you account for that. Because I want you to be right about a decreasing rate of increase.
Your posts are awesome, psychonaut.
I’m curious about the charge for masks vs. not being able to profit from their sale. Are stores donating proceeds to charity or what?
Wisconsin’s election has been “reinstated” by the state Supreme Court, 4-2, predictably along party lines.
It is not clear (to me) if the Gov’s previous April 12 extension for getting in absentee ballots is still effective.
Danke!
Yeah, maybe I should have been clearer about this rather than using the imprecise terminology employed by others. The real rule, as I understand it, as that supermarkets are not allowed to mark up the price of the masks. I believe the government is arranging or facilitating the purchase of the masks from the suppliers at a certain price, and the supermarkets must charge the end users no more than this price.
I agree, your posts are awesome, psychonaut. Clean and concise.
I would also like to thank you Snowboarder Bo for this historic thread. I did not use that word lightly, this sort of day to day journal will be valued in years to come. (As I have no breaking news to share, I usually just check here a few times a day and read the posts with voices and accents. This isn’t World War Z, but wow.)
To piggyback psychonauts post again. Here in Slovenia is similar situation as we mostly copied Austria in that matter. Plus couple more restrictions lika a total public transport ban, subregional quarantine zones (every town for itself), masks in all public closed spaces and even more testing. Results are relatively good (even slightly better than Austria’s) and real enforcing is not really needed (maybe like couple hundred mildish fines). This week gardening stores and flower shops reopened, semi urgent medical appointments are to be next in line for revision later this week. Industry, logistics, construction and some other services (if 2m personal space and protecting equipment could be provided) never closed here. Current statistics: 1021 confirmed infections, 32 deaths, 110 recovered. About 1/4 of Austria population (2.1m vs 8.9m).
Further developments in Wisconsin, where the situation has changed 3 times today:
You might think this belongs in the Elections Forum, but:
Also:
Gov. Evers had decreed a few days ago that any absentee ballot that arrived in the clerk’s office by April 13 would be counted. The Republicans on the Supreme Court won’t let that happen, knowing that absentee ballots are more heavily Democratic votes.
Its a primary election. The Reps gain nothing by an earlier voting date. Bidon or Sanders otoh…
Both Biden and Sanders are on this ballot, and while they can’t win an office, the numbers can change if more ballots are counted. There are also two judges, one aligned with each political party, and that outcome could could change if more absentee ballots were allowed.
There are also many local races on this ballot. While my county doesn’t have local candidates assigned to any party, I can’t say that is the case everywhere in the state.
Comments below by NYC Health Committee Chair Mark Levine, from Twitter via Worldometer. He suggests that an estimated additional 180 - 195 deaths per day occurring at home in New York City due to COVID-19 are not being counted in the official figures. These numbers are based on an estimated 20-25 deaths at home in NYC, pre-outbreak, versus a current daily average of 200-215.
As mentioned above, there are a number of state-level elections - lots of judges, for example. Source. Some referendums, a constitutional amendment…
And some of them deaths not directly COVID-19 related but because of things that would not have killed them if they went to the hospital or maybe still would have but they were afraid to go because of COVID fear. And pulmonary emboli from inactivity. More in home alone more afraid to leave more and more deaths at home. Of all causes except car accidents I guess.
1,347,235 confirmed infections
74,767 dead
286,095 recovered
In the US:
367,629 confirmed infections
10,941 dead
19,671 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
Most likely over 11,000 deaths before I go to bed. Ugh.
one more thing to fret over
*… cardiac experts are coming to believe the COVID-19 virus can infect the heart muscle. An initial study found cardiac damage in as many as 1 in 5 patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress…
The question of whether the emerging heart problems are caused by the virus itself or are a byproduct of the body’s reaction to it has become one of the critical unknowns facing doctors as they race to understand the novel illness. Determining how the virus affects the heart is difficult, in part, because severe illness alone can influence heart health.*
This could be insignificant, or it could be really bad.
As of yesterday, the epidemic is considered under control in Norway. The governments measures were aiming at reducing R to 1.4 However, Norwegians considered that “social distancing” meant that at last we had an excuse not to interact with other people. Local quarantines were enacted all over the place, restricting the travel of people from the capital, the other side of the fjord, next county over and other dubious places that we’ve never really wanted to interact with.
R dropped to somewhere well below 0.7 due to Norwegians excessive enthusiasm for leaving each other alone.