#AloneTogether
*Lávase Las Manos. Wash Your Hands.
* In Paris, Milan and Madrid, hospitals are now reporting empty ICU beds and enough ventilators to go around. We’ll take it.
* “It is thin ice. … Caution is the order of the day, and not overconfidence.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
* Sweden has the highest mortality rate in Scandinavia. It’s likely not happenstance; it’s the only Nordic country that ignored the lockdowns imposed among its neighbors.
* “You don’t make the timelines. The virus makes the timelines.”–Dr. Anthony Fauci.
* The coronavirus attacks the lungs. Could that be a wake-up call to smokers and vapers? I don’t think so either.
* Talk about a worst-case scenario: a pandemic during the Trump plague!
* Yes, there is light at the end of this COVID tunnel; we just don’t know how long this tunnel is.
* “I think it will be months. I definitely don’t think it will be years.”–Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, on the economic-recovery time frame.
* COVID prescience: “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war–not missiles but microbes.” That was Bill Gates in 2015. His Foundation is the second largest donor to the WHO for its latest two-year budget.
* Imagine how the pandemic “normal” would be looking if Trump, as he has self-servingly noted, were not doing “one hell of a job.”
* “We have the best tests in the world.” Maybe Trump meant true-false.
* When in pandemic doubt, err on the side of caution. It’s not an error–whether it’s beaches, businesses, churches or early release of problematic inmates.
* Gov. Ron DeSantis has given the go-ahead for some beaches and parks to reopen if it can be done safely. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Duval County beaches have reopened with restricted hours and can only be used for walking,biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, surfing and taking care of pets. How’s that for restrictive?
* One inherent issue with wearing masks is that you can’t see people smile–and smiles have never mattered more.
* A group–representing political consultants, pollsters and lobbyists–is suing the U.S. government for a piece of the $2.2 billion COVID-19 bailout pie, specifically the “forgiving loans” provided under the Paycheck Protection Program. The program excludes a number of businesses, including nonprofits, strip clubs and those “primarily engaged in political or lobbying activities.” When’s the last time nonprofits, strip clubs and political lobbyists even appeared in the same sentence?
* According to a recent report by the Tampa Bay Partnership, USF Muma College of Business and others, about 40 percent of this region’s (5,000) hospital beds are still available for new patients and about a third of the ICU beds are currently available.
* Add wastewater employees to the list of everyday heroes on the front line of human health and environmental protection. That’s because of too many flushable wipes–and paper towels and diapers. There’s even been a warning from the EPA about the danger of flushing gloves, facemasks and wipes that could be carrying COVID-19.