I had abandoned these updates almost exactly three months ago (24 Jul 2020) and it’s been nagging me. My process had been to slowly build a list of notes over days and weeks and to review liked tweets that were my bookmarks of useful information. I would then try to organize it. When I stopped posting, I had very little new that I was experiencing and so updates and observations began to stagnate. From the start, I wanted this to be a way to remember each moment of a world that could radically change within weeks or days. Even though my July experiences were anemic, much still happened in the three months since then, and those months will be a dark age when I look back a year/years from now.
Top 5 Highest Coronavirus Case Days in the U.S.
October 23: 83,757 cases
@gelles, 25 Oct 2020, 8:11 AM
October 24: 83,718 cases
July 16: 77,362 cases
July 24: 73,107 cases
July 17: 72,010 cases
The chart below, with hard-to-read labels, has a Y-axis of daily cases (the top line is 90K) and an X-axis of dates (from 29 Feb 2020 to 24 Oct 2020). The peak around 2/3s in is when I stopped writing. We’ve generously beaten those numbers yesterday and the day before.
Mike Pence–the head of the Coronavirus Task Force–had five staffers including his Chief of Staff test positive today. He will not quarantine and is going to rallies. When asked for comment, Kamala Harris said: “We have modeled the right behavior and they should take our lead.” heh
They are still trying to suppress the numbers.
23 Oct 2020 – Hospitalization data flawed in Missouri, perhaps elsewhere (AP)
Many states are under-reporting because of difficulties with the HHS system. This started at least as early as 17 Oct 2020, a little over a week ago. The COVID Tracking Project notices anomalies for Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Similar issues in Kansas and Wisconsin. Expect it to be more widespread as we find out more.
24 Oct 2020 – Behind Georgia’s Covid-19 dashboard disaster (Atlanta Magazine)
The 27 Apr 2020 launch of Georgia’s Covid tracking dashboard was rife with problems that continued for months. It’s a long article that I haven’t yet finished, but the problem was elaborately hidden from reporting oversight until emails were obtained that revealed an un-supervised contracting company was in charge of the site. Kemp has his hands all over that mess.
One year ago today:
We are not prepared for a pandemic. Trump has rolled back progress President Obama and I made to strengthen global health security. We need leadership that builds public trust, focuses on real threats, and mobilizes the world to stop outbreaks before they reach our shores.
from @JoeBiden, 25 Oct 2019, 4:32 PM
Miscellaneous:
- 1st presidential debate and Trump went batshit and interrupty, skips out on 2nd, lies through 3rd after they adopt a rule to shut off mikes
- RBG dies and Senate Republicans rush to confirm an unqualified Christian fundamentalist with a terrifying reputation. This will happen tomorrow.
- Mitch McConnell has weird purple bruises all over his hands.
- Kids showing up to vote!
