| November 2021 Virus Update: As of November 10th, there have been a total of 38,881 total cumulative confirmed cases of the Wuhan flu and 469 confirmed cumulative deaths in Clark County, WA. Only 42 of the deceased were vaccinated, according to the Clark County website. This number is far lower than national figures I've seen on television news reports.
This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 91,601/million. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 138,368/MM - 51% higher than Washington state's case rate.
Clark County had 3,705 new cases this month, down 14% from the same period last month. Currently, 63 people are hospitalized with the Wuhan flu. There were 57 new deaths in the past month, a decline of 24%. In recent weeks, most of the deaths are unvaccinated, elderly people, although, to date, 51 vaccinated people have died as a result of breakthrough cases. So far, there have been 4,498 breakthrough cases in the county. Over 65% of county residents over 12 are fully vaccinated.
Battle Ground's zip code claims 3,475 cumulative cases - a 12% increase over last month and a cumulative case rate of 86,901. Clark County as a whole reported 77,762 cases/million.
The death rate for Washington State is 1,187/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are Mississippi, Alabama, New Jersey, Louisiana, Arizona, New York, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina and West Virginia.
The U.S. death rate is 2,371/million. Peru, Bulgaria, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Hungary, Czechia, Gibraltar, Brazil, Romania, Georgia, San Marino, Argentina, Slovakia, Columbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Armenia have higher death rates than the U.S. Other countries, especially China, probably have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design.
 It should be noted that, without mandates or lockdowns, covid cases in Florida have decreased 90% since August according to Governor Ron DeSantis. "In addition to cases, hospitalizations have plummeted … this has been accomplished by making monoclonal antibody treatments and vaccines widely available throughout our state while protecting Floridians from government overreach," DeSantis added. According to the latest numbers, over the past two months, Florida's daily average has dropped to about eight cases per 100,000 residents (about 1,700 cases per day), a sharp turn from its numbers in August when it averaged 116 cases per 100,000 residents (about 25,000 cases per day). Hawaii, an island state with a strict entry policy, trails closely behind Florida with nine cases per 100,000 residents. Yahoo News noted that Florida's case rates are now "roughly half of California's current covid rate and less than a quarter of Vermont's, both of which have vaccination rates over 70%."
Tony Heller tweeted: "Before the pandemic the U.S. had 329 million people. After two years of the most deadly virus in history, only 333 million people remain." Perhaps the whole covid thing is overrated.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the CDC has admitted that it has no record of an unvaccinated person spreading covid after recovering from the China virus. So, natural immunity is not only logical but appears to be real. (posted 11/18/21, permalink)
Vaccine Entropy: Researchers who scoured the records of nearly 800,000 U.S. veterans found that in early March, just as the Delta variant was gaining a toehold across American communities, the three vaccines were roughly equal in their ability to prevent infections. But over the next six months, that changed dramatically.
By the end of September, Moderna's two-dose covid-19 vaccine, measured as 89% effective in March, was only 58% effective. The effectiveness of shots made by Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which also employed two doses, fell from 87% to 45% in the same period. And most strikingly, the protective power of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine plunged from 86% to just 13% over those six months.
Among veterans 65 and older who were inoculated with the Moderna vaccine, those who developed a "breakthrough" infection were 76% less likely to die of covid-19 compared with unvaccinated veterans of the same age. Older veterans who got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and subsequently experienced a breakthrough infection were 70% less likely to die than were their unvaccinated peers. And when older vets who got a single jab of the J&J vaccine suffered a breakthrough infection, they were 52% less likely to die than their peers who didn't get any shots. (posted 11/10/21, permalink)
Late October China Flu Update: As of October 27, 2021, Clark County (WA) is experiencing 12 deaths/week from covid and 837 cases/week. Hospital admissions have decreased to 46/week.
Death rates have dropped substantially since mid-August and are now - surprisingly - about the same for fully-vaccinated people, partially-vaccinated and the unvaccinated. 64.3% of Clark County's population (over age 12) are vaccinated.
Since the pandemic began, no one under 20 years of age in Clark County has died from covid and only one person between 20-29 died. Over 42% of the dead are 80 years or older; most had underlying conditions.
Liberal/libertarian Bill Maher said of the China Virus, "Just resume living. I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over. There's always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks." (posted 11/2/21, permalink)
October 2021 Virus Update: As of October 14th, there have been a total of 35,704 total cumulative confirmed cases of the Wuhan flu and 412 confirmed cumulative deaths in Clark County, WA. Only 42 (10.2%) of the deceased were vaccinated, according to the Clark County website. This number is far lower than national figures I've seen on television news reports.
This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020. Looking at the data, a very disturbing picture unfolds. In the three-month period (August, September and October) of 2020 - when there was no vaccine - cases and deaths were relatively low. During the same three month period in 2021, cases have almost quadrupled and deaths in Clark County have increased more than five-fold. Looking at these data, one could posit that the vaccine is spreading the virus big time and killing many more people.
A new study published in the NIH NCBI database and authored by Harvard professor S.V. Subramanian, Ph.D, and Penn State professor Akhil Kumar, PhD has claimed that vaccination rates have "no discernible relationship" with the amount of new covid cases, and noted that "in fact, the trend line suggests a marginally positive association such that countries with higher percentage of population fully vaccinated have higher covid-19 cases per 1 million people."
Israel with over 60% of their population fully vaccinated had the highest covid-19 cases per 1 million people in the last 7 days. Yet India - which relies on invermectin - had less than 200 confirmed cases per million people, compared with Israel's 8,000 cases/million.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 91,601/million. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 138,368/MM - 51% higher than Washington state's case rate.
Clark County had 3,705 new cases this month, down 14% from the same period last month. There were 75 new deaths in the past month, up 12%. The percentage of hospital beds occupied by covid patients has decreased from 27% as of September 14th to 15% as of October 14th. The mortality rate for October is 2%.
Battle Ground's zip code claims 3,091 cumulative cases - a 55% increase over last month and a cumulative case rate of 77,298/million - an increase of 12%. These percentages should basically agree; since they don't, I consider the reporting by the county as erroneous. Clark County as a whole reported 71,741 cases/million.
The death rate for Washington State is 1,089/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are Mississippi, New Jersey, Alabama, Louisiana, New York, Arizona, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and South Dakota.
The U.S. death rate is 2,250/million. Peru, Bosnia/Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Hungary, Gibraltar, Czechia, Brazil, San Marino, Argentina, Columbia, Georgia, Slovakia, Paraguay and French Polynesia have higher death rates than the U.S. Other countries, especially China, probably have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design. (posted 10/21/21, permalink)
September 2021 Virus Update: As of September 16, 2021, Clark County reported 31,999 total cumulative confirmed cases of China Virus and 337 confirmed cumulative deaths. One in 25 cases requires hospitalization. Most of the cases in Clark County are unvaccinated folks by a factor of almost 5 to 1.
This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020.
Clark County had 4,333 new cases this month, up 79% from the same period last month. There were 67 new deaths in the past month. The percentage of hospital beds occupied by covid patients has increased from 13% as of August 19th to 27% as of September 14th. The mortality rate for August is 1.5% - a large and scary increase at first glance.
However, I am suspicious of the large increases in deaths. Two weeks ago, Clark County Public Health posted this statement on its website: "On September 9th, Public Health added 43 COVID-19 deaths (39 confirmed, 4 suspect). Most of the deaths (34) occurred in the month of August; 5 occurred in July and 4 occurred in prior months. Public Health reviews medical records for every confirmed and suspect COVID-19 death (which is determined by the Department of Health using death certificate information). The record review allows Public Health to collect additional data about the person who died, such as whether they had underlying health conditions. Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and increase in local outbreaks, Public Health was unable to keep up with medical record reviews for COVID-19 deaths, which resulted in a delay in Public Health reporting some of these deaths." Suspiciously, this statement has since been removed, so I don't know where they added in these new deaths. The Public Health Department also continues to change its method of reporting, so I have difficulty making reliable month-to-month comparisons.
The death rate for Washington State is 962/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 2,099/million. Peru, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Hungary, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Czechia, Brazil, San Marino, Argentina, Columbia, Slovakia, Paraguay, Belgium, Slovenia, Georgia, Italy, French Polynesia and Croatia have higher death rates than the U.S. Other countries, especially China, probably have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,996 cases - a cumulative case rate of 68,721/million - 7.4% higher than Clark County as a whole (63,998 cases/million).
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 82,866/million - 21% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 130,264/MM - 57% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are Mississippi, New Jersey, Louisiana, New York, Alabama, Arizona, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Florida, South Dakota, Connecticut, and Georgia.
According to an article from Heritage magazine, the chance of a vaccinated person dying from covid is 1 in 137,698, about the same as the chance of being killed by a lightning strike (1 in 138,849).
"Covid-19 cases and deaths declined significantly for much of the first half of 2021 as more Americans were vaccinated. While the U.S. is experiencing a surge in cases due to the Delta variant, most of these cases are among the unvaccinated, and COVID-19 deaths are nowhere near the levels before vaccines were authorized."
Looking at the state-by-state data over the 18 months, there seems to be little correlations between the number of cases compared with the severity of mandates and lockdowns. Biden is trying to force everyone to get vaccinated. For some reason, many health care workers don't trust this vaccine. Instead of trying to bully people into being jabbed, a wise man would try to find out why these knowledgeable folks won't take the shots.
Parody website The Babylon Bee summed it up best with this headline: 'To Defeat Delta Variant, Experts Recommend Doing All The Things That Didn't Work The First Time'. (posted 9/23/21, permalink)
August 2021 Virus Update: Are you confused enough yet? We were told, "Get your shots and all will be well." Yet fully-vaccinated people are getting covid. It has been called the Delta Variant. What's next - the Gamma Variant? And what to do? Masks? No masks? Unproven booster shots? Vitamin D? Invermectin from the local feed store? Your guess is as good as mine. Or the CDC's. This cartoon says it all:
New variants? Sure. Why do you think the CDC printed all those vaccine cards with extra spaces?
Meanwhile, a study from Great Britain indicated that 43% of those hospitalized with covid had come to the hospital "for a diagnosis unrelated to Covid and tested positive later" via routine testing. Most of these patients were apparenty asymptomatic.
Rice University found a number of false positives in their covid testing. "Over 90% of the positive infections came from a single test provider; three-quarters of the positive tests were from people who reported no symptoms; the positive results were widely scattered across various groups in our population, with only one potential cluster that seemed more likely to be associated with their proximity to a particular testing location; and over 90% of the reported infections were for people who were fully vaccinated."
This is not science. This is spitballing. In any case, the covid death rate dropped substantially in August. New cases of the China Virus quadrupled in Clark County and hospitalizations have risen but the number of deaths dropped by over 40%.
This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020.
Clark County had 27,466 cumulative confirmed cases - 2,535 new cases this month, up almost four-fold from the same period last month. The percentage of hospital beds occupied by covid patients has increased from 3.1% on July 10th to 13% as of August 19th. The mortality rate for August is 0.3% - a large drop.
As of August 19th, there have been - cumulatively - 268 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 536 per million. There were 8 new deaths in the past month - down from 14 last month. Of the 268 total cumulative deaths, at least 257 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions. As of August 19th, 67.2% of people over 12 years-old have been fully vaccinated in Clark County.
The death rate for Washington State is 840/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,949/million. Peru, Hungary, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Gibraltar, Czechia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Montenegro, San Marino, Argentina, Columbia, Slovakia, Belgium, Paraguay, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Poland and Mexico have higher death rates than the U.S. Other countries, especially India and China, have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,996 cases - a cumulative case rate of 56,717/million - 4.2% higher than Clark County as a whole (54,392 cases/million).
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 69,644/million - 23% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 116,460/MM - 67% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are New Jersey, New York, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Arizona, Alabama, Connecticut, South Dakota, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. (posted 8/26/21, permalink)
July 2021 Virus Update: Clark County had 24,931 cumulative confirmed cases - 640 new cases this month, down 58% from the same period last month. The total number of people hospitalized is no longer reported but there have been only 13 new hospitalizations in the last two weeks. The percentage of beds occupied by covid patients has dropped from 8.1% on June 5th to 3.1% on July 10th. The mortality rate for July is 2.2%. This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020.
As of July 22nd, there have been - cumulatively - 260 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 513 per million. There were 14 new deaths in the past month - up from 12 last month. Of the 260 total cumulative deaths, at least 237 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions.
The death rate for Washington State is 804/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,894/million. Peru, Hungary, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Czechia, Gibraltar, San Marino, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Brazil, Columbia, Slovakia, Argentina, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, Paraguay, Croatia, Poland and the United Kingdom have higher death rates than the U.S. Other countries, especially India and China, have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,996 cases - a cumulative case rate of 49,992/million - 3.8% lower than Clark County as a whole (51,940 cases/million).
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 61.423/million - 23% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 106,391/MM - 73% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Arizona, Louisiana, Alabama, Connecticut, South Dakota and Pennsylvania.
Interestingly, 40% of people in the U.S. who died of covid-19 had diabetes.
"All the data since pandemic began has been severely manipulated. Meaning no one has a clear understanding of how many people have died from the virus itself, the virus exasperating an underlying condition, or falsifying cause of death to inflate numbers and drive public policy. Today, this government is untrustworthy and has lost all credibility through and through regardless of party or agency."
Dr. Robert Malone, a pioneer in the field of mRNA vaccines, shared a viral Twitter thread which lays out a disturbing trend; the most-vaccinated countries in the world are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, while the least-vaccinated countries are not.
Eighteen months into this, there is still much disagreement and confusing data - blame Fauci and various government agencies for misinformation and ever-changing edicts. No wonder there are vaccine skeptics. If the government truly believed there were harmful new variants, the borders would be closed. And how come all those illegals pouring in from the south aren't subject to mandatory vaccinations? There has been a 900% spike in covid cases among illegal immigrants crossing the border in the Rio Grande Valley. But Biden would rather force 3-year-olds to wear masks in school than secure the border.
For the entire state of Oregon, there's an average of four deaths every 10 days. Oregon's population in 2021 is estimated to be 4.27 million. In 2020, there were 37,397 deaths in Oregon - 1,025 every 10 days. Therefore, less than 0.04% of all deaths have been due to covid. (posted 7/28/21, permalink)
June 2021 Virus Update: Clark County had 24,291 cumulative confirmed cases - 1507 new cases this month, up 17% from the same period last month. 27 people were hospitalized this month - 41% lower than May. The mortality rate for May is 0.8%. This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020.
 As of June 22nd, there have been - cumulatively - 246 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 513 per million. There were 12 new deaths in the past month - up from 8 last month. Of the 246 total cumulative deaths, 237 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions.
The death rate for Washington State is 773/million people, ranking 43th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,867/million. Peru, Hungary, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Czechia, Gibraltar, San Marino, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Brazil, Slovakia, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Argentina, Poland, Columbia and the United Kingdom have higher death rates than the U.S. I'm sure that other countries, especially India, have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,935 cases - a cumulative case rate of 48,390/million - 4% lower than Clark County as a whole (50,606 cases/million).
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 59,167/million - 22% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is now 104,032/MM - 76% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Arizona, Connecticut, Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota and Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci is still looking for the true origin of the virus. It reminds me that O.J. is still looking for the real killers. (posted 6/24/21, permalink)
What Many Suspected Has Been Confirmed: An explosive new study revealed that researchers have found 'unique fingerprints' in covid-19 samples that they say could only have arisen from manipulation in a laboratory. A new 22-page paper authored by British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Sørensen showed there's evidence to suggest Chinese scientists created the virus while working on a Gain of Function project in a Wuhan lab. The researchers, who concluded that the Wuhan Virus 'has no credible natural ancestor', also believe Chinese scientists reverse-engineered versions of the virus to cover up their tracks.
This vindicates Donald Trump and many in his administration who were mocked for suspecting that the virus was not just an accident from a wet market.
Q: What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth? A: About 10 months.
During a Senate hearing in late May, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted he was not certain U.S. funding for researchers at the Wuhan lab was not spent on controversial and risky Gain of Function experiments.
The Chinese weaponized a virus and Fauci may have inadvertently helped.
While Congress dithers about forming a commission look into the January 6th Capitol event, China Virus deaths mount. Don Surber wrote, "RINOs and Democrats show a curious incuriosity about a virus launched by Red China that has killed 609,767 Americans thus far.
That is 200 times the 9/11 death count, which triggered two wars." (posted 6/3/21, permalink)
May 2021 Virus Update: Clark County had 22,784 cumulative confirmed cases - 1,280 new cases this month, down 19% from the same period last month. 46 people were hospitalized this month - double that of April. But, the mortality rate for May has dropped to 0.6%. This table summarizes data for cases and deaths in Clark County over time, beginning with March 2020:
| Month |
New Cases
|
New Deaths
|
Mortality Rate
|
| March 2020 |
82
|
6
|
7.3%
|
| April 2020 |
239
|
11
|
4.6%
|
| May 2020 |
106
|
8
|
7.5%
|
| June 2020 |
331
|
4
|
1.2%
|
| July 2020 |
874
|
8
|
1.0%
|
| August 2020 |
752
|
8
|
1.0%
|
| September 2020 |
786
|
10
|
1.3%
|
| October 2020 |
1207
|
11
|
0.9%
|
| November 2020 |
3393
|
25
|
0.7%
|
| December 2020 |
4307
|
35
|
0.8%
|
|
January 2021
|
4120
|
26
|
0.6%
|
| February 2021 |
1914
|
47
|
2.5%
|
| March 2021 |
835
|
12
|
1.4%
|
| April 2021 |
1574
|
13
|
0.8%
|
| May 2021 |
1280
|
8
|
0.6%
|
|
June 2021
|
1507
|
12
|
0.8%
|
| July 2021 |
640
|
14
|
2.2%
|
|
August 2021
|
2535
|
8
|
0.3%
|
| September 2021 |
4333
|
67
|
1.5%
|
|
October 2021
|
3705
|
75
|
2.0%
|
| November 2021 |
3177
|
57
|
1.8%
|
It should be noted that Clark County has a population of about 500,000 and - in any given month - experiences 400-500 deaths from all causes.
Despite a dramatic decline in new Clark County deaths, local, regional and national news reports remain full of hysteria and misinformation. There are still onerous regulations on businesses, particularly in the hard-hit hospitality sector. In Clark County, restaurants may still only operate at 50% capacity.
As of May 22nd, there have been - cumulatively - 232 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 483 per million. There were 8 new deaths in the past month - down from 13 last month. Of the 232 total cumulative deaths, 223 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions.
The death rate for Washington State is 755/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,873/million. Hungary, Czechia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Gibraltar, San Marino, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Slovkia, Belgium, Slovenia, Brazil, Italy, Peru, Croatia, Poland and he United Kingdom have higher death rates than the U.S. I'm sure that other countries, especially India, have vastly higher death rates than the U.S. but reporting is flawed by incompetence or by design. Wikipedia's obit list (of newsworthy people), shows that the ten most-recent covid deaths all came from India.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,710 cases - a cumulative case rate of 43,720/million - 10% lower than Clark County as a whole (47,466 cases/million).
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 56,248/million - 29% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is 102,222/MM - 82% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Dakota, Alabama and Pennsylvania.
Nationally, new cases for the China virus peaked in early January 2021 and have declined more than 90% since then. In Clark County, daily deaths from the China virus peaked on January 2, 2021 and have declined 90% since then. Things are improving greatly, thanks to the development of vaccines under the direction of the Trump Administration's task force. (posted 5/26/21, permalink)
April 2021 Virus Update: Clark County had 1,574 new cases this month, up 89% from the same period last month. Yet, only 23 people were hospitalized this month - the same as in March. And, the mortality rate for April has dropped to 0.8%. I have updated the monthly table here.
In the past month, bi-weekly new case rates in Clark County have increased from 888 cases/million to 1,476/million - a jump of 66%. Despite a dramatic decline in new Clark County deaths and relatively low hospitalizations, over the past month, local, regional and national news reports remain full of hysteria and misinformation. There are still onerous regulations on businesses, particularly in the hard-hit hospitality sector.
As of March 22nd, there have been - cumulatively - 224 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 467 per million. There were 13 new deaths in the past month - up from 12 last month. Of the 224 total cumulative deaths, 199 were folks ages 60 and up and 215 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions. In Clark County, restaurants may now operate at 50% capacity.
The death rate for Washington State is 717/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,760/million. Gibraltar, Czechia, Hungary, San Marino, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Slovkia, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, United Kingdom and Brazil have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 20,520 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 42,750 per million people.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,444 cases - a cumulative case rate of 36,919/million - 14% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 51,320/million - 40% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is 98,329/MM - 92% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are Rhode Island, Mississippi, Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Dakota, Alabama and Pennsylvania.
Nationally, hospitalizations for the China virus peaked in early January 2021 and have declined more than 75% since then. In Clark County, deaths from the China virus peaked in December 2020 and have declined sharply since then.
A report in Legal Insurrection noted that as more states drop mask mandates, comparing CDC data between states with mandates vs. those without is very revealing. "Several states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming have dropped their mask mandates in 2021, joining about a dozen other states that don't have statewide mask requirements. Alabama, Indiana, Utah and Wisconsin have also dropped their mandates. Coronavirus cases have dropped to a record low in Texas roughly three weeks after the state lifted its mask mandate and reopened businesses."
Conclusion: "Whether or not 'masks work', mask mandates don't and they are nothing but COVID-theater." (posted 4/26/21, permalink)
It Was A War, After All. And We Lost. The former lead investigator at the State Department who oversaw the Task Force into the origin of the China virus said that "he believes the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, and that it may have been the result of research that the Chinese military was doing on a bioweapon."
"The Wuhan Institute of Virology is not the National Institute of Health," said David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. "It was operating a secret, classified program. In my view, and I'm just one person, my view is it was a biological weapons program." Asher believes the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a massive cover-up during the past 14 months.
Asher also said, "And, if you believe, as I do, that this might have been a weapons vector gone awry, not deliberately released, but in development and then somehow leaked, this has turned out to be the greatest weapon in history. You've taken out 15 to 20 percent of global GDP. You've killed millions of people. The Chinese population has been barely affected. Their economies roared back to being number one in the entire G20."
Don Surber wrote, "We just had World War III and it was a biomedical war. Red China won and installed Biden as its figurehead leader." (posted 3/26/21, permalink)
March 2021 Virus Update: Clark County had 835 new cases this month, down 56% from the same period last month. Only 23 people were hospitalized this month - down 39% from February. And, the mortality rate for March has dropped to 1.4%. I have updated the monthly table here.
In the past month, bi-weekly new case rates in Clark County have dropped from 2,098 cases/million to 888/million - a drop of 58%. Despite a dramatic 80% decline in new Clark County covid cases over the past two months, local, regional and national news reports remain full of hysteria and misinformation. There are still onerous regulations on businesses, particularly in the hard-hit hospitality sector.
As of March 22nd, there have been - cumulatively - 211 confirmed Wuhan flu deaths in Clark County, Washington from the China virus, a rate of 440 per million. There were 12 new deaths in the past month - down from 47 last month. Of the 211 total cumulative deaths, 187 were folks ages 60 and up and 203 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions. In Clark County, restaurants may now operate at 50% capacity.
The death rate for Washington State is 688/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,674/million. Gibraltar, San Marino, Czechia, Belgium, Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary, United Kingdom, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Italy and Bulgaria have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 18,946 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 39,471 per million people.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,312 cases - a cumulative case rate of 33,544/million - 15% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 46,878/million - 40% higher than that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is 91,941/MM - 96% higher than Washington state's case rate. States with the highest cumulative death rate per population are New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Arizona.
My wife and I finally got our second dose of the Moderna vaccine in early March. Some of our elderly friends have not been able to get vaccinated - vaccines remain in short supply around here. Yet Joe Biden is happily giving vaccine away to other countries.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee may be as bad as Andrew Cuomo when it comes to killing old people. Washington State's Aging and Long-Term Support Administration, which falls under the Department of Social and Health Services, directed nursing homes to accept covid-positive patients that were no longer needing "acute care" in a hospital. The goal was to "transition" those patients to "alternative settings."
"Our primary strategy to create capacity in acute care hospitals is working with participating patients and families to transition to nursing homes," a March 20, 2020 memo stated. "Once in the nursing home, Home and Community Services staff will work the eligible individual and their family to transition to a permanent home and community-based setting of their choice."
"Here's the kicker: that directive was made roughly one month after the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington saw a massive coronavirus outbreak. The Life Care outbreak was dubbed America's "epicenter" for the Wuhan coronavirus, which officially began on Feb. 19, 2020.
The Life Care Center had two outbreaks, with a total of 156 confirmed COVID cases in its facility, with 101 being residents and the other 55 being staff members, KING-TV reported. The nursing home facility amassed 46 deaths between residents, staff, and visitors."
The result - almost 500 people have died - maybe more - and Democrat Inslee "needs to be held personally accountable for every single one of these deaths." (posted 3/24/21, permalink)
February 2021 Virus Update: Clark County has 1,914 new cases in February, down 53% from last month. Only 38 people were hospitalized - down 28% from last month - and the mortality rate for February is 2.5%. Hopefully, the death rate increase is just an anomaly or a lagging indicator. I have updated the monthly table here.
In the past month, bi-weekly new case rates in Clark County have dropped from 4,737 cases/million to 2,098/million - a drop of 56%.
As of February 22nd, cumulatively, there have been 199 confirmed covid deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 415 per million, from the China virus. There were 47 new deaths in the past month. Of the 199 total cumulative deaths, 177 were folks ages 60 and up. 177 of the deceased had underlying medical conditions.
The death rate for Washington State is 647/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,550/million. Gibraltar, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 18,111 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 37,729 per million people.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,261 cases - a cumulative case rate of 32,240/million - 15% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 44,414/million - 38% higher that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is 87,125/MM - 96% higher than Washington state's case rate.
Despite its relatively low case rates and death rates, Washington state has the sixth-most stringent coronavirus rules, according to a new analysis by the personal finance website WalletHub.
If you live in a blue state, you've probably noticed that the vaccination process was made as difficult as possible to confuse, discourage, and block seniors. As I write this, several of my elderly friends, 70+ and older, have still not been able to get their first dose of the vaccine. Yet, folks I know in red states are already immunized. My wife and I got our first Moderna dose in January. Our second dose appointment has been cancelled four times because there's no vaccine.
The Columbian newspaper reported that Clark County's vaccine administration has lagged behind the rest of the state, despite the fact that Clark is the fifth-largest county in Washington state and the hub of Southwest Washington. "According to a Public Health data analysis of the five Washington counties with the highest, lowest and median population sizes, Clark County ranks 14th out of 15 counties in the allocation of first doses per 1,000 residents and first-dose allocation as a percentage of the total county population."
Clark County is purple, often leaning Republican. It seems that hard-blue lefty counties such as King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, in the Seattle-Tacoma area, are getting a disproportionate share of vaccine. I guess Governor Inslee is rewarding his lefty friends at the expense of the rest of his constituents.
Things are even worse in solid-blue New Jersey, where convicted felons take priority over immune-system-suppressed cancer patients. Memorial Sloan Kettering operates three cancer centers in the Garden State. According to MSK, patients who reside in New Jersey, and receive care at an MSK facility, are not eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine due to a lack of supply from the New Jersey Department of Health. While vulnerable cancer patients wait, New Jersey's Democrat governor continues to distribute the vaccine to all state prisons, and as of mid-February, more than 1,750 New Jersey state prison staffers and 1,630 inmates received the vaccine.
Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal observed recently that covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. "We'll have herd immunity by April." Marty Markaray, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in WSJ, "If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?
In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity."
"As we encourage everyone to get a vaccine, we also need to reopen schools and society to limit the damage of closures and prolonged isolation. Contingency planning for an open economy by April can deliver hope to those in despair and to those who have made large personal sacrifices." Glenn Reynolds added, "Public health attracts far too many people with a zest for manipulation." True dat, although I'd make the statement more broad by changing 'public health' to 'government'.
Don't forget that Operation Warp Speed - initiated by President Donald Trump and carried out by his appointed team - got us to where we are today. National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins contradicted the Biden Administration, saying that the Trump Administration deserves credit for the "breathtaking" coronavirus vaccine development. "The Operation Warp Speed, for which I give a great deal of credit to [former HHS Secretary Alex Azar], was an effort that many of us were not initially convinced was going to be necessary. And it was thought about as a Manhattan Project." Collins also noted vaccines "got done in 11 months from when we first knew about this virus is at least five years faster than it's ever been before." During a February 19 visit to the Pfizer Kalamazoo Manufacturing Site, Biden falsely claimed, "Just over four weeks ago, America had no real plan to vaccinate most of the country." As of now, the vaccination rate in America is 1.7 million a day, making it the world leader - a remarkable achievement. (posted 2/25/21, permalink)
Feet Of Clay: Remember when Dr. Fauci was a big expert hero? And President Trump got trashed for contradicting him? Well, it turns out that Anthony Fauci, the highest-paid employee in the U.S. government, is neither saintly nor prescient. And Trump was right about a lot of covid stuff, including his promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment. Experts, such as Dr. Fauci, mocked him. But Trump's instincts were proven correct.
Back in October 2014, the U.S. government placed a federal moratorium on weaponizing pathogens, mainly because the clumsy CDC had so many accidents. The CDC "closed two labs and halted some biological shipments in the wake of several incidents in which highly pathogenic microbes were mishandled by U.S. government laboratories: an accidental shipment of live anthrax, the discovery of forgotten live smallpox samples and a newly-revealed incident in which a dangerous influenza strain was accidentally shipped from the CDC to another lab. A CDC internal report described how scientists failed to follow proper procedures to ensure samples were inactivated before they left the lab, and also found 'multiple other problems' with operating procedures in the anthrax lab."
In the face of a moratorium in the US, Dr. Anthony Fauci – the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – "outsourced - in 2015 - the pathogen research to China's Wuhan lab and licensed the lab to continue receiving US government funding." It was a $3.7 million project which happened during the Obama-Biden administration."
"The Wuhan lab is now at the center of scrutiny for possibly releasing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and causing the global Covid-19 pandemic." The list of practices and industries banned in the U.S. that quickly moved to China - while officials looked the other way - is very long. (posted 2/11/21, permalink)
January 2021 Virus Update: Clark County has 4,120 new cases in January, down 4% from last month Hospitalizations remain relatively low at 53 people and the mortality rate remains low at 0.63% and continues its steady decline. I have updated the monthly table here.
As vaccine inoculations become more widespread, I would expect new cases to fall.
As of January 22nd, cumulatively, there have been 152 confirmed covid deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 317 per million, from the China virus. There were 26 new deaths in the past month. Of the 152 total deaths, 136 were folks ages 60 and up. 146 had underlying medical conditions.
The death rate for Washington State is 550/million people, ranking 44th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,283/million. San Marino, Gibraltar, Belgium, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Czechia, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lichtenstein and North Macedonia have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 16,197 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 37,744 per million people. Currently, there are 53 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus - up 2 patients from last month.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 1,101 cases - a cumulative case rate of 28,150/million - 25% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 39,617/million - 41% higher that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 76,782/MM - 94% higher than Washington state's case rate."
My wife and I got our first dose of Moderna vaccine last week. We are already scheduled for the second shot next month. Vaccine is hard to come by in Clark County. The announced outlets, including hospitals, national pharmacy chains and most clinics, have none in stock.
Recently, Conservative Treehouse published this: "The transparency of timing is brutally obvious. Yes, the far-left was willing to put millions of Americans through economic pain and hardship in order to advance their interests."
Just before Biden's inauguration, "New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the economy had suddenly become more important than the threat presented by covid-19. Too much economic damage was inflicted upon his state and now wants to re-open."
At almost the same time, "Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the economic damage to the service industry was so severe it was now greater than the covid risk…. and will reopen bars and restaurants. Today, a new study shows no benefit to the lockdowns.
The motives here are exactly as outlined for the past year. The fear of covid was weaponized to damage the global economy and in doing so damage the reelection guarantee of Donald Trump. Now that mission is accomplished, the walk-back begins."
It is hard to argue with this assertion, because we're watching it happen in real time.
Meanwhile, President Biden's chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, has said that triple-masking is a good idea. How one is supposed to breathe was not addressed. Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease 'expert' whose predictions and prognostications are often proven wrong, made $417,608 in 2019 and is projected to net approximately $2.5 million in salary from 2019 to 2024. He outearned former President Donald Trump ($400,000), former Vice President Mike Pence ($235,100), Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ($270,700), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ($223,500). (posted 1/26/21, permalink)
No-Open Is Re-Open: Clueless Washington State Governor and Oberführer Jay Inslee loves to keep his constituents in lockdown.
Ari Hoffman wrote recently, "Washington Democrat Governor Jay Inslee announced a re-opening plan for the state that promptly extended a statewide ban on indoor dining as well as gyms and fitness centers. Washington Hospitality Association CEO Anthony Anton called the new reopening plan, 'a roadmap to a near-complete collapse'."
"Inslee announced what is called 'Healthy Washington–Roadmap to Recovery', but it does not actually re-open anything, but extends restrictions." This sounds like a fictional story by George Orwell.
The order extended restrictions on indoor dining, gyms and indoor gatherings that were due to expire on January 11th. Those restrictions, initially implemented in mid-November, were set to expire on December 14, 2020 but were pushed off due to Inslee's concerns of the virus spreading over the holidays.
Additionally, the vaccine is being slow rolled in Washington.
Anthony Anton commented, "It is clear the public is growing tired of ten months restrictions and that public support of ongoing restrictions with no discrete end date is fading fast. Despite the Governor's travel advisory, Christmas weekend saw the highest airport traffic since the pandemic began. Public fatigue is weakening the effectiveness of the restrictions but isn't diminishing the harm."
It's an upside-down world. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Black is white. Closed is open. (posted 1/13/21, permalink)
December 2020 Virus Update: Clark County has 4,307 new cases in December, up 27% from last month, but hospitalizations have declined 26% and the mortality rate remains low at 0.8%. As vaccine inoculations become more widespread, I would expect new cases to fall.
As of Wednesday December 23rd, cumulatively, there have been 126 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 263 per million, from the China virus. There were 35 new deaths in the past month. Of the 126 deaths, 113 were folks ages 60 and up.
The death rate for Washington State is 430/million people, ranking 29th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 1,009/million. San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, North Macedonia, Peru, Spain, Andorra, Montenegro, United Kingdom and Bulgaria have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 12,077 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 25,160 per million people. Based on the number of tests over the past two weeks, the positivity rate is 4.34%. Currently, there are 51 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus - down 26% from last month.
Battle Ground's zip code has had 786 cases - a cumulative case rate of 20,096/million - 20% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 30,356/million - 51% higher that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 57,121/MM - 88% higher than Washington state's case rate.
According to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 40% of all 2020 U.S coronavirus deaths came from long-term care facilities.
Florida is open, New York is closed, yet New York has more China virus deaths. "It's also worth noting that Florida has more people than New York does, and a much higher percentage of the population (21.0% in FL vs. 16.9% in NY) in the most-vulnerable 65-and-over age cohort … as with global warming science, Covid science has become a political weapon for the left."
And, after weeks of holier-than-thou howling about the post-Thanksgiving coronavirus surge, it didn't happen. Many health 'experts' "cautioned Americans to skip out on family gatherings, noting that the celebrations could actually be super spreader events, according to the report. The average new detected infections was declining prior to Thanksgiving but rose a bit afterwards. However, it has since been on the decline."
Once again, empirical data busts many regulations based on alleged 'science'. (posted 12/29/20, permalink)
Is The End Near? After suffering under the oft-draconian rules promoted by bureaucratic ninnyhammers, it appears that we may actually see initial innoculations of FDA-approved China virus vaccine before year's end.
When you consider that polio had been around since the days of Egyptian pharaohs and that a 1938 concerted effort for a cure - the March of Dimes - was led by a U.S. president didn't yield a vaccine until 1955, the development of a coronavirus vaccine in well under a year by the Trump Administration's Operation Warp Speed seems like a miracle. Maybe we should call it the injections Trump Shots.
Meanwhile, thanks to the internet and 24-hour TV news, we are exposed to more and more info as data develops. Often it contradicts earlier data as well as conventional wisdom as preached by so-called experts.
A Johns Hopkins study - which was quickly deleted from the internet after publication because the data didn't conveniently support the masks-n-lockdowns narrative - showed that the China virus had "relatively no effect on deaths" in the U.S.
Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master's degree program at Johns Hopkins University, critically analyzed the impact that covid-19 had on U.S. deaths. According to her, the impact of the China virus on deaths in the United States can be fully understood by comparing it to the number of total deaths in the country. According to study, "in contrast to most people's assumptions, the number of deaths by covid-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States. …
Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after covid-19. Since covid-19 mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same."
Also worth noting: "The U.S. counts coronavirus deaths differently from other countries. Indeed, we are counting deaths differently than we have for any other disease."
"The case definition is very simplistic," Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health, explained. "It means, at the time of death, it was a COVID positive diagnosis. That means, that if you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means, technically even if you died of [a] clear alternative cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it's still listed as a COVID death." . . . Beyond including people with the virus who clearly didn't die from it, the numbers are inflated by counting people who weren't even infected. New York has classified many cases as coronavirus deaths even when postmortem tests have been negative. The diagnosis can be based on symptoms, which are often similar to those of the seasonal flu."
Don Surber wrote recently, "There are 3 reasons millions of people ignore the covid 19 restrictions:
1. The Constitution. There is no provision in it to suspend our rights in case of public health threats. We fought the American Revolution in the midst of a smallpox epidemic that likely was spread by our own troops.
2. The covid 19 protocols don't work. If they did, the authoritarian Democrat Governor of Colorado would not have tested positive for covid 19.
3. The little Napoleons in charge do not follow these restrictions."
Were Mr. Rogers still with us, he might ask, "Can you say The French Laundry?" (posted 12/8/20, permalink)
November 2020 Virus Update: In a nutshell, November is worse than October. But better, too. Yes, there are more cases in Clark County (up 78% from last month) and three times as many hospitalizations as in October. But the mortality rate has dropped to 0.07%. The virus is killing fewer people, thanks to better treatment/better meds.
As of Tuesday November 24th, cumulatively, there have been 91 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 190 per million, from the China virus. There were four new deaths in the last week. Of the 91 deaths, 84 were folks ages 60 and up.
The death rate for Washington State is 351/million people, ranking 43rd among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 802/million. Belgium, San Marino, Peru, Andorra Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Argentina have higher death rates than the U.S.
There have been a total of 7,770 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 16,188 per million people. Based on the number of tests over the past two weeks, the positivity rate is 3.59%. Currently, there are 69 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus.
Battle Ground's zip code has a cumulative case rate of 12,225/million - 24% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 20,294/million - 66% higher that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 39,011/MM - 92% higher than Washington state's case rate.
There are considerable data showing that masks don't work. "The Centers for Disease Control currently estimates a Covid-19 survival rate of 99.99% for people younger than 50, but the damage created by the panic was too great to undo.
It is likely that some politicians eventually realized their mistake and needed a way to back-pedal without admitting their lockdowns were a policy disaster. Their solution was for people to put any old piece of cloth across their face and magically believe that it's okay to go out shopping again."
Meanwhile, there remains much disagreement about the safety of bars and restaurants. Larry Lynch, the National Restaurant Association's senior vice president for science and industry says that indoor protective measures, which include mask wearing and social distancing between tables, have earned a solid track record keeping patrons safe during the pandemic. "We can't find any evidence of systemic outbreaks coming from these restaurants that do follow the guidance, that are making sure their employees all wear face coverings, that their customers are wearing face coverings until they eat," Lynch said. "When we look at those restaurants that are doing it right, we aren't seeing the outbreaks taking place there."
Glenn Reynolds reported, "My own county health department has twice said that their contact tracing doesn't show bars and restaurants as significant transmission sites, yet we continue to regulate them. Where's the science?"
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom and other political elites enjoy fancy dinners in crowded venues such as private rooms at The French Laundry, while the rest of us are denied indoor seating to munch on a burger at Red Robin. More proof that Rules are for the Morlocks. The Eloi have their own rules.
Remember: There's no such thing as a 'lockdown'. There's only rich people staying home and paying poor people to bring them stuff.
Sohrab Ahmari, Op-Ed Editor of the New York Post urged readers to remember that "the Chinese Communist Party unleashed this plague on the world by delaying disclosure and jailing/silencing/disappearing early whistleblowers. We cannot forget this bedrock truth of the 21st century." (posted 11/25/20, permalink)
Facts Are Fascist; Arbitrary Oppression Is Awesome: Washington Democrat Governor and Oberfüher Jay 'Moron' Inslee has implement new sweeping restrictions on businesses and individuals and activities as coronavirus cases in the state have doubled in the past two weeks. According to Inslee's new order, bars and restaurants will no longer be allowed to offer indoor seating. Outdoor seating will be allowed as long as proper safety protocols are followed, including tables being limited to no more than five people at a time. Restaurants will still be able to offer their customers to go orders.
All in-store retail, including grocery stores, will be limited to 25% capacity, and lingering (i.e: waiting for one's spouse) in seated areas is off-limits. For those long-suffering brick-and-mortar retailers, who have been hoping that a decent Christmas shopping season will save their stores, this is like the Hindenburg colliding with the Titanic.
Religious services will also be limited to 25% indoor occupancy or no more than 200 people, with face coverings required at all times. No choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service. In addition, all business meetings are prohibited.
Professional services must allow employees to work from home when possible and close offices to the public. If offices must remain open, occupancy is restricted to 25%. Gyms will be prohibited from offering indoor services. Personal services, such as barber shops and salons, are also limited to 25% capacity and real estate open houses are prohibited.
But Antifa is free to riot whenever they please, as they often do in Seattle and tried to do in Vancouver Sunday until some better-armed citizens scared them away.
"Inslee is also cracking down on indoor gatherings ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, noting that gathering with those outside your home will be banned unless everyone involved quarantines for two weeks and tests negative for the virus."
These rules will remain in effect until Monday, December 14th or much longer if the governor feels like it. And anyone who doesn't believe that could happen is tethered to reality by a badly-frayed strand of dental floss.
Word leaked out over the weekend and, by Sunday, most grocery stores were cleaned out of essentials, such as toilet paper and Lysol. And, inexplicably - at Costco, cans of Spam. Not just in Southwest Washington but the Portland metro area as well.
The worst thing about these regulations is that they are based on neither science nor fact. The Clack County (WA) Public Health Department has conducted contact tracing interviews and has found that grocery stores as well as food establishments/restaurants and places of worship contribute to only 1% of cases, public social gatherings contribute 1% or less, while bars and nightclubs cause less than 1%. 42% of cases came from a household member.
The Federalist noted, "While leftist lawmakers and unelected bureaucrats are hard at work canceling Thanksgiving for Americans, congressional Democrats are holding big, fancy dinners on Capitol Hill to welcome new members ahead of the fall holiday."
And furthermore, 20 lawmakers from 4 states just flew to Maui to mingle with a bunch of lobbyists at a posh resort for four days.
Roughly 100 people from four states converged at the Fairmont Kea Lani for a four-day legislative conference organized by the Independent Voter Project. The 18th annual event was a third of its regular size but it still drew lawmakers from California, Texas and Washington state.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tweeted, "Don't cancel Thanksgiving. Don't cancel Christmas. Cancel lockdowns." I agree. (posted 11/18/20, permalink)
October 2020 Virus Update: As of Friday October 23rd, cumulatively, there have been 66 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 137 per million, from the China virus. There was one new death in the last week. Of the 66 deaths, 61 were folks ages 60 and up.
The death rate for Washington State is 301/million people, ranking 40th among states in deaths per million people. The U.S. death rate is 692/million.
There have been a total of 4,377 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 9,119 per million people. Based on the number of tests, the cumulative positivity rate is 3%. Currently, there are 23 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus.
Battle Ground's zip code has a cumulative case rate of 6,494/million - 29% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 13,665/million - 2.1 times that of rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 26,375/MM - 93% higher than Washington state's case rate.
Please note this bar graph published in The Daily Mail (UK) on October 22nd:
These data show a greater proportion of the populations in smaller European, Asian and South American countries are now being infected and dying on a daily basis. Note also that the United States has one of the lowest cases per capita compared with other nations.
While I wear a mask when indoors at a place other than home (stores, offices, etc.), I'm skeptical about the usefulness of masks. John McGirk, columnist for the Irish Catholic Newspaper, wrote, "Across Europe, the picture is the same: Near universal mask wearing, and near universal record-setting in terms of the number of new cases."
As more data have become available, it is becoming obvious that the chances of dying from coronavirus are now quite low because of advances in treatment. All of us watched as President Trump was hospitalized and, with the latest treatments now available, quickly recovered. For individuals below 65 years-old, the death risk is below 0.1%. For individuals age 65 and older, the mortality rate averages 0.64%.
Yes, if you're elderly and have comorbidities, you should be very careful. But, there is too much panic-hype and too much lockdown, in my opinion. It is hurting our economy and the continued closure of schools is inhibiting education.
Scott Atlas, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, tweeted support for the Great Barrington Declaration: "Top scientists all over the world line up with the Covid-19 policy of Donald Trump. Protect the vulnerable and open schools and society. That is the science." Sounds good to me. It should be noted that 2020's attributed covid-19 deaths are "equivalent to having another 2017-2018 flu and pneumonia season boosted by 13%. The CDC estimated that about 177,000 Americans died during the 2017-2018 flu season, from either the flu itself or by complications of pneumonia."
Nearly 175,000 people have signed the Great Barrington Declaration, which calls for a "focused protection" strategy instead of lockdowns.
This table shows the progression of cases and deaths in Clark County:
| Month |
New Cases
|
New Deaths
|
Mortality Rate
|
| March 2020 |
82
|
6
|
7.3%
|
| April 2020 |
239
|
11
|
4.6%
|
| May 2020 |
106
|
8
|
7.5%
|
| June 2020 |
331
|
4
|
1.2%
|
| July 2020 |
874
|
8
|
1.0%
|
| August 2020 |
752
|
8
|
1.0%
|
| September 2020 |
786
|
10
|
1.3%
|
| October 2020 |
1207
|
11
|
0.9%
|
| November 2020 |
3393
|
25
|
0.7%
|
| December 2020 |
4307
|
35
|
0.8%
|
|
January 2021
|
4120
|
26
|
0.6%
|
| February 2021 |
1914
|
47
|
2.5%
|
| March 2021 |
835
|
12
|
1.4%
|
| April 2021 |
1574
|
13
|
0.8%
|
| May 2021 |
1280
|
8
|
0.6%
|
As the table indicates, reported cases really jumped in July as testing became more widespread. The mortality rate declined beginning in June, as improved treatments for those with coronavirus were developed and implemented. It seems to have leveled out and substantial improvements in case rate or death rate will probably not occur until a vaccine is developed.
Despite the virus and the subsequent shutdown, the U.S. economy added 660,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 7.9%, indicating that the economy continued to add jobs even as coronavirus infections rose across many states. (posted 10/27/20, permalink)
September 2020 China Virus Update: Cumulatively, there have been 55 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 115 per million from the China virus as of Friday, September 25th.
The death rate for Washington State is 273/million people. The U.S. death rate is 629/million. The U.S. mortality rate is below those of Peru, Belgium, Spain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. In September, 76 famous people died of covid-19, according to Wikipedia. Only five were Americans.
There have been a total of 3,170 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County , a rate of 6,604 per million people. Based on the number of tests, the positivity rate is 3%. Currently, there are 25 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus.
Battle Ground's zip code has a case rate of 4,653/million - 29% lower than Clark County as a whole.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 11,484/million - almost 2.5 times as high as rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 21,803/MM - almost 90% higher than Washington state.
The Clark County page now lists coronavirus activity as 'high', despite an overall downward trend in the county and a generally lowered death rate throughout the U.S. Sadly, much of the Wuhan Flu reporting is not based on facts but rather on 'feelings'. I wish government entities would stop exaggerating the risks and politicizing this virus.
Clark County is still in Phase 2 of the reopening plan. According to the county's website, "Clark County submitted its application to enter Phase 3 of the reopening plan back on June 26." Fascist Democratic Governor Jay Inslee has since "put all phase advancements on pause indefinitely." Why? Well, he can't control the rioters in Seattle, so he compensates by controlling the rest of us. I have a feeling that Phase 3 will suddenly happen shortly after the election, because - at this point - it's all about politics not science.
Eric, a fellow who describes himself as a "health informatics/software architect by trade, biomedical engineering/cardiovascular biomechanics by training," provided an interesting graph on his Twitter feed, showing that most of the coronavirus deaths came from New York and New Jersey which grossly distorted the death-rate curve:
Take New York and New Jersey out of the equation and the coronavirus mortality crisis has pretty much ended. Which begs the question, "Why are the media, the Democrats and special interest groups still overhyping the crisis?" Let healthy people get back to work, open restaurants as well as other public establishments, and reopen our schools.
Furthermore, the Center for Disease Control recently offered a "clarification" that 94% of reported covid deaths were people who also had on average 2.6 co-morbidities. Only 6% of Americans died of coronavirus alone. Co-morbidities include diabetes, heart problems, lung disease and compromised immune systems. Bottom line: the risks of this coronavirus were totally misrepresented to the vast majority of the people on this planet. This China virus primarily targets elderly, sickly people.
Interestingly, the U.S. - with its mega-lockdown - has the same death rate as Sweden, which relied on its citizens' common sense rather than a lockdown.
And ... for those who have been exposed by the media narrative that 'Trump Didn't Act Fast Enough', consider this:
• January 31st: President Trump closes all travel from China. Democrats call him 'racist'
• February 2nd: NYC Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot says, "Join the parades and don't believe the 'misinformation from POTUS."
• February 2nd: NYC Health Council member Mark Levine says huge crowd is powerful defiance against 'scare tactics' of President Trump.
• February 24th: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in LA Chinatown tells people to come down and enjoy the crowds.
• March 2nd: NYC Democratic Mayor Bill DeBlasio urges New Yorkers to "get out on the town despite coronavirus" and visit the cinema.
• April 3rd: Democrats Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi announce investigation into President Trump's handling of the China flu crisis.
This is insanity - pure and simple.
In mid-September, respected Chinese virologist Dr. Li-Meng Yan, told Tucker Carlson of Fox News that the coronavirus was created in a lab and "intentionally" released by the Chinese Communist Party to "make damage" around the world. Yan pointed to her own high-ranking position at a World Health Organization reference lab as a reason to trust her allegation.
"I work[ed] in the WHO reference lab, which is the top coronavirus lab in the world, in the University of Hong Kong. And the thing is, I get deeply into such investigation in secret from the early beginning of this outbreak. I had my intelligence because I also get my own unit network in China, involved [in] the hospital ... also I work with the top corona[virus] virologist in the world," she said. (posted 9/28/20, permalink)
August 2020 Virus Update: Cumulatively, there have been 45 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 94 per million from the China virus as of Friday. 41 of the deceased were people 60 years-old or over.
The death rate for Washington State is 241/million people. The U.S. death rate is 537/million. The U.S. mortality rate is below those of Belgium, Peru, Spain, UK, Italy, Sweden and Chile.
There have been a total of 2,384 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 4,968 per million people. Based on the number of tests, the positivity rate is just under 3%. Currently, there are 19 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus.
Battle Ground's zip code (98604) has a case rate of 3,375/million - 32% lower than Clark County as a whole. Last week, I got tested for covid-19 and passed.
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 9,370/million - almost 2.8 times as high as rural Battle Ground, WA. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 17,404/MM - 86% higher than Washington state. Washington ranks 23rd among U.S. states in total number of cases.
Dr. Gilbert Berdine, an associate professor of medicine at Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center, has collected and analyzed a great deal of information about the virus and noted that "data suggest that lockdowns have not prevented any deaths from covid-19." He provided a chart to validate his observations.
What I noticed about the chart was that New York had far-and-away the most severe mortality from the China virus, thanks to the stupid, murderous policies of Governor Andrew Cuomo. His decision to forcibly remove elderly virus patients out of hospitals and back to nursing homes, devastated the senior population. He claimed his action was to open up hospital beds but the claim is specious in light of the Trump Administration converting the Javits Center into a hospital and docking a large-capacity hospital ship in New York Harbor. These facilities, as well as the one set up by Franklin Graham's charitable organization were mostly unused by New York. Meanwhile nursing homes were stuffed with cases, causing the virus to spread rapidly and savagely to vulnerable elderly people.
Additionally, there now is a mountain of evidence that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for covid-19. But Democrats and the media have relentlessly dismissed it because President Trump spoke favorably about the drug back in March. Steven Hatfill, a veteran virologist, wrote, "There are now 53 studies that show positive results of hydroxychloroquine in covid infections."
Then there's my theory - and it's no crazier than any of the many jumbo-laced mumbo floating around cyberspace - is that fresh air is the key to avoiding the coronavirus. I have yet to read anything about people dying in the many homeless encampments around the country.
Based on what we've been told, there should be: these urban flotsam live in dreadful squalor, have questionable personal cleanliness habits and many have immune system-compromising, untreated medical conditions. Yet there seems to be no epidemic in the various quotidian Trampvilles throughout the land. My theory is that the homeless spend a lot of time outside and get plenty of fresh air. They're not exposed to sophisticated HVAC systems which recirculate old air - and germs - in the name of energy efficiency. So, I'm doing what I can to get some fresh outside air every day.
My mom was a believer in the health benefits of fresh air. I remember her throwing open windows with alacrity to get fresh air into various rooms of our house even during freezing winters weather. Sixty-plus years later, I'm following her advice. Fresh air - it can't hurt. And it might help.
Meanwhile the official advice remains the same: wear a mask when you're near others, avoid crowds, wash your hands frequently and get some fresh air every day. (posted 8/24/20, permalink)
 Was The Wuhan Flu Really An 'Accident'? John Hinderaker at Powerline asked: "If you ran the Chinese Communist Party, what would your number one strategic goal have been in late 2019? Undoubtedly, to get rid of China's nemesis, Donald Trump, and replace him with Beijing Joe Biden. How far would China's rulers have gone to achieve that goal? Look what they have done to get rid of the Uighurs, a minor annoyance."
"Could the Chinese have deliberately arranged for the worldwide dissemination of the Wuhan virus? Yes, rather easily. They could have created the virus, too, but that isn't necessary. Once the virus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, by means unknown, the rest was probably inevitable."
Of course, the virus did some damage within China, but ... (more >>>)
July 2020 Virus Update: Cumulatively, there have been 37 deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 77 per million from the China virus.
The death rate for Washington State is 198/million people. The U.S. death rate is 449/MM. The U.S. death rate is below those of Belgium, UK, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Peru, Chile and France.
As of last Friday, there have been a total of 1,632 cases of the Wuhan flu in Clark County, a rate of 3,400 per million people
Washington State has a total cumulative case rate of 6,891/million. The U.S. coronavirus case rate is rate is 2,834/MM. (posted 7/27/20, permalink)
June 2020 China Virus Update: As of last Friday June 26th, total deaths from the Wuhan flu in Clark County (WA) were 29. 19 of the deaths were people aged 80 and older. Nine people with coronavirus are hospitalized. 12,089 individuals have been tested; 758 tested positive - a 6.27% rate. Clark County has just applied to receive Phase 3 permission.
Battle Ground's case rate is 1,099 per million population, compared with Clark County's 1,579/million, Washington state's rate of 4,128/million and the overall U.S. rate of 7,664/million. Our nation's death rate per million population is lower than Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden and France.
Despite what Joe Biden said, we do not have 120 million people dead from the coronavirus in the U.S. While cases are increasing in some areas of the U.S., the overall death rate and hospitalization rate are on a distinct downward trend.
The severity of new cases is far lower than in prior months. Hospitalized patients are four times less likely to die than they were in April. There are no crises in hospital capacity anywhere in the country. Nursing homes, meat-packing plants and prisons remain the main sources of new infections.
Things are getting better. (posted 6/29/20, permalink)
Onward And Upward: Scott Grannis wrote, "The Chinese virus is no longer a big source of concern for the market. The growth rate of new cases and deaths is decelerating just about everywhere in the world. The infection fatality rate is increasingly estimated to be as low as 0.2% … which is similar to that of the seasonal flu."
"In any event, what was once thought to be a catastrophic pandemic is now understood to be dangerous mainly to the aged and the infirm, leaving the vast majority to pursue their lives as before."
"Looking ahead, the critical areas of concern, in my mind, are 1) can Trump recover from his currently depressed levels of approval and go on to beat Biden in November, thus avoiding the economically-disastrous policies (e.g., higher taxes, increased regulation, and multiple "green" initiatives) that Biden is proposing? and 2) can the Fed react to the dramatic improvement in the economy - and the rebound in confidence which is sure to follow - by raising interest rates in a timely fashion and thereby averting an unexpected surge in inflation?"
As to the former, it's important to remember that Bill Clinton, a very astute politician in his day, famously said, "It's the economy, stupid." So, it is important for President Trump to do everything he can to improve the economy and get people back to work. However, it is also important to remember that there will be debates. And I think Trump will wipe the floor with Sleepy Joe Biden - a very weak candidate who likely has early-stage dementia.
Many Democrats are hanging their hopes on a great vice-presidential pick. But they forget that Mike Pence is a very good speaker and accomplished debater. He has been a very active VP and has a lot of high-profile assignments/accomplishments.
In Clark County, total deaths from the Wuhan flu have reached 28 - 18 deaths were people age 80 and older. 13,206 people have been tested and there have been 630 positive tests, a rate of 4.8%. Only 4 people with coronavirus are currently hospitalized and none are in intensive care.
Over a week ago, Clark County initiated Phase 2 of its reopening plan. Battle Ground's case rate is 810 per million population, compared with the overall U.S. rate of 6,366/million and Washington state's rate of 3,383/MM. Even though Clark County is still restricted, the data point to a full opening in the near future. Of course, Governor Jay Inslee is a moron, so who knows when he will let us move to Phase 3.
When you look at the data, the states with the highest number of virus cases per million population are on the Acela Corridor: New York (20,704/million), New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, D.C., Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland. All are in excess of 10,000/million.
It is time to get back to business as usual, as much and as quickly as possible.. (posted 6/15/20, permalink)
Wuhan Flu Update - May 26, 2020: If you live in Washington state but not in the Seattle metro area, you're pretty safe - 542 out of 1,050 WA coronavirus deaths are in King County.
Using data as of last Friday 5/22, Battle Ground, WA had only 27 China coronavirus cases. In Clark County, WA, there were 427 cases and 25 deaths - no additional deaths since a week ago. 17 of those who perished were 80 years or older. In the county, only 7 people remain hospitalized; none are in intensive care.
In the past seven weeks, Clark County has experienced 19 new covid-19 deaths (about 3 per week). During a typical week in Clark County, there are 70 deaths from other causes. (posted 5/26/20, permalink)
Wuhan Virus Update - May 12, 2020: I still can't get a haircut or a drink at a bar, but the virus seems to have passed its peak in my area, based on the most recent numbers.
Battle Ground has 678 cases (positive tests) per million population, Clark County has a total of 386 cases (804 cases/million) - 10 are hospitalized, 3 are in intensive care. 71 cases are in assisted living facilities. Clark County has had 24 deaths so far, 16 were 80 or older, 16 men/8 women. Old men are clearly at greatest risk. In Clark County, only about 5% of those tested are positive for covid-19.
In Washington state: 16,891 confirmed cases, 931 deaths. 54% of all deaths are from King County in the Seattle area. Whites and Asians are at a greater risk of dying than any other race.
Clark County WA has a death rate of 50/million population, Washington state: 122 deaths/million, USA: 245 deaths/million and New York state: 1,381 deaths/million. About one-third of all U.S. virus fatalities come from New York City. Belgium has a national rate 751 deaths/million, Spain: 572 deaths/million, Italy: 506 deaths/million and the UK: 472 deaths/million. (posted 5/12/20, permalink)
Short-Term Opportunities May Mask Long-Term Pain: This is a cautionary tale about Prestige Ameritech and its owner, Mike Bowen. The North Richland Hills, TX company is America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks.
During the 2020 coronavirus crisis, you'd think the company would be working 24/7 to manufacture the one commodity that Americans and the rest of the world want so badly. "But … noooooo," as John Belushi used to say.
In 2007, Bowen warned that allowing another country to serve as our main supplier of personal protection equipment had the potential to become a national security nightmare. But no one listened. Of the current situation, Mr. Bowen said, "There is 200 times more demand than there is supply. My phone is ringing every two minutes. Every one minute I am getting an email."
The story is that, during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, some customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for only two cents. This time around, Prestige Ameritech is apparently asking new customers to sign long-term contracts before the company accepts their large orders. Most refuse because, as soon as things get back to normal, they'll go back to buying cheapie masks from China. Or some other low-cost country.
The company is ... (more >>>)
Wuhan Virus Update, April 24, 2020: In Clark County, WA (as of Thursday evening 4/23), the number of positive tests - 321 (62 from long-term care facilities), number of deaths - 17. 185 cases are female; 128 are male. But males are dying at more than seven times the rate of females. More than 60% of deaths were people 80 and older. Of those 321 people who tested positive for coronavirus, 18 are in the hospital. Of those hospitalized, 4 are in intensive care.
Washington state has 12,753 cases and 711 cumulative deaths. This represents 1,748 cases per million population and 97 deaths/million - significantly lower than the U.S. average of 2,659 cases/MM and 141 deaths/MM. Washington is ranked 16th among states on a cases/million basis. More than half the cases are in the NYC metro area.
It should be noted that the CDC announced the first U.S. case of covid-19 in Snohomish County, WA on January 21st. On January 31, President Trump restricted entry into the U.S. from China, barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China and putting some American travelers under a quarantine as it declared a rare public health emergency. We began canceling social engagements around March 10th. On March 17th or thereabouts, some non-essential businesses were ordered closed; there was some initial confusion because the Washington State website was unclear about what was deemed non-essential. On Monday, March 23, Governor Jay Inslee issued a stay-at-home order (with exceptions).
Ramadan starts today. I hope Jay Inslee enforces the ban on gatherings at mosques as strongly as he has done with Christian churches in our state. (posted 4/24/20, permalink)
Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics: Anyone watching the ever-shifting Wuhan coronavirus forecasts over the last couple of months has had a front-row seat to the follies of forecasting. Taking limited bits of data and trying to predict the future is fraught with peril. It gets worse if the data is flawed. Last week, New York City revised its death toll upwards, adding 3,700 people who died but had never tested positive for covid-19. Officials "said they were now including people who had never tested positive for the virus but were presumed to have died of it."
And yet, we are learning that NYC didn't really need the new Javits Center hospital nor the Navy's Comfort hospital ship because the projected bed needs were waaaay too high. It will be interesting to see what the final numbers for this virus turn out to be.
The same kind of flawed data and erroneous, alarmist projections has created the whole faux global warming crisis, too.
Meanwhile, Governor Jay Inslee - a former ambulance-chaser from Yakima - has repeatedly slammed the federal government for not doing enough for Washington state. He said, "The fact is, we cannot get as much help as we would like from the federal government," even though the United States Army, under orders from the Trump administration, sent hundreds of soldiers to build a 250-bed hospital at the Century Link Field Events Center in South Seattle. That hospital has sat empty ever since. Not one patient.
In mid-March, Jay Inslee ordered all non-essential businesses closed. A week later, he issued a Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. Inslee extended the order through May 4th. So, we're still on lockdown in southwest Washington, even though the vast majority of Chinese flu cases are in the Seattle area. I bet the people in Spokane are pissed-off, too. Dennis Miller refered to the stay-home order as "wasting away In Mitigationville."
Inslee is returning 400 ventilators to the feds that were never needed. Did he thank the president, the task force or the federal government? Of course not. He's a Democrat political hack. And a very poor governor. 2,500 or so people gathered at the Washington state capitol in Olympia last Sunday to protest Governor Jay Inslee's stay-at-home order, holding signs that read 'End The Shutdown' and 'Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Covid 19'.
Tyler Miller, one of the organizers of the event, had said "rural areas should be treated differently than more urban locations with more coronavirus cases." He also said Inslee's decisions on what constitutes essential businesses has been unfair and unconstitutional. Washington state Republican legislative leaders have released their plan for reopening Washington's economy. It specifies some lower-risk industries - such as residential construction, auto dealers and solo landscapers - that could reopen soon.
Restrictions should vary by county in Washington state - and other states, too. Rural areas do not have the problems nor cases that large metro areas such as Seattle have. You'd think the governor would acknowledge that fact. (posted 4/22/20, permalink)
 Back To Work: The consequences of indefinite lockdown are quite staggering, something like a million jobs lost per day. It's time to get America back to work. Late April or early May sounds about right to me, except in a high virus areas, such as the NYC metro area. Business can start preparing for opening a week or two earlier.
Restrictions should stay in place in high-risk locations (segmented by county or zip code) until local conditions improve. Seventy-somethings with preexisting medical infirmities may want to remain hermits until June, depending on where they reside. But, that should be their call; they know the risks. Besides, if various states are - paraphrasing 70-something Gerard van Der Luen - "letting felons out of prison so that they can spread their prison viruses and criminal behavior among us while at the same time checking the homeless into free and fancy hotels, then I need to bust out of this jail if only to stock up on some torches and pitchforks."
Let's open up in ways that maximize benefits while minimizing danger. Most manufacturers and wholesalers will have no problem with social distancing and more intense cleaning. Retailers may need to provide for people to spread out a bit.
We're not going back exactly to that normal life we remember. Even when restrictions are relaxed, many people will likely be reluctant to do things that seemed normal before - eating in restaurants with close seating, standing in long checkout lines at busy stores or attending mass events.
Opening up golf courses is a no-brainer, except that bar seating at the 19th hole may need to be spread out.
Speaking of seating, it turned out that Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Steakhouse chain had the right idea when, in the 1970s, it separated tables with floor-to-ceiling, bronze-tinted Plexiglas panels.
I think it will be slow going for movie theaters, arena sports and tourism at least for a year. Cruises on those mega-ships? Maybe never again. Most restaurants will probably return to normal within a couple of months. Gyms - I dunno. The crowded ones will have to do some separating, perhaps with clear acrylic divider panels between exercise machines. Airlines may have to stop selling those middle coach seats for a while. And reconfigure airplane ventilation systems to bleed in more fresh air like the good old days.
Speaking of ventilation systems, the idea of introducing larger amounts of fresh make-up air into HVAC systems is a good one, especially in office buildings and transit vehicles. I have a feeling that manufacturers will begin selling such conversion kits.
We need to rethink dense cities and mass transit, the two big building blocks of urban planners and commie dictators. Speaking of commies, we need to begin cutting China out of our supply chain. Let them go back to making cheap, nonessential stuff such as bamboo umbrellas for ladies' fruity cocktails.
As for the economy as a whole, who really knows? I'm guessing that the economy will have a rough second quarter, followed by an improving third quarter and great fourth quarter. Whether we experience a near-term recovery, and whether it's V-shaped or U-shaped or strong or weak, will depend on how soon and how rapidly the economy is allowed to re-open.
Let's start making America great again … real soon. (posted 4/16/20, permalink)
April 14, 2020 - Virus News: The good news is that, in many parts of the U.S., the coronavirus is past peak and is receding.
In Clark County, Washington, there are currently 15 deaths and 239 cases as of yesterday. 29 cases have come from residents and staff at long term care facilities in the county. Places mentioned by the county include Van Mall, Prestige Care and Rehabilitation in Camas, Bonaventure of Vancouver, Highgate Senior Living in Vancouver, ManorCare Health Services in Salmon Creek and Vancouver Specialty and Rehabilitative Care. Based on a posting on the county website, the largest source of cases were nursing homes, with Vancouver Specialty & Rehab of Vancouver, Washington having the largest number of coronavirus cases as of last week.
Battle Ground has somewhere between 400-600 cases per million population - significantly lower than the national average or Washington state average. As of 6:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, Washington state had 10,703 cases and 523 deaths (72/million population - close to the national average of 71) from the China coronavirus.
When discussing the Wuhan flu, it is useful to compare it with the 2009-10 H1N1 flu virus. From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases, 274,304 hospitalizations, and 12,469 deaths in the United States due to the (H1N1) flu virus.
An updated model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine has predicted the China coronavirus will kill 60,000 or more people in the United States through the first eight months of 2020, which is somewhat more than the 45,000 or so deaths we would expect from the seasonal flu. As of Monday evening, there have been 586,866 cases and 23,621 deaths in the U.S. from the Wuhan flu.
Meanwhile, quarantine has turned us into dogs. We roam the house all day looking for food. We are told "no" if we get too close to strangers. And we get really excited about car rides.
 Pay No Attention To The Fool On The Hill - Dressed In White: Pope Francis has said the coronavirus pandemic is one of "nature's responses" to humans ignoring the current ecological crisis.
The pontiff said the outbreak offered an opportunity to slow down the rate of production and consumption and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world.
OMG.
This statement begs the question: "Is the Pope Catholic?"
The Manchurian Media: "When is the American public going to realize that it's not China that the broadcast news divisions are protecting, but the globalist entertainment companies that own the news divisions, and which need Asian markets for maxxing out entertainment profits?"
NBC-Universal is on the verge of opening a huge theme park - Universal Studios Beijing - in China, so NBC News plays nice with the ChiComs.
The companies that own the major news networks, NBC, ABC, and CBS, do significant business in China. On the print side, top U.S. newspapers like the Washington Post and New York Times have been criticized for running paid China Daily inserts. What they were paid for these inserts is still unknown.
 It Was Fun To Watch: Monday's coronavirus press briefing was a real Trump de Force. Responding to Sunday's New York Times hit piece, President Trump played a video with clips from CNN and others showing how the media downplayed the coronavirus and how Democrat governors have praised him for working with them. The video essentially destroyed the mainstream media's narrative about Covid-19. CNN and MSNBC immediately cut away from the press conference because they didn't want their viewers to see what was really happening.
CNN in particular went berserk, running several derogatory chyrons beneath the president's on-camera appearance with captions such as 'Angry Trump Turns Briefing Into Propaganda Session', 'Trump Refuses To Acknowledge Mistakes', 'Trump Uses Task Force Briefing To Try And Rewrite History ON Coronavirus Response' and 'Trump- Melts Down In Angry Response To Reports He Ignored Virus Warnings'.
Fox Business' Charles Payne admired Trump's media takedown, remarking, "Well played. Well played, indeed."
The president knows that millions of Americans appreciate this in-your-face message to the media. They got sucker-punched and deserved it.
I continue to be appalled that so few of the reporters in the briefing room understand how to read graphs. This becomes obvious every time Dr. Deborah L. Birx shows one, even though she patiently explains precisely what they indicate - every time. I learned how to read, interpret and develop graphs in high school. And these 'reporters' are college graduates? What a pack of dummies. (posted 4/14/20, permalink)
 Mass Germ-Spreaders: Randall O'Toole wrote, "Transit agencies are now demanding that Congress give them at least $25 billion so they can continue infecting people with COVID-19. Restaurants, bars, shopping malls, amusement parks, and barber shops are all supposed to shut down, but let's keep transit running even though one study has found that "mass transportation systems offer an effective way of accelerating the spread of infectious diseases within communities.""
"New York has about 28,000 people per square mile while Los Angeles is still pretty dense at 8,000 per square mile (most of the nation's 50 largest cities are under 4,000). But New York is also unique in having the highest amount of transit usage - 224 annual trips per capita compared with just 44 in Los Angeles and 36 among the nation's urbanites as a whole. Density plus transit - the smart-growth prescription - is also the prescription for high infections in a pandemic."
Clark County, WA - where I live - has a population density of 732 per square mile.
Last month, I wrote about the benefits of fresh air. My theory - an it's no crazier than any of the many jumbo-laced mumbo floating around cyberspace - is that fresh air is the key to avoiding the coronavirus. I have yet to read anything about people dying in the many homeless encampments around the country.
Based on what we've been told, there should be: these urban flotsam live in dreadful squalor, have questionable personal cleanliness habits and many have immune system-compromising, untreated medical conditions. Yet there seems to be no epidemic in the various quotidian Trampvilles throughout the land. My theory is that the homeless spend a lot of time outside and get plenty of fresh air. They're not exposed to sophisticated HVAC systems which recirculate old air - and germs - in the name of energy efficiency. So … I'm doing what I can to get some fresh outside air every day.
My mom was a believer in the health benefits of fresh air. I remember her throwing open windows with alacrity in January to get fresh, freezing air into various rooms of our house. Sixty years later, I'm following her advice. (posted 4/7/20, permalink)
The Dangers Of Extrapolation: The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation produced data indicating that the U.S. death rate for covid-19 will peak on or about April 13th, at 2,341 deaths/day. They project that total deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. to be only 81,114, with not many additional deaths after around mid-May.
I hope IHME is right. At the moment, the death rate is still headed on a straight line upward even when plotted on a semi-log scale. On the other hand, it has to peak and decline, otherwise we're all dead - an unlikely scenario.
As Disco Stu once said on an episode of 'The Simpsons', "Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continue … Aaaaay!"
Scott Grannis recently wrote that there is a "growing realization that the covid-19 virus is not nearly as deadly as the early projections suggested. That, and the rapidly growing list of therapeutics - led by chloroquine - and the accelerated development of vaccines and the fact that covid-19 test kits are on the verge of being distributed by the millions. The private sector really is coming to the rescue, and the media hype is being eroded by the reality on the ground."
These are the most up-to-date stats I have:
• In Clark County WA 130 people have tested positive in Clark County and there are six coronavirus deaths.
• Washington state has 5,844 cases and 250 deaths from the Wuhan flu.
• In the U.S. 215,003 have tested positive, 5,102 have died. Hard to believe, but on March 16th, there were only 96 deaths. And, on February 29th, there was only one known death from the China virus in the entire country.
• 49% of all covid-19 cases are in New York or New Jersey.
• The U.S. has 650 cases per million people, ranking #25 among countries, below Luxembourg, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Norway, Portugal, France, Netherlands, Israel, Ireland and many other countries.
• The highest case numbers on a per capita basis come from Vatican City with 7,491 cases per million. (posted 4/2/20, permalink)
State Of The State: At Evergreen Health Medical Center in Kirkland, WA, two miles from the shuttered Lifecare nursing home where 35 patient deaths were linked to the virus, officials say their rate of new covid-19 cases has remained steady for two weeks, leveling off at a trickle. "On some days, doctors here see just one new case and haven't seen more than four in a single day since mid-March. Few need admission to the intensive care unit, which is now half full, two weeks after overflow necessitated transfers to nearby hospitals.
"State authorities said there have been 2,580 positive cases and 132 deaths, and as testing in Washington has ramped up, the percentage of positive cases has remained low - holding at about 7%." What's happening in Washington state seems similar to what happened in South Korea, where the number of cases "flattened."
Clark County WA (far from Kirkland and in the Southwest part of the state) now has 82 cases of covid-19; there have been 6 deaths. (posted 3/30/20, permalink)
 Italy's China Problem: I was surprised to learn that there are Chinese sweatshops in Northern Italy.
Many companies are using inexpensive immigrant labor to manufacture handbags and other leather goods that bear the coveted "Made in Italy" label, according to a detailed article by D. T. Max in The New Yorker magazine.
Consider the Northern Italian town of Prato: "More than 10% of Prato's two hundred thousand legal residents are Chinese. According to Francesco Nannucci, the head of the police's investigative unit in Prato, the city is also home to some ten thousand Chinese people who are there illegally. Prato is believed to have the second-largest Chinese population of any European city, after Paris, and it has the highest proportion of immigrants in Italy, including a large North African population."
Many of the Chinese textile and leather bag workers are paid by the piece. "In the Prato area, some six thousand businesses are registered to Chinese citizens and the fashion companies require these Chinese-owned subcontractors to sign confidentiality agreements." That makes specific information hard to come by.
Italy's luxury-fashion industry has long struggled to ... (more >>>)
 It's A Plastic World Now: Only a few weeks ago, plastic was the whipping boy for all the greenies. Suddenly, the environmental wackos have become as quiet as the songbirds in Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'. Could it be because our polymer friends are playing a major role in containing the coronavirus?
Most of those hazmat suits you see on television are made from Tyvek, a flashspun high-density polyethylene plastic fiber. Some suits are made from Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene plastic) or PVC (polyvinyl chloride plastic). Booties are made from polypropylene, a widely-used thermoplastic polymer. Surgical face masks are also made with non-woven polypropylene fabric. Face shields are typically made from Uvex (cellulose acetate butyrate plastic, which dates from the 1930s) or Lexan (a polycarbonate thermoplastic).
No one's complaining about plastic straws anymore. And that obnoxious ... (more >>>)
Seems Like Everything Is Shutting Down: There have been lots of closings around the world due to the Wuhan Coronavirus. Last Thursday, the Archdiocese of Seattle suspended the celebration of all public Masses. This affects parishes in Vancouver, WA as well.
"This includes daily and Sunday Masses. The Archbishop has given temporary dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation until the coronavirus danger lessens and Masses are reinstated." No telling when that will be.
Washington governor Jay Inslee ordered all bars, restaurants, entertainment and recreation facilities in the state to temporarily close in order to fight the spread of COVID-19. How long the closures will last has yet to be determined. The governor also revised his ban on events to prohibit gatherings of 50 or more people. Previously, the size limit was more than 250. He didn't say anything about the state's many marijuana stores. Or homeless encampments.
Inslee made an exception for Seattle's light rail transit cars, otherwise known as petri dishes on wheels.
Randal O'Toole noted, "Seattle's Sound Transit's trains presumably sometimes carry more than 250 people at a time, but Governor Inslee has exempted them from the 250 limit (of course; transit gets exemptions from all the rules everyone else has to follow). The agency is firmly responding to the crisis by "putting posters on vehicles reminding everyone to follow critical health guidelines." That'll stop the epidemic in its tracks!"
Meanwhile, Denver's mass transit system "says it is "wiping down its handrails" once a day. That's reassuring, so long as each bus and rail vehicle only carries one passenger a day."
O'Toole concluded, "It appears that the safest way to travel, at least for now, is to drive alone in your own vehicle, but the transit agencies and their supporters are still floating down a river in Egypt." Which would be OK if it were a river of Purell.
In addition, the regional library system is closed, all public schools in the county are closed for six weeks. As of Saturday, there are 3 coronavirus cases in Clark County, WA. Two are nursing home patients. In the state, there are 642 cases and 42 dead. Washington has the highest number of cases and deaths of any state in the country. Most of the deaths are in and around Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle in King County. Twenty-nine of the fatalities have been linked to the Life Care Center of Kirkland nursing home. (posted 3/16/20, permalink)
Past Procrastination: Charlie Kirk reminded all Trump critics that "it took Barack Obama until October of 2009 to declare Swine Flu a National Health Emergency. It began in April of '09 but Obama waited until 20,000 people in the US had been hospitalized & 1,000+ had died.
Where was the media hysteria then?" (posted 3/12/20, permalink)
Corona Effect: People in China are spending their money on face masks, food and toilet paper, not automobiles. "The China Passenger Car Association now says the country of 1.45 billion saw new vehicle sales plunge 92 percent in the first half of February. In the first week of the month, sales were off 96%. That's 811 daily sales in a country with a population topping that of Europe and the United States combined."
Meanwhile, organizers of the Beijing Motor Show announced they are postponing their event, originally scheduled for April 21-30, due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
China commerce has come to a screeching halt. Products and components are not being manufactured. Many factories have been forcibly shut down. Others claim to be open for business, but employees are failing to show up. It all adds up to a major threat to global supply chains.
Jaguar and Land-Rover claimed that they will soon shut down their assembly lines because they can't get critical components made in China. Reportedly, some GM models ... (more >>>)
January 28, 2020: Focus On What's Critical For America's Citizens - Scott Adams tweeted, "The biggest story today should be that impeachment is sidelining our government from protecting us while the Coronavirus spreads. Thanks for nothing." (posted 1/28/20, permalink)
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Disclaimer
The facts presented on this website are based on my best guesses and my substantially faulty geezer memory. The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of the author and are protected by the U.S. Constitution. Probably.
If I have slandered any brands of automobiles, either expressly or inadvertently, they're most likely crap cars and deserve it. Automobile manufacturers should be aware that they always have the option of trying to change my mind by providing me with vehicles to test drive. I'll dutifully report my road test impressions on this car blog.
If I have slandered any people or corporations, either expressly or inadvertently, they should buy me strong drinks (and an expensive meal) and try to prove to me that they're not the jerks I've portrayed them to be. If you're buying, I'm willing to listen.
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