Business or Death

As of Sunday there have been 40,565 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States and 477 in Texas. Even though Texas hasn’t suffered near the rate of infection or death that New York or New Jersey have that doesn’t mean it can’t still happen. What the media and the bumbling fool in the White House fail to get across is that the suffering isn’t just death.  COVID-19 also results in 25% pulmonary function deficit that takes 15-20 years to heal, some sort of coagulopathy (excessive bleeding due to a failure to clot) present in ⅓ of patients (long term implications not clear), neurological deficits (it may not be only smell and taste that are affected). Joint inflammations (now being investigated), and liver damage—none of these things are trivial.

We know that kids are infected. It seems relatively benign. Do they have any alterations in their neurobehavioral development? Growth? The comparison is oft made to the flu. The flu is not neurotoxic, and it isn't hepatoxic either. And while there are some pulmonary consequences, they're pretty rare.

Republicans and Libertarians are complaining about the cost to the economy of keeping businesses closed. I don’t hear anyone asking about the costs to the economy from the deaths and long term health damage of large portions of their employees and customers?

The squatter in the White House is amping up his rhetoric about allowing businesses opening their doors while failing to take the steps necessary to prevent a second wave of infections. He’s encouraging armed protesters to hold rallies at state capitol buildings all across the country, there was one in Austin too. Not only are the guns carried by these yahoos dangerous and unnecessary the protestors are out there screaming without masks so they’re potentially infecting one another.

Gov. Abbott is talking about re-opening businesses in Texas in a couple of weeks and while the rate of infection and death has been 35 times lower than New York there is no evidence that the risk has passed. In fact public health experts say that there are a few things that must be done before the stay at home orders are lifted. First, testing for infection has to be much more widely available than it currently is so we know who is infected. Second, tracking down all those who have come into contact with the infected person over the prior two weeks and testing them has to be done. That isn’t as simple as it seems because then any of those found to be infected sets off another wave of contact tracing. This takes a lot of man power. Next, any found to be infected must be quarantined for a minimum of two weeks.

One of my sisters is a nurse in a rural hospital, she has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in quarantine. She is well enough to stay at home now but that can change. Her health is in danger along with that of her family. In addition the hospital where she works is now understaffed putting further strain on the remaining medical staff at a time when number of patients with COVID-19 is rising.

Economists say the shutdown is costing the U.S. economy about $20 billion a day. Ramping up production of test kits and the ability to analyze the kits reportedly would cost $25 billion so in other words just a little more than one day of closure. If he wants to economy re-opened why isn’t the president taking steps to insure adequate test kit production and analysis capacity?

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 20, 2020

Why Don't Conservatives Take COVID-19 Seriously?

I’m amazed by the contradictions inherent in people’s reactions to threats. I have trouble understanding how conservatives don’t accept climate change as an existential threat but I know that obfuscation by fossil fuel companies and think tanks and politicians funded by them plays a role. The conservative response to COVID-19 though is just hard for me to explain. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was quoted last weekend projecting 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from COVID 19. Most of those deaths will likely be in those older than 60, Trump’s base so you’d think he and they would take it really seriously.

Republican governors, such as Tate Reeves in Mississippi, have overridden local mayors who had issued stay at home orders put in place to protect their citizens. Some evangelical pastors, like Rev. Tony Spell in Louisiana, are violating local government orders banning large gatherings leading to outbreaks in their flocks. Jerry Falwell, Jr’s Liberty University welcomed its students back from Spring Break, unlike many public schools, only to find several students infected.

Governor Abbott talks out of both sides of his mouth saying that Texas is taking necessary steps to prepare but failing to issue statewide stay at home orders like governors in states that really are taking action with statewide stay at home orders. This weekend he announced  that “the number of Texans hospitalized with COVID-19 is less than 2% of the available hospital bed capacity.” According to state health officials there were 2552 confirmed cases in Texas out of 25,483 tested so Abbott claimed 90% tested negative. That’s nice except that there are over 29 million people in Texas so that means less than one tenth of one percent have even been tested. Let’s not forget that even if you’ve been tested and found to be virus free that doesn’t mean you can’t contract the illness a week or a month later. In addition 37 new cases were found last weekend in Bexar County alone. There’s not nearly enough testing going on in Texas to actually know how we’re doing. On the positive side Abbott did call up three National Guard units to assist with drive through testing and expansion of hospital bed capacity.

Of course you won’t be surprised to learn that the National Rifle Association’s response to the pandemic is to warn that everyone should buy a gun. They’re not suggesting doing so will reduce the spread of the virus, they’re proposition is that the virus will cause a breakdown in society like the Zombie Apocalypse or the Mad Max scenario.

All this and Trump’s latest conspiracy theory is his response to demands from doctors and nurses that more masks and eye protection be made available in which he claims that those same medical professionals who are doing all they can to protect us and care for our ill family and friends just want to steal the masks and eye protection.

It’s beyond me how people such as Trump, Abbott, and Reeves are selected by voters to lead us. November 3^rd can’t come soon enough.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 1, 2020

Republicans Fail Again

It isn’t just that I disagree on policy that makes me angry with Republicans it’s that they consistently fail and Democrats have to clean it up then get blamed for spending what it takes to fix the problem. Once again we have Republicans leading the nation and again we seeing an abject failure to provide competent leadership in a crisis. Trump and his brown nosing enablers in the legislature take the COVID-19 virus seriously at the outset and still haven’t taken the necessary steps to put industry to work on providing the basics needed to treat the soon to be deathly ill thousands of Americans.

Italy which had its first cases January 31, three weeks later there were 76 confirmed cases. As of Sunday there were over 59,000 cases and 5,471 dead. The death rate is high because the Italians don’t have enough critical care beds and ventilators necessary to treat the massive number of sick people. The doctors there are being forced to decide who gets treated based on both likelihood of recovery and length of potential life left to live so older/sicker patients are only receiving minimal treatment to relieve pain because there simply aren’t enough resources to go around.

The United States had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 January 21, so far there are more than 32,000 confirmed cases and 416 deaths. Given what we’re seeing in Italy you’d think Trump would have used his authority to demand that U.S. industry ramp up production of materials necessary to treat Americans quickly. For weeks he said that governors should handle it and the White House wasn’t a shipping business. Just a week ago he finally got around to invoking his powers on the Defense Production Act of 1950 which authorizes a President to prioritize materials for national defense and demand increased production including providing incentives to build more capacity. All the while or doctors and nurses have been trying to make due with shortages of protective gear that is necessary to keep them safe while treating severely ill patients. It’s typical Republican day late and dollar short behavior.

On the economic side Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell is more worried that his campaign donors in the airline and hotel industries will suffer profit shortfalls than he is about skyrocketing unemployment figures for working stiffs like you and me. Many Americans are suddenly worrying whether or not they will have enough money to pay the rent or mortgage with enough left over to cover groceries. McConnell’s proposal bails out big business who already got big tax breaks last year 90% of which was used to buy back their own stock to raise share prices which triggered bonuses for executives and leaves the rest of us to sink or swim on our own. Fortunately Senate Democrats said that bill is a non-starter and are demanding that individuals get government support and industry can borrow money and the super-cheap rates currently available from banks.

While one of the Democratic sponsored bills Trump has signed requires that all Americans be able to get tested at no charge that doesn’t help with paying for treatment if you’re one of the 5 million Texans without health insurance and you require hospitalization for COVID-19. Texas has twice the national average of uninsured and the main reason is our Republican Governor and state legislature refuse to expand Medicaid.

If Americans are smart, nine months from now Joe Biden will take office and begin steering in the right direction. Of course Republicans will then complain about the cost and the national debt.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 25, 2020

COVID 19 Republican Failure

In 2019 a petulant Donald Trump declared a national emergency when Congress wouldn’t give him his ridiculous border wall. After weeks of claiming “everything will be fine” the toddler in chief finally  declared a national emergency after COVID-19, aka coronavirus, has spread throughout the country.

China has taken draconian measures in some areas which have drastically reduced infection rates after the initial rapid spread of the disease. Italy has failed to take adequate measures and both the infection rates and death rates are soaring upward. The Italian health care system is overwhelmed in many areas and doctors are making hard decisions about who to treat due to lack of sufficient resources to treat all. They are only providing palliative care to the very old on the grounds that they only have a short time left to live anyway as well as those in poor health to start with as those resources are better used to treat younger, healthier patients who have both a better chance of survival and more to lose.

Unfortunately so far the United States is handling the situation about as poorly as Italy and we may suffer similarly for it.

On Friday the Democratic led House passed H.R. 6201-Families First Coronavirus Response Act which would provide free access to tests for the virus, including for those without health insurance. It would also give workers affected by the virus paid family and sick leave, boost unemployment benefits, strengthen government food programs for children, older people and those with low incomes and help states meet expenses for Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor. More than a quarter of Texas Republicans in the House voted against the bill, they are Brian Babin, Michael Cloud, Louie Gohmert, Lance Gooden, Chip Roy, and Randy Weber.

In the Senate even knowing that passage of the bill was imminent Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell failed to recognize the seriousness of the emergency last Friday and chose to shut down for the scheduled recess and won’t return until Thursday. The excuse is that they’ll be back in a week and will vote on the bill then when the situation has clarified. The Senate’s failure to act will delay relief and exacerbate suffering needlessly.

While the pandemic has spread to 46 states and Washington D.C. the Trump White House asked for funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control budget. Texas is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of the pandemic due to all the rural hospital closures suffered over the last decade as Republicans have slashed budgets for health care. Closures over the last decade have primarily been driven by $50 million a year in Medicare cuts to Texas rural hospitals starting in 2013 as well as a $80+ million a year underpayment by Texas Medicaid which is controlled by our Republican controlled state legislature and Governor.

Fortunately local officials like the superintendents of Seguin ISD and Schertz/Cibolol/Universal City ISD have taken action and closed all schools in their districts for at least this week. We need the Trump administration to take strong, swift measures like our local officials are doing.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 18, 2020