The World Health Organization just unanimously agreed it would conduct a “comprehensive evaluation” of its own response to the coronavirus pandemic that’s rocked the globe. The Associated Press reported that the vote was taken after a resolution was brought forward by European Union members and African nations. But you’d be remiss to assume that Trump’s latest Twitter tangent and funding threats didn’t have something to do with this decision.
If you’re trying to make sense of the ‘re-opening’ debate, here’s one resource that is worth looking at: Google’s COVID-19 Mobility Reports. This is just a slice of the oceans of data Google has at its corporate fingertips. Mainly it’s from geo-tracking data tied to your cellphones. In another conversation we can discuss the pros and cons of Google having access to this data and access to it as its own property. For now, it’s a valuable and fascinating resource for government officials and public health planners because it uses anonymized cellphone tracking data to produce very reliable and granular data on social and economic activity. As I said, Google has always had this and related data and it’s one of their core business assets. But they’ve made an edition of it available for the COVID19 Crisis.
But it probably won’t.
I wrote last week about my fascination with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s months-long crusade to use the media to pressure the secretary of state to run for Senate in Kansas. McConnell views Mike Pompeo as the ideal candidate: He has enough establishment support to unite the party in the key state that’s about to dive into a messy GOP primary over the open seat, where a top contender is polarizing, even in Republican circles.
I’ve seen, you’ve seen the flurry of articles over recent days about President Trump firing Inspectors General across the administration, with more firings to come. The story has provided another illustration of how supporters of good government and the rule of law struggle to explain the gravity of this corruption because they get tangled up in the verbiage of bureaucracy and process.
These IG firings are the latest part of Trump’s quest to make sure the law doesn’t apply to himself and his friends. He’s firing the overseers so he and his top associates can keep stealing government money and not get caught. It’s that simple. The fact that it might be illegal or be against norms – who cares!!!!???? The State Department Inspector had started investigating Mike Pompeo because he and his wife were making a government employee be his butler. It’s admittedly smalltime for Trump level corruption. But again, people shouldn’t get lost in this language. Trump is firing overseers to help steal more government money.
It’s stupid not to make this crystal clear.
Throughout the COVID19 Crisis Sweden has been held out as the counterexample to policies pursued throughout Europe and North America: no lockdowns, accept a high death toll and push on to herd immunity. The picture has been mixed. Sweden has a dramatically higher death toll than neighboring Scandinavian countries to which it is geographically proximate and demographically similar. But it has still fared better than hard-hit countries like Italy, France and the United Kingdom, which eventually pushed hard lockdowns to stem the spread of COVID.
But the real story is buried down at the end of this recent article in the Times.
TPM Reader CE checks in from New Zealand …
Just read your latest and was astounded to see that Slovenia has declared an end to their Covid epidemic. I’m not sure what sort of epidemeologists are advising their government, but at least from an animal health point of view I would never call that an “end” or “eradication”. They’re certainly in the elimination phase, but…
One thing to consider when thinking about risk and infectious disease is the difference between individual and societal risk. Certain activities may have a very low level of risk across society. But are they possible sources of infection? Yes. Could they happen to you? Yes. Unlikely. But yes.
One thing that has been clear for a few weeks is that many of the big outbreaks outside of major cities have been in meat packing plants. That is probably in part because meat packing plants are some of the relatively few kinds of factories or workplaces that have remained open at full capacity. But it’s also in the nature of the plants themselves. (That’s likely why Amazon warehouses, which have been hit as well, haven’t been hit as badly as the meat packing plants.) People are bunched up together. There’s little regard for worker safety and quality of life. They’re natural places for spread.
Just a reminder: President Trump is still profiting off the presidency.
A TPM member checks in from the retail sector. It’s tough out there. We all know that. But this story (name withheld because of the details about the member’s workplace) offers a measured snapshot of the difficult choices employees and managers in essential businesses have been facing for weeks. The member’s evenness, lack of anger or rancor, and perseverance in the face of the daily challenges the pandemic presents are admirable.
Hi you guys, I am a member and wanted to offer, if no one else has, some insight on what it is like working in a grocery store right now.