Virus notes: August 30, 2020 -- New guidelines

MERCED (BLJ) –On August 29, Merced County Public Health Department reported 115 deaths, no increase over the previous day, according to the departmental “statistical dashboard”) – so much quantitative sophistication, so little improvement  in the quality of prevention or cure of the virus.

The rapid increase of cases and deaths in the last two weeks must be due, at least in part, to the outbreak at the Foster Farms Livingston plant of over 350 cases as well as the ongoing medical atrocity in Atwater, led by its small businesses, pea-sized brains, and zero sense of responsibility. Trump should de well in Atwater.

California reported 12, 834 deaths, an increase of 144 in  a day.

The United States reported 184,353 deaths (not a figure mentioned at the Trump National Convention), with an increase of 162 in a day. All but 18 deaths from the virus on Saturday came from California.

Whatever the governor is doing in his mild-mannered way is not working.

The global death count for the day was 837,979, an increase of 4,513 from the day before.

Governor Gavin Newsom issued new guidelines for combating the virus this week, dividing the counties into four groups, color coded, according to the seriousness of the infection. Merced is purple, which represents the worst affected region.

What remains unclear to me is the capacity of any governmental agency to enforce the guidelines. We hope we’ve simply not read the press on the guidelines correctly, and that it isn’t just another governor’s media event. The state says the statewide infection  rate has dropped below 6 percent, after a minor scandal about the statistics; but the infection rate in Merced is nearly 19 percent,  if the Merced County Public Health Department “statistical dashboard” is accurate.

Our sense, until further notice, is that there has been and will continue to be way too much influence on federal agencies in charge of the fight against the virus by corrupt PR creatures of the Trump Kleptocracy. But the same foul game goes on for state and local health agencies – everyone covering their own failure and cowardice. -- blj