Tag Archives: Healthcare

In 2020 A March Of Madness, Econospeak Just before the end of February, President Trump declared that there were only 15 Covid-19 cases in the US, and that “they will soon go to zero.”  Deaths from COVID 19 now passed 3,000 (March 30th) and yesterday Trump declared that because we might have had over 2 million dead if nothing had been done, it would show “we did a good job” if deaths kept to “only” 100,000 to 200,000.  To do this “good job” he has...

Coronavirus dashboard for April 1 by New Deal democrat Here is the update through yesterday (March 31) Over 75% of the US population is now under lockdown, and it appears to be lowering the rate of exponential growth of new infections. Based on South Korea’s experience, a ratio of 15:1 in total tests to results showing infection is the level where there can be some confidence that the infections have been contained. But testing in the past 5 days has...

A presidential comment on New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham concerns: Grisham: “We’re seeing incredible spikes in the Navajo Nation, and this is going to be an issue where we’re going to have to figure that out and think about maybe testing and surveillance opportunities, The rate of infection, at least on the New Mexico side — although we’ve got several Arizona residents in our hospitals — we’re seeing a much higher hospital rate, a much younger hospital...

(Abbreviated) coronavirus dashboard for March 29 – by New Deal democrat Here is the update through yesterday (March 28) [NOTE: I am not including the State by State breakdown today, which is time-intensive to create. It will resume tomorrow.] In order to succeed in containing the pandemic, I believe that the US needs 2 weeks of China (nearly complete lockdown) followed by at least a month of South Korea (very aggressive and widespread testing). At...

The Covid-19 epidemic is creating a painful dilemma for policymakers.  On the one hand, we need to practice social distancing to keep people healthy and to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, this strategy is causing a severe economic contraction as people avoid contact with others. An ideal response to this dilemma would have three basic components.  First, we would implement a hard, nation-wide lockdown to slow the spread of...

Coronavirus dashboard for March 28: testing falls further behind- by New Deal democrat Here is the update through yesterday (March 27) In order to succeed in containing the pandemic, I believe that the US needs 2 weeks of China (nearly complete lockdown) followed by at least a month of South Korea (very aggressive and widespread testing). At minimum, that means at least 50% of the US population under lockdown and a ratio of 15:1 in tests to results...

Coronavirus dashboard for March 27: (unsurprisingly) voluntary distancing appears to be failing Here is the update through yesterday (March 26) In order to succeed in containing the pandemic, I believe that the US needs 2 weeks of China (nearly complete lockdown) followed by at least a month of South Korea (very aggressive and widespread testing). At minimum, that means at least 50% of the US population under lockdown and a ratio of 15:1 in tests to...

This came up on the radar this morning. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is questioning the constitutionality of Gov. Gina Raimondo’s directive allowing state police to stop vehicles with New York license plates to collect information from drivers and passengers in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Democratic governor on Thursday called the measure extreme but pointed out that the New York City...

I just received this as a text from an ICU worker in a medium size hospital not in NY, CA, Washington, Illinois, nor Louisiana. Mobile morgue

Notes on the economy and coronavirus issues As is obvious, I have stopped reporting on almost all incoming economic data, as anything older than last week is out of date. But once the last important February data is reported tomorrow, I will take one last fond look back at our pre- Coronavirus Recession economy. How close to recession was it? I also want to write a few more detailed posts on several points. But for now, let me leave a quick note about...