~ From CNN:
Great links to GOP recent abandon ship events (or save your ass boys):
'Nobody Likes me', Trump Complains, As Even His Allies Fade
by, Kevin Liptax - 08/01/20
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Precisely....
~ From Informed Comment : (with bonus videos on the link)
How Trump Broke America: Economy Plummets Historic 33%, COVID Deaths at 1,500/day, And 40MN Could Lose Homes
by, Juan Cole - 07/31/20
"Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s refusal last winter to pull out all the stops to mount an effective national coronavirus response has broken the legs of America. On Wednesday, over 1500 coronavirus deaths were reported nationwide, a tally not seen since May. Over 150,000 Americans have died of the disease, and the prospect is that tens of thousands more will succumb.
In Germany, 9,000 people have died, which is equivalent to 36,000 in US terms (the US is 4 times more populous). There were 839 new infections in Germany yesterday, equivalent to 3,356 in US terms. There were over 60,000 new cases a day in the US. That is, new US cases were eighteen times more than Germany’s. This is because the German government and health system are better than the US.
The gross domestic product, the measure of goods and services produced, fell by nearly 33% in the second quarter. That unprecedented percentage is four times worse than any quarter in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Republican senate went home without passing a new unemployment relief bill, which will reduce the unemployed to only some $1200 a month to live on. The average rent in the US is $1,463 per month.
The US is on the verge of a massive homelessness problem, as rents come due on August 1 and in some states, eviction moratoriums are expiring. If things go on like this, 40 million Americans could lose their homes.
Herman Cain, the pizza mogul and former presidential candidate, died Thursday of Covid-19. He defiantly attended Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, proudly un-distanced and un-masked, and came down with the disease 9 days later. He could have gotten it elsewhere, but the timing is right for Tulsa. Cain tweeted arrogantly attacking the wearing of masks just before he fell ill. RIP. But dude, you should have listened to the science.
Cain’s death underlined the problem the Republican Party has, of an anti-science bias and a disdain for anything they perceive as bad for business (Cain could not sell many pizzas if people avoided closed spaces and wore masks; but then Cain will never sell another pizza anyway).
Hong Kong, a city the size of New York where 98% of people wear masks, has had 10 coronavirus deaths.
The United States needs a national coronavirus response, and it has been denied one by Donald J. Trump. Trump treated the pandemic like one of the women he sexually assaulted, who could safely be ignored or paid off with a little sum under the table to go away. It will all disappear, he said, by April. It will just go away one day. His irrational opposition to mitigation efforts– closing down public gatherings for long enough to start the virus on a downward spiral, wearing masks, testing and contact tracing, nationwide provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the medical system— all of this obfuscation deeply wounded the national response. States were thrown on their own devices, but had over the past 15 years deeply cut their county health departments. They were made to compete with one another for needed resources.
Trump thumbed his nose at CDC guidelines for public gatherings, insisting on a mega campaign rally in Tulsa, OK, that he was trying to get 100,000 people to. About 6,000 showed up, sitting in a stadium with no social distancing and no masks. There was subsequently a spike in coronavirus cases in that county, and who knows how many people were infected? Initially the stadium had tried to reserve every other seat in the stadium so as to keep at least a little distance between the attendees, but Trump campaign workers removed the stickers so as to cram them in tight for a good camera shot.
As the cases of Germany and South Korea show, the coronavirus challenge can be dealt with by a reasoned and efficient national public policy. Trump has none.
Trump has broken America."
~~~~~
Then, to top it off (as if anything could top it off), the Turtleman himself Mitch McConnell has basically given the go ahead to Republican senatorial candidates to "distance themselves" from Donald Trump - or jump ship:
~ From CNN:
McConnell Signals For Republican Senate Candidates: Distance From Trump If Necessary
by, Michael Warren & Jaime Ganyel - 07/31/20
Well yes, it is necessary....but can we trust any of them ever again? Did we ever ? I do not believe these same candidates distanced themselves over the Border Wall, or the migrante babies being held in cages, or the almost complete destruction of vital US environmental policies, or the fact that it is Trump who does not approve of the continuation of unemployment benefits @ 600.00 extra per month to those who have lost their jobs due to the Pandemic.
~~~~~
The question is...is Lopez-Gatell symbolic of AMLO ?
Not meaning to beat a dead horse, but yesterday we read that ten PAN governors reacted against Lopez-Gatell (a fave of AMLO - but note, no such reaction against AMLO himself) and his handling of the COVID crisis in Mexico. Today, that number has been lowered, but apparently the PAN is not really gaining the support from the PRI. We'll watch this and see where it goes:
~ From Proceso : (for related reports hit the link)
Lopez-Gatel Divide a Gobernadores Del PAN Y Exhibe La Orfandad Del PRI
por, Alejandro Cabellero - 08/01/20
"MEXICO CITY (process.com.mx) .- The demand by nine governors for Hugo López-Gatell to resign as spokesperson for the health contingency divided the leaders of the National Action Party (PAN) and exhibited the state of abandonment in which find the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
At the beginning, Javier Corral Jurado, from Chihuahua, had been included in the petition, who in a matter of hours distanced himself from that demand and clarified that he did not participate in the discussion or knew the text requesting the departure of the federal official.
Postulated by the PAN, Arturo Echevarría García, Governor of Nayarit, has remained on the sidelines of all the actions led by GOAN.
For their part, the presidents Carlos Mendoza Davis, from Baja California Sur; Francisco Domínguez Servién, from Querétaro; Mauricio Vidal Dosal, from Yucatan, and Carlos Joaquín González, from Quintana Roo, who had been actively participating in that group, this time remained on the sidelines.
Of the four leaders of National Action calling for the resignation of López Gatell, that of Durango and that of Tamaulipas have been mentioned in the plot of the Emilio Lozoya case, for allegedly having received, when they were legislators, sums of millions to support the approval of the energy reform, and Guanajuato has its state mired in the worst security crisis in memory.
Aispuro and Cabeza de Vaca's term ends next year.
In the PRI the situation is worse. Only two of its 12 governors joined the initiative Lopez-Gatell leave: that of Coahuila, Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís and that of Colima, José Ignacio Peralta Sánchez. In the case of Peralta, his six-year term ends next year.
Los otros gobernadores que piden la salida del subsecretario de Salud son Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, de Jalisco, postulado por Movimiento Ciudadano y quien aspira a ser candidato presidencial; el perredista Silvano Aureoles Conejo, de Michoacán, quien dejará el cargo el próximo año, y Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, de Nuevo León, quien ganó la gubernatura como candidato independiente y cuyo mandato también termina en 2021.
Grouped into what they call the Federalist Alliance, the nine politicians put their request in the following terms: "The governors of 40 million Mexican men and women, demand that the federal government immediately remove Hugo López-Gatell and put in charge an expert in the field, with knowledge and humility to fully understand the issues of this serious health crisis like the one we are going through, "they said in a statement.
~~~~~
More angst against authorities in Brazil & Tijuana From Professional Health workers. The question is, will their petitions be heard and resolved in a positive manner?
~ Redirect From Consortium News:
COVID-19: Brazilian Health Workers File ICC Complaint Against Bolsonaro
by, Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams
~~~~~
~ From Zeta:
Medicos del Hospital General Inconformes Con Mensaje de Perez Rico "Que No Refleja La Realidad de Los Insumos"
Now in a document signed by Doctors and Nurses of the General Hospital of Tijuana, and shared on the Facebook page Internal Medicine hgt, they said they disagreed:
"We demonstrate against the message that Dr. Pérez-Rico transmits, since it does not reflect the reality of the inputs that we must have constantly and in sufficient quantity," they refer to the video that the same health secretary published. on social networks on Wednesday night 29, and allegedly recorded in the medicine warehouses of the General Hospital, where he revealed that there was no shortage.
Doctors and nurses, say in their new position, that Pérez Rico accepted the lack of personnel, that he accepted that there are only 107 “operational” beds, and that floors 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 do not work, Furthermore, he "recognized that there have been problems with the supply of various drugs and supplies throughout the epidemic."
However, it bothered them that he contradicted all his commitments with videos taken from the drug store.
Here is the full letter from the Doctors and Nurses of the General Hospital of Tijuana:
Tijuana Baja California to July 30, 2020.
"To public opinion.
"Yesterday, doctors in charge of the care of COVID 19 patients at the General Tijuana Hospital, held a meeting with the C. Secretary of Health, Dr. Alonso Oscar Pérez Rico. Present at the meeting were the Director of the General Hospital Tijuana, Dr. Reyes Escamilla, the Deputy Director, Dr. Ornelas Abrego, and the heads of Internal Medicine, the Intensive Care Unit and Respiratory Therapy. Below we want to present a synthesis of what was discussed at this meeting.
1. The secretary acknowledged that the General Hospital Tijuana works with a lack of medical and paramedical personnel. He knows that the care of many extremely serious patients has fallen in many cases, on general doctors who were hired ad hoc and resident doctors of internal medicine and emergencies. I point out that although there is a job offer, they have not been able to hire more specialist doctors. He undertook to base 14 specialist doctors who have been involved in the care of COVID patients under contract. "He promised to direct the management that allows the granting of a financial remuneration to all the personnel who have remained active in the care of patients with COVID, including resident physicians
2. The Secretary acknowledged that although there are 220 census beds in the hospital, only 107 are operational. He also knows that since the hospital reconversion, floors 3,5,6,7 and 8 have no operational personnel and therefore do not work .
3. Secretary Perez-Rico acknowledged that there have been problems with the supply of various medications and supplies throughout the epidemic. He indicated that work would be done to maintain a constant supply of some of these drugs. He also pointed out that it is not possible to guarantee the supply of some other medicines due to not having the necessary providers.
4. Secretary Pérez-Rico was informed that the use of mechanical ventilators in the Hospital is borderline. He promised to work to get more ventilation units to the hospital.
5. Secretary Pérez-Rico learned that the microbiology laboratory resource has not existed in the hospital for many years and only recently have blood cultures been available. He did not comment on it.
We are concerned and outraged that once the meeting ended, the Secretary of Health has made the wrong decision, to transmit videos from the warehouse areas of the hospital where he indicates the presence of some of the things that were part of the lawsuit that caused the meeting we held and where he recognized the supply problem.
We speak out against the message that Dr. Pérez-Rico transmits, since it does not reflect the reality of the inputs that we must have constantly and in sufficient quantity.
We thank Dr. Pérez Rico for the time he gives us to listen to our demands, we hope that his work will translate into better supply systems for supplies and medicines in the near future. We will continue working with a lot of effort looking for the well-being of the patients we serve.
Sincerely
Doctors and Nurses of the General Hospital".
~~~~~
UPDATE: General Hospital in Tijuana Tanks.....
~ From Zeta:
Hospital General de Tijuana a Maxima Capacidad, Sin Medicamentos Ni Tomagrafo
por, Uriel Saucedo - 08/01/20 @ 10:14pm
"Doctors from the General Hospital of Tijuana, who for fear of reprisals avoided giving their names, reported that the hospital continues to its maximum capacity with 86 hospitalized patients distributed over three floors and the emergency area, 35 of whom are intubated. In addition, they still do not have the necessary medications to treat these patients.
Also information that the scanner still does not work, ruining the statements of the Secretary of Health, who confirmed that it had already been repaired and had obtained necessary medicine.
The information provided to ZETA, refers to the fact that the hospital has about 40 free beds and not 96 as indicated by the report that Pérez Rico provided on the morning of Saturday, August 1, in the company of Governor Jaime Bonilla, in the same way they mentioned that they are 35 intubated patients and not 28 as the Health Secretary stated.
They also mentioned that there are medicines that are still not stocked such as profol, vecuronium and dexmedetomidine, also that they were told that these medicines are having difficulty being obtained at the national level, so other similar drugs are being used in terms of what they are relaxants like rocuronium and norepinephrine; In the case of antibiotics, they need to get Linezolid.
They explained that the importance of the medicines that have not reached them, is that having them would avoid giving too many relaxants to the patients, and that when they are discharged they have difficulties to move.
Regarding the tomograph (C-scan), they indicated that it still does not work, because despite the fact that a computer was purchased, it continued to be useless, so a technician from the United States was contacted, who identified that the problem was not in the computer, but in the fiber optic used by this device, so there is no date for when it is available, a matter of concern because it is a vital tool at the moment for COVID-19 patients.
Likewise, it was shared that the General Hospital is treating about 10 patients daily in its filter, admitting an average of two patients per day for presenting complications from COVID.
It is worth mentioning that it was last Tuesday, July 28, when doctors and nurses from the General Hospital of Tijuana denounced through a letter that the hospital had problems with the supply of medicine, and that floors 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 were empty. Therefore, counting the beds on these floors was only causing the number of empty beds to be inflated, reducing the hospital's occupancy rate.
In the letter containing 11 points, reference was made to the lack of sedation and relaxation medications, drugs to prevent the formation of clots, antibiotics, closed breathing systems, circuits for the oxygen delivery system, colloid patches, computed tomography and video laryngoscope. functional.
In addition, this Weekly confirmed that when there was a shortage of medications in the General Hospital, the relatives of the hospitalized patients had to buy the antibiotics and relaxants outside, coming to spend about 20 thousand pesos that were not reimbursed."
Okay - I will never again tell you guys to stop fighting between each other...but you know, that's what Dr. Fauci keeps saying about the resistant Trumpistas in the States who defy any logic. We have to work together he says, and of course as you know...it is an uphill battle. Good Luck and sorry for your huge disaster.
end update.
~ From Zeta: (contains most current stats on the virus in Baja)
Con COVID en Aumento, bonilla Plantea Apertura de Bares en Tijuana
por, Uriel Saucedo - 08/01/20
They warned that the opening would take place considering a series of protocols, endorsed by the Ministry of Health in charge of Alonso Pérez Rico.
During the transmission, Escobedo Carignan reported that to date no outbreaks of contagion have been identified in any of the non-essential activities that have opened - despite the red light -, exemplifying with the gastronomic and hotel sectors that according to the official, they did not have confirmed cases after the holiday weekend on July 4.
"As you have ordered governor, all the reactivation requests we analyze, and we are all analyzing them every week, and we respond based on what we consider, based on the experience of health, work, based on the guidelines by part of the General Health Council, which ones can we reactivate in the best possible way, minimizing the possibilities of contagion ”, said the secretary of Sustainable Economy and Tourism.
It will be during the following week when Escobedo Carignan informs which will be the first bars to reopen their doors, ensuring that the owners of bars already have a commitment to comply with sanitary protocols and apply tests weekly to their employees.
The above contrasts with that reported by Pérez Rico and Bonilla himself during the last week, who assured that they would not open bars until the traffic light was green because it is an activity where people are more vulnerable, given that when consuming alcoholic beverages , they were more likely to forget to respect social distancing.
These statements are given when the city of Tijuana had an increase of 72 confirmed cases, reaching 4 thousand 11 infected citizens and 136 active cases in the last 14 days, 29 in the last 24 hours, being the second municipality with the most infected people and with the most fatality in the state, accumulating 1,116 deaths, with 15 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The information provided by the Secretary of Health, Alonso Pérez Rico, indicates that there were 205 new infections in the state, in addition to those already mentioned in Tijuana, the municipality of Mexicali reported 73 new confirmed cases, totaling 7 thousand one COVID-19 patients, likewise Ensenada had 40 new cases, registering a total of 1,543 accumulated cases, and Tecate reached 325 cases with six new patients.
San Quintín has 324 cases of which 10 occurred in the last hours. In Playas de Rosarito the number rose to 169 with two new ones, as well as in the town of San Felipe, which had the same number of new cases, reporting 216 infected patients.
Regarding active cases, the increase was 13 percent compared to the previous day, with 529 patients classified as active in Baja California. In Mexicali, assets rose to 205, Ensenada now has 139 and Tijuana has 136; the city of Tecate increased to 10 active and Playas de Rosarito to five, while the town of San Felipe remained with 14 cases and only San Quintín had a decrease of four cases, leaving 20 active with COVID-19.
The deaths were 29, 11 in Mexicali, which now has 1,241, in Tijuana 15 accumulating 1,116 deaths, one recent death in Ensenada, reaching 194; in Tecate and San Felipe, it was also a new death, reporting 79 and two deaths, respectively. Playas de Rosarito, was the municipality where there were no recent losses, maintaining 15. The patients recovered in the state now total 7,443.
The converted hospitals of the Ministry of Health reported a 53 percent occupation with 183 beds and 109 ventilators available. At the General Hospital of Mexicali they work at 59 percent of their capacity, at the General in Tijuana at 43 percent and at the General in Ensenada at 57 percent occupancy.
For its part, the IMSS reported 71 percent statewide occupancy with 210 beds and 34 free fans for use. By municipality the figures varied, in the General Hospital of Zone 30 it was at 82 percent of its capacity, the Regional 1 of Tijuana at 59 percent and the General of Zone 8 in Ensenada had an occupation of 81 percent."
~~~~~
Finally a quick update on the local drug war stats, and they are not good:
~ From Zeta:(Zeta News Room)
Reportan 7 Homidios en Tijuana
"The violence in Tijuana continues unstoppable, now seven people, all male, were killed between Thursday 30 and the early hours of this Friday, July 31. The number of intentional homicides reached 180 victims in July and 1,773 so far this year."
~~~~~
Just to mention in the US, Dr. Fauci says to avoid bars - those in the USA which were re-opened acted like powerful conduits for transmission of the virus, despite so-called safety protocols. Avoid them like the plague.
Didn't go up for Paris's bathers, doing it on Monday due to waiting for the garage door to be fixed. BTW, Pet-Co has outstanding protocols, and they do wear masks and gloves while bathing the pups. Mike is a little bit better, he did too much today as usual. My knee is a disaster.
Meanwhile, oh poor baby Trump...he ain't got nobody (except Mexico I guess and that is a crying shame.)
