What do you expect in America?
Small wonder people headed for the parks and beaches this holiday weekend ignoring the best medical advice. Better to live in a fantasy world and go down happy rather than face the reality. Covid-19 kills.
America 2020. People torn between wanting to maintain their health, a vocal group of reality deniers wanting to pretend Life is Good and a totally clueless Imbecile masquerading as President. It’s hardly surprising the population is heading for the nearest recreation hub to ignore social distancing and hope for the best. Good luck with that.
Washington Post 5.26.2020
Here are some significant developments:
- At least 5.5 million coronavirus infections have been reported around the world — more than 1.6 million of them in the United States, where the death toll is nearing 100,000.
- Americans made plans to leave Brazil on Tuesday, hours before a U.S. ban on arrivals from the country was due to take effect. On Monday, for the first time during the pandemic, more people died in Brazil than in the United States.
- The World Health Organization warned that countries could face a second peak in cases, even before a presumed second wave of infections months from now, echoing concerns expressed by opponents of rapid reopening.
- Meat shortages could worsen as the virus spreads through America’s meatpacking plants. Infections at three of the nation’s largest meat processors have quadrupled over the past month despite new safety measures.
- Twitter slapped a fact-check label on President Trump’s tweets for the first time, a response to long-standing criticism that the company is too hands-off when it comes to policing misinformation and falsehoods from world leaders.
- A government watchdog, briefing members of a House committee on Tuesday, defended a report released by her office in March that detailed a shortage of personal protective equipment and other supplies at hospitals. The report was sharply criticized by President Trump and other Republicans.
When asked questions normally used to screen patients for mental health problems, 24 percent showed clinically significant symptoms of major depressive disorder and 30 percent showed symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.
The findings suggest a huge jump from before the pandemic. For example, on one question about depressed mood, the percentage reporting such symptoms was double that found in a 2014 national survey.
The troubling statistics were released last week in a tranche of data from the Census Bureau. The agency launched an emergency weekly survey of U.S. households at the end of April to measure the pandemic’s effects on employment, housing, finances, education and health.
Buried within that 20-minute survey, U.S. officials included four questions taken nearly word-for-word from a form used by doctors to screen patients for depression and anxiety.
Those answers are now providing a real-time window into the country’s collective mental health after three months of fear, isolation, soaring unemployment and continuing uncertainty.
Lee's Perspective 