May 12, 2020 06:44 AM
(This post was last modified: May 12, 2020 05:11 PM by C C.)
Lockdowns merely delay the inevitable?
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance...7/fulltext
EXCERPT: Many countries (and members of their press media) have marvelled at Sweden's relaxed strategy in the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: schools and most workplaces have remained open, and police officers were not checking one's errands in the street. Severe critics have described it as Sweden sacrificing its (elderly) citizens to quickly reach herd immunity. The death toll has surpassed our three closest neighbours, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, but the mortality remains lower than in the UK, Spain, and Belgium.
It has become clear that a hard lockdown does not protect old and frail people living in care homes—a population the lockdown was designed to protect. Neither does it decrease mortality from COVID-19, which is evident when comparing the UK's experience with that of other European countries.
[...] There is very little we can do to prevent this spread: a lockdown might delay severe cases for a while, but once restrictions are eased, cases will reappear. I expect that when we count the number of deaths from COVID-19 in each country in 1 year from now, the figures will be similar, regardless of measures taken... (MORE - details)
A Brief History of Elon Musk’s Bizarre Pandemic Behavior
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/...again.html
Elon Musk becomes champion of defying virus stay-home orders
https://apnews.com/c7ab1c6bc08ce4dec0bb080a6a5e87ac
EXCERPT: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has emerged as a champion of defying stay-home orders intended to stop the coronavirus from spreading, picking up support — as well as critics — on social media. Among the supporters was President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday morning tweeted that Tesla’s San Francisco Bay Area factory should be allowed to open despite local health department orders that it stay closed except for minimum basic operations. “It can be done fast & safely,” the president tweeted, joining many of Musk’s 34 million Twitter followers who back the defiance.
Among Musk’s biggest critics is California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who used an expletive to describe the CEO after his threats to relocate his operations to Texas or Nevada. She said the company is disregarding worker safety and bullying public officials.
Tesla’s factory reopened Monday with Musk practically daring local authorities to arrest him. The plant apparently continued operations on Tuesday, and it wasn’t clear whether Tesla met a 5 p.m. PDT deadline to submit a site-specific plan to protect worker safety. The restart defied orders from the Alameda County Public Health Department, which has deemed the factory a nonessential business that can’t fully open under virus restrictions.
The department said Monday it warned the company was operating in violation of the county health order, and hoped Tesla will “comply without further enforcement measures” until the county approves a site-specific plan required by the state. The department said it expected Tesla to submit such a plan by 5 p.m. Monday. “We look forward to reviewing Tesla’s plan and coming to agreement on protocol and a timeline to reopen safely,” the statement read.
A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from Tesla on whether the company met the deadline. State law allows a fine of up to $1,000 a day or up to 90 days in jail for operating in violation of health orders. The plant in Fremont, a city of more than 230,000 people south of San Francisco, had been closed since March 23. It employs about 10,000 workers... (MORE - details)
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance...7/fulltext
EXCERPT: Many countries (and members of their press media) have marvelled at Sweden's relaxed strategy in the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: schools and most workplaces have remained open, and police officers were not checking one's errands in the street. Severe critics have described it as Sweden sacrificing its (elderly) citizens to quickly reach herd immunity. The death toll has surpassed our three closest neighbours, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, but the mortality remains lower than in the UK, Spain, and Belgium.
It has become clear that a hard lockdown does not protect old and frail people living in care homes—a population the lockdown was designed to protect. Neither does it decrease mortality from COVID-19, which is evident when comparing the UK's experience with that of other European countries.
[...] There is very little we can do to prevent this spread: a lockdown might delay severe cases for a while, but once restrictions are eased, cases will reappear. I expect that when we count the number of deaths from COVID-19 in each country in 1 year from now, the figures will be similar, regardless of measures taken... (MORE - details)
A Brief History of Elon Musk’s Bizarre Pandemic Behavior
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/...again.html
Elon Musk becomes champion of defying virus stay-home orders
https://apnews.com/c7ab1c6bc08ce4dec0bb080a6a5e87ac
EXCERPT: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has emerged as a champion of defying stay-home orders intended to stop the coronavirus from spreading, picking up support — as well as critics — on social media. Among the supporters was President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday morning tweeted that Tesla’s San Francisco Bay Area factory should be allowed to open despite local health department orders that it stay closed except for minimum basic operations. “It can be done fast & safely,” the president tweeted, joining many of Musk’s 34 million Twitter followers who back the defiance.
Among Musk’s biggest critics is California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who used an expletive to describe the CEO after his threats to relocate his operations to Texas or Nevada. She said the company is disregarding worker safety and bullying public officials.
Tesla’s factory reopened Monday with Musk practically daring local authorities to arrest him. The plant apparently continued operations on Tuesday, and it wasn’t clear whether Tesla met a 5 p.m. PDT deadline to submit a site-specific plan to protect worker safety. The restart defied orders from the Alameda County Public Health Department, which has deemed the factory a nonessential business that can’t fully open under virus restrictions.
The department said Monday it warned the company was operating in violation of the county health order, and hoped Tesla will “comply without further enforcement measures” until the county approves a site-specific plan required by the state. The department said it expected Tesla to submit such a plan by 5 p.m. Monday. “We look forward to reviewing Tesla’s plan and coming to agreement on protocol and a timeline to reopen safely,” the statement read.
A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from Tesla on whether the company met the deadline. State law allows a fine of up to $1,000 a day or up to 90 days in jail for operating in violation of health orders. The plant in Fremont, a city of more than 230,000 people south of San Francisco, had been closed since March 23. It employs about 10,000 workers... (MORE - details)