The Trump Administration Wanted Americans To Become Infected
Now, 307,000+ Have Died, Nearly 17 Million Contracted The Virus
Yesterday, US Set Case, Hospitalization And Death Records
2500+ Are Dying, 250,000+ Testing Positive Daily During The Last Seven Days
Emails From a Trump Appointee Prove That the Administration Always Wanted Americans to Become Infected
- Trump Appointee Paul Alexander: “We Want Them Infected.” “A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a ‘herd immunity’ approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by a House watchdog and shared with POLITICO. ‘There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD,’ then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials. ‘Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk….so we use them to develop herd…we want them infected…’ Alexander added.” [Politico, 12/16/20]
And Now, Hundreds of Thousands of Americans Are Infected Each Day, While Hospitals Are Overwhelmed and Thousands Lose Their Lives
- On December 16, The United States Reported More Than 3,600 COVID-19 Deaths, The Most Of Any Day Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “The U.S. on Wednesday reported the highest number of new cases of the coronavirus and the most COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began. As of 1:30 a.m. Thursday, more than 3,600 Americans died Wednesday from complications of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking coronavirus infection data.” [NPR, 12/17/20]
- On December 16, The United States Continued To Break Pandemic Records, Reporting Nearly 250,000 New Infections And More Than 113,000 Hospitalizations. “Wednesday saw grim numbers all across — the highest Covid-19 infections and deaths ever reported in a single day, and the most Covid-19 hospitalizations the country has seen since the start of the pandemic. More than 247,000 new cases were reported. More than 113,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus, according to the COVID Tracking Project. And more than 3,600 deaths were added to the nation’s death toll.” [CNN, 12/17/20]
- In 31 States And Washington D.C., At Least Three Of Every Four ICU Beds Are Currently Occupied With COVID-19 Patients. “Cities across the country continue to struggle with hospital capacity. At least three of every four ICU beds are occupied in 31 states and Washington D.C. In Reno, Nevada, one medical center has turned its parking garage into a COVID ward.” [National Geographic, 12/17/20]
- In The Last Week, Eighteen States Have Reported Single Day Highs For COVID-19 Hospitalizations. “In the last week, 18 states have set single-day records in patients hospitalized for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as cases soar all over the country. Besides California, mounting cases and hospitalizations in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina continue to push some regions and hospital systems to crisis conditions, while the Upper Midwest and Plains states are finally seeing plateaus.” [Washington Post, 12/16/20]
- Adm. Dr. Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary For Health At HHS: “Tens Of Thousands Of American Lives Are At Stake.” “’What people need to know is, we are still at a dangerous and critical part of this pandemic, and tens of thousands of American lives are at stake,’ Adm. Dr. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday.” [CNN, 12/17/20]
- California Is The Nation’s Newest Epicenter, Reporting More New Infections Than Most Countries. “California has set nationwide records for new cases again and again in the past week — most recently on Wednesday, when it posted more than 41,000 infections. If California were a country, it would be among the world leaders in new coronavirus cases, ahead of India, Germany and Britain. The number of available beds in intensive care units is plummeting. In the San Joaquin Valley, hospitals ran out over the weekend, resorting to ‘surge capacity.’ And in Southern California, a region that includes Los Angeles and San Diego, ICU capacity dipped to just 0.5 percent Wednesday.” [Washington Post, 12/16/20]
- The Current Surge Is So Widespread That Health Systems Are Unable To Share The Burden, Leaving Those In Rural Areas To Grapple With Overflow Conditions. “That the current surge is so widespread means health-care systems have not been able to share the burden as they have in the past. Those in rural areas, in particular, have been grappling with overflow conditions because some of their larger partners in urban centers have stopped accepting transfers. Such facilities are dependent on formal or informal partnerships with other institutions to handle critically ill patients after decades of financial challenges forced many to close or greatly reduce their intensive care units. Many have only one ventilator for the entire facility and they are typically only used short-term — for a few hours or a day — until the patient can be sent to another facility. This process helped streamline operations in normal times, but has become a major vulnerability during the pandemic.” [Washington Post, 12/16/20]
- Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Are Five Times Likelier To Die Than Patients Hospitalized With Seasonal Flu. “Compared with patients with seasonal flu, hospitalized COVID-19 patients face an increased need for ventilation and intensive care, longer hospital stays, more complications, and nearly five times the risk of death, according to a US study published yesterday in BMJ… Compared with the flu, COVID-19 was tied to a higher risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], 4.97), the need for mechanical ventilation (HR, 4.01) and intensive care (HR, 2.41), and needing an extra 3 days of hospitalization.” [CIDRAP, 12/16/20]