High Winds, Tornadoes, Coronavirus

BY JACK CROWE

April 13, 2020

SEVERE WIND STORMS battered the southeast on Sunday, leaving at least fourteen people dead and some 860,000 without power. At least 34 tornadoes were reported in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia as of Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The high winds and tennis-ball-sized hail combined to destroy houses throughout the region, forcing residents to consider foregoing the isolation of their homes in favor of the relative safety of public shelters. Public officials have urged people to utilize the shelters if their homes are compromised, despite fears they could become hotspots for coronavirus transmission.

"Do not let the virus prevent you from seeking refuge from a tornado," the American Meteorological Society wrote in a public statement released Thursday afternoon. "If a public tornado shelter is your best available refuge from severe weather, take steps to ensure you follow CDC guidelines for physical distancing and disease prevention."

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards issued a state of emergency due to the "devastating damage" done by the high winds. In the city of Monroe, La., where 200 to 300 structures were destroyed on Sunday, the mayor has asked local hotels to open their doors for displaced residents due to the public health risk associated with traditional disaster shelters.

As of Monday morning, the storms were headed up the coast toward New York, the U.S. coronavirus epicenter, which is now relying on a strained emergency response system that will be further slowed in extreme weather. High winds could also imperil the makeshift tent hospitals that were quickly constructed in Central Park, which the city has fortunately not had to rely on as of yet.

The extreme weather serves as a reminder that the more "mundane" threats to public safety that we face year in and year out remain, and can compound the damage wrought by the coronavirus. The effect of remaining in our homes, day after day, with our entire lives on pause makes it easy to forget that the more predictable threats, which would have commanded our total attention before the pandemic outbreak, are still looming.

This maxim applies also to everyday health risks and challenges — such as cancer, heart attacks, and strokes — which are just as present as they were prior to the outbreak, but will be ignored until the healthcare system regains its capacity to address non-coronavirus related concerns. Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb raised this point during his appearance on National Review's The Editors podcast last week. Gottlieb reminded listeners that it will prove impossible to calculate the total public health cost associated with the Wuhan coronavirus because there are tens of thousands of routine, preventative medical procedures and diagnostic tests that are going unperformed while hospitals and doctors devote themselves entirely to fighting the pandemic.

"We're going to be measuring these costs for many, many years. There's things happening now that we're not even aware of: women not going for pre-natal care, people not presenting with strokes and heart attacks and signs and symptoms of cancer, who are going to get diagnosed late and succumb to it… Drinking has increased, people are having issues staying at home and fighting with spouses. So the implications of this…are enormous and probably immeasurable and we're going to be seeing that for many, many years to come."

Gottlieb's analysis has already been proven in New York, where the percentage of residents who refuse to be taken to the hospital has more than doubled. One FDNY paramedic told the New York Post that some New Yorkers are even willing to risk death rather than be transported to the hospital after experiencing a serious event such as a heart attack.

Unlike the lives of most Americans and the economy they participate in, the world has not stopped turning due to the coronavirus.

Trump Retweets Call to Fire Fauci after He Admits Earlier Lockdown 'Could Have Saved Lives'

President Trump on Sunday retweeted a call from one of his supporters to fire Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor on the Trump administration's coronavirus task force.

The tweet came from former congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, who accused Fauci of downplaying the danger of the coronavirus outbreak. Lorraine launched an unsuccessful primary challenge last month against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seat in California.

"Fauci is now saying that had Trump listened to the medical experts earlier he could've saved more lives. Fauci was telling people on February 29th that there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large," Lorraine wrote.

"Time to #FireFauci," she added.

Federal Judge Blocks Alabama from Banning Abortions during Coronavirus Lockdown

Alabama cannot block abortions as part of the state's measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge ruled on Sunday.

The state may not include abortions in its ban on elective medical procedures, one of the steps Alabama is taking to enforce social distancing and stem the spread of the virus outbreak, U.S. district judge Myron Thompson said in a preliminary injunction issued at the urging of abortion clinics.

"Based on the current record, the defendants' efforts to combat COVID-19 do not outweigh the lasting harm imposed by the denial of an individual's right to terminate her pregnancy, by an undue burden or increase in risk on patients imposed by a delayed procedure, or by the cloud of unwarranted prosecution against providers," the judge wrote.

OPEC, Russia, and Others Agree on Production Cuts to Stem Free-Falling Prices

OPEC members and Russia agreed on Sunday to oil production cuts to stem free-falling prices caused by a trade war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The agreement will cut worldwide output by 10 million barrels per day, amounting to one tenth of the global supply of oil.

U.S. senators have sharply criticized Saudi Arabia over its role in lowering oil prices. After March negotiations between Russia and Saudi Arabia over oil output broke down, Saudi Arabia decided to ramp up production and flood the market. Russia then proceeded to ramp up its own production, causing oil prices to drop to between $20-$30 a barrel just as stock markets across the globe were falling due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. (Bloomberg)

FBI Suspected Steele Dossier Claims Were Russian Disinformation

Four footnotes in the Inspector General report on the FBI's Russia investigation, which were partially declassified on Friday, indicate that the FBI suspected that portions of the Steele dossier contained Russian disinformation as early as 2017.

FBI officials had also expressed concerns about former British spy Christopher Steele's ties to Russian oligarchs as early as 2015, but those concerns were never relayed to the team that investigated the Trump campaign. The Steele dossier eventually played a "central role" in the FBI's application to the FISA court to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page despite its dubious origins.

New York Post: New Yorkers are refusing to be hospitalized over fear of getting coronavirus

FDNY statistics show that the number of New Yorkers who refuse to be taken to hospitals has more than doubled amid the coronavirus crisis — with EMTs blaming the situation on fear of contracting the deadly disease, The Post has learned.

Year-to-date data show an overall 73 percent increase in 911 calls that resulted in "refusals of medical aid," with 37,968 cases compared to 21,982 during the same period in 2019.

Associated Press: Smithfield closes South Dakota pork plant due to coronavirus

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Virginia-based Smithfield Foods announced Sunday that it is closing its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls until further notice after hundreds of employees tested positive for the coronavirus — a step the head of the company warned could hurt the nation's meat supply.

The announcement came a day after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken wrote to Smithfield and urged the company to suspend operations for 14 days so that its workers could self-isolate and the plant could be disinfected.

CNN: Beijing tightens grip over coronavirus research, amid US-China row on virus origin

Hong Kong (CNN)China has imposed restrictions on the publication of academic research on the origins of the novel coronavirus, according to a central government directive and online notices published by two Chinese universities, that have since been removed from the web.

Under the new policy, all academic papers on Covid-19 will be subject to extra vetting before being submitted for publication. Studies on the origin of the virus will receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by central government officials, according to the now-deleted posts.