This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, May 13th, 2020.

WHEN HOSPITALS GET SICK Losses piling up at Kootenai Health

https://cdapress.com/news/2020/may/10/when-hospitals-get-sick-losses-piling-up-at-5/

Kootenai Health lost $6 million in the last two weeks of March, according to CFO Kimberly Webb.

April numbers, still being compiled, look worse — doubly damning at another $12 million to $15 million lost. The malaise has lingered into May.

Except for a few critical positions, Kootenai Health has a hiring freeze in place, said Danny Klocko, the hospital’s executive VP for human resources. The momentum behind constant, robust growth — from around 1,600 employees in 2010 to more than 3,600 in 2020 — is gone.

“We’re trying everything we can to avoid layoffs,” Webb said. The hospital’s leadership team acknowledged that more than 500 employees have already participated in voluntary furloughs of up to one full month.

“The highest in-patient day in the entire history of Kootenai Health happened the week before the coronavirus incident command situation hit,” said CEO Jon Ness. “And so the real challenge there was we literally had to stop everything.”

Health care spending fell 18% in the first three months of the year. And 1.4 million health care workers lost their jobs in April, a sharp increase from the 42,000 reported in March, according to the Labor Department.

So why in the middle of a pandemic, the hospital sector is leading the nation in job loss? 

Attorneys for Conn. High School Runners Ask Judge to Recuse after He Forbids Them from Describing Trans Athletes as ‘Male’

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/attorneys-for-connecticut-high-school-runners-ask-judge-to-recuse-after-he-forbids-them-from-describing-trans-athletes-as-male/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

“Attorneys representing three female high school track athletes in their effort to bar biological males from competing against them filed a motion on Saturday calling for the presiding judge to recuse himself after he forbid the attorneys from referring to the transgender athletes at issue as “males.”

The ADF filed suit in February against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) on behalf of three girls — Selina Soule, Alana Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell. The suit challenges the CIAC policy allowing students to compete in the division that accords with their gender identity on the grounds that it disadvantages women in violation of the Title IX prohibition against discrimination on the “basis of sex.”

During an April 16 conference call, District Judge Robert Chatigny chastised the ADF attorneys for referring to the male athletes seeking to compete in the women’s division as “males,” according to a transcript of the call obtained by National Review.”

The transcript of Judge Chatigny:

“What I’m saying is you must refer to them as “transgender females” rather than as “males.” Again, that’s the more accurate terminology, and I think that it fully protects your client’s legitimate interests. Referring to these individuals as “transgender females” is consistent with science, common practice and perhaps human decency. To refer to them as “males,” period, is not accurate, certainly not as accurate, and I think it’s needlessly provocative. I don’t think that you surrender any legitimate interest or position if you refer to them as transgender females. That is what the case is about. This isn’t a case involving males who have decided that they want to run in girls’ events. This is a case about girls who say that transgender girls should not be allowed to run in girls’ events. So going forward, we will not refer to the proposed intervenors as “males”; understood?”

We have a judge who denies the basic definition of what constitutes male and female. There is blood on the hands of our Supreme Court flowing from the Roe v. Wade verdict in 1973. Our judicial system does not care about tru

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, May 12, 2020.

Elon Musk Restarts Tesla Production Against Alameda County Rules

On Monday Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.” 

Under Governor Gavin Newsom’s rules, Tesla is allowed to re-open production, but Alameda County has kept its rules tighter, apparently through one unelected official – so Musk is technically in violation of the county law. 

Again, this is a glorious reminder of how important local government is. Have you ever thought of who your county commissioners are? While Musk is fighting with his county government, sometimes it has been the other way around with commissioners and sheriffs protecting their counties from stricter state laws. The power of government comes from the consent of the governed, and part of that consent is communicated through lesser magistrates who refuse to bow to unconstitutional fiats. 

Elon Musk is an engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX, co-founder and product architect of Tesla (electric cars), . In 2016, he was ranked the 21st on the Forbes list of the The Worlds Most Powerful People, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes most Innovative Leaders of 2019. As of a May 2020 he is said to have a net worth of 39.4 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 23rd-richest person in the world. 

Elon Musk is one of the few major voices out criticizing the official, approved media narrative. And he has been vocally critical of the state lockdowns. On April 27th, he tweeted: “Silicon Valley has become Sanctimonious Valley – Too much the moral arbiter of the world.” On April 28th, he shared an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal questioning whether lockdowns actually save lives, noting that most of the data suggests they don’t, Musk tweeted: “Give people their freedom back!” The same day he shared an article reporting Texas state plans to begin reoping and stated “Bravo Texas” and later simply, “Free America Now.” April 29th, he retweeted Phil Lebeau who wrote: “Tesla CEO Elon Musk blasts shelter in place orders: “to say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic, this is not freedom, give people back their god damn freedom.” Later that day, Musk shared a number of posts documenting the fact that hospitals were not overwhelmed or full. The next day, he shared data about reporting COVID-19 deaths and objected: “Classifying all deaths as corona even if corona didn’t cause the death is simply a lie – this is misleading the public.” On May 1st, he tweeted out the Star Spangled Banner.

Dr. Birx Doesn’t Trust CDC Numbers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-deaths-mount-trump-tries-to-convince-americans-its-safe-to-inch-back-to-normal/2020/05/09/bf024fe6-9149-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html

According to Washington Post: “During a task force meeting Wednesday, a heated discussion broke out between Deborah Birx, the physician who oversees the administration’s coronavirus response, and Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Birx and others were frustrated with the CDC’s antiquated system for tracking virus data, which they worried was inflating some statistics — such as mortality rate and case count — by as much as 25 percent, according to four people present for the discussion or later briefed on it. Two senior administration officials said the discussion was not heated. “There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust,” Birx said, according to two of the people.

As we have reported previously, there are serious questions surrounding all the stats we continue to hear and see in the news. What is the average age of COVID-19 death

This is Jesse Sumpter, managing editor of the CrossPolitic Blogazine. Here with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, May 8, 2020. 

Idaho Pastor Told He Can’t Hold Drive In Church Service

Rev. Jonathon Krenz, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Moscow Idaho, was told that he could not hold a drive in church service nor do the Lord’s Supper.

Krenz reached out to local Police Chief James Fry over email on April 16. 

Krenz’s email exchange with Chief Fry is part of an Exhibit in a lawsuit that was filed against Idaho’s Governor Brad Little on April 30. 

In Exhibit D, Rev. Krenz writes “I was deeply concerned with the Stay-Home Order because churches and pastoral work are excluded from the definition of ‘essential business.’”

Krenz writes, “Chief Fry eventually confirmed that my initial read of the order was correct: we were outright prohibited from observing the Mass on Sundays and other Feast Days as we normally would, or administering any of the Sacraments.”

Krenz suggested several alternate service options to meet the state order. 

One option was to have families gather in his own driveway spaced six feet apart. Another option was to have a few cars circled around him for prayer, preaching, and communion. Everyone would remain in their cars. Krenz also explained that he would wear a mask and gloves and he said no one would leave their cars. 

Krenz even suggested a food delivery option. He would drive to individual congregants’ homes, read scripture, and then offer communion to them on their front steps. Krenz said, “In other words, just as restaurants can stay open under the Stay-Home Order if they only serve takeout

and delivery, perhaps my church can stay open by me delivering it, so to speak, to my parishioners at home.”

Police Chief Fry then wrote, “Based on Governor Little’s order, the scenarios you posed would be a violation of the Governor’s Amended Stay‐Home Order. As you know, the intent of the Order is to ensure the maximum number of people self‐isolate in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible to slow the transmission of COVID‐19.”

Krenz later clarified, “Chief Fry went out of his way to be very helpful to me. He is a man of honor and a true public servant. I disagree with his conclusions, but in no way do I desire to portray him as an antagonist or adversary, nor do I blame him for the Governor’s order.”

The lawsuit with Krenz’s testimony was filed by The Macpherson Group and can be found at this website: https://www.beatirs.com/macpherson-defends-constitution

In looking at this issue, the key is the correct process of creating laws and state orders. Which criteria was used to make this law? The plain reading of the Idaho order is that this pastor is restricted from offering drive in church services with communion as he requested. But how was this state order created? What standard was used to make this law? The United States are governed by written laws so which ones were used to determine that a pastor cannot serve communion door-to-door but a pizza company can delivery door-to-door? Why treat one differently than the other? There must be a common standard used.

https://moscowidaho.news/2020/05/06/local-pastor-told-he-cant-hold-drive-in-church-service/

Christian School in Idaho Made National News When it Reopened

Nampa Christian Schools, a private school in Nampa, Idaho, reopened for in-person classes, Superintendent Greg Wiles told CNN.

"We will be taking appropriate action within this modified opening to help keep our faculty, staff, students and families safe," Wiles said.

Classes resumed on Monday.

The school, which has 730 students from preschool to high school on two campuses, has shortened school days along with passing periods. Gone altogether are assemblies, cafeteria lunches and busing, Wiles said.

About 60% of its students are back for face-to-face instruction, Wiles said. The rest are still learning remotely.

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Betsy Devos Introduces Theonomy to Title IX Rules 

https://www.thecollegefix.com/betsy-devos-cites-liberal-icons-to-justify-due-process-in-new-campus-sexual-misconduct-rules/

The Colllege Fix reports that Betsy Devos unveiled new Title IX rules Wednesday. Title IX is the Federal statute that protects people from discrimination based on sex in government schools or programs or activities or any that receive federal financial assistance. It states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

In this case, Devos is addressing sexual discrimination in the form of assault or domestic violence or harassment and the process colleges and schools need to follow to adjudicate those accusations. In some cases there may be crimes and civil court proceedings in process, and presumably where a violent crime has been committed and there is plenty of evidence, a suspect would be apprehended, but the question has to do with how a college should handle lesser charges on campus, even while other investigations may be ongoing.  

The Obama administration had come under severe fire for writing “Dear Colleague” letters of guidance that were apparently supposed to address the growing epidemic of sexual assaults as well as false accusations. A number of high profile cases were in the news, either where victims were dragged through unnecessary processes or where the accused were not allowed to offer a defense and were summarily dismissed from schools just on the basis of accusations.

Of course part of the political mess also involved growing pressures from the Trans-movement insisting that biological boys be allowed to participate in women’s sports and allow access to women’s locker rooms and bathrooms. Devos’s new rules particularly focus on the need for due process, which protects both those who are victims of sexual assault and those who are victims of false accusations. 

The College Fix reports that the rules require faculty and students to be held to the same evidence standard, eliminating a common discrepancy in college adjudication settings that typically favors faculty. Colleges also must ditch the “single investigator” model of adjudication, where one official makes all decisions, and instead offer live hearings with cross-examination led by advocates, including lawyers, for each student. “We can continue to combat sexual misconduct without abandoning our core values of fairness, presumption of innocence and due process.” Devos said. 

In other words, Devos is insisting that colleges and schools follow biblical standards of justice. 

The regulation “empowers survivors like never before” by giving them the choice how they want to proceed, if at all, while receiving “free, personalized services” from their school to help them stay on track educationally. The current process often forces victims into “suffering trauma all over again” by going through whatever process the school prefers, when some students would choose options that the school can provide “almost immediately.” DeVos said accusers would be granted “academic course adjustments, counseling, no-contact orders, dorm reassignments, leaves of absence and class schedule changes” in lieu of compelled participation in a judicial proceedings.

K-12 students are getting more protections as well, DeVos said, pointing to a troubling pattern of misconduct in Chicago public schools where “too many innocent young students suffered because adults didn’t do their job.” Now schools are responsible for both student-on-student sexual misconduct and “teacher-on-student abuse.”

“Those who insist that the previous administration’s [Dear Colleague] letter worked well can’t ignore 171 lawsuits which f

05/06/2020

This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, May 6th, 2020.

Fact check: Hospitals get paid more if patients listed as COVID-19, on ventilators

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/24/fact-check-medicare-hospitals-paid-more-covid-19-patients-coronavirus/3000638001/

According to USA Today: “Sen. Scott Jensen, R-Minn., a physician in Minnesota, was interviewed by "The Ingraham Angle" host Laura Ingraham on April 8 on Fox News and claimed hospitals get paid more if Medicare patients are listed as having COVID-19 and get three times as much money if they need a ventilator.

Jensen said that "if it's a straightforward, garden-variety pneumonia that a person is admitted to the hospital for –if they're Medicare – typically, the diagnosis-related group lump sum payment would be $5,000. But if it's COVID-19 pneumonia, then it's $13,000, and if that COVID-19 pneumonia patient ends up on a ventilator, it goes up to $39,000."

Now ask yourself, do you believe the death rates for the elderly are high because they are actually dying from COVID19 or is the elderly death rate high because they are incentivized to mark COVID19 on their death certificate? 

Mayor outraged over parties in Chicago: 'We will arrest you and take you to jail'

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/mayor-outraged-over-parties-in-chicago-we-will-arrest-you-and-take-you-to-jail

“Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was outraged on Saturday that people in Chicago are going to large parties during the stay-at-home order and the coronavirus pandemic.

"We will arrest you and we will take you to jail. Don't make us treat you like a criminal. If you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives, we will take you to jail. Period. We're not playing games. We mean business," Lightfoot said.

The mayor was responding to recent reports of a huge party in Galewood last weekend. She spoke at the corner of Springfield and Adams in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on Saturday, where she said that a party was being planned.

"We will be towing cars. We will arrest the homeowners. We have given enough warning. If our message is not resonating, we have to take that next level of enforcement to make sure we save lives," said CPD Superintendent David Brown.

Brown said there are six parties planned for Saturday night, and there were several parties dispersed on Friday night.

"You need to stay at your home. That is what this means. Going to party now while Chicagoans are still dying is the height of foolishness," Lightfoot said. "If you want to have a dance party, TikTok. For every foolish person that hosts a party, you are putting yourself in danger and others in danger."

NYC Council speaker demands Samaritan's Purse leave now that they're no longer needed to treat patients

https://disrn.com/news/new-york-city-councilmember-says-christian-orgs-field-hospitals-are-an-affront-to-citys-values

According to Disrn.com: “The speaker of the New York City Council is demanding that the Christian organization Samaritan's Purse pack up its coronavirus field hospitals and leave the city now that they're no longer needed to patients, claiming the group's Biblical views on sexuality are an "affront" to the "values" of New York.

“My statement on Samaritan's Purse:

It is time for Samaritan's Purse to leave NYC. This group, led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn't in good conscience turn away any offer of help. That time has passed. 1/

Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community. 2/

I'm aware that our battle against COVID-19 is still ongoing, and that our health care system—and the amazing workers who have been the heroes of this unprecedented time in our history—still needs support. 3/

The @NYCCouncil is committed to supporting those wor

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, May 5, 2020.

France Confirms First Covid Case was at the End of December

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-france-idUSKBN22G20L

PARIS (Reuters) - A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases. 

Yves Cohen, head of resuscitation at the Avicenne and Jean Verdier hospitals in the northern suburbs of Paris, told BFM TV that scientists had retested samples from 24 patients treated in December and January who tested negative for the flu. “Of the 24, we had one who was positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 27,” he told the news channel on Sunday. 

Each sample was retested several times to ensure there were no errors, he added. Neither Cohen nor his team were immediately available for comment on Monday. 

France, which has seen almost 25,000 people die from the virus since March 1, confirmed its first three COVID-19 cases on Jan. 24, including two patients in Paris and another in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. 

Cohen said it was too early to know if the patient whose Dec. 27 test was COVID-19 positive is France’s “patient zero”. Knowing who was the first is critical to understanding how the virus spread. 

Cohen said the patient had survived and that a first investigation to trace the first contamination has been carried out. 

“He was sick for 15 days and infected his two children, but not his wife, who works in a supermarket. 

“He was amazed, he didn’t understand how he had been infected. We put the puzzle together and he had not made any trips. The only contact that he had was with his wife.” 

The man’s wife worked alongside a Sushi stand, close to colleagues of Chinese origin, Cohen said. It was not clear whether those colleagues had travelled to China, and the local health authority should investigate, he said.

This is Toby Sumpter with Crosspolitic News. You can find this show and all the others on the

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This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, April 30, 2020.

Federalist Publisher in Court over Twitter Joke

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-my-joke-on-twitter-became-a-federal-case-11588113551?reflink=share_mobilewebshare

Ben Domenech is the publisher of the Federalist. And he is now under federal investigation for making a joke on Twitter. 

He explains the whole thing in a Wall Street Journal Opinion piece published Tuesday. 

In June 2019, employees at uber-liberal Vox Media Inc. walked off the job demanding a new collective bargaining agreement. As the publisher of a conservative website, the Federalist, Domenech found the clash ironic and tweeted: “FYI @fdrlst first one of you tries to unionize I swear I’ll send you back to the salt mine.”

Twitter leftists went berserk, and the Federalist employees laughed. Domenech says, “They joked about selling branded salt-shakers and writing sympathetic vignettes about union rebels from Federalist salt mines.” Then the National Labor Relations Board informed Domenech that the Catholic leftist writer, Matt Bruenig, had filed a formal complaint about the tweet. That complaint was later withdrawn, but Joel Fleming, a Massachusetts lawyer, filed another.

Domenech continues, “Mr. Fleming alleged I had violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Wagner Act, which states that “it shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7”—namely the rights “to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

The NLRB proceeded to invade the Federalist publications, heedless of the freedom of the press. Federalist staff were subpoenaed to testify in New York, where none of them lived and no Federalist office exists. The NLRB attempted to subpoena all emails and communications between staff members going back years—including about editorial decisions, hiring decisions, and confidential sources during our coverage of the Russia-collusion hoax.

Domenech says the New Civil Liberties Alliance has taken up the case to defend him. The NLRB proposed a settlement: Domenech deletes the joke and posts information on the rights of employees to unionize, and the complaint goes away. Domenech said no.

The case was first adjudicated by an NLRB employee, Administrative Law Judge Kenneth Chu. As could be expected, Domenech lost. Eventually the case will be appealed in a Federal court, where Domenech believes he will receive full hearing and an opportunity to prove his case. 

Of course, a joke-Tweet seems hardly worth all the time, money, and bother. He asks, “Why bother when the stakes seem so low?” And he answers, “Because they aren’t. It’s a matter of principle. It is my good fortune to know many brilliant lawyers who are willing to stand up against abuses of the administrative state. Most people aren’t so lucky. What happens when another small-business owner on social media makes a similar joke? When a neighbor decides to make a federal case out of an impolitic Facebook post? What happens if freedom of speech is only worth what the common business owner is willing to pay in legal fees, missed work and the cost of flying employees to other states to testify in front of bureaucrats?”

And remember that this is not far afield from the growing censorship concerns of media and social media platforms. Youtube and Facebook and Twitter are all practicing church discipline and cancelling the heretics of all stripes for contrary opinions on climate change, politics, Russian collusion, and Covid19, and who knows what else. Drs. Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi got their press conference booted off of youtube for have heretical medical opinions about the Corona. 

My

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Attorney General William Barr Orders US Attorneys 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/27/william-barr-orders-legal-action-against-governors/

Jeff Mordock from the Washington Times reports: “Attorney General William P. Barr Monday ordered U.S. attorneys to consider legal action against governors whose efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infringe upon Americans’ civil rights.

In a two-page memo to all U. S. Attorneys, Mr. Barr directed federal prosecutors to “be on the lookout” for local and state directives that could infringe upon religious, free speech or economic rights under the Constitution.

https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/29950783-e020-495f-afc4-b7b48f08c4cd/note/dc767924-e6d1-41bc-a7d3-8e0f98d2d713.#page=1

“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court,” Mr. Barr wrote in a memo to all 93 U.S. attorneys.

“Many policies that would be unthinkable in regular times have become commonplace in recent weeks, and we do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public. But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis,” Mr. Barr wrote. “We must therefore be vigilant to ensure its protections are preserved, at the same time that the public is protected,” he said.

Mr. Barr’s directive comes as governors begin the process to reopen after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered their economies. The path has been slow with some governors proposing reopening in stages, frustrating President Trump. The president is anxious for the nation to get back to work as unemployment claims reach record levels and businesses struggle to stay afloat with Americans stuck inside under stay-at-home orders.

Mr. Trump said earlier this month that some governors have “gone too far” in their efforts to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. And his conservative supporters have protested in a number of states demanding their governors loosen restrictions.

Mr. Barr last week said the Justice Department would support legal action against states that continue to impose strict social distancing rules, calling the orders “burdens on civil liberties.” 

“The idea that you have to stay in your house is disturbingly close to house arrest,” he said in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I’m not saying it wasn’t justified. I’m not saying in some places it might [not] still be justified. But it’s very onerous, as is shutting down your livelihood.”

Antibody Studies Continue to Roll In

https://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2020-04-24-sample-testing-results.asp

“In conjunction with its research partner, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami-Dade County has just completed a second round of its COVID-19 community testing to ascertain the prevalence of infection within the County’s 2.75 million residents. The program differs from several others conducted elsewhere in the US in that it employs random sampling, weighted across the County’s 32 municipal statistical areas.

To date, nearly 1,800 individuals have participated in this program. Four hundred were tested during our pilot phase, where we examined the feasibility of our recruitment strategy and implementation methods. Approximately 700 have participated each week thereafter. This represents 85% of residents who were randomly selected to participate in the initiative; participants voluntarily shared information about their health, and gave two drops of blood to determine whether they had produced antibodies to the novel coronavirus infection. Testing for antibodies helps approximate the prevalence, or amoun

This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, April 22th, 2020.

Sweden Says Controversial Virus Strategy Proving Effective

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-19/sweden-says-controversial-covid-19-strategy-is-proving-effective

Sweden’s unusual approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic is starting to yield results, according to the country’s top epidemiologist.

Anders Tegnell, the architect behind Sweden’s relatively relaxed response to Covid-19, told local media the latest figures on infection rates and fatalities indicate the situation is starting to stabilize.

“We’re on a sort of plateau,” Tegnell told Swedish news agency TT.

Sweden has left its schools, gyms, cafes, bars and restaurants open throughout the spread of the pandemic. Instead, the government has urged citizens to act responsibly and follow social distancing guidelines.

Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, said: “Our measures are all based on individuals taking responsibility, and that is also an important part of the Swedish model,”

Antibody testing in L.A. County reveals number of COVID-19 infections may be 55X greater than reported

https://disrn.com/news/antibody-testing-reveals-la-county-outbreak-55-times-bigger-than-reported-cases

According to Disrn.com: “The COVID-19 outbreak in Los Angeles County may be up to 55 times more widespread than reported, according to new antibody testing from the University of Southern California and the L.A. Department of Public Health, indicating that the virus's fatality rate may be significantly lower than previously thought.

Preliminary study results showed that an estimated 4.1% of the county's adult population have antibodies to the virus, meaning between roughly 221,000 adults and 442,000 adults have had the infection. The results are based on antibody testing of around 863 people representative of the county, researchers said.

That estimate is 28 to 55 times higher than the nearly 8,000 confirmed cases reported by the county.”

This means a couple things: First, according to the CDC, the standards percentage of people that contract the flu is between 3% and 11% every year (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm). So, if these numbers hold to be true, this means the COVID-19 has been in the US for a while, and not just since January. Secondly, this means that the COVID-19 mortality rate is really really low. I am talking between the range of the flu and H1N1, that is .02% and 1% mortality rate. Lastly, this is just more confirmation that we have made our decisions out of fear and not from wisdom. 

Inslee’s hateful double standard toward out-of-work families

https://mynorthwest.com/1826336/dori-inslee-hateful-double-standard/

The Governor of the State of Washington is walking in quarantine contradictions, according to Dori Monson, “Private home construction must stop, but Sound Transit construction can continue. Private landscapers are out of work, but King County can still dispatch crews to trim grass in closed parks. The hypocrisy is outrageous.”

Meanwhile the Governor of Wisconsin has extended his draconian order to May 26th. 

So, while the democratic governors are getting kicks off their new found power trip, republican states are starting to loosen the Stay at Home orders.

Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina move to ease lockdown orders, reopen economies

https://disrn.com/news/georgia-tennessee-south-carolina-move-to-wind-down-stay-at-home-orders-reopen-economy

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that he will not extend the state's stay-at-home order past April 30. According to his office, "the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties" will be allowed to reopen on May 1.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced that certain businesses, including gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys, message therapists, and tattoo parlors can reopen beginning this Friday with "minimum basic operations."

South Carolina

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