Rubin at WaPo On The Criminal Complicity of Republican Governors in Panedmic Deaths; adding l-t illnesses

"Here are the governors who hurt so many, so needlessly

Opinion by Jennifer Rubin

July 6, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. PDT

The Post reports: “Local officials in states with surging coronavirus cases issued dire warnings Sunday about the spread of infections, blaming outbreaks in their communities on early reopenings and saying the virus was rapidly outpacing containment efforts.” As bad as the situation in states such as Texas, Florida and Arizona are right now, a true catastrophe may be in store for states if hospitals are overrun and intensive care beds must be rationed.

Let’s not forget that Republican governors around the country in early May were boasting that they had not shut down their states. When it came to ending even spotty stay-at-home orders and forgoing social distancing and mask-wearing mandates, red-state governors reopened as cases were still rising and without comprehensive testing and tracing programs in place. President Trump deserves a good deal of the blame for playing down the pandemic and goading governors to reopen. However, it was these states’ governors who arrogantly defied expert advice and replete warnings about closing down too late and opening too soon. They ultimately made the decision to follow Trump’s horrendously dangerous advice."

In addition to Abbot, she names Ducey and Desantis, of course.

"The recklessness and incompetence of these governors should outrage not only residents of their own states but Americans everywhere. One thing we have learned is that a runaway pandemic in one or more states imperils all of us. They can hardly claim to be surprised by the predictable result of their arrogant, anti-science approach. Governors who wanted to rev up their economies and chose to ignore warnings about the consequences of their actions are responsible for thousands falling ill and dying. Their economies closed down anyway. Resigning is the least they should do."

Well, with 12 states hitting new highs in Covid cases according to the Washington Post, we have quite a disaster brewing. And although the daily number of deaths is not yet rising, two points: First, with cases rising so rapidly, we are very likely to get at least some rebound in death rates. And second, the data almost everywhere is doing a disasterously bad job of measuring chronic/long-term cases--people who have stong symptoms for months, or who never quite get back their full health. This omission is pretty much a disgrace. I currently know three people who aren't hospitalized, but have had Covid-19 for more than two months and aren't so optimistic about ever getting fully cured. Why isn't that being tracked?

And btw, watch for an imminent large spike in public sector employment cuts as McConnell sits on his hands, and for an imminent, severe spike in evictions.