Sunday School 3/22/20

I visited three classrooms for you today; we'll see how much fits here and anything that doesn't, I'll move to an Extra Credit post for all of you distance learners.

Let's start with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who chatted with Margaret Brennan of CBS on Face the Nation.  

Brennan asked if we were on the same trajectory as Italy, which has had more deaths than China. Fauci said not necessarily. He suggested their situation might be because they were not as quick to shut down travel from China as we were, adding

...I don't know why this is happening there to such an extent, but it is conceivable that once you get so many of these spreads out, they spread exponentially and you can never keep up with this tsunami, and I think that's what unfortunately our colleagues and our dear friends in Italy are facing. They are very competent. It isn't that they don't know what they're doing. 

He went on to say that he hopes we won't be in the same situation, but reiterate that "we're going to get hit. There's no doubt about it." 

Brennan wondered if the virus was mutating or changing; Fauci said that, as an RNA virus, it will change but it's not changing the way it's actin, which is something they're watching. She also wondered about the high numbers of young people being affected in Europe and here, where 20% of those hospitalized were in the 20-44 age bracket. 

Fauci said "it looks like there's a big difference" between what we saw in China and what we're seeing in Europe. It's possible the people have underlying conditions, but

if they don't... that will be something we have to really examine as to why we're seeing it here, but we didn't see it in China. So we're going to look at that very closely.

She also questioned the whole issue of whether Trump has actually invoked the Defense Production Act, (he's said both that he had, and that he will if needed). Fauci said they're coming forward on their own and stepping up to make "not only masks, but PPEs and now ventilators." Brennan pushed back, quoting NYC's Bill De Blasio saying his city will run out of equipment in as little as two weeks. Fauci tried to clarify things, noting that

...obviously, New York is the most hard hit. So not only is New York trying to get resources themselves, but we're going to be pouring it in from the federal government. So it would be a combination of local and federal...

On the new drug combos, Brennan wondered who Trump was listening to, if not Fauci, and if there was a concern about those drugs being used for COVID-19 cases, potentially causing a shortage for people who need the drugs to treat other illnesses now. In reference to the anecdotal reports that get mentioned, he said

So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint and the president was trying to bring hope to the people. I think there's this issue of trying to separate the two of us. There isn't fundamentally a difference there. He's coming from it from a hopeful layperson standpoint. I'm coming from it from a scientific standpoint. 

I don't mind a hopeful layperson, but I do mind an argumentative deep-stater acting as a wartime president.

Brennan mentioned NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio; he was on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan this morning. Todd asked the mayor how things stood this morning in the city.  De Blasio pulled no punches. 

Chuck, the truth is -- and New Yorkers and all Americans deserve the blunt truth, it's only getting worse. And in fact, April and May are going to be a lot worse. Right now, we are a third of the cases in the country. That's going to get worse. We're about two thirds or more of the cases in New York State. That's going to get worse.

And, he said, he's not getting any help from the president, who is a New Yorker himself.

...he will not lift a finger to help his hometown. And I don't get it. I don't get it. Right now, I have asked repeatedly for the military to be mobilized, for the Defense Production Act to be used to its fullest to get us things like ventilators so people can live who would die otherwise. Chuck, I can't be blunt enough. If the president doesn't act, people will die who could have lived otherwise. Senior citizens, folks who are members of families. And we can't get action from the president of the United States.

And what could the military do for him?

...All military personnel who are medically trained should be sent to places where this crisis is deep, like New York, right now. The military is the best logistical organization in the nation. If there are ventilators being produced anywhere in the country, we need to get them to New York. Not weeks from now or months from now, in the next ten days. And the only force in America that could do that is the military. Why are they at their bases? Why are they not being allowed to serve? I guarantee you they're ready to serve. But the president has to give the order.

And on how he'll enforce his 'shelter in place' order? 

Chuck, people really do get it. I've been around my city the last few days. They're getting the message more and more. Also, we will use the NYPD and other agencies to go out and remind people. Educate them, break up groups of people if they're congregating. It'll take a while for people to truly get it.

And one last time, aiming a shot at Washington.

...I'll tell you one thing, everyday New Yorkers, everyday Americans, are much farther ahead of the curve in terms of understanding this crisis than anything we're seeing from the White House. And that's troubling, to think the people that have the power are not using it, when everyday people get right now, shelter in place is necessary to protect our families.

Turning to Gov. Hogan (who's an R, by the way), Todd brought up the absence of social distancing in DC and Virginia, where either people aren't paying attention or restrictions haven't been issued, and wondered if Hogan was hoping that everyone would get on the same page. Hogan said that he's been meeting with the others, "taking actions an trying to work together." And, he added

But yeah, the social distancing is not being enforced. And it's a little crazy to see the kind of crowds at the cherry blossoms. I mean, people have to listen...

He said they're cracking down in his state, 

...limiting people to groups of ten. We were chastising all these spring breakers that came back from partying in Florida. And we told them they need to self-quarantine for 14 days, otherwise they're risking the lives of their parents and their grandparents and their friends because this no longer is just about older people. People of all ages... We had a ten month old, a five year old who have gotten this disease. So people are kidding themselves if they think that they should just go on spring break or enjoy being out there just as business as normal. We've got to get people off the streets and out of these crowds. It's absolutely essential.

Turning back to De Blasio, Todd wondered about folks who are doing what they've been told, who are home and watching numbers get worse and worse, and he wondered what progress would look like. 

Real, consistent social distancing being enforced, people living with it. And hospitals that can function. People seeing that their health care system is actually holding because we have the supplies and the personnel. And I think that's going to be a national reality, Chuck. Medical personnel are going to have to be taken from one part of the country to another as this crisis deepens.The supplies, the equipment have to go where the needed is greatest. If people see the system holding, that will be progress...

Hogan was asked the same question, what would progress be.

...progress is going to be if we can somehow bend this curve down, wherein we can start to stop that spike that's going so we don't overload the health care system. You know, people are just going to -- look, it's very disconcerting. People's lives are disrupted. It's scary. And I understand people out there are concerned about when is it going to look better... What it takes is every one of our citizens is a part of this. And we can't stop it without them cooperating -- but it's going to be a while. We don't know how long or how long it's going to be. But it's going to continue until we can get it stopped. And we're just going to keep fighting 24 hours a day until we could get it done.

That's all we've got room for tonight. We'll look at the rest of it tomorrow.

See you around the virtual campus, and remember - social distancing and hand washing save lives.