Biden Cabinet/2
Big #COVID19 understatement:
"Biden’s picks to lead the Dept of Health and Human Services @HHSGov and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention @CDCgov will inherit a massive public health crisis."
No solid CDC names yet, but...
MORE nytimes.com/2020/11/06/us/…
Biden Cab/3
Most sources agree list-toppers include: @StateDept Sec. - @AmbassadorRice or Tony Blinken @DOJPH Atty-General - #SallyYates or Doug Jones @HHSGov - Vivek Murthy or Michelle Lujan Grisham
White House Chief of Staff - @RonaldKlain
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Biden/5
Typically, Presidents name a Sec.HHS before choosing an @US_FDA Commissioner. But given the gravity of #COVID19 there's a lot of concern about delay. Like the Cabinet, the head of the FDA must get Senate approval. This will be a very tough choice. khn.org/news/as-faith-…
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Here's why: #SteveBannon said on live video that firing Fauci & Wray (FBI Director) wasn’t enough:
“I actually want to go a step farther but..."
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3/ "...the president is a kind-hearted man & a good man. I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England. I’d put the heads on pikes, right? I’d put them at the 2 corners of the @WhiteHouse as a warning to federal bureaucrats, you either get w/the program..."
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While America's obsessed w/elections, Europe is freaking out about a mutant form of #SARSCoV2 in mink animals & people: Denmark seals off 7 municipalities in north Jutland. Train & bus traffic is discontinued. Reason: first infections of residents w/mutated species of the virus.
I'm going to forward info about the mink/mutant #COVID strain because most of my followers likely missed it, amid the elections tension.
So, this thread will be heavy with links.
Denmark washingtonpost.com/world/mutant-m…
3/ "A Dutch virologist and zoonosis expert, Wim van der Poel, said more research was needed but that even without the mutation, a reservoir of the virus in mink or others of the mustelid family such as badgers and martens was to be avoided."
MORE theguardian.com/environment/20…
ATTN!
While you were sleeping #Trump issued an edict that eliminates job protections for tens of thousands (maybe millions) of federal employees, all involved in policy-making. It paves the way for a mass firing of govt employees.
MORE stripes.com/trump-issues-s…
2/ The edict "...strips long-held civil service protections from employees whose work involves policymaking, allowing them to be dismissed with little cause or recourse, much like the political appointees who come and go with each administration."
MORE
3/ "Federal scientists, attorneys, regulators, public health experts and many others in senior roles would lose rights to due process and in some cases, union representation, at agencies across the government. The White House declined to say how many jobs..."
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WOW. The @US_FDA#COVID19#vaccine mtg just heard summaries of focus group studies about American opinions of such a vaccine -- will they take it? Six powerful themes emerged (quotes from focus groups). (MORE) fda.yorkcast.com/webcast/Play/c…
2/ More focus group rxns, from non-white groups, regarding fears of #COVID19#vaccines
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My god!
"All 62 residents in a Kansas nursing home tested + for #COVID19, health officials announced. Of those 62 residents, 10 have died, 1 is hospitalized, & the rest of the residents are currently being quarantined & treated at the facility." health.com/condition/infe…
A 100% infection rate is astounding -- I can't recall any such scale in any prior epidemic. It's urgent to get a detailed epi/genomic analysis. Was this spread by a staff member? By a single elder superspreader? A family visitor? #COVID19 is CONTAGIOUS.
A man who lost his uncle in this nursing home, about #COVID19 threat: “Respect it, it is a real thing and people are really dying—just be aware of your situation and take the precautions needed.”
😷😷😷😷😷😷😷
Here are some examples of what "record-breaking hospitalizations" and soaring deaths from #COVID19 look like across America right now.
First, Iowa, where yesterday 31 people died, & "534 people hospitalized, topping Tuesday's high of 501."
MORE desmoinesregister.com/story/news/hea…
2/ Soaring #COVID19 numbers are reported in Texas, especially the Mexican border town of El Paso: "El Paso County shattered a pandemic record Thursday morning. Health officials announced 1,161 new cases and four coronavirus-related deaths."
MORE kvia.com/top-stories/20…
3/
35 Minnesotans died of #COVID19 yesterday & "State health officials linked the high number of fatalities — the most since May 28 — to accelerating infections.
'...a surge in deaths was to be expected several wks after a surge in cases'.”
MORE startribune.com/minn-health-of…