Tag: coronavirus

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Study: Trump Campaign Rallies Led To 30K Coronavirus Cases, 700+ Deaths

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According to a new Stanford University study, 30,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 700 deaths can be traced to attendees of 18 recent Trump campaign rallies. From the Washington Post:

The study, released Friday by Stanford economics professor B. Douglas Bernheim and three doctoral students, examined rallies staged by Trump between June 20 and Sept. 30 and looked at the trajectory of cases in the counties in which they were held.

“Our analysis strongly supports the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of COVID-19 transmission at large group gatherings, particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low,” the authors said.

“The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death.”

The Trump campaign told the Washington Post that the idea that social distancing practices at its rallies are low was ridiculous.

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Coronavirus Cases On The Rise In Every Battleground State

7-day rolling average of cases as of Oct. 28 (graphic via Washington Post)
Coronavirus cases are on the rise in every battleground state with just four days to the presidential election. From the Washington Post:

Coronavirus cases are surging in every competitive state before Election Day, offering irrefutable evidence against President Trump’s closing argument that the pandemic is nearly over and restrictions are no longer necessary.

In the 13 states deemed competitive by the Cook Political Report, the weekly average of new cases reported daily has jumped 45 percent over the past two weeks, from fewer than 21,000 on Oct. 14 to more than 30,000 on Oct. 28.

Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have all hit new weekly average highs in recent days, and in Florida and Georgia, case counts are growing again after having fallen from summer highs.

According to the COVID Tracking Project, there are currently 46,905 Americans who are hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number since August 14, and up about 50% from a month ago. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to hold campaign rallies across the nation where he tells supporters the U.S. has “rounded the corner” regarding the coronavirus. More at the Washington Post.

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Podcast: CATS Chat With Leslie Ellis & Matt Zarley

Matt Zarley and Leslie Ellis
As a young actor, my first big break was being cast as the ‘Magical Mr. Mistoffelees’ in a brand new national touring company of the blockbuster Broadway musical CATS. While I was ‘living a dream’ over those years back in the 1980s, a nightmare called HIV/AIDS was taking thousands of lives from us. As a company, we wanted to do ‘something.’ So in 1987, we organized one of the first large-scale benefits performances by a touring company to help those affected by HIV. Amazingly, we raised over $36K in one night. Fast forward to today, and another viral pandemic is here. A few months ago, one of my former CATS castmates reached out to say, “Anyone want to do another fundraiser?” And so, we did.

  “With Love, Now and Forever! Cats4CovidRelief” premiered on October 23 and will be available until October 28. At this writing, combining donations at Broadway Cares and YouTube, we’ve raised over $20,000 and counting Today, I’m talking to two of my closest CATS castmates, Grammy Award-winner Leslie Ellis and two-time OutMusic Award-winner Matt Zarley, about this recent company reunion. Hit the play button to hear us chat on this recent collaboration, reminisce about life on the road as young actors, and laugh a bit about the life-changing experience that was CATS. While our streaming event is scheduled to be removed from Broadway Cares website at the end of October 28, the video is still up at this writing on BC/EFA’s YouTube channel on an unlisted page here. Plus, you can see Matt’s gorgeous segment featuring Leslie singing “Memory” here.

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Dow Jones Drops 900 Points As Coronavirus Spikes & Stimulus Talks Stall

Donald Trump reportedly took classified top secret documents from the White House when his administration came to an end.

Donald Trump (screen capture)
So. Much. Winning. With talks for a fiscal stimulus package stalled and coronavirus infections spiking in states across the U.S., the stock market tanked to the tune of 900 points on Monday. From CNBC:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 900 points lower, or 3.2%, and was headed for its biggest one-day loss since June 11. The S&P 500 slid 2.7% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.5%.

Monday’s decline erased the monthly gains for the Dow industrials.

The decline came amid a record surge in new coronavirus cases in the U.S. The country saw more than 83,000 new infections on both Friday and Saturday after outbreaks in Sun Belt states, surpassing a previous record of roughly 77,300 cases set in July, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The data also showed the country has reported an average of 68,767 cases per day over the past seven days, a record.

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News Round-Up: October 22, 2020

Me, Olivia Newton-John, Michael and Lindsay Wagner (2012)
Some news items you might have missed: • Throwback Thursday: I was reminded of this moment in 2012 (above) when Olivia Newton-John played a concert in Palm Springs and the one and only Lindsay Wagner showed up! Michael and I squealed like the Bionic Woman fans we are 🙂 • NBC News: Seventy percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, according to the 11th annual American Values Survey, the highest percentage recorded by a major national poll. The results, released Monday, found just 28 percent of respondents oppose the right of gay couples to wed. • Edge Media: TikTok announced in a statement that the social media platform will ban anti-LGBTQ content, including that which promotes conversion therapy. Users appear to trust TikTok, as it has become a space for survivors — and younger LGBTQ people who fear being subjected to conversion therapy — to find and connect with one another. • Kenneth in the 212: I’m a day late, but Kenneth’s ‘Wrestle Wednesday’ entry this week is definitely worth clicking over to 🙂 • VICE News: Almost 21,000 Election Day polling places have been eliminated heading into the 2020 U.S. election, a drastic dip in voting locations driven by a heavy shift to mail voting, coronavirus-related consolidations, cost-cutting measures, and voter suppression. • Coronavirus: Spain became the first Western European country to exceed 1 million COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, doubling its tally in just six weeks despite a series of increasingly stringent measures to control the second wave of the virus. • Fox News: Donald Trump holds a narrow advantage in Ohio, while voters in the three battleground states that put him over the top in 2016 prefer Joe Biden, according to Fox News polls of likely voters. Biden leads by 12 points in Michigan (52-40 percent), 5 points in Pennsylvania (50-45 percent), and 5 points in Wisconsin (49-44 percent). Trump carried each of these states by less than a percentage point in 2016.

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Trump On COVID: People Are Saying ‘Whatever – Just Leave Us Alone’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is D-O-N-E done with the coronavirus pandemic. During a conference call with campaign staffers, Trump expressed frustration with infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health officials calling them ‘idiots.’ From Politico:

“People are tired of Covid. People are saying, ‘Whatever, just leave us alone.’ People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said on the call, which included press.

“He’s been here for, like, 500 years. He’s like this wonderful sage telling us how — Fauci, if we listened to him, we’d have 700,000 [or] 800,000 deaths.”

Trump described Fauci as a “disaster” and added that “every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb. But there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him.”

Trump also commented on the call that he “couldn’t care less” if the media reported the remarks. “If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it. I couldn’t care less.” Trump’s statement was probably in response to an interview Fauci gave CBS’s 60 Minutes where he told the venerable news magazine that Trump’s reluctance to wear a face mask in public is because he “equates wearing a mask with weakness.” “You know, a statement of strength,” Fauci said. “Like, ‘We’re strong. We don’t need a mask.’ That kind of thing.” Asked if that makes sense from a scientific stand point when facing a pandemic, Fauci answered, “No, it doesn’t. Of course not.”

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Fitness Influencer Denied COVID Existed Until He Got It (And Died)

Dmitriy Stuzhuk (images via Instagram)
Dimitriy Stuzhuk, a social media fitness ‘influencer’ with over a million followers on Instagram, has died of COVID-19 after spending months denying the virus even existed. While he may have been in top physical shape, the 33-year-old sports and healthy living proponent was not able to survive the effects of the coronavirus. Four days ago, Stuzhuk told his followers in a post that he contracted the disease while traveling in Turkey. After a few days of body aches, a swollen neck, and a recurring cough, the fitness lifestyle returned home to Ukraine where underwent a battery of tests which showed he had tested positive for the coronavirus. While in the hospital he was given oxygen and additional medications. He was discharged after 8 days in the hospital, at which point he told his Instagram followers, “I was one who thought that Covid does not exist…until I got sick.” Accompanied by a photo wearing an oxygen mask, he added, “COVID IS NOT A SHORT-LIVED DISEASE! And it is heavy,” according to Sky News.

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КОРОНАВИРУС «COVID», ДЕНЬ 8 ⠀ Как вы все знаете из историй, я болею корлнавирусом. Сегодня, вернувшись домой, первый раз появился энтузиазм хотя бы что-то написать. Хочу поделиться, как я заболел и убедительно предостеречь всех: я тоже думал, что нет никакого ковида, и это все относительно. Пока сам не заболел. COVID-19 БОЛЕЗНЬ НЕ ЭФЕМЕРНАЯ! И тяжелая. Но обо всем по порядку. ⠀ Как это было? Плохо мне стало на второй день в Турции. Я проснулся среди ночи от того, что у меня отекла шея и было тяжело дышать. При этом немного побаливал живот. ⠀ На следующий день начал появляться кашель, но температуры никакой не было. Особых симптомов болезни тоже не было, поэтому я подумал, что это могут быть последствия после занятия спортом, смены климата и питания ну и плюс сон под кондиционером. ⠀ После возвращения из Турции я сразу же пошел сдавать разные анализы, делать УЗИ и на всякий случай решил пройти тест на COVID. Он оказался положительным😔 ⠀ На следующий день я поехал делать КТ. Мне назначили лечение и стали настаивать на госпитализации. Это отдельная история, потому что сейчас там идут ремонтные работы, больница полностью набита людьми, некоторые из них живут в коридоре😱😱 Питания никакого нет, бумаги нет, столовых приборов тоже нет! Меня никто об этом не предупреждал. Медицине в нашей стране будет посвящён отдельный пост — что уж там, она это заслужила. ⠀ ПРО ЛЕЧЕНИЕ. Мне назначили курс лечения и сказали, что нужно его продолжать. Дали кислородный аппарат для дыхания, так как у меня низкий уровень кислорода (хотя я считаю, критическим он считается после 90, у меня же 94-96 это вполне позволительно для лечения дома, врач в приемной мне сказал тоже самое😄). ⠀ ☝🏻Учитывая все эти факторы, я принимаю решение, что мне будет удобней и комфортней находиться на дистанционной опеке у себя дома, где у меня есть все условия для нормального лечения. В конце концов я всегда могу обратиться в нужные службы. Та и дома, как говорится, и стены лечат🙌🏻 ⠀ Мое состояние стабильное.

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In his post, he described less-than-optimal conditions in his Ukraine hospital, which surprised him, and he promised a future post about “medicine in our country.” But that post wasn’t to be. His recovery proved to be a brief reprieve as he was rushed back to the hospital with cardiovascular complications due to the virus. His ex-wife, Sofia, shared on her own Instagram account that Stuzhuk was in “grave condition” and “unconscious.” Shortly thereafter, she announced Stuzhuk’s passing writing, “Only warm memories remain, three beautiful kids and valuable experience.” As you can see in recent Instagram posts, Stuzhuk appeared to be in peak physical shape. Ukraine has reported 307,301 cases of COVID-19 in the country resulting in 5,762 deaths. There have been 39,845,660 cases worldwide with 1,111,957 reported deaths at this writing according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Chris Christie On Cavalier Coronavirus Attitude: “I Was Wrong”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who participated in Donald Trump’s preparation before the first presidential debate (after which it was discovered Trump was coronavirus+), shares with USA Today the remorse he feels for not wearing a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic after he was diagnosed with the virus and had to be hospitalized for a week. From USA Today:

Former Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday he was “wrong” not to wear a mask in the days before testing positive for COVID-19, but that he felt at that time that he was in a “safe zone” because of frequent testing.

Having spent a week being treated for the disease caused by the coronavirus – in an intensive care unit – Christie said he had a chance for greater reflection about his actions and the virus.

“It is something to take very seriously. The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly,” Christie said in a statement, first reported by the New York Times. “No one should be happy to get the virus and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others.” 

“I was wrong,” Christie said.

Christie shares that he was given access to “extraordinary treatments,” including the anti-viral Remdesivir and a cocktail by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. He concluded those factors, which are not available to you nor I, “contributed to my good health today.”

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News Round-Up: October 13, 2020

Keegan Hirst (image via Twitter)
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: Some residents of Heber, Utah, complained about rainbow banners being flown from lampposts on Main Street during Pride Month saying Pride and LGBTQ+ rights were political and did not represent the values or beliefs of the community. So the city passed a new ordinance raising the costs and generally making it more difficult to continue the practice. • AP: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday blamed South Dakota’s recent surge in coronavirus cases on an increase in testing, even as the state saw a new high in the number of people hospitalized by the virus. • New Music: In her new single, “Head and Heart On Fire,” Swedish singer/songwriter LÉON perfectly summarizes the instantaneous feeling one has the moment they meet someone and are immediately taken aback by their presence; aware of how strongly they set everything inside of you ablaze. The pop/folk track is both intimate and universal in expressing that moment:  “You set my head and heart on fire, wish I could go back to that night, you’ll be forever on my mind.”

• Washington Blade: Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett continued to have no comment Wednesday on whether she’d overturn LGBTQ rights decisions, including the milestone Lawrence v. Texas ruling decriminalizing same-sex relations or the Obergefell ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. • New York Times: Amy Cooper, the white woman who called the police on a Black bird-watcher in Central Park, made a second, previously unreported call to 911 in which she falsely claimed that the man tried to assault her. When the police arrived, Cooper admitted that her reports were untrue. She’s reportedly negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors that would allow her to avoid jail. • BBC: Keegan Hirst (top photo), who became the UK’s first openly gay professional rugby player when he came out in 2015, has announced his retirement from professional rugby. “Be brave, be bold. Embrace change and f*cking go for it.”

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Man Dies While Attending Unofficial Atlanta Pride Dance Event

(photo by Maurício Mascaro via Pexels)
While Atlanta Pride organizers decided to hold a series of virtual Pride events this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were still some unofficial live dance events where video and photos of shirtless men dancing shoulder to shoulder made their way onto social media. One party-goer died early Sunday morning at one of the unofficial events. From The Advocate:

Emergency workers had attempted to resuscitate the man, who was found unconscious at the club BJ Roosters; he had passed out in the venue’s basement earlier in the morning after consuming the drug ecstasy, said his partner. Atlanta police found no signs of foul play, but an investigation is ongoing.

The event held early Sunday morning at BJ Roosters, from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., was Xion, a gay circuit party thrown by Ga Boy Events. The group had organized several unofficial events during Atlanta Pride weekend, including a Saturday night party at the Underground Atlanta mall with Danny Verde and an event at District Atlanta with Nina Flowers.

One of Xion’s attendees, who asked to remain anonymous, forwarded a statement to The Advocate claiming that pandemic guidelines were not being enforced at the event, which was “packed” with hundreds of guests to “overcapacity at times.”

The victim was apparently in crisis for over 30 minutes with an onlooker performing CPR before paramedics showed up. The witness also told The Advocate that he’d attended parties all over the world and never been to one without EMTs standing by.