California has gone Covid-crazy
LA’s mayor battles COVID with utility shut-downs & state is poised to release 17,600 inmates. Meanwhile, San Mateo County’s Public Health Officer slams current COVID-19 policies.
Recent research has shown that the response to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic has led to adverse mental health effects in some suffering from the consequences of ill-conceived pandemic policies.
In May, the nonprofit Well Being Trust, in conjunction with the D.C.-based Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, published research that suggests conditions stemming directly from Covid-19—including widespread unemployment, social isolation, dread and a murky future—could lead to an estimated additional 75,000 deaths on top of those caused by physical illness. Fatalities from drug overdoses, alcohol abuse and suicide (otherwise known as “deaths of despair”) is what those on the front lines of mental health are working to combat.
Pacheco, who has worked at Tufts for nearly a decade and also serves as a member of the American Psychiatric Association Assembly Executive Committee, explains that his department has experienced up to 20% more patients than what was typical prior to the pandemic.
Dr. Hairston, who also serves as the president of the American Psychiatric Association of Black Psychiatrists, echoes this experience; she’s noted an uptick in patients who are suffering from more severe mental health issues.
“There’s certainly been a surge of patients in crisis,” Hairston explains. “Particularly working with those from underserved communities, there’s added distress about housing, the fear of getting evicted and unstable unemployment stemming from the virus. All of the uncertainty definitely makes a lot of these cases more challenging. It can be difficult to reassure patients.”
“COVID-crazy” is the only rational explanation for some of the choices California’s politicians have made recently. For example, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti authorized the city to shut off power and water to properties, including houses and businesses, that are in violation of gathering regulations.
“By turning off that power, shutting off that water we feel we can close these places down, which usually are not one-time offenders but multiple-offenders,” Garcetti said.
He noted that local law enforcement officers are having a hard time dealing with gatherings where there are hundreds of people who are “breaking the law.”
“We know we can do this,” Garcetti said, responding to a question about the measure’s legality.
The authorization comes as the state battles a recent surge in confirmed cases. According to the mayor’s office, Los Angeles had nearly 198,000 cases as of Wednesday, as well as 4,825 fatalities.
I would argue at this point everyone is aware of the potential health consequences of coronavirus, including the fact that the case-fatality-rate is substantially lower than was originally touted. Americans have the ability to make fully-informed choices of how to protect themselves. If a large group of people wish to party on private property, the only dire consequence is likely to be that it may bring on herd immunity before vaccines can be issued.
It turns out that these large, private parties have replaced night clubs, as people rework their lives to accommodate prolonged COVID restrictions. Furthermore, Garvetti focused on the virus rather than the violence associated with this event: three people were shot over the course of the evening.
Garcetti said that while all nightclubs and bars have already been closed, “these large house parties have essentially become nightclubs in the hills” and often happen at homes that are vacant or used for short-term rentals.
…The issue of large, private gatherings received heightened scrutiny this week following a boisterous party Monday at a mansion on Mulholland Drive that ended in a fatal shooting.
About 200 people were at the party when police first entered about 7 p.m. after numerous complaints from neighbors about the size of the gathering.
Although officers cited and impounded some vehicles that were illegally parked, they did not break up the party — even though gatherings of any size are prohibited under Los Angeles County’s coronavirus health order.
A shooting was reported about 12:45 a.m. LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez said officers found two women and a man suffering from gunshot wounds. All the victims were taken to hospitals in critical or grave condition, and a 35-year-old woman later died. The other two were stable, officials said.
I bet the 35-year old woman was listed as a COVID-death.
In addition to this insanity, California may release a total of 17,600 inmates early to make space in crowded facilities in fear of this virus.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) told Fox News that “in total, 8,032 [inmates] have had their releases expedited and overall, we have reduced the total incarcerated population by more than 18,300 since March as a result of suspension of county jail intake, the expedited releases” and those released in accordance with their sentences.
“We’re glad the governor is taking action to release more people,” Californians for Safety and Justice Executive Director Jay Johnson said in a July statement. “This is absolutely critical for the health and safety of every Californian. Too many people are incarcerated for too long in facilities that spread poor health.”
Question: Will any of the gang shootings that result from this decision also be listed as COVID-related deaths?
Not everyone has gone COVID-crazy in this state. For example, the Health Officer for San Mateo County just slammed California’s current COVID-19 watch list and policy for closing businesses, calling the state’s system “fundamentally flawed.”
San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow outlined his criticism of the state’s testing data and what he called the “arbitrary and constantly changing framework that the State has set up to put counties on the watch list” in a message that posted to the San Mateo County Health website on Thursday.
“I wish to apologize to all the businesses that were closed this week,” the statement read. “I am not supportive of these actions and, for San Mateo County, I believe they are misdirected and will cause more harm than good. This action is a bit like looking for your lost keys under a streetlight even though you lost them miles away.”
Morrow went on to say he agrees with the state’s aim to minimize the spread of the virus, but also said that goal needs to be reached “while not destroying everything else in the process.”
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Comments
Who knew there were Fascists running the Golden State?
Guess what? It is only going to get worse. Get out while you still can.
Did you mean the “Faucists running the Golden State”? I have believed from the beginning that the cure would be worse than the disease.
Releasing more prisoners due to COVID?
If the prisons are so unsafe, how does putting people who are or may be infected into the general public–other than to deliberately spread the disease so you can increase your dictatorial powers.
Especially since we know the inmates will be great at social distancing and following all the medical directives.
Felons reliably vote Democrat.
Can’t they wear masks?
If masks work so well just put the prisoners in masks?
If they refuse, documentation is the end of the story…
What they really are doing is emptying the prisons… that’s the real story… Facists going to be facist…
They are getting room for you and me…
Releasing felons has nothing to do with health, and everything to do with destabilization of society.
We see this hysteria in my State also. I attribute it to the crazed response to Covid. Basically with their hatred for Trump, all science and reason has been thrown out the window. Therapies that work are prohibited in favor of death, therapies that don’t work are demanded. The economy and mobility are shut down, preventing the virus from infecting those that will develop effective antibodies, thus protracting the viral trajectory thru the population and preventing the herd immunity that those under 60 would have developed.
About a month ago the economic damage of destroyed tax revenue became apparent to mayors and governors. Instead of opening up the economy, they could not admit they were fools to shut it down…thus they re-engaged in a publicity campaign, complete with hysterical pronunciations, to justify their initial response.
The fact that frauds like Fauci can make money and/or assume outlandish power because of this over-reaction is a bonus to them.
Hence the notion that America has committed faucicide.
What happened to the Quarantine yourself, stay at home and save lives?
It was all BS to start I guess.
Never go full DeBlasio
https://i.imgflip.com/43eroq.jpg
“Stay home, save lives.” – Dr. Fauci
Prison is the most locked down environment on the planet, so release of violent felons into society-at-large is viable because masks don’t work in prison?
I am trying to find some cohesive public safety policy amid this Wuhan virus disaster, but so far… zippo. Nothing.
“…while not destroying everything else in the process.”
More n more this appears to be a feature, not a bug.
The masks, yes, probably wrong expectations and improper use. The primary transmission mode is likely to be contact (e.g. fecal). Also, as in medical facilities, there is improper and inconsistent hygienic practices, and rotation into and out of the facility. It could also be a Planned Parent/Patient situation as in New York City.
Prisons are very poorly locked down. Prison guards are unable to (or in my opinion, don’t want to) stop rape and murder, how would they enforce anti-covid measures?
Laws are created by legislation. What we are seeing is tyrany. Orders, laws, there is a difference.
At least there used to be.
It is good having a hostile foreign neighbor as a bad example of what not to do.
Also, amusing. Just when they collapse, it is not our problem.
Subotai Bahadur
Just a follow up that occurred to me. California has the highest paid Correctional Officers in the country, averaging $60K a year for the lowest rank. There are 24,000 of them according to Wikipedia. The prisons are being emptied. Have any been laid off, or are they still drawing pay since their union is a strong supporter of anything Democrat?
Subotai Bahadur
Note that the biggest part of local community budgets is education. Has anyone seen teacher pay and benefits adjusted for what, with distance learning, has become a part time job? (For example, it does not take a dozen teachers to prepare the video lessons for a dozen sections of the third grade in a town.) By the way, the same goes for colleges which will only be open for remote learning in the Fall.
Must regrettably report a #WrongThink violation here, Comrade.
Repeat with me: Public school teachers are among our most precious human resources. Heroes, in fact.
(Don’t even think of trying to note some declared reluctance to return to duty yet must certainty be fully paid because their uber-fair union contract demands it. Or that the actually-hard-working plus low-paid checkout clerks at your local grocery store have already been working on the front lines for months.)
I’ll take “Headlines from Last March” for $500, Alex.
Where’s Snake Plissken? I sense an “Escape From California” movie sequel in the works. They can shoot on location — no need for expensive sound stages!
I’m going to toss some numbers out here so check my math.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the official numbers are accurate [not a position that I subscribe to, by the way]. we have approximately 5 million COVID infections in the US. Officially, we has 160 thousand deaths directly attributed to COVID. Officially, we have 1.4 million patients who have recovered from COVID. So, if 1.5 million people have either died or recovered from the disease, where are the other 3.5 million active COVID patients? Are they under quarantine? Are they free to walk among us, coughing and hacking? And, if the disease is so very dangerous, why aren’t they all in hospital beds? By the way, there are less than 1 million hospital beds in the country. Does anyone else think that these numbers are just a little strange? Perhaps the governments and medical community are using fuzzy math. I’m at a loss. Are you?
A possible explanation is that a large number of those “infections” could be people who tested positive and never saw a doctor; or saw a doctor, never got real sick, and never went back to establish an outcome; or known recoveries who were never hospitalized, but not reported. (The “recovered” could be mostly hospital discharges or recovering nursing home people.)
By the way, the infections are likely understated by a lot, not counting (young) people who got sick for a few days and never saw a doctor or got tested.
A much more likely explanation is that the vast majority of these cases, were positive tests for exposure to the virus, not an actual viral infection.
Also, you have to remember that this virus is touted as being the deadliest disease in history. Yet, you offer the explanation that 3.5 million of the 5 million cases of COVID were so mild that they required NO hospitalization at all. Sounds sort of like the flu, doesn’t it? And, as these people did not die, if they had they would be listed as COVID deaths, then a goodly portion of them should be listed as COVID recoveries, if they are, indeed, corroborated cases.
You can try to spin these numbers any way that you want. But, they can not be correct, because they simply do not add up.
As to whether the infections are understated, if they are that makes the COVID virus even less of a threat. So, why are we throwing 31 million people out of work in the US and destroying our economy? This is all an attack upon the people of this nation. Those people better wake up and decide if they are going to stop these attacks or roll over and play dead. Your choice.
In my opinion, this is indeed “sort of like the flu” and, if we had not had years of exposure to the flu and tons of flu shots to help protect us, Covid would look even more like the flu (or the reverse). Furthermore, I think Trump was “sandbagged” by that garbage prediction out of London that the US could have 2 million deaths if we did not do something dramatic. I remember him talking about it and he seemed genuinely sobered. If he somehow manages to win re-election, I bet heads will roll over this.
By the way, if I am right with my opening statement, the cure will be worse than the disease and all this anxiety over schools in the Fall will be misplaced.
Don’t get side tracked looking at the virus as a separate issue. It is all part of a coordinated attack upon the US and the World. The question is, what is the tipping point for the US economy? With 20% unemployment [31 million unemployed], no Global Economy to tap into and massive debt accumulating, when will we reach the point where we can not come back? As it is, we are likely looking at a recovery period of years, maybe decades, before we return to the economic level that we enjoyed in January of 2020. And, that supposes that the damage to the US and Global Economy is not permanent. And, this is not the result of an economic downturn, such as a recession. This whole situation was artificially created. It is an attack upon the American, and World, citizenry. And, it is not likely to stop simply because Trump is reelected. The question is, what do the victims of this attack intend to do about it and when?