I highly recommend the news media start to re-focus on the virus.

[shockey80]

At this rate, there will be 250,000 dead Americans by election day. If there is a surge or second wave, that number could be a lot higher.

The economic numbers that came out today and that will come out the future are very misleading. People are starting to relax, like the worst is over. That could be a major mistake.

The virus is still spreading, it is still killing a thousand people per day.

I am not ready to relax yet. I am not convinced it is safe for me to return to my job. I am going to continue to do what I have been doing until I know it is safe. I don't care how long it takes.

[Freddie]

1. It's going to spread where hospitals aren't prepared

[jimfields33]

2. I think that'd be a huge mistake

The media will begin seeing if anybody from the protests have a positive or gave it to a family member. How will that help the Democratic Party?

[Ms. Toad]

5. So politics are more important to you than people's lives?

COVID 19 is a health matter, not a political one. The focus needs to be on providing actual facts necessary to save lives, not on who will gain or lose, politically from medical reality. Suppressing the very real danger of exponential increases in illness, and the likelihood of our healthcare systems being overwhelmed, to avoid bad optics, is a Republican strategy we should not adopt.

[Kingofalldems]

6. Wow. Every single day.

[jimfields33]

7. You think I'm wrong.

Kinda strange that you reply to every one of my replies without any substance. Just snarky nonsense. There’s an ignore function you should use instead of searching my every comment.

[Kingofalldems]

8. I can and will respond when I feel it necessary.

The fact is, I do not respond to 'every one' of your replies. That is not true. I remember the past though.

[jimfields33]

10. That's fine. I can't remember a thing you wrote.

[global1]

3. What Happened To The Virus Task Force?....

Where's Pence and Fauci? How come we're not getting any updates on cases and deaths? They should have been warning people on a regular basis that this virus is still with us and it is still dangerous. Because of the rush to re-open - they dropped the regular reports. The protests were of benefit to Trump as it took the focus off the virus and it really made the people complacent.

Trump may try and blame the protesters for any new spike in the numbers - but I say that he and his administration shoulder the blame because they didn't continue the updates and warnings and people think it just magically disappeared like Trump said it would.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Good question. We're not talking about it anymore - Trump has found his "distraction"

Meanwhile, people are still getting sick and dying just as Trump is demanding that everything "open up!"

From earlier today:

USA: Over 1,000 coronavirus deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213546722

[hunter]

4. My sister lives in Republican Land. It seems the consensus there is to ignore the virus...

... and not count the dead.

Several people in her town have already died of the virus but they were elderly or had health problems and their deaths are attributed to that.

I don't think it's surprising. Evangelical Christians who think Trump is God's chosen one already live in their own reality. If they choose not to see Trump's failures as a leader and as a human being, if they choose not to see how he defiles their own religious beliefs, then they can easily choose not to see how this virus is something worse than the common cold.

[Baclava]

9. Not if there's the chance of broken glass and car fires, those are way more sexy news shows

[crickets]

11. I don't disagree with you, but my beef with media (primarily TV) is

they seem constantly fixated on having one big story to pound into the ground until they can't squeeze any more money out of it, then they look for the next one. Other major events are glossed over as mere details to be gotten out of the way so they can hurry back to the bandwagon story. It's lazy, magpie journalism that shortchanges the original purpose of news outlets. Print/online outlets manage to do a little better about this, but not everyone bothers to read, and not all of the 'respected' news sites (looking at you, NYT) are necessarily worth reading. Media should be able to continue to cover the protests while also keeping everyone informed about COVID, Biden, Bill Barr, Lindsey Graham, and his tangerine lardship.

...which is a really long-winded way of saying that overall, I think you're right. There's no excuse for the lack of COVID coverage right now. I'd hate to see the protest coverage dropped, though.

[radius777]

12. Agree, it's the 'OJ Simpson' model of cable news

that goes back to that era where they realized big money/ratings could be made by focusing on (and in many cases inflaming) the same story over and over. See also the Iraq War.

[malaise]

16. You nailed it

Both can be covered.
Yesterday the WH moved the chairs so the correspondents had to sit closer. They did so for the optics - the media were a prop for the campaign event for it surely was not a press conference.

[Tipperary]

13. Where are you getting that 250,000 number?

Is that the CDC, the adminstration?

[sfstaxprep]

14. I Assume It's Basic Math

150 Days until the Election. We're averaging 1K per day. 110K + 150K = 260,000

[malaise]

17. CDC says between 118,000 and 143,000 will be dead by June 27

Logic suggests that it could be double that by November