Amaryllis
Amaryllis's Journal"COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness. The West Coast will flip the script."
The overlying tone of this entire statement is "We're all in this together." So heartwarming.
Joint statement from the West Coast Governors:
COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness. In the coming weeks, the West Coast will flip the script on COVID-19 – with our states acting in close coordination and collaboration to ensure the virus can never spread wildly in our communities.
We are announcing that California, Oregon and Washington have agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies – one that identifies clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business.
While each state is building a state-specific plan, our states have agreed to the following principles as we build out a West Coast framework:
Our residents’ health comes first. As home to one in six Americans and gateway to the rest of the world, the West Coast has an outsized stake in controlling and ultimately defeating COVID-19.
Health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions.Modifications to our states’ stay at home orders must be made based off our understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19, including: the direct impact of the disease on our communities; the health impact of measures introduced to control the spread in communities—particularly felt by those already experiencing social disadvantage prior to COVID-19; and our health care systems’ ability to ensure care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This effort will be guided by data. We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this.
Our states will only be effective by working together. Each state will work with its local leaders and communities within its borders to understand what’s happening on the ground and adhere to our agreed upon approach.
Through quick and decisive action, each of our states has made significant progress in flattening the curve and slowing the spread of COVID-19 among the broader public. Now, our public health leaders will focus on four goals that will be critical for controlling the virus in the future.Protecting vulnerable populations at risk for severe disease if infected. This includes a concerted effort to prevent and fight outbreaks in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.Ensuring an ability to care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This will require adequate hospital surge capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment.Mitigating the non-direct COVID-19 health impacts, particularly on disadvantaged communities.Protecting the general public by ensuring any successful lifting of interventions includes the development of a system for testing, tracking and isolating. The states will work together to share best practices.
COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries. It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what’s happening on the ground.
In the coming days the governors, their staff and health officials will continue conversations about this regional path to recovery.
https://www.myoregon.gov/2020/04/13/california-oregon-washington-announce-western-states-pact/
Governors partner to plan reopening. 6 East Coast, 3 West plan separate working groups
https://www.rollcall.com/2020/04/13/governors-partner-to-plan-reopening/More at link
The governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are forming a regional working group to determine when it will be safe to begin reopening their economies, and how they will do so, they announced on Monday.
The move was announced during a joint press conference held by the six Democrats: Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, John Carney of Delaware and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island.
Cuomo announced earlier Monday that he believed his state, where more than 10,000 people have died of COVID-19, has hit a plateau and that it was the appropriate time to begin thinking about reopening the economy.
“We should start looking forward to reopening, and reopening with a smart plan,” said Cuomo.
Each state involved will contribute a public health and an economic development official, as well as the governor’s chief of staff, to form an 18-person working group, which Cuomo said will immediately start work on designing a reopening plan taking into consideration both health and economic concerns.
Cuomo said talks will officially begin Tuesday, but there is no concrete timetable in mind for actions.
Carney said the working group will formalize steps he has already begun taking with neighboring Govs. Murphy and Wolf.
SNip
Cuomo said he was also talking to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, about joining the group.
West Coast governors brainstorm
Meanwhile, the three Democrats who run the coastal states of the West, Jay Inslee of Washington, Gavin Newsom of California and Kate Brown of Oregon, announced on Monday a separate effort to reopen their economies.
Details were more sparse on their plans, but they said in a joint statement that they would need to balance health and economic concerns.
“We are announcing that California, Oregon and Washington have agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies – one that identifies clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business,” the governors said.
OR Gov. Kate Brown sends 140 ventilators to NY because "OR is in a better position right now."
I am so proud of my governor. Made me cry when she said in the tweet, "We are all in this together."
https://twitter.com/OregonGovBrown/status/1246458356975276033
https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/1246458148283731969
"According to Oregon Health Authority experts, while we are definitely not out of the woods yet, our state's social distancing methods are paying off, and if we keep it up our hospitals will be able to handle the onslaught of COVID-19 cases that are coming our way. As of yesterday, Oregon has 899 confirmed cases of coronavirus (that we know of), and 22 deaths. For comparison purposes, Alabama—who only implemented social distancing orders yesterday—had roughly the same number of cases as Oregon last week, and now they are reporting almost twice as many.
Meanwhile, New York City is in crisis. In a press briefing yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 562 people had died over the previous 24 hours, and they will pass 3,000 deaths very soon. And the surge hasn't peaked yet. According to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio (via CNBC):
“We have gotten some ventilators in, but right now, we’re struggling to have enough for next week,” he said, adding that the city needs 15,000 additional ventilators to get through April and May.
snip
Our federal government has refused to take care of us. Governor Brown has the right idea: It's time to take care of ourselves and each other."
https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/04/04/28244118/gov-kate-brown-to-send-ventilators-to-desperate-new-york
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBS) – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Saturday that Oregon will be sending 140 ventilators to New York State.
Cuomo described Oregon’s kind gesture as “astonishing and unexpected.”
https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/oregon-sending-ventilators-to-new-york/
Biden COVID 19 family town hall on now. Very good. Michelle Kwan moderating.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213238012Looks like it's gonna be really good. Family oriented.
JoeBiden.com/Live
Joe Biden live family town hall on COVID 19 today 7 EDT, 4 PDT with Michelle Kwan
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1246153998161215493?UK family quarantine parody of 'One Day More' from Les Miserables goes viral. Guaranteed laugh!
Meet the family who made the viral self-isolation adaptation of 'One Day More' from Les Miserables
The first part of the video is an interview with the family by BBC about the writing and recording of the song. The song parody starts at 3:39. They are amazingly accomplished singers. This is top notch musically as well as being super funny.
Golden retriever hugs everyone she meets!
f you’re in need of a hug this Valentine’s Day, you better head to Chelsea in New York City, where you can meet Louboutina, the NYC’s celebrity hugging dog with more than 58k followers on her Instagram account. The Golden Retriever, who is named after a French shoe designer, spends around 2 hours a day hugging people she meets on her walk. “It’s just not a regular walk,” her owner, 45-year-old Fernandez-Chavez, told The Dodo. “It’s a walk with hugging.” He adds: “A lot of people say she’s made their day… Like, if they had a bad day at work, maybe that’s just what they needed.”
It all started around Valentine’s Day in 2014, when Loubie started holding hands with her owner just after he had ended a relationship. “She started sitting up and grabbing my hands with both of her paws, and then crossing the other paw over her paw,” Fernandez-Chavez said. “I remember joking with my friends, ‘At least I have someone to hold hands with during Valentine’s.'”
Fast forward to now, Fernandez-Chavez understands that not only him, but the whole world needs the affection his pooch has to offer, so you can drop him an email and fix a hug with Louboutina for yourself if you happen to be in New York.
https://www.boredpanda.com/dog-gives-hugs-louboutina-retriever-new-york/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BPFacebook&fbclid=IwAR0eJD5uFzuUI9nqO1-LRrhXiAbY_q4SusV8_0VnmrMKeQ3RT4BSpLyQpuo
Two Doctors Log Their Days Inside NYC Emergency Rooms (very moving)
A daily account of what they’re seeing, how they’re feeling, what gives them hope, and what makes them angry.
Two emergency physicians, based at two different hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, are logging their days for Slate. At the end of each shift, they write a response to three questions: What was today like? How did it compare with yesterday? And how do you feel? We have offered them anonymity so that they can write freely about their experiences. Dr. Kelly Keene and Dr. Lauren Serino are pseudonyms.
This is a journal from March 25 to March 31st. Very moving and also informative. Warning: it will make you tear up.
https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-new-york-er-doctors-log.html?sid=589dfd6ebcb59c58118b45d5&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=TheSlatest&utm_campaign=traffic
Trevor Noah interviews Gavin Newsom. Another of our very impressive Dem governors. Informative.
Where CA is with COVID 19.
Democrats introduce bill to promote mail-in voting amid coronavirus crisis
In case you haven't been tracking this...
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/488334-democratic-senators-introduce-bill-to-promote-mail-in-voting-during
A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation on Wednesday to promote mail-in and early voting to decrease the spread of the coronavirus.
The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA) would ensure voters have 20 days of early voting in all states, require that all mail-in ballots submitted during 21 days leading to an election be counted, and ensure that all voters have the option to request absentee ballots.
The legislation would also provide $3 million to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to begin implementing some of the bill’s requirements, along with reimbursing states for doing the same.
Both Klobuchar and Wyden pointed to recently delayed primaries in Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Georgia, and Maryland because of coronavirus fears in emphasizing the need to utilize mail-in ballots.
In-person voting dropped in Florida, Arizona and Illinois on Tuesday, when the states held their primaries.
Klobuchar, who serves as the top Democrat on the elections-focused Senate Rules Committee, said in a statement that Americans are facing “unprecedented disruptions to their daily lives” and pushed for providing them voting options during national emergencies.
“As Congress prepares to provide states with medical and economic relief, we should also act swiftly to pass my legislation to ensure that every American has a safe way to participate in our democracy during a national emergency,” Klobuchar said.
Wyden said in a separate statement that “if Ohio, Louisiana, Georgia, Maryland and Kentucky had vote by mail on the books years ago, they wouldn't have had to postpone their elections. This bill will give our country the highest chance of avoiding delayed elections and ensure Americans can exercise their Constitutional rights. No one should have to put their health at risk to vote.”
Klobuchar and Wyden previously penned an op-ed in The Washington Post promoting the introduction of the new bill, pointing to the mounting number of Americans who have contracted the coronavirus as illustrating the need for changes in how Americans vote.
More than a dozen other Democratic senators are co-sponsoring the legislation, including Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former candidates Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
However, at least one Republican has already voiced his opposition to the bill.
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, came out against the legislation in a statement on Wednesday, citing concerns around taking away election authority from states.
"While I appreciate the Senators’ efforts, imposing additional constraints on states from the federal government is the opposite of what we should be doing right now,” Davis said. “Most states have already integrated these methods of voting, and we don't know how long it would take the rest of the country to be able to successfully implement these programs. We should not be pushing through unnecessary policies in a time of emergency.”
Davis noted, however, that he was supporting efforts to give more election funding to the EAC to distribute to states “in the upcoming months.”
“This will allow states to improve the administration of elections, including covering costs associated with absentee voting and vote by mail, extending no-excuse absentee, and reimbursing for poll worker recruitment and training,” Davis said. “I hope we work across the aisle in Congress to accomplish this mission and ensure that states are prepared to deal with COVID-19 and keep their elections running smoothly and securely.”
Profile Information
Member since: Mon Nov 29, 2004, 10:18 PMNumber of posts: 9,524
