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Libertarian States Killing Themselves Off

North and South Dakota have a dubious distinction as the worst places to contract Coronoa. They have the highest per capita COVID-19 death rate anywhere on the face of the planet. Does this come as a surprise? Absolutely not.

This is one of the last places on earth that has employed any coherent COVID-19 strategy. The majority of the citizens simply don’t want it. Most think the virus is a grand hoax. Apart from lower education levels, implementation of simple measures do go a long way. But try convincing anti-mask states.

One of the simplest tools that prevents the transmission of the virus is mask wearing but libertarian states refuse to adhere to a mask rule because of its supposed infringement on personal liberties. This has led to a direct correlation to the astronomical increase in cases and deaths. To make matters worse America is the only advanced economy in the world that does not have a single payer healthcare system. Americans prefer no access to healthcare and death, over health and community safety. What’s exchanged is the notion of maintaining individual liberties, but that comes at the cost of dying.

To some it’s worth it.

Data from http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/

Numbing to 100,000 Daily COVID Cases in USA

Reuters is reporting that for the 7th straight day the United States has had 100,000 new positive cases of the COVID-19 virus. That unprecedented increase in daily cases is far and above any other country in the world and it doesn’t look to be slowing. America is at the behest of a federal government that denies the impact and danger of COVID, and has no national plan to slow its spread. Cases and deaths will continue to spiral out of control in this larger second wave.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-cases/u-s-reports-more-than-100000-covid-19-cases-for-seventh-day-in-a-row-idUSKBN27R09T

Quarter Million Preventable COVID Deaths in USA

250K COVID deaths approaching.

the United States is quickly approaching a dubious distinction of hitting a quarter million deaths as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of federal response, coupled with conspiracies and the overall conservative and libertarian culture in America has proved to be its undoing.

With the looming election coming, the expectation is the terrible federal response will be one of the following issues and the proverbial straw that will break the Republican party’s back.

America is one of the only developed nations on the face of the planet that does not provide universal healthcare. This despite spending more per capita on healthcare. The unwillingness to move to a single payer system in favour of individual rights and military spending, means for the average American Covid is killer. For the most vulnerable it’s deadly. The poor and the elderly are unequally represented in COVID deaths.

Things could be changing just around the corner. Despite America’s rapidly increasing divide between ultra wealthy and the growing yet stagnant middle-class, a change in government may offer the federal response required to turn the tide of an unmitigated growing a second wave of the virus. A vaccine will also help, but that can’t be relied upon to stop the bleeding that’s occurring now.

Brazil and America Continue Massive COVID-19 Surge

The proliferation of racialized violence and protests in America has dominated the new stream which in some ways has covered up the continued problem of COVID-19. The pandemic has not abated, in many states it’s actually increased as economies have open too soon.

America continues to demonstrate the A complete lack of preparedness and a problem around public education. Many states have pushed the reopening of the economy prior to the first wave of the pandemic from being fully complete. This is caused another surge which is really the tail end of the first wave rather than the emergence of a second wave. The uptick in cases will continue to proliferate across states who already have problems controlling the spread of the virus. This will lead many Americans vulnerable and it will slow recovery efforts by overriding initial gains.

Not to be outdone there are other countries that have a similar approach the public health and safety as America and the Trump Republicans,. Brazil is now over taking America for a man one of the worlds worst approaches to the COVID-19 virus. Brazil death tolls and new cases are surging at an unprecedented rate and it won’t be long before the entire country will be grind to a halt and perhaps even exceed numbers found in the USA.

Globally the spread of cases has not yet reached its peak in many of the most populous countries including India. Does a cause for concern especially because the numbers in many of these countries are much lower than reported because testing doesn’t happen.

Testing is one of the best ways to track the virus, and one of the tools that Donald Trump is pushing back against hard in the United States. His unwillingness to acknowledge testing is important pales in comparison to his willingness to lower the numbers. He literally came on to the media and demonstrated stupidity once again. He wants to start testing to reduce the numbers because if their numbers go lower than in his small mind that means COVID 19 is magically disappearing.

Americans in particular need to be more serious with their approach to the global pandemic despite the difficulty in economics slow down and shut downs. The difficulty also surrounds the problem of perceptions. Maybe still don’t believe that COVID-19 is dangerous and considerate merely the flu. This type of miss information continues to spread along with the unwillingness to wear a mask in public.

If local cities do not appear to have many cases it doesn’t stop people from trying to live a normal life. The problem emerges when cases go beyond local capacity to adequately treat patients. Then the dominoes continue to fall as chaos ensues and another shutdown becomes imminent. We are in that stage right now as the first wave of cases appears to be picking up speed again due to re-opening too early.

Re-Opening Too Early? Second Wave is Really the First

Now that evidence has mounted and the CDC has changed its tune surrounding mask wearing, the rest is up to the general population. Behavior Has definitely shifted in light of a global pandemic but it hasn’t shipped it enough. The unwillingness for many Americans to self isolate and slow the reopening of normal life is causing massive upticks in COVID-19 cases.

It raises the question whether or not the increase in cases is actually the first wave of the pandemic finding new legs rather than the emergence of a second wave. The first wave has not yet completed and the reopening in many states happen too soon.

The question many have is whether or not the curve has been flattened enough to accommodate a summer surge in cases. We were hoping for a second wave sometime in the late fall but now it appears the possibilities of another resurgence will happen much earlier.

What can be done? For one, the adoption of a mask wearing is a simple procedure that can help reduce the spread in dramatic ways. However, there are cultural problems around its use. White men in particular are unwilling to adopt a basic pandemic response in order to help other people. Mask wearing is not to prevent a user from contracting COVID-19, but rather stops the spread of droplets to other people. The idea of thinking of others primarily is one that is hard for many white Americans to adopt.

The data around the pandemic suggest that vulnerable populations, in particular visible minority groups, or at an increased risk of being infected by COVID-19. Anything we all can do to reduce the spread as economy is open to early, will help us prevent a massive uptick in cases and the continuation of significant deaths in America.

COVID-19 Surges in America Unabated Thanks to Trump

Coronavirus has spiked in America and won’t reach its peak for a number of months. The hardest hit will be lower income Americans who have no medical coverage. All of this could have been mitigated to a large degree had Donald Trump prepared Americans and the healthcare industry earlier. However, what actually happened was a complete reversal. Initially Donald Trump and Republican supporters believe coronavirus was a hoax, but it was not going to be a big deal, and that preparation was not needed. The lack of preparation has led to utter chaos. Because of the lack of leader ship at the federal level preparedness is low. The federal government will not be providing much relief to states who desperately need it. When a leader feels as badly as Trump they try to deflect attention which he has done by saying response for COVID is the responsibility of State Governors.

Unequivocally, this is going to impact trump’s re-election campaign coming into the November election. He is literally killing off many of his supporters. Many red states that typically vote Republican still have not implemented self-isolation policies. Because America did not respond in time, calling the virus a hoax and downplaying its danger, the country will be faced with an unprecedented number of deaths that will likely exceed every other nation in the world.

here are some resources to help you through self-isolation and tracking the virus in your region. Stay safe out there.

Symptoms and Self Testing: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html

Mapping the virus: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Live reporting of numbers worldwide: https://ncov2019.live/data

Always get itemized bills in the American health care system

America has among the best healthcare services and expertise available in the free world. That is if you can pay for it. There’s no other developed country in the world that pays more per capita for healthcare, yet they are also one of the few countries on the face of the planet that does not provide universal healthcare.

Rural Americans would prefer to die rather than pay for healthcare, citing the “socialist” agenda. In reality, the “socialist” agenda is actually a product of a far right-wing agenda that denies Americans basic health services.

So what happens when you do happen to need health services, specifically a trip to the hospital? How do you deal with the massive inflation of prices? Why does a band-aid cost $50? Everything not including the air you breath has a price tag.

Turns out you have a few options on top of your insurance provider. You should advocate for yourself, and press hard to have any bill itemized.

Continue reading Always get itemized bills in the American health care system