Biden calls out Trump for testing his staff while telling Americans testing isn't necessary
By: Annie Linskey (MSN)
President Joe is using science to divide us without understanding or explaining the science. Joe Biden highlights testing being done in the White House but ignores that everyone is being tested every day. A single test doesn't accomplish much. That's what the testing regime for the White House shows.
How often should everyone be tested? People who test negative must be retested until a positive result is obtained. To have any value everyone would need to be tested on a regular schedule. And the nasal swab sampling certainly can't be done while social distancing. Performing the sampling and testing involves some risk, too.
The nasal swab and genetic test for an active infection does work. But it's the wrong type of test for medical response or planning. A positive result doesn't provide useful information for treatment or therapies; the best available medical protocol is to treat symptoms. A negative result doesn't indicate if an individual is still at risk or has developed immunity. And a negative result means the individual would need to be tested on a regular schedule.
President Joe has jumped the shark for political purposes. Joe Biden is misusing science to score political points, that's all. Does Joe Biden understand the science? Or does Joe Biden care more about making a political attack than he cares about science?
Joe Biden is peddling snake oil. That's not leadership; that's just politics.
Former vice president Joe Biden launched a fresh line of attack against President Trump on Monday, criticizing the president for offering coronavirus tests to his staff while telling Americans that testing isn't important.
"If Trump and his team understand how critical testing is to their safety — and they seem to, given their own behavior — why are they insisting that it's unnecessary for the American people?" Biden wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post.
Biden returned to the theme later in the piece, writing, "Instead of once again seeking to divide us, Trump should be working to get Americans the same necessary protections he has gotten for himself."
Last week, Trump said that testing is not necessary to safely end virus-related restrictions to life and work in the country, dismissing the advice of health experts, scientists and even some Republican allies.
He has also focused on the optics, noting that more testing would probably lead to increases in the official count of infected Americans. "In a way, by doing all of this testing we make ourselves look bad," Trump said last week.
The president receives a daily test for the virus, as do the top aides who come in regular contact with him. Two White House aides recently tested positive for the virus, which Trump has pointed to as evidence that testing is not worthwhile.
"This is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great," Trump said Friday. "The tests are perfect, but something can happen between the test where it's good and then something happens and all of a sudden — she [the aide] was tested very recently and tested negative and today I guess for some reason she tested positive."
In a statement, White House spokesman Judd P. Deere defended that administration's testing response. "The United States has done more than double the number of tests of any country in the world," he said. "We are the global leader in testing capacity and continue to work with governors to ensure they have enough capacity for a safe, responsible reopen."
The United States has performed about 6 million tests in the past few months but has tested a significantly smaller percentage of the population than many other countries.
About 300,000 tests are being conducted each day throughout the country. Researchers at Harvard University have said we would need to conduct about 5 million tests a day by June — and 20 million a day by July — to safely return to normal life.
Sean Sullivan and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
We can test hundreds of millions of people every day. What would that accomplish?
Yep, that's what President Joe is advocating. The pointing finger should be a registered trademark for the Democratic Party.
At least we now know for sure that President Joe will only use science for political purposes. Science doesn't serve the public; science only serves those who own the science. Just ask Gilead Sciences, Inc.
It's all about political personal gain. The "Folks" just have to "Grin and Bear It " !
It would reveal clusters. That would be helpful.
Think we don't know where the hot spots are already?
How would that be helpful?
It's like scanning a computer for a specific virus. If the scan result is negative then the computer is still at risk; the scan needs to be repeated on a regular schedule. If the virus is found on the computer, the only thing that can be done is disconnect the computer from the internet and networks to prevent spreading the virus to other computers. There isn't any method available to remove the virus so the computer must be isolated.
However, the computer can become infected and spread the virus between scans. The time lag in the scanning method does not prevent spread of the virus. That's the wrong test for what is needed. What is needed is a diagnostic that detects the virus in real time.
We can be proactive and disconnect all computers from the internet and networks which would stop spread of the virus. But the virus is still out there. Reconnecting the computer to the internet and networks in the future will again place the computer at risk. Proactive isolation doesn't prevent spread of the virus sometime in the future.
So, what has all the scanning and isolation accomplished? We've only kicked the can down the road. The hope is that a means of removing the computer virus can be developed and deployed. But obtaining the cure requires reconnecting to the internet and networks which places the computer at risk. The risk doesn't change no matter what is done.
How many test kits do we have? How many did we start with?
No more outcry for ventilators?
And with 327 million "computers" that would take a lot of scans!
That would let us know who needs to be quarantined to stop the virus spreading to health compromised people like my mother and my father-in-law. But some people just don't seem to give a fuck if they die so long as Trump looks good and the rich get paid.
Really, so the test methods are accurate?
But some people just don't give a fuck about reality so long as they get that D into office at any cost. Not that they will change one damn thing that is being done. Just turn up the volume on the Trump bashing; patch things up as quickly as they can with China; and not learn one damn thing to prepare for the next pandemic.
Then quarantining health compromised individuals achieves the same objective. Protecting health compromised people requires isolating and segregating them from the general population.
The argument for quarantine is really advocating for segregation into gated communities. Gated communities really do isolate people from the general population. Gated communities work.
Unless you put them in a "bubble chamber" it does not. Those compromised individuals still interact with others who may interact with a asymptomatic carrier.
How should I know? If testing isn't accurate, wouldn't that be another fault of this Administration?
Sounds about right for the Trump Humpers trying to distract from the fact their Emperor is naked.
Interacting with others is not a quarantine.
Since we can't know with certainty (even with testing) who is infected then those that are health compromised will always be at greater risk any time they interact with others.
The effective means of protecting those who are health compromised is to place them in a "bubble chamber" and avoid interacting with others. There isn't any way to establish herd immunity. So, the risk to those who are health compromised doesn't change by forcing those at lower risk to self isolate. In fact, forcing everyone to isolate prolongs the risk for the health compromised because that delays establishing herd immunity.
Even if a vaccine were available today, it would require months to inoculate everyone. And we haven't any idea if the vaccine would be 100 pct effective. The health compromised may be prevented from being inoculated due to their health condition, too. Since the SARS-CoV-2 virus is now a human pathogen, the risk is never going away for those with compromised health.
Testing is not certainty but it would be far better than not testing. It gives us data to make better choices. No testing is pissing in the dark.
At this time we don't know herd immunity is possible. Nor do we know if a vaccine will prove effective. There is some possible treatments for the worst patients but even those are still in testing phases. This should elicit caution on any plans to open economies full steam ahead.
Right, so Trump is in charge of what test is administered. He is no more in charge of that then he is in charge of what flu vaccine is used every year. Talk to the CDC about the shitty testing kits.
Sounds perfect coming from TDS driven fools that can't admit it doesn't matter who is in charge. Biden and the Democrats have no damn ideas of how to fight, contain, or restart the economy. Trump's plan is their plan- they just claim they can enact it better. They have no plans of holding China accountable; no plans of how to get a program in place for the next pandemic; and no plans about how to get essential goods needed to combat the next pandemic to be manufactured in the US. All they have is bash Trump, bash Trump some more, and keep bashing Trump.
But Trruuummmppppp!!!!!! Is not a plan.
Yes, there are no treatments or vaccines available. The only practical means of reducing risk is basic hygiene. And the general public appears to be having great difficulty practicing basic hygiene. That's a problem that can only be addressed with education. Lack of basic health education, as preparation for pandemic, has become too evident to gloss over. The response to the pandemic was predisposed to fail because basic health education hasn't been a priority.
The health compromised must always be cautious. Their health condition imposes limitations that cannot be overcome with social engineering. Social distancing cannot protect those with compromised health. But that was not the intent of social distancing measures. The purpose of social distancing was to slow the spread of the virus to avoid overwhelming the limited medical delivery system (now we know, extremely limited).
The idea behind social distancing wasn't to protect people; the idea was to protect hospitals.
Nothing, and they know it.
Targeted testing is the best option and only option.
Essential personnel need to be tested. Sorry for the demented left but White House staff and personnel are essential. Same with the military, hospital & nursing home staff, and those that maintain electrical, communication, and other essential operations.
After that those who are at the highest risk would be tested; which means the elderly.
If we had been prepared for this we would have shut down all travel into the US with mandatory testing at point of origin with a two to three week waiting period in isolation before being allowed to travel into the country. But considering the left's screams of racism from Trump's partial travel ban from China; that will never be implemented for future outbreaks.
I am surprised they allowed Biden a brief respite from his basement hideaway to get this out. With how coherent it is, he had a ghost writer do it and just signed his name to it.
That seems to be the ONLY thing Trumpland can cite when it comes to mitigation. They also should have begun preparing for the needs of a pandemic, you know, things like PPE, ventilators, medicines, hospital beds, guidelines, getting expert teams in place to deal with a NATIONAL disaster. Usually when something impacts the whole country it is a national issue and they provide a national response. With republicans we see how their distaste of government makes it impossible for them to use the government resources to help bring the entire country together and focus on our solidarity. Instead the feds made the states compete and then came in and stole the PPE from out from under the states.
Even recognizing that need glosses over that the individuals need to be tested on a regular schedule. One test doesn't accomplish anything.
How often should everyone be tested? Hourly? Daily? Weekly? Proposing that we create testing capacity to accommodate hundreds of millions of people every day or every week is unrealistic.
We need a better test. We don't need more capacity for the wrong type of test.
That ignores that PPE, ventilators, and medicines in storage have a shelf life and become outdated.
Instead of warehouses full of deteriorating supplies, what the country needs is a manufacturing base that can produce what is needed in times of emergency. We need more factories, not more warehouses.
Until governors begin dictating what the Federal response should be and what is best for the country. New York is an exceptional case that is not representative of the country. State governors can maintain warehouses of supplies, too.
States compete with each other all the time. States poach jobs and businesses from other states. States manipulate taxes, regulations, and subsidies to compete with other states.
Is it time to abolish state governments?
That's already in place with the requirement for FDA approval. Tests and treatments must comply with FDA requirements and be scrutinized by FDA review before becoming available for use. The CDC and FDA already have the lead role in approval of tests and treatments. The pandemic hasn't changed the role of the CDC and FDA.
But the CDC and FDA have not been responsible for deploying and distributing approved tests and treatments. That has been the role of manufacturers, distributors, and healthcare providers. The Federal government does not maintain a supply chain to deliver and distribute approved tests and treatments.
The states are collecting the data and determining need; the Federal government is not. Placing responsibility for deploying resources at the Federal level includes Federal prioritizing which needs will be met. And the states would be required to conform to Federal priorities.
As is declaring a failure by comparison with other countries. The comparison is meaningless for claiming success or failure.
Obama administration left a detailed pandemic playbook. And maybe the states could have begun sooner if Trump hadn't ignored and tried to deny any upcoming pandemic problems for so long. Also, WTF was Trump doing for 3 years? Oh yea, cutting the budget, sacking the pandemic experts.
No, it doesn't. First of all, republicans have been cutting the budget for years under Obama. Second, Trump has had 3 years to address the issue and so did the gop and what did they do? Make it worse, cut, cut, cut, sack, sack, sack. And then when you get the intel months before it becomes obvious, pay the fuck attention to it. All this defense of a moron who doesn't have the brains to process his daily briefs is pathetic. Trump is still lying every day about this. 'But Obama' won't cut it.
Oh, and this is the UNITED States of America. This a NATIONAL pandemic. And in what freaking universe is it a good thing for states to compete with the world and each other AND THE FEDERAL GOV'T? Now the costs are infinitely higher and we all get to pay. Are you serious? If you don't believe in a federal gov't, don't fucking run for a federal office.
Correct, and with the limited number of testing kits only essential personnel and those at very high risk need to be tested. Those at very high risk need to be fully quarantined; with those caring for them receiving the test. Better still the health care providers should be fully quarantined with those they care for to ensure all of their safety. Pretty sure that type of draconian measure would not be tolerated well.
Never claimed it to be. A mathematics expert could figure it out better than I for how often. Given that the test kit has 70% correct (same as the common flu test kit); it would have to be several times a week.
Good luck with that. It will take about as long to come up with an accurate test as it will to find a vaccine or cure. We were caught flat footed. We learned nothing from the last two pandemics. With the political fighting over this one we will not learn anything again. Maybe the next pandemic will wipe enough out to force us to hold our politicians at all levels responsible.
Yes, Obama punted the ball to the state and local governments. Trump is following that playbook. The same way Obama followed Bush Jr's playbook for the Gulf Oil Spill. So Obama deserves some of the blame.
Ignoring that many Democrats downplayed the threat as well. More TDS driven drivel.
No, Trump was bringing departments back in line to what their budgets were. You are forgetting that Congress controls the purse strings. Trump can't help Obama went hog wild increasing the size of government with no damn way to pay for it.
But Trruuummmppppp!!!!!!! Damn this is getting old.
Flat footed? The SARS-CoV-2 virus is new, novel, and never before seen in humans. From the beginning the experts have told us they don't know anything; making it necessary to collect data and obtain knowledge. We have been relying on planning to respond to an influenza pandemic.
The nasal swab and genetic sequencing test was put in place to monitor influenza outbreaks. Typically the CDC performs about a million tests throughout the flu season. The purpose of the testing has been to collect epidemiology data and assess the effectiveness of vaccines. The system of testing was never intended to be used for diagnostic purposes. Diagnostic testing has been performed by private laboratories; not by the CDC.
A serious flaw in the planning for pandemic has been that the general population doesn't seem to understand basic hygiene. Health education in public schools was also meant to prepare for pandemic. A lot of the planning depends upon the general population knowing how to adapt behavior and take basic measures to slow spread of disease and protect themselves. The general population isn't on the front line, they are the front line of a pandemic. Don't underestimate how many deaths have been caused by ignorance of basic hygiene in the general population.
And Democrats have been diverting the budget away from supporting the necessary infrastructure to produce supplies during time of crisis. Amazon is only a distributor; Amazon is not a supplier. Democrats throwing more money at distributors won't increase supply.
Democrats throwing public money at the emergency only spurs profiteering. That will likely help Democrats skim political donations but it doesn't accomplish anything responding to an emergency.
Manufacturing really is a matter of national security.
That's just another argument to socialize costs while privatizing profits. Why is it always a national problem when New York's Wall Street screws the pooch? New York has a monopoly on finance and reaps the rewards of that monopoly. New York City has become wealthy by gambling with other people's money. The Federal Reserve is headquartered in New York; not Washington D.C.
New York controls the finance of the country. Let New York bail every one out.
Republicans throw money at the corporate elite with no strings attached. Trump wants to spend money on a wall and paint it black. Took money from other areas to pay for it, including from veterans. They always allow privatization of the profits and WE are stuck when they socialize the costs and damage from screw ups they cause themselves.
This notion the federal government isn't responsible for national disasters is ludicrous. And stop glossing over the higher costs for necessary equipment. The feds are able to compete in the world for the nation at a lower cost and more effectively. How the hell does it make sense for every state to compete with each other, the feds, the world? Why is paying more a better thing.
The democrats aren't the ones diverting money from infrastructure, the gop won't fund it! They had full control for 2 years and NOTHING. And dems aren't the ones making it more attractive for companies to take their manufacturing elsewhere. These companies get money from the gov't and don't even pay taxes. They don't want to pay wages. I never said anything about Amazon getting money, don't want them to get any and want them to pay taxes.
You want the states to go bankrupt? Well just wait for that, wonder how that will impact the economy.
Most Americans won't go back to normal unless they feel safe doing so. All the 'opening' won't be successful if the result is killing grandma or your baby with compromised health. They are likely to stay home until all the magas go out and take care of that herd immunity first. Go kill off their own families and look fantastic with that new weave and haircut at grans virtual memorial. And hope one of their kids doesn't get sick.
Remind me how the gop is the party of life again.
Cuomo did a nice job of explaining how ridiculous it is/was for our states to compete for desperately needed items, thus driving up the costs significantly as we compete against OTHER AMERICANS to get the same Shit the Federal Government could get at a significant DISCOUNT instead, as it would be bought in tremendous bulk, but, Trump wants NO LIABILITY, all while he has this tremendously never seen before very Strong
ABILITY TO LIE, and this DISABILITY costs US A LL, and WHY and what the FCK FOR ?
You will never get over your most favorite lie will you??? Trump DID NOT TAKE MONEY FROM THE VA FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALL.
You have been given link after link after link after link PROVING he did not. When is it going to sink in?
Interesting a vanity border wall is important enough to rate a national emergency. The deaths of tens of thousands of Americans due to Covid, not so much. Also the biggest threat to veterans are the gop attempts to privatize their medical care.
You can pretend this vanity wall is not taking money from the military, which includes veterans. But its a lie. Even when things aren't literally spelled out, their actions speak loudly. How about this, paying over 500 million to paint the fucker black? Where is that money coming from?
Why don't you explain why cuts to the military don't impact veterans. And why the hell Mexico isn't paying for it like Trump promised.
So, the biggest concern is about the money? That's not too surprising considering what Bill Clinton did to the Democratic Party and the country.
A wall along the entire southern border would cost less than a single carrier battle group or a Hubble space telescope program. A wall would cost less than the last Wall Street bailout presided over by President Obama. The Federal government has thrown trillions (with a T) at saving the financial sector.
What does that say about political priorities?
Then why bother throwing money at the states? Since money is the biggest political concern it would seem that the most efficient and practical approach would be to eliminate state governments. Since the Federal government is responsible, we don't really need state governments.
Infrastructure is more than just roads and bridges. Democrats seem to have embraced the idea that the middle class are brawny men with shovels. Building another Hoover dam won't create jobs as happened 90 years ago.
The manufacturing base is also infrastructure that allows the United States to respond to emergencies. Without that industrial infrastructure, the United States doesn't have the ability to produce disposable masks and plastic aprons when the need arises. Hand sanitizer and toilet paper must be manufactured. The shortages we've experienced are a direct result of deterioration of our industrial infrastructure. Thanks to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, the brothers from different mothers.
But that will become a normal. What is normal has always changed after a crisis. The general public doesn't want social distancing to become normal. The general public are ready to establish a different normal than social distancing. Social distancing hasn't eliminated the risk; the risk remains the same no matter what is done.
Hmmm. We are already the world leader in testing. We've performed almost twice as many tests as any other country. Isn't that how Covid analysis is done?
Yesterday Trump said we have the "best" coronavirus death rate in the world.
What was his standard? This chart is from today, and the column on the far right is covid deaths per 100,000 population
stats are , today, from Johns Hopkins
Those tables provide clear evidence that government response for smaller population size has been more effective. The data suggests that the response in the United States would be more effective at the state and local level rather than at the Federal level. We should be demanding that state and city governments be in charge of responding to the pandemic. The numbers don't lie and that's what the numbers are telling us.
The data in the provided tables confirm that President Joe demanding a national response has gotten it wrong. Joe Biden doesn't know how to handle a pandemic.
I expect that many of these small countries have inaccuracies in their reporting.
But there is no scenario on these charts where the US has the "best" (smallest) death rates.
Trump should stop lying.
Which means what? Better data doesn't change the fact that the tables show that a government response for smaller populations has been most effective.
The tables really do indicate that the response in the United States should be managed by state and local governments; not by the Federal government.
And the partisan airheads should stop twisting the data into a lie. The partisan demand has been for a more intrusive Federal response. But the data shows that is the least effective approach.
What other country has mobilized its manufacturing base to meet the demands for supplies? What other country has fast tracked development of treatments and vaccines?
Body bag politics doesn't provide an adequate understanding of how the United States has responded. The United States really has done well at responding to the pandemic without imposing police-state measures onto the country. The United States really has achieved the lowest fatality rate while protecting the most freedom than any other country. President Trump could have imposed martial law onto the country instead to requiring the states that manage their own response. President Trump could have isolated New York with military check points and forced quarantine, as was done in China.
The United States is still a free, democratic country in the midst of pandemic. That's an extraordinarily great accomplishment.
Trump untruths just keep on coming.
In raw numbers, the United States has tested more people than any other individual country — but nowhere near more than “every country combined” or, as he said in his tweet, more than “all major countries combined.”
He also said anyone who wants to be tested can be. In reality, they want to only test people for now exhibiting signs and symptoms.
Biden’s rant is just a political speech from a candidate and it’s full of misleading lies and half-truths. He is completely misrepresenting how and when testing is desired, necessary, or useful.
And more than likely written by somebody else. The man has been out of touch with basic sh!t let alone what the country needs.