Trumpland May Not Believe In The Pandemic And May Refuse To Take Sensible Precautions, But The Pandemic Is Moving Into Those Areas Rapidly

Kristian Right by Nancy Ohanian

After Trump attempted to label COVID-19 the "Chinese Flu" and then the "Wuhan Flu," he withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in a snit and began pointing out that the worst hit areas were all Democratic-- New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Michigan... It's the kind of "president" he is-- all divisive, all the time.

Yesterday, the NY Times came out with a list of the counties with the highest numbers of recent cases per resident. Of the 20 hardest hit counties, 17 of them are in states Trump won and 11 of the counties voted for him-- one, Echols, Georgia, with 85.6%. The percentage in parentheses next to the caseload is the Trump vote from 2016:

• Lee, AR- 5,533 cases per 100,000 residents (40.6%)
• Buena Vista, IA- 3,682 (59.8%)
• Greensville, VA- 2,076 (39.8%)
• Santa Cruz, AZ- 1,683 (24.5%)
• Buffalo, SD- 1,607 (34.9%)
• Madison, LA- 1,586 (40.7%)
• Lowndes, AL- 1,426 (26.2%)
• Sevier, AR- 1,204 (71.9%)
• Galax, VA- 1,190 (67.8%)
• Chattahoochee, GA- 1,096 (53.9%)
• East Carroll, LA- 1,093 (36.0%)
• Imperial, CA- 1,072 (27.1%)
• Echols, GA- 1,027 (85.6%)
• Yuma, AZ- 1,024 (50.5%)
• Beadle, SD- 958 (65.8%)
• Bullock, AL- 927 (24.2%)
• Nevada, AR- 900 (61.6%)
• Wayne, MS- 852 (62.5%)
• Faulk, SD- 818 (76.7%)
• Wright, IA- 804 (63.7%)

The Times reported that "Coronavirus outbreaks have been traced to funerals, fast food restaurants, cruise ships and Navy vessels. But most of the biggest known clusters have been in nursing homes, food processing plants and correctional facilities, all places where people are packed in close quarters with little opportunity for social distancing. Coronavirus cases have been reported in more than 12,200 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities... More than 260,000 residents and employees have been infected in those homes, and more than 48,000 have died. That means more than 40 percent of deaths from the virus in the United States have been tied to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities."

And then there's the Death Cult Arena in Tulsa that Trump is using to stroke his ego on Saturday. Oklahoma has been relatively lucky with the pandemic-- until recently. Daily new cases have been slowly climbing. Yesterday there were 228 new cases. The day before it was 186. Today the state reported 259 new cases. There were 2,185 cases per million residents. yesterday. That number is now 2,250. It just keeps ticking up. The Tulsa area has been the worst hit; maybe that's what attracted Trump. His rally, which he claims "nearly a million people want to attend" is in an arena with 19,000 seats (and 37 rest rooms). The rally itself couldn't be more planned for disaster if that was the goal.



The hate rally will be filled with screaming fans, probably many most without masks, let alone gloves or anything to protect their eyes. "[T]he rally has public health experts," reported NPR, "worried. New cases of the coronavirus have surged in Oklahoma in recent days, and Tulsa's top public health official said he wishes the event could be postponed until the virus is less of a concern. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is issuing a warning when people register for tickets: 'By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present,' the disclaimer reads. By attending the rally, it goes on, 'guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19' and agree not to hold the campaign or venue liable." I like to point out that their survivors can still sue the Trump and the venue.

There's a reason this event is in Oklahoma, and it has nothing to do with the Electoral College map. (Oklahoma is as red as they come, not even remotely a swing state.) Oklahoma was not initially hit hard by the coronavirus and is far along in its reopening, with no restrictions on large, in-person gatherings. And so the Trump campaign intends to pack the BOK Center right up to its 19,000-seat capacity.

"We are anticipating a very full rally," said Erin Perrine, principal deputy communications director for the Trump campaign. "I mean, we've received over 1 million ticket requests."

That number of ticket requests couldn't be verified, but campaign manager Brad Parscale has tweeted increasingly large numbers of people asking to get in. (The campaign uses these sign-ups to gather information on supporters so it can be used by its massive data-driven voter targeting operation.)

So, no, there won't be room for proper social distancing. Attendees, who will be traveling from other states and standing in line for hours, will not all be 6 feet apart.

And that's the way Trump wants it.

"We expect to have, it's like a record-setting crowd," Trump said Monday at the White House. "We've never had an empty seat, and we certainly won't in Oklahoma."

Of course, there have been empty seats, especially if his speech drags on or starts meandering. But the campaign is setting up a situation where people will sit in every seat and stand shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the arena.

Trump said in April that social distancing "wouldn't look too good" for a campaign rally. What he's going to get is a rally that looks just like old times.

"There is no perfectly safe way to do this," said Dr. David Relman, a professor of medicine at Stanford University. "This virus is really transmissible, and getting a lot of people packed together, especially without masks, but even without proper distancing, just creates a real risk, and there's no way around that."

Acknowledging the concern, the campaign is taking precautions.

"We are doing temperature checks. You have not seen those at protests, where there are mass gatherings of individuals," said Perrine, comparing rally plans to the protests for racial justice in cities and towns across the country in recent weeks. "We are providing masks-- again not something you have seen at protests. But we are providing those to make sure individuals feel comfortable at a rally. And we are providing hand sanitizer. We are taking necessary steps."

That comparison with the protests is something the campaign is leaning into heavily. Trump allies said the same public health concerns weren't voiced when protesters stood shoulder to shoulder on streets throughout America. Trump even tweeted Monday that the press was trying to "Covid Shame" his campaign.

Be sure to catch the last comment from a Qanon Trumpist

"Protests also worry me," said Dr. Ashish Jha, a professor of global health at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

But he added that protests are different from campaign rallies in important ways when it comes to virus transmission. Protests are outside, and people are generally moving around, not staying in the same place for an extended period. "Being stationary and being in one spot for several hours is much, much riskier," Jha said.

There is evidence the virus survives longer indoors than in warm, humid, outdoor air, where sunlight also serves as a disinfectant. Doors open for Saturday's rally at 3 p.m., and the event starts at 7. That's a lot of hours potentially to be near someone carrying the disease.

"Why does he want to subject his supporters to so much risk?" Jha asked.

If everyone wears masks, it could mitigate some of the risk. But while the campaign is passing them out, wearing masks is optional. Trump has refused to wear a mask in public, and polling indicates Republicans are less likely to wear masks regularly.

"You can hand out masks, but if you don't encourage their use, if you don't model that use, my concern is that a lot of people will not follow that public health recommendation," said Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious diseases physician at Boston University School of Medicine. "Which takes us back to the risk of everybody now being indoors and most people not wearing masks."

Dr. Laila Woc-Colburn questioned whether attending the rally was worth it. She's an associate professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine and has seen the ravages of the coronavirus in her hospital. Everyone makes their own risk calculations, but she said for people with comorbidities that put them at greater risk, her message would be to stay home. These include things such asthma, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, obesity and being older than 65. For them especially, "going to the rally might not be the best thing," she said.

"You know, you can support your candidate in many ways, including from your home," Woc-Colburn said. "You don't have to go and do the rally and put yourself at risk."

The Tulsa Health Department director told the local paper that the coronavirus is transmitting very efficiently in the area.

"I think it's an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic," Dr. Bruce Dart told the Tulsa World. "I'm concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I'm also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well."

But the Trump campaign is eager to set up a contrast with former Vice President Joe Biden. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been holding small, socially distant events but has no immediate plans for large, in-person gatherings, while Trump has designs on more big, loud rallies to show off his enthusiastic supporters. The states he has on his list have even higher caseloads than Oklahoma, including Arizona, which has seen a large spike in cases and hospitalizations.

Late yesterday, CNN reported that a group of local attorneys is suing and asking for an emergency temporary injunction-- since turned down-- to prevent the Death Cult rally unless the Trump campaign agrees to "take steps to adhere to his administration's own social distancing recommendations to limit the spread of coronavirus. Citing Tulsa health department statistics showing that the highest new coronavirus case count occurred this Monday, the lawyers are suing the parent company of the Bank of Oklahoma Center, the venue slated to host the rally, alleging 'despite this alarming uptick in COVID-19 infections in Tulsa County, ASM Global plans to bring tens of thousands of people into an enclosed arena in downtown Tulsa for a political rally on June 20, 2020 ... without putting precautions in place to prevent the spread of the virus. As currently planned, the Rally will endanger not only the health of the guests in attendance, but the entire Tulsa community and any community to which the guests may afterward travel. If ASM Global moves forward with the Rally without adequate review, planning, training, protective equipment, and safeguards, cases of COVID-19-- and the unavoidable attendant deaths-- will rise,' the petition states."