Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Oexmelin]

Quite the contrary. The reason for doing this is to make a point about arbitrary power.

[Tamas]

I thought he went to the press.

[alfred russel]

Quite the contrary. The reason for doing this is to make a point about arbitrary power.

How many billions are we paying/wasting to have that carrier task force sailing around the Pacific as a deterrent force? It seems that letting the world know the readiness is significantly lowered is a non trivial problem (if you believe the carrier task force is contributing to anything).

[fromtia]

He got relieved because the SecNav is a total putz who doesn't understand how the Navy works, and because the captain wasn't satisfied by the vague assurances of his boss that things would get done. 

is the current Secretary of the Navy a Trump appointee?

[The Minsky Moment]

He got relieved because the SecNav is a total putz who doesn't understand how the Navy works, and because the captain wasn't satisfied by the vague assurances of his boss that things would get done. 

Yes, he did go over his boss's head to let the chain of command know that he had a serious problem, but that isn't the kind of thing for which you preemptively relieve a CO in the middle of a crisis.  You relieve him like that if you have lost confidence in his ability to resolve the crisis.  The SecNav announced that he was personally firing the CO, in spite of the fact that, as he noted, the CO was a fine man and a great CO.  He didn't announce any actual reasons for relieving him.

It is the kind of thing the Trumpeters do.  Like Trump personally intervening, as Commander-in-Chief, to make sure that some junior officers in the JAG Corps didn't get a trivial medal.  No reasons for doing these things except to be seen as doing things.

Thanks grumbler, I was hoping you would comment.

My sense was that there was a conflict between perception and reality.  I.e. do you risk undermining the perception of readiness to address an imminent threat to actual readiness and effectiveness. The Captain made the judgment that the urgency of addressing the current reality was more important than the possible effect on outside perception. What he forgot is that in the new Reality Show Presidency, perception always trumps the actual.

[The Minsky Moment]

He got relieved because the SecNav is a total putz who doesn't understand how the Navy works, and because the captain wasn't satisfied by the vague assurances of his boss that things would get done. 

is the current Secretary of the Navy a Trump appointee?

The last one was removed for upholding rule of law.  So the new one must have been appointed, presumably on an acting basis like half our current officials.

[Fate]

There will be no service economy until the outbreak stops. If you stopped the lockdowns tomorrow people wouldn't go back to restaurants or start traveling again.

You should know that isn't true. It would be diminished and some people would stay home, but if you really thought that was true there is no point to ordering the service economy closed or to stop traveling.

I wonder if you have noticed how no one else here agrees with you. Your company in the public at large are backwater Trumpist governors and MAGA internet warriors. Just because you're willing to endanger public health does not mean 90% of the remainder of the public will go along with you.

[Fate]

Making the rounds on Twitter - video of Captain Crozier debarking his ship.

https://twitter.com/HelenKennedy/status/1246069318128930816

Everyone in that crowd is probably COVID-19 positive now. 

[Sheilbh]

So disappointing that the United States Navy are deep state Obama holdouts

[Razgovory]

Well, at least he did better than the British Captain Croizer.

[grumbler]

Thanks grumbler, I was hoping you would comment.

My sense was that there was a conflict between perception and reality.  I.e. do you risk undermining the perception of readiness to address an imminent threat to actual readiness and effectiveness. The Captain made the judgment that the urgency of addressing the current reality was more important than the possible effect on outside perception. What he forgot is that in the new Reality Show Presidency, perception always trumps the actual.

The perception vs reality thing becomes even more bizarre when you realize that the enemies of the US knew perfectly well that the carrier was in port in Guam and that they were trying to get everyone off the ship (but could not because the CO lacked the funds and authority).  The only ones with the misconception that the carrier was still fully combat-ready was the US public.  This was all about bad PR, not about the captain violating any regs.

[grumbler]

He got relieved because the SecNav is a total putz who doesn't understand how the Navy works, and because the captain wasn't satisfied by the vague assurances of his boss that things would get done. 

is the current Secretary of the Navy a Trump appointee?

Yes.  The farewell shot from his fired predecessor is a doozy:

"Unfortunately, it has become apparent that... I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States."

[Sheilbh]

In another slightly hopeful peace of news the NHS Nightingale isn't immediately needed:

Nightingale emergency coronavirus hospital may not be needed as urgently as expected
London's intensive care units were expected to be overflowing at this point but are only three-quarters full
Dan Sabbagh
Fri 3 Apr 2020 16.16 BST
Last modified on Fri 3 Apr 2020 17.55 BST

The new 4,000-bed Nightingale emergency hospital in London was opened by Prince Charles via videolink on Friday, but it is hoped it will not be needed as urgently as previously thought because hospitals in the capital are coping better with the coronavirus.

A week ago it had been thought that intensive care units in London would be overflowing by this point, but political sources said they had been told the capital's hospitals were three-quarters full, which is better than expected.

In a highly praised high-speed build involving an unprecedented partnership between the NHS and the Ministry of Defence, the vast ExCeL conference centre in east London has been converted into a hospital, ready to take up to 500 patients in the first wave.

But while the emergency capacity had been expected to be required as soon as last Wednesday, the first patients are now likely to arrive early next week – a tentative sign that the coronavirus outbreak in the capital may not be as bad as expected.

An NHS spokesperson said: "Nightingale London is ready to accept patients from today, but London is currently coping with demand. We obviously can't predict when it will be needed but it's there if and when it is."

Emboldened by the success of the build, civil and military planners are working on building emergency hospitals around the country, typically at conference centres, but also using universities, stadiums and leisure centres.

Facilities are being built at the NEC in Birmingham and the G-Mex centre in Manchester with an initial capacity of 500 beds each; followed by a 1,000-bed site in Bristol, at the University of the West of England; and 500 beds at the Convention Centre in Harrogate.

The SEC in Glasgow is being converted into the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital, with an initial 300 beds, rising to 1,000 if needed, while in Wales 2,000 beds are being prepared at the Principality stadium. It is not yet clear that there will be a need for emergency hospitals in north-east or south-east England.

The capital remains the centre of the coronavirus crisis in the UK, and is thought by planners to be a couple of weeks ahead of the rest of the country, although there are some signs that infections are accelerating in at least one other area, the West Midlands.

Latest figures show that across the capital, 899 people have died in hospital after testing positive for the disease. However, the Health Service Journal estimates the true figure for deaths to be 1,053, once those who died at home are included.

The new hospital in London will have up to 80 wards of 42 beds each – requiring 200 staff who will be expected to work in two 12-hour shifts to ensure patients receive the round-the-clock care required to keep them alive.

The nearby University of East London is making up to 500 rooms normally used by students available for doctors, medics and other hospital staff working on the site, shortening their commute to the emergency site.

As many as 16,000 staff will be needed, at least 500 of whom are expected to be unpaid volunteers from St John Ambulance, with cabin crew and other airline staff from Virgin Atlantic and easyJet.

One of the biggest challenges, however, will be in ensuring the large number of staff not previously trained in working with patients in a critical condition deliver effective care. Volunteers being trained to work at the site have been told they must be "prepared to see death".

If London proves to be coping better than expected, the facility could take in patients from other parts of the country, airlifted in from more remote locations. Nearby London City airport, now closed to commercial traffic, said it was ready to be used in a military airlift or for any other emergency purpose.

With no end to the national lockdown in sight, growing concerns about the lack of progress on testing and worries about the supply of protective equipment, the nine-day build has been a bright spot in an otherwise difficult week.

Charles, himself recovering from coronavirus in Scotland, opened the hospital remotely saying it was "without doubt a spectacular and almost unbelievable feat of work" and "an example, if ever one was needed, of how the impossible can be made possible and how we can achieve the unthinkable through human will and ingenuity".

Politicians have also praised the effort. Boris Johnson thanked everybody involved in the build, which included up to 200 soldiers a day at the height of the work. Earlier this week, Sadiq Khan was given a virtual tour of the site. "History will remember this moment," the mayor of London said.

Simon Addyman, an associate professor of construction project management at University College London, said building Nightingale in London in less than a fortnight was "an amazing achievement, but I had no doubt we had it in us".

The academic, who worked in construction alongside Nato in the Balkans in the late 1990s, said: "We see in disaster zones, the military and civilian groups come together in humanitarian relief. You have to ask, why do we find it so difficult to get construction projects completed on time in normal circumstances?"

Edit: Also I think the use of hat metaphors has got out of hand. The head of NHS London has called for us to "flatten coronavirus curve from a sombrero to a homburg to a beret"

[The Larch]

So apparently Turkey has kept for itself a cargo of Chinese made respirators destined for Spain as the plane stopped in Ankara for refueling...

[Sophie Scholl]

What I find interesting with the captain is that less than a day prior to being relieved of his command, the Acting Secretary of the Navy (is the Acting title and status just assumed for positions in Trump's administration at this point?) was reassuring people that the captain was in no way going to be reprimanded or relieved of his command. That all changed very rapidly. I can't say for sure that Trump forced his hand, but... we have precedent and a lot of coincidence.