Some COVID-19 good news

In addition to monitoring all the newscasts (I accept your pity), I also do a lot of research from original sources.   There is only one conclusion to be reached.  The dominant anti-Trump propaganda outfits seem to be rigging their coverage to suit their political bias.  No news there.

If you are entranced with CNN and MSNBC, you are no longer a fully informed citizen.  You are being taken in by narratives.  So it is with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Based on those politicized media reports, you may believe that COVID-19 is re-surging.  You may believe that we are suffering a critical lack of testing – not to mention protective gear for our frontline workers.  You may believe that our hospitals are overflowing with COVID patients.  You may even think that effective medical treatments and vaccines will not be available until next year.

None of that is true.  There is good news in the numbers and the potential treatments.

New Cases

In terms of new cases per million of the population – the most telling number – the United States has dropped IN THE PAST MONTH from a high of just over 200 cases per day to the current number of approximately 130 cases per day.  That is unqualified good news – ergo it is not reported by the east coast media cabal.

Availability of testing

The media still reports on the shortage of testing all across the nation.  In fact, testing-on-demand is widely available and actually underutilized.  Here in Palm Beach Florida, you can walk into a facility – generally no lines – every day of the week and get a free test – and get results in two to three days.

The politicized scaremongers in the media are discouraging testing by their false reports.  Based on news reports – limited testing, long lines, costs and long waits for results – many folks are not taking advantage of the highly available free tests.  I was one of those.  I put it off until my son told me of the many locations in my area where free testing is available. We went right after lunch and there were no lines.  No costs.  We were in and out in about five minutes.  Oh, we tested negative.   So kind of you to inquire.

I could not help but notice that after MSNBC reported a lack of testing, they moved on to the issue of school re-openings.  Reporting from the campus of Boston University, they reported that the college was going to test all on-campus students every two days.  That is good news – but how is it possible with a critical shortage of test kits.

Convalescent treatment

Convalescent treatment involves injecting an infected person with the plasma of individuals who have recovered – in the belief that their immunity would be portable.  That is common in most similar diseases.  The procedure has been promoted by nearly all top doctors, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The media on the other hand has spun it into yet another attack on President Trump – saying the procedure has not proved effective.  They even accuse doctors at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of providing false information.

They took advantage of a technical misstatement – saying the treatment reduced the death rate by 35 percent.  What should have been said is that patients who received “higher doses” had a death rate reduction of 35 percent.  Those receiving lower doses had a much less reduction.  Finding the right dosage that is most effective is a huge good news story – but the corrupted media preferred to report against the scientists and the facts for political purposes.

New mitigation treatments

Unless you place FOX News or OAN in your occasional viewing habits, you will not learn of progress being made in the pharmacological community.  There is a recent study of a procedure being tested that uses multiple medications over a period that seems to significantly mitigate the effects of COVID-19 to a remarkable degree.  It may – that is “may” – even be curative.  Perhaps the reason the major media is not reporting on this new development is that one of the drugs used is … hydroxychloroquine.

Testing equipment and procedures

While nose-swab testing is moving along lickety-split, there is even more good news.  There will soon be a saliva test that will not require your sinus cavity to be invaded by a cotton swab.  In addition, several companies are about to produce home use equipment that will use saliva and produce the results immediately.  These breakthroughs have been the result of Trump’s “warp speed” program that invested billions of dollars into expeditious research and development.

The ”holy grail” … a vaccine

Under “warp speed” funding, several American companies are in the final stages of vaccine development – as are numerous foreign nations.  It is now almost certain that there will be a number of vaccines seeking FDA approval before the end of the year – months and even years ahead of the initial scientific prediction.  One or two of the vaccines – one from the French company AstraZeneca – could be marketable within the next 30 to 60 days.  The company has promised 100 million doses for the United States.

The Fall surge

The media is playing on the opinion of some doctors that America will suffer a great reversal when we hit the flu season.  They say the normal flu invasion will create a double jeopardy.  But not all medical professionals agree.  Many argue that the existence of flu vaccines will mitigate the problem because more folks – fearful of the double whammy – will get their flu shots.  They also believe that the protective measure deployed for COVID-19 will drastically reduce the infection rate of normal cases of flu.  And then there is a final – and more controversial opinion – that the normal corona flu virus will create an immunity to COVID-19.  This was born out of research that showed that people who never had COVID-19 had T-cells that showed an immunity level for COVID-19 that could only have come from another coronavirus – the common flu.

Summary

Judging from the selective news (narrative) reporting, the folks from the Fourth Estate are hoping to be able to provide Trump-damaging news regardless of the facts.  They are hoping for more cases, more deaths, more shortages, more pessimism and more economic hardship.  Why else do they skillfully avoid any good news – and there is some.

So. There ‘tis.