San Francisco Bans Reusable Bags To Counter Virus-Contagion Threat

The San Francisco Bay Area is usually ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing environmentally-friendly policies to save the planet. However, city officials banned reusable shopping bags Wednesday as a way to enforce social distancing protocols imposed by the state government to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The reusable bag ban was enforced by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) under a new social distancing protocol that was published Wednesday, which restricts people from using reusable shopping bags at supermarkets to prevent outside germs from entering.

The order says explicitly that store employees are not allowed to let "customers bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home" into essential businesses during the quarantine.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Wednesday said the citywide shelter-in-place public health order would be extended through May 3:

"I can't reiterate enough how important it is for all of us to continue to comply, for all of us to continue to be good citizens, to cooperate," Breed said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/san-francisco-bans-reusable-bags-counter-virus-contagion-threat

Actual Hospitalizations for Coronavirus Significantly Lower than Projections in Model

The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model cited by White House Coronavirus Task Force officials appears to dramatically overstate the hospitalization of patients with coronavirus in the United States when the model’s projections are compared to actual data, a Breitbart News analysis finds.

Breitbart News compared projections of the number of regular hospital beds needed to treat coronavirus patients made in the Friday, April 3 iteration of the IHME model for nine states to the actual number of cumulative hospitalizations (a number that includes current regular bed hospitalizations, current ICU hospitalizations, previously hospitalized and released patients, and previously hospitalized and deceased patients) reported by the respective health departments in those states as of Thursday, April 2.

The results showed that the actual number of cumulative hospitalizations as a percentage of regular hospital beds needed projected by the IHME model ranged from nine percent in Tennessee to 47 percent in Florida.

Even in New York State, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the actual number of cumulative hospitalizations as a percentage of regular hospital beds needed projected by the IHME model was only 37 percent.

These numbers, however, actually understate the degree to which the IHME model overestimates the number of hospital beds currently needed for coronavirus patients because the numerator–cumulative hospitalizations–includes data well in addition to the actual number of current regular hospital beds in use for coronavirus patients, since it also includes current ICU hospital beds in use for coronavirus patients as well as previously hospitalized coronavirus patients either released or deceased.

Data on cumulative hospitalizations in currently reported by most states, while some provide more detailed information.

The Department of Public Health in Minnesota, for instance, reported as of April 2 that 46 out of the 156 reported cumulative hospitalizations in the state for coronavirus are patients currently in regular hospital beds, while 40 are patients in ICU hospital beds and 70 are formerly hospitalized patients who have been released or are deceased.

Here is a breakdown of the actual number of cumulative hospitalizations reported by these nine states as of April 2, as compared to the number of regular hospital beds projected for coronavirus patients in those states on April 2 by the IHME model:

Colorado: Cumulative hospitalizations of 710 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 3,141 = 23 percent.

Ohio: Cumulative hospitalizations of 802 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 2,436 = 33 percent

Tennessee: Cumulative hospitalizations of 263 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 2,741 = 9 percent

Texas: Cumulative hospitalizations of 196 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 1,968 = 10 percent

New York: Cumulative hospitalizations of 20,817 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 56,183 = 37 percent

Florida: Cumulative hospitalizations of 1,215 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 2,612 = 47 percent

Georgia: Cumulative hospitalizations of 1,158 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 3,089 = 37 percent

Iowa: Cumulative hospitalizations of 138 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 384 = 36 percent

Minnesota: Cumulative hospitalizations of 156 divided by regular hospital bed projections of 823 = 19 percent

Notably, the IHME model’s current projections of COVID-19 deaths as of April 2 is in line with the actual number of reported deaths on that date.

Breitbart News provided this data to the media spokesperson for the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Friday and asked if they could explained why the IHME model’s projections of regular hospital beds needed is so badly off the mark from actual beds required for COVID-19 patients up to April 2 but has not yet received a response.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/03/actual-hospitalizations-for-coronavirus-significantly-lower-than-projections-in-model/

President Trump Fires Intelligence Community Inspector General Involved With Ukraine Whistleblower Complaint

President Trump informed Congress by letter Friday he is removing the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, effective thirty days from today. Trump said in the letter, “…it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General.”

Atkinson clashed with DNI Joseph Maguire’s decision to not forward to Congress a Ukraine whistlblower’s complaint in the summer of 2019, with Atkinson sending to Congress himself. The complaint that ultimately led to the impeachment of President Trump by the House of Representatives. Trump was subsequently acquitted by the Senate in February.

“The president has notified Congress that he is removing the inspector general for the intelligence community, the official who helped make sure Congress got the Ukraine whistleblower complaint. The firing will take effect in 30 days, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.”

The president has notified Congress that he is removing the inspector general for the intelligence community, the official who helped make sure Congress got the Ukraine whistleblower complaint. The firing will take effect in 30 days, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) April 4, 2020

SCOOP: Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, who opposed then-DNI Maguire’s decision to withhold the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry.

Letter to Burr/Warner, obtained by me & @NatashaBertrand pic.twitter.com/hBwlR0HCZY

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) April 4, 2020

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/president-trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-involved-ukraine-whistleblower-complaint/

US Army Awards $139 Million in Contracts to Build Care Centres

Four construction companies have received nearly $140 million in contracts to convert existing facilities into emergency hospitals from the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), the Department of Defence said in a press release.

"AECOM Technical Services of Los Angeles, California, was awarded a $58,250,000 modification …contract to retrofit the State University of New York Old Westbury campus into an alternate care facility", the release said Friday.

Turner Construction Company won a $50,500,000 modification contract for work on an alternate care facility at Stony Brook in New York State, while New York Convention Centre Operating Corporation won $15,250,000 to retrofit space in the Jacob Javits Convention Centre into an alternate care facility by 9 April in a third ACE contract, the release continued. And Haughland Energy Group of Plainview, New York, won a $15 million ACE modification contract for work on a similar care facility in White Plains, New York, it added.

New York officials earlier said they need to use the convention centre and build other facilities to handle patients amid the surge of coronavirus cases.

As of Friday, the total number of COVID-19 cases across the United States neared 240,000 and the number of deaths exceeded 5,400, the US Cenres for Dsease Control and Prevention data shows. According to Johns Hopkins University dashboard, over 277,000 people have been infected with the virus, while almost 7,100 patients have died.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202004041078827525-us-army-awards-139-million-in-contracts-to-build-care-centres/