The Dow closed down 486 points today after yesterday’s Election Day rally, spoiling an otherwise nice day by reminding us that the economy the president-elect is inheriting is stuck pretty far down the toilet, and dude does not yet have a plumber. [WSJ]
A staggering figure
A number worse than almost anyone was expecting
This may catch on widely
If this curve is just the first wave
The U.S. is still in the clambering-into-the-life-raft phase of responding to Covid-19, and thinking clearly about what to do is still difficult. This confusion has made it hard to appreciate two facts: One is that social distancing combined with scaling up testing, production of medical equipment, and other countermeasures are essential and must be replicated across the country, intensified, and continued. The other is that if these measures have the desired effect of reducing the number of new cases accumulating each day, they provide only a temporary solution. …
It is very possible that after this first wave subsides, we will still have a largely susceptible population, though that depends on how well the social distancing works. Effective treatments and increased ICU capacity could reduce the demand for critical care, lightning the load on the health system, but again, these measures only delay things.
If the SARS-CoV-2 virus has a contagiousness of three, meaning every case infects three other people, then we won’t get to the end of the epidemic until two-thirds of the population has become immune by infection or by vaccination. Successful control of the first peak of infections could leave a majority (perhaps a large majority) of the U.S. population still susceptible to the virus.
Another productive Trump presser
RBG clearly getting some pushback on her workouts
NYC still short on ventilators
You know Fauci’s a celebrity when…
Americans are doing what they do best: buying guns
Just a tad late on this one
As usual, it’s tight in Wisconsin
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