Senate Democrats, Republicans and the Trump administration have reached a tentative deal on $470 billion in coronavirus relief to expand testing and provide lifelines for cash-strapped small businesses and hospitals, a source involved in the negotiations told the Daily News on Tuesday.

The bill, which is $220 billion larger than the initial proposal put forth by Republicans last week, could be approved by the Senate as early as 4 p.m. Tuesday, when the chamber convenes for a pro forma session.

This could all fall through, of course. It ain’t a done deal. I do hope they don’t spin their wheels over it too much longer, though. People need help now.

Is this what’s happening to the PPE and ventilators being confiscated by the feds?

Newsweek reports:

The United States has fast-tracked assistance to North Korea in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The move comes despite the countries’ leaders stalled denuclearization-for-peace talks and amid strict international sanctions. A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that the U.S. had greenlit the delivery of certain goods to the largely closed-off country in an effort to ensure the country had access to critical supplies. 

BTW, there are reports that Jim Jong Un is seriously ill, and also reports that he isn’t. So take your pick.

Someday somebody’s going to take Dan Patrick at his word.

The lieutenant governor of Texas, who was criticized last month for saying it was worth risking lives to return to work if that meant saving the economy, has doubled down on his comments.

Dan Patrick, who turned 70 this month, faced a social media backlash in March for telling Fox News that many of his generation were willing to “take a chance” and return to work because an economy that was shut down by the coronavirus would harm future generations.

As parts of Texas started to reopen this week following weeks of restrictions, Patrick defended his comments on Monday, telling anchor Tucker Carlson again that the recent economic hardship had left him “vindicated.” …

… Patrick went on: “There are more important things than living, and that’s saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us.”

I wouldn’t throw a victory party just yet, champ. The science guys are telling us that the pandemic is just getting started.

So much for hydroxychloroquine

The Associated Press:

A malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported.

 

Another Trump misfire

Late last night Trump tweeted that he was going to order a temporary ban on all immigration. But now we’re hearing that farm workers are exempt. Somebody might have explained to the Stable Genius that food shortages won’t help him get re-elected. But is there any other immigration going on right now? I can’t imagine anyone in a nice, sane country with sensible leadership would want to be here. See also Greg Sargent, Trump’s new immigration ban is a scam. Don’t pretend otherwise.

The Virus May Be Killing You Right Now Even If You Feel Fine

Not to be alarmist or anything, but medical science is still struggling to understand how the covid-10 virus works. A Dr. Richard Levitan writes in the New York Times about what’s been happening in Bellevue Hospital in New York City. In The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients, Dr. Levitan explains that the virus is causing what he calls covid pneumonia, and that you can have this pneumonia without knowing it.

During my recent time at Bellevue, though, almost all the E.R. patients had Covid pneumonia. Within the first hour of my first shift I inserted breathing tubes into two patients.

Even patients without respiratory complaints had Covid pneumonia. The patient stabbed in the shoulder, whom we X-rayed because we worried he had a collapsed lung, actually had Covid pneumonia. In patients on whom we did CT scans because they were injured in falls, we coincidentally found Covid pneumonia. Elderly patients who had passed out for unknown reasons and a number of diabetic patients were found to have it.

And here is what really surprised us: These patients did not report any sensation of breathing problems, even though their chest X-rays showed diffuse pneumonia and their oxygen was below normal. How could this be?

The doctor explains that the virus appears to cause a slow hypoxia, meaning that the infected person is slowly being deprived of oxygen without feeling discomfort or showing other symptoms. By the time people are sick enough to get to the hospital, the hypoxia is seriously bad, and the infected person is close to respiratory failure. If it could be caught sooner, Dr. Levitan says, a lot fewer people would need ventilators.

The doctor suggests that everybody should be screened through pulse oximetry. That’s the test they do in the doctor’s office by putting a little clip thing on your finger to test oxygen saturation. Easy peasy. People who have unusually low oxygen saturation should be further checked for coronavirus. That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard this week. Of course, this is America, so it won’t be done.

More Stuff to Read

• Female world leaders hailed as voices of reason amid the coronavirus chaos
• The coming GOP plot to sabotage a Biden presidency
• Yes, the government can restrict your liberty to protect public health
• .These People Aren’t Freedom Fighters—They’re Virus-Spreading Sociopaths
• The Right Sends in the Quacks