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Good Morning. Trump leaves the hospital, but only briefly. He is taking a drug that is used in severe cases. And many Americans wonder why pandemic rules don’t apply to everyone.
The victims of many
Millions of Americans have passed months without seeing any of their closest relatives or colleagues. You canceled weddings and graduations. You said goodbye to dying relatives over the phone.
But when many of the nation’s political leaders gathered at the White House nine days ago to celebrate the Supreme Court appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, they decided the pandemic rules that applied to everyone else did not apply to them.
Some of them mistakenly assumed they couldn’t be contagious because they received a fast-reacting virus test when they arrived at the White House. Others have simply chosen not to think about the virus as it appears. Instead, dozens of them sat within inches of each other, exposed. They shook hands, hugged, and kissed. After the start in the open air, the event moved inside the hall, where the participants continued to celebrate as if it had been 2019.
There is now reason to believe that the gathering was a superspreader event for the coronavirus. The President and First Lady are sick, as are two senators, a former governor, the President of Notre Dame University, and several White House staff, journalists and others.
And anyone infected that day in the White House may have infected others later.
Andrew Joseph of the health publication Stat wrote this weekend that the White House event “features a case study where experts say the government has been ruthless”. The Times compiled photos from the event, with labels that identify many of the attendees.
Rebecca Ruiz of Mashable tweeted in response to a photo of the inside reception for Barrett, “I haven’t hugged my parents since March 8, and they haven’t hugged their grandchildren since then. 6yo really wanted to hold hands with her grandpa on her birthday and I said no, we can’t take that risk. “
David French of the conservative website The Dispatch wrote, “What a stunning contrast to the way so many millions of Americans have lived their lives.”
Perhaps the most poignant answer came from President Notre Dame, Rev. John Jenkins. This spring, Jenkins argued that colleges were morally obliged to reopen in the interests of the “body, mind, and spirit” of their students. But Notre Dame would do it carefully, he promised. When some students broke campus rules by holding parties – without masks or social distancing – and a virus outbreak ensued, Jenkins canceled face-to-face classes for two weeks as a punishment and precaution.
Early last week, before it was clear that the White House had helped spread the virus, Jenkins wrote a letter to the Notre Dame community expressing regret for his behavior there. “I failed to lead by example when I asked all other members of the Notre Dame community to do so,” he wrote. “I particularly regret my mistake given the sacrifices many make every day.”
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Lived life: It was so dominant in 1968 – with an earned run average remaining the lowest in the past century – that Major League Baseball lowered the height of the pitcher’s mound the following season. And he was at his best in the World Series. “My thing won,” said Pack Robert Gibson, known as Bob, after his retirement. Gibson died Friday at the age of 84.
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IDEA OF THE DAY: Closed borders
Many Americans shy away from the idea of closing the nation’s borders. This goes against the image of the United States as a country of immigration. It smells like nativism and sometimes racism.
However, evidence over the past few months suggests that there is at least one case where closing a country’s borders can do a lot of good: in the early stages of a deadly pandemic.
Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Rwanda, Ghana and several other countries in Asia and Africa have lowered their infection rates in part by closing their borders. However, many countries in Europe, North America and South America have kept their borders open on the advice of the World Health Organization – and appear to have suffered as a result. (In the US, Trump claims he closed the borders with China and Europe, but not.)
“For decades, as trade and travel brought the world closer together, contracted public health policies fueled global mass tourism by demanding open borders even during outbreaks,” said a team of Times reporters – Selam Gebrekidan, Katrin Bennhold, Matt Apuzzo and David Kirkpatrick – wrote. “But now it’s clear that politics was more about politics and economics than about public health.”
PLAY, WATCH, EAT, GNOCCHI
Do something easy
Fried gnocchi (purchased in the store) and sauteed Brussels sprouts make for a delicious meal that comes together in under half an hour. Thrown with lemon peel, pepper flakes, and brown butter, there’s no shortage of flavor.
Food for thought
In the Florida Everglades, Burmese pythons up to 20 feet in length can swallow bobcats whole. The lampreys suck the blood of the fish in the Great Lakes. And wild boars cause trouble in the streets of the city from Berlin to Hong Kong. These are all examples of invasive species.
One way to control their numbers: cook them for dinner. There are annual invasive species cook-offs, fundraisers, and roast wild boar that turn what might otherwise be viewed as an unusual food choice into “a civic duty, heroism, even declaration of war,” Ligaya Mishan in T Magazine.
Nicole Kidman goes deep
In HBO’s miniseries “The Undoing,” a psychological thriller premiering this month, Nicole Kidman plays a Manhattan therapist whose perfectly organized life is suddenly shattered by violence and lust. It’s a guy she played over and over again. “I have battled this emotional intensity at times and tried to protect myself from it,” said Kidman in a new interview. “Now I’m where I am, no. Digest it. Maybe I don’t even understand. But always let it flow. “
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