53 Comments - Perrid - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:04 am: It’s freaking exhausting. The imperial college released another model, accounting for (mostly) changes in people’s behavior and some changes in assumptions based on more data about the disease, and because the new model is less disastrous than the previous one we have Covidiots out there yelling that the whole thing has been made up. It’s infuriating. - Demoralized - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:07 am: This group of geniuses are part of the Covid denial group that is rising up on the far right. - The Real Captain - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:09 am: We need to test more and we need more tests. In McLean County as of yesterday we had only tested a little over 100 people and today we announced our 9th positive. We need to listen to science and not the tin foil hat crowd. - Candy Dogood - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:13 am: ===What they instead appear to be doing is sowing doubt among the populace. === For some folks this is the only kind of “leadership” they’re proficient at. - Ole' Nelson - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:15 am: Mark Glennon is now a medical expert too? Huh, I kind of thought he was a one trick pony with his pension theft gig. - Precinct Captain - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:17 am: No matter how hard they try, they’re not getting a Trump tweet to put on mailers. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:18 am: Mr. Rogers said to look for the helpers… when in trouble, look for the helpers. Yet to see Mr. Glennon or Mr. Skillicorn as helping… in any instance of the state’s crisis. - SWIL_Voter - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:24 am: They need somebody to blame, and they’ll get plenty of assistance in this effort from the right wing media sphere. Top candidates are: Dirty cities, Blue State Governors, the media just wants to incite panic, China and their “culture.” I expect lots more dangerous Sabre rattling at China in the coming months - Morty - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:27 am: Glennon doesn’t need to know anything. He already was demanding the country end this virus malarky and get back to work already. If they were toremake It’s a Wonderful Life I think I have a great actor suggesting for the roll of Mr. Potter. Skillicorn was demanding the state reverse the shuttering of craft stores. I think everyone can see where his head is at. - Les Nessman - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:30 am: I think the entire State of Illinois is in a much better and safer place with representatives like Skillicorn & Wilhour not making policy decisions at all. - Lowden - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:34 am: The growth in deaths from covid-19 unfortunately seems to suggest that the virus was doubling cases every three days, rather than earlier conservative estimates of 5-6 day doubling time. If we have a 0.6% mortality rate and 14-day incubation and that growth rate has not abated, we’re looking at roughly 80,000 people with covid-19 in Illinois right now. Let’s hope all the physical distancing measures, which really started about two weeks ago, slowed down that growth rate. We’ll know in a couple of weeks by looking at deaths. If we’re over 90 total deaths a week from now, not much has been done to slow the growth rate. If we’re at 50 or below, that’s real, material success. - Montrose - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:34 am: “Ok. We’ve got most of the roles in our dystopian novel cast. We just need someone to play the irrational denier.” Skillicorn - “On it.” - Fly like an eagle - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:42 am: Producers of a future “It’s a Wonderful Life” need someone with Lionel Barrymore’s talent, not some empty head who keeps saying “Illinois bad” and “Pensions bad.” and “Bankrupt Illinois.” over and over. - Downstate Illinois - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:44 am: Still it would be nice if IDPH would be consistent with the data they present. Going through the news releases yesterday was frustrating. Would also like to know the number of those recovered. At one point early on we had one recovered case in Illinois now we have none. That doesn’t seem right. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:51 am: ===Still it would be nice if IDPH would be consistent with the data they present=== Totally agree. And, again, I want to see as much data as possible. But I do not want people unnecessarily sowing doubt. - Say What? - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:54 am: I have yet to meet an individual who does not believe the Governor is handling this admirably and the President is bordering on dangerous in light of his lack of a consistent message. The Republican Party is a weaker, embarrassing relic of itself in large part due to the Eastern Bloc Neanderthals and the Carnival Barker in Chief. Global warming is still a hoax as well . . . . . .right? Lord help us. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:56 am: ===I have yet to meet an individual=== I’d say you need to get out more, but… - Coronanon - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:57 am: One of my relatives was notified, by phone, by the local health department, they had been exposed to the virus and needed to self quarantine. Same HD person told my relative “we have xx number of cases, but we aren’t reporting it because we don’t want to cause a panic”. Rural county. My relative has no reason to lie. - Some Anonymous Dude (S.A.D.) - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 11:57 am: Are they tracking how many positive cases have made a full recovery, if there is such a thing. - Frank Manzo IV - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:01 pm: The essentially one-to-one correlation between cases, tests, hospitalizations, and deaths from the COVID-19 Tracking Project is useful. We need more data from Illinois and the U.S., but as of right now there is no reason to think we are any different from the rest of the country/world. I’m not sure why folks want to downplay a pandemic for which there is no current vaccine or cure. Yes, something like 80% of cases are mild and something like only 5% actually require hospitalization. But the death toll is rising by the day. We can celebrate the 98%-99% of people who fully recover, but the steps taken right now in Illinois, across the U.S. in many states, and globally are about saving those other 1%-2%. And with the Illinois’ fatalities increasing by 7 yesterday, 3 more than any previous day, we all need to do our best to stay at home and keep social distancing. - Say What? - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:02 pm: ===I have yet to meet an individual=== Sorry, meant to say “intellectually adept individual” - thunderspirit - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:03 pm: Mr. Glennon and Mr. Skillicorn spreading disinformation that neatly correlates to their worldview? I am shocked — shocked — to find that gambling is going on in here. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:11 pm: Skillicorn is just upset there are no parades for him to march in right now. - Excitable Boy - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:19 pm: The synchronization of the right on talking points is quite breathtaking. - Joe Learner - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:21 pm: Good to hear you have been asking the hospitalization question, Mr. Miller. They do need to be careful calculating it, as I’ve read nationally that some are hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms before getting a test. Not sure if that is the case here. - Amalia - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:22 pm: so much misinformation coming out. the docs do not know if when someone gets out of the hospital whether that person is still capable of passing on the virus. that is, they are still a public health issue. and the president talking about counties with the virus is like people posting on this site who are supporting a losing candidate by saying that the candidate won more counties. People, not counties. - KSDinCU - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:26 pm: Meanwhile, Rep. Chris Miller has claimed on facebook that 47% of tests show a false positive. - Fixer - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:28 pm: If any of them want to shows us in factual terms how the people who have dedicated theirs lives studying this kind of stuff as opposed to being politicians, I’ll be more than happy to listen. But this fake news screaming from the right needs to be muzzled before it kills someone. - Mark Glennon - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:32 pm: Rich, please link to my full article instead of your misleading description. I will have a response for you shortly. https://wirepoints.org/unacceptable-illinois-and-certain-other-states-not-releasing-covid-hospitalization-numbers-wirepoints/ - Captain Obvious - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:37 pm: Doubt could not be sown if consistent, accurate, and most importantly, complete data were available. - walker - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:38 pm: “”Rep. Chris Miller has claimed on facebook that 47% of tests show a false positive.”" He knows this how? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:39 pm: === Rep. Chris Miller has claimed on facebook that 47% of tests show a false positive.”” He knows this how?=== Divine message? - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 12:44 pm: ===Doubt could not be sown if=== LOL What planet are you on? - Michael Westen - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:03 pm: Don’t know if this is what Rep. Miller was referring to, but this article refers to 47% false positive tests done in China early on during the crisis. Not with tests administered in America, however. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/health/coronavirus-tests-who.html - Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:03 pm: There is little mystery here. President Trump has said that governors are exaggerating the epidemic. Trump’s supporters believe they data will vindicate the President. He is their Oracle, and they are his Chorus, in the Classical Greek sense. And yes, making the data public will not convince them. See “confirmation bias”, Instead, the best thing to do, as with global warming deniers, is to try to draw them into conversation about the science. Calling them Covidiots does not help. That isolates them from they science and medical community and deepens their misbelief. A word about Strykers graph: in Illinois the ratio of tests to positives is not 10 to 1. - Mr. Green Genes - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:05 pm: From Wirepoints: “It’s hospitalizations that matter, not the number of confirmed cases that are widely reported every day. Most cases are not at all serious.” . . . “Preventing hospital overload is the entire point of ‘bending the curve’ through drastic social distancing and shutdowns now throwing millions out of work. Nobody wants scenes develop here as they did in Northern Italy where triage forced doctors to decide who would live and the sick were left to die. However, it’s hospitalizations, not number of cases, that tell us about that risk.” Not really, since symptom free people can spread it, hospitalizations don’t tell us the risk. Imperial College in Britain epidemiologist Neil Ferguson estimated 2.2 million deaths in the US without shelter in place measures. University of Washington School of Medicine epidemiologists predict the peak mid April. Listen to the epidemiologists, don’t count hospitalizations. - Jack Sprat - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:06 pm: Sow all the doubt you want. It’s a free country. - Demoralized - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:09 pm: ==if consistent, accurate, and most importantly, complete data were available== lol. You’re sowing doubt with that comment by insinuating that data isn’t accurate. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:09 pm: === Sow all the doubt you want. It’s a free country.=== Lemme guess, you get your “information” from twitter account @fyn5639755 - Demoralized - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:10 pm: ==Sow all the doubt you want. It’s a free country.== That comment fits the definition of a Covidiot. - KSDinCU - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:11 pm: -Michael Westen- Thanks for digging that up. That probably is his source, but he provided no context and no link. He made the claim in reply to a comment, and he has not responded to my request for his source. My husband has family members in his district, and I don’t appreciate his spreading misinformation among people I care about. - Demoralized - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:12 pm: I read Mr. Glennon’s opinion piece and he is indeed sowing doubt by insinuating at the end of his opinion that decisions aren’t being made using good data. Just because that data isn’t being provided doesn’t mean that data isn’t being used to make decisions. And I think I’ll let the experts make public policy on a pandemic instead of the likes of Mr. Glennon. He’s hardly someone to listen to on the topic. - TGIF...nope - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:14 pm: Mr. Glennon, Rep. Miller and others: South Side Bonnie has some words for you, and she’ll share them and more in the alley: https://twitter.com/RicWilson/status/1242563308185673729?s=20 - Annonin - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:22 pm: Add Skilly and the Bond Guy to the EasternBlocHeads who have a long list of freebies and the always charming Rep/Sen Bryant who was on the radio this a.m. displaying previously unknown hospital siting expertise. Yikes. They could have their own think tank. - Anyone Remember - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:26 pm: From the ProPublica piece: “We’re hoping for one consistent dataset, … .” IF a statue / administrative reg had been implemented during the Blago / Quinn era mandating ALL hospitals release such data daily and post it to a DPH website, anyone want to guess what Skillicorn / Rauner / Glennon would have said about such a “mandate”? Would they have supported a claim from a privately owned hospital that such data was a “trade secret” that couldn’t be released? - walker - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:46 pm: Westen Thanks for looking that up. That’s what I should have done - Thomas Paine - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:10 pm: @Anyone Remember: it is disingenuous to suggest that the Governor and IDPH don’t have the data. In fact, if they do not have the data they are incompetent. We already have a law that requires that info to be shared, it’s called FOIA. But it should not come to that. Ohio stated 1% of their population was infected as of two weeks ago. There is every reason to believe Illinois was on par with or slightly ahead of them by that point, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 8% of Illinoisan’s are infected now based on an R-naught of 2.2. - CapnCrunch - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:12 pm: -…epidemiologist Neil Ferguson estimated 2.2 million deaths in the US without shelter in place measures.- They gonna die at home? - Anyone Remember - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:19 pm: Thomas Paine - Law / regulation that requires reporting the data, s’il vous plait. (Has to be reported before it can be available under FOIA.) - Still anon - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:19 pm: The hospitalization rate does not tell you much early on when testing is focused on those most likely to have the virus and with the most serious symptoms. The hospitalization rate will drop as testing is expanded to healthier individuals. In NY the rate was 18% and has dropped to about 12% as of a few days ago. The rate in the US may well be 10%. - Still anon - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:20 pm: Please ask Pritzker why Illinois is so far behind other states, especially New York, when it comes to testing. - Pundent - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:27 pm: =Calling them Covidiots does not help.= You may be right. But there also seems to be a belief that we can somehow reach these individuals and educate them. I’m highly doubtful of that. When you shut yourself off from views or news that conflicts with your view of the world, there’s not much that can be done to alter the reality short of having the disaster land at your doorstep. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:36 pm: Still anon, are you a sentient being? Read up on it for crying out loud Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.