#COVIDiocy

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, June 26, 12:46 pm.
  2. June 26, 3:20 pm:
    • Did you think Pittsburgh would want to miss out on all the fun of a spike in COVID-19 cases? No, of course not.[1] And sure enough, Allegheny County has itself a spike.[2]
  3. June 27, 7:57 am:
    • I was thinking it was the day before yesterday, but no, that’s wrong. It was Wednesday when the Dow Jones Industrial Averages fell over 700 points in response to bad news about an increase in COVID-19 cases.[3] It happened again yesterday.[4] It seems pretty safe to say that Wall Street just ain’t drinking Donald Trump’s Kool-Aid, which is kind of interesting given Trump’s devotion to its indices.[5]
    • On that day also, it was reported that the European Union was considering excluding the U.S. from the list of countries from which travelers could visit.[6] That’s looking a lot more likely now.[7]
    • So after getting in my snark about patriotic hypocrisy,[8] wherein Pennsylvania is one of the less patriotic states,[9] today, I see a story alleging that McKeesport is the most patriotic city in Pennsylvania. There are a few ways of viewing this:
      1. McKeesport is more patriotic[10] in a less patriotic state,[11] which makes this less impressive than KDKA wants to make it seem.[12]
      2. The measures used in both studies, by different organizations, emphasize military participation.[13] Patriotism is defined in different ways by different folks and I would continue to admire Samuel Johnson’s pronouncement that “[p]atriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” except that apparently he was referring to false patriotism.[14] Just can’t find a good quote when you want one.
      3. But finally,

        An important predictor to military service in the general population is family income. Those with lower family income are more likely to join the military than those with higher family income. Thus the military may indeed be a career option for those for whom there are few better opportunities.[15]

        Uh-huh.[16]

  4. June 27, 12:28 pm:
  5. June 27, 10:26 pm:
    • After reporting 61 new cases yesterday, June 26,[17] Allegheny County reported 90 new cases today, June 27.[18] I’m hearing people worry about a return to “yellow” phase, but I’m not seeing much change in behavior, which is to say they really do indeed not care.[19]
  6. June 28, 7:53 am:
    • Perturbed by the spike in COVID-19 cases?[20] Blame kids,[21] blame anyone who’s still listening to Donald Trump—yes, it would seem some still do[22]—even after all the diarrheic bullshit he has repeatedly spouted throughout this crisis,[23] and blame anti-vaxxers,[24] even if I’m skeptical they amount to all that much. But mostly blame an anti-intellectual society where “[c]ollege kids” (they’re supposed to be the smart ones, right?) “are gonna be a little bit more stupid about things than older people, maybe a little more reckless.”[25] And understand this: There just ain’t no fucking excuse for it. None.
  7. June 28, 10:05 pm:
    • Allegheny County reported 96 new cases[26] while Pennsylvania reported 505 new cases with three new deaths.[27] But given the difference in units of analysis, the difference really shows up in the graphs (figures 1 and 2):
      FireShot Capture 182 - Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new c_ - triblive.com
      Fig. 1. Graph from the Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020.[28]

      FireShot Capture 183 - 505 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths reported in Pa. - TribLIVE.com_ - triblive.com
      Fig. 2. Graph from the Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020. [29]

      Pennsylvania is still mostly trending downwards in cases with only a modest upturn recently,[30] while Allegheny County is experiencing a rather sharp spike upwards.[31]

  8. June 28, 10:51 pm:
    • I almost forgot, on June 17th, I wrote,

      On the outskirts of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, near the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge, there is an old, somewhat dilapidated sign that seems to be a relic of something long gone. But it is of the sort where one can change the letters and when I first saw it, it seemed to be lambasting a local politician for failing to fix potholes and abandoned houses.

      More recently, its message has been something like, “Quit Crying Wolf and Resign; Open Pennsylvania Now.” The reference is to Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf whose lockdown seems, so far, to have had some success in limiting the pandemic. But the sentiment is widely shared.[32]

      Meanwhile, six states are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Pennsylvania is not one of them.[33][34]

      I finally got a picture of that sign (figure 3) and I’ve seen similar wording on signs in neighboring counties:
      IMG_20200628_123251
      Fig. 3. Photograph by author, June 28, 2020.

      It’s still there, even as Allegheny County is now seeing a spike in cases (figure 1)[35] and the state is seeing a modest upturn in cases (figure 2).[36]

      Elsewhere, I’ve seen graffiti that says simply, “COVID LIES.” This is what I’m up against around here.

Obamacare

During a pandemic, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to take health insurance away from 23 million people despite the fact it has no substitute plan in place and has failed to get one passed through Congress. “According to the Thursday report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 487,000 Americans took advantage of the special enrollment period on Healthcare.gov after losing their healthcare plans, likely among the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic.”[37] The county in fact led the state, which is to say it had more cases than Philadelphia, and it is shutting down on-premise consumption of alcohol in bars. Bars can still serve food and they may sell alcohol to go.[38]

Tim Elfrink and Meagan Flynn, “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/trump-obamacare-supreme-court-brief/

Pandemic

As the number of COVID-19 cases hits a new record in the U.S.,[39] there are more than a few folks entitled to say they told us so about now. But gee, anti-vaxxers![40] Oh yeah, and the Trump administration wants to abolish Obamacare without a replacement.[41]

Oh, and by the way, there had earlier been a question left over from a study that showed spring temperatures had not very much slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus,[42] specifically about summer temperatures. I think we can now safely say that summer hasn’t done much, if at all, better than spring.

And I better not hear anyone talk about the pandemic as if it is behind us. I have a mother to worry about.

Talal Ansari, “Texas Governor Rolls Back Reopening as U.S. Virus Cases Hit Record,” Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-06-26-2020-11593159630

Michael Birnbaum and Quentin Ariès, “Europe prepares to reopen to foreign travelers, but Americans don’t even figure into the discussion,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europe-prepares-to-reopen-to-foreign-travelers-but-americans-dont-even-figure-into-the-discussion/2020/06/26/6232dff8-b7b2-11ea-9a1d-d3db1cbe07ce_story.html

Teghan Simonton, “61 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, highest in 2 months,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/61-new-cases-of-coronavirus-reported-in-allegheny-county-2-deaths/

Hannah Wiley, “‘No masks. No vaccines.’ Battle is brewing over coronavirus immunizations in California,” Sacramento Bee, June 26, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243381501.html

Tim Elfrink and Meagan Flynn, “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/trump-obamacare-supreme-court-brief/

Annie Gowen, Arelis R. Hernández, and Lori Rozsa, “Young people urged to take virus more seriously as pandemic worsens in U.S.,” Washington Post, June 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/young-people-are-driving-a-spike-in-coronavirus-infections-officials-say/2020/06/27/3654638c-b7b4-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html

KDKA, “‘For The First Time…Allegheny Co. Led The State In The Number Of New COVID-19 Cases’: Allegheny Co. Officials Ban On-Site Consumption Of Alcohol At Local Bars,” June 28, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/28/allegheny-co-highest-case-numbers-bans-on-site-drinking/

Madasyn Lee, “Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new cases,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-exceeds-highest-coronavirus-case-total-with-96-new-cases/

Megan Tomasic, “505 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths reported in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/505-new-coronavirus-cases-3-deaths-reported-in-pa/

McKeesport

KDKA, “McKeesport Named Most Patriotic City In Pennsylvania,” June 26, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/mckeesport-named-most-patriotic-city-in-pennsylvania/

  1. [1]John Shumway, “‘People Don’t Care’: Recent Jump In Allegheny County Coronavirus Cases Linked To People In Their 20s, 30s,” KDKA, June 23, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/23/jump-in-allegheny-county-coronavirus-cases-linked-to-young-people/↩
  2. [2]Teghan Simonton, “61 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, highest in 2 months,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/61-new-cases-of-coronavirus-reported-in-allegheny-county-2-deaths/↩
  3. [3]Thomas Heath and Hamza Shaban, “Dow tumbles more than 700 points as surge in coronavirus cases rattles investors,” Washington Post, June 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/24/dow-tumbles-more-than-700-points-surge-coronavirus-cases-rattles-investors/; Lisa Shumaker and Sharon Bernstein, “Washington state makes face masks mandatory as some states see new coronavirus surge,” Reuters, June 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/washington-state-makes-face-masks-mandatory-as-some-states-see-new-coronavirus-surge-idUSKBN23U2QT↩
  4. [4]Talal Ansari, “Texas Governor Rolls Back Reopening as U.S. Virus Cases Hit Record,” Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-06-26-2020-11593159630; Thomas Heath and Hannah Denham, “Dow tumbles 730 points as covid-19 flare-ups force states to push back reopening,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/26/stocks-markets-today-texas-coronavirus/↩
  5. [5]Associated Press, “FDA warns against using the drugs that Trump touts for coronavirus,” Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-24/fda-warns-against-using-trump-touted-drugs-to-treat-coronavirus; David Benfell, “The dangerous and delusional raging narcissist-in-chief,” Not Housebroken, April 25, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/04/25/the-dangerous-and-delusional-raging-narcissist-in-chief/; Aaron Blake, “The timeline of Trump’s coronavirus response is increasingly damning,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/07/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-response-is-increasingly-damning/; Allyson Chiu, Katie Shepherd, and Brittany Shammas, “Trump comments prompt doctors, and Lysol, to warn against injecting disinfectants,” Washington Post, April 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/24/disinfectant-injection-coronavirus-trump/; Dana Milbank, “For Trump, a reckoning has come,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/trump-reckoning-has-come/; David Roth, “The Enduring Delusion of a Chastened Trump,” New Republic, April 3, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/157154/enduring-delusion-chastened-trump; Aaron Rupar, “Trump and Fox News want to send their hydroxychloroquine hype down the memory hole,” Vox, April 22, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/4/22/21230982/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-trump-fox-news-hype; Anna Sanders and Chris Sommerfeldt, “A spike in New Yorkers ingesting household cleaners following Trump’s controversial coronavirus comments,” New York Daily News, April 24, 2020, https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-new-yorkers-household-cleaners-trump-20200425-rnaqio5dyfeaxmthxx2vktqa5m-story.html; Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, “Health Dept. Official Says Doubts on Hydroxychloroquine Led to His Ouster,” New York Times, April 22, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/rick-bright-trump-hydroxychloroquine.html; David Von Drehle, “If Trump doesn’t like the coronavirus news now, he’ll hate what comes next,” Washington Post, March 10, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/if-trump-doesnt-like-the-coronavirus-news-now-hell-hate-what-comes-next/2020/03/10/e478c314-62ea-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html; Paul Waldman, “How coronavirus has deeply flummoxed conservative media,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/how-coronavirus-has-deeply-flummuxed-conservative-media/; Paul Waldman, “The real reason Trump is obsessed with hydroxychloroquine,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/07/real-reason-trump-is-obsessed-with-hydroxychloroquine/↩
  6. [6]British Broadcasting Corporation, “Coronavirus: EU considers barring Americans from travel list,” June 24, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53161447↩
  7. [7]Michael Birnbaum and Quentin Ariès, “Europe prepares to reopen to foreign travelers, but Americans don’t even figure into the discussion,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europe-prepares-to-reopen-to-foreign-travelers-but-americans-dont-even-figure-into-the-discussion/2020/06/26/6232dff8-b7b2-11ea-9a1d-d3db1cbe07ce_story.html↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “Patriotic hypocrisy,” Irregular Bullshit, June 25, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/06/25/patriotic-hypocrisy/↩
  9. [9]KDKA, “Study Finds Pennsylvania Among The Least Patriotic States In America,” June 24, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/24/pennsylvania-is-among-least-patriots-states-in-america/↩
  10. [10]KDKA, “McKeesport Named Most Patriotic City In Pennsylvania,” June 26, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/mckeesport-named-most-patriotic-city-in-pennsylvania/↩
  11. [11]KDKA, “Study Finds Pennsylvania Among The Least Patriotic States In America,” June 24, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/24/pennsylvania-is-among-least-patriots-states-in-america/↩
  12. [12]KDKA, “McKeesport Named Most Patriotic City In Pennsylvania,” June 26, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/mckeesport-named-most-patriotic-city-in-pennsylvania/↩
  13. [13]KDKA, “Study Finds Pennsylvania Among The Least Patriotic States In America,” June 24, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/24/pennsylvania-is-among-least-patriots-states-in-america/; KDKA, “McKeesport Named Most Patriotic City In Pennsylvania,” June 26, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/mckeesport-named-most-patriotic-city-in-pennsylvania/↩
  14. [14]The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” March 25, 2020, https://www.samueljohnson.com/refuge.html↩
  15. [15]Amy Lutz, “Who Joins the Military?: A Look at Race, Class, and Immigration Who Joins the Military?: A Look at Race, Class, and Immigration Status Status,” Journal of Political and Military Sociology 36, no. 2 (2008): 184.↩
  16. [16]Jason Togyer, “In towns like McKeesport, the future was already precarious. Then came coronavirus,” Columbia Journalism Review, May 22, 2020, https://www.cjr.org/special_report/year-of-fear-mckeesport-crime-covid-19.php↩
  17. [17]Teghan Simonton, “61 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, highest in 2 months,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/61-new-cases-of-coronavirus-reported-in-allegheny-county-2-deaths/↩
  18. [18]Samson X. Horne, “Allegheny County reports 90 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily total for county,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 27, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-reports-highest-daily-total-of-coronavirus-cases-at-90/↩
  19. [19]John Shumway, “‘People Don’t Care’: Recent Jump In Allegheny County Coronavirus Cases Linked To People In Their 20s, 30s,” KDKA, June 23, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/23/jump-in-allegheny-county-coronavirus-cases-linked-to-young-people/↩
  20. [20]Talal Ansari, “Texas Governor Rolls Back Reopening as U.S. Virus Cases Hit Record,” Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-06-26-2020-11593159630; Lisa Shumaker and Sharon Bernstein, “Washington state makes face masks mandatory as some states see new coronavirus surge,” Reuters, June 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/washington-state-makes-face-masks-mandatory-as-some-states-see-new-coronavirus-surge-idUSKBN23U2QT↩
  21. [21]Annie Gowen, Arelis R. Hernández, and Lori Rozsa, “Young people urged to take virus more seriously as pandemic worsens in U.S.,” Washington Post, June 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/young-people-are-driving-a-spike-in-coronavirus-infections-officials-say/2020/06/27/3654638c-b7b4-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html↩
  22. [22]Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey, and Yasmeen Abutaleb, “With Trump leading the way, America’s coronavirus failures exposed by record surge in new infections,” Washington Post, June 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-trump-leading-the-way-americas-coronavirus-failures-exposed-by-record-surge-in-new-infections/2020/06/27/bd15aea2-b7c4-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html↩
  23. [23]Associated Press, “FDA warns against using the drugs that Trump touts for coronavirus,” Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-24/fda-warns-against-using-trump-touted-drugs-to-treat-coronavirus; David Benfell, “The dangerous and delusional raging narcissist-in-chief,” Not Housebroken, April 25, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/04/25/the-dangerous-and-delusional-raging-narcissist-in-chief/; Aaron Blake, “The timeline of Trump’s coronavirus response is increasingly damning,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/07/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-response-is-increasingly-damning/; Allyson Chiu, Katie Shepherd, and Brittany Shammas, “Trump comments prompt doctors, and Lysol, to warn against injecting disinfectants,” Washington Post, April 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/24/disinfectant-injection-coronavirus-trump/; Tim Elfrink and Meagan Flynn, “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/trump-obamacare-supreme-court-brief/; Dana Milbank, “For Trump, a reckoning has come,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/trump-reckoning-has-come/; David Roth, “The Enduring Delusion of a Chastened Trump,” New Republic, April 3, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/157154/enduring-delusion-chastened-trump; Aaron Rupar, “Trump and Fox News want to send their hydroxychloroquine hype down the memory hole,” Vox, April 22, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/4/22/21230982/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-trump-fox-news-hype; Anna Sanders and Chris Sommerfeldt, “A spike in New Yorkers ingesting household cleaners following Trump’s controversial coronavirus comments,” New York Daily News, April 24, 2020, https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-new-yorkers-household-cleaners-trump-20200425-rnaqio5dyfeaxmthxx2vktqa5m-story.html; Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, “Health Dept. Official Says Doubts on Hydroxychloroquine Led to His Ouster,” New York Times, April 22, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/rick-bright-trump-hydroxychloroquine.html; David Von Drehle, “If Trump doesn’t like the coronavirus news now, he’ll hate what comes next,” Washington Post, March 10, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/if-trump-doesnt-like-the-coronavirus-news-now-hell-hate-what-comes-next/2020/03/10/e478c314-62ea-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html; Paul Waldman, “How coronavirus has deeply flummoxed conservative media,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/how-coronavirus-has-deeply-flummuxed-conservative-media/; Paul Waldman, “The real reason Trump is obsessed with hydroxychloroquine,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/07/real-reason-trump-is-obsessed-with-hydroxychloroquine/↩
  24. [24]Hannah Wiley, “‘No masks. No vaccines.’ Battle is brewing over coronavirus immunizations in California,” Sacramento Bee, June 26, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243381501.html↩
  25. [25]Geoff Beere, quoted in Annie Gowen, Arelis R. Hernández, and Lori Rozsa, “Young people urged to take virus more seriously as pandemic worsens in U.S.,” Washington Post, June 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/young-people-are-driving-a-spike-in-coronavirus-infections-officials-say/2020/06/27/3654638c-b7b4-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html↩
  26. [26]Madasyn Lee, “Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new cases,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-exceeds-highest-coronavirus-case-total-with-96-new-cases/↩
  27. [27]Megan Tomasic, “505 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths reported in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/505-new-coronavirus-cases-3-deaths-reported-in-pa/↩
  28. [28]Madasyn Lee, “Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new cases,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-exceeds-highest-coronavirus-case-total-with-96-new-cases/↩
  29. [29]Megan Tomasic, “505 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths reported in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/505-new-coronavirus-cases-3-deaths-reported-in-pa/↩
  30. [30]Megan Tomasic, “505 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths reported in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/505-new-coronavirus-cases-3-deaths-reported-in-pa/↩
  31. [31]Madasyn Lee, “Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new cases,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-exceeds-highest-coronavirus-case-total-with-96-new-cases/↩
  32. [32]Associated Press, “Pennsylvania GOP seeks to dismantle Wolf’s shutdown,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 9, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-gop-seeks-to-dismantle-wolfs-shutdown/; Jana Benscoter, “Dauphin, York DAs, say they won’t take immediate action against businesses that reopen in defiance of state order,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, May 9, 2020, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/dauphin-york-das-say-they-wont-take-action-against-businesses-that-reopen-in-red-phase-counties.html; Ryan Deto, “Photos: About 120 protest in Downtown Pittsburgh, calling for Pennsylvania to reopen during coronavirus pandemic,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 20, 2020, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/photos-about-120-protest-in-downtown-pittsburgh-calling-for-pennsylvania-to-reopen-during-coronavirus-pandemic/Content?oid=17167012; Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf threatens action against Pennsylvania counties, businesses that ignore restrictions,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 11, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/regional/gov-wolf-threatens-action-against-pennsylvania-counties-businesses-that-ignore-restrictions/; Jamie Martines And Tom Davidson, “Protesters in Pittsburgh demand Gov. Wolf to reopen businesses amid coronavirus pandemic,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 20, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/protesters-gather-in-pittsburgh-demanding-gov-wolf-reopen-businesses-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/; Nick Matoney, “‘We can’t do this for another 90 days’: Pa. General Assembly votes to end COVID-19 emergency declaration,” WTAE, June 10, 2020, https://www.wtae.com/article/we-cant-do-this-for-another-90-days-pa-general-assembly-votes-to-end-covid-19-emergency-declaration/32821325; Charles Thompson, “Two central Pa. counties say they plan to reopen ahead of Gov. Wolf’s schedule,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, May 8, 2020, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/dauphin-lebanon-county-officials-declare-themselves-ready-to-reopen-say-they-will-break-from-gov-wolfs-plan.html; Charles Thompson, “A growing number of Pa. counties test Gov. Tom Wolf’s emergency powers, saying they’ll decide if it’s time to reopen,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, May 9, 2020, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/a-growing-number-of-pa-counties-test-gov-tom-wolfs-emergency-powers-saying-theyll-decide-if-its-time-to-reopen.html↩
  33. [33]Lisa Shumaker and Brendan O’Brien, “Record spike in new coronavirus cases reported in six U.S. states as reopening accelerates,” Reuters, June 16, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-idUSKBN23N32O↩
  34. [34]David Benfell, “Pennsylvania gadflies,” Irregular Bullshit, June 17, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/06/17/pennsylvania-gadflies/↩
  35. [35]Teghan Simonton, “61 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, highest in 2 months,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/61-new-cases-of-coronavirus-reported-in-allegheny-county-2-deaths/; KDKA, “‘For The First Time…Allegheny Co. Led The State In The Number Of New COVID-19 Cases’: Allegheny Co. Officials Ban On-Site Consumption Of Alcohol At Local Bars,” June 28, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/28/allegheny-co-highest-case-numbers-bans-on-site-drinking/; Madasyn Lee, “Allegheny County exceeds highest coronavirus case total with 96 new cases,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 28, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/allegheny-county-exceeds-highest-coronavirus-case-total-with-96-new-cases/↩
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  41. [41]Tim Elfrink and Meagan Flynn, “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare,” Washington Post, June 26, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/trump-obamacare-supreme-court-brief/↩
  42. [42]Mount Auburn Hospital, “Warmer Temperatures Slow COVID-19 Transmission, but Not by Much,” June 1, 2020, https://www.mountauburnhospital.org/about-us/press-room/2020/press-release-warmer-temperatures-slow-covid-19-transmission-but/↩

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