Trump Death Cult ‘Covid Superspreader Rally’ Coming to Wisconsin, Arizona

You’re shocked, I’m sure: The New York Times reports, Study Finds ‘Single Largest Driver’ of Coronavirus Misinformation: Trump:

Of the flood of misinformation, conspiracy theories and falsehoods seeding the internet on the coronavirus, one common thread stands out: President Trump.

That is the conclusion of researchers at Cornell University who analyzed 38 million articles about the pandemic in English-language media around the world. Mentions of Mr. Trump made up nearly 38 percent of the overall “misinformation conversation,” making the president the largest driver of the “infodemic” — falsehoods involving the pandemic.

The study, to be released Thursday, is the first comprehensive examination of coronavirus misinformation in traditional and online media.

“The biggest surprise was that the president of the United States was the single largest driver of misinformation around Covid,” said Sarah Evanega, the director of the Cornell Alliance for Science and the study’s lead author. “That’s concerning in that there are real-world dire health implications.”

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To those who have been watching Mr. Trump’s statements, the idea that he is responsible for spreading or amplifying misinformation might not come as a huge shock. The president has also been feeding disinformation campaigns around the presidential election and mail-in voting that Russian actors have amplified — and his own government has tried to stop.

But in interviews, the Cornell researchers said they expected to find more mentions of conspiracy theories, and not so many articles involving Mr. Trump.

Trump told Washington Post editor Bob Woodward in a recorded interview that he “liked to downplay” the coronavirus pandemic. The Post has been keeping a Timeline: The 132 times Trump has downplayed the coronavirus threat.

Trump is planning on taking his death cult “covid superspreader rally” to Wisconsin this weekend. Behind in Wisconsin, Trump plans to visit battleground amid COVID-19 surge:

The president is scheduled to make his third visit to Wisconsin over the past couple months, this time in La Crosse and Green Bay — but his visit also comes at odds with the advice of his own White House Coronavirus Task Force, which has just classified the cities as “red zones” in a new report. The report urged for “the maximum degree possible” of social distancing in the state.

The AP reports, Wisconsin sets COVID-19 deaths record as hospitals fill up:

Wisconsin set a new record for COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday and the surge in cases in the state threatened to overwhelm some hospitals.

Health officials reported 27 new deaths, breaking the state’s old record of 22 deaths set on May 27. The disease has killed or played a role in the death of 1,327 people in the state since the pandemic began.

Health officials reported 2,319 newly confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in Wisconsin to 122,274 since the pandemic began.

Wisconsin had the third-highest positivity rate of any state as of Wednesday. Hospital officials in some areas said they were close to being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients — a scenario that health officials have been warning could happen since the pandemic began but that only now seems like it could happen.

The number of people hospitalized in Wisconsin reached a record-high of 737 on Wednesday, according to state health officials and the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Case spikes in northern and northeastern Wisconsin were causing many of the hospitalizations, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Officials at ThedaCare in the Fox Valley said they had exceeded capacity in the COVID-19 unit at their Appleton medical center and had started sending patients to Neenah and hospitals in Berlin, Shawano and Waupaca.

“If it’s growing the way that it has for the past week or so, we’re going to be in a dire situation in two, three, four weeks,” said Michael Hooker, vice president and chief medical officer for acute care at ThedaCare. “Yes, we saw this coming, but didn’t expect it to be quite so rapid.”

Matthew Heywood, president and CEO of Aspirus HealthCare in Wausau, said that hospital has started putting patients on waiting lists, with wait times ranging from several hours to a full day. The system had 61 patients Tuesday who had or were believed to have COVID-19, which was a 30% increase from Monday, when it had 47.

“The problem is, how do we care for you when you have an accident when we have an overflow of COVID patients?” Heywood said. “There’s only so much you can do before you start to overwhelm the system.”

Officials at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay said their facility was at 94% capacity on Tuesday, with 31 patients being treated for COVID-19, up from 26 last Friday. CEO Chris Woleske said the hospital hopes to convert part of its campus into another space for beds and is teaching nonclinical workers, such as athletic trainers, how to deliver supplies and move patients so that nurses can focus on duties only they can perform.

What could possibly go wrong?

There’s been a slight change in venues for his “covid superspreader rally” in Wisconsin. Trump cancels Wisconsin rally amid surge in COVID-19 cases:

President Donald Trump canceled a planned appearance in western Wisconsin amid calls from the city’s mayor and the state’s governor, both Democrats, that he not hold a rally due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

The director of the La Crosse airport said the event was canceled due to a lease issue, not concerns over the coronavirus.

A political rally violated the terms of the La Crosse airport’s lease with Colgan Air Service, which planned to host the rally, airport director Ian Turner said.

“The tenant was notified of this, disagreed with the City of La Crosse’ position, but opted not to host the event,” Turner said in a statement. Kelly Colgan Hammen, president of the private air service where the rally was to be held, did not immediately return a message.

“The tenant was notified of this, disagreed with the City of La Crosse’ position, but opted not to host the event,” Turner said in a statement. He did not identify who the tenant was.

Wisconsin ranks third among states for per-capita increases in cases over the past two weeks. State health officials reported 2,887 newly confirmed cases on Thursday, a new daily record, along with 21 more deaths. The state has now seen 125,161 cases and 1,348 deaths since the pandemic began.

Trump replaced the La Crosse rally with one in Janesville [Paul Ryan’s hometown] about 175 miles away where the virus is not spreading quite as rapidly. He’s also holding a rally Saturday in Green Bay. Both will be outside at airports.

Both La Crosse and Green Bay have been identified as a “red zone” for community spread of COVID-19 by the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Janesville is not on the list.

The coronavirus task force report urged social distancing in “red zones” to the “maximum degree possible.” Trump rallies typically draw many thousands of people, who crowd closely together, shouting and cheering — the vast majority without masks.

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Brown County, where Green Bay is located, has had 9,796 cases and 66 deaths. The number of positive cases over the past two weeks was up 24%, according to the state Department of Health Services.

In Rock County, where Janesville is located, virus activity is listed as “high,” one level lower than Brown and La Crosse counties.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he hoped Trump would cancel his visit to the state. If Trump holds a rally in Wisconsin he should insist his supporters wear masks and not let them in if they refuse, the governor said.

“He can control this,” Evers said.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt defended the president coming to Wisconsin, saying
“We’re going to take precautions.”  “We’re going to make sure we have masks, we’re going to encourage people to wear masks, Hitt said. We need to make sure we’re open and tell people, ‘Look if you think you’ve been exposed please do not come.’”

State and local health officials in Wisconsin have urged attendees to follow local guidelines but stopped short of asking Trump not to come.

The only attendees wearing masks will be those in close proximity to germaphobe Donald Trump, so that they show up in the camera shot. Donald Trump only cares about his exposure to covid, not his supporters.

UPDATE: The Tucson Sentinel reports, Trump to campaign in Tucson next week:

President Donald Trump will make a campaign stop in Arizona on Monday, speaking at an evening rally at Tucson International Airport.

He also plans a rally Tuesday evening in Flagstaff.

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Attendees for the Republican candidate’s rally in Tucson must sign up online. The doors for the rally will open at 3:30 p.m., with the president scheduled to speak after the rally begins at 6:30 p.m.

The registration form for Trump’s rally requires attendees to agree to not sue if they contract coronavirus: “By registering for this event, you understand and expressly acknowledge that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. In attending the event, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, and waive, release, and discharge Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; the host venue; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers from any and all liability under any theory, whether in negligence or otherwise, for any illness or injury.”

Note: The attempt by President Donald Trump’s campaign to shield itself from lawsuits by people who become infected with the coronavirus at his political rallies is unlikely to hold up in court, legal experts have said. Trump campaign’s waiver won’t block coronavirus lawsuits – experts.

The number of coronavirus cases in Arizona continues to grow, with 705 new diagnosed infections reported Thursday, with 24 additional deaths. 5,674 Arizonans have died from the disease, with 219,212 confirmed reports of cases. In Pima County, 78 new cases and 2 new deaths were reported Thursday, for a total of 622 county residents who have died from COVID-19 and 25,706 reported infections.

The public health executive order by Gov. Doug Ducey that bans gathering of more than 50 people to stem the spread of COVID-19 has an exemption for “constitutionally protected activities,” so will not be enforced against those attending the rally, Pima County authorities said.

But Pima County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen “strongly encourages anyone attending any gathering of any kind practice physical distancing and wear a mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Pima County is covered by an emergency public health order that requires face covering be worn when physical distancing cannot be maintained, county officials reiterated Thursday.

Wear a damn mask!