Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Global – 54,800,000/1,300,000; USA – 11,100,000/246,200 The surge continues. ICU beds in Montana are running out.. Recent (Nov. 13) NPR interview of ICU nurse in Billings MT: RIHA: We are currently at a critical level of patients in our ICU. So as you mentioned, we're the largest hospital operating system in Montana. And under normal operating circumstances, we have a 24-bed ICU in our hospital. When I left last night at the end of my shift, we currently had 44 ICU patients that were under the care of our service with a very, very full emergency room and likely more ICU patients coming in. In Task Force meeting today, Deb, I (by virtual), Bob sounded the alarm. Mark Meadows blurted out and objected to our call for a consistent message about masks and testing asymptomatics. He feels that no matter how much you test, you still will have outbreak. He got tested every day and he claims to have been infected while wearing a mask – NONSENSE. He was not wearing a mask before he got infected. He has bought into Scott Atlas. This is disgraceful. Deb suggested that we have a doctor White House press conference once per week. I pointed out that we must have a consistent message from the White House. I was not so subtly referring to Scott Atlas saying that masks do not work. PRESS: NPR Morning Edition; New York Times “Dealbook”