Good morning,
After a month of bad news, I wanted to share with you some really good news for those who have been tracking the coronavirus information. And, really, who hasn’t?
Hence, this special Saturday edition of the Texas Minute.
– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Modify your email preferences [[link removed]].
After a week of silence about Texas, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation updated their model yesterday [[link removed]]. The results?
The virus’ peak had been set for April 29 – but has now shifted to April 15.
The projected total deaths resulting from the virus by August 4 had been pegged at 2,704. Now, IHME puts the total death count in Texas at 957.
Meanwhile, an article in today’s Wall Street Journal [[link removed]] points to a new study [[link removed]] from Stanford University that shows infections from the coronavirus were 50 to 80 times more prevalent than anticipated.
The WSJ author, molecular biologist Andrew Bogan, writes [[link removed]] the study “suggests that the large majority of people who contract Covid-19 recover without ever knowing they were infected, and that the U.S. infection fatality rate may be more than an order of magnitude lower than authorities had assumed. Based on this seroprevalence data, the authors estimate that in Santa Clara County the true infection fatality rate is somewhere in the range of 0.12% to 0.2%—far closer to seasonal influenza than to the original, case-based estimates.”
It’s not all good news, as you will see below in the number of the day.
Texas is still closed – and will continue to be for at least another week or longer, based on Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement yesterday.
As Cary Cheshire reports [[link removed]], Gov. Abbott did not present a plan for reopening Texas, instead he announced a strike force of politicians, lobbyists, and businessmen who will develop a plan.
Abbott did announce schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year, but says retail operations can now resume if they adhere to curbside pick up or “to go” models. State parks will reopen on Monday, provided you wear a mask [[link removed]]. No word on churches.
Mark your calendar, the governor said he’d have more plans to announce on Monday, April 27.
And finally... State Sen. Bob Hall writes [[link removed]] that a new directive from the Texas Medical Board divides sick Texans into two classes: “First-Class Medical Citizens – Chinese COVID-19 patients; and Second-Class Medical Citizens – Everybody else.”
“Unless the medical board prescribes for itself a good dose of reality and common sense, you are going to have to wait until you catch the virus if you want medical treatment anytime in the foreseeable future.” – Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) [[link removed]] Number of the Day
1,244,238
Number of Texans who have filed “COVID-19 Unemployment Claims” with the Texas Workforce Commission [[link removed]], as of yesterday (4/17/2020).
NOTE: The Texas Minute will return on Tuesday, April 21.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Case Data
Current as of 8:00am, 4/18/2020
Texas Data
Population: 28,995,881
Reported Cases: 17,371
Patients Recovered: 4,190
Total Fatalities: 428
Sources: Texas State Department of Health Services;
coronavirustracker.us
Federal Data
Population: 328,239,523
Reported Cases: 661,712
Patients Recovered: 42,154
Total Fatalities: 33,049
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
coronavirustracker.us
IHME Projections
Peak Resource Use:
US: April 14
TX: April 15
Fatalities by 8/4/2020
US: 60,308
TX: 957
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Influenza Data; 2017-18*
Total U.S. Cases (estimated): 45 million
Total U.S. Hospitalizations: 810,000
Total U.S. Fatalities: 61,000
* Most recent available.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [[link removed]]
Your Federal & State Lawmakers
U.S. Senator
John Cornyn - R
(202) 224-2934
U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz - R
(202) 224-5922
Governor of Texas
Greg Abbott - R
(512) 463-2000
Lt. Governor
Dan Patrick - R
(512) 463-0001
U.S. House, District
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Texas Senate, District
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Texas House, District
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CEO, Empower Texans
Texas Scorecard & Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
www.EmpowerTexans.com
www.TexasScorecard.com
(888) 410-1836
PO Box 248, Leander, TX 78646
PO Box 700981, Dallas, TX 75370
PO Box 12862, Odessa TX 79768 The Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day that we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is produced on week days and distributed at 6 a.m. (though I'll probably take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).
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