Reopening talks continue, but are we anywhere close to opening up?

'Some subjectivity' in the decision-making, health secretary says

• Joseph Darius Jaafari
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  Joseph Darius Jaafari was a staff writer for the PA Post. His work covering crime, the military and LGBTQ issues has been featured in The Marshall Project, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Atlantic and The New York Times. He is a graduate of the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has produced for VICE and The New York Post. He is a native Arizonan and infamous for his love of tacos.

Yesterday, the Governor’s office announced that it would start reopening outdoor activities, such as fishing, marinas and private campgrounds, to help aid Pennsylvania residents who might be feeling a bit of cabin fever.

This is on the heels of Philadelphia’s mayor, Jim Kenney, attempting to assuage anxious Philly residents and encourage them to stay home and continue to shelter in place, even if the warmer weather tempts people to venture out.

Are you members of The Bangles, state and city leaders? Because you are sending me some Mixed Messages.

In all seriousness, the reality is that Wolf’s announcement isn’t a hall pass to go out and throw a huge barbecue. Rather, if you need to go out and enjoy some of that good ol’ grey Pennsylvania weather, do so — but continue to maintain social distancing.

We also got some more details yesterday on how the government will decide on which counties and regions will start to reopen. Last week, Wolf said that counties with less than 50 people infected with COVID-19 per 100,000 over a 14-day period would be allowed to reopen. We’ve gotten some more clarity on that metric, as multiple outlets have pointed out that the majority of the state fits within that definition.

State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said that people shouldn’t rely too heavily on that number as the guiding light for reopening.

“I really don’t want to concentrate on that metric,” she said. “It is something we put down so that we would have something quantitative to look at, but this will be a qualitative decision with some subjectivity as well.”

Among other factors that will be used for determining what counties will reopen? How many staff are in place to do proper contact tracing whenever an infection is detected, how many hospitals are prepared for an impending surge, and some statistical modeling.

But key to all of this is something that has plagued American headlines since the start of the pandemic: America’s poor access to testing and lackluster attempts to test our population. The Inquirer has more on those details. 

All of that to say that, yes, we got clarity — but it’s still anyone’s guess at this point when and where we will open up first.

Best of the rest

Not so transparent in testing: There’ve been varying calls for Pennsylvania to be more transparent in how it releases and details data on coronavirus testing. For one, the state will not release details of the neighborhood or city where a person tested positive. But that varies widely from state to state or even by city. Philadelphia, for example, releases COVID-19 test data based on zip code. Spotlight PA and Stateline have that story.

Five days: The Appeal reported that it took five days for jailers at the York County Prison — which houses ICE detainees — to test and move an inmate who was showing signs of COVID-19. Since then, six have tested positive, and likely hundreds more were infected. And when the jail released 20 inmates from the facility after the ICE detainee tested positive, none was tested to see if they were asymptomatic carriers.

Self congratulations: Wanna know how often Trump has congratulated himself for his actions? The New York Times broke down every one of his speeches since March 9, and found that: “By far the most recurring utterances from Mr. Trump in the briefings are self-congratulations, roughly 600 of them, which are often predicated on exaggerations and falsehoods. He does credit others (more than 360 times) for their work, but he also blames others (more than 110 times) for inadequacies in the state and federal response. Mr. Trump’s attempts to display empathy or appeal to national unity (about 160 instances) amount to only a quarter of the number of times he complimented himself or a top member of his team.”

A “Kafkaesque” prison release program: Releasing inmates from federal facilities has been slow-moving. U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s directives, some say, are confusing and don’t give proper guidance. And the patchwork of prison officials’ policies have made even judges frustrated. Why is it so broken? “They don’t want to let people out,” New York’s chief public defender told The Marshall Project. “It’s not in their DNA.”

The headline says it all: “Insane Clown Posse Is Modeling Ideal Pandemic Leadership” — They might not know how magnets work, but the group’s members do know that cultural figureheads should simply tend to their communities during this time.

Some non-’rona reads:

• The Trace: He Came Armed With King Cakes

• VOX: Sunday’s virtual Sondheim concert was the most cathartic experience of quarantine so far

• Vanity Fair: (from a friend of mine whose book you should also check out on this subject) “SHOTS FIRED. HILTON HOTEL”: HOW CNN’S RAW, UNFOLDING REAGAN COVERAGE HERALDED THE NONSTOP NEWS CYCLE

• Rolling Stone: How a Snapchat Filter Assisted a Song Up the Charts

• Vulture: Yep, Quibi Is Bad

• The Cut: The Look Book Goes to Freshmen’s Bedrooms 

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