Robinson Meyer
Staff writer at @TheAtlantic. Visiting fellow at @UChiEnergy. Say hi: [email protected], DM for Signal
Last synced from Twitter 1091d ago
Companies Cancel Atlantic Coast Pipeline After Years of Delays
Duke Energy and Dominion Energy are pulling the plug on the proposed $8 billion pipeline under the Appalachian Trail as companies continue to meet environmental opposition to new fossil fuel conduits in the U.S.
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Robinson Meyer
“This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States.”
6d
239 Experts With 1 Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne
The W.H.O. has resisted mounting evidence that viral particles floating indoors are infectious, some scientists say. The agency maintains the research is still inconclusive.
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Robinson Meyer
Important point from this @apoorva_nyc story, which doubles as a summary of the current consensus on transmission: The coronavirus doesn’t seem to act like measles virus, which can travel long distances intact. Covid builds up in unventilated indoor air. nytimes.com/2020/07/04/hea… pic.twitter.com/zbiBMCGhC0
6d
The Week America Lost Control of the Pandemic
Sixteen states have reported record caseloads since Sunday.
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Robinson Meyer
The country’s second surge of coronavirus infection is growing beyond the Sun Belt.
Sixteen states have reported record caseloads since Sunday. Ohio and Georgia are flashing warning signs.
8d
Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should
As states and cities waffle on pandemic restrictions, public health has become individuals’ responsibility.
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Robinson Meyer
Read @julieebeck on how, literally every time you leave the house now, you have to weigh the benefits of the activity, the state of the local outbreak, the law, & your risk factors against what your peers think is okay & what you really, really want to do
10d
Blog | The Other COVID-19 Metric We Should Be Using
Are we testing enough to get ahead of COVID-19? The tests-per-positive metric can help us answer it.
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Robinson Meyer
The “number of tests per positive result” is a useful new metric that makes it easier to understand the pandemic.
I like that it shows why states should run up the score on testing: There’s a big difference between a 2% positive rate and 5% positive rate: covidtracking.com/blog/the-other… pic.twitter.com/4TpaoPiN7Z
11d
U.S. Coronavirus Testing Could Fail Again
A surge in demand for tests is overwhelming lab-services companies, creating new backlogs and delays.
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Robinson Meyer
NEW - from @alexismadrigal and me
The U.S. is again at risk of overwhelming its COVID testing capacity.
One of the country’s largest test providers is warning of new delays in turnaround times.
“We hit the wall three weeks ago,” says another lab exec.
11d
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Robinson Meyer
The problem is, when it starts to take more than a day to get back COVID test results, then testing becomes less useful in a trace-and-isolate scheme. You have to start pre-emptively quarantining everyone who might be infectious, @michaelmina_lab says.
11d
The Second Coronavirus Surge Is Here
The U.S. has seen more cases in the past week than in any week since the pandemic began.
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Robinson Meyer
NEW - from me and @alexismadrigal
The U.S. has recorded more new COVID-19 cases in the past week than in any week of the pandemic so far.
The second surge has arrived. The U.S. must now prove it can contain a major outbreak within the region it began.
16d
Roundup: Trump-Era Agency Policy in the Courts
The Institute for Policy Integrity[[The Institute for Policy Integrity has filed amicus briefs in several of the cases discussed in this Roundup. Policy Integrity did not represent any of the parties.]] tracks the outcomes of litigation over the...
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Robinson Meyer
I’m not sure folks realize how much the Administrative Procedure Act (which is what the Court used to preserve DACA today) is holding back the Trump admin. Presidents usually win about 70% of their cases under the act; Trump has won 7%
23d
The military presence at D.C. protests was disturbingly familiar - The Boston Globe
Being in the streets of Washington reminded me of the occupation I endured as a Palestinian.
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Robinson Meyer
Make time for this, by @abdallah_fayyad: “At one point, the DC police sprayed the crowd with so much mace it looked to me like they were using a water hose. One local police officer, after detonating a stun grenade, threw his fist in the air and cheered.”
25d
Arizona hospitals bracing for crisis as COVID-19 cases surge
With weekly increases in cases hitting the highest level yet across the state, Arizona hospitals are seeing more patients in ERs, more admitted for overnight stays and more needing ventilators.
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Robinson Meyer
“The increased testing alone doesn’t seem to be a plausible explanation of why so many more cases were identified,” Joe Gerald, a UArizona professor of public health, told @pattymachStar and @DevoidAlex. “Finding a positive case is just now easier to do.”
33d
Tableau Public
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Robinson Meyer
Arizona, which is of special concern, is at its all-time peak in the data for tests, positives, and hospitalizations. For the first time since late April, the percent of tests that come back positive in AZ now again exceeds 10%. public.tableau.com/profile/peter.… pic.twitter.com/aAXxeE2aZj
33d
America Is Giving Up on the Pandemic
Businesses are reopening. Protests are erupting nationwide. But the virus isn’t done with us.
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Robinson Meyer
NEW - from @alexismadrigal and me
The coronavirus isn’t done with us. While the pandemic has waned in the Northeast, it‘s only plateaued nationwide—and new cases have ticked up in recent days. Nearly half of states reported 400+ new cases on Friday.
34d
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Robinson Meyer
Yes, the protests and the police response will exacerbate the pandemic.
But cases may have already been rising. Arizona, North Carolina, and California are seeing more cases than ever. The US is now trying to do harm reduction around Covid, not beat it
33d
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Robinson Meyer
I’m getting two good questions about the rise in cases in AZ, NC, CA, and other states:
- Are hospitalizations rising too?
- Are cases rising mostly because the US is testing more?
Unfortunately, we have good evidence that the answer to both Qs is “yes.”
33d
‘Kettling’ of Peaceful Protesters Shows Aggressive Shift by N.Y. Police
Officers have charged and swung batons at demonstrators after curfew with seemingly little provocation. The mayor said he would review any reports of inappropriate enforcement.
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Robinson Meyer
This @AliWatkins story is a masterclass in the oddly underrated journalistic skill of seeing something happening and then writing it down.
34d
Open Letter.pdf
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Robinson Meyer
This letter has been primarily read as 1,300 public-health experts saying the protests “must be supported”—and it undoubtedly *is* that—but it seems clear it was *meant* to be read as concrete harm-reduction tips for protesters and police departments.
35d
James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution
In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.
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Robinson Meyer
“‘The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’’”
38d
C.D.C. Recommends Sweeping Changes to American Offices
Temperature checks, desk shields and no public transit: The guidelines would remake office life. Some may decide it’s easier to keep employees at home.
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Robinson Meyer
The CDC seems desperate here to do everything but straight-up tell employers to keep office workers home
43d
After blowback, Texas admits 6% of its reported tests were for antibodies, not active infections
The state is now distinguishing antibody tests from standard viral tests.
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Robinson Meyer
More on what happened in Texas from @PatrickSvitek, @carla_astudi, and @ewaltersTX
50d
CDC's National Dashboard Includes COVID-19 Data That Expert Says Mixes 'Apples To Oranges'
A nationwide analysis of COVID-19 data released this week shows broad discrepancies between what some states are reporting about testing for the novel
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Robinson Meyer
But the big scoop is from @TooMuchMe, who broke that the CDC was conflating antibody and viral results for @WLRN yesterday, while reporting on discrepancies between Florida- and CDC-reported test counts. We’ve confirmed his reporting with the agency.
51d
‘How Could the CDC Make That Mistake?’
The government’s disease-fighting agency is conflating viral and antibody tests, compromising a few crucial metrics that governors depend on to reopen their economies. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and other states are doing the same.
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Robinson Meyer
NEW, from me and @alexismadrigal:
The CDC is conflating viral and antibody test results in its COVID-19 data, presenting an inaccurate picture of the pandemic and corrupting a key metric.
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and other states are doing the same.
51d