Cepiaclub Corona Virus Report—USA Status March 23, 2020

The Cepia Club LLC

St. Croix Valley Region, Wisconsin

Website: www.cepiaclub.com

Email: hq@cepiaclub.com

Cepiaclub Corona Virus Report—USA Status

March 23, 2020

Introduction:

As of Monday morning, March 23^nd, 00:38 HRS (CDT), the United States has 34,755 confirmed cases of Corona Virus (COVID19), (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ ). In the lower 48 states, the fluid situation has a rapidly increasing number of cities, counties and full states in some state of emergency, like a shelter-in-place, or non-essential travel restrictions, etc. Restricted population movements of any category seek to reduce the random person-to-person spread of the virus. The same fluidity of events and various population movement restrictions holds also for the in excess of 144 countries world-wide known to have the virus inside their borders. Before the opening bell of the American financial markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) sets to open at 19,173.98. DJIA futures trading at 00:57 HRS (CDT) set the market to open at -750 points.

Events:

During the US COVID19 task force briefing at the White House on Sunday afternoon, March 22^nd, President Donald J. Trump announced the following:

Three of the states with the highest number of confirmed cases—New York, California and Washington—will receive Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] reserve mobile medical centers, with 4000 hospital beds between them, the largest portion—2000 beds—going to the largest state by population, California.

USNS Mercy, a 1000-bed military medical/hospital ship, will deploy this week to Port of Los Angeles, CA. Mercy's sister ship, the USNS Comfort, currently in maintenance, will deploy within three weeks somewhere along the East Coast.

FEMA will distribute from reserve stocks hundreds of thousands of pieces of medical gear, including masks, gloves, respirators, medical containment suits, etc. to the same three states in order to stem and contain the massive infection rates located in them.

Also, the same three states either have or shortly will have an approved Title 32 US Code use of National Guard units for a declared natural disaster emergency. The Title 32 provisions allows governors to mobilize, at Federal expense, the National Guard units in support of anti-COVID19 operations. President Trump declared that the National Guard would remain under the command of the state governors, and that the expenses of mobilization will come out of FEMA and, most probably, other emergency funds. This amounts somewhat to a federalization of the nation's citizens army in the three affected states, but under command of governors working through the National Guard adjutant generals in each state.

The federal government has released food and other civilian supplies from the strategic reserve stocks to certain affected areas, mentioning New York specifically.

In one of the most interesting announcements at the briefing on Sunday, in order to fight the virus and its effects, the president announced a new public-private consortium of academic, commercial and government researchers AND the assignment to the consortium of Department of Energy (DOE) computer resources (without an exact description of which computers). Such computers, with among the nation's most powerful and advanced located with DOE, normally do research, testing, and servicing on civilian and military nuclear power and the DOE's nuclear weapons program. (The Department of Energy, by Federal statute, remains the sole developer and government custodian of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal).

Analysis:

Cepiaclub's analysis of the briefing announcements points toward several short term trends in the US Government's response to COVID19 in the short term:

The Federal government will continue to allow state authorities to enact emergency measures—shelter-in-place, travel bans, or other restrictions—on a decentralized level, according to assessment and needs. Eventually, as the fluid situation has shown this week, such restrictions will continue to spread across the country. This incremental and state-by-stage approach, as we have seen in the past six days, should lessen public panic and disorder by what amounts to a self-and-voluntary quarantine of the majority of the country's population.

The Federal government will work as the financial source and backstop for states and their use of National Guard mobilized assets, and as a supply source for emergency reserve stocks of medical centers and supplies, and civilian food and supply distribution to the places with ultra-high and most critical priority.

FEMA will serve its statutory function as the monitor, administrator and coordinator of the Federal response, but working with the state authorities under the leadership of their governors.

The state governors, as the executive coordinators of their areas, will have full authority to use their mobilized National Guard contingents, and those of neighboring states under Title 32 USC, as auxiliary support to civilian government workers, and to law enforcement and emergency services personnel.

The Federal government has essentially conceded a soft quarantine—led by the state and local authorities themselves—by stages, lessening and easing public fears and rumors of military (including National Guard) enforcement of public COVID19 emergency ordinances.

With the Department of Energy computers now redirected to the scientific front-line in, using President Trump's language, a “war against the Corona Virus,” the Federal government has essentially committed itself and some of its most valuable scientific assets to a “war footing.”

End of Report