Herd Infection: The coronavirus is likely to keep spreading at least another 18 months to two years until 60 percent to 70 percent of the population has been infected, a team of US pandemic experts predicted in a report released this week.

  “The idea that this is going to be done soon defies microbiology,” said Mike Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

  The members of the reporting team include people from Harvard, the Centers for Disease Control, and a historian.

  The researchers  recommended that the US prepare for a worst-case scenario that includes a second big wave of coronavirus infections and deaths in the fall and winter.

  The report says “Because of a longer incubation period, more asymptomatic spread … COVID-19 appears to spread more easily than flu.”

Lab Notes: Contrary to what US intelligence agencies are saying, President Trump claims that he’s seen evidence that the coronavirus came from a scientific laboratory in Wuhan, China.

  Trump says he has a “high degree of confidence” for that even though the Director of National Intelligence said no such assessment has been made and that investigators continue to “rigorously examine” whether the outbreak “began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

  Nonetheless, asked whether he’s seen evidence of what he says, Trump replied, “Yes, I have.” Asked what that evidence is, he said, “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”

Denial Ain’t a River : Former Vice President Joe Biden yesterday flatly denied ever sexually assaulting his one-time Senate aide Tara Reade, who recently accused him of putting his hand up her skirt back in the 1990s.

  In an interview with MSNBC yesterday, Biden said,  “I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened.”

  Although he needs women voters, and his party has taken a stance of intolerance toward sexual harassment, Biden took 37 days to muster a direct defense. He said in a formal statement, “This never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened, and it’s as simple as that.” 

  The incident, if it happened, occurred in 1993. Biden said, “She has said she raised some of these issues with her supervisor and senior staffers from my office at the time. They — both men and a woman — have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues.”

  He invited the National Archives to dig up any records they might have of a complaint.

  While Biden can be overly friendly with his hands, this sort of thing is not part of his reputation, but this happened at a time when powerful men didn’t get called out.

  Reade has not helped her own credibility with admiring statements she’s made about Russian President Vladimir Putin. She posted an online essay in which she said, “President Putin’s obvious reverence for women, children and animals, and his ability with sports is intoxicating to American women.”

The Phantom Leader: Amid speculation and rumor that he is critically ill or even dead, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un made an appearance at a fertilizer factory, state media reported. The news agency released what it said were photographs of Kim cutting a big red ribbon at the factory, but the report has not been independently verified.

  The 36-year-old Kim last made a public appearance on April 11^th and his absence from the public eye has been unusual.

Cease Fire: Just short of two weeks after Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in which 22 people died, the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has banned the sale and ownership of military-style assault rifles.

  “These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time,” Trudeau said. “There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.”

  The gunman, who killed a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in his spree, obtained part of his arsenal in the US.

  It’s estimated that about 100,000 assault rifles are now legally owned by Canadians and the government is talking about buying them back.

The Bulletin Board: A federal judge in California threw out the claim that the US women’s national soccer team is underpaid compared to the men.  The women win more championships than the men but that doesn’t seem to count. —  President Trump moved last night to replace a deputy inspector at the Department of Health and Human Services who embarrassed and angered him with a report highlighting the shortages of protective gear and testing at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s just wrong,” Trump had said of the report. He tends to purge people who disagree with him. — The White House is blocking Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying before the House, but will allow him to appear before the Senate.

Covid Toe: Of the many odd symptoms and behaviors of the coronavirus, doctors have identified something they call “covid toe” as a sign that someone might have contracted the disease.

  It looks like someone slammed a door on the patient’s toes. The reddish toes and lesions are similar to chilblains, something a few people typically suffer in winter, but not many.  A doctor at UC San Francisco told The NY Times, “I’ve got clinics filled with people coming in with new toe lesions.”

  It’s enough to make you think this whole thing was thought up by Stephen King.

  Cough, fever, and loss of senses of smell and taste are commonly linked to the coronavirus. Some dermatologists are pushing for recognition of the red toes as an otherwise asymptomatic case of the coronavirus.

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