| Birx warns of coming coronavirus hot spots across the U.S. Posted: 02 Apr 2020 05:28 PM PDT  Louisiana is poised to become the next epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, White House officials said Thursday, citing new data that shows that 26 percent of the tests for COVID-19 in that state in recent days have come back positive.
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| Two years before coronavirus, CDC warned of a coming pandemic Posted: 02 Apr 2020 02:01 AM PDT  Long before the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, and then soon spread to nearly every country on Earth, a conference in 2018 offered proof that epidemiologists at the CDC and other institutions were aware that a new pandemic was poised to strike.
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| McGrath offers quick response to McConnell virus-related ad Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:36 PM PDT  Democrat Amy McGrath has punched back at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, accusing him of seeking a political windfall from an economic aid package while the coronavirus crisis worsens. McGrath's campaign released a TV ad Friday lambasting the Kentucky Republican for "taking a victory lap against the coronavirus." It's a quick response by his most well-funded Democratic challenger to a McConnell commercial in which he trumpeted his key role in passing the $2.2 trillion rescue package.
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| Pakistan worshippers clash with police trying to enforce coronavirus lockdown Posted: 03 Apr 2020 12:26 AM PDT  Pakistani Muslims at a Karachi mosque clashed with baton-wielding police trying to enforce new curbs on gatherings to prevent Friday prayers and contain coronavirus infections, officials said. After failing to persuade worshippers to pray at home last week, the government in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, home to the financial hub of Karachi, enforced a lockdown for three hours beginning at noon on Friday, officials said. Pakistan has so far reported 2,458 coronavirus infections, fuelled by a jump in cases related to members of the Tablighi Jamaat, an orthodox Muslim proselytising group.
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| Israel locks down ultra-Orthodox city hit hard by coronavirus Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:18 AM PDT  One health care expert has told the Israeli Parliament he believed almost 40 percent of Bnei Brak's residents could be infected.
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| Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wears 'That Woman from Michigan' T-shirt on 'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah' Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:43 PM PDT  During appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wore a "That Woman from Michigan" T-shirt.
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| WHO Official Warns Against ‘Profiling’ China, Says Observers ‘Over-Focused’ on Coronavirus Data Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:12 AM PDT  Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, defended China on Thursday against accusations that the country has underreported cases and deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak."I think we need to be very careful also to not to be profiling certain parts of the world as being uncooperative or non-transparent, and we need to look at transparency across the board," Ryan said at a Geneva press conference."We need to be balanced in that, and we need to recognize that systems under pressure find it hard to share everything on a minute-to-minute basis," Ryan continued. "Frankly, at times I think we get over-focused on this issue."Ryan claimed that there was a "lack of precise information from Italy," whose medical system has been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of coronavirus patients. "Are we saying they're lacking in transparency and not sending WHO all the data every day? No."As of Friday morning, Italy has over 115,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 13,915 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. However, a Wall Street Journal analysis suggests the Italian coronavirus death toll could be much higher than was reported, because health workers did not have the time or resources to test all the casualties for the illness.The U.S. Intelligence Community has reportedly concluded that China covered up the extent of the outbreak in the country. One recent study found that roughly 95 percent of global cases could have been prevented if China acted earlier to stem the outbreak. Meanwhile, Senator Rick Scott (R, Fla.) has called for a congressional hearing on the WHO's ties to China, while Senator Martha McSally on Thursday called on the director of the WHO to resign.
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| France Has Deadliest Virus Day as Infection Rate Slows in Spain Posted: 03 Apr 2020 11:41 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- France reported its deadliest day from the coronavirus amid tentative signs that the pandemic may be easing in Spain and Italy.The health ministry in Paris reported 588 hospital deaths, the most yet, bringing the figure to 5,091 since the beginning of the outbreak. In contrast, new infections slowed and fatalities declined in Spain for the first time in four days, as infections stabilized in Italy. Together, the three countries account for more than half the deaths worldwide in the pandemic.Austria could become one of the first in the region to loosen restrictions that have shut down much of public life. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's government will review data and consider a plan in coming days to gradually restart the economy, the Austrian leader told parliament in Vienna on Friday."Let's not jump to conclusions because there are some positive signals," Kurz said. "I can promise you, if the numbers support it, we'll do what we can to return to normality step by step."Despite the pockets of improvement, governments have little leeway to unwind lockdowns that have devasted the region's economy. IHS Markit said its monthly measure of services and manufacturing in the euro area points to an annualized contraction of about 10%. With new business, confidence and employment all down, there is "worse inevitably to come in the near future," it said.Signs emerged that squabbling national leaders are coalescing around an aid package. Euro-area finance ministers are set to agree on a coronavirus aid package of 500 billion euros ($540 billion) next week, the group's leader, Portugal's Mario Centeno told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.Germany is planning to set up an extra 300 billion-euro aid program to help small- and medium-sized companies, and Switzerland doubled the amount of state credit guarantees for businesses to 40 billion francs ($41 billion).In another positive development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel left her precautionary quarantine. After ending 12 days in voluntary self-isolation in Berlin, Merkel will continue to observe social-distancing standards, government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.The chancellor, who this week prolonged a nationwide lockdown until April 19, addressed the public Friday from the chancellery for the first time since the quarantine, making a plea to stay home and avoid social contact through the Easter holiday.Even though a slight slowing of the spread of the disease offers "some hope," she said it was far too early to set a target date for easing restrictions.Europe's longest-serving leader took center stage in Germany's fight against the virus with a rare televised address to the nation on March 18, in which she called the pandemic the country's gravest challenge since World War II.Lockdown ReviewKurz, who wore a face mask before and after his speech, urged Austrians to persevere with measures to limit contact between people and asked them to refrain from celebrating the Easter holiday with large gatherings of families and friends. His government will review virus statistics with epidemiology experts on Sunday and present its plans on Monday.Growth in new infections in Austria has decreased to less than 5% per day. The number of daily fatalities has fallen for four straight days this week.Spain's Health Ministry on Friday reported 932 new deaths and 7,472 cases over the latest 24-hour period, both smaller gains than the previous day. The dip in the daily figures could lead to less pressure on overwhelmed hospitals. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government is looking to extend the current lockdown for another two weeks beyond April 11, Spanish media reported.Italy reported 4,585 new infections, while there were 766 fatalities compared with 760 in the previous 24-hour period, civil protection authorities said at their daily news conference in Rome.The pace of both new deaths and new infections has flattened out over past days, even as the containment measures shuttering all non-essential activities and banning most movement take a heavy toll on the economy. In total, the country had 119,827 cases and 14,681 deaths.In France, daily intensive-care admissions fell for a fourth day, adding to signs that lockdown measures across Europe may be helping to bring the outbreak under control. The total number of fatalities is 6,507, including 1,416 deaths from nursing homes -- data that was partially included for the first time on Thursday.Despite Merkel returning to work, Germany's fight against the outbreak suffered a setback. Fatalities and confirmed cases rose by more than the previous day on Friday, with total deaths climbing past 1,000. The mortality rate is probably underestimated because of insufficient testing, according to Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute.The country -- which has 84,794 infections, the third-most in Europe -- may still need additional intensive-care space, even after boosting capacity by more than 40% since the crisis began, the head of Germany's public health authority said."My personal appraisal is that it will not be enough," Wieler said at a press briefing. "I would be happy to be wrong."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Coronavirus poses special risk to millions of Americans with diabetes Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:39 PM PDT  As the worsening coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the country, millions of Americans living with diabetes face heightened risks from COVID-19.
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| Venezuela navy vessel sinks after 'ramming cruise ship' Posted: 03 Apr 2020 04:54 AM PDT  The cruise ship's owners say the naval vessel rammed it, but Venezuela accuses the ship of "piracy".
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| Birx: 5 states could be among next coronavirus 'hot spots' Posted: 02 Apr 2020 05:01 PM PDT  Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, listed several states that could be the next "hot spots" for large numbers of COVID-19 cases, based on how many positive cases they have now.
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| Duterte vows to 'shoot dead' lockdown violators as unrest grows in Philippines Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:46 AM PDT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told security forces they should shoot dead anyone causing "trouble" in areas locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic. About half the country's roughly 110 million people are currently under quarantine - including millions in deep poverty, left jobless by tough restrictions on movement. Hours before Duterte gave the order in a speech late Wednesday, nearly two dozen people from a slum community in the capital Manila were arrested for holding a protest that accused the government of failing to provide food aid to the poor. "My orders are to the police and military, also village officials, that if there is trouble or the situation arises that people fight and your lives are on the line, shoot them dead," Duterte said. "Instead of causing trouble, I'll send you to the grave," he said, adding that the outbreak is getting worse more than two weeks into the lockdown.
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| Students who canceled ill-fated spring break trip say they aren't getting refunds Posted: 03 Apr 2020 12:58 PM PDT  The trip was arranged by JusCollege, which reassured students they would be safe on the trip despite the coronavirus pandemic.
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| 27 Best Home Office Decor Ideas to Keep You in the Zone Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:33 PM PDT |
| Driver who said woman coughed on his bus has died of coronavirus Posted: 03 Apr 2020 11:12 AM PDT  Bus drivers in Detroit shut down public transportation last month, fearful of the coronavirus. News of the driver's death has reignited those fears.
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| 3M Refuses White House Directive to Send Masks from Singapore to U.S., Citing Concern for Asian Medical Workers Posted: 03 Apr 2020 06:09 AM PDT  Health care manufacturer 3M has resisted pressure from the White House to import about 10 million N95 respirator masks from the company's hub in Singapore originally destined for Asian countries, in part due to concern for health care workers in those countries, the Financial Times reported on Friday.While 3M agreed to import a similar amount from a factory in China, President Trump and his administration have criticized the company for being less than cooperative with the mobilization effort — and Trump announced he would invoke the Defense Production Act to compel 3M to deliver masks to the U.S."The administration had worked very hard to ease some rules for 3M and other respirator manufacturers because those companies, 3M chief among them, had essentially promised that they would immediately be putting 35m N95s into the US marketplace. It became clear recently that wasn't happening," one White House official told the Financial Times."We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks," Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday night. "'P Act' all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing - will have a big price to pay!"Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro, who also serves as the Defense Production Act coordinator for the White House, criticized 3M earlier on Thursday."To be frank, over the last several days we've had some issues, making sure that all of the production that 3M does around the world, enough of it is coming back here to the right places," Navarro said.On Friday, 3M CEO Mike Roman countered that the company was concentrating all its efforts to help fight the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S."The idea that the 3M isn't doing everything it can…is absurd," Roman said on CNBC. "We are doing everything we can to maximize our efforts."In earlier stages of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Trump was initially reluctant to rely on the DPA, which allows the executive branch to compel companies to produce goods in times of national emergency. However, on March 27 Trump used the legislation to order General Motors to begin production of ventilators, saying negotiations over contracts with the company had dragged on too long."Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course" Trump said at the time. "GM was wasting time."
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| Putin says Russia ready to cooperate on cutting oil production Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:03 PM PDT  Russia is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and the United States to cut oil production, President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Putin said Russia was willing to make agreements within the framework of the OPEC+ group and that "we are ready for cooperation with the United States of America on this issue," according to a statement published by the Kremlin. Oil prices have tumbled in recent weeks in the face of a drop in demand and global economic uncertainty over the new coronavirus pandemic.
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| Dr. Fauci Shuts Down ‘Fox & Friends’ on Coronavirus Cure: ‘We Don’t Operate on How You Feel’ Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:44 AM PDT  Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci left the hosts of Fox & Friends disappointed and frustrated Friday when he threw cold water on their insistence that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine is a game-changing cure for the coronavirus.Citing a recent poll showing that 37 percent of doctors around the world feel the drug is currently the most effective treatment of COVID-19, co-host Steve Doocy added that frequent Fox News guest Dr. Mehmet Oz recently touted a small Chinese study that found the drug had some efficacy in treating the virus.Doocy went on to play a clip of Dr. Oz wondering whether Fauci was impressed with the results of that study. The Fox host asked the top physician to respond to the TV doctor."That was not a very robust study," replied Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force. He also pointed out that while there's still a possibility of a "beneficial effect," the scale and strength of the evidence is not "overwhelmingly strong.""But getting back to what you said just a moment ago that 'X percent'—I think you said 37 percent—of doctors feel that it's beneficial. We don't operate on how you feel. We operate on what evidence is, and data is," he continued. "So although there is some suggestion with the study that was just mentioned by Dr. Oz—granted that there is a suggestion that there is a benefit there—I think we've got to be careful that we don't make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug."Co-host Brian Kilmeade, meanwhile, pushed back against the disease expert, claiming a large percentage of doctors in other countries are now prescribing the drug to treat coronavirus. He then speculated as to whether those taking the drug for other conditions were prevented from infection of COVID-19.Seth Meyers Exposes Fox News' Sean Hannity Over Huge Coronavirus 'Hoax' Lie"I would be very curious, doctor, to see if anyone who was taking this for lupus or arthritis has gotten the coronavirus, that would be one way to go the other way to see about this study," Kilmeade wondered aloud."I mean, obviously this is a good drug in many respects for some of the diseases you mentioned, and the one thing we don't want to happen is that individuals who really need a drug with a proven indication don't have it available," Fauci responded, adding that it doesn't matter if a large percentage of doctors "think that it works."Co-host Ainsley Earhardt then jumped in, suggesting that "Democratic leaders" are preventing patients from receiving hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the disease and asking Fauci what could be done to make sure we're giving it to everyone in need."Well first of all, this is an approved drug for another indication, and doctors can, and the FDA has made it very clear that doctors can prescribe it on what we call off label," he explained. "There's no inhibition for that. So a considerable amount of drug was made available, as you remember, just a few days ago. But the FDA was very clear that they're not going to be inhibiting anyone from doing an off label prescription of the drug. So they're free to do that if they want to."While President Donald Trump and many Fox News personalities have been bullish on the possibility that the drug is a miracle cure for the virus, Fauci has repeatedly attempted to temper expectations, noting that the benefits have largely been anecdotal and that there are other studies showing no noticeable effects at all.This isn't the first time that pro-Trump Fox News hosts have tried to get Fauci to boost hydroxychloroquine. Laura Ingraham, who has been at the forefront of touting the drug, asked the doc last week if he would take it if he were stricken with the virus. Fauci, for his part, said only if it were part of a clinical trial.Dr. Anthony Fauci: I Don't Want to 'Embarrass' TrumpRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Defense Secretary Esper backed firing of carrier captain Crozier Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:21 PM PDT  U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper backed the Navy's firing of the commander of a coronavirus-striken aircraft carrier, the Pentagon said on Friday, amid a backlash from Democrats in Congress as well as the crew of the vessel, who hailed their captain as a hero. Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of command of the Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday after a scathing letter was leaked to the public in which he called on the Navy for stronger action to halt the spread of the virus aboard the vessel. "The secretary of defense supported the secretary of the Navy's decision to remove him," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told a news briefing, saying Esper's decision was based on acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's conclusion that he had lost confidence in Crozier.
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| Attempts for Middle East ceasefires amid the coronavirus crisis have not stopped the fighting Posted: 03 Apr 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Calls for coronavirus ceasefires have not halted Middle East battles
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| Business owners criticize Japanese government's 'slow' response to coronavirus Posted: 02 Apr 2020 07:38 AM PDT  "I honestly want something concrete, not wishy-washy," said cafe owner Jake Shilling. "That way, I can make firm plans."
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| AP Sources: Shipping tycoon helps Venezuela in quest for gas Posted: 03 Apr 2020 01:50 PM PDT  With gas lines across Venezuela growing, a controversial shipping magnate has stepped in to prevent the country from running out of fuel amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press has learned. The fuel shortage, in the nation that sits atop the world largest crude reserves, is the latest threat to Nicolas Maduro's rule at a time he is under intense U.S. pressure to resign. Wilmer Ruperti's Maroil Trading Inc. billed state-owned oil monopoly PDVSA 12 million euros last month for the purchase of up to 250,000 barrels of 95-octane gasoline, according to a copy of the invoice obtained by AP.
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| Mexico murder rate reaches new high as violence rages amid Covid-19 spread Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:52 AM PDT  * March sees 2,585 homicides – highest monthly figure on record * Mexico tries to pour resources into containing coronavirusMexico's homicide rate raced to a new record in March, as violence raged even as Covid-19 spread across the country and authorities urged the population to stay home and practise social distancing.Mexico registered 2,585 homicides in March – the highest monthly figure since records began in 1997 – putting 2020 on track to break last year's record total for murders.The surge in killings comes as federal and state officials put resources into containing the Covid-19 crisis and confront the prospect of an already sluggish economy falling even further – potentially deepening the misery for the more than 40% of the population living in poverty."It's business as usual [for drug cartels] with a risk of further escalation, especially if at some point the armed forces are called away for pandemic control," said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group.Violence has flared throughout the country, but it has been especially intense in the central state of Guanajuato, where criminal groups have battled over lucrative territories rife with theft from pipelines.The bloodshed has hit shocking levels in the city of Ceyala – home to a major automotive manufacturing plant – with gunmen engaging security forces in shootouts, blockading streets and torching businesses.Francisco Rivas, director of the National Citizen Observatory, which monitors security issues, attributed the increasing violence in Guanajuato to the fallout of the federal government trying to stamp out petrol theft.The crackdown weakened the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, Rivas said, prompting the rival Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) to move in and attempt to take its territory.Other causes for rising violence, Rivas said, include growing pains with a new militarised police known as the national guard, the lack of a federal strategy and cutting the security budget to its lowest level in 20 years."We're seeing iolence hitting its peak and we're left asking, 'who's going to stop it?'" Rivas said.Calderón sends in the armyMexico's "war on drugs" began in late 2006 when the president at the time, Felipe Calderón, ordered thousands of troops onto the streets in response to an explosion of horrific violence in his native state of Michoacán.Calderón hoped to smash the drug cartels with his heavily militarized onslaught but the approach was counter-productive and exacted a catastrophic human toll. As Mexico's military went on the offensive, the body count sky-rocketed to new heights and tens of thousands were forced from their homes, disappeared or killed.Kingpin strategySimultaneously Calderón also began pursuing the so-called "kingpin strategy" by which authorities sought to decapitate the cartels by targeting their leaders.That policy resulted in some high-profile scalps – notably Arturo Beltrán Leyva who was gunned down by Mexican marines in 2009 – but also did little to bring peace. In fact, many believe such tactics served only to pulverize the world of organized crime, creating even more violence as new, less predictable factions squabbled for their piece of the pie.Under Calderón's successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, the government's rhetoric on crime softened as Mexico sought to shed its reputation as the headquarters of some the world's most murderous mafia groups.But Calderón's policies largely survived, with authorities targeting prominent cartel leaders such as Sinaloa's Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.When "El Chapo" was arrested in early 2016, Mexico's president bragged: "Mission accomplished". But the violence went on. By the time Peña Nieto left office in 2018, Mexico had suffered another record year of murders, with nearly 36,000 people slain."Hugs not bullets"The leftwing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power in December, promising a dramatic change in tactics. López Obrador, or Amlo as most call him, vowed to attack the social roots of crime, offering vocational training to more than 2.3 million disadvantaged young people at risk of being ensnared by the cartels. "It will be virtually impossible to achieve peace without justice and [social] welfare," Amlo said, promising to slash the murder rate from an average of 89 killings per day with his "hugs not bullets" doctrine.Amlo also pledged to chair daily 6am security meetings and create a 60,000 strong "National Guard". But those measures have yet to pay off, with the new security force used mostly to hunt Central American migrants.Mexico now suffers an average of about 96 murders per day, with nearly 29,000 people killed since Amlo took office.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Friday that a drop in violence had been expected towards the end of March when coronavirus cases had started increasing in Mexico, "but it didn't turn out like that."López Obrador came to power promising to solve Mexico's security woes by tacking what he considered the root causes of crime: poverty and corruption. But the strategy has so far failed to rein in the violence."The [anti-crime] strategy isn't a strategy," said Rivas. "The national guard isn't pulling its weight because building an institution is difficult and expensive. Budget cuts to public security have been brutal. These all have serious effects."The president stirred further outrage during a visit to Sinaloa state on Sunday, when he stopped to greet the mother of convicted cartel kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán – breaking with social-distancing protocols to shake her hand.López Obrador downplayed the greeting as little more than a courtesy to a mother who hadn't seen her son in five years, but his comments prompted outrage from families of victims of violence, who say he has failed to extend the same courtesy to them."For society and victims, who have been having a hard time meeting or being listened to by the president," Ernst said, "it's a heavy slap in the face."
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| Medical stockpile seized from alleged hoarder to be distributed Posted: 03 Apr 2020 04:39 AM PDT  U.S. officials have seized a stockpile of personal protective equipment from an alleged hoarder.
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| Provincial Communist Party Officials Are Concealing Extent of Coronavirus Outbreak from Beijing, According to U.S. Intelligence Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:51 AM PDT  The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the Chinese government does not know the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak within the country, the New York Times reported on Thursday.China's government has encountered difficulties collecting accurate data on the spread of the coronavirus because mid-level bureaucrats in Wuhan and elsewhere in China have been lying about the number of cases, current and former intelligence officials told the Times. Local administration officials in China fear that their superiors will punish and even fire them if they report high numbers of cases.U.S. intelligence believes that China does conceal the extent of the outbreak known to higher-level Communist Party officials. However, because of inaccurate reporting of cases at local levels of government, the C.I.A. and other agencies have themselves been unable to determine the full scope of coronavirus cases in China.While doctors in Wuhan were sounding the alarm about the then-unidentified illness in late December and early January, local government and hospital administrators attempted to prevent doctors from spreading news of the infections, the Wall Street Journal reported. In one case, the administration of Wuhan Central Hospital reprimanded Dr. Ai Fen, head of the hospital's emergency department, for "spreading rumors" and damaging "the stability of Wuhan" after she alerted authorities to the spread of the SARS-like virus.On Tuesday Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, suggested that the U.S. responded slowly to the pandemic in part because of faulty data from China."The medical community interpreted the Chinese data as, this was serious, but smaller than anyone expected," Birx said at a press conference. "Because, probably … we were missing a significant amount of the data, now that we see what happened to Italy and we see what happened to Spain.
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| Trump says 3M 'will have a big price to pay' over face masks Posted: 02 Apr 2020 06:28 PM PDT  President Donald Trump slammed 3M Co in a tweet late on Thursday after earlier announcing he was invoking the Defense Production Act to get the company to produce face masks. At a White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic earlier on Thursday, Trump announced he had signed a Defense Production Act order for 3M to produce face masks.
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| ‘Inexcusable’: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Goes Off on Georgia Governor’s ‘Stunning’ Coronavirus Admission Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:29 PM PDT  Dr. Sanjay Gupta was visibly furious on Thursday afternoon as he watched footage of Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp defend his delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic by claiming that he had just found out it can be transmitted asymptomatically. "Those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn't know that until the last 24 hours," Kemp said on Wednesday when he finally announced a state-wide shelter-in-place order. He referred to the revelation as a "game-changer.""I'm really kind of stunned by what he said, because we've known that for quite some time, haven't we?" anchor Anderson Cooper said to his CNN colleague."Anderson, this is inexcusable," Gupta said, adding, "My kids who go to school in Georgia knew that a month ago." He noted that the CDC, which is based in Kemp's state, warned about asymptomatic transmission as early as Feb. 4. "We've known this for a long time," he said. "To say that we've just found out in the last 24 hours and that's why we're doing this, this is just not right." Seth Meyers Exposes Fox News' Sean Hannity Over Huge Coronavirus 'Hoax' LieGupta went on to say that he finds it "very hard to believe" that Kemp, who narrowly defeated Stacey Abrams in 2018 while serving as Georgia's secretary of state, was being honest in his comments while Cooper said that the governor is guilty of "political malpractice" if not outright "criminal" negligence. "If it's true that he just heard that, he just learned that," Cooper said later, "then he has not been paying attention and he has not been doing his job. That is completely irresponsible." "He's not been paying attention to the most important issue that he'll probably ever run into in his lifetime and certainly as governor," Gupta added. "And he says, 'I just found out about this?'" All he could do was shake his head in disgust. Dr. Sanjay Gupta Tells Colbert Trump 'Failed' Americans With Coronavirus ResponseRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Italy and Russia spar over alleged coronavirus spies Posted: 03 Apr 2020 09:54 AM PDT  Italy was engaged in a war of words with Russia on Friday over allegations Moscow hid spies among doctors it had sent to the country's coronavirus epicentre near Milan. The unusual exchange between the traditionally friendly nations followed the publication of an Italian newspaper story about the purportedly nefarious nature of the Russian mission. It was a chance for Russian President Vladimir Putin to exert "soft power" at a moment of dire weakness for the West.
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| USPS mail carriers say the service isn't doing enough to protect them from the coronavirus and are mixing DIY sanitizer and buying gloves online to stay safe Posted: 03 Apr 2020 08:52 AM PDT  The USPS says it has implemented a raft of measures to fight the virus. Two postal workers we spoke with said it hasn't materialized.
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| Pandemic pushes U.S. gun sales to all-time high Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:11 PM PDT  The FBI conducted 3.7 million background checks last month, the highest total since the national instant check system was launched in 1998.
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| Mayor taps ex-Dallas chief to head Chicago police force Posted: 02 Apr 2020 02:00 PM PDT  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday named former Dallas police Chief David Brown to head the police force in the nation's third largest city, touting his humility and calling him "a leader who commands respect." Lightfoot introduced Brown as the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department during a news conference, saying he's the right man for the job.
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| China Wants to Use the Coronavirus to Take Over the World Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:30 AM PDT  What started as a catastrophe for China is shaping up to be a moment of strategic opportunity, a rare turning point in the flow of history. Suddenly, the protests in Hong Kong, carrying a mortal threat to political stability in the mainland, became a physical impossibility. More important, the pandemic set in motion a global competition, to contain the virus, for which China and the Chinese Communist Party seem uniquely prepared.As the virus spread to the whole world, it became apparent that Western societies — Beijing's true rivals — did not have the ability to quickly organize every citizen around a single goal. As opposed to China, which remains to a large extent a revolutionary society, their political systems were built for normal times. Chinese society is a mobilized army, which can quickly drop everything else and march in one direction.Mao once said, "Everything under heaven is in utter chaos, the situation is excellent." And so it seems at present, as seen from Beijing. Chinese diplomats stationed all over the world spend their time raising the stakes to a dangerous level. Following instructions from the very top, they have taken to the media to issue a challenge to America, to point out its failure, and to compare the chaos in American cities and hospitals with what they see as a singular success in stopping the epidemic in China.Several commentators have suggested that China may be winning the coronavirus battle by stepping forward in providing medical help to affected countries, mostly in Europe, at a time when the United States is consumed with its own difficulties. This misses the point.The cases have been multiplying where the medical equipment provided by Chinese companies and even the Chinese state turned out to be faulty, provoking justified ire in, for example, Spain, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Moreover, medical help is a normal occurrence in a crisis. China has done nothing different, except perhaps in the clumsy way it publicizes those efforts.Forget about "mask diplomacy." It is no more than a distraction. There are other ways for China to use the coronavirus pandemic to upturn the existing global order. I see three main levers.The first one is the direct comparison between the situation in China and elsewhere. The numbers of cases and fatalities provided by Chinese authorities almost certainly misrepresent the real figures by more than an order of magnitude, but the fact remains that a semblance of normalcy was achieved in a small period of time. If the United States fails to do the same, its prestige will suffer a severe blow. People all over the world will quickly change their perceptions about relative power and capacity.The second lever resides with industrial value chains. Last month General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler closed all their automotive production plants across the United States and Canada. Other sectors have followed. In the meantime, China contained the worst of the pandemic to one province, allowing economic activity to quickly resume elsewhere. The most recent data show renewed activity in the flow of goods across the country, as well as at ports worldwide that do business with China. If the freeze in Europe and America continues for much longer, Chinese companies will be able to dramatically expand market share and replace Western-led value chains. Just yesterday Chinese authorities announced that manufacturing activity expanded in March, defying expectations of a contraction. In February the official Purchasing Managers' Index hit a record low of 35.7. It bounced back to 52.0 in March. Prepare for a worldwide wave of Chinese acquisitions at knockdown prices.Finally, in a more extreme scenario, important countries could experience the kind of economic shock that leads to widespread social and political collapse. At that point, China would have a unique opportunity to step in, provide aid, and refashion these countries in its image. It would look like a repeat of the Marshall Plan and the beginning of the American world order after the ravages of World War II. Indonesia, South Asia, and even Russia might be of special interest in such a scenario.We knew that a generalized race or competition between alternative geopolitical models had started, but it was never clear what the background for such a competition would be. If the clash took place within the existing global trade and financial system, which was of course built according to Western rules and principles, the United States was confident the battle could be decisively won. But what if it took place on neutral ground? What if it took place in a kind of neutral landscape, a state of nature with few or no rules, against a chaotic and quickly evolving background? The outcome would become considerably more uncertain.To put it more bluntly: There was always an argument that the existing world order cannot change because only a momentous war has done that in the past and world wars have become impossible. But in pandemics — and soon in climate change — we may have found two functional equivalents of war.
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| U.S. sounds alarm on coronavirus in Japan, Tokyo pushes for state of emergency Posted: 02 Apr 2020 08:49 PM PDT  The U.S. government on Friday sounded alarm about the surge in coronavirus cases in Japan, adding to a chorus of prominent domestic voices - including the governor of Tokyo - who have called for decisive action to avoid an explosive outbreak. Amid growing clamour for tighter curbs on people's movements to stem a rising tide of infections, the government has so far been reluctant to pull the trigger, warning of the heavy damage that could ensue in the world's third-biggest economy, already close to recession. Instead, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged school closures and called on citizens to avoid unnecessary and non-urgent gatherings and outings while preparing to roll out an economic stimulus plan next week - even as he acknowledged the country was barely avoiding a major jump in infections.
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| What the coronavirus does to your body that makes it so deadly Posted: 02 Apr 2020 05:32 AM PDT  COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses belong to a group of viruses that infect animals, from peacocks to whales. They're named for the bulb-tipped spikes that project from the virus's surface and give the appearance of a corona surrounding it.A coronavirus infection usually plays out one of two ways: as an infection in the lungs that includes some cases of what people would call the common cold, or as an infection in the gut that causes diarrhea. COVID-19 starts out in the lungs like the common cold coronaviruses, but then causes havoc with the immune system that can lead to long-term lung damage or death.SARS-CoV-2 is genetically very similar to other human respiratory coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. However, the subtle genetic differences translate to significant differences in how readily a coronavirus infects people and how it makes them sick.SARS-CoV-2 has all the same genetic equipment as the original SARS-CoV, which caused a global outbreak in 2003, but with around 6,000 mutations sprinkled around in the usual places where coronaviruses change. Think whole milk versus skim milk. Compared to other human coronaviruses like MERS-CoV, which emerged in the Middle East in 2012, the new virus has customized versions of the same general equipment for invading cells and copying itself. However, SARS-CoV-2 has a totally different set of genes called accessories, which give this new virus a little advantage in specific situations. For example, MERS has a particular protein that shuts down a cell's ability to sound the alarm about a viral intruder. SARS-CoV-2 has an unrelated gene with an as-yet unknown function in that position in its genome. Think cow milk versus almond milk. How the virus infectsEvery coronavirus infection starts with a virus particle, a spherical shell that protects a single long string of genetic material and inserts it into a human cell. The genetic material instructs the cell to make around 30 different parts of the virus, allowing the virus to reproduce. The cells that SARS-CoV-2 prefers to infect have a protein called ACE2 on the outside that is important for regulating blood pressure. The infection begins when the long spike proteins that protrude from the virus particle latch on to the cell's ACE2 protein. From that point, the spike transforms, unfolding and refolding itself using coiled spring-like parts that start out buried at the core of the spike. The reconfigured spike hooks into the cell and crashes the virus particle and cell together. This forms a channel where the string of viral genetic material can snake its way into the unsuspecting cell. SARS-CoV-2 spreads from person to person by close contact. The Shincheonji Church outbreak in South Korea in February provides a good demonstration of how and how quickly SARS-CoV-2 spreads. It seems one or two people with the virus sat face to face very close to uninfected people for several minutes at a time in a crowded room. Within two weeks, several thousand people in the country were infected, and more than half of the infections at that point were attributable to the church. The outbreak got to a fast start because public health authorities were unaware of the potential outbreak and were not testing widely at that stage. Since then, authorities have worked hard and the number of new cases in South Korea has been falling steadily. How the virus makes people sickSARS-CoV-2 grows in type II lung cells, which secrete a soap-like substance that helps air slip deep into the lungs, and in cells lining the throat. As with SARS, most of the damage in COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, is caused by the immune system carrying out a scorched earth defense to stop the virus from spreading. Millions of cells from the immune system invade the infected lung tissue and cause massive amounts of damage in the process of cleaning out the virus and any infected cells.Each COVID-19 lesion ranges from the size of a grape to the size of a grapefruit. The challenge for health care workers treating patients is to support the body and keep the blood oxygenated while the lung is repairing itself. SARS-CoV-2 has a sliding scale of severity. Patients under age 10 seem to clear the virus easily, most people under 40 seem to bounce back quickly, but older people suffer from increasingly severe COVID-19. The ACE2 protein that SARS-CoV-2 uses as a door to enter cells is also important for regulating blood pressure, and it does not do its job when the virus gets there first. This is one reason COVID-19 is more severe in people with high blood pressure.SARS-CoV-2 is more severe than seasonal influenza in part because it has many more ways to stop cells from calling out to the immune system for help. For example, one way that cells try to respond to infection is by making interferon, the alarm signaling protein. SARS-CoV-2 blocks this by a combination of camouflage, snipping off protein markers from the cell that serve as distress beacons and finally shredding any anti-viral instructions that the cell makes before they can be used. As a result, COVID-19 can fester for a month, causing a little damage each day, while most people get over a case of the flu in less than a week.At present, the transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2 is a little higher than that of the pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, but SARS-CoV-2 is at least 10 times as deadly. From the data that is available now, COVID-19 seems a lot like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), though it's less likely than SARS to be severe. What isn't knownThere are still many mysteries about this virus and coronaviruses in general – the nuances of how they cause disease, the way they interact with proteins inside the cell, the structure of the proteins that form new viruses and how some of the basic virus-copying machinery works.Another unknown is how COVID-19 will respond to changes in the seasons. The flu tends to follow cold weather, both in the northern and southern hemispheres. Some other human coronaviruses spread at a low level year-round, but then seem to peak in the spring. But nobody really knows for sure why these viruses vary with the seasons. What is amazing so far in this outbreak is all the good science that has come out so quickly. The research community learned about structures of the virus spike protein and the ACE2 protein with part of the spike protein attached just a little over a month after the genetic sequence became available. I spent my first 20 or so years working on coronaviruses without the benefit of either. This bodes well for better understanding, preventing and treating COVID-19.[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for our newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Viruses live on doorknobs and phones and can get you sick – smart cleaning and good habits can help protect you * 10 misconceptions about the 1918 flu, the 'greatest pandemic in history'Benjamin Neuman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Pelosi announces new House committee on coronavirus Posted: 02 Apr 2020 03:03 AM PDT  Pelosi announced the creation of a bipartisan committee to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus crisis
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| Elon Musk says the hospitals he sent medical machines to all confirmed they were 'critical' and traditional ventilators are arriving shortly Posted: 02 Apr 2020 01:28 PM PDT  BiPAP machines were recently allowed by the FDA as a substitute for ventilators, but some medical experts warn they could spread the coronavirus.
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| Passover on Zoom: Jewish leaders split on digital Seders Posted: 02 Apr 2020 07:01 PM PDT  The Jewish holiday of Passover has long inspired intense debate, with favourite topics including whether Moses actually parted the Red Sea or if the Ten Plagues were an ethical response to enslavement. The videoconferencing application has emerged as an essential tool during a crisis that has confined people across the globe in their homes. Passover, an eight-day holiday that marks the Jewish people's biblical exodus from Egypt, begins Wednesday evening with a Seder, one of the most important events of the year for Jews.
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| Senators call on IRS to automatically send stimulus checks to seniors Posted: 02 Apr 2020 08:30 AM PDT  First on NBC News: The tax agency created confusion this week by saying some Social Security recipients would need to submit a form to get the cash.
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| CDC warned of a coming pandemic two years ago Posted: 02 Apr 2020 04:21 AM PDT  Two years ago, some of the nation's top public health officials gathered in an auditorium at Emory University in Atlanta to commemorate the 1918 influenza pandemic — also known as "the Spanish flu" — which had killed as many as 40 million people as it swept the globe.
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| Asian countries impose new restrictions as coronavirus cases come roaring back Posted: 02 Apr 2020 03:28 PM PDT  After appearing to have the virus under control, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong are imposing new controls as COVID-19 infections continue to rise.
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| Countries face 'fights' over facemasks in China: German health minister Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:48 AM PDT  Countries' procurement agents are fighting each other in China for access to the protective equipment that must play a key role in stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. "You hear stories of people fighting in the truest sense of the word over these masks in China," he told reporters on Friday during a visit to a logistics company that is acting for the German government. Germany's mix of lockdown measures and aggressive testing for the novel coronavirus has so far been successful in slowing the spread of the disease, with each patient only infecting one other on average in recent days.
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| Cuban docs fighting coronavirus around world, defying US Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  For two years the Trump administration has been trying to stamp out one of Cuba's signature programs __ state-employed medical workers treating patients around the globe in a show of soft power that also earns billions in badly needed hard currency. Labeling the doctors and nurses as both exploited workers and agents of communist indoctrination, the U.S. has notched a series of victories as Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia sent home thousands after leftist governments allied with Havana were replaced with ones friendlier to Washington. The coronavirus pandemic has brought a reversal of fortune for Cuban medical diplomacy, as doctors have flown off on new missions to battle COVID-19 in at least 14 countries including Italy and the tiny principality of Andorra on the Spanish-French border, burnishing the island's international image in the middle of a global crisis.
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| Republican Senator Calls on ‘Communist’ WHO Director to Resign Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:23 PM PDT  Senator Martha McSally on Thursday called on the director of the World Health Organization to step down, saying the organization covered up the extent of the spread of the coronavirus, which originated in China.The Arizona Republican called WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus a "communist" and accused him of helping China conceal its underreporting of coronavirus case numbers."I've never trusted a communist," McSally said in an interview with Fox Business."I think Dr. Tedros needs to step down," she continued. "We need to take some action to address this issue. It's just irresponsible, it's unconscionable what they have done here while we have people dying across the globe."The senator condemned China itself for failing to acknowledge and curb the virus before it spilled over China's borders and spread to the rest of the world."Their cover-up of this virus that originated with them, has caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the world. The WHO needs to stop covering for them," McSally said, adding that as restitution, any U.S. debts to China "should be forgiven, as a minimum."The senator's criticism comes days after another GOP senator, Rick Scott of Florida, called for a congressional investigation into the WHO and questioned whether the organization should continue to be funded since it engaged in "helping Communist China cover up" the seriousness of the virus."We know Communist China is lying about how many cases and deaths they have, what they knew and when they knew it — and the WHO never bothered to investigate further," Scott said. "Their inaction cost lives."The WHO also "willfully parroted propaganda" from China's Communist Party, Scott charged.During an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong, WHO assistant director-general Dr. Bruce Aylward appeared to dodge a question about whether the WHO will reconsider granting membership to Taiwan, which China claims as a territory. Taiwan, which has reported just slightly more than 300 cases of the infection and only two deaths, has been widely praised for its containment of the coronavirus.The senior WHO advisor responded that he could not hear the question, and when the interviewer offered to repeat it he interjected, "no, that's okay, let's move to another one then." Later, he appeared to hang up when asked about Taiwan's response to the pandemic, and afterwards said they had "already talked about China," which has done "quite a good job."> I wanted to find a slightly longer version of the RTHK interview (more context) with the WHO's Dr. Bruce Aylward who basically froze when asked about Taiwan then started babbling about China then fled. And commend @yvonne_tg for sticking to the question. HT @BonnieGlaser: pic.twitter.com/2cc3hViiij> > -- Melissa Chan (@melissakchan) March 28, 2020The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report obtained by Bloomberg News that China deliberately provided incomplete public numbers for coronavirus cases and deaths resulting from the infection. In December, local and national officials issued a gag order to labs in Wuhan after scientists there identified a new viral pneumonia, ordering them to halt tests, destroy samples, and conceal the news.The U.S. now has nearly 240,000 cases of the coronavirus around the country, and more than 5,000 have died. Worldwide, more than 50,000 people have died from the respiratory illness.
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| Delta CEO: We're losing $60 million a day as the coronavirus pandemic rages on Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:28 PM PDT  Delta flew 95% fewer passengers last Sunday than one year previously. The airline has canceled more than 80% of its flights for April.
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