| Trump touts chloroquine for 'immediate' use treating coronavirus, but FDA wants to see the data first Posted: 19 Mar 2020 11:17 AM PDT  President Trump said Thursday that the antimalarial drug chloroquine had shown "very encouraging early results" treating COVID-19 and will be rolled out "almost immediately" to help fight the growing coronavirus outbreak. But FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn cautioned that chloroquine had not yet been approved for treating COVID-19.
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| New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces 'an explosion' of new coronavirus cases as city total hits 3,615 Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:42 PM PDT  "We're seeing an explosion of cases here in New York City," de Blasio said, calling the number of infections "very, very painful."
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| Coronavirus ended any last hopes of a Bernie Sanders comeback Posted: 19 Mar 2020 06:53 AM PDT  It's been real, hasn't it? After 13 months of campaigning, during which time he was briefly but almost unanimously considered the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, it looks as if Bernie Sanders is finally calling it quits. On Wednesday afternoon his staff shot down an erroneous report that he had formally dropped out; it looks as if he'll wait to make that announcement sometime before the next primaries three weeks from now. To many observers it has been unclear why the junior senator from Vermont remained in the race after losing Michigan and Washington state two weeks ago, a defeat he followed with kind words about his fellow candidates and half-hearted conciliatory gestures towards the DNC.The math for Sanders has looked all but impossible for a long time. The only hope that remained was some kind of mythical 1920s barnstorming campaign across the country — a final quixotic assault on the fortresses of the Democratic establishment. With this now out of the question and his only opportunities for shoring up his base and attempting to poach uneasy Biden supporters limited to YouTube, it is easy to understand why would finally give up. It is impossible to imagine terms more favorable to Sanders' only remaining opponent than a nation-wide ban on public appearances coupled with the directive that persons over the age of 60 keep to themselves.Plenty of words (though almost certainly not as many as there might have been if the de facto end of the primary season had not coincided with the coronavirus pandemic) will be written about Sanders's brief rise and more or less instantaneous fall. Some observers will insist that Sanders lost largely because party insiders conspired against him, something that is belied by his poor showing even in states that he won, in some cases handily, in 2016. Others will give the credit to coronavirus, even though Biden's post-Nevada comeback had been secured long before this disease had established itself at the forefront of the American public imagination.This is not to suggest that at the margins the DNC did not do everything in its power to prevent a Sanders nomination. The virtually unprecedented speed with which the remains of the largest field of technically plausible candidates in the history of these contests dropped out and endorsed Biden tells us everything we need to know about whom the party wanted at the top of the ticket. But this consolidation would not have taken place if the will of core Democratic primary voters, not just in the South but in states as far ranging as Massachusetts and Idaho, had not already been made clear.What will become of Sanders' movement now that his presidential aspirations have been forestalled once again? Does he really represent the future of the Democratic party? A somewhat lesser-noticed contest on Tuesday hints at an answer. Whatever her objections to the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all, there is one issue that matters more to Nancy Pelosi than anything else: abortion. This was made clear on Tuesday when Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, an eight-term socially conservative Democratic incumbent and product of the old Chicago political machine, lost his primary race to Marie Newman, a progressive challenger endorsed by Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and numerous other high-profile left-wing politicians. There may not be much room for radical economic views in the Democratic Party, but in the coming realignment there is none at all for folks like Lipinski, who received virtually no support from his party's establishment. If progressives want to make inroads with the DNC, they must do what Sanders did not in 2016 (and did only half-heartedly in 2020) and put social issues at the forefront of their messaging.This brings us to the other question about Sanders and his supporters: whether they will turn out for Biden in the fall. Here it is worth remembering that in some states (including Michigan) in 2016, the Green Party candidate Jill Stein won a share of the vote wider than Trump's eventual margin of victory. Sanders himself will almost certainly endorse Biden, just as he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. Will this make a difference? Who knows.November seems very remote, longer away, indeed, than it felt two months ago. While it is possible at this stage to talk about how the general election might go — the actual range of possibilities is not unlimited — there are more pressing questions to be answered. If the most pessimistic forecasts prove correct, it is likely that the political conventions scheduled by both of our major political parties for this summer will have to be canceled, postponed, or held in what would almost certainly be the largest, most feedback-laden video calls in the history of Google Hangouts. For this small unhoped-for mercy, Sanders' supporters should be grateful. The reality of Biden's victory will not be setting in for a while.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com America has one of the world's worst coronavirus responses FDA clarifies that no drugs are approved to treat COVID-19 after Trump names 2 contenders Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans
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| Father takes his own life in ICE family detention centre Posted: 19 Mar 2020 07:06 AM PDT  A 27-year-old Honduran father has taken his own life while being held in a family detention centre by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas.According to RAICES, a Texas nonprofit organisation providing legal services to immigrants, the man had been fighting for his family's freedom from custody. He had been detained at the Karnes detention centre, which has been through a series of chaotic changes since the Trump administration ramped up its programme of family detentions.
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| Trump announces U.S.-Mexico border closure to stem spread of coronavirus Posted: 20 Mar 2020 11:00 AM PDT  The U.S.-Mexico border will be closed to nonessential travel to further help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump announced Friday.
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| Iran furloughs imprisoned U.S. Navy vet amid coronavirus concerns Posted: 19 Mar 2020 04:40 PM PDT  Iran has granted a medical furlough to a U.S. Navy veteran who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday.
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| Khan Academy founder shares advice on teaching kids from home Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:05 PM PDT  "Focus on the basics. If your child of pretty much any age is able to focus on math and reading, two hours a day, that's a great start," he said.
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| Brazil coronavirus cases top 600, diplomatic spat with China bubbles Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:38 AM PDT  Confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil surged past 600 on Thursday, more than doubling in two days, as a diplomatic spat over the disease's origins between President Jair Bolsonaro's son and the Chinese ambassador threatened relations with Brazil's top trading partner. The president sidestepped this and other controversies in his weekly Facebook broadcast on Thursday evening, saying that the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil should peak in three to four months, and the country will return to normal in six to seven months. After blaming the global spread of the virus on China, the son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, attempted to defuse the situation on Thursday, saying he stood by his criticism of the government in Beijing but did not intend to offend the Chinese people.
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| A TP tip: Some restaurants are now offering a side of toilet paper with food orders Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:42 AM PDT  Restaurants are now offering a side of toilet paper with to-go orders after coronavirus panic-buying caused global shortages of the paper product.
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| It's the 'coronavirus,' not the 'Chinese virus,' but Trump is right: China made it worse Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:42 PM PDT  President Trump has taken pains over the past week to link the coronavirus outbreak to China, calling it the "Chinese virus" at daily briefings over objections that doing so unfairly stigmatizes an entire nation, and might encourage hostility toward Asian-Americans.
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| A US Navy special warfare operator has tested positive for the coronavirus Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:57 PM PDT  Fellow service members who were in contact with the sailor have been quarantined at the base "out of an abundance of caution."
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| America has one of the world's worst coronavirus responses Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:50 AM PDT  The world is gripped by the coronavirus pandemic. At time of writing there were about 225,000 confirmed cases in total, and 9,300 deaths. Europe is for the moment the epicenter of the outbreak, particularly in Italy where the virus has overwhelmed the health care system, but dozens of other countries are only a week or two behind on a similar track, including the United States.However, there are major divergences between the performance of different countries. Rich and middle-income East Asian countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore have managed to nearly halt the outbreak in its tracks, while more ramshackle countries like the U.S. and U.K. have botched it almost beyond belief.While it is obviously too early to conduct a full accounting of what works and what doesn't, some broad lessons about best practices are still apparent. America will need to learn these lessons quickly if it wants to save itself from potentially horrifying outcomes, both now and in future pandemics.It's fair to say there are three broad levels to any pandemic response, each built on top of the other. The foundation is the national health care system, which provides the necessary broad access to testing and treatment. The second is the state's administrative bureaucracy and welfare state, which coordinates additional response measures. That means stuff like setting up mass testing checkpoints at border crossings and around the country, securing stockpiles of necessary medical supplies, constructing emergency hospitals, and so on. It also means deploying income support to individuals and businesses should mass lockdowns or quarantines become necessary, to keep people from being ruined financially and the economy ticking over. The third is citizen awareness: The population must be ready to upgrade their hygiene habits, accept drastic restrictions on movement, and avoid gathering together, so transmission is limited.Of all these, mass testing deserves special emphasis, because without it any emergency response is all but hamstrung. A nation cannot fight an epidemic without knowing where the disease actually is.The best-performing countries, however, excelled on all three levels. Taiwan has a Medicare-style single-payer system (indeed, it was actually based initially on America's Medicare system, except made universal), which allowed them to deploy testing, treatment, and quarantine without any fuss. They also had pandemic response plans drawn up after the SARS outbreak in 2002, which had been regularly reviewed and practiced. Finally, their citizens had been educated and prepared to take any epidemic seriously, so that people did not try to escape lockdowns and spread the disease further.Even middle-income countries can manage this. Vietnam, whose per-capita GDP was only about $6,600 in 2018 (or about 12 percent as much as the U.S.), squelched its initial epidemic with a lightning-fast deployment of mass testing, contact-tracking, quarantine, and public education measures (though it has since been dealing with new infections from foreign travelers). If the state is on top of the situation, mass lockdowns and the associated economic devastation can be limited or avoided.European countries were considerably behind the curve. Most have good enough or better medical systems, but their bureaucracies were caught flat-footed on the response. Italy has a world-class health care system, and the state actually moved quite quickly to put through testing, lockdown, and quarantine measures, but it simply wasn't fast enough to halt the outbreak. Worse, Italian citizens initially did not take the crisis seriously enough. Many resisted social distancing advisories and continued going out to public gatherings when the epidemic was in its early stages — encouraged by mixed messages from some authorities. Notice of a mass lockdown in northern Italy leaked before it could be implemented, and thousands fled to the south, where they spread the disease. And once an outbreak has gotten out of hand, even the best health care system in the world will be overwhelmed, because none are prepared to treat such gigantic surges of critically ill patients.Still, Italy is now working to the absolute utmost to fight the crisis, and appears to have slowed the growth of new cases. Other European countries, belatedly jolted into action by the Italian example, are taking drastic steps to limit disease transmission, build up their testing and treatment capacity, and keep their populations protected in the meantime. Here the famously generous European welfare states come in handy — countries like Denmark and Norway already have generous sick leave so infected people do not have to come to work, plus unemployment benefits to catch people who lose their job, and so on. These countries were also quick to pass business support measures to limit layoffs and prevent bankruptcies until the crisis passes.The United States, by contrast, has faceplanted on every single aspect of the response. Our health care system is a bitter joke by Taiwanese or Italian standards. We do not even have universal coverage, and what coverage we have is a usurious, fragmented, Kafkaesque nightmare that routinely bankrupts people who get sick. President Trump's direct response has also been horrifically bungled. We still do not have enough tests at least two months after we should have had them. He has not secured supplies of vital equipment like masks and ventilators, and hospitals are already running short. He did not even start activating the Army Corps of Engineers until a couple days ago. Hospital ships that Trump boasted were on their way turned out to be docked for maintenance and will take days to get moving. An economic support measure (which contains some emergency paid leave and unemployment insurance provisions that are worse than what most European countries have in normal times) is bogged down in Congress.Perhaps worst of all, Trump, Republican politicians, and right-wing media consistently downplayed the epidemic for weeks as it gathered strength. As the virus quietly spread through the population, Trump was still claiming "The coronavirus is very much under control in the USA," and conservative media was claiming it was no worse than the flu. Just in the last few days, Republican hack propagandists like Sean Hannity have pivoted on a dime from "I see it, again, as like, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax," to "this program has always taken the coronavirus seriously. We've never called the virus a hoax." The result is a persistent partisan split in how likely Americans are to understand the threat posed by the outbreak.At any rate, this all suggests the sketch of a broad policy agenda to fix this outbreak and head off future ones. First, the wretched American health care system needs to be sharply augmented on an emergency basis and eventually replaced with something that actually works, like Medicare-for-all. Second, the federal government is in shambles and needs a total overhaul. To start with, we should copy Taiwan's pandemic systems so that response teams and supplies are always ready to go on a moment's notice. More broadly, state capacity, which has been gutted by decades of conservative austerity, anti-science, and anti-expertise dogmatism, must be rebuilt across the board. Conservatives have insisted for decades that the government is all but useless, and today we are all paying the price. Third, Trump should be turfed out of office and the conservative movement should be comprehensively defeated politically. It turns out there are some serious downsides to having a narcissistic reality TV host in charge of the country.I have little hope that very much of this will come to pass. But in a crisis, sometimes what seemed impossible can happen very quickly. Let's hope somebody is trying to learn the lessons Taiwan and other Asian democracies are teaching us.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Top coronavirus doctor puts head in hands when Trump mentions 'Deep State Department' at briefing Bloomberg's last FEC filing shows he spent nearly $1 billion on his failed presidential run Senate GOP stimulus plan would exclude up to 64 million tax filers from full rebate, economist says
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| Lebanon FM summons US envoy over American being flown out Posted: 20 Mar 2020 09:01 AM PDT  Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador Friday after an American on trial in Beirut was taken out of the country by a U.S. warplane — a move that the powerful militant group Hezbollah called a "blatant violation" of Lebanese sovereignty and laws. The Lebanese-American man, Amer Fakhoury, was ordered released Monday by a judge in Lebanon because more than 10 years had passed since he allegedly tortured prisoners at a jail run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia. Fakhoury has denied the charges.
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| India hangs 4 men convicted for fatal New Delhi gang rape Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:06 AM PDT  "I could not protect her but I was able to fight for her," said mother of victim, whose gruesome case exposed the scope of sexual violence in the country.
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| Iran judicial authority says liaising with France over prisoner swap Posted: 20 Mar 2020 03:07 PM PDT  Iran's judicial authority said Friday Tehran was liaising with Paris over the release of a French prisoner held in the Islamic republic after France released an Iranian threatened with extradition to the US. The Iranian, Jallal Rohollahnejad, "has been freed today", the Iranian judiciary's news agency Mizan Online reported, without disclosing the identity of the French detainee. Iranian state TV later Friday said he was already on a flight back to Tehran.
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| Exhausted Dutch minister leading coronavirus fight quits Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:33 AM PDT  Medical Care Minister Bruno Bruins, 56, fell to the floor in parliament on Wednesday while taking questions. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Bruins had quit because it was unclear how long it would take for him to recover. "The nature of the crisis is such that it demands a minister who can be ready to go full throttle immediately," Rutte said during a televised news conference.
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| Here's what a 90-day 'stay home' order means for New Yorkers Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:23 PM PDT  Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down and for people to remain indoorsGovernor Andrew Cuomo of New York has ordered the shutdown of all non-essential businesses in the state, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged above 7,000. Except for essential services, all New Yorkers are now ordered to stay indoors for up to 90 days from 8pm Sunday evening.Cuomo called the new measures the "ultimate step" to curb the outbreak. "These provisions will be enforced. These are not helpful hints. This is not if you really want to be a great citizen. These are legal provisions," he said at a briefing on Friday morning in Albany, the state's capital. "We need everyone to be safe; otherwise, no one can be safe."> BREAKING: New York will implement a 90-day moratorium on evictions for residential and commercial tenants. > > We will do all we can to help those financially suffering because of the COVID19 pandemic.> > — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 20, 2020What does a 90-day quarantine mean for New York state's 19.5 million residents?Can New Yorkers go outside? Yes. Although New Yorkers are strongly encouraged to stay indoors and public gatherings are limited, they can still go to the grocery store, hospital or doctor's office, walk their dogs or even head to the laundromat. That's simply because state officials have determined these activities are essential.Although residents are still allowed to enjoy the outdoors, the governor reminded them to use common sense in maintaining social distance."Outdoor recreation is a solitary recreational exercise. It's running. It's hiking," he said. "It's not playing basketball with five other people."Only professionals in industries also deemed essential during the outbreak will be permitted to go back and forth from their jobs. Residents working in healthcare, sanitation, food services, law enforcement as well as gas stations and laundry mats won't see specific limitations on their movement.All non-essential businesses have been ordered closed, however, after state officials increasingly demanded staff reductions. Previously capped at groups of 50, non-essential gatherings of New Yorkers of any size, for any reason, are now banned.What happens if residents don't comply? Cuomo announced that the mandate applies to all individuals and business in the state. But it's important to note the measure stops short of being a so-called shelter-in-place order, which is intended for mass shootings.In contrast, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, issued an order mandating residents shelter-in-place earlier this week, although Cuomo on Friday said California was no longer officially using that term.However, unlike New York's regulations, California's mandate is enforceable as a misdemeanor crime, and demands sheriffs and police chiefs "ensure compliance with and enforce this order".In New York "the violation of any provision of its order constitutes an imminent threat and creates an immediate menace to public health", the mandate states.Any businesses violating the order would be fined and forced to close. However, Cuomo insisted the state does not plan to fine individuals who violate the regulations.What about transit? New York is home to the county's largest, and oldest, transportation system of subway trains and buses – the MTA in New York City. According to the order, mass transit will stay operational, but residents are strongly discouraged from using public transit unless it's absolutely necessary.Roads, gas stations and some auto repair services will stay open.In New York City, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, had pushed for a shelter-in-place order to limit even non-essential travel, such as by foot, bicycle or scooter. However, the state governor had repeatedly dismissed the idea, insisting New Yorkers would not be confined to their homes under a quarantine. The governor is the only official with the executive power to order a city or the entire state to, in effect, lock down. Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that the federal government was not ready to order a nationwide stay-at-home order.The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus soared by more than 1,000 in the city in just a matter of hours on Thursday. Under Cuomo's order announced on Friday, essential travel is categorized as traveling for necessary supplies, accessing healthcare or going to provide aid to family or friends. Air travel and taxis are still permitted, as is ride-sharing on a personal basis, excluding group rides.The new provisions will take effect on Sunday night.
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| Migrants fear getting stuck in Mexico as Trump hints at border restrictions Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:16 AM PDT  The threat of shutting down access to the U.S. asylum process for thousands of migrants waiting in Mexico stoked anxiety in border communities.
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| State Department will reportedly tell Americans abroad to immediately return home Posted: 19 Mar 2020 08:17 AM PDT  The State Department reportedly wants every American out of the country to return home.As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world and the U.S., the State Department is preparing to issue the strongest travel advisory it can, two individuals familiar with the decision told Politico Thursday. It'll tell Americans abroad to either return to the states or prepare to shelter in place — a Level 4 advisory, those sources said.China and Mongolia are currently the only countries subject to a State Department level 4 travel advisory due to spread of the new coronavirus. The rest of the world is under a level 3 global health advisory, which suggests travelers reconsider their plans. The escalated level would instruct Americans to halt all travel out of the country; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has approved the measure, Politico reported.A State Department official confirmed the forthcoming announcement, but the department's press office didn't respond to Politico's request for comment.More stories from theweek.com America has one of the world's worst coronavirus responses Goldman Sachs has a devastating revision for its GDP growth predictions Coronavirus is causing an overlooked crisis in assisted living care
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| Progressives Call on Pelosi to Negotiate Bigger Cash Payments for Americans Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:44 PM PDT  As Congress negotiates a sweeping stimulus bill to respond to the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak, a nearly 100-member bloc of House progressives is laying down a policy marker for what they want to see in the legislation, from big cash payments for all to broadly expanded sick leave provisions.In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reviewed by The Daily Beast, the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI), outline a dozen "top priorities" that the group has for the stimulus bill. At the top of their list is progressives' benchmark on the issue of direct cash payments to Americans to help them cope with the economic slowdown—one that has broad buy-in from Democrats and Republicans but disagreement on key details. The progressives are calling for guaranteeing monthly cash payments of up to $2,000 for each adult in the U.S., and up to $1,000 more for families with children, for the next six months—with needier families able to extend for another six months. That proposal is far more generous and expansive than the $1,200 individual tax rebate—and $2,400 family rebate—that Senate Republicans proposed on Thursday for households making less than $150,000.As Republicans consider targeted relief to the industries hardest-hit by the downturn—particularly travel and hospitality—the progressives say any assistance must be conditioned on companies keeping checks flowing to workers and blocking any money from flowing to executive bonuses or stock buybacks, provisions championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in a "litmus test" she released earlier this week. The caucus also calls on Democratic leadership to consider a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, a moratorium on negative credit score reporting, and implementing debt forgiveness and loan forbearance during the crisis.As the outbreak disrupts state primaries, the list of priorities also includes implementing "nationwide no-excuse absentee voting" and proposes a $500 million grant for states to establish vote-by-mail programs.The Progressive Caucus letter comes as Pelosi and House Democratic leadership are under increased pressure from the party's left flank to consider more progressive proposals than the ones that were in the legislation the speaker negotiated with the White House last week. In particular, Pelosi has been criticized by progressives for an emphasis on tax credits as a way of getting financial assistance to struggling Americans. In an interview with The Atlantic published Thursday, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), a leading progressive, criticized Pelosi, saying "The fact that the speaker's talking about refundable tax credits … Who has time to wait to do their taxes and see what they get a year from now?"The last relief bill's provision on sick leave was considered by many in the caucus as woefully inadequate; the caucus' letter notably calls to "reinstate protections for frontline workers including medical staff and domestic workers" and "provide full wage replacement for workers who are unable to work."Currently, the Senate is moving quickly to pass what could be a trillion-dollar stimulus bill, with Republicans eager to own this round of legislation after Pelosi was in the driver's seat on the last. However, any bill that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) comes up with will have to pass in the Democratic House, where progressives make up a significant bloc of the majority and could leave an influential mark on whatever legislation does pass the chamber.Trump's China Hawk Is Trying to Commandeer the Coronavirus Stimulus and Others in the White House Are AlarmedRead more at The Daily Beast.Get 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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| The impact of the new coronavirus could lead to the longest flu season in decades Posted: 20 Mar 2020 11:50 AM PDT  Wes Thrift, with Roper St. Francis Healthcare, is reflected in a car window wearing a protective mask as he talks to a possible coronavirus patient at the hospital's North Charleston office Monday, March 16, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith) The new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has created a third spike in influenza-like illness (ILI) activity across the United States, as researchers working with AccuWeather predicted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."The COVID-19 outbreak unfolding in the United States may affect healthcare-seeking behavior, which, in turn, would impact [CDC flu] data," the CDC noted in its weekly update.COVID-19 has now spread to more than 160 countries or regions with more than 240,000 confirmed cases and at least 10,000 deaths. In the U.S., there have been more than 14,500 confirmed cases - up from 3,770 just last week - and at least 175 deaths.Visits to health care providers for ILI increased for the second straight week to 5.8 percent after it was 5.2 percent last week, according to the CDC. For comparison, the highest peak during all of last year's difficult flu season was just 5.1 percent. Source: CDC This season is on track to be the longest above-baseline flu season in at least 20 years of CDC records; it's the 18th straight week flu activity is above baseline normal (2.4 percent). ILI activity has had longer stretches just twice since 1999-2000, according to CDC records, and this season's third spike is just starting to ascend. The other years were 2018-19 (20 weeks) and 2014-15 (19 weeks); this year is now tied with the flu pandemic season of 2009-10.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPThe CDC estimates there have been at least 38 million flu illnesses, 390,000 hospitalizations and 23,000 deaths from the flu during the 2019-20 season. Laboratory-confirmed flu-related hospitalization rates overall for the U.S. remain moderate compared to recent seasons, but rates for children 0-4 and adults 18-49 are now the highest the CDC has on record for these age groups, surpassing rates reported during the 2009-10 pandemic.The quarantining and social-distancing efforts enacted throughout the U.S. should help reduce both ILI activity and COVID-19 transmission."We know with the flu that people can release viruses into the air just by breathing and talking, so it doesn't necessarily have to be coughing and sneezing," Linsey Marr, an air pollution and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech, told AccuWeather's Monica Danielle."But the reason for social distancing is because even for the [germs] floating around, they're much more concentrated when you're close to the person," Marr added. "So, if you imagine someone who is smoking and you're closer to them, you're right in that puff of smoke, but if you're farther away, the air is much more diluted." The number of jurisdictions experiencing high ILI activity decreased from 43 last week to 40 this week. (Source: CDC; bright red represents the highest level of ILI activity on a scale that goes from bright red, then to orange, yellow, light green and dark green reflects the least activity.) Despite those efforts, researchers point out that the major interruptions to daily life could last for several months."I think if anybody thinks we'll be doing this for two weeks and then we're done ... I don't think that's going to work out. We'll go right back where we started," Madhav Marathe, a director and distinguished professor of biocomplexity, told AccuWeather's Bill Waddell. "I strongly believe that all the state governments in the U.S. should actively start building temporary medical facilities. I think it's centrally important."Flu season typically begins in October, peaks between December and February and lasts well into March, although activity can last as late as May. Flu viruses are more stable in cold air and the low humidity allows the virus particles to remain in the air, according to Peter Palese, who was the lead author on a key flu study in 2007.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios
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| Hundreds of U.S. flights canceled after air traffic coronavirus cases Posted: 20 Mar 2020 07:26 AM PDT  U.S. airlines have canceled hundreds of flights at three major U.S. airports this week after a series of coronavirus cases involving air traffic control personnel. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily closed the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York early Friday before reopening it around 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT). The FAA also shuttered part of the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center for cleaning after workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
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| India hangs four over 2012 Delhi bus gang-rape Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:32 AM PDT  India executed four men on Friday for the gang-rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus in 2012 that sparked huge nationwide protests and international revulsion. The brutal attack on Jyoti Singh sparked weeks of demonstrations and shone a spotlight on the alarming rates of sexual violence and the plight of women in India, where around 95 rapes are reported daily. "Today all Indian women received justice," Delhi resident Meena Sharma told AFP, clutching an Indian flag.
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| 'To All the Boys' star Lana Candor appears to call out Trump after he refuses to stop saying 'Chinese virus' when referring to the coronavirus Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:51 AM PDT  "You simply cannot even fathom the danger you are putting our community in," Candor said in a seeming response to President Donald Trump.
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| World Feared China Over Coronavirus. Now the Tables Are Turned. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 11:52 AM PDT  The fear and suspicion directed at China in the devastating early days of the coronavirus outbreak have made a 180-degree turn: It is the West that now frightens Asia and the rest of the world.With Italy, Spain and the United States surging in contagion, many countries in Asia that suffered through the pandemic first seem to have wrestled it into submission, particularly China, and are now fighting to protect against a new wave of infection from outside.Across Asia, travelers from Europe and the United States are being barred or forced into quarantine. Gyms, private clinics and restaurants in Hong Kong warn them to stay away. Even Chinese parents who proudly sent their children to study in New York or London are now mailing them masks and sanitizer or rushing them home on flights that can cost $25,000."We came back because we think going back to China is safer than staying in New York," said Farrah Lyu, a 24-year-old recent college graduate who flew home to eastern China with her roommate this month.The reversal of fortune would have been unimaginable a few weeks ago. At the time, China was the outbreak's global epicenter, with people dying by the hundreds each day.But Thursday, it reported no new local cases for the first time since the outbreak began. Its uncompromising response -- locking down cities, shutting factories, testing thousands -- seems to have brought China's contagion under control.Now the pandemic that originated in China is migrating and starting to recirculate. Across Asia, where Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea successfully grappled with the virus early, alongside China, there is a growing sense of fear and dismay. Much of the region looks west and asks: We're getting it right -- why can't you?For President Donald Trump, the answer has been deflection. Facing a torrent of criticism for playing down the epidemic in its crucial early stages, he has been trying to push blame back to China, worsening existing tensions between the two superpowers. Despite warnings that he is encouraging xenophobia, Trump has repeatedly used the term "China virus" in what critics see as an effort to distance himself from the problem.Beijing has retaliated by falsely suggesting that the virus started with U.S. troops, while portraying itself as a heroic warrior against the contagion and a model for the world.Especially in China and the Chinese diaspora, there is a growing demand for recognition of the hard work and sacrifices that tamed the outbreak, and a desire to tell the world what has gone right and wrong, and why."People in Western countries said China's response was too authoritarian, didn't respect people's democracy and freedom enough," said Yin Choi Lam, a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant owner in Melbourne, Australia. "Now compare it to places like Italy, where the death rate is so high, or America, where no one knows how many people are sick. Would you rather have freedom or keep your life?"Similar arguments are flooding Chinese social media. One popular comic shows China sick as the world watches behind a glass barrier, followed by a panel with an angry, healthy China behind the glass as other countries play and tussle without masks like unruly children.Some of the heaviest scorn, however, has been saved for those who return to China and question the country's harsh approach. A video that went viral this week showed a Chinese-Australian woman being confronted by police in Beijing after she evaded quarantine in order to exercise.Users of the microblogging platform Weibo called for her to be sent back to Australia.Critics both inside and outside China note that the country's authoritarian response is not the only or the best way to fight an epidemic. Officials kept the virus secret for weeks, allowing it to spread uncontrolled in central China, then forced people to remain in overwhelmed cities.By contrast, South Korea, a vibrant capitalist democracy, along with Taiwan and Singapore, have managed the virus with transparency, efficiency and solidarity, while preserving freedom of movement.Part of what has set some Asian countries apart is experience, said Leighanne Yuh, a historian at Korea University."From the outset of the epidemic, South Koreans took the situation very seriously, perhaps because of their previous experiences with SARS and MERS," she said. "Wearing masks, washing our hands, social distancing -- these were all familiar actions."In the United States and Europe, there was more hesitation. And now they are hubs of infection sending disease across the globe. In Australia, the United States is now the leading source of coronavirus cases, followed by Italy, then China.Infections in China are also coming from outside. Officials said Thursday that 34 new cases had been confirmed among people who had arrived from elsewhere.Many people in China now want their government to completely block access from the United States and other hot spots in the same way other countries suspended arrivals from China."I hope China can tighten its national borders and significantly reduce the number of people entering the country," said Tang Xiaozhao, a plastic surgery manager in Shanghai. "Governments and people of most countries disappoint me."In Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory has often acted as a bridge between China and the West, the shifting sense of angst can be seen in warnings from businesses where people gather.One online warning, posted by a pub called Hemingway's DB, tells expats that they will be reported to the police if they violate a new official requirement for 14 days of self-isolation upon returning from overseas. And a large fitness chain emailed customers to tell anyone who has returned from abroad since March 10, or lives with someone who did: "Kindly do not visit."For those with family members in the United States or Europe, there is also a frantic rush to help. On Wednesday at Hong Kong's main post office, people lined up to send boxes of masks and alcohol wipes."During SARS, my mother drove from Canada to the United States to buy masks, so I had to send some back to her," said Eric Chan, 45, a financier.He was down to his last box in Hong Kong but had gone from pharmacy to pharmacy until he snagged a few boxes for his mother and siblings at inflated prices.His own face was covered -- most people in Hong Kong are still wearing masks.The city, with a population of 7 million, has avoided total shutdowns, even as the virus peaked in mainland China. But this week Hong Kong moved to tighten its borders as it recorded a significant uptick in infections, most of them imported. Authorities are investigating five cases linked to Lan Kwai Fong, a night life area that is thronged with expatriates on weekends.Many of those who recently returned to China might have predicted just such a cluster. They see in the United States and Europe a greater urge to go it alone -- and studies have found that Americans and Europeans tend to focus on the individual rather than what's interconnected.Lyu, 24, and her roommate in New York, Tianran Qian, 23 -- who flew back to their homes in Hangzhou, in eastern China -- said they found the U.S. response disorienting. They had both been reading about outbreak clusters around the world for weeks, and for a time they stayed inside and wore masks as they would have at home.But their American friends continued to socialize, describing the virus as little more than the flu."On your phone, you see what's happening around the world, in Japan and Korea, and when you go into real life, people act as if it's a normal day," Lyu said, describing what it was like in New York before she left."They either don't get it or they just ignore it," Qian said. "People were so indifferent."At home in China, they said, they felt safer. They self-quarantined in their rooms, with their parents leaving food and novels at their bedroom doors.Their groceries were delivered and even their trash was collected and treated by hospital employees in hazmat suits."Everything was planned," Lyu said. "We don't have to worry about everything."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:47 PM PDT  Senate Republicans released their "phase three" coronavirus economic stimulus package on Thursday in a follow-up to Wednesday's package.The Senate passed an initial package on Wednesday, which originated in the Democrat-led House and included paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, free COVID-19 testing, and other food and medical aid. But Thursday's proposal walks back some of those actions by putting stricter limits on who can use that paid leave. It also includes loans for small businesses of up to $10 million, a lift on excise taxes for airlines, and a variety of tax cuts and adjustments for businesses.The bill promises up to $1,200 in "recovery rebates" to individual Americans who made no more than $75,000 and $2,400 to joint filers who made no more than $150,000 as of their 2018 tax return. For every $100 a person makes over those limits, $5 will be deducted from that amount. GOP negotiators, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), had held firm on the $75,000 threshold as of Thursday.> GOP bill on immediate checks:> > \-- $1,200 per person ($2,400 if filing jointly) > \-- $500 per kid > \-- Begins to phase out above $75K > \-- Phases out completely above $99K > \-- Much smaller benefit, of $600, for millions w/o federal tax liability pic.twitter.com/mPggn8eepS> > — Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 19, 2020Democrats will still have a chance to negotiate to modify the deal, but it'll likely have President Trump's support. By the end of Thursday, the U.S. had reported 11,200 cases of coronavirus and at least 166 deaths, ABC News reports.More stories from theweek.com Top coronavirus doctor puts head in hands when Trump mentions 'Deep State Department' at briefing America has one of the world's worst coronavirus responses Bloomberg's last FEC filing shows he spent nearly $1 billion on his failed presidential run
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| Goldman, Credit Suisse Forecast Recession for Latin America Posted: 19 Mar 2020 08:29 AM PDT |
| Trump responds to question on coronavirus fears: 'I say that you're a terrible reporter' Posted: 20 Mar 2020 11:02 AM PDT  When a reporter asked President Trump "what do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?" he responded by saying "I say that you're a terrible reporter."
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| Bloomberg makes massive $18M transfer from campaign to DNC Posted: 20 Mar 2020 08:00 AM PDT  The billionaire former presidential candidate will be supporting existing groups instead of running his own 2020 super PAC.
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| 'This system is doomed': Doctors, nurses sound off in NBC News coronavirus survey Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:34 PM PDT  More than 250 health care workers responded to a social media survey seeking first-person accounts from those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Italy once again reported the highest single-day death toll for any country since the coronavirus outbreak started: 627 deaths Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Italy has overtaken China as the country with the most coronavirus deaths. By Friday, COVID-19 had killed 4,032 people in Italy and 3,253 in China.
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| Trump, Pompeo walk to brink of blaming Iran for rocket attack Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:03 PM PDT  President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday came close to blaming Iran for a rocket attack in Iraq last week in which two American troops and a British service member were killed. "Maybe we shouldn't say yet," said Trump when the question was posed to Pompeo at a White House news conference. The Pentagon said last week that Trump had authorized the U.S. military to respond to the March 11 rocket attack in Iraq.
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| COVID-19 hit South Korea and the U.S. on the same day. Here's what Korea did right. Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:25 PM PDT  The U.S. and South Korea both confirmed their first cases of new coronavirus on Jan. 21. South Korea's epidemic seems to have already peaked, while the U.S. is girding for public health, financial, and social crises. The key to South Korea's relative success is testing, and South Korea's aggressive testing regime — "South Korea as of Tuesday was testing up to 20,000 patients a day, more than half the total of U.S. patients who have been tested since the outbreak began," The Wall Street Journal notes — was not an accident.On Jan. 27, with four confirmed cases in the country, "South Korean health officials summoned representatives from more than 20 medical companies from their lunar New Year celebrations to a conference room tucked inside Seoul's busy train station," where a top infectious disease official "delivered an urgent message: South Korea needed an effective test immediately to detect the novel coronavirus," Reuters reports. "He promised the companies swift regulatory approval." A week later, South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved one company's diagnostic test and gave the green light to another company's test on Feb. 12.South Korea has tested more than 290,000 people; the U.S., with about 321 million more people, has tested just 71,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project. "South Korea took a risk, releasing briskly vetted tests, then circling back later to spot check their effectiveness," Reuters reports. "With many more tests in hand, health officials were well armed to attack a fast-moving virus and aggressively track down people who may have been exposed. This testing-backed offensive helped South Korea reduce the number of new cases over a matter of weeks, serving as a model for other countries grappling with the pandemic."In the U.S., the CDC had the only tests approved by the Food and Drug Administration until the FDA loosened its criteria on Feb. 29, and the CDC's first test was faulty. The FDA is now considering approving the South Korean tests as the U.S. struggles to meet demand.South Korea's response is a testament to leadership and foresight, but it was hard-won. South Korea was hit badly by MERS in 2015 — 186 cases, more than anywhere outside the Middle East — and the government was criticized for its slow, secretive response. "We can't ever forget the incident," Lee Sang-won at South Korea's CDC told Reuters. "It is engraved in our mind."More stories from theweek.com Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans FDA clarifies that no drugs are approved to treat COVID-19 after Trump names 2 contenders Trump administration asks states to delay releasing unemployment numbers
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| Hawley, Romney Criticize GOP’s Coronavirus Cash Payment Plan: ‘Lower-Income Families Shouldn’t Be Penalized’ Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:06 AM PDT  Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) spoke out against the Senate GOP's plan for direct payments to Americans as part of its phase-three coronavirus relief package, calling it "regressive" and saying the structure of the plan "needs to be fixed.""Relief to families in this emergency shouldn't be regressive. Lower-income families shouldn't be penalized," Hawley tweeted Thursday night after Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R., Ky.) dropped the plan.> Relief to families in this emergency shouldn't be regressive. Lower-income families shouldn't be penalized> > -- Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 19, 2020The Missouri Republican clarified that he was speaking directly about the bill in a later tweet, adding that it "needs to be fixed."> I mean the GOP bill that just got introduced in the Senate needs to be fixed https://t.co/yzEvgaXYtd> > -- Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 19, 2020The plan, which McConnell said Thursday creates "money for people, from the middle class down, period," includes direct payments of $1,200 per person and $2,400 for couples to help offset economic losses amid the growing pandemic. But the provision that Hawley labeled "regressive" states that size of the checks will be halved for Americans with no federal income tax liability. While the Senate Finance Committee said the bill "ensures relief gets to low-income seniors and disabled veterans," the plan will also affect poor Americans.Earlier this week, Hawley released his own plan targeted at all single parents making less than $50,000, and all married parents making less than $100,000, to assist working families with cash payments — a proposal enthusiastically endorsed by Quinton Lucas, Democratic mayor of Kansas City, Missouri."Let's not overthink this. These families need relief — now — to pay bills that are coming due, make those emergency grocery runs, and get ready for potential medical bills. Let's get it to them," Hawley said in a press release announcing the plan.Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah), who released his own proposal for a one-time $1,000 payment to every American, also criticized the final plan's payment structure."The current bill has promise but it shouldn't give lower earners smaller checks —that's directly contrary to my proposal. We need to fix this to ensure lower earners get equal payments," Romney tweeted on Thursday night.> Americans urgently need cash to meet immediate needs, that's been my goal from the start. The current bill has promise but it shouldn't give lower earners smaller checks —that's directly contrary to my proposal. We need to fix this to ensure lower earners get equal payments.> > -- Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) March 20, 2020
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| Russia deports Chinese for violating self-quarantine rules Posted: 20 Mar 2020 06:21 AM PDT  Authorities in Moscow are detaining and deporting Chinese nationals for violating quarantine procedures the city government mandated in response to the coronavirus, according to court filings and a lawyer working on at least 15 cases. Since the beginning of the year, as many as 79 Chinese people have been taken into custody and fined for leaving their place of residence during the 14-day self-quarantine period they were ordered to observe after returning from China, defense lawyer Sergei Malik told The Associated Press. The majority have been deported from Russia, while 27 remain at Moscow's migrant detention facility awaiting deportation or rulings on appeals arguing the detentions were arbitrary, Malik said.
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| Calls grow for ICE to release immigrants to avoid coronavirus outbreak Posted: 19 Mar 2020 06:52 PM PDT  "Can you imagine if you get an outbreak in these detention facilities? It's going to spread like wildfire," a former head of ICE told CBS News.
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| For people with anxiety and OCD, coronavirus is a 'personal nightmare' Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:00 AM PDT  For people with mental health conditions, COVID-19 is both their worst nightmare and sudden validation of their habits.
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| A 39-year-old coronavirus patient, who could hardly breathe, posted a stark video from the ICU to warn people who think it won't happen to them Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:20 AM PDT  A 39-year-old woman, who is said to have been otherwise healthy, posted harrowing footage of what the coronavirus can do to even a young patient.
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| Mexico's deadly toll of environment and land defenders catalogued in report Posted: 20 Mar 2020 03:00 AM PDT  At least 83 murdered in 2012-2019, with a third of attacks targeting opponents of energy mega-projectsAt least 83 Mexican land and environment defenders were murdered between 2012 and 2019, while hundreds more were threatened, beaten and criminalized, according to a new report.Latin America is the most dangerous continent in the world to defend environmental, land and human rights, with Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala ranking worst.In Mexico, this targeted violence has taken hold in the context of widespread impunity and escalating generalized violence since the ill-fated war on drugs was launched in 2006.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.The situation for defenders was exacerbated by energy reforms in 2013, since when scores of renewable energy mega-projects have been imposed on rural and indigenous communities without adequate consultation or compensation.Almost one in three attacks since 2012 targeted defenders opposing energy projects, especially wind and hydroelectric power, according to the Mexican Centre for Environmental Rights (known by its Spanish acronym, Cemed)."The data shows persistent structural violence against defenders of environmental rights in our country, which prevents them having the freedom and security to exercise their right to defend human rights," said a spokesperson for Cemed, which tracks attacks against communities opposing projects threatening forests, water sources and land rights.The violence is spread across the country, but defenders in the southern state of Oaxaca have faced most attacks over the past eight years.Oaxaca, one of the country's poorest states with the highest proportion of indigenous peoples, is rich in natural resources such as minerals, rivers, forests and natural gas. The violence has been particularly marked in the biodiverse isthmus of Tehuantepec – a narrow land mass between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean where 28 mega wind farms now generate electricity.The overall number of attacks in 2019 was the lowest since 2012. Nevertheless, 15 defenders were murdered and at least 25 others were threatened, harassed or subjected to smear campaigns.This included the double murder of the indigenous Tarahumara defender Otilia Martínez Cruz and his son Chaparro Cruz, who were shot dead on 1 May 2019 – a year after another family member, Julián Carrillo, was killed.More than a dozen Tarahumara defenders have been killed in recent years for trying to stop the illegal deforestation of their ancestral land in the Sierra Madre, a biodiverse mountain range in northern Mexico. They include Isidro Baldenegro López, winner of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize, who was shot dead in 2017. The forests have long been targeted by illegal loggers abetted by corrupt officials and landowners.In 2019, state officials such as police officers, national guard and local prosecutors, were responsible for 40% of incidents registered by Cemed.
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| Trump drops his coronavirus media detente Posted: 19 Mar 2020 12:19 PM PDT  Until Thursday, the president had remained mostly cordial with the press.
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| Trump would agree to block executives from using stimulus funds for stock buybacks and bonuses Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:25 AM PDT  During a coronavirus task force briefing on Thursday, President Trump said he would agree to provisions that would prohibit companies from using stimulus funds for executive bonuses or stock buybacks.
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| South Korea discusses coronavirus with China, Japan; plans to quarantine Europe entries Posted: 19 Mar 2020 06:29 PM PDT  The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan held a video conference on Friday to discuss cooperation on the coronavirus pandemic amid growing concern over the number of infected people arriving in their countries from overseas. The number of cases in Japan has been far smaller, but Tokyo has the extra worry of whether to press ahead with hosting the Olympics this summer.
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| New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Implements ‘Stay at Home’ Order Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Posted: 20 Mar 2020 08:38 AM PDT  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a state-wide "stay at home" executive order for all residents Friday, the strictest measure yet to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus for the nation's largest city."This is not life as usual," he said. "Remain indoors, go outside for solitary exercise. Don't go to a house with multiple people. Don't go to your daughter's house. That is a mistake."There are at least 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York City and 26 deaths, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday morning. "We now constitute 30 percent of the coronavirus cases in the United States of America, 70 percent of the cases in the state of New York," he said on MSNBC on Friday. "We have to take really intense, radical action right away."California Gov. Gavin Newsom Issues Statewide 'Stay at Home' OrderCuomo said Friday that there are 7,102 confirmed cases statewide—and about 1,250 people are hospitalized. That's around 40 percent of the nationwide total of at least 12,000, according to The New York Times, despite New York having 6 percent of the country's population. Cuomo said the order meant non-essential gatherings of any size could not take place for New York's 19 million residents. All non-essential businesses must close their businesses and 100 percent of their employees must work from home. When in public, people should stay at least six feet away from others.Outdoor recreation and exercise is permitted but must be solitary. "It's running and hiking. It's not playing basketball with five other people. It's not playing in the park with 10 other people and sharing a beer," he said.Those who don't comply will be subject to "civil fines," Cuomo said. "When I talk about the most drastic action we can take, this is the most drastic action we can take," he added.The order comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented a similar lockdown on the state's 40 million residents on Wednesday to prevent the state's medical system from being overwhelmed. While not enforced by police, the order instructs residents to stay home indefinitely and go outside only for essential jobs, errands, and exercise.This Is What a Coronavirus Lockdown Means in Each StateThe San Francisco Bay Area implemented a "shelter in place" order in six counties on Tuesday. It stipulated that residents should not leave their homes unless it was for five "essential" activities: tasks essential to the health and safety of people or pets, obtaining necessary supplies like groceries, exercising, taking care of a family member or pet in another household, or traveling to work at an essential business. People who are at high risk of severe illness or are already sick are ordered to stay at home.Friday's announcement marked the latest in precautionary actions taken by Cuomo to combat the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the New York governor announced he would suspend mortgage payments for three months and waive overdraft fees on ATMs and credit cards. "This is a real-life benefit," he said. "People are under tremendous economic pressure. Making a mortgage payment can be one of the No. 1 stressors. Eliminating that stressor for 90 days, I think, will go a long way."To further promote social distancing, Cuomo announced Thursday non-essential businesses must have 75 percent of their normal workforce at home. In an executive order, the government also listed dozens of categories exempt from the scale-down, such as research labs, shipping warehouses, banks, transportation services, and essential services and producers that are "providers of basic necessities to economically disadvantaged populations."Several "non-essential" businesses have also been ordered to close on Saturday, including nail and hair salons, barbershops, and tattoo parlors, to continue to "reduce density" and slow the coronavirus spread. Will Americans Actually Comply With a Long-Term Lockdown?De Blasio said in a Wednesday morning interview with NBC's Today that "people have to realize at this point that this disease is going to put many, many people, thousands and tens of thousands of people's lives in danger and we're going to have to do things very differently."De Blasio and Cuomo had publicly battled over the need to implement a "shelter in place" order. De Blasio said Tuesday that New Yorkers "should be prepared right now for the possibility of a shelter-in-place order" within 48 hours.Cuomo, however, asserted that any such order would "require state action" and that there is "no consideration of that for any locality at this time." On Wednesday, de Blasio called for military assistance to combat the spread of the virus in the city, saying that it has "extraordinary medical capacity" that is "needed in places like New York right now."Cuomo announced Wednesday that the 1,000-bed U.S. Navy Ship Comfort, which had previously been deployed to assist wounded U.S. military troops and hurricane survivors, was being sent to New York Harbor to accommodate an expected increase in coronavirus cases. Coronavirus Threatens to Finish Off the Alt-Weekly NewspapersOn Friday, Cuomo also stressed New York's need for medical supplies—including face masks, gloves, and ventilators—and hospitals are nearing capacity. To ensure health-care professionals have the equipment they need, Cuomo urged other "businesses to get creative… If you can make them, we will give you funding to do it." "Ventilators are to this war what missiles were to World War II," Cuomo said, stressing the supplies are the state's "greatest need" and the government is willing to "pay a premium for these products." Talking about the mental-health implications of a state-wide pause, Cuomo said he knows the extreme measure will be difficult and cause a sense of isolation but he hopes those in the community reach out to one another during this unusual situation."People are in a small apartment, they are in a house. They are worried and anxious—just be mindful of that," Cuomo said, encouraging New Yorkers to reach out to one another. "We are all in quarantine now. I mean think about it, we are all in various levels of quarantine and it's hard."Cuomo also said he is going to stop any evictions of any residential or commercial tenants for three months to further alleviate the economic and social burden of the pandemic. Read 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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