| 'It is an existential threat': As coronavirus spreads to Africa, health experts warn of catastrophe Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:31 PM PDT  So far, African countries have been spared the high death tolls seen in Italy, Spain, and the U.S., but officials are bracing for the worst in the coming weeks.
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| Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown blasts Trump but praises Republican governor's response to coronavirus Posted: 07 Apr 2020 11:59 AM PDT  Sen. Sherrod Brown defeated Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in 2006, but now praises his old political foe's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Azul Rojas Marín: Peru found responsible for torture of LGBT person Posted: 08 Apr 2020 05:40 AM PDT  Azul Rojas Marín was beaten and raped in custody in Peru, a top human rights court rules.
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| Photos show thousands packing into cars, planes, and trains in a rush to get out of Wuhan as China lifts the coronavirus lockdown Posted: 08 Apr 2020 12:12 PM PDT  China ended the near-11-week lockdown of the city of Wuhan at midnight on Wednesday, sending floods of people out of the city.
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| Pelosi reportedly tells Democrats next coronavirus relief package will top $1 trillion Posted: 06 Apr 2020 07:55 PM PDT  During a private conference call with Democrats on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at least $1 trillion will be needed for the next coronavirus relief package.Last month, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package, and Pelosi said the next bill will build onto that, people on the call told Bloomberg News. Pelosi said there will have to be more direct payments to individuals, extended unemployment insurance, and additional funding for food stamps and the Payroll Protection Plan, which provides small business loans.One lawmaker told Bloomberg News Pelosi also said the bill should help state and local governments, particularly in areas with no more than 500,000 residents. While the House isn't scheduled to be back in session until April 20 at the earliest, Pelosi said she wants the package passed this month. President Trump was asked on Monday evening about a second round of direct payments to Americans, and he said it is "absolutely under consideration."More stories from theweek.com Trump threatens to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion to coronavirus relief What America needs to do before lockdown can end
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| Ethiopia and Liberia declare states of emergency to curb coronavirus Posted: 08 Apr 2020 02:39 AM PDT  Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, and Liberia declared states of emergency on Wednesday to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, a day after cases on the continent surged past 10,000. Various African governments have announced lockdowns or curfews in response to the virus, which was slow to reach many African countries but is now growing exponentially, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As of Wednesday afternoon, Africa had over 10,900 confirmed infections and 550 deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally based on government statements and WHO data.
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| Iran says US oil production must be known before OPEC+ call Posted: 08 Apr 2020 01:21 AM PDT  Iran demanded on Wednesday that U.S. oil production levels must be known before an upcoming OPEC meeting with Russia and others seeking to boost global energy prices. The meeting of the so-called OPEC+ is scheduled to be held Thursday after officials delayed it following Saudi Arabia criticizing Russia over its comments about the price collapse. A meeting in March saw OPEC and other nations led by Russia fail to agree to a production cut as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut demand for oil.
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| Bernie drops out, as Democrats pick pragmatism over consistency Posted: 08 Apr 2020 10:09 AM PDT  In many ways, Bernie Sanders is the anti-Trump. And, in important ways, he ran his campaign as the anti-Biden.Sanders bowed out of the Democratic nomination race on April 8, repeating his runner-up status from four years earlier. His two runs at the White House have cemented his legacy as a consistent standard-bearer for progressive policies. The veteran democratic socialist possessed a rare quality for a political candidate in this age of Trumpian fickleness. He is a politician whose actions and beliefs have remained steadfast over time and across campaigns. But in the current political moment, it appears the Democratic electorate longs less for a politician who is consistent from day to day than one who can provide pragmatic leadership to unseat the vacillating Trump. Same ol' SandersSanders ran his campaign as the antithesis of a political showman, who says one thing today and another tomorrow with little regard for facts and consistency. He has exhibited throughout his career what anthropologist Alessandro Duranti calls "existential coherence" – he is a political figure "whose past, present, and future actions, beliefs, and evaluations follow some clear basic principles, none of which contradicts another." As a linguistic anthropologist who studies language and politics, I know that traditionally, candidates have worried about how to project a consistent political persona, and they have often gone to great pains to do so. But Trump shattered that expectation, excelling in self-contradictions and inconsistencies – often within a single sitting.Sanders, instead, has put forth a consistent vision that has remained more or less the same since his early days in politics as mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Rather than moving toward the electorate and shifting positions based on perceptions of what the electorate desired, the electorate has moved toward Sanders to join his vision for universal health care and other progressive causes. A CNBC survey in 2019 found that a majority of Americans supported progressive policies, including a higher minimum wage and Medicare for All – key issues that Sanders has been advocating throughout his decades-long political career. In an episode of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" last year, host Trevor Noah unearthed footage from 1987 of Sanders discussing politics on a local public access channel in his hometown of Burlington. The Bernie Sanders of 1987 talked of the unfair tax system that placed a large burden on working people and the need for universal health care. "We are one of two nations in the industrialized world that does not have a national health care system," declared Sanders in 1987. Three decades later, in both his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, Sanders continued with that theme. In 2016, he released his Medicare for All plan by declaring, "It is time for our country to join every other major industrialized nation on Earth and guarantee health care to all citizens as a right, not a privilege." His 2020 campaign website further echoed this sentiment, stating that "the United States will join every other major country on Earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right." A consistent candidate often comes across as a more authentic candidate – someone who is staying true to his core self rather than pandering to the latest polling data or saying whatever will attract the most dramatic news coverage. Sanders' authenticity as a candidate who has fought for working people and progressive ideals his entire life made him appealing to many liberals. He attracted an unshakable following of core supporters because of it. 'Results, not revolution'Biden's pragmatic approach, however, trumped Sanders' often dogmatic consistency. In their debates, Sanders hammered Biden over what he saw as shifting stances on Social Security, Medicare and veterans' programs. And then there was Biden's 2003 vote for the Iraq war before he turned against it.But this is not the 2004 presidential election, where accusations of flip-flopping can sink a candidate, like it did John Kerry in his race against George W. Bush. Perhaps Donald Trump's fickleness has changed what voters look for in a candidate. Maybe it's simply that nobody cares about Biden's apparent lack of judgment in 2003, which occurred well before he spent eight years as vice president in arguably one of the most popular Democratic administrations in U.S. history.Biden easily parried Sanders' accusations of inconsistency by pointing to an underlying consistency of principles that have guided his varying positions over time. Voters ultimately decided to support someone who exhibits a practical sense of how to govern in a way that gets things done. As Biden said in his last debate with Sanders, "People are looking for results, not revolution."On health care, one might have expected Sanders to have an advantage with his Medicare for All proposal, a consistent theme across his time as mayor, congressman, senator and presidential candidate. Polling done by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that for the first time a majority of Americans began to support a single government plan for health care in 2016, corresponding to the Sanders campaign push for Medicare for All.But in the same Kaiser poll, more Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they would prefer a candidate who would build on the Affordable Care Act rather than replace it. Biden's campaign argued precisely for this more pragmatic approach, and he positioned himself as the right person to get the job done in a contentious political environment. An overtureAfter sweeping the primaries in Florida, Illinois and Arizona in March – putting the wheels in motion for the eventual withdrawal of Sanders from the race – Biden then struck the right chord in his speech after the Florida primary by making an appeal to Sanders voters. "I hear you," he said. "I know what's at stake. I know what we have to do. Our goal as a campaign and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party and then to unify the nation." Biden's appeal to Sanders voters suggests he may be willing to absorb some of the best ideas from Sanders – and other candidates. It's a pragmatic approach, rather than a dogmatic consistency, that may bring along their supporters, too. That may be exactly what he will need to do to beat Trump in November.[You're smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation's authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Biden's big night with moderates, African Americans and baby boomers * Biden's resurrection was unprecedented – and well-timedAdam Hodges 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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| Putin Urges Russians to Stick to Self-Isolation, Offers More Aid Posted: 08 Apr 2020 07:47 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin offered more aid to beleaguered Russians and businesses as he urged them to maintain a shutdown and warned the country is nearing a critical point in the coronavirus epidemic."The next 2-3 weeks will be key" to reining in Covid-19, Putin said Wednesday in a televised address to the nation during a meeting of the government's task force for managing the health crisis. "For most, being constantly confined by four walls is the definition of dreary and nauseating. But there is no choice now."He announced new measures to assist those affected by the shutdown to stop the spread of the infection, including a monthly payment of 3,000 rubles ($40) per child to families whose breadwinners have lost their jobs. He also promised state aid to companies which refrain from lay-offs, and pledged government support to those who do lose their jobs.Authorities in Moscow on March 30 required the capital's almost 13 million inhabitants to stay at home apart from essential workers. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin quickly told other Russian regions to follow suit. Putin last week extended an order for most Russians to observe a non-working period until April 30, though on Tuesday he asked his scientific advisers whether he could shorten its length.The assistance Putin has announced to date pales in comparison to some spending packages around the globe, with ING Bank estimating that his support measures only amount to about 2% of gross domestic product. Sergei Guriev, the former chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said Russia should be spending around 10% of GDP.Russia on Wednesday recorded 1,175 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 8,672, with 63 fatalities, according to official data. While the numbers of those infected are far below the worst-afflicted countries, such as the U.S., France, Italy and Spain, Covid-19 continues to spread rapidly."Self-isolation is a test that we must withstand," Putin told Russians in his address. "Achieving the turning point in our fight against the infection depends on our discipline and responsibility, and we must succeed."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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| As coronavirus spreads, mentally ill Americans are left scrambling for options Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:51 AM PDT  The rapid spread of the coronavirus has dramatically affected the one in five Americans who deal with mental health in any given year, as well as those who work tirelessly to keep those individuals well.
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| In El Salvador, gangs are enforcing the coronavirus lockdown with baseball bats Posted: 07 Apr 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Street gangs in El Salvador have turned from extortion and killing to enforcing social distancing restrictions, often with threats and baseball bats.
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| One chart shows how long the coronavirus lives on surfaces like cardboard, plastic, wood, and steel Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:58 PM PDT  Recent research shows that the coronavirus lives longest on glass, paper money, and the outside of surgical masks.
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| Donations pour in but India's 'PM CARES' coronavirus fund faces criticism Posted: 08 Apr 2020 03:05 AM PDT  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing criticism for creating a new coronavirus relief fund when about $500 million was lying unspent in an older fund, even as top businesses and celebrities pledge millions of dollars in new donations. Modi launched the "PM CARES" fund to provide relief to those affected by the coronavirus that has infected more than 5,000 people in India, and killed 149. The fund is expected to help millions of day labourers, many of whose lives were devastated by a nationwide lockdown ordered by Modi to stem the epidemic.
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| Trump says he never saw a January WH memo warning of the impact from coronavirus Posted: 07 Apr 2020 04:55 PM PDT  At Tuesday's coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump said he never saw a memo written in late January by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warning about the possible effects of coronavirus in the United States. The memo warned that the illness could endanger the lives of millions of Americans.
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| NYC Is Taking Hundreds of Body Bags Out of Houses—and Soon They Will Be Counted Posted: 08 Apr 2020 11:21 AM PDT  The coronavirus death count in New York City, already unfathomable, is expected to surge in the coming days as officials begin including people who have been dropping dead at home without an official diagnosis.Emergency Medical Service data first reported by Gothamist suggests the undercount of individuals who have likely died from the virus is massive. On Tuesday alone, 256 people were pronounced dead at home across the five boroughs. Until this month, about 25 people in New York City were found dead in their homes on a typical day, suggesting that most of Tuesday's calls were related to the outbreak that has already killed over 5,400 people across the state and infected 140,386 more. According to New York City Fire Department data obtained by The Daily Beast, first responders have reported 2,192 "dead-on-arrival" calls over the last two weeks. On average, the department handled about 453 of those calls over the same period last year. That data also showed that the number of cardiac or respiratory arrest calls has exploded, from 20 to 30 a day at the end of March and the beginning of April in 2019, to 322 on one day in April in 2020—with more than 100 calls every day since March 28. While 30 to 50 percent of those calls ended in a death in 2019, more than 50 percent of those calls have ended in a death every day since March 22 this year, with the percentage steadily rising to 75 percent as of April 5.'New York Is in Crisis': Cuomo Pleads for Help as State Suffers Worst Single-Day Death Toll "Every person with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis is counted in the number of fatalities, whether they passed away at home or in a hospital," a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement to The Daily Beast. "The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the NYC Health Department are working together to include into their reports deaths that may be linked to COVID but not lab-confirmed that occur at home." They did not specify when the city will begin reporting that data, but the decision to include the possible virus-related fatalities comes after Gothamist's report about at-home deaths that were likely related to the disease and not included in the city's reports.While New York City reported over 400 coronavirus deaths in less than 24 hours on Wednesday, that number did not include those who died in non-hospital settings without a formal lab diagnosis.While initially refusing to discuss his administration's reporting system, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday agreed the city should include home deaths to give an accurate account of the tragedy ravaging the city. He acknowledged that a "vast majority" of deaths at home are "coronavirus related.""The blunt truth is coronavirus is driving these very tragic deaths," de Blasio said on CNN. "We're talking about something like 100, 200 people per day. Don't take this disease ever lightly because the real death toll is even higher."The mayor added that New York—currently the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States—has seen more deaths in the "last couple of days" than "the number of people who died in the World Trade Center."State and city officials are still struggling to track the number of coronavirus cases, as officials believe there are a number of individuals infected with the virus who have not, or cannot, be tested. One emergency room doctor told The Daily Beast that his hospital is "aggressively sending people home." "Being in the hospital is not going to change their course of illness," the physician said, indicating the hard choices medical professionals face during this pandemic.De Blasio said that he was hopeful the virus was starting to slow after seeing indications that the city's overwhelmed hospital system was seeing fewer admissions—until he learned that hundreds of people are dying in their homes without seeking medical care. NYC Is on the Brink as Patients Flood Hospitals Already 'Under Siege'"We never saw anything like this in normal times," he added. "We have to acknowledge that, and say this is further evidence of just how destructive this disease is."On Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 779 more people had died across the state, marking the second day in a row that the Empire State saw an increase in deaths related to the pandemic."If the hospitalization rate keeps decreasing the way it is now, then the system should stabilize these next couple of weeks, which will minimize the need for an overflow that we have built into the system," Cuomo said, adding that "the number of deaths, as a matter of fact, will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away." The death toll has already overwhelmed city hospitals and morgues. To deal with the flood of bodies, 45 refrigerated trucks have been set up across the five boroughs, some of which are already full, and a temporary morgue has been erected outside Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said last week that New York will also receive 250 ambulances, about 500 EMTs and paramedics, and 85 more refrigerated trucks to help with the overload. On Monday, de Blasio, who'd previously refused to detail any plans for mass burials, said that the city has contingency plans in place if needed to bury COVID-19 victims in temporary plots on Hart Island, which has been used as New York's potter's field for 150 years, until morgues and cemeteries can handle the influx. "We're going to try and treat every family with dignity, respect, religious needs of those who are devout, and the focus right now is to try to get through this crisis and obviously also put all of our energy and resources into saving those we can save," de Blasio said. "That's how we're going to go about it. We'll have the capacity for temporary burials. That's all I'm going to say."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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| Chinese Official Tries to Walk Back Claim U.S. Military Brought Virus to Wuhan Posted: 07 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  China Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian held his first press conference in several weeks on Tuesday, attempting to walk back his earlier claim that the U.S. military had brought the novel coronavirus to the city of Wuhan."The virus [is] a scientific question that requires scientific opinions," Zhao told reporters. He was then asked if he stood behind a March 12 tweet in which he wrote that, "It might be the U.S. Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.""The questions raised on my personal Twitter account are a response to U.S. politicians' stigmatization of China, which also reflects the righteous anger of many Chinese people over these stigmatizing acts," Zhao responded.China blocks Twitter within its borders, although certain citizens and companies may use the app with government approval. Twitter has said that using the platform to claim that the U.S. brought coronavirus to Wuhan does not violate its rules and terms of service.The Chinese government and state-owned media outlets have repeatedly tried to portray President Trump's use of the term "Chinese virus" as stigmatizing. On March 17, Trump was asked during a White House press conference whether he thought calling the coronavirus the "Chinese virus" created a "stigma.""No, I don't think so. I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma," Trump replied.The coronavirus pandemic that began in Wuhan has now claimed over 81,000 lives and seen 1,400,000 people infected.
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| New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON -- Coronavirus patients in areas that had high levels of air pollution before the pandemic are more likely to die from the infection than patients in cleaner parts of the country, according to a new nationwide study that offers the first clear link between long-term exposure to pollution and COVID-19 death rates.In an analysis of 3,080 U.S. counties, researchers at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that higher levels of the tiny, dangerous particles in air known as PM 2.5 were associated with higher death rates from the disease.For weeks, public health officials have surmised a link between dirty air and death or serious illness from COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. The Harvard analysis is the first nationwide study to show a statistical link, revealing a "large overlap" between COVID-19 deaths and other diseases associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter."The results of this paper suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to experiencing the most severe COVID-19 outcomes," the authors wrote.The paper found that if Manhattan had lowered its average particulate matter level by just a single unit, or 1 microgram per cubic meter, over the past 20 years, the borough would most likely have seen 248 fewer COVID-19 deaths by this point in the outbreak.Overall, the research could have significant implications for how public health officials choose to allocate resources like ventilators and respirators as the coronavirus spreads. The paper has been fast-tracked for peer review and publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.It found that just a slight increase in long-term pollution exposure could have serious coronavirus-related consequences, even accounting for other factors like smoking rates and population density.For example, it found that a person living for decades in a county with high levels of fine particulate matter is 15% more likely to die from the coronavirus than someone in a region with 1 unit less of the fine particulate pollution.The District of Columbia, for instance, is likely to have a higher death rate than the adjacent Montgomery County, Maryland. Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, should be worse than nearby Lake County, Illinois. Fulton County, Georgia, which includes Atlanta, is likely to suffer more deaths than the adjacent Douglas County."This study provides evidence that counties that have more polluted air will experience higher risks of death for COVID-19," said Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard who led the study.Counties with higher pollution levels, Dominici said, "will be the ones that will have higher numbers of hospitalizations, higher numbers of deaths and where many of the resources should be concentrated."The study is part of a small but growing body of research, mostly still out of Europe, that offers a view into how a lifetime of breathing dirtier air can make people more susceptible to the coronavirus, which has already killed more than 10,000 people in the United States and 74,000 worldwide.In the short term, Dominici and other public health experts said the study's finding meant that places like the Central Valley of California, or Cuyahoga County, Ohio, may need to prepare for more severe cases of COVID-19.The analysis did not look at individual patient data and did not answer why some parts of the country have been hit harder than others. It also remains unclear whether particulate matter pollution plays any role in the spread of the coronavirus or whether long-term exposure directly leads to a greater risk of falling ill.Dr. John R. Balmes, a spokesman for the American Lung Association and a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco, said the findings were particularly important for hospitals in poor neighborhoods and communities of color, which tend to be exposed to higher levels of air pollution than affluent, white communities."We need to make sure that hospitals taking care of folks who are more vulnerable and with even greater air pollution exposure have the resources they need," Balmes said.As more is learned about the recurrence of COVID-19, the study also could have far-reaching implications for clean-air regulations, which the Trump administration has worked to roll back over the past three years on the grounds that they have been onerous to industry."The study results underscore the importance of continuing to enforce existing air pollution regulations to protect human health both during and after the COVID-19 crisis," the study said.Last week, the Trump administration announced a plan to weaken Obama-era regulations on automobile tailpipe emissions, asserting the rollback would save lives because Americans would buy newer, safer vehicles. But the administration's own analysis also found that there would be even more premature deaths from increased air pollution.In weakening a regulation last year on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency similarly acknowledged that the measure was likely to result in about 1,400 additional premature deaths a year because of more pollution.Asked whether the EPA was also studying the link between air pollution and the virus or considering policies to address the link, Andrea Woods, a spokeswoman for the agency, referred the question to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and asserted that the Trump administration rollbacks would lead to some air quality improvements.Beth Gardiner, a journalist and the author of "Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution," said she was particularly worried about what the coronavirus outbreak would mean for countries with far worse pollution, such as India."Most countries don't take it seriously enough and aren't doing enough given the scale of the harm that air pollution is doing to all of our health," she said.Most fine particulate matter comes from fuel combustion, like automobiles, refineries and power plants, as well as some indoor sources like tobacco smoke. Breathing in such microscopic pollutants, experts said, inflames and damages the lining of the lungs over time, weakening the body's ability to fend off respiratory infections.Multiple studies have found that exposure to fine particulate matter puts people at heightened risk for lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and even premature death. In 2003, Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, the associate dean for research at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, found that SARS patients in the most polluted parts of China were twice as likely to die from the disease as those in places with low air pollution.In an interview, Zhang called the Harvard study "very much consistent" with his findings.To conduct the Harvard study, researchers collected particulate matter data for the past 17 years from more than 3,000 counties and COVID-19 death counts for each county through April 4 from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering Coronavirus Resource Center at the Johns Hopkins University. The resulting model, which examines aggregated rather than individual data, suggested what Dominici called a statistically significant link between pollution and coronavirus deaths.The researchers also conducted six secondary analyses to adjust for factors they felt might compromise the results. For example, because New York state has experienced the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the country and death rates there are five times higher than anywhere else, the researchers repeated the analysis excluding all of the counties in the state. They also ran the model excluding counties with fewer than 10 confirmed COVID-19 cases. And they adjusted for various other factors that are known to affect health outcomes, like smoking rates, population density and poverty levels.Balmes noted that without studying individual characteristics of patients, the study could only suggest a causal connection between air pollution and COVID-19 deaths and would need to be confirmed by more research -- a point with which Dominici agreed. But, Balmes said, "It's still a valuable finding."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| President says US will withhold funding from WHO following its 'missed calls' on coronavirus Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  As New York City's death toll from coronavirus hits 3,845, officials are considering using Hart Island in Long Island Sound off the Bronx as a temporary grave site at a time when morgues are overrun.Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, has meanwhile broken with Donald Trump to warn that the world may never "go back to normal" after the outbreak because the threat will linger, issuing the caution as America approaches 400,000 cases and 12,300 deaths in total.
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| UK truck driver pleads guilty in deaths of 39 Vietnamese Posted: 08 Apr 2020 07:49 AM PDT  A truck driver accused in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found inside a refrigerated container that had been hauled to England pleaded guilty to manslaughter Wednesday. Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, entered the plea at Central London Criminal Court.
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| Korean Air puts 70 percent of staff on leave Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:17 PM PDT  Korean Air is the flagship of the Hanjin group, one of the multifaceted, family-controlled conglomerates known as chaebols that dominate business in South Korea and played a key part in its rise to become the world's 12th-largest economy. Most of its staff will go on leave from April 16 for six months in response to "deteriorating business circumstances", Korean Air said in a statement. Korean Air's labour union agreed to participate as part of a "burden-sharing" initiative, the company said -- executives have also agreed to take pay cuts.
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| Brazil turns to local industry to build ventilators as China orders fall through Posted: 08 Apr 2020 02:04 PM PDT  Brazil's health minister said on Wednesday that the country's attempts to purchase thousands of ventilators from China to fight a growing coronavirus epidemic had fallen through and the government is now looking to Brazilian companies to build the devices. "Practically all our purchases of equipment in China are not being confirmed," Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a news conference. An attempt to buy 15,000 ventilators in China did not go through and Brazil was making a new bid, he said, but the outcome is uncertain in the intense competition for medical supplies in the global pandemic.
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| New York just recorded its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:56 PM PDT  "Behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, is a father, is a brother, is a sister," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
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| Bernie Sanders reportedly spoke to Biden and Obama before ending his 2020 run Posted: 08 Apr 2020 12:57 PM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had made a few phone calls to the last administration before making his big dropout decision.Sanders suspended his 2020 run on Wednesday, saying his "path toward victory is virtually impossible" but pledging to stay on primary ballots through the Democratic National Convention to gain influence in the party. And shortly after making that announcement, Sanders reportedly made a call to Joe Biden, who he left as the presumptive Democratic nominee, CBS News reports.> Former Vice President @JoeBiden and Sen. @BernieSanders spoke around midday today about the senator's decision to suspend his campaign, a source familiar with the call tells me. This was one of several calls between the two opponents in recent weeks.> > -- Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) April 8, 2020Sanders also consulted former President Barack Obama "several times" before making his decision, NBC News reports. Obama reportedly still isn't ready to hop into the 2020 fray just yet, but Sanders' suspension surely makes it easier for him to do so.> Source close to @BarackObama tells me: "When the moment is right and when he feels he can have maximum impact, the country will be hearing more from him." Source notes Obama has spoken to @SenSanders "several times" over the past few weeks.> > -- Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) April 8, 2020Hillary Clinton, 2016's Democratic nominee, meanwhile had no comment on Sanders' exit. > Not too shocking: Hillary Clinton has no comment on Bernie Sanders suspending his presidential campaign, per a Clinton spokesman. > > Remember, Clinton had this to say of Sanders in a Hulu docuseries that aired earlier this year: "Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him."> > -- Monica Alba (@albamonica) April 8, 2020More stories from theweek.com Dr. Anthony Fauci cautiously predicts kids will return to school next fall, 'but it's going to be different' The coming backlash against the public health experts Linda Tripp, Clinton investigation whistleblower, dies at 70
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| Coronavirus wreaks havoc in African American neighbourhoods Posted: 07 Apr 2020 02:32 PM PDT  Black Chicagoans account for 70% of coronavirus deaths, despite making up 30% of the population.
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| Obesity is major COVID-19 risk factor, says French chief epidemiologist Posted: 08 Apr 2020 01:15 AM PDT  Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus and the United States is particularly vulnerable because of high obesity levels there, France's chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday. Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said as many as 17 million of France's 67 million citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity. "That is why we're worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity."
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| U.S. Eyes Second Coronavirus Outbreak in China Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:44 AM PDT  As the Trump administration scrambles to get a hand on the spread of the new coronavirus across the U.S., it is keeping one eye on developments in China, the country where the pandemic originated.According to two officials with knowledge of those efforts and cables reviewed by The Daily Beast, the administration is monitoring China's second wave of coronavirus cases, gathering data on the ground on the number of individuals newly infected and the reasons for the recent uptick. Over the past few days Chinese officials have noted an emergence of new cases, particularly in asymptomatic individuals. But U.S. officials say it is difficult to trust Beijing's numbers because of its history of putting out unreliable data.The push for real-time intelligence on China's new outbreak is an attempt by U.S. officials not only to study what factors can lead to a reemergence of the virus but also to get ahead of any attempt by Beijing to—yet again—put a spin on it, those same officials said. The White House is leaning on officials from across several agencies, including the State Department, Centers for Disease Control and the intel community to probe how Beijing is handling the new cases so as to better understand what the U.S. could expect later this year, when medical officials believe a second round of infections may happen as well. Grim Scenes at Chinese Hospitals as Doctors Rush to Treat Deadly CoronavirusThe effort by the U.S. to gather new data in China could rattle an already delicate detente that Washington and Beijing appear to have reached on coronavirus messaging.For weeks following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, the Trump administration called out Beijing for misleading the world about the reality of the situation on the ground, claiming the lack of information and the silencing of health-care workers helped lead to the global spread of the virus. China relentlessly pushed back on that assertion and demanded that the U.S. stop referring to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus"—as several top Trump officials were doing. Since then, both President Trump and President Xi have toned down the tough talk and the State Department in cables has refrained from referring to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus". In public appearances and behind closed doors Trump has changed his tune, calling Xi his good "friend" and an "incredible guy".But officials who spoke to The Daily Beast said they worry that China could again manipulate its numbers, costing the U.S. and countries across the world valuable information needed to fight another wave of coronavirus cases. According to one State Department cable reviewed by The Daily Beast, China's National Health Commission appears to be linking the second wave with an uptick in individuals testing positive who do not show signs of symptoms. The Chinese government began reporting the number of asymptomatic cases on the mainland for the first time on April 1. As of last week China reported that 1,075 people with no signs of symptoms were "under medical observation." About 135 of those individuals had tested positive for COVID-19. "These asymptomatic infections include individuals who do not show any signs of illness but who have a positive laboratory test result for the virus that causes COVID-19," the cable reads. "Asymptomatic infections represented about one-third of current cases [in mainland China] as of March 31." White House Pushes U.S. Officials to Criticize China For Coronavirus 'Cover-Up'The fear of a second wave through asymptomatic individuals is concerning Chinese officials so much that some cities are now requiring individuals scan their QR health codes before riding public transportation. In Wuhan, the local government is reportedly considering "testing all residents to find asymptomatic persons due to fears of a second outbreak," according to that same cable.Like China, the Trump administration is increasingly worried about the spread of the coronavirus from asymptomatic or presymptomatic individuals. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control issued new guidelines advising Americans to wear cloth face covers or masks while around other people even if they did not feel sick.The administration had hesitated on issuing such guidance in part out of concern that a run on medical masks would further hamper American hospitals that are struggling to procure personal protective equipment for their workers. In order to address that shortage, President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner last week announced that he and White House adviser Peter Navarro were working with a team to help buy supplies like masks and gowns internationally, including from China. But the Chinese supplies are a subject of concern as well, after reports of faulty equipment in places such as Spain and the Netherlands.According to a State Department cable, China last week implemented a new policy to ensure all of the medical supplies it planned to export were functioning correctly."The policy regulated exports of medical supplies including detection reagents, medical masks protective clothing, ventilators, and thermometers by requiring exporters to provide documentation that shipments meet China's medical device product registration requirements," the cable reads. As the administration tries to track down accurate data in China on the new asymptomatic cases sweeping the country, it's also looking to keep Chinese disinformation at bay. In the State Department, officials have been tasked with flagging "news" stories and foreign cables that appear to propagate false information. For example, the State Department highlighted in a cable last week the statements made by Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador to France. "Following international media reports that the COVID-19 death toll in Wuhan had been dramatically understated (as evidenced by the social media posts, now censored, showing a large number of urns and long lines of residents at government-operated crematoriums)… Shanye told French media that official statistics in Wuhan were accurate," the cable reads. "When asked why the PRC government censored videos and pictures of the long queues of persons waiting to pick up urns, Lu said, 'if they were censored, where did you get those pictures and videos?'" The ambassador was referring to photos that spread on social media last week showing stacks of urns in Wuhan funeral homes. The photos have been deleted but their publishing raised additional questions about the true scale of the coronavirus crisis in China.Read 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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| Covid-19 Is Trapping Ecuador Between Death and Debt Posted: 08 Apr 2020 07:11 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Sometime late last month the bodies began to turn up on the streets of Guayaquil. Some of the dead were abandoned in dumpsters. Others had been bundled in plastic and left on the sidewalks of this seaside Ecuadoran city, the yellow and black plastic cordon suggesting an unsolved crime scene.While most of Latin America is bracing for the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, Ecuador is already overwhelmed. The Andean nation of 17.5 million people is proportionately South America's most afflicted: Only Brazil has a higher death count, with three times the fatalities for a population 12 times larger than Ecuador's. (But as Bloomberg News reports, the continent is woefully behind in testing populations for the virus.) In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, with 70% of the nation's stricken, coffins are scarce, families wait days for funeral homes to collect their dead and morgues are overflowing, forcing city authorities to store the bodies in industrial refrigerators. This is not just a tragedy of human health. As Covid-19 claims lives, it also menaces an economy that is already failing. While emerging markets everywhere are in trouble, Ecuador comes to the pandemic with some serious co-morbidities: a huge foreign debt, sinking oil prices, deepening poverty and political fratricide. The only question is whether public health or the economy is in a more precarious state.The slump in oil prices has gutted winnings from Ecuador's signature commodity even as public debt has risen to nearly 52% of gross domestic product, well over the nationally stipulated maximum of 40%. That level of red ink can be hard for many countries to handle. For dollarized Ecuador, the surging greenback makes its signature non-oil exports even less competitive and forces the country to pile on even more debt, default on its loans or slash spending even as it battles the pandemic.Ecuador's plight is in part the product of collective responses to prior emergencies. One reason Ecuador proved to be so accommodating to coronavirus was its diaspora. Propelled by political instability and a banking crisis in the late 1990s and early 2000s, up to 1 million Ecuadorans have migrated. More than 400,000 settled in Spain, becoming Latin America's largest expatriate community there, while another 100,000 moved to Italy. Just as these global Ecuadorans nurtured their native economy with remittances, the returnees and frequent fliers have helped spread the contagion back home. Ecuador's patient zero reportedly was an elderly Ecuadoran who returned to Guayaquil in February and may have infected up to 180 patients. By the time national lockdown orders were in place in March, the virus was already loose.Dollarization is another two-edged sword. Runaway prices and a banking crisis forced Ecuador to jettison the worthless national currency for the greenback in early 2000. Dollarization stabilized the economy and shielded Ecuadorans from inflation and the economic fallout from political turmoil which routinely ravaged neighboring economies. However, the stronger dollar not only makes Ecuador's exports less competitive, but ties the nation's hands in a crisis. Since the central bank cannot print dollars, government can't monetize its swollen public deficit. With plunging oil prices (crude oil is 29% of exports), Ecuador's gross financing needs this year are on track to hit an "unmanageable" $8.1 billion this year, according to Oxford Economics. Unless multilateral lenders come to the rescue, the government will have to raise taxes or double down on austerity, a strategy that nearly unseated President Lenin Moreno last year.While some Latin American leaders have stepped up during the outbreak and seen their approval ratings climb, Moreno has struggled. Once heralded as a reformer, he has seen his credibility shattered by partisan caviling, aggravated by his own well-intentioned bumbling. Nationwide protests late last October forced him to roll back fiscal measures, including a cut in fuel subsidies, prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, whose largesse his government needs even more today. The economy is likely to contract by 6% this year, said Norman McKay of the Economist Intelligence Unit.Now he faces the country's worst crisis in memory with approval ratings below 20% (compared with 77% when he first took office in 2017), junk-rated sovereign debt and little fiscal firepower. "Moreno was already isolated and has little national support and little cash to buy political support," Andres Mejia Acosta, a lecturer in political economy at Kings College London, told me. A weak central government is a cue for opportunists to weaponize the pandemic for political ends. "We are likely to see Moreno's political problems escalate because his government has no national support."An emergency fund in the works will offer a modicum of relief to some of the most vulnerable families. However under fiscal constraints Ecuador revised its registry of cash transfer recipients in 2014, restricting eligibility to all but those in extreme poverty (eliminating 600,000 recipients) and leaving out many more potential beneficiaries who are now in harm's way. "If you are part of the population at risk, but didn't make the official registry, you are invisible to the state," said Mejia Acosta.For those who toil in Ecuador's vast shadow economy and live by peddling their wares and services day by day, sheltering is penury. The state has no plan for them, nor refrigerators for their rising body count.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Mac Margolis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin and South America. He was a reporter for Newsweek and is the author of "The Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Russia aims to prosecute destruction of war monuments abroad Posted: 08 Apr 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Russia's defense minister called on law enforcement officials Wednesday to consider filing criminal charges against representatives of other countries where World War II memorials commemorating the actions of the Soviet Union are demolished. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the appeal to the head of the Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigation body. Russia takes offense at any criticism of the Soviet role in the war.
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| Italy commune bans mixed-sex shopping to stem virus Posted: 08 Apr 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Canonica d'Adda (Italie) (AFP) - Men and women have the same rights in the small municipality of Canonica d'Adda in Italy's north - except when it comes to shopping for food. To lower the number of people in supermarkets and reduce the risk of coronavirus contagion, the mayor has decreed that men and women will not shop together. Canonica d'Adda is not far from Bergamo, considered the most affected area in the region of Lombardy, where more than 9,000 people have died of coronavirus -- more than half of the total deaths in the country.
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| The Marine Corps Wants to Transform JLTVs into Aircraft-Killing Trucks Posted: 08 Apr 2020 01:54 PM PDT  Marine Corps Systems Command recently invited defense firms to submit ideas for creating the Direct Fire Defeat System.
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| Surgeon General says he's 'optimistic' the coronavirus impact can be slowed if US keeps up social distancing for 30 days Posted: 07 Apr 2020 11:04 AM PDT  The US is not in the clear: More than 378,200 coronavirus cases and 11,800 deaths have been reported as of Tuesday.
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| Navarro left a trail of political wreckage in California Posted: 08 Apr 2020 01:30 AM PDT  As a candidate, the Trump trade adviser feuding with Fauci was known for his combative ways.
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| Will we ever take cruise holidays again? Posted: 08 Apr 2020 04:10 PM PDT  The cruise line industry faces a long journey back from the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Special Report: Johnson listened to his scientists about coronavirus - but they were slow to sound the alarm Posted: 07 Apr 2020 06:04 AM PDT  It was early spring when British scientists laid out the bald truth to their government. It was "highly likely," they said, that there was now "sustained transmission" of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. If unconstrained and if the virus behaved as in China, up to four-fifths of Britons could be infected and one in a hundred might die, wrote the scientists, members of an official committee set up to model the spread of pandemic flu, on March 2.
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| Trump news: Bernie Sanders ends campaign as president slams Democrats and says coronavirus must be 'quickly forgotten' Posted: 08 Apr 2020 11:38 AM PDT  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hit back at Donald Trump after he threatened to stop US funding to the body as he seeks a scapegoat for the disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, saying the WHO had "missed the call" -- despite himself ignoring a memo from trade adviser Peter Navarro in February warning of the coming storm.Mr Trump doubled down on his attacks of the WHO during the White House press briefing on Wednesday, saying his administering would "study" if it should pull funding from the group. The US is the largest contributor to the WHO's budget.
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| Japan to Fund Firms to Shift Production Out of China Posted: 08 Apr 2020 05:07 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.The move coincides with what should have been a celebration of friendlier ties between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping was supposed to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the virus and no new date has been set.China is Japan's biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China slumped by almost half in February as the disease shuttered factories, in turn starving Japanese manufacturers of necessary components.That has renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base. The government's panel on future investment last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia."There will be something of a shift," said Shinichi Seki, an economist at the Japan Research Institute, adding that some Japanese companies manufacturing goods in China for export were already considering moving out. "Having this in the budget will definitely provide an impetus." Companies, such as car makers, that are manufacturing for the Chinese domestic market, will likely stay put, he said.Testing TimesJapan exports a far larger share of parts and partially finished goods to China than other major industrial nations, according to data compiled for the panel. A February survey by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. found 37% of the more than 2,600 companies that responded were diversifying procurement to places other than China amid the coronavirus crisis.It remains to be seen how the policy will affect Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's years-long effort to restore relations with China."We are doing our best to resume economic development," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a briefing Wednesday in Beijing, when asked about the move. "In this process, we hope other countries will act like China and take proper measures to ensure the world economy will be impacted as little as possible and to ensure that supply chains are impacted as little as possible."The initial stages of the Covid-19 outbreak in China appeared to warm the often chilly ties between the two countries. Japan provided aid in the form of masks and protective gear -- and in one case a shipment was accompanied by a fragment of ancient Chinese poetry. In return, it received praise from Beijing.In another step welcomed in Japan, China declared Avigan, an anti-viral produced by Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp. to be an effective treatment for the coronavirus, even though it has yet to be approved for that use by the Japanese.Yet many in Japan are inclined to blame China for mishandling the early stages of the outbreak and Abe for not blocking visitors from China sooner.Meanwhile, other issues that have deeply divided the neighbors -- including a territorial dispute over East China Sea islands that brought them close to a military clash in 2012-13 -- are no nearer resolution.Chinese government ships have continued their patrols around the Japanese-administered islands throughout the crisis, with Japan saying four Chinese ships on Wednesday entered what it sees as its territorial waters.(Updates with comment from economist in sixth paragraph)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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| 27 dead on Solomon Islands ferry: Did it follow virus order? Posted: 08 Apr 2020 12:08 AM PDT  The leader of the remote Solomon Islands said Wednesday that 27 people had died after being washed overboard from a crowded ferry last week and the government is conducting a criminal investigation. The ship MV Taimareho left Honiara on the evening of April 2 as a tropical cyclone was approaching. In the Solomon Islands, crews recovered seven bodies of those washed overboard.
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| Pelosi, Schumer introduce $500 billion follow-up coronavirus relief package Posted: 08 Apr 2020 09:04 AM PDT  Top congressional Democrats are all for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) next coronavirus relief bill — with a few additions.On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced their party was asking for an additional $250 billion in a so-called "CARES 2" act, doubling the size of the package McConnell had introduced. Their proposal would allocate more money to local and state governments and health care facilities, and ensure at least half McConnell's proposed funding goes toward "community-based financial institutions."Pelosi and Schumer repeated McConnell's call for $250 billion in small business assistance in their Wednesday proposal, but wanted to make sure $125 billion of it will "serve farmers, family, women, and minority and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits in rural, tribal, suburban, and urban communities." In addition, they'd like $100 billion for hospitals, community health centers, and health systems; $150 billion for state and local governments; and an additional 15 percent support added to SNAP food stamp benefits.> Pelosi/Schumer demands in Phase 4> > — $250B for small biz > — $100B for hospitals, health centers > — $150B for state/local gov'ts > — 15% boost in SNAP benefits pic.twitter.com/prUYYXOgfd> > — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 8, 2020McConnell hoped to pass his $250 billion plan with a unanimous voice vote on Thursday, as that's the only way for Congress to vote right now without returning to Washington.More stories from theweek.com Dr. Anthony Fauci cautiously predicts kids will return to school next fall, 'but it's going to be different' The coming backlash against the public health experts Linda Tripp, Clinton investigation whistleblower, dies at 70
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| Germany caught up in mask fraud scheme Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:26 AM PDT  Authorities in Germany have fallen victim to a multi-million-euro fraud involving masks much needed in the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said Tuesday. The German managing director of two distribution companies based in Zurich and Hamburg raised the alarm after realising he had been tricked. According to the man's police report, he received an offer from companies allegedly based in Asia in mid-March to supply the masks and subsequently attracted the large order from North Rhine-Westphalia.
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| Why black Americans appear to be more affected by COVID-19 Posted: 08 Apr 2020 06:35 AM PDT  African-Americans are more affected by the coronavirus than other groups, according to data emerging from some states.
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| 'I can't take it back': Trump's Navy secretary resigns and apologizes after he described a fired carrier captain as 'too naïve or too stupid' Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:28 PM PDT  The Navy official, who once served as a helicopter pilot, described Capt. Brett Crozier's warning about a coronavirus outbreak as "a betrayal."
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| Mexican government warns of lack of doctors amid coronavirus fight Posted: 07 Apr 2020 06:22 AM PDT  Mexico's health ministry on Tuesday warned that the country was facing an acute shortage of doctors as the country seeks to ramp up hospital care to fight the fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak. Mexico on Monday registered 296 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country's total to 2,439 cases and 125 deaths, with health officials expecting the death toll to rise sharply. Mexico has among the lowest number of medical personnel relative to population among countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexican health officials say.
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| Trump’s Fox News Cabinet Tells Him the Coronavirus Crisis Is Over Posted: 08 Apr 2020 11:31 AM PDT  Throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump's decisions and stances have seemingly been influenced by the unofficial advisers he treasures most: Fox News primetime hosts.After downplaying for weeks the threat of the virus, just as many on Fox News did the same, the president began taking it seriously last month after Tucker Carlson personally confronted him before delivering an on-air monologue calling for action. Elsewhere, Fox stars have been the primary driving force behind Trump's incessant promotion of an unproven anti-malarial drug as the miracle COVID-19 cure.And in recent days, it seems, the president has been receiving his newest coronavirus intel briefing from Fox News. This time, they say, the pandemic is over and it's time to move on.Throughout Tuesday night's primetime stretch, Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham were in lockstep in telegraphing to Trump a message that the pandemic's threat has been overstated, death counts have been inflated, and the U.S. is already on the downside of the curve.Carlson, who received mainstream plaudits for his "admirable" early coronavirus coverage, kicked off his show by declaring that the crisis "may have passed," noting that health-care systems across the country haven't come close to collapsing—"except in a handful of places.""Patients are not dying alone in the hallways of emergency rooms with physicians too overwhelmed to treat them," he asserted. "That was the concern. It happens in other countries, it's not happening here. Thank God for that."There have been numerous reports and testimonials from health-care workers expressing horror over the conditions of overcrowded hospitals and the stress it has placed on both medical staffers and patients. Much reporting has also been done on how many patients are dying alone and away from family members and friends from the disease.But despite nearly 13,000 U.S. deaths and at least 400,000 confirmed cases, with portions of the country having yet to suffer the worst effects of the outbreak, Carlson called for a quick reversal of social-distancing restrictions in order to jumpstart the economy, citing downward revisions of coronavirus models as the key reason."Before we go ahead and alter our lives and our country forever, it is fair to ask about the numbers, their numbers, the ones we acted on the first time, that turned out to be completely wrong," the Fox star fumed. "How did they screw that up so thoroughly? That is a fair question."Adjustments of expected death tolls in some models—which, weeks ago, showed as many as 240,000 American deaths—have largely occurred due to the widespread adoption of social-distancing guidelines and the assumption that school and business closures will stay in place through the summer. Even factoring all that in, the models still project roughly 80,000 deaths.Nevertheless, over the past few days, Carlson has been pushing the president to ignore medical expertise and quickly move forward with economic activity. "Is there a single person who sincerely expects the coronavirus itself will hurt more people in the end than the damage we're causing in our response to it? Probably not," he said on Monday night. "Mass unemployment is almost certain to cause far more harm, including physical harm, to the average family than this disease."Carlson has also railed against top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has urged Americans to embrace social distancing in order to flatten the curve. Calling it "bewildering" that the U.S. is allowing medical "experts" to make policy decisions, Carlson claimed last week that Fauci is proposing "national suicide" by pushing aggressive social distancing. "We should never let someone like that run this country," he said.Fox News senior analyst Brit Hume, who has recently been at the forefront of right-wing media's questioning of coronavirus deaths, has also joined the chorus of Fox stars agitating against medical expertise. The official COVID-19 death count has been inflated, he declared Carlson on Tuesday evening."Dr. Birx said tonight during the briefing at the White House that all deaths from anyone who died with coronavirus is counted as if the person died from coronavirus," Hume said. "Now, we all know that isn't true.""And if everybody is being automatically classified, if they're found to have COVID-19, as a COVID-19 death, we're going to get a very large number of deaths that way and we're probably not going to have an accurate count of what the real death total is," he added.Besides the fact that flu deaths—which Trump and Fox figures have constantly used as a comparison point to downplay the pandemic—are tracked the exact same way, and coronavirus disproportionately impacts people with pre-conditions, it is actually far more likely that the COVID-19 death count has been understated so far.Hannity, meanwhile, kicked off his Tuesday evening broadcast by claiming there is a "ton of good news" surrounding the pandemic, touting revised downward estimates of the death count to suggest that regular economic activity should restart very soon.In a phone interview with the president, Hannity—who has served as an unofficial Trump adviser and confidant—noted that the "cure can't be worse than the problem" and nudged the president to reveal when he'd roll back social-distancing policies."I'd love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country and just open," Trump declared, adding, "We're looking at two concepts. We're looking at the concept where you open up sections and we're also looking at the concept where you open up everything."In a Wednesday morning tweet, Trump further hinted that he is looking to end restrictions "sooner rather than later," adding that the "horror" of coronavirus "must be quickly forgotten" and predicting that the economy "will BOOM" going forward.Laura Ingraham, however, may have been the most aggressive among her primetime colleagues in openly pushing Trump to view the pandemic threat as completely neutralized.Claiming the experts were "wrong" with their modeling and that it caused undue panic for Americans, Ingraham echoed Carlson by railing against medical officials, claiming this pandemic should "make us less willing to rely on the same experts to help determine when and how we should reopen our economy.""We didn't vote for doctors," exclaimed Ingraham, who recently sat with the president to tout the unproven coronavirus cure hydroxychloroquine. "We voted for political leadership that sees the big picture. That means the whole picture of America."She continued to hammer away at that message Wednesday on her Twitter account.Tucker Carlson Wants to Have It Both Ways on Coronavirus"At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1," she wrote on Wednesday morning. "Give me your best guidance on protocols, but we cannot deny our people their basic freedoms any longer.""America must get back to work," Ingraham blared in another tweet. "'Experts' were wrong on fatalities by a factor of 30 now want to dictate when we reopen."While Trump's Fox News cabinet is declaring the crisis over, the network's brass is still taking the pandemic seriously, implementing strict social-distancing policies for its employees. In a memo sent last week, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott announced the company would distribute thermometers to all essential workers and suggested the use of face masks for anyone who had to come into one of Fox's offices. Additionally, Scott said that Fox was targeting May 4 as a possible return date for employees currently telecommuting.And as Fox News' biggest stars tried to convince the president to ditch social distancing altogether, one of Trump's own health officials rebuked the network's faux-populist manipulation of the expert data and projections."Physical distancing is incredibly important—remember the projections," Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said Wednesday on Fox & Friends. "I have seen people twist that like this was not going to be that bad after all and we didn't need to do it. That's a complete misinterpretation. The estimate of deaths going down is the result of the fact that we have listened to the president and vice president and task force.""I do want to emphasize the point, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but don't keep your foot—don't take your foot off the gas," Giroir continued. "Because we really need to continue these efforts because we could see another peak, a second peak, a third peak if people don't do the physical distancing or they think it's all over."It's not over yet."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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| Coronavirus: India home quarantine families face discrimination Posted: 07 Apr 2020 05:58 PM PDT  Indians following government advice have found themselves shamed and ostracised.
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| Outcry over racial data grows as virus slams black Americans Posted: 08 Apr 2020 12:54 PM PDT  As the coronavirus tightens its grip across the country, it is cutting a particularly devastating swath through an already vulnerable population — black Americans. Democratic lawmakers and community leaders in cities hard-hit by the pandemic have been sounding the alarm over what they see as a disturbing trend of the virus killing African Americans at a higher rate, along with a lack of overall information about the race of victims as the nation's death toll mounts. Among the cities where black residents have been hard-hit: New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago and Milwaukee.
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