| Pelosi: Trump's downplaying of coronavirus has cost American lives Posted: 29 Mar 2020 07:20 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened her criticism of President Trump's early dismissal of the coronavirus, saying the delay cost American lives. She criticized the president's initial response to the virus during a Sunday morning interview on CNN.
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| Wuhan Residents Dismiss Official Coronavirus Death Toll: ‘The Incinerators Have Been Working Around the Clock’ Posted: 30 Mar 2020 09:48 AM PDT  Wuhan residents are increasingly skeptical of the Chinese Communist Party's reported coronavirus death count of approximately 2,500 deaths in the city to date, with most people believing the actual number is at least 40,000."Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality," a Wuhan resident, who gave only his surname Mao, told Radio Free Asia.A city source added that, based on the aggregation of funeral and cremation numbers, authorities likely know the real number and are keeping it under wraps."Every funeral home reports data on cremations directly to the authorities twice daily," the source said. "This means that each funeral home only knows how many cremations it has conducted, but not the situation at the other funeral homes."The city began lifting its lockdown on Saturday after two months of mandatory shutdown, with a complete lift of restrictions set for April 8. Funeral homes in Wuhan have been handing out the cremated remains to families every day, but rumors began circulating after one funeral home received two shipments of 5,000 urns over the course of two days, according to photos reported by Chinese media outlet Caixin, which were later censored.Reports of the funeral's crematoriums working nonstop also raised questions."It can't be right … because the incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?" a man surnamed Zhang told RFA.Wuhan residents said the government was paying families 3,000 yuan for "funeral allowances" in exchange for silence."There have been a lot of funerals in the past few days, and the authorities are handing out 3,000 yuan in hush money to families who get their loved ones' remains laid to rest ahead of Qing Ming," Wuhan resident Chen Yaohui said, in a reference to the traditional grave tending festival on April 5."During the epidemic, they transferred cremation workers from around China to Wuhan keep cremate bodies around the clock," he added.China has used state propaganda in an attempt to avoid blame for the spreading of COVID-19, despite reports showing how the government suppressed initial reports of human-to-human transmission and gagged Wuhan labs that discovered the novel virus resembled the deadly SARS virus of 2002-2003.
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| The Justice Department is reportedly investigating actions by US lawmakers who dumped stocks before the market plunged over coronavirus fears Posted: 29 Mar 2020 07:38 PM PDT  The FBI has reportedly reached out to Republican Sen. Richard Burr as part of the investigation, which is in its early stages.
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| FBI report describes China’s ‘biosecurity risk’ Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:43 AM PDT  In late November 2018, just over a year before the first coronavirus case was identified in Wuhan, China, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Detroit Metro Airport stopped a Chinese biologist with three vials labeled "Antibodies" in his luggage.
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| Louisiana church defies COVID-19 order, holds Sunday services Posted: 29 Mar 2020 05:49 PM PDT  Hundreds attended a Pentecostal church Sunday despite the governor's order to avoid large gatherings.
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| Fit, healthy 33-year-old recounts falling ill to coronavirus Posted: 29 Mar 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Andrea Napoli didn't fit the usual profile of a coronavirus patient. At 33, he was in perfect health, with no history of respiratory disease. Until that day, Napoli was following his routine of work, jogging and swimming.
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| 29 Best Closet Organization Ideas to Maximize Space and Style Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:06 PM PDT |
| US awol from world stage as China tries on global leadership for size Posted: 29 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT  Mike Pompeo labelling the virus 'Chinese' has added to lack of international cooperation * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our coronavirus coverageWhen the UN security council and the G7 group sought to agree a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts stumbled on the US insistence on describing the threat as distinctively Chinese.There are other reasons for the lack of collaboration in the face of a global crisis, but the focus on labelling the virus Chinese and blaming China pursued by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, helped ensure there would be no meaningful collective response from the world's most powerful nations.For some US allies, the fixation on words at a time when the international order was arguably facing its greatest challenge since the second world war encapsulated the glaring absence of US leadership.And that absence was illustrated just as vividly by news coverage of planes full of medical supplies from China arriving in Italy, at a time when the US was quietly flying in half a million Italian-made diagnostic swabs for use in its own under-equipped health system and Donald Trump was on the phone to the South Korean president pressing him to send test kits."To me what is so striking is the complete absence of the US from public debates. The US is basically off the map, and China very much is on the map," Nathalie Tocci, the director of the Italian Institute for International Affairs and a former EU policy adviser, said."Whatever happens in the US elections, what is happening now is going to linger on, simply because what we're going through now is such a traumatic experience … It is going to remain very much in our individual and collective memories."During the Ebola outbreak that began in 2014, the US was a highly visible leading presence on the ground in West Africa, sending emergency medics, troops and supplies. In sharp contrast, this week's $2tn stimulus bill contained scarcely more than $1bn (about 0.06%) for spending outside the US.The state department pointed out that the US was separately spending $274m in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to help countries in need, on top of the funding to international organisations like the WHO.However, at a time when the scale of the damage is being measured in trillions, the additional aid has done little to soften the image of an administration that has employed xenophobic rhetoric and breaking with its closest partners in its efforts to intensify economic pressure on its enemies, Iran and Venezuela, whose populations are at high risk from the coronavirus.Despite its responsibility for allowing the virus to run rampant in the first place, China has had notable success in reshaping its image as a leader by its later efforts to contain the disease and its outreach to Italy and other vulnerable countries."US global leadership won't just end because they bungled their response to the coronavirus, but I think we will come to find that this was a pivotal point," said Elisabeth Braw, the director of the Modern Deterrence Project at the Royal United Service Institute in London.Braw argued that the coronavirus crisis will inflict more lasting damage on the US's standing than the 2003 Iraq invasion."China wasn't in the wings in 2003," she said. "It wasn't ready to take over that global role. Well, it's now in a position where it can take over global leadership, and it's just waiting for the US to misstep or to lose support among its allies … And the past couple of years have really been beneficial to China from that perspective."From the debacle over testing to Trump's months-long denial about the scale of the threat and his constant political point-scoring, the US has showed itself to be anything but a model for the rest of the world to emulate.Stephen Walt, a Harvard University professor of international relations, has argued that worldwide faith in US competence has been one of the pillars of its global standing, and is currently crumbling."Far from making 'America great again,' this epic policy failure will further tarnish the United States' reputation as a country that knows how to do things effectively," Walt wrote in Foreign Policy, in a commentary titled "the death of American competence".Not all global analysts look at the coronavirus as being so irreversibly negative for US standing in the world, pointing to more long-term trends, like US self-sufficiency in energy and its enduring economic, military and democratic advantages, as well China's many shortcomings as a credible alternative global leader."Geopolitics are not episodic. You cannot talk about geopolitics in two-week timescales," Parag Khanna, a former adviser to US forces who now runs a Singapore-based consulting company, FutureMap. "The power dynamics are what are fundamental, not whether or not China is sending lots of face masks to Africa."Khanna pointed out that China's neighbours in Asia are well aware that Beijing's censorship during the initial outbreak in Wuhan resulted in a missed opportunity to contain the virus, and that its diplomats have been spreading conspiracy theories about the origins of the disease."China is filling a public goods vacuum, not a leadership vacuum," Khanna said. "People here are not idiots. They know exactly where this came from, so you don't need to worry about China winning any global narrative campaign in the world."Tocci argued that the extent to which China succeeds in exploiting the crisis to pursue global primacy would be dependent on whether Beijing can be successfully challenged, for example from a change to a more outward leadership in Washington, or a Europe that can transcend its divisions."It basically depends on how everyone else reacts more than how China itself acts," Tocci said.
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| Kremlin Fights U.S. Sanctions, Backs Maduro in Rosneft Deal Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:03 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin's sudden shift of ownership of multi-billion-dollar oil projects in Venezuela shields oil giant Rosneft PJSC from further U.S. sanctions but keeps Moscow firmly behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro amid a wider stand-off with Washington."Russia is not walking away from Maduro and will seek to thwart U.S. efforts to depose him," said Vladimir Frolov, a former diplomat and foreign policy analyst in Moscow. "Moscow is just shielding Rosneft from sanctions which could result in a blanket embargo on all Rosneft exports."Fears of broader sanctions have grown after the U.S. in recent months slapped restrictions on Rosneft trading companies for handling business with Venezuela. More recently, the U.S. has hinted that it might step up pressure on the Russian oil sector to reduce production. That followed Moscow's decision early this month not to deepen output cuts agreed with OPEC led Saudi Arabia to boost output, flooding the market and pushing prices to the lowest levels in decades.The administration of President Donald Trump has already reached out to Saudi leaders to reconsider their strategy, which has battered producers in the U.S. with low prices. Trump said Monday he plans to speak by phone with Putin later in the day to talk about the oil market and may discuss sanctions and Venezuela.Read: Putin and MBS Draw Trump Into Grudge Match for Oil SupremacyRosneft late Saturday announced it's turning over its Venezuelan projects to an unnamed state-owned company in what it called an effort to protect its shareholders' interests.Sechin AutonomyAs part of the deal, Rosneft gets 9.6% of its own shares previously held by state holding company Rosneftegaz, bringing direct government ownership to just over 40%, according to two people familiar with the transaction. While Rosneft will remain firmly under Kremlin control, the shift in ownership could give Igor Sechin, who as chief executive and a longtime Putin ally is already one of Russia's most influential people, even more autonomy, these people said."Sechin gets Rosneft shares and Putin gets the chance to trade with Trump," said Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Fund in Moscow.Neither the company nor the government would comment on whether the deal will bring state ownership below 50%.Rosneft, which produces 40% of Russian oil and 5% of world output and has substantial exposure in the western financial system, can't afford the risk of broad U.S. sanctions that could cripple its operations. Earlier this month, a Chinese company said it wouldn't buy crude from Rosneft because of the risks caused by the sanctions on the trading companies."As recently as February, the Venezuelan business was profitable, which offset the sanctions risk," said Ivan Timofeyev, an analyst at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. "Now the desire to avoid sanctions coincided with the need to avoid losses" after oil prices plunged, he added.The Russian giant has already cut its exposure under multi-billion-dollar prepayment deals reached several years ago. Venezuela's oil producer PDVSA owes Rosneft only $800 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019, according to the last available data, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2017.Sanctions ProtectionThe latest Russian maneuver mirrored its strategy in 2018 when it used Promsvzyabank to set up a new banking vehicle to serve the defense industry after state-owned weapons producers came under U.S. sanctions, thereby shielding the country's two largest banks, government-controlled Sberbank and VTB. Unlike those big lenders, which have significant exposure to western financial institutions and thus are at risk from sweeping U.S. sanctions, the new special entity operated largely out of Washington's reach.While Rosneft may even push to have the recently imposed sanctions on the trading units lifted, risks remain."Rosneft is trying to stay out of the firing-line but nothing stops the Americans from finding another pretext to sanction it," said Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a research group in Moscow that advises the Kremlin."Russia understands that Maduro is in an awful situation, especially with oil prices at rock bottom," he said. "But Putin's psychology is that you should stick with partners in difficulty."Frolov said, "Moscow thinks that Maduro is actually winning the fight with the opposition and is likely to split it to the point where he would be able to win parliamentary elections this year." Russia has backed Maduro even as the U.S. and its allies back opposition leader Juan Guaido.Maduro said on state TV on Saturday evening that "President Putin sent me a message through his ambassador reaffirming their strategic and integral support to Venezuela in all areas."(Updates with Rosneft stake shift 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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| U.S. renews sanctions waivers allowing Iran nonproliferation work Posted: 30 Mar 2020 11:40 AM PDT  The United States has allowed Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue their work at Iranian nuclear sites to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. Reuters earlier reported that the decision to renew waivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S. firms from dealing with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was expected on Monday, citing four sources familiar with the matter including a U.S. official. Jewish News Syndicate, a news outlet predominantly focused on Israel and the Jewish world, first reported that the United States was expected to renew the waivers, citing two sources familiar with the decision.
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| Tucker Carlson Wants to Have It Both Ways on Coronavirus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:41 AM PDT  Fox News primetime star Tucker Carlson has been credited with pushing President Donald Trump to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously and has received mainstream media plaudits for seemingly calling out his own colleagues for actively downplaying the outbreak.Yet, while Carlson has been applauded for preaching concern about the viral outbreak while his fellow pro-Trump hosts on the network attempted to dismiss the COVID-19 fears as a partisan ploy, he has actually played both sides for his audience, giving voice to reckless conspiracies, unserious characters with no expertise, and wholly dangerous rhetoric.Earlier this month, as confirmed cases and deaths began surging across the country, Carlson gained widespread acclaim when he called out those "minimizing" COVID-19, calling the pandemic a "very serious problem." It was seen at the time that Carlson was calling out both Trump and many of his Fox News colleagues—without naming them, of course—for reacting inappropriately to the impending crisis.That March 9 monologue apparently helped prompt the president to finally take action on the pandemic after waving it away for weeks, with White House sources saying Carlson's segment was a "turning point" for Trump. The Fox News host, who has informally advised the president on other matters in the past, also traveled down to Mar-a-Lago the previous weekend to convince the president about the gravity of the situation, later saying he felt it was his "moral obligation" to do so.As a result, Carlson has been the focus of several largely sympathetic portraits and interviews in the mainstream press. Various outlets remarked positively on Carlson's "moral obligation" to convince Trump to take the crisis seriously, with some noting that the Fox host "admirably focused" on pandemic from the beginning.The Fox host's portrayal in the media as courageously standing alone among his overtly pro-Trump primetime brethren has rankled network brass. According to The New York Times, the network's PR chief Irena Briganti has complained about Carlson "casting himself to reporters as a heroic truth-teller in contrast with other hosts."While it is true that Carlson was essentially alone among the network's key stars in sounding the alarm on coronavirus—for instance, now-former Fox Business host Trish Regan labeled it an "impeachment scam" the same time Carlson was declaring the pandemic was "real"—his early warnings also revolved around peddling baseless conspiracies and blaming "woke" politics for the spread of the virus.Tucker Carlson Appears to Call Out Trump, Fox Colleagues for 'Minimizing' CoronavirusThroughout February, Carlson floated the debunked theory that the virus was created by the Chinese government in a research laboratory, potentially as a bioweapon against the United States. The theory began making rounds in the right-wing media ecosystem after former Trump adviser Steve Bannon began pushing it on his radio show.Despite a medical expert shooting down the now-debunked theory earlier in the month, Carlson continued to peddle it on subsequent broadcasts. On Feb. 18, Carlson hosted The Washington Times' Bill Gertz, whose specious reporting was the basis of Bannon's theory, to discuss his speculation. During the interview, the Fox host claimed unnamed "experts" were considering the possibility the virus was created in a Chinese lab while adding it is "worth getting to the bottom of."When he wasn't wildly speculating that the virus was a Chinese bioweapon, Carlson also spent weeks blaming "diversity" for the virus. Taking aim at progressive writers who warned against racist attacks in the wake of the pandemic—hate crimes against Asian-Americans have been on the rise—Carlson groused that "identity politics trumped public health and not for the first time.""Wokeness is a cult," he added. "They would let you die before they admitted that diversity is not our strength."He would continue to blame "identity politics" for the spread of the virus, resulting in him at one point turning to conservative columnist Eddie Scarry—best-known as the "AOC creepshot guy"—for coronavirus expertise in late February. As financial markets started to experience record drops over COVID-19 fears, Carlson gave primetime airspace to the Examiner writer, who called the disease the "Commie cough" while claiming it originated from Chinese people eating skunks. Carlson, meanwhile, applauded Scarry, claiming "everything" he said "is true" as the trollish columnist railed against political correctness and its supposed impact on the health crisis.In the wake of his call for conservatives to take coronavirus seriously, Carlson kept blasting "wokeness" as one of the central causes of the disease's spread, at one point insisting that not calling it the "Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus" could literally kill people. "In times of crisis euphemisms kill," he said. "You need accuracy and clear language in the way you talk about the threat. It's essential." He later applauded Trump for publicly using the term "Chinese virus."Moreover, and more recently, Carlson seemed to backpedal on his "serious" concerns over the pandemic this week. With the president's declared desire for an early end to social distancing restrictions, many conservatives backed Trump's push despite the warning of public health experts.Texas Lt. Gov: Senior Citizens Willing to Die to Save Economy for GrandkidsDuring last Monday's broadcast of his show, Carlson brought on Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to defend the president's suggestion, who subsequently said that elderly people such as himself would be willing to die from coronavirus to save America's economy for their grandkids."No one reached out to me and said as a senior citizen, 'Are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?'" Patrick said. "And if that is the exchange, I'm all in."At the end of the segment, Carlson nodded along with Patrick and added: "We really needed to hear that perspective."The following night, Carlson hosted Fox News analyst Brit Hume to defend Patrick's comments after they sparked controversy. In Hume's opinion, Patrick saying grandparents were willing to sacrifice themselves to reopen the economy was an "extremely reasonable viewpoint." Carlson, for his part, seemed confused why the lieutenant governor's remarks "enrages so many people," prompting Hume to say it was due to anti-Trump sentiment.Other guests that appeared this past week to share their coronavirus wisdom included comedian Adam Carrola, goofy podcaster Dave Rubin, and talk-radio blowhard Buck Sexton.But Carlson's newfound reputation as a sober and earnest broker on the crisis perhaps looked the silliest on Wednesday when he brought on a self-proclaimed "corona truther" to wax poetic on self-isolation. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a notorious troll and semi-regular guest of Carlson's, showed up to talk about how he has taken a "financial beating" because the casino business is currently down—before discussing his choice of sweatpants and his TV-viewing habits.Prior to his Carlson appearance, Portnoy had spent weeks mocking concerns about the pandemic, comparing the virus to "the common cold" and saying he didn't "care about the people dying... I just care about my wallet."In fact, just two weeks before appearing on Tucker's primetime show, Portnoy griped about the NBA suspending its season amid the outbreak, calling himself a "corona truther" and insisting that concern over the virus—which has now killed over 25,000 people worldwide—is either a "fraud, overreaction, or media concoction."Carlson may have won media plaudits for his early concerns about the pandemic, but a closer look at his overall coverage proves we shouldn't be so easily fooled.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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| Incredible satellite photos show parked planes sitting on runways at airports in the US and Europe, as COVID-19 puts a near stop to global air travel Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:59 AM PDT  As the coronavirus causes airlines to cancel flights and ground planes, they've piled up on runways and taxiways as airlines look for parking spots.
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| 'Italy is closed': A reporter's account inside Rome, where coronavirus brought the city to a halt Posted: 29 Mar 2020 01:37 AM PDT  NBC News' Bill O'Reilly reveals how rapidly the pandemic has changed life in Italy's capital.
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| Florida, Illinois Emerge as Potential Coronavirus Hotspots Posted: 30 Mar 2020 11:57 AM PDT  Recent updates to state coronavirus case numbers suggest Florida and Illinois may join New York and Washington as hotspots for the virus, with Governor Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) announcing a stay-at-home order for southern Florida until May and Illinois seeing its largest single-day increase in cases on Sunday.Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Monday warned that the two states could be "new epicenters of spread."> THREAD: We'll update charts daily for Florida, Louisiana, Illinois, and Michigan as epidemic becomes national in scope; new epicenters of spread emerge. Florida faces significant challenges with growing spread from seeds likely introduced weeks if not months ago and slow reaction pic.twitter.com/NZRqwGylFF> > -- Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) March 30, 2020> Update for Illinois pic.twitter.com/nCMqdTGKdF> > -- Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) March 30, 2020DeSantis said at a press conference Monday that his order will apply to Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe counties, which have over 50 percent of the state's 5000-plus cases. The state's COVID-19 case count jumped 523, according to a state update on Monday morning."The 'Safer-At-Home' [order] is the right move for southeast Florida," DeSantis said. "This is the time to do the right thing. Listen to all of your local officials. We will do this through the middle of May, and then see where we're at."On Sunday, Illinois health officials announced 18 new deaths — including that of an infant —and 1,105 new cases of the coronavirus, the state's worse increase to-date despite having the first case of human-to-human transmission in the U.S. over a month ago.Governor J. B. Pritzker warned that the upward curve is likely to continue for weeks."It is fair to say that most of the models I've seen . . . show that we'll be peaking sometime in April," Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus news conference. "We're not yet close to that."Last week, New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned other states that New York's outbreak was "your future.""New York is going first. We have the highest and the fastest rate of infection. What is happening to New York is going to wind up happening to California, and Washington state, and Illinois," Cuomo stated. "Where we are today, you will be in three weeks or four weeks or five weeks or six weeks. We are your future."
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| Serial killer dubbed Grim Sleeper dies in California prison Posted: 29 Mar 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Lonnie Franklin, the convicted serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" who preyed on the women of South Los Angeles for more than two decades, has died in prison. California corrections officials said Franklin was found unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State Prison on Saturday evening. An autopsy will determine the cause of death; however, there were no signs of trauma, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said in a statement.
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| North Korea slams Pompeo and says will 'walk our way' Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:21 AM PDT  North Korea on Monday warned it could cut off dialogue with the United States and slammed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for urging the international community to maintain sanctions on its regime. Pompeo last week told nations to "stay committed to applying diplomatic and economic pressure" over the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes while calling on the nuclear-armed state to return to talks. A string of weapons drills by Pyongyang has come during a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the United States and despite recent overtures from Washington offering help to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Fact check: will Covid-19 fade in the summer – then return later like the flu? Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:05 AM PDT  Experts weigh in on whether coronavirus will dissipate during the summer and warn against letting up on physical distancing * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe seasonal flu tends to dissipate during the summer, leading some to hope the coronavirus will do the same. Experts explain why transmission of some illnesses lowers with warmer temperatures – and warn against lowering our guard. Why are some viruses seasonal?Dr Marc Lipsitch: What makes seasonal viruses seasonal is a combination of opportunities for transmission – whether school is in term, which facilitates transmission – and what proportion of the population is immune, combined with weather.Humidity is lower in the winter, which is good for transmission. Low humidity makes [virus-carrying] droplets settle more slowly because they shrink to smaller sizes and then friction keeps them in the air, whereas high humidity doesn't do that.Dr Lee W Riley: People still get the common cold [in the summer] and we're beginning to see this new coronavirus in the southern hemisphere. It's more about the way people behave. Can we expect the number of Covid-19 cases to fall this summer?Lipsitch: Based on our best estimates from other coronaviruses, summer alone is not going to bring transmission to a level where the number of cases shrinks. It's just going to grow more slowly.It's really clear that warmer weather does not stop the transmission or growth of the virus. That's clear from Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore and Hong Kong have kept it to a large degree under control, but that's with incredibly intense control measures. There's no question that coronaviruses are capable of transmitting in hotter, humid climates.Dr George Rutherford: Thinking that it's magically going to go away in April or May or whenever is just that – magical thinking. The projections show quite a bit of transmission out through the summer.Riley: It's a completely new virus, so it's really hard to know what would happen. If you try to extrapolate from [related] viruses, then we don't expect for this new coronavirus to completely disappear by the summer.default Could there be a second wave of infections in the autumn?Riley: A reintroduction of the epidemic is certainly possible; it's beginning to happen in Hong Kong. Hong Kong successfully controlled the epidemic early on, and they started relaxing some of their restrictions. Now they're beginning to see new cases reappear.Rutherford: In 2009, we saw a second wave of the swine flu. It started in the spring in Mexico. Some schools in the United States got out early for the summer, and when [students] went back in the fall, it came back in a bump. That [outbreak] was blunted because a vaccine came out that fall. That's not going to happen here. We're going to have to temporize until a vaccine arrives.Lipsitch: If we let up on social distancing before a large fraction of the population is immune, there could be a second peak of infections in the fall, when it's most contagious, due to school being back in session and cooler temperatures. And that would be the worst possible outcome. Will we need to resume social distancing in the fall?Lipsitch: If our strategy is to use social distancing as our main control measure because we haven't figured out anything better, then the best way to do it is to distance until we bring cases down to low enough levels that we can let transmission resume by relaxing social distancing, and have several weeks or months where we don't overwhelm the healthcare system.And then we distance again, and repeat the cycle. With each cycle, we'll get more time off social distancing, because the buildup of immunity in the population helps to slow the spread. So you don't get to the dangerous peak as quickly.That [scenario] will be destructive to the economy, to education, and all sorts of things. But as a means of trying to preserve the healthcare system, if we don't have another approach, it may be our best option.I want to be clear: as an epidemiologist, I'm saying what I think existing tools make possible for the purposes of disease control, and not what I think is socially desirable. Multiple rounds of social distancing are not something I look forward to.Riley: It's conceivable that we may have to do another round of lockdowns, but we need to look even further ahead. What's going to happen next year? Is it going to come back again like the influenza? Is a new type of coronavirus going to come back? Maybe not next year, but maybe, two years from now? This is not the only time we're going to be doing these lockdowns. Is there another approach we could take?Rutherford: I think as shelter in place starts to get peeled back, it's going to need to be replaced with something more along the South Korean model of aggressive contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, and that's going to be the bridge to get us out to when the vaccine comes in. Given the hit on the economy that's going on now, there's going to be a lot of enthusiasm for the South Korean model.Lipsitch: If we can do that, it's great. The challenge is that reintroductions are a constant threat. We've seen it in China. They're trying to go back to work while doing control based on individual cases, but they've had multiple introductions from outside the country now. I think it's what we should aim for, but I'm not hugely optimistic that it will work.Riley: South Korea and Hong Kong had really efficient contact tracing programs, where they would quarantine the contacts of symptomatic people who were diagnosed with coronavirus. It was a much more focused approach to controlling transmission.The problem in the US is we don't have that kind of manpower, and that's probably something that the US really needs to start looking into in a very serious way, because we just totally neglected our public health system infrastructure.Panel: * Dr Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology and director, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health * Dr Lee W Riley, professor and chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology, UC–Berkeley School of Public Health * Dr George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, director, Prevention and Public Health Group, UCSF
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| Marine Corps Closes Parris Island Boot Camp to New Recruits as COVID-19 Cases Spread Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:28 PM PDT  The Corps is halting shipments of recruits to Parris Island after more than 20 people there tested positive for coroanavirus.
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| Air strikes hit Houthi-held Yemeni capital Sanaa: witnesses Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:42 AM PDT  The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several air strikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa, witnesses and media said, killing dozens of horses at a military school. A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, the school and an air base close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard across the city, residents said. The coalition said the operation was aimed at destroying "legitimate military targets including Houthi ballistic batteries which threaten civilian lives".
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| Russia Claimed It Created a Coronavirus Cure, but It’s an American Malaria Drug Posted: 29 Mar 2020 02:16 AM PDT  The headline of the Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti read, "Russia Created the Treatment for Coronavirus." The article went on to boast about the remedy based on the drug mefloquine, an antimalarial drug created in fact at the U.S. Army's Walter Reed Medical Center shortly after the Vietnam War and widely known as Lariam. Fiona Hill: Trump's Coronavirus Talk Sounds a Lot Like Russia'sMefloquine was created to replace chloroquine, another anti-malarial, which was President Donald Trump's recent drug of choice in his dubious battle against COVID-19. It is still prescribed in many countries to prevent and treat malaria, but it is known to have severe and sometimes shocking side effects. A study conducted from 2001-2003 "confirmed mefloquine's potential for causing psychological illness."Facing a wave of ridicule in social media, Russian state media changed the headline, which now reads: "Russia Offered a Drug for Treating the Coronavirus."It should be noted that there is no known cure or approved treatment for the coronavirus. Multiple clinical trials for potential medical treatments are still underway.The purpose of all this is less pharmacological than propagandistic. While Kremlin-controlled media outlets propagate conspiracy theories blaming the United States (and even Ukraine) for creating and spreading the coronavirus, Russia is presented as the potential savior of all of humanity. At a time when the Kremlin's cynical effort to hide the extent of the pandemic in Russia is becoming ever more apparent, state media are criticizing American and European tactics for containing the pandemic. Virologist Mikhail Shchelkanov, head of the Laboratory of Ecology of Microorganisms, FEFU School of Biomedicine, described the Western approach as "18th-century tactics." In contrast, he claimed that, "Russia, since the days of the Soviet Union, has had the world's best biological safety system."After Putin's Big Fail, Russia Braces for COVID-19 OnslaughtRussian coronavirus measures recommended by the government agency to the general public indeed seem more stringent than those offered in the United States. For example, everyday use of face masks in public is recommended for all individuals. Single-use masks are to be replaced every 2-3 hours. The risk to younger individuals is not being downplayed. To the contrary, parents are being advised to keep their children at home or in the yard of their own home. When in public, children are to be prevented from touching any surfaces or interacting with others. There is public guidance with respect to the disinfection of store-bought food and merchandise.During his state TV show, The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, the host described Russia's approach to the pandemic as superior to that of Europe and the United States. "They're behaving in an uncivilized manner," Soloviev said, "They are being amoral. Our people unite and want to help others. Americans are just buying up guns." Speaking to RIA Novosti, Shchelkanov praised China's response to the pandemic and condemned the United States and Western Europe for their lack of coordinated actions, predicting that coronavirus "can easily spread like fire—and is spreading to neighboring countries." He claimed that "the Russian Federation continues to be a bulwark of European stability."In reality, the true numbers of coronavirus infections in Russia are grossly understated due to the lack of testing and creative approach to recording the number of deaths. Some quarantined Russians report receiving negative test results, in spite of not being tested. The cause of death for coronavirus patients in Russia is being determined posthumously through an autopsy, and sometimes attributed to other causes, such as pulmonary thromboembolism—therefore being excluded from the official statistics.The aid supplied to Western countries by China and Russia has been criticized as largely defective and mainly useless. But Russian state media claim such support as the manifestation of "soft power." Appearing on Soloviev's show, political scientist Dmitry Evstafiev noted, "Every country is using the coronavirus pandemic as cover, trying to achieve their own goals."One of the Kremlin's most pressing aims is the removal of U.S. and European sanctions against Russia and its informal allies: Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea. Experts on Russian state television repeatedly suggest that the Kremlin should bring up the removal of sanctions at every opportunity, especially while offering coronavirus aid to Western countries.During his state TV show, Soloviev expressed frustration that Trump "didn't understand anything" and ignored President Vladimir Putin's proposal at the recent G-20 summit calling for the immediate removal of all sanctions.Soloviev opined that the first country that is able to create the coronavirus vaccine would acquire an instrument of enormous political pressure. Russia is actively seeking to develop such a lever of global influence, but the unproven panacea it is currently touting was made in the USA.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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| New York's coronavirus death toll just topped 1,000, but Gov. Cuomo warns that 'thousands' will die Posted: 30 Mar 2020 12:25 AM PDT  Accessible, rapid testing could bring a "return to normalcy," Cuomo said. But for now, he's extending New York's lockdown another two weeks.
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| A 90-year-old woman who recovered from the coronavirus said her family's potato soup was partly responsible. Here's the recipe. Posted: 30 Mar 2020 11:24 AM PDT  Geneva Wood, 90, credited family, God, and potato soup for her recovery from COVID-19. The soup is certainly not a cure, but it didn't hurt.
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| The U.S. is preparing for a medical supply airlift of unprecedented scale Posted: 29 Mar 2020 10:01 AM PDT  As hospitals across the United States face a shortage of medical supplies in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic, planes are gearing up to bring in reinforcements.The first aircraft in a series of flights scheduled by the White House over the next 30 days arrived in New York from Shanghai on Sunday morning, bringing with it 12 million gloves, 130,000 N95 masks, 17.6 surgical masks, 50,000 gowns, 130,000 hand sanitizer units, and 36,000 thermometers, all of which will be distributed throughout the New York tri-state area. A non-government distributor had actually already bought the supplies and planned to sell them in New York, but they'd normally arrive on ships. A sea voyage would've taken over a month, so the government is expediting the process by air. Going forward, the U.S. has 22 similar flights coming in over the next two weeks that will distribute supplies to different parts of the country, per Axios.Navy Rear Admiral John Polowcyzk, who is running the Federal Emergency Management Agency's coronavirus supply chain task force, said he doesn't think the U.S. has ever seen anything like this on its own soil. "I don't know of another effort like this," he told Axios.Polowcyzk is hoping it's only a two- or three-week effort, but admitted planes could be coming in over the next month. Read more at Axios.More stories from theweek.com Trump's message to blue states battling coronavirus: Drop dead Fox News reportedly fears its early downplaying of COVID-19 leaves it open to lawsuits Nobody knows when Congress will go back to D.C.
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| Can I walk outside? Is the virus on my shoes? Q&A with experts Posted: 29 Mar 2020 08:13 PM PDT  "CBS This Morning" assembled a panel of experts to answer questions from viewers who want to know how the coronavirus and its economic impact affects them.
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| IS militants riot in eastern Syria prison, some escape Posted: 29 Mar 2020 03:20 PM PDT |
| A coronavirus patient's phlegm or poop could still have live virus in it even after they recover and test negative, new research suggests Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:29 PM PDT  New research raises doubts about whether negative throat swabs are enough to say a patient is coronavirus-free. Doctors may have to sample their poop.
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| Indian police fire tear gas at jobless workers defying coronavirus lockdown Posted: 29 Mar 2020 11:52 PM PDT  NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Police in India fired tear gas to disperse a stone-pelting crowd of migrant workers defying a three-week lockdown against the coronavirus that has left hundreds of thousands of poor without jobs and hungry, authorities said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the country's 1.3 billion people to remain indoors until April 15, declaring such self-isolation was the only hope to stop the viral pandemic. On Sunday, about 500 workers clashed with police in the western city of Surat demanding they be allowed to go home to other parts of India because they had no jobs left.
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| Trump extends social distancing guidelines to April 30, predicts 'great things' by June 1 Posted: 29 Mar 2020 03:27 PM PDT  Trump last week said he wanted to see the much of the country opening back up by Easter.
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| If you're 'essential' enough to work through a coronavirus pandemic, you're essential enough to be paid living wage Posted: 30 Mar 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Healthcare professionals are bravely battling coronavirus. But there are other "essential" workers in harm's way. And they aren't being paid fairly.
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| South Africa May Grant Aid to Poor in Virus Crisis Posted: 29 Mar 2020 01:37 AM PDT |
| 'I don't know what he's trying to say': Cuomo on Trump's accusation that medical PPE is being stolen by health workers Posted: 30 Mar 2020 11:24 AM PDT  At a coronavirus press briefing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he didn't know what President Trump was talking about with regard to his accusation that medical personnel were stealing personal protective equipment.
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| The Army Asked Retirees in Medical Fields to Come Back. The Response Was Overwhelming Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:09 AM PDT  To date, more than 14,000 retirees "representing various specialties" have contacted the service for more information.
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| Prisoners riot in Iran; Netanyahu goes into self-quarantine Posted: 29 Mar 2020 11:26 PM PDT  Prisoners in southern Iran broke cameras and caused other damage during a riot, state media reported Monday, the latest in a series of violent prison disturbances in the country, which is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East. Israel meanwhile announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will enter self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the virus. Speaking from confinement at home, Netanyahu called on Israelis to remain at home and avoid family gatherings during the upcoming spring holiday season.
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| Iran warns of lengthy 'new way of life' as virus deaths rise Posted: 29 Mar 2020 04:20 AM PDT  President Hassan Rouhani warned Sunday that "the new way of life" in Iran was likely to be prolonged, as its declared death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 2,640. The Islamic republic is one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, which first originated in China. Iran announced its first infection cases on February 19, but a senior health official has acknowledged that the virus was likely to have already reached Iran in January.
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| After more than 10,000 coronavirus deaths — the worst in the world — Italy is showing signs that its 3-week lockdown is working Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:25 AM PDT  Italy's counts of new coronavirus deaths and infections are starting to fall, though the country is likely still in for an extended lockdown.
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| U.S. judge stops Texas from curbing abortions during coronavirus crisis Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:51 PM PDT  The ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin was the first in a series of legal actions aimed at blocking similar steps by various Republican-led states cracking down on abortion during the pandemic. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, last week announced that abortion providers were covered by a state order that required postponement of non-urgent medical procedures to preserve hospital beds and equipment during the pandemic. Yeakel ruled that Paxton's action "prevents Texas women from exercising what the Supreme Court has declared is their fundamental constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is viable."
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| Some cruise ship crew members stuck on board because of coronavirus aren't getting paid Posted: 29 Mar 2020 11:38 PM PDT  Several crew members who recently left the Norwegian Encore cruise ship told the Miami Herald they are worried about their colleagues still on board, as many are possibly suffering from the COVID-19 coronavirus.Thousands of cruise line employees — including many whose contracts have expired — remain on their ships, despite all U.S. sailings being canceled until mid-April because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many are from foreign countries, and the cruise lines say they can't leave because their flights keep getting canceled.In the case of the Encore, the last passengers got off in Miami on March 15. Crew members told the Herald the captain said there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19, but then they started noticing more dining carts in the hallways, indicating food was being sent to people in isolation. "They kept saying no one had symptoms, everyone is fine, you're in the best place you can be," one crew member said. "We knew that wasn't true because we saw all the carts."Crew members who were able to finally leave the Encore on March 23 told the Herald that upon disembarkation, no one at the port took their temperature or asked if they had any COVID-19 symptoms. One person has since tested positive, and several have symptoms.These crew members believe dozens of the roughly 1,000 people still on the Encore are sick. Some are also no longer being paid — the Herald reports that a letter was distributed to employees on Wednesday from a Norwegian human relations executive stating that all workers would have access to food, medical services, Wi-Fi, and laundry, but those whose contracts have expired will not receive any financial compensation, even if they can't leave because of travel restrictions."I'm worried about the people still on board," one crew member told the Herald. "I'm worried we've been lied to this whole time by management. It is reckless behavior on their part, in my opinion, and endangering."More stories from theweek.com Trump's message to blue states battling coronavirus: Drop dead Fox News reportedly fears its early downplaying of COVID-19 leaves it open to lawsuits Nobody knows when Congress will go back to D.C.
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| Dr. Birx predicts up to 200,000 coronavirus deaths 'if we do things almost perfectly' Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:47 AM PDT  "I think in some of the metro areas we were late in getting people to follow the 15-day guidelines," the White House coronavirus response coordinator said on "TODAY."
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| Coronavirus: Trump orders 'time-wasting' General Motors to make ventilators Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:41 AM PDT  The US president orders the car maker to help manufacture medical devices and attacks its CEO.
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| Police commander killed, 2 officers wounded in Phoenix shooting Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Commander Greg Carnicle, a 31-year police veteran, died after being shot in the line of duty. Two officers were shot and are expected to recover.
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| I have an only child and being home during the pandemic made me realize how lonely life might be for her Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:25 AM PDT  Being home during the coronavirus pandemic has made Amy Klein aware of how isolated her only daughter may feel now and in the future.
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| German experts say growth rebound could be relatively quick Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:43 AM PDT  A group of leading economists say Germany, Europe's largest economy, will suffer a deep slump in the first half of this year but should rebound relatively quickly from the disruption of the virus outbreak. The German Council of Economic Experts predict that the economy will shrink 2.8% for the full year and rebound next year with growth of 3.7%, although their report issued Monday acknowledged a high degree of uncertainty about the length of the restrictive measures that have shut down much of the economy. The base scenario is a V-shaped recovery, with a sharp downturn and quick rebound.
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| Governor does not want passengers on virus-hit cruise ship 'dumped' in Florida Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:30 PM PDT  Florida's governor said Monday that he does not want passengers suspected of suffering from coronavirus on the cruise ship Zaandam to be "dumped" in his southern US state. The Holland America Line vessel passed through the Panama Canal overnight as the company searched for a port that will allow the Zaandam passengers to disembark. "We view this as a big, big problem and we do not want to see people dumped in southern Florida right now," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Fox News.
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| Surge of virus cases in California threatens hospitals Posted: 29 Mar 2020 10:38 AM PDT  A surge of coronavirus cases in California has arrived and will worsen, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, while the mayor of Los Angeles warned that by early next week his city could see the kind of crush that has crippled New York.
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| New York Gov. Cuomo extends order advising residents to stay at home for at least another two weeks Posted: 29 Mar 2020 10:50 AM PDT  "The non-essential workforce is directed to continue to work from home," Cuomo said a day after the president decided against a mandatory quarantine.
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| German health institute warns pandemic could overstretch system: paper Posted: 29 Mar 2020 12:31 AM PDT  Germany's health system could face strains similar to those in Italy if the coronavirus outbreak in the country worsens, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal agency responsible for disease control, told a newspaper. Lothar Wieler's comments came as RKI data on Sunday showed the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany had risen to 52,547 and 389 people had died of the disease there. "We cannot rule out that we will have more patients than ventilators in this country ... Of course, we must expect that the capacities will not be sufficient," Wieler told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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| White House task force official says 'no state, no metro area' will be spared from coronavirus Posted: 29 Mar 2020 10:29 AM PDT  The United States is preparing for a novel coronavirus epidemic that is national in scope."No state, no metro area will be spared," Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press.Birx was clear that no area of the country will evade the effects of the virus, but said the sooner places react and instill mitigation measures, the easier it will be to "move forward."> WATCH: Dr. Deborah Birx says "no metro area will be spared" of the coronavirus outbreak. MTP IfItsSunday> > Dr. Birx: "The sooner we react and the sooner the states and the metro areas react and ensure that they have put in full mitigation ... then we'll be able to move forward." pic.twitter.com/B9Fo3lUVHA> > -- Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 29, 2020Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also provided a sense of scale Sunday, but he said he doesn't want to be held to any prediction. Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper that he's never seen an outbreak match the worst-case scenario of its models, and he believes that remains unlikely for the coronavirus, as well. Nevertheless, he thinks it's possible the U.S. could be looking at somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths. > Dr. Anthony Fauci says there could potentially be between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths related to the coronavirus and millions of cases. "I just don't think that we really need to make a projection when it's such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong," he adds. CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/F2MOHY3xl4> > -- State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump's message to blue states battling coronavirus: Drop dead Fox News reportedly fears its early downplaying of COVID-19 leaves it open to lawsuits Nobody knows when Congress will go back to D.C.
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| Singapore gay sex ban: Court rejects appeals to overturn law Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:54 AM PDT  A judge rejects three appeals, saying the law "remains important in reflecting public sentiment".
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| Poll: 15% of Sanders supporters will vote for Trump if Biden is nominee; 80% would back Biden Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:51 AM PDT  The poll also found Biden with a 16-percentage-point advantage (55%-39%) over Sanders among registered Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.
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