Light News Dump

Cracking down on covid-19 news, will limit it to the most important/newsworthy

Pakistan court overturns convictions in brutal sadistic murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl by Islamic terrorists
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/asia/daniel-pearl-suspects-intl-hnk/index.html

The Republican-Controlled White House Wanted To Give $0 To Tribes in the $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill - Senate Republicans also worked to scale back direct relief for Native Americans
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tribes-stimulus-coronavirus-white-house-republicans_n_5e839c10c5b6871702a5dc10

Just a reminder that Biden warned Americans about the Coronavirus Pandemic in January while Bernie thought it was more important that everyone knew about Joe Rogan endorsing him
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/nobody-expected-the-coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-did.html

Home Depot has ordered all 2,300 of its stores in North America to stop sales of N95 masks to try to free them up for those on the front lines of the coronavirus emergency response
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/business/n95-face-masks-home-depot-virus.html

Seventy spring breakers from Texas went to Mexico to party in defiance of social distancing guidance. Now 44 of them have tested positive for the coronavirus. ⁦⁦⁦
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/us/coronavirus-texas-austin-spring-break-cabo.html

Ten million people have filed for unemployment over the last two weeks as the coronavirus restrictions continue. That is a terrifying number, and never before have we had this kind of sudden job loss over such a short period: Over 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in March as economy collapsed | A record 6.6 million people filed a new jobless claim the week ending March 28.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/02/jobless-march-coronavirus/
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/825383525/6-6-million-file-for-unemployment-another-dismal-record

3.5 million was the estimate for the likely new jobless claims, 5 million was an extremely high estimate. The actual number (6.6 million) was 1.6 million more than the high estimate.

U.S. Rep Schiff heads up 9/11-style commission to evaluate Trump’s response to COVID-19
https://www.theatlantavoice.com/articles/u-s-rep-schiff-heads-up-9-11-style-commission-to-evaluate-trumps-response-to-covid-19/

Pelosi forms new select committee to oversee $2 trillion coronavirus relief package
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/pelosi-forms-new-select-committee-to-oversee-2-trillion-coronavirus-relief-package-161436
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2020/04/02/pelosi-announces-new-select-house-committee-to-examine-trump-administrations-response-to-coronavirus-amid-criticism-of-its-approach/

The Secret Service signed an "emergency order" this week to rent $45,000-worth of golf carts in the town of Sterling, Virginia, where Trump has a golf course. The 30-cart fleet, which the Secret Service is renting through the end of September, was described as being necessary in order to protect a "dignitary," although the president was not explicitly referenced by name.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-virus-outbreak-secret-service-signed-contract-to-rent-golf-carts-at-home-of-trump-club/2020/04/01/86d249fe-7449-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html

Louisiana church packed for services again despite charges against pastor amid pandemic | Around Louisiana, more than 5,200 people have confirmed virus infections, and 239 state residents have died, according to the Louisiana health department.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-louisiana-life-tabernacle-church-packed-services-again-charges-against-pastor-tony-spell/

The CDC headquarters is in HIS state FFS: Republican Governor of Georgia Says He Just Found Out People Without Symptoms Can Spread Coronavirus. "We Didn’t Know That Until The Last 24 Hours"
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/we-didnt-know-that-until-the-last-24-hours-georgia-gov-says-he-just-found-out-people-without-symptoms-can-spread-coronavirus/

That statement, implies unquestionable criminal negligence regardless of whether or not he's lying or telling the trith. He's not competent to hold any office. I'm not a healthcare professional or responsible for the safety of millions of Americans and I've known that for at least FOUR months (dating back to late December) about covid-19 rampaging through Wuhan/China and known for at least three months (dating back to early January) that most infected people are asymptomatic and spread it:

Doctors and nurses are getting hit with pay cuts, layoffs, and furloughs even as they fight the coronavirus pandemic
https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-turmoil-from-coronavirus-pandemic-hits-doctors-nurses-2020-3

There are going to be a lot more of these "Oops, sorry I caused mass infections" stories very soon: Pastor sorry after service caused wave of coronavirus infections in France: Thiebault Geyer wanted to say “sorry to G/d for my selfishness” after officials confirmed that around 2,500 of his parishioners have contracted coronavirus. At least 17 of those have died. | Pastor Geyer admitted he had not taken its threat seriously enough. “I would like to apologise,” he said. “Sorry to have taken this crisis lightly. Sorry to have read all the articles which tried to alert us. I couldn’t listen. I’m sorry to G/d for my selfishness.” He said he was now conducting services only online.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/pastor-thiebault-geyer-sorry-service-caused-coronavirus-infections-a4403826.html

Do I support "Medicare For All"? Yes but I think it's important to phase out private insurance over time. I would urge the president to allow an Open Enrollment for ACA plans right now so that people who chose junk plans can switch up. But with regard to Medicare for All: Nearly three-quarters of Americans – 73 percent – support expanding the Affordable Care Act by through Medicare for All while preserving an at least temporary option for private health insurance, enabling unions and employees to negotiate higher pay when employer run health programs are ended. But in this climate, it shows that we cannot have a long-term plan in which health insurance is connected to employment.

Sigh....Leave the team for the NBA then buy it. If that’s not big baller...: Potential No. 1 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball and his manager Jermaine Jackson have purchased his Australian NBL team, the Illawarra Hawks, Jackson told ESPN on Thursday.
https://twitter.com/draftexpress/status/1245756165906223104

Democratic National Convention Pushed Back A Month And The Format May Change
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/825953889/democratic-national-convention-pushed-back-a-month-and-the-format-may-change

In Desperation, New York State Pays Up to 15 Times the Normal Prices for Medical Equipment | State data shows that New York is paying enormous markups for vital supplies, including almost $250,000 for an X-ray machine. Laws against price gouging usually don’t apply. | With the coronavirus outbreak creating an unprecedented demand for medical supplies and equipment, New York state has paid 20 cents for gloves that normally cost less than a nickel and as much as $7.50 each for masks, about 15 times the usual price. It’s paid up to $2,795 for infusion pumps, more than twice the regular rate. And $248,841 for a portable X-ray machine that typically sells for $30,000 to $80,000. This payment data, provided by state officials, shows just how much the shortage of key medical equipment is driving up prices. Forced to venture outside their usual vendors and contracts, states and cities are paying exorbitant sums on a spot market ruled by supply and demand. Although New York’s attorney general has denounced excessive prices, and ordered merchants to stop overcharging people for hand sanitizers and disinfectant sprays, state laws against price gouging generally don’t apply to government purchases. With little guidance from the Trump administration, competition among states, cities, hospitals and federal agencies is contributing to the staggering bill for fighting the pandemic, which New York has estimated will cost it $15 billion in spending and lost revenue. The bidding wars are also raising concerns that facilities with shallow pockets, like rural health clinics, won’t be able to obtain vital supplies. | Price gouging laws in New York state and New York City do not apply to state and city purchases, such as the $248,881 X-ray machine. While X-rays aren’t recommended to diagnose COVID-19 patients, they are often used to assess how much damage the disease has done to a patient’s lungs. Portable machines are more desirable than fixed machines because they help reduce the spread of infection. Caregivers don’t have to bring patients to an X-ray room; the machine comes to them. New York is paying bloated prices for another reason: Large national distributors are reluctant to steer more equipment to states with the most coronavirus cases. For fear of being accused of favoritism or even collusion, and in order to prevent stockpiling, they’ve put all of their customers on the same “allocation,” or what a customer purchased in the past. Distributors say the federal government should step in to help them adjust those allocations based on need. “Only the federal government has the data and the authority to provide this strategic direction to the supply chain and the healthcare system,” Health Industry Distributors Association President Matthew Rowan wrote to FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor last weekend. Dozens of cities have signed on to a letter coordinated by the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group asking the federal government to designate a “medical equipment czar” who would buy all the supply and fulfill requests from local jurisdictions. A bill sponsored by Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, would do the same.
https://www.propublica.org/article/in-desperation-new-york-state-pays-up-to-15-times-the-normal-price-for-medical-equipment
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2020/ag-james-price-gouging-will-not-be-tolerated
https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-crisis-could-cut-new-york-state-revenue-by-up-to-15-billion-cuomo-aide-warns-11585056388
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6824051-FEMA-Administrator-Health-Industry-Distributors.html
https://uspirg.org/resources/usp/mayors-county-executives-call-federal-effort-coordinate-purchasing-and-distribution
https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-schatz-announce-legislation-requiring-federal-government-to-take-over-medical-supply-chain

Secret footage shows calves from Ireland beaten and kicked in France - Video shows cruel treatment of weeks-old cattle transported on long journeys to Europe for veal
https://theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/02/secret-footage-shows-calves-from-ireland-beaten-and-kicked-in-france

A Washington state nursing home tied to at least 37 covid-19 deaths faces a fine of more than $611,000, federal inspectors said, and could also lose Medicare and Medicaid funding if it does not correct a slew of deficiencies that led to the country’s first major outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In a letter Wednesday to Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote that the nursing home failed to report an outbreak of respiratory illness to local authorities for two weeks as required by law, gave inadequate care to its residents during the outbreak and failed to provide 24-hour emergency doctor services.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/wash-nursing-home-faces-611000-fine-over-lapses-during-fatal-coronavirus-outbreak/2020/04/02/757cee76-7498-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html

The extreme worry and isolation sparked by the coronavirus pandemic is likely leading many people to increase their consumption of beer, wine and hard alcohol, experts say. A recent survey by the market research firm Nielsen reported off-premises sales of alcoholic beverages across the United States have grown 55 percent in the week ending March 21, said John Bodnovich, executive director of the American Beverage Licensees, which represents about 13,000 bars, taverns, restaurants and package stores. (Some of that growth may be due to bars and restaurants now being closed in many places.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/as-pandemic-and-stay-at-home-orders-spread-so-does-alcohol-consumption/2020/04/02/ad41bc3c-7430-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html

Trump’s Company Seeks Financial Help as Coronavirus Takes Toll | As companies nationwide look for relief, the Trump Organization has talked with Deutsche Bank and a Florida county about delaying payments on some loans and other obligations
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/business/economy/coronavirus-trump-company-finances.html

U.S. officials said on Thursday they would distribute a stockpile of personal protective equipment, including 192,000 N95 respirator masks, which they seized this week from an alleged hoarder. | It will be distributed to health authorities in New York and New Jersey, the U.S. epicenter of a pandemic that has so far killed nearly 5,000 Americans.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-gouging/u-s-officials-redistribute-protective-gear-seized-from-alleged-hoarder-idUSKBN21K34F

As Navajo Nation enforces coronavirus curfew, Arizona sends in the National Guard | Equipment is sorely needed, tribal leaders say, as they brace for more cases: "We shouldn't be the last to get equipment. We are the first citizens of this country." | Overwhelmed by the spread of the disease and fearing it could ravage a population already grappling with insufficient health care and generational poverty, the tribe secured the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Arizona National Guard, which set up a 50-bed medical facility in the community of Chinle, where staffing remains inadequate.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/navajo-nation-enforces-coronavirus-curfew-arizona-sends-national-guard-n1174456

California-based Clara Foods plans to debut its innovative vegan egg white replacer this year. The company spent five years developing the ingredient—which is made through yeast fermentation—and it will be incorporated into protein drinks and supplements, replacing animal-derived egg whites. In 2021, the company will release a vegan egg replacer that could be used in baked goods and other foods. “I don’t think there has been a better time in history to be an ingredients company focused on developing animal-free products,” Clara Foods CEO Arturo Elizondo told Food Dive. “Ultimately for us, our number one goal is to have the biggest impact possible, and we can do that by working with food and beverage companies who really want to stay on top of their game.”
https://www.clarafoods.com/
https://vegnews.com/2018/8/animal-free-egg-whites-to-debut-in-2019
https://www.fooddive.com/news/clara-foods-chicken-free-egg-white-ready-to-make-leap-from-lab-to-shelf/574470/

They've literally just delayed the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee from July to August because of coronavirus but as of right now Wisconsin is still planning to go ahead with holding a primary election this coming Tuesday: Wisconsin Democrats apoplectic over governor's handling of Tuesday primary
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/tony-evers-wisconsin-democrats-primary-election-161423

First official projections showing that the economic pain from this crisis could match or exceed that felt during the Great Recession. Reaffirms that the CARES Act was absolutely necessary but almost certainly not sufficient. We have a long road ahead: CBO: Q2 GDP is likely to decline at an annualized rate of *at least* 28%
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56314

On March 7th, Mike Pence told you to go ahead and take your cruises if you weren’t old. Lies and cowardice — he now passes responsibility down to the CDC, eager to deflect the the blame from the WH and its leading charlatan for the estimated death toll.
https://twitter.com/MollyMcKew/status/1245408970581426177
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/mike-pence-coronavirus/index.html

U.S. Concealed Carry Association: "According to figures from the FBI, 3.7 million background checks were done in March – the most for a single month since the system began in 1998. The record was fueled by Americans worried about their safety during the coronavirus crisis."
https://apnews.com/64b328e6d0559e13dd7ef6e2ee0663f9
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/us/fbi-gun-sale-background-checks-coronavirus/index.html

The Colorado Attorney General's office sent a letter to Hobby Lobby's CEO, ordering the craft supplies company to shutter stores immediately after it continued operating despite being named a nonessential business during the novel coronavirus pandemic. "For the avoidance of doubt, and as you have been previously notified, Hobby Lobby is not a 'critical business,'" the letter from attorney general Phil Weiser's office, obtained by ABC News, stated. "You are directed to immediately close all Hobby Lobby locations within the State of Colorado." The letter added that the state's executive order mandating nonessential businesses shutter amid the COVID-19 outbreak will be enforced.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/colorado-ag-steps-hobby-lobby-defies-covid-19/story?id=69935625

Florida megachurch pastor Rodney Howard-Browne says he is closing the doors to his church to protect his congregation from "a tyrannical government." "I actually have no choice at this juncture but to shut the church down this Sunday," Howard-Browne, pastor of The River at Tampa Bay, said on his livestream call-in show on Wednesday. "I have to do this to protect the congregation — not from the virus but from a tyrannical government," he added.
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/490789-florida-megachurch-pastor-says-hes-closing-church-due-to-tyrannical-government

If they all want to shelter in place together at their house of worship for at least 30 days and isolate from the rest of the world, I fully support them making that choice for themselves. It would be a great test of faith if you ask me. But to risk the lives and livelihoods of everybody else outside the "house of worship" is not something I can support. It's not about congregating for worship, it's about keeping that tithe money flowing. No in-person service means no money means church revenue ends.

One day after her employer was kicked out of the rotation to cover daily press briefings by President Trump's coronavirus task force, OAN correspondent Chanel Rion plans to be back in the briefing room at press secretary Stephanie Grisham’s request
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/oan-white-house-coronavirus-briefings-162131

NASA’s mission continues during this time. We are proud to share our vision for sustainability at the Moon after 2024 and how Artemis prepares us for Mars. Learn more:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-outlines-lunar-surface-sustainability-concept

MyPillow paid millions to settle prosecutors' suits in NY for tax evasion and Calif. for falsely touting "double-blind" studies. How much is it making for these cotton masks? How is the product? Why did Trump plug its CEO, a six-figure donor? Questions off-limits, they say.
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1245824354270638080

The Navy announced it has relieved the captain who sounded the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. | The United States Navy is expected to relieve the captain who sounded the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. | The official reason for Crozier's relief of duty is a loss of trust and confidence, according to the officials who spoke to NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/navy-expected-relieve-captain-who-raised-alarm-about-covid-19-n1175351

The captain of an aircraft carrier warned that action was needed to keep sailors from dying. With actual lives at stake, the Navy acted swiftly to...dismiss the captain because his letter went public. This attempt to cover up yet another failure by an incompetent administration will not stand. The Captain was protecting his ship. For anyone who watched the miniseries Chernobyl, the exact same thing happened to bureaucrats who dared question the party apparatchik. It's almost like the lesson is that the same thing can happen even in the commie hating US of A. Captain Crozier, you have earned my trust and confidence. It takes a certain type of patriotism and loyalty to stand up to those in command over you when you know their commands are wrong. Your punishment is unjust. Last month Trump ordered the military not to take any action in response to coronavirus without his approval. This man is a hero who sacrificed his career, in defiance of a tyrannical president's criminally negligent orders, to save his men. President Biden should restore his command on day one. Sadly, the military services will always come down harder on a member who made brass look bad than one who actually did something wrong. That's been true since time immemorial. The military as a whole needs a good shakeup. It's so set in its ways that notice that despite fighting in multiple wars simultaneously over the past 20 years, very little has changed in terms of organization, structure, training, personnel management, or administration. The toys have gotten deadlier and/or just more expensive, but that's about it.

When people tweet things like “worst case scenario isn’t coming true in my state!!” as some sort of attempt to attack the medical community or the media, I want to shout: THAT’S BECAUSE WE ARE STAYING AT HOME. Why is this complicated?

Biden's Lead Over Trump Has Widened Despite Coronavirus Campaign Setback: Reuters/Ipsos Poll
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bidens-lead-over-trump-widened-110124128.html

Normally I dismiss polls but sometimes a poll can downright positively boost one's mood

Mike Pence: "Health care workers, help is on the way"
The Admiral: "If you're in a hospital and not seeing PPE (personal protective equipment), I would look up to the state level first"

But the very fact that Democrats support these changes has raised Republicans' skepticism and heightened their opposition. Taking cues from the president, who warned this week that “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again” if Democrats' reforms were adopted, some conservatives argue that expanding vote-by-mail is a liberal scheme. Anything that made it into H.R. 1, the House Democrats' package of voting reforms that has been ignored by the Republican-run Senate, is immediately suspect. “These rules were all intended to basically make it easier to manipulate elections, and frankly, make it easier to cheat,” Hans von Spakovsky, director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's election law project, said in an interview with Breitbart News. “They have absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with helping the country deal with the coronavirus.” | Seven of the eight swing states have something else in common: divided governments. In Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Democratic governors are frequently at odds with Republican-run legislatures. (In Minnesota, Republicans control the state Senate, while Democrats control the House.) For Wisconsin, that meant Gov. Tony Evers's proposal to send postage-paid absentee ballots to voters was dead on arrival, with the Republican speaker of the House calling it an “invitation to voter fraud.” | They had demystified vote-by-mail's anti-fraud measures, explaining that ballot envelopes must be signed, that county clerks call voters if there are problems with their ballots, and that they've been able to chase down the few cases where people voted twice. In Washington's last election, 4.4 million ballots were cast but fewer than 100 ballots were flagged and none led to a criminal fraud investigation. Voter fraud remains rare, with high-profile cases representing a tiny fraction of votes cast each year. | “We have examples like Michigan in 2016 and Florida in 2000, where if the election had been conducted by mail, and a few stray envelopes didn’t make it, you'd have been talking about court cases going on forever,” Fund said. Most states that don't conduct mail-only elections are unlikely to put those systems in place over the next few months, something that would require millions of dollars and emergency legislation. But there is plenty of room and time to make absentee voting easier. New Hampshire, for example, is one of 17 states that requires some kind of excuse for requesting an absentee ballot. Some states, like Wisconsin, have only now stepped up to inform voters that they can vote by mail, a process that has seen absentee requests quadruple over four years ago. But Wisconsin's Republican legislators, like their colleagues in many states, have resisted calls to delay the election. The primary this coming Tuesday is showcasing all of the problems with pandemic-era, in-person voting, starting with a mass exodus of the volunteers who usually run the polling locations. And all of it had to contend with paranoia about how absentee voting would affect the outcome of the election.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2020/04/02/the-trailer-the-fear-and-politics-around-expanding-voting-by-mail/5e84980e602ff10d49ada414/

So neither China nor Italy have been complete and open in their COVID-19 reporting. I ask again, how reliable is the U.S. model if it is based on data from the two other countries that have been most deeply affected?
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1245837306503651328

Question: If the U.S. model is based on data from Italy and the data in Italy significantly undercounts deaths does that mean the U.S. model under-projects mortality as a result of the virus here? I hope the answer is no.
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1245543141895102467

These aren’t isolated incidents. Italy’s official death toll from the virus stands at 13,155, the most of any country in the world. But that number tells only part of the story because many people who die from the virus don’t make it to the hospital and are never tested. | Properly tallying the number of deaths from the pathogen can help public-health officials map out a response to the pandemic, such as making sure hospitals are adequately equipped for the emergency. It can also influence how quickly and strictly governments should impose social-distancing measures, and for how long. But collecting accurate data is challenging for Italy and many other countries, due to the speed of the pandemic and the fact that most countries’ public-health institutions are geared toward normal times. | “They are not receiving postmortem tests,” Eleonora Colombi, a family doctor based near Brescia, says of people who die outside hospitals, such as in nursing homes. “Many of those who die and aren’t tested are old, but you normally don’t have so many people all dying at the same time. It’s corona.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-coronavirus-death-toll-is-far-higher-than-reported-11585767179

Here's Jared Kushner going for the world record of most meaningless corporate buzzwords used in a single one-minute video clip
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1245835666698768390

Look, all Jared is saying is he's trying to maximize thought leadership to revisit the deliverables while increasing output through rightsizing while pinging the staff to make sure they have enough bandwidth to leverage synergies in a results-driven way. It's really quite simple.

Pete Navarro blames Democrats (globalism, global trade) for the Trump/Republican Administration's refusal to respond to and dismissal of covid-19 way back in January and February and early March. Republicans dismissing covid-19 as a hoax for months s why covid-19 has hit the US badly. Trump and Republicans denied, deceived, downplayed, and delayed admitting COVID19 was real, and Trump+Republicans continue to delay life saving action. From lying it was a hoax, to stating we have 15 cases, will not spread nationwide, under control, will disappear like a miracle. People lie, these numbers don't. Democrats are the ones fighting to save this country.

Feels like most of today’s briefing was designed to get out in front of the cascading outcry about the lack of timely provision of emergency equipment to states and local communities before the wave of COVID-19 crests.

Your daily reminder that Raytheon had a merger approved by the federal government in the last week and the CEO of the merged company was given a speaking role in the Rose Garden.
https://www.law360.com/articles/1257606/feds-strike-deal-in-planned-raytheon-utc-merger

White House considering direct payments to hospitals to cover COVID-19 treatment costs for uninsured Americans.
https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1245845392757006336

When the son-in-law has to go to the podium and address the public....you know you're in trouble. 💀😂

These are just propaganda briefings meant to mitigate the damage done by the massive incompetence of this President and his administration. Plain and simple.

sources say at least 10 employees have tested positive for #Covid_19 in the @BOENYC Manahttan office. 2 employees at BOE borough offices have died from the virus, and a third death has not yet been confirmed as #Coronavirus.
https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1245846304674041856

.@BOENYC employees are considered “essential.” And they have been working around the clock to handle petition challenges from candidates who filed last month. The primary is June 23. Some are asking @NYGovCuomo to shut the offices down.
https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1245846736398155779

The numbers in the NYC area (including suburbs) are almost half the national total and still exploding. Why aren’t we testing every person and using every resource of the country (military, FEMA etc) to handle this crisis? We lost 500 people yesterday. This is out of control!

- "We've done 1.3 million" Dr. Birx said of tests, as of today, 4/2.
- March 10th: Mike Pence: "Over a million tests have been distributed ... before the end of this week, another 4 million tests will be distributed."

Nursing homes overwhelmed by coronavirus: 'It is impossible for us to stop the spread' | More than 200 of ArchCare's 1,700 nursing home residents are infected with the coronavirus, and more than 20 have died, LaRue said. At least 10 staff members are also infected, with one in the hospital on a ventilator. | Over the past week, coronavirus infections at nursing homes have skyrocketed: More than 400 long-term care facilities around the United States now have infected residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a 172 percent increase in a single week. In New York state, one in four nursing homes have cases of the virus; 1,228 residents have tested positive and 224 have died, according to a spokeswoman for the state health department.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nursing-homes-overwhelmed-coronavirus-it-impossible-us-stop-spread-n1174171

Trump: "They got some medicine things"

Trump: "We had bans when bans weren’t fashionable. More bans than anybody."

You banned China and now have the worst outbreak so perhaps it was not the miracle you keep saying it was

Item 2 is utterly extraordinary. | NY emts/paramedics basically will not transport cardiac arrests to emergency room for standard resusitation methods because hospital has no space and because of the covid-19 infection risk. Cardiac arrests will be pronounced dead on scene and no emergency hospital treatment.
http://www.nycremsco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Press-Release-04-02-2020-Official.pdf

"We take good care of our veterans." You just fired a Navy captain for telling the truth. Don't give me that shit. They don't want others coming forward. The US warships are cramped. That's not a secret, and you can verify it yourself by checking videos on YouTube. If one person has the virus on a ship, everyone will have it within weeks. There's a really good chance that this virus is already wrecking our navy and they don't want us to know about it.

Trump took to the lectern and promised to "always protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid" which is interesting because Trump's 2020 budget literally included a $25 billion cut to Social Security and an $845 billion cut to Medicare.

They keep mentioning the Defense Production Act but is there a single company that is actually affected by this? GM was already doing it. GE is already doing it. Ford is already doing it.

Trump loves to spew empty words to sound strong and act like he's doing something when neither are true.

Trump reiterates he does not want states looking to the federal government as a first resort. WH officials have said repeatedly that the federal government should be a last resort. He said: "We are a secondary source." That's legitimately one of the reasons we HAVE a federal government. To fucking fix problems that are country wide. Governors say they are in crisis and need federal help.

On Thursday, though, the huge white vessel, which officials had promised would bring succor to a city on the brink, sat mostly empty, infuriating local hospital executives. The ship’s 1,000 beds are largely unused, its 1,200-member crew mostly idle. Only three patients had been transferred to the ship, officials said, even as New York hospitals struggled to find space for the thousands infected with the coronavirus. Another Navy hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Mercy, docked in Los Angeles, has had a total of 15 patients, officials said. On top of its strict rules preventing people infected with the virus from coming on board, the Navy is also refusing to treat a host of other conditions. Guidelines disseminated to hospitals included a list of 49 medical conditions that would exclude a patient from admittance to the ship. Ambulances cannot take patients directly to the Comfort; they must first deliver patients to a city hospital for a lengthy evaluation — including a test for the virus — and then pick them up again for transport to the ship. Hospital leaders said they were exasperated by the delays. Mr. Dowling said he has had to tear his hospitals apart, retrofitting any unused space, including lobbies and conference rooms, into hospital wards. His facilities now house 2,800 so-called Covid patients, up from 100 on March 20, he said. About 25 percent of those are in serious conditions in intensive care units. Across the city, hospitals are overrun. Patients have died in hallways before they could even be hooked up to one of the few available ventilators in New York. Doctors and nurses, who have had to use the same protective gear again and again, are getting sick. So many people are dying that the city is running low on body bags. At the same time, there is not a high volume of noncoronavirus patients. Because most New Yorkers have isolated themselves in their homes, there are fewer injuries from car accidents, gun shots and construction accidents that would require an emergency room visit. Ultimately, Mr. Dowling and others said, if the Comfort refuses to take Covid patients, there are few patients to send. And given the pernicious spread of the disease in New York City, where nearly 50,000 were infected as of Thursday, dividing patients into those who have it and those who do not is pointless, he said. The solution, he and others said, was to open the Comfort to patients with Covid-19. “It’s pretty ridiculous,” he said. “If you’re not going to help us with the people we need help with, what’s the purpose?” Asked about Mr. Dowling’s criticisms, the Defense Department referred to Mr. Trump’s statements about the Comfort at his daily briefing. The president said only that the ship was not accepting patients with the coronavirus. | The ship has struggled to fulfill civilian missions in the past. After Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017, the Comfort was sent to relieve overextended hospitals, but ended up treating only a handful of patients each day. A military physician who had previously served on the Navy’s hospital ships said in an interview that conditions on board were suitable for soldiers, but, with its narrow bunked cots instead of modern hospital beds, it was not ideal for treating civilians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-hospitals.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-doctors-sick.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-bodies.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-hospital-ship.html

Like many funeral homes in New York and around the globe, Marmo’s business is in crisis as he tries to meet surging demand amid the coronavirus pandemic that has killed around 1,400 people in New York City alone, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. His two cell phones and the office line are ringing constantly. He’s apologizing to families at the start of every conversation for being unusually terse, and begging them to insist hospitals hold their dead loved ones as long as possible. His company is equipped to handle 40 to 60 cases at a time, no problem. On Thursday morning, it was taking care of 185. “This is a state of emergency,” he said. “We need help.”
https://apnews.com/4ecadae923cc6bf3db3cf38757e68d9b

FEMA: Trump’s Promised 100K Ventilators Won’t Be Ready Until June
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-promised-100k-ventilators-wont-be-ready-until-june-fema-says

COVID-19 Tests Are Headed Where They're Needed the Least and You Can Guess Why | Despite dire test shortages in areas where the virus is spreading fastest, grift wins the day.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/amp32023130/covid-19-testing-trump-detroit-maryland

Trump Organization Requests Reduction or Delay in Deutsche Bank Loan Payments
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-org-request-to-reduce-or-delay-loan-payments-has-deutsche-bank-execs-fearing-retaliation/