- PoliticsYahoo News
Her granddaughter was sick, so Dr. Birx stayed home: 'You can’t take that kind of risk' around the president
Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the two leading medical experts on the White House coronavirus task force, said that out of deference to social distancing rules she had stayed away from her daughter's house — despite her 10-month-old granddaughter having registered a fever of 105 degrees over the weekend. Birx said the child, who is recovering, probably had roseola, a common childhood infection, not COVID-19. Birx, who meets daily with President Trump and Vice President Pence, said she has been vigilant about avoiding social contact “because of you two.”
- HealthBusiness Insider
Dr. Fauci says America getting back to normal and where it was before the coronavirus crisis 'might not ever happen' without a vaccine
Alex Brandon/AP Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the United States might never get entirely back to where it was before the novel coronavirus outbreak, especially without a vaccine. "If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there," Fauci said, expressing optimism that new therapies and a vaccine will help the US recover. Fauci said that with "the therapies that will be coming online, and the fact that I feel confident that over a period of time we will get a good vaccine, that we will never have to get back to where we are right now."
- U.S.Politico
Governors see possible 'flattening' of the curve in latest coronavirus data
The number of coronavirus infections and deaths continue to mount across the United States, but governors in some of the nation's hotspots said Monday they see glimmers of hope in the latest data on the pandemic — evidence the rigid social distancing measures states have mandated are helping slow the spread of the virus. In New York, home to by far the largest outbreak in the country, more than 130,000 people have now tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, out of nearly 200,000 total. The number of fatalities, however, has been “effectively flat for two days,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Monday.
- U.S.NBC News
U.S. coronavirus deaths top 10,000 as medical officials warn worst is yet to come
As the number people killed by the coronavirus in the United States topped 10,000 by Monday night, the country's top medical officials warned that the worst was yet to come. The number of cases has ballooned to at least 364,167 — nearly three times higher than in the second-worst hit country, Spain — with 10,772 people killed as of 7:30 p.m. ET, according to NBC News' tracker. At the center of the outbreak in the U.S., New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said critical medical supplies and personnel have been secured but warned that the magnitude of the crisis equals that of the 1918-19 flu and the Great Depression.
- U.S.Associated Press
Supreme Court rejects church challenge to ban on bus ads
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Catholic church in Washington, D.C., that sought to place religious-themed ads on public buses. The justices are leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling that found no fault with the Washington transit agency policy that banned all issue-oriented advertisements on the region's rail and bus system. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington sought to place an ad on the outside of public buses in the fall of 2017.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Black mistrust of medicine looms amid coronavirus pandemic
Roughly 40 million black Americans are deciding whether to put their faith in government and the medical community during the coronavirus pandemic. Historic failures in government responses to disasters and emergencies, medical abuse, neglect and exploitation have jaded generations of black people into a distrust of some public institutions.
- WorldReuters
'Escape from Tokyo' hot topic in Japan as state of emergency looms
With just hours left on Tuesday before Japan imposes a state of emergency on Tokyo and six other prefectures to contain the coronavirus, the idea of leaving the capital, or "Escape from Tokyo," swirled on social media. Though Japan's outbreak remains small compared with some overseas, alarm over the steady rise of cases in Tokyo to more than 1,000 - roughly a quarter of the country's total - along with an increase in other urban centres, is prompting the state of emergency, which will last until May 6 and call on people to stay home and businesses to close.
WorldAFPBrazil minister offends China with 'racist' virus tweet
China demanded an explanation from Brazil Monday after the far-right government's education minister linked the coronavirus pandemic to the Asian country's "plan for world domination," in a tweet imitating a Chinese accent. In the latest incident to strain ties between Brasilia and Beijing, Education Minister Abraham Weintraub insinuated China was behind the global health crisis. "Geopolitically, who will come out stronger from this global crisis?" he wrote on Twitter Saturday.
- U.S.The New York Times
430,000 People Have Traveled From China to U.S. Since Coronavirus Surfaced
Since Chinese officials disclosed the outbreak of a mysterious pneumonialike illness to international health officials on New Year's Eve, at least 430,000 people have arrived in the United States on direct flights from China, including nearly 40,000 in the two months after President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on such travel, according to an analysis of data collected in both countries. The bulk of the passengers, who were of multiple nationalities, arrived in January, at airports in Los Angeles; San Francisco; New York; Chicago; Seattle; Newark, New Jersey; and Detroit. Thousands of them flew directly from Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, as American public health officials were only beginning to assess the risks to the United States.
- WorldYahoo News
Trump coronavirus task force 'beginning to see glimmers of progress,' but models still show 100,000 U.S. deaths from virus
The Trump administration said Sunday that it was “beginning to see the glimmers of progress” in the fight to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the United States and across the globe. “We are beginning to see the glimmers of progress,” Vice President Mike Pence said during a hastily called briefing of the White House coronavirus task force, adding, “The experts will tell me not to jump to any conclusions, and I'm not.” Dr. Deborah Birx, a leading expert in infectious disease on the task force, said that there were encouraging signs in Spain and Italy, two countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
- HealthBusiness Insider
The largest study yet of children with COVID-19 suggests that males and infants may face a higher risk of infection and severe illness
A CDC study of more than 2,500 children with COVID-19 found that they developed fever, cough, or shortness of breath less often than adults. Infants with COVID-19 have been hospitalized more often than older children. One expert said that could be because their immune responses haven't developed enough.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
A Taliban Fighter Is Serving a Life Sentence in the U.S. That’s a Huge Problem for Our Soldiers.
No U.S. or Afghan government soldiers were injured in the battle. Imprisoned at Bagram Air Base until 2014, Hamidullin was then brought to federal court in Richmond, Virginia, and prosecuted. He was convicted of crimes including material support to terrorists and attempted murder of U.S. military personnel and sentenced to life plus 30 years.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: China reports no Covid-19 deaths for first time
China reported no coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time since it started publishing daily figures in January. The National Health Commission said it had 32 confirmed cases, down from 39 on Monday. It comes as the government is under scrutiny as to whether it is underreporting its figures.
- WorldAssociated Press
Malaysia detains boatload of 202 presumed Rohingya refugees
Malaysian authorities said they have arrested a boatload of 202 people believed to be minority Muslim Rohingya refugees after their boat was found adrift Sunday morning near the northern resort island of Langkawi. A Northern District maritime official, Capt. Zulinda Ramly, said the refugees included 152 men, 45 women and five children. She said some of the migrants told officials that the boat's skipper and two others, believed to be behind the smuggling syndicate, had escaped while they were at sea.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Supreme Court won't hear Catholic Church challenge to ban on religious advertising
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the Catholic Church's challenge to a local ban on religious advertising. The case, brought by the Archdiocese of Washington against the District of Columbia region's mass transit system, would have been the latest example of religious freedom appeals heard by the conservative-leaning court. The justices already are considering four major religion cases, all brought to them by religious organizations after lower court losses: • School choice: Three Montana women challenged a Montana ban on state funds being used to pay for religious education.
- WorldReuters
Pakistan police clash with doctors protesting lack of virus protection gear
Riot police wielding batons used force to break up a protest by Pakistani doctors and medical staff against a lack of gear to protect against coronavirus, arresting dozens of medics who say the government has failed to deliver promised supplies. Reuters journalists at the scene, in the southwestern city of Quetta, saw hundreds of doctors and paramedics, some in face masks and scrubs, chanting their demands. Pakistan has reported a total of 3,277 cases of the virus, including 50 deaths.
WorldAFPAsia virus latest: Japan proposes state of emergency, Singapore quarantines dorms
Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the coronavirus pandemic: - Japan state of emergency - Japan's prime minister proposed a state of emergency for several major regions seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, as well as a stimulus package worth $1 trillion to cushion the impact on the world's third-biggest economy. The official declaration of the state of emergency would likely come as soon as Tuesday, Shinzo Abe told reporters, as the country grapples with a recent spike in coronavirus cases, especially in the capital Tokyo.
- BusinessNBC News
New York coronavirus deaths 'effectively flat' as U.S. braces for peak cases in hot spots
The mounting number of New York's coronavirus deaths has stayed "effectively flat" over the past two days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, offering a glimmer of hope that the state may be at a peak even as the country braces for what the Trump administration is calling the "toughest week" yet in the fight against the pandemic. While the state has recorded 4,758 total deaths, with an additional 599 from the day before, it's only a slight uptick from the 594 added two days ago, Cuomo said, and shows a "possible flattening of the curve" that is "better than the increases we have seen."
- WorldNational Review
India Cuts Off U.S. from Nearly Half of Its Hydroxychloroquine Supply
Trump said on Saturday that he had spoken to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and revealed that India is giving “serious consideration” to the release of shipments U.S. has already ordered. A Bloomberg News analysis found that 47 percent of the U.S. supply of hydroxychloroquine last year came from Indian manufacturers, including the top U.S. supplier, Zydus Pharmaceuticals Inc. which is a subsidiary of Ahmedabad, India-based Cadila Healthcare Ltd. It sold over 167 million units of the anti-malarial in 2019, and has supplied 28 million to the U.S. market so far this year.
- WorldBusiness Insider
3 countries have started to slow the coronavirus with total lockdowns. Here's how long they took to work.
It has taken between three and four weeks since the countries ordered lockdowns for daily new infections and deaths to begin to decline. On Sunday, each country had recorded at least a two-day consecutive decline in deaths from the virus, and new recorded cases also appear to be dropping, according to figures on Worldometer. The numbers from China, however, suggest it may take more like a month for the impact on coronavirus deaths to really be felt.
- PoliticsBloomberg
No Probe on Trump’s Early Virus Response, House Democrat Says
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said it's unlikely a congressional panel overseeing coronavirus relief will investigate the Trump administration's initial response to the pandemic that's claimed thousands of American lives. This committee will be forward-looking,” Clyburn told CNN's Jake Tapper on “State of the Union. We're not going to be looking back on what the president may or may not have done back before this crisis hit.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Africa will not be testing ground for vaccine, says WHO
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has condemned as "racist" the comments by two French doctors who suggested a vaccine for the coronavirus could be tested in Africa. "Africa can't and won't be a testing ground for any vaccine," said Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The doctors' remarks during a TV debate sparked outrage, and they were accused of treating Africans like "human guinea pigs".
- U.S.Associated Press
Trump tempers officials' grave assessments with optimism
The U.S. surgeon general says that Americans should brace for levels of tragedy reminiscent of the Sept. 11 attacks and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, while the nation's infectious disease chief warned that the new coronavirus may never be completely eradicated from the globe. “We're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump said at a Sunday evening White House briefing. Pence added, “We are beginning to see glimmers of progress.”
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Cardinal George Pell to Walk Free From Prison After Court Overturns His Sex-Abuse Conviction
Cardinal George Pell is allowed to leave jail immediately after Australia's highest court overturned his conviction for sexually abusing two choir boys. “The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place,” the court said in a two-page summary of the ruling, according to The Guardian. Pell, 78, will now be released from Barwon Prison, near Melbourne, after spending more than 400 days behind bars.
- PoliticsReuters
Iran will never ask U.S. for coronavirus help: official
Iran will never ask the United States for help in the fight against the new coronavirus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected offers from Washington of humanitarian assistance for Iran, the Middle Eastern country so far worst-affected by the coronavirus, with 3,739 deaths and 60,500 people infected according to the latest figures on Monday. "Iran has never asked and will not ask America to help Tehran in its fight against the outbreak ... But America should lift all its illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran," Mousavi said in a televised news conference.
“Here’s what Joe Biden ought to be doing now: moving left.”
“A Biden nomination has the potential to alienate large swaths of younger voters from the Democratic Party for generations.”
“It’s difficult to imagine a worse standard-bearer for young Democrats with anti-Establishment leanings than Joseph R. Biden Jr.”
“Biden can make a distinctive case for a cause of paramount importance to the young: saving the planet.”
“Biden’s strategy of positioning himself as Obama’s heir may not help him court younger Democrats.”
