#Europe Enters ‘Living-With-the-Virus Phase’

[235antz]

a scientific exploration of vampirism- vampirism as a virus

acquired zoonotic myeloperiforative wasting syndrome (AZMWS), also known as vampirism or "consumptive anemia" is a unique virus that acts much like a parasite, in that it is a continuous infection.

its' natural host is a variety of bats entirely endemic to various areas of the old world, chiefly europe & small pockets of eurasia & the levant. in the bat host, it highjacks the bone marrow & brain- the bone marrow stops producing red blood cells and the creature must acquire new blood in order to make red blood cells irregardless of wether it would normally feed off blood or not. the creature becomes frenzied and seeks out large mammalian hosts to drink from such as cattle, sheep, pigs or humans, uniquely it is unable to make the species jump to livestock but it can infect humans.

once the virus is inside a human, it rapidly overwhelms the immune system and uses the bone marrow to reproduce and travel around the body. production of both new red blood cells and immune cells begins to slow down- in this stage the virus is still treatable but recovery is rare. at this stage symptoms include paleness, anemia, extreme fatigue, light sensitivity, loss of appetite, sub-skin bleeding (petechiae) & chills

at the second phase of infection, the virus has firmly established itself in the body & begins to attempt the jump to infecting the brain. in this stage symptoms become much more pronounced, petechiae dissappear & paleness progresses, the gums begin to recede causing canine teeth to appear larger & sharper, vitals begin to slow down- the heart & lungs become much slower, solid food is less readily tolerated- if tolerated at all- but many patients report feeling soothed by consuming heme & iron rich foods like steak

the final phase of infection is hallmarked by neurological involvement, the virus successfully enters the brain. here it slows the heart &lungs beyond audible detection, and the body becomes very cold. behavioral issues begin to show, the sleep-wake cycle reverses, patients readily begin craving blood- a subset will become irrationally aggressive & "feral". the stomach fully stops tolerating any food or liquids. metabolic activity grinds to a halt- during long, daily torpors, sufferers truly appear entirely dead. --they now entirely rely on large amounts of human blood for nutrition & subsistence, special proteins in the stomach & small intestines derive nutrition from it; the same is true if you infuse human blood directly into the veins, much like transfusion dependent anemias. regardless, this decreased strain on the organs produces an incredibly improved lifespan, the average vampire easily surviving for hundreds of years- there are rumors of some living for thousands.

vampires end up killing most of their victims due to the sheer amount of blood they need when feeding by mouth, if victims survive they are very often infected- but not always

[jbbuckybarnes]

Zerfall - 1/14

Pairing: Bucky x named!Reader (Agent Andromeda) Summary: After Hydra drops virus bombs in 7 major American cities in the height of summer, the team is locked in their emergency bunker for weeks. The virus commonly called the Summer Poison successfully brought the infrastructure to a halt in all big cities. When the virus slowly starts burning itself out SHIELD Agents and Avengers are sent out to bring back order into the cities and the international relationships. Not without hurdles. Warnings for this chapter: Pandemic, mainy people in a small space, fear

Zerfall Masterlist || M a s t e r l i s t

The alarm sirens were blaring in the entire compound, a computer voice repeating the words, “Emergency Level Red, Code Black.” Level Red meant to get into a safe space fast, Code Black meant, “You should probably call your mum and tell her you love her a lot.” The entire team including you and your colleague Agent Magnolia instantly went into action, all silently hoping it was a test. “Friday? What the hell is going on?” Tony yelled out. “Sir, if there was a code double black, I would call it. Get in the bunker!” She urged him through the overwhelming amount of sounds the building was suddenly able to create. The blood drained out of multiple faces, not yours, you were trained for any kind of emergency situation. Not only an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D but also a SAID Agent. Trained for any thinkable Code Black. Agent Andromeda. The door to the bunker was open and after Friday confirmed that everyone had gone through the door Steve closed down the door manually in a blink of an eye. You all looked around, panting from running down the stairs and searching for the bunker entry that opened up. The place was small but big enough to live in for a while if that needed to be done. The room you’d entered was full of tech equipment and two walls full of canned foods and tap with a big filter construction connected to it. Stark never struck you as a survival kinda guy, at least not in this specific sense, but you weren’t complaining about clean water. There was an open door leading to a room full of bunk beds.

“So what the fuck happened, Friday?” Tony asked irritated by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. “There has been a series of explosions over heavily populated areas a few hours back, only detected by little equipment monitoring the air. Bioweapons. Hydra says they are responsible and that there is a highly contagious and deadly virus that was spread with these explosions.” Friday said it short and straight forward. “Then why aren’t we doing something against it?” Steve looked up at the speaker system with a frown on his face, ready to go back out again. “Mr. Rogers, until we know if that virus is deadly nobody will leave this bunker. I’m programmed to keep as much of this team alive in situations like this. Singapore DORSCON level red. World Health Organisation phase 6, approaching 7. That means it is a pandemic. If I let you out you could die in less than a week if this is as deadly as Hydra says.” The AI urged him. “Please update us.” Tony exhaled stressed leaning on the chair behind him, before sitting down. “Will do, sir,” Friday assured him.

Everyone started adventuring the Bunker. The last big exercise was a while ago and the team had grown since then. Clint found the room with 4 power generators first. “I hope we don’t need this. We are still powered by your reactor model, right?” Clint peaked out at Tony and got a nod back. The billionaire was properly done with what was happening. The only thing keeping him from exploding was Pepper going through his hair. Sam was the one finding all the gaming equipment and making an excited little dance in the middle of a possible apocalypse. “You’re the worst, Wilson.” Natasha rolled her eyes. “Come on, if we live in a time of bioweapons I want to at least have some distraction. Can’t fight a virus with military training.” He grinned. Agent Magnolia was the one finding the arsenal of weapons hidden in a giant box below the bunk that was behind the door. She showed you the knife ensemble that was included and grinned at you. “Visible forces definitely won’t kill us down here.” You grinned back.

“How many are we?” Clint called out to the others. Pepper looked up concerned, “Twelve, why?” “There are only 10 beds.” came back and some of the team members interchanged worried glances for a second. “We have married couple and work couples here. I think that won’t be the problem.” you smiled and looked around you at Pepper, Tony, Steve, and Nat. “So Pepper & Tony share a bed. Who else?” Sam asked, suddenly very tense again. “Nat?” Steve looked down at his favorite team member. “Yeah, I don’t mind. You’re warm.” she smiled back up at him. “That will be the least of the problems with 12 people in an enclosed space.” Dr. Helen Cho finally came to word after she had calmed down from her personal existential crisis about viruses. Wanda pointed at the walls and the sink, “For how long would the food and water here last?��� “Depends if we only eat twice a day. Could hold up for 90 days. Water won’t be a problem with my filter system.” Tony explained. There was another concerned glare between everyone, hoping that 90 days would be enough for the virus to decently die down if it was as bad as expected. “There is confirmation of the virus to be deadly by 70-85% from a Silicon Valley lab.” Friday’s voice broke through after a little more than an hour. “Analyze how deadly, how long people need to die, which symptoms, how long the recovery period is for people living,” Bruce called out, sitting on one of the computers that he didn’t leave since they had entered the bunker. “And the international political climate,” Tony added. “And when it’s safe enough for me to start working on a vaccine with the help of people outside.” Helen also added her factors. “Will do.” The AI voice answered and the room went silent for a second.

“Which cities are targeted?” Agent Magnolia finally asked the important question “NYC, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, LA, Chicago, Denver.” Friday listed. “Atlanta has the most used airport in the world. Great. A perfect recipe for a pandemic. How long did it operate after explosion.” You shared, rubbing your temples and having your brain start to overwhelm just like the scientists’. “4 hours, Agent.” Came back. “We’re in here for a good few weeks.” You deadpanned, putting all the factors together in your head. This wasn’t going to be a quick in and out thing. You’d be in this small space for at least 1-2 months if not longer. Everyone went back to the bunk they had chosen and tried to relax. You were trying to write down possible outcomes and strategies based on that in a notebook you found. There were so many factors to viruses and how people are infected and from which strain the virus is made. You bet on smallpox, a hard thing to get with only two original samples existing in the entire world. One in the US, one in Russia. You bet on Russia since Hydra said they were responsible. They were trying to bring chaos to the world for the bad people to team up in a post-apocalyptic world so that they could take over control. You had learned how this worked over and over again. Not only as an Agent but also from books, movies and games. It was so obvious but that made it easier for you to go about possibilities to create a strategy.

“The entire US and most of the western world is currently on lockdown & people are being quarantined.” Friday updated the bunker again and an exhale went through the bedroom. “Martial law already in place?” Steve looked up from a book he had found. “Not yet, but we’re close.” “Chill, Rogers. You can’t do much more than you’re already doing.” Sam said hanging from the bed in front of him. “I know, it’s just. I hate this, all of it. I didn’t fight in World War II for this to happen at the hands of Hydra.” he frowned and got an understanding nod back. “Can’t we go out there without getting sick?” Bucky spoke up still wearing his pajama jumper from sleeping in that morning. “Well, depending on how deadly this is, no. If the whole thing is a little more clear I might send you out to get samples for me to work on it.” Helen yelled from the other room. “Would love to help with that.” he smiled. He’d do anything to help humanity. The had already ruined his life and he ruined other lives under their influence. That’s the least he could do. “It’s getting late, get yourself ready for bed.” Pepper came in with a motherly smile. “We need a monitor that’s just showing day and night scenes, this is gonna mess us up,” Magnolia muttered before opening one of the closets. The standard-issue clothing in the closets were mainly Large and a few double XL. There was a washer but the drying system needed to have the ventilator system work better again and that wouldn’t be happening until the virus was going slower. Two to three weeks in the same 4 clothing sets seemed okay. Anything longer would be horrible for everyone involved.

“Atlanta spreads to Beijing, Dubai, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Dallas, Seoul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Singapore,” you mumbled laying in your bed, looking at the metal above you. “Hey, relax. We can’t do more than help the people working on it to do the right things.” Bucky looked over from the bed across. “I know. I know. That’s just, so many people dying.” You looked over. An understanding nod came back at you. In your head, you went with a 75% death rate and that was bad if you thought about the areas you just mentioned. Big Chinese cities, Central Europe, South East Asia.

Zerfall Masterlist

[go-redgirl]

Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Conference whitehouse.gov ^ | 3/14/20 | White House

Rose Garden

3:30 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.

A beautiful day in the Rose Garden. Appreciate everybody being here. Today, I’d like to provide an update to the American people on several decisive new actions we’re taking in our very vigilant effort to combat and ultimately defeat the coronavirus.

We’ve been working very hard on this. We’ve made tremendous progress. When you compare what we’ve done to other areas of the world, it’s pretty incredible. A lot of that had to do with the early designation and the closing of the borders.

And, as you know, Europe was just designated as the hotspot right now, and we closed that border a while ago. So that was lucky or through talent or through luck. Call it whatever you want. But through a very collective action and shared sacrifice and national determination, we will overcome the threat of the virus.

I also announced Wednesday night, following the advice of our medical professionals who are doing a tremendous job — and we appreciate it very much — that we’re suspending the entry of foreign nationals who have been to Europe in the last 14 days from entering the United States. Citizens, permanent residents, and our families — and even the families returning from Europe, will be subject to extra screening as well self-isolation for a period of 14 days.

As the World Health Organization confirmed today, many of the things that — what we said were 100 percent correct, including our designation, before them, of Europe. Like our earlier, very aggressive actions with China, this measure will save countless lives. I appreciate a number of the folks behind me. A number of the people behind me said that that saved a lot of lives, that early designation.

But it is only the beginning of what we’re really doing, and now we’re in a different phase. We had some very old and obsolete rules that we had to live with. It worked under certain circumstances but not under mass circumstances. They were there for a long time; they were in place for a long time. And we’re breaking them down now. And they’re very usable for certain instances, but not for this.

To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort, today I am officially declaring a national emergency. Two very big words. The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very importantly — very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.

In furtherance of the order, I’m urging every state to set up emergency operation centers effective immediately. You’re going to be hearing from some of the largest companies and greatest retailers and medical companies in the world. They’re standing right behind me and to the side of me.

I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan so that they can meet the needs of Americans everywhere. The hospitals are very engaged. New York and various other places are also various engaged. I just spoke with Governor Cuomo; we had a very good conversation. And we’re working very strongly with many states, including New York.

The emergency orders I am issuing today will also confer broad new authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary of HHS will be able to immediately waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give doctors, hospital — all hospitals — and healthcare providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients.

This includes the following critical authorities:

The ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredible thing that’s happened in the — in the not-so-distant past. I tell you, what they’ve done with telehealth is incredible. It gives remote doctors’ visits and hospital check-ins. The power to waive certain federal license requirements so that doctors from other states can provide services and states with the greatest need. Number two. The ability to waive requirements that critical-access hospitals limit the number of beds to 25 and the length of stay to 96 hours. The ability to waive the requirements of a three-day hospital stay prior to admission to a nursing home. Big thing. The authority to waive rules that hinder hospitals’ ability to bring additional physicians on board or obtain needed office space. They can do as they want. They can do what they have to do. They know what they have to do. Now they don’t have any problem getting it done. The authority to waive rules that severely restrict where hospitals can care for patients within the hospital itself, ensuring that the emergency capacity can be quickly established.

We’ll remove or eliminate every obstacle necessary to deliver our people the care that they need and that they’re entitled to. No resource will be spared. Nothing whatsoever.

Ten days ago, I brought together the CEOs of commercial labs at the White House and directed them to immediately begin working on a solution to dramatically increase the availability of tests. Other countries have called us and worked with us, and they’re doing similar things or will be doing similar things.

As a result of that action, today we’re announcing a new partnership with private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus. We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly, and conveniently. But we don’t want people to take a test if — if we feel that they shouldn’t be doing it. And we don’t want everyone running out and taking. Only if you have certain symptoms.

Using federal emergency authorities, the FDA approved a new test for the virus. We did this within hours after receiving the application from Roche — a process that would normally take weeks. We therefore expect up to a half a million additional tests will be available early next week. We’ll be announcing locations probably on Sunday night.

I want to thank Roche, a great company, for their incredible work. I’d also like to thank Thermo Fisher. The FDA’s goal is to hopefully authorize their application within 24 hours — it’ll go very quickly; it’s going very quickly — which will bring, additionally, 1.4 million tests on board next week and 5 million within a month. I doubt we’ll need anywhere near that.

At the same time, we’ve been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-thru tests available in the critical locations identified by public health professionals. The goal is for individuals to be able to drive up and be swabbed without having to leave your car.

I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website. It’s going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location.

We have many, many locations behind us, by the way. We cover the — this country in large part. So the world, by the way — we’re not going to be talking about the world right now. But we cover very, very strongly our country. Stores in virtually every location.

Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They’ve made tremendous progress. Our overriding goal is to stop the spread of the virus and to help all Americans who have been impacted by this.

Again, we don’t want everybody taking this test; it’s totally unnecessary. And this will pass. This will pass through, and we’re going to be even stronger for it. We’ve learned a lot. A tremendous amount has been learned.

I want to thank Deborah Birx, and I want to ask her maybe to come up and say a few words as to what’s happening. Dr. Birx is a highly respected person. I’ve gotten to know her very well over the last six days. And what we’ve done is rebuild something that was very old, very old-fashioned, somewhat obsolete. Certainly obsolete when it comes to the kind of numbers that we’re talking about.

Dr. Birx, please. Thank you, Deborah.

DR. BIRX: Thank you, Mr. President. It’s a pleasure to be here with all of you.

I think you know — at the beginning of this epidemic, HHS, through CDC, proactively developed an assay built on the existing flu surveillance system. That surveillance system was then converted to diagnostic system.

But last Tuesday, seeing the spread of the virus around the globe, the President realized that our current approach to testing was inadequate to need — to meet the needs of the American public. He asked for an entire overhaul of the testing approach. He immediately called the private sector laboratories to the White House, as noted, and charged them with developing a high-throughput quality platform that can meet the needs of the American public.

We are grateful to LabCorp and Quest for taking up the charge immediately after the meeting and within 72 hours bringing additional testing access, particularly to the outbreak areas of Washington State and California, and now across the country.

We are also very grateful to the universities and large hospital systems that took up the charge to develop their own quality tests made available by new FDA guidance. This has resulted in expanded testing across New York, California, Washington, Colorado, and you see sometimes those drive-thru options that have been made available through these high-throughput options.

Following the meeting last week, major commercial laboratory equipment and diagnostic companies took immediate action to adopt and develop new testing systems. Last night, the initial company, Roche, received FDA approval, moving from request to development to approval in record time.

This innovative approach centered fully on unleashing the power of the private sector, focusing on providing convenient testing to hundreds of thousands of Americans within short turnaround times. In less than two weeks together, we have developed a solution that we believe will meet the future needs — testing needs of Americans.

I understand how difficult this has been. I was part of the HIV/AIDS response in the ‘80s. We knew, from diag- — from first finding cases in 1981, it took us to almost 1985 to have a test. It took us another 11 years to have effective therapy. It is because of the lessons learned from that that we were able to mobilize and bring those individuals that were key to the HIV response to this response.

I understand that a lot of this behind-the-scenes action over the last couple of weeks was invisible to the press and the American people. But this intense effort has not only resulted in innovative solutions, but an automated high-throughput system, bringing the availability of these quality coronaviral testing to the American people at unprecedented speed.

Finally, I want you to know: In South Korea, they did have large number of tests available over the last several weeks. Their positivity rate is between 3 and 4 percent. With LabCorp and Quest expanded testing, their positivity rate is between 1 and 2 percent.

So we want to also announce this new approach to testing, which will start in the screening website up here, facilitated by Google, where clients and patients and people that have interest can go, fill out a screening questionnaire — move down for symptoms or risk factors, yes. They would move down this and be told where the drive-thru options would be for them to receive this test. The labs will then move to the high-throughput automated machines to be able to provide results in 24 to 36 hours.

That is the intent of this approach. We have seen it work just in our own United States, and we want to bring this across the continent.

Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Deborah. Great.

I’d like to maybe have Tony — do you want to come up? You’ve become a — I think everybody out here knows you pretty well. But Tony has been doing a tremendous job working long, long hours. And you’ve seen a lot happen, but this has been — it’s been a great experience, and working with you has been terrific.

Tony, please.

DR. FAUCI: Thank you very much, Mr. President. This is an example of — another example of what I’ve been referring to in my discussions with many of you in the audience as a proactive, leaning-forward, aggressive, trying to stay ahead of the curve.

And what you’re seeing now with this order is that we’re going to be able to remove the constraints so that people at the state and the local level — the individual physician all the way up through the federal government — will have as many constraints as possible removed for them to do everything they possibly can so that we can implement the things that we’ve been talking about — the containment, the mitigation — so that, as I’ve said many times, that curve that I referred to that goes up, we don’t want to have that curve. We want to suppress it down to that small mound.

And I think what we’ve done today is something that is going to be a very important element in having us be successful in doing that.

We still have a long way to go. There will be many more cases, but we’ll take care of that. And ultimately, as the President said, this will end. But what’s going on here today is going to help it to end sooner than it would have.

Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Tony.

If I could, some of these folks we know; they’re celebrities in their own right. They’re the biggest business people, the greatest retailers anywhere in the world. And one of them is Doug McMillon from Walmart. And I’d like to have Doug, if you would, say a few words, wherever you may be.

Doug, please.

MR. MCMILLON: When we got the call yesterday from the White House, we were eager to do our part to help serve the country. And given what we’re facing, that’s certainly important to do. We should all be doing that.

So we’ve been asked to make portions of our parking lot available in select locations in the beginning, and scaling over time as supply increases, so that people can experience the drive-thru experience that the President described.

We’ll stay involved and do everything we can from a supply-chain point of view to be of assistance.

Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Doug. Appreciate it very much.

I’ll just stay right over here. And, Richard, if you could come up, please. Richard, please. Walgreens. Thank you.

MR. ASHWORTH: Thank you, Mr. President. And similar to Doug and Walmart, we’re happy to stand in here and help in communities all across America. Because a lot of times, when we have natural disasters, our stores are a beacon in the community, and this situation is no different.

So we look forward to partnering with the CDC, the administration, HHS, and the task force, and specifically to the Vice President, who’s doing such a fantastic job. We’re ready to engage and help.

Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you very much.

Brian Cornell, Target. Thank you, Brian. Thank you. Please.

MR. CORNELL: Well, Mr. President, thank you for inviting us here today, along with our colleagues from Walmart and Walgreens and our partners at CVS. Normally, you’d view us as competitors, but today we’re focused on a common competitor, and that’s defeating the spread of the coronavirus. And we look forward to working with the administration to do our fair share to alleviate this growing threat.

So, thank you for including us today. In the near term, we’re all committed to making sure we’re keeping our stores open to serve the American consumer who is rapidly stocking up on household essentials, key food and beverage items that they need during this time; making sure we run safe stores; and creating an environment that’s safe for our team members, making sure that they feel supported during this very critical time.

So thank you for including us.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great job.

Is Tom here? Tom Polen. Tom? Tom Polen. Please.

MR. POLEN: Thank you, Mr. President. As CEO of Becton Dickinson, we’re one of the leading providers of medical devices as well as collection products for testing of coronavirus. We’re ramping up our manufacturing capacity to ensure that the right collection devices and testing equipment are ready to address this issue. Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Tom. Great job you’ve done.

Stephen Rusckowski, Quest Diagnostics. Please. Great job. Thank you very much.

MR. RUSCKOWKI: Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President.

So, as mentioned, we were called, with the leadership of the Vice President, last week to come together as an industry. And we took advantage of that opportunity to work with the FDA, to work with the Center for Disease Control. And we are up and running with tests in a number of our facilities.

As the President mentioned, we now have capabilities from Roche diagnostics that we will bring into our facilities this weekend. And I know myself and also my colleague at LabCorp will be doing the same, so the capacity available to the American public to support this action with consumers will be considerably increased in the next few weeks.

Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And Matt Sause, please, of Roche. Matt? Thank you, Matt.

MR. SAUSE: Thank you, Mr. President. So, from Roche, we want to thank the FDA for their rapid approval of our coronavirus test. We really appreciate the partnership with the CDC and the FDA to get that to market as fast as possible because it’s critical for us to make that available to help patients in need, and working with laboratories to get it up and going in the near future, which will bring hundreds of thousands of tests available to patients in need in the United States. So, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: And you can do it. You can do it. A great company.

David Pierre of Signify — Signify Health. Please. Thanks, David.

MR. PIERRE: Thank you, Mr. President. We are the largest housecall provider in the U.S., and we go to the homes of the most vulnerable elderly. And through our network and our logistics engine, we stand ready to help and provide our clinicians to be where they’re needed, whether they’re in retail clinics or in the home. And we’re here to assist.

Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. And we’ll be changing a lot of the rules, regulations for future, should this happen in the future, which we hope it never does. But it will, I guess — somewhere out there. There are some bad ones over the years, and I guess that’ll continue to an extent, but we hope it never happens. But we’re going to be changing a lot of the old rules and specifications and regulations.

Adam Schechter, who has really been of tremendous help. LabCorp. Please. Adam?

MR. SCHECHTER: Thank you, Mr. President. At LabCorp, we’re working every second of every day to increase the number of tests that we can run. We’re working with academic medical centers, with our colleagues at Quest, with other hospital and other laboratories to ensure that we do everything we can to increase the testing as we move forward.

And I can tell you we understand how important the testing is, and we are committed to doing everything possible.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you.

Thomas Moriarty, CVS. We all know CVS. Thank you.

MR. MORIARTY: Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Thomas.

MR. MORIARTY: Thank you, Mr. President. We have been focused, since the start, of making sure our patients and the customers we serve have the information they need and the safety they need as well. We are committed to working with the administration and local public health officials to make this work as well. And thank you, sir, for the honor.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Thomas. Thanks. Great job.

And Bruce Greenstein, LHC Group. Tremendously talented people. Thank you very much.

MR. GREENSTEIN: Mr. President, thank you for the honor of being here. And the home health industry has been treating patients and seniors in the safety and comfort of their own home for decades. We’re very proud to be part of the equation for testing in their own home. For Americans that can’t get to a test site or live in rural areas far away from a retail establishment, we’re here to help and to partner with our hospitals and physicians, as well as the people we have here today that will be doing testing around the country. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Fantastic.

(Mr. Greenstein gives the President an elbow bump.)

MR. GREENSTEIN: Oh, we’ll practice that.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, I like that. That’s good.

We’re also announcing the following emergency executive actions today:

To help our students and their families, I’ve waived interest on all student loans held by federal government agencies, and that will be until further notice. That’s a big thing for a lot of students that are left in the middle right now. Many of those schools have been closed.

Based on the price of oil, I’ve also instructed the Secretary of Energy to purchase, at a very good price, large quantities of crude oil for storage in the U.S. Strategic Reserve. We’re going to fill it right up to the top, saving the American taxpayer billions and billions of dollars, helping our oil industry and making us even further toward that wonderful goal — which we’ve achieved, which nobody thought was possible — of energy independence. It puts us in a position that’s very strong, and we’re buying it at the right price. And that’s something that would have not even been possible a week ago. The price of oil went down quite a bit, so we’re going to fill it up. This is a good time to fill it up.

I’d like to ask Mike Pence to say a few words, please. VP.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. It is — this day should be an inspiration to every American, because thanks to your leadership from early on, not only are we bringing a whole-of-government approach to confronting the coronavirus, we’re bringing an all-of-America approach.

Mr. President, from early on, you took decisive action. You suspended all travel from China. You created travel advisories — South Korea and Italy. We screened all travelers from all airports in both of those countries. And on the unanimous recommendation of your health experts, you, at midnight tonight, will effectively suspend all travel from Europe. And Americans that are returning will be screened and asked to voluntarily participate in a 14-day quarantine.

Throughout this process, Mr. President, you’ve put the health of America first, but you brought the best of America to address it. And it’s not just at the federal level. As you said, Mr. President, we’ve been working with states across the country. We issued broad guidelines from CDC for every American. But this week, at your direction, we tailored specific recommendations from CDC for New York, Washington State, California, Massachusetts, and Florida.

And we’ve been in continuous contact, as you said, with governors around the country. And, Mr. President, you have forged a seamless partnership with every state and every territory in this country to put the health of our nation first.

But today, I trust that people around the country that are looking on at this extraordinary public and private partnership to address the issue of testing with particular inspiration. After you tapped me to lead the White House Corona Task Force, Mr. President, you said this is all hands on deck, and you directed us to immediately reach out to the American business sector commercial labs to meet what we knew then would be the need for testing across the spectrum. And today, with this historic public-private partnership, we have laid the foundation to meet that need.

And for Americans looking on, by this Sunday evening, we’ll be able to give specific guidance on a — on when the website will be available. You can go to the website, as the President said. You’ll type in your symptoms and be given direction whether or not a test is indicated.

And then, at the same website, you’ll be directed to one of these incredible companies that are going to give a little bit of their parking lot so that people can come by and do a drive-by test.

Mr. President, I want to join you in thanking Walmart and CVS and Target and Walgreen. These are companies that are synonymous with communities large and small, where people come together. And now they’re going to come together to meet the needs of the American public.

These commercial laboratories — LabCorp and Quest and Roche — have just done an incredible job stepping forward and are going to literally make — literally make hundreds and thousands of tests available and being processed with results to patients in the very near future. But it’s all a result of you tasking us with bringing together not just government resources — which all state labs can now test across the country; CDC is testing — but you said, Mr. President, that we wanted to bring all the resources of the country together, and that’s what this partnership really means.

You know, the truth is that we have coronavirus cases now in 46 American states. And while the risk of serious illness of the coronavirus remains low, we want to encourage every American to practice common sense, practice good hygiene, go to the CDC’s website to see what the guidance is for your community or for the American people broadly.

And as the President has said, it’s especially important now that we look at senior citizens with chronic underlying health conditions. Last week, the President directed the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services to raise the standards at our nursing homes, increase inspections at our nursing homes. And today, we’re offering very specific guidance, which Seema Verma will articulate, about visitations at nursing homes.

It’s important to remember that they were there for us when we were growing up, Mr. President. They helped us with our homework. They tucked us in at night. They cheered us on as we pursued educations, cheered us on in our careers. And now it’s time for us to be there with them and to recognize that seniors with chronic health conditions are the most vulnerable, and Americans can make a difference. So wash your hands, use common sense, look after the most vulnerable.

And, Mr. President, I know I join you in saying that every American should be proud of this incredible public-private partnership that’s going to speeding access of testing to millions of Americans in the weeks ahead.

And together, as you’ve said many times, together we’ll get through this. Together, we’ll put the health of America first.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much.

Seema. Where is Seema? I’d like you to maybe take that a step further, please, on nursing homes. Thanks.

ADMINISTRATOR VERMA: Thank you. Well, thank you to the President for the declaration. It allows my agency, CMS — that runs Medicare and Medicaid and has oversight of all of the nation’s healthcare facilities — to suspend regulations that can get in the way of treating patients during this time.

These temporary national blanket waivers are reserved for the rarest of circumstances, and they represent a massive mobilization of our country’s resources to combat this terrible virus. And the flexibilities we are offering will be a God-send to the providers, clinicians, and facilities on the frontlines of this fight.

And later, CMS is going to be issuing guidance directing nursing homes to temporarily restrict all visitors and non-essential personnel, with a few exceptions such as end-of-life situations.

We fully appreciate that this measure represents a severe trial for residents of nursing homes and those who love them. But we are doing what we must to protect our vulnerable elderly. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Seema.

As I said in my address to the nation the other night, all Americans have a role to play in defeating this virus. Our most effective weapon right now is to limit the damage to our people and our country, and slow the spread of the virus itself.

The choice we make, the precautions we put into place are critical to overcoming the virus, reducing its spread and shortening the duration of the pandemic — which is what it is.

The CDC has published guidelines on the Coronavirus.gov to enable — it’s Coronavirus.gov, and it’s very — very heavily used right now, I will say — to enable every American to respond to this epidemic and to protect themselves, their families, and their communities, while the risks to young and healthy Americans remains very low. We’ve learned a lot about this over the last two weeks. Anyone can be a carrier for the virus and risk transmission to older Americans and those with underlying health conditions and those who are most at risk. They have not done very well. Older Americans who are — especially, if they have a health problem, they have not done well.

We must take all precautions and be responsible for the actions that we take and that we see other people take. We want to prevent the spread and transmission of the disease.

It’s incredible what’s — sports — what’s happening with the sporting world, where so many of the great sports that we’ve gotten so used to at this time of the year, they’re not going to be meeting. And they’ve done a great service actually. But that — would be another way that it could be — problems could be caused.

But this is why I outlined on Wednesday night my admiss- — administration’s — the fact that we’ve issued a requirement suspending all medically unnecessary visits to various places, but in particular, nursing homes. We should all be working off the same playbook when it comes to protecting Americans. We have to.

We need to be consistent in adopting measures to limit the spread of the virus. The virus is the same, whether it’s spreading in cities, towns, or rural communities. The tools and tactics for attacking it are similar no matter where you go. No matter where you go. You have some hotspots throughout the world right now that people would have never thought possible, and they’re being very seriously affected.

Key among these efforts are breaking chains of transmission between people. These measures have been adopted by many companies, universities, and schools. And we want to protect the safety and the health of their employees and their students. I encourage everyone to follow the guidelines we’ve issued by CDC and these commonsense measures. A lot of it is common sense.

For the areas where the virus is spreading, the CDC is advising communities to postpone large gatherings, postpone assemblies, social functions, and sporting events; stagger recess and lunch for schools that aren’t canceled; limit in-person meetings; increase scheduled cleanings; and cancel work-sponsored travel — among numerous other steps that can be taken.

Americans are the strongest and most resilient people on Earth, and in the coming weeks, we will all have to make changes and sacrifices, but these short-term sacrifices will produce long-term gain.

And again, I’ve said we’re learning a lot for the future and future problems like this, or worse. Or worse. It could get worse. The next eight weeks are critical. We can learn — and we will turn a corner on this virus.

Some of the doctors say it will wash through, it will flow through. Interesting terms and very accurate. I think you’re going to find in a number of weeks it’s going to be a very accurate term.

In times of hardship, the true character of America always shines through. We live in the company of the greatest heroes and the most inspiring citizens anywhere in the world. We want to take care of our people. We want to draw on the strength of our history, draw on the strength of our people, and we will get through this all together. We will just get through it. So much progress has already been made.

And, frankly, the numbers — because of steps that have been taken — are at a level that a lot of people are surprised, especially when you compare them with other places with far smaller populations.

The spirit and the will of our nation is unbreakable. We will defeat this threat. When America is tested, America rises to the occasion.

And to those families and citizens who are worried and concerned for themselves and their loved ones, I want you to know that your federal government will unleash every authority, resource, and tool at its disposal to safeguard the lives and health of our people.

So we’re with you every step of the way. No nation is more prepared or more equipped to face down this crisis. As you know, we are rated number one in the world.

We’re also helping other nations — many other nations; we’re helping them a lot. And they’re doing okay, in some cases. In some cases, they’re not doing well at all. But we’re working with a lot of groups of people and a lot of other nations.

With faith and heart and hope and love and determination, we will succeed. We will prevail. We will be very, very successful. And we’ll learn for the future.

Thank you all very much. If you have any questions, we can take some.

Go ahead, John. Please. And if you’d like to ask some of the folks up here, it would be fine. Please.

Q Sure. Mr. President, where are you with the House bill? Yesterday, we talked to you in the Oval Office; you were opposed to it. What has happened since then? And what’s the holdup on that?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we just don’t think they’re giving enough. We don’t think the Democrats are giving enough. We’re negotiating. We thought we had something, but all of a sudden they didn’t agree to certain things that they agreed to. So we could have something, but we don’t think they’re giving enough. They’re not — they’re not doing what’s right for the country.

Q And if I could ask Dr. Fauci —

Q (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You just mentioned waiving interest for student loans.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q You talked about buying oil from the — from the SPR, or adding to the SPR. What other specific targeted measures is your administration thinking about taking? The Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, said today that you’re just in the “second inning” of things that you might be undergoing.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, well, that’s true. And we are looking at many different things, as you know. You know some of them — they’ve been written about very widely. But we’re going to be releasing a paper in about two hours stating quite a few other steps. Very important ones.

Q Mr. President —

Please, go ahead.

Q Like what, sir, if you wouldn’t mind?

THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.

Q Thank you so much, Mr. President. I want to — I want to know if you are in contact with the Brazilian President, Bolsonaro, after a member of his delegation who was with you Saturday was tested positive.

And also Senat- — I want to ask another question, if you’ll let me. Senator Lindsey Graham and also Senator Scott — Rick Scott — are self-isolating. Are you planning to take any kind of precautionary measure to protect you and also your staff who was there with him?

THE PRESIDENT: No, we have no symptoms whatsoever. And we have — we had a great meeting with the President of Brazil, Bolsonaro. Great guy. Very — a very tremendous — he’s done — he’s doing a fantastic job for Brazil.

And, as you know, he tested negative — meaning, nothing wrong — this morning. And we got that word, too. Because we did have dinner with him; we were sitting next to each other for a long period of time.

Q But are you in contact with him over the coronavirus crisis?

THE PRESIDENT: No, we — we have. We’re talking about it, country to country, but we did discuss if he had a problem. It was reported that he may have it, and he doesn’t, fortunately.

Q Thank you so much, Mr. President. Dr. Fauci said earlier this week that the lag in testing was, in fact, “a failing.” Do you take responsibility for that?

And when can you guarantee that every single American who needs a test will be able to have a test? What’s the date of that?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, no, I don’t take responsibility at all, because we were given a — a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time. It wasn’t meant for this kind of an event with the kind of numbers that we’re talking about. And what we’ve done is redesigned it very quickly with the help of the people behind me. And we’re now in very, very strong shape.

I think we’ll be announcing, as I said, Sunday night, and this will start very quickly. And we — we’ll have — we’ll have the ability to do in the millions over a very, very quick period of time. So, no.

And what we have done — and we are going to be leaving a very indelible print for the future, in case something like this happens again. But it was a — and that’s not the fault of anybody. And, frankly, the old system worked very well for smaller numbers — much smaller numbers — but not for these kind of numbers.

Tony, maybe you’d like to say something?

Q By Sunday night, will you have —

THE PRESIDENT: Tony, please.

Q Yes, please. By Sunday night, will every American be able to get a test?

DR. FAUCI: So, just to reiterate what I said to many of you multiple times: It’s (inaudible) of a system. This system was not designed — for what it was designed for, it worked very well. The CDC designed a good system.

If you want to get the kind of blanket testing and availability that anybody can get it or you could even do surveillance to find out what the penetrance is, you have to embrace the private sector. And this is exactly what you’re seeing, because you can’t do it without it.

So when I said that, I meant the system was not designed for what we need. Now, looking forward, the system will take care of it.

Q And, Mr. President, with respect, you’ve been —

THE PRESIDENT: And, interestingly, if you go back — please — if you go back to the swine flu, it was nothing like this. They didn’t do testing like this. And actually, they lost approximately 14,000 people. And they didn’t do the testing. They started thinking about testing when it was far too late.

What we’ve done — and one of the reasons I think people are respecting what we’ve done: We’ve done it very early. We’ve gotten it very early. And we’ve also kept a lot of people out.

Q Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, please. Go ahead. Please.

Q Mr. President, the last administration said that they had tested a million people at this point. You’ve been —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, ask them how they —

Q — President for three years.

THE PRESIDENT: — did with the swine flu. It was a disaster.

Q But with respect, you’ve been President for three years —

THE PRESIDENT: Next, please. Next, please.

Q — and Wuhan was suffering —

THE PRESIDENT: They had a very big failure with swine flu. A very big failure.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I want to ask you about the European travel ban that goes into effect at —

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q — midnight tonight and the exemption that you’ve offered to the UK. There are 17 countries that are in the so-called “Schengen zone” that have fewer coronavirus cases than the UK. And just in the past 24 hours, the UK has added 208 coronavirus cases to their total. Why do they, Mr. President, deserve an exemption? And would you consider adding them to this travel ban list?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that was recommended to me by a group of professionals, and we are looking at it based on the new numbers that are coming out. And we may have to include them in the list of countries that we will, you could say, ban — or whatever — it is during this period of time.

But, yeah, their numbers have gone up fairly precipitously over the last 24 hours, so we may be adding that, and we may be adding a couple of others. And we may, frankly, start thinking about taking some off.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I’m a correspondent with Hong Kong Phoenix TV. You have been mentioned — you have mentioned that the number in China has been decreasing and China has made tremendous progress in the past two weeks.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s true.

Q I’m wondering how much confidence does this give you to control the virus in the United States. And do you see the data China has been sharing with the United States has been helpful?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it has been helpful. We’ve been working very much with China. I’ve spoken, as you know, with President Xi. They went through hell, and their numbers are starting to look very good. They’re really — they’re really looking very good. We’re very happy about that. We are sharing data, yes. In fact, we’re sharing quite a bit of data, including the fact that some of our pharmaceutical companies are working over there right now with large groups of people.

Yeah, go ahead. Please.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau yesterday.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I did.

Q Did you discuss the potential closing of the border between Canada and the U.S.? And, by extension, are you considering ways to salvage the $2 billion daily trade between the two countries?

THE PRESIDENT: So we didn’t discuss the border. We’ve had a very good relationship. Just about finished with the USMCA, as you know. He called — actually, he called me to tell me that. I think that was the primary reason for the call.

At the time, his wife had not been diagnosed. And she’s a lovely lady — wonderful lady, great lady. And since then, I’ve heard — read that the result was that she has it. And I was a little surprised. I think he was surprised also. We did discuss it prior to. She’s going to be fine, but he thought that she would not, most likely, have the virus. Unfortunately, she does.

But we didn’t discuss the border yesterday, no.

Go ahead, please.

If you have any questions for these great geniuses up here, you should — even a business question related to what we’re talking about.

Q Mr. President, Ross Palombo from ABC News Miami. As a relatively new Floridian, what is your message today to the cruise line industry and the travel industry that Florida depends upon? And since Senator Rick Scott and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez have the same exposure as you and they are self-isolating, what’s your message to them? That they shouldn’t be?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know that I had exposure, but I don’t have any of the symptoms. And we do have a White House doctor and, I should say, many White House doctors, frankly. And I asked them that same question, and they said, “You don’t have any symptoms whatsoever.” And we don’t want people without symptoms to go and do the test. The test is not insignificant.

As far as the cruise line business, we’re with them all the way. It’s a great business. It’s a great U.S. business, frankly. And I know how important they are to the country. That includes airlines. But the cruise line business, obviously, was hit very hard.

We had a tremendous success out in Oakland where we moved it. Vice President Pence did a fantastic job with that. We worked with UK. We worked with Canada. They took their people back. And Canada has approximately 600 people; UK, likewise, took a large number of people back to the United Kingdom.

And we have people quarantined. It was a big operation, and it worked out really — you don’t hear about it anymore. It worked out really well.

Mike, you may even want to say something about that because that was really done properly.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And that program with the Grand Princess, the ship, is continuing to be administered in the highest standards, orderly way, as the President directed. And Americans that needed treatment have received them.

I spoke to the governor of Iowa today, and some of those who now have been cleared are able, in proper supervision, to be returning to Iowa, where they’re making arrangements for them to do that. Others in Texas, others in Georgia. Again, it’s another example of the extraordinary cooperation of Governor Abbott, Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia.

But to add to that, the President directed me last Saturday to travel down to Miami. We met with all the leaders of the cruise line industry. Several cruise lines have announced a 60-day pause in operations. Our Department of Homeland Security has praised them for doing that because of the unique health challenges particularly presented to seniors with underlying conditions.

We have a proposal from the cruise line industry, but they’re currently considering what other steps that they might take, perhaps even similar to what those other lines have taken. We’re anticipating some response on that in the next 24 hours.

But as the President said, the American people cherish our cruise line industry, the men and women who work on the ships, the men and women who work on the shore, all the economies that are so benefitted by a vibrant cruise line industry.

And what the President has directed us to do is, whether there — whether there is a pause in the moment, as some cruise lines are doing, and as we all continue to discuss, we want to work with the cruise line industry to ensure that when we come through this, that cruise lines and the medical services that are available, and for the passengers and all of the crew, that cruise lines are safer than ever before and can prosper for many years to come.

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.

Q This question is for Drs. Fauci and Birk [sic] — Birx. Dr. Fauci, based on what you currently know, what is the trajectory for when this outbreak will peak? How long will the American people have to remain on this emergency footing?

And for Dr. Birx, as the administration tries to get its arms around this test kit shortage issue, the next glaring need could be respirators and related hospital equipment. So what is the administration doing right now to ramp up production of respirators and that kind of equipment should this outbreak persist?

DR. FAUCI: So, when you have an outbreak like this, particularly if you’re trying to interfere with it, it’s really impossible to predict the time element of when it’s going to peak and when it’s naturally going to go down.

So if you look at the situation where countries really did not get to the point of trying to contain and mitigate very well, you see a peak over several weeks and then down again over other several weeks. What we’re trying to do with the efforts that we’re doing is to blunt that peak.

And I mentioned it many times, and I think it’s important and appropriate for me to mention it again because it answers your question: When you talk about preventing infections from without in — which is the kind of travel restrictions we’re talking about — then how do you handle what you already have in your country? You continue some sort of containment, but you also do mitigation and you try to proportion it to the areas where there are the most infections.

The success of that and how much you make this turn into this is going to give you the amount of time. If we’re successful, it’ll be less. If we’re not successful, it’s going to be more. But these kind of things generally run out in a few months. Hopefully, we’ll make it several weeks — eight, nine, whatever weeks. But I can’t give you a number because it depends on how successful we are.

DR. BIRX: Great, thank you. It’s a great question, and Dr. Fauci and I have worked together a very long time and continue. It’s a privilege to work with him every day.

So I think you can learn very — and I appreciate there were some graphics done by some of the reporting over the last several days. If you align the data from China with the data with South Korea, you can start to see almost a complete overlay of that data. And so that’s what we’re tracking very closely, as well as Italy. But you have an excellent question.

I just want to make one note: In South Korea, I want to repeat, only 4 percent of the tests were positive. That means 96 percent of the people had a different respiratory disease because we’re in the middle of flu season, cold season, and all of the other respiratory diseases that we get every day.

In LabCorp and Quest’s early data, they’re running about 1 to 2 percent positive. That means that we have a lot more other respiratory disease out there besides the coronavirus. And that’s why the screening is critical. But even with the screening, we’re going to low — run what we think are very low rates.

Needless to say, though, we’re taking it extraordinarily seriously to plan for what could come. Not what Dr. Fauci talked about — blunting the curve — that makes it much less high need at that peak of the curve that we’re all planning for.

So we’re in full inventory of all of our assets by the President unlocking and this emergency order, and the Secretary of HHS’s ability — it unlocks all of those stockpiles, those needs: what the VA has, what the DOD has, what the National Guard has, and what every hospital has.

And the hospital emergency preparedness plan allows them to defer elective issues to keep those hospital beds open for those who might need it. So we’re in full planning mode for each of those things.

THE PRESIDENT: And I might add that we’re in the process — and, in some cases, have already done it — ordered a large number of respirators, just in case. We hope we don’t need them, but we’ve ordered a large number.

Yeah. Go ahead, please.

Q Thank you very much, Mr. President. In your speech to the nation, you mentioned the situation in China and South Korea have improved, and you’re thinking about remove the restrictions, also the warning —

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q — in place right now. When can we expect that announcement? And how do you see the overall progress that Asian countries made?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, some are making progress; some are not, as you know. But some are making progress. And as they make progress, as they get down to the number that we all think is right — that they know is right, we know is right — we’ll be opening it up. And some are really moving along rapidly. We hope to be able to open things up as quickly as possible.

Go ahead, please. Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to ask Secretary Azar and Dr. Fauzi [sic] just how —

THE PRESIDENT: That was (inaudible). (Laughs.)

Q Dr. Fauci. Okay?

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Better.

Q All right.

THE PRESIDENT: Better. Not 100 percent, but 90 percent.

Q Right.

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.

Q This affects the elderly, primarily. And in that sense, it’s an unusual disease. Is any specific research being done as to why it affects our senior citizens more than others?

DR. FAUCI: So, I don’t mean to diminish your question, but we already know why it would affect senior citizens more, because when you talk about anything that requires a robust immune system — as you get older, your immune system is not as potent as it is when you were young. And that’s the reason why, when you talk about even influenza, which we have extraordinary experience with over decades and decades, the people who are very vulnerable are the elderly and those with underlying conditions.

The same thing holds true for a variety of other disease. Why cancer is more prevalent in some — in mostly in older individuals — because the immune system that screens for it is less robust. So it really is something that is kind of well-known over a lot of studies.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. OAN, please. OAN.

Q Mr. President, the Chinese officials are expressing some tones of discontent with how — where the source of this virus has come from, and they’re spinning some odd narratives. What are your response to the Chinese officials who are doing that? And have they signaled any kind of resistance to upcoming trade talks in response to how we’re handling this virus?

THE PRESIDENT: No, we have our deal with China. They’re going to be buying $250 billion worth of goods and $50 billion from our farmers. And that’s a great deal for our country; it’s about time somebody did that. And, frankly, phase two, we’ll start negotiating.

I did read one article, but I don’t think that article was representative — certainly not of my conversations with President Xi — and they know where it came from. We all know where it came from.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Yamiche Alcindor from PBS NewsHour.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q My first question is: You said that you don’t take responsibility, but you did disband the White House pandemic office, and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly. So what responsibility do you take to that? And the officials that worked in that office said that you — that the White House lost valuable time because that office was disbanded. What do you make of that?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just think it’s a nasty question because what we’ve done is — and Tony has said numerous times that we’ve saved thousands of lives because of the quick closing. And when you say “me,” I didn’t do it. We have a group of people I could —

Q It’s your administration.

THE PRESIDENT: I could ask perhaps — my administration — but I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don’t know anything about it. I mean, you say — you say we did that. I don’t know anything about it.

Q You don’t know about the —

THE PRESIDENT: We’re spending — I don’t know. It’s the —

Q — about the reorganization that happened at the National Security Council?

THE PRESIDENT: It’s the — it’s the administration. Perhaps they do that. You know, people let people go. You used to be with a different newspaper than you are now. You know, things like that happen.

Q But this was a — this was an org- —

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Please go ahead.

Q This was an organization at the National Security Council.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re doing a great job. Let me tell you, these professionals behind me and the — these great, incredible doctors and business people — the best in the world. And I can say that. Whether it’s retailers or labs, or anything you want to say, these are the best of the world. We’re doing a great job.

We have 40 people right now. Forty. Compare that with other countries that have many, many times that amount. And one of the reasons we have 40 and others have — and, again, that number is going up, just so you understand. And a number of cases, which are very small, relatively speaking — it’s going up. But we’ve done a great job because we acted quickly. We acted early. And there’s nothing we could have done that was better than closing our borders to highly infected areas.

Please, go ahead.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Vanessa Jaklitsch for NTN24 for Latin America countries —

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sure.

Q — and also for Spain, La Razón and Antena 3. I would like to ask you two very brief questions. One: For how long we’re going to have the emergency — I mean, the national emergency? And —

THE PRESIDENT: I hope not long, but it’s there now and it gives tremendous powers for things that we need. Tremendous power, actually. And the Stafford Act and various other things that we’re involved with and have studied and memorized in so many different ways and forms, it gives the kind of power that we need to get rid of this virus.

And we’re going to do it very quickly. And I hope we won’t need it very long, but whatever it takes.

Q So, for now, we still don’t know for how long? And I — something very important I wanted to ask you is like, how do you think — do you really think it’s essential coordinating with other countries, and learning from the lessons that — they already suffer the same situation — countries —

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q — of course, like China and South Korea, but now recently —

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q — Italy and Spain. And how —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Italy is having a —

Q — is that coordination done? Thank you so much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Italy is having a very — yeah — we’re in touch with Italy and, you know, it’s a — it’s a country that we love. We have tremendous — millions and millions of people, originally — origins from Italy. And we’re working with them. They’re in a very — they’re in, probably, relatively speaking, the toughest position of all.

We’re in touch with everybody. We’re in touch with — when I say “everybody,” we’re in touch with many of the countries that you know about, that you’re writing about. And they’re calling us asking for advice. They’re asking for the advice of the people behind me.

Italy has got a tough situation, but they’re — they’re really — they have really clamped down and I think they’re going to see some very good results. It’s tough. What they did — they really took their medicine, but they’re going to see some much better results.

Yeah, Jeff.

Q Thank you, sir. With regard to domestic travel: Should Americans feel safe or should Americans at all be traveling to states such as Washington State, New York, and other hotspots within this country?

And a follow-up on Brazil: You’re asking people who come back from America — from Europe — Americans who are coming back from Europe to self-quarantine for a couple weeks. You were in a picture with somebody who now has coronavirus from Brazil, at Mar-a-Lago. How is that different?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll tell you, first of all, I’m not coming back from someplace.

Q But you were exposed.

THE PRESIDENT: We — and there was somebody that they say has it. I have no idea who he is, but I take pictures and it lasts for, literally, seconds. I don’t know the gentleman that we’re talking about. I have no idea who he is. I haven’t seen the picture. I said, “There’s a picture of somebody,” but I take sometimes hundreds of pictures a day. And that night I was taking hundreds of pictures. So I just don’t know.

Now I did sit with the President for probably two hours, but he has tested negative. So that’s good.

Q It’s just a matter of —

THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.

Q And the domestic travel, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.

Q The travel? The first part of the question was domestic travel.

THE PRESIDENT: I would say, if you stay home, it’s not bad. It’s not bad. Now, there are certain parts of the country that are — essentially, have no — have zero problem. Washington has been very tough — in particular, a nursing home. And, but Washington — the State of Washington has been very tough. It’s been a big percentage of — when you talk about the 40 deaths, that’s been has been a big percentage of the deaths, as you know very well. And they all came from a very certain area, unfortunately.

Please, go ahead.

Q Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Okay.

Q Thank you very much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q Cordelia Lynch, Sky News. You talked this week about the UK doing a good job in tackling coronavirus. In light of the rising cases, are you changing your mind about that? You also just spoke about possible travel restrictions. Have you discussed when they might be put in place?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, in light of the results, as we discussed before — in light of the results, we’re going to be looking at it. And I know the task force is looking at it very strongly — the Vice President, everybody. It was looking good, but they’ve –the results have been building up pretty rapidly. So we’ll — we’ll be taking another look at that. Yes, absolutely.

Go ahead, please.

Q Mr. President, thank you. I want to first follow up on Jeff’s question, because the person you were standing next to, whether you know who he is or not, tested positive for coronavirus. Dr. Fauci said this morning, “If you stand next to somebody who tested positive, you should self-isolate and get a test.” You say your White House doctor is telling you something different. Who should Americans listen to?

And my second question is —

THE PRESIDENT: I think they have to listen to their doctors, and I think they shouldn’t be jumping to get the test unless it’s necessary. But I think they have to listen to their doctors. And I mean, I don’t know the — I haven’t seen the picture. Somebody said there’s a picture with somebody taking a picture with me, but I haven’t seen it. But I can tell you —

Q Well, doctors have said you might have it even if you don’t have symptoms.

THE PRESIDENT: Well —

Q Are you being selfish by not getting tested and potentially exposing —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be tested.

Q Are you going to be?

THE PRESIDENT: Most likely, yeah. Most likely.

Q When do you think that will happen?

THE PRESIDENT: Not for that reason, but because I think I will do it any way. Fairly soon.

Q Will you let us know the results?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re working on that. We’re working out a schedule.

Q My second question, Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: You go ahead, please.

Q That was a follow-up.

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.

Q (Inaudible.) (Off-mic.)

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q I know there’s been a lot of talk about testing. I just want to make sure we’re clear though, because we’ve been hearing from doctors who say, as of today, they still can’t get patients tested who need a test. So, as of today, can everyone who a doctor wants to have tested get tested? And if not, when? When will doctors —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that’s been true for a while. But I’ll let Mike — why don’t you answer that, Mike, please?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, as the President said and Dr. Fauci has articulated, the nature of our current system — where the CDC has sample sent and tests are performed or state labs perform tests or, in some cases, university and hospital labs perform tests — is generally adequate for an infectious disease or for people getting diagnostic work done. But given the sheer scale of this, the President tasked us with bringing together this extraordinary public and private partnership.

Today, by some estimates, when you add all the labs together — and, today, the President made it possible for every state in the country and their state labs to authorize labs across their state to do coronavirus testing.

We — we’re estimating somewhere between 15- and 20,000 tests a day are able to be performed. But very soon, with the program that was announced today, Americans will be able to visit one of the sites closest to them, as described on the website, if they’re symptomatic — if the questionnaire indicates it — to be able to have a test there. And these incredible companies will process the test and they’ll receive that information.

But, for now, the best advice that we can give for people is to speak to their doctor, as the President just said. And if the doctor indicates, that physician — if it’s not a university hospital or otherwise authorized lab — can contact the state lab. And, again, every state lab in the country can perform tests today.

But what the President charged us with, when I was tasked to take over the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was: Open up tests all across the country. And the President said, a few days ago, that we made it clear that any American that wanted to get a test would be able, clinically, to get a test. Because I literally heard from the Governor of Washington State, who said the doctors in Washington State were saying that if you were only mildly symptomatic, they would not order a test. And fortunately, the President directed CDC to clarify that.

Now anyone in consultation with their physician, regardless of their symptoms can request a test and their doctors will contact those agencies, those labs in their state. But very soon, Americans will be able to go to these — these drive-in sites and be able to obtain and participate in a test.

Dr. Birx, is there more to amplify that?

DR. BIRX: No, I think — I think that’s perfectly said. I think, just to review one more time about the testing: With LabCorp and Quest — I think many of you have been to a doctor’s office and seen the little boxes outside — what they do is they deliver both the specimen collection piece — because, remember, it’s a nasal swab; it’s not a tube of blood. So they’ve delivered that to doctors’ offices and hospitals, and then they will arrange to pick that up.

The important piece in this all is they’ve gone from a machine that may have a lower throughput, to the potential to have automated extraction. I know you don’t want all of these details, but it’s really key for the laboratory people. It’s an automated extraction of the RNA that then runs in an automated way on the machine, with no one touching it, and the result comes out at the other end.

So, sample to machine to results. That cuts out a lot of the manual pieces that were happening that were delaying the test results.

Q And so, with that, what’s the timeline — like from when you’re tested to when you get results? Like, next week, what should people expect?

DR. BIRX: Well, with the prior testing, it was taking several days because the test is slower. We believe with this test, because of its throughput, that the testing can be from start — remember, it has to transport — to the laboratory that will run it. And then we’re hoping that all can be finished within 24 hours, which is very similar to other tests that you receive today.

These are not point-of-care tests. We are working on point-of-care tests, but we have to realize point-of-care tests take six months or more to develop. So we’re not waiting for those. We’re still diagnosing this on nucleic acid, so as an antibody. This is actually the antigen — the actual virus in your nose that we’re amplifying.

THE PRESIDENT: I think you have to remember, though: We’re working very closely with states, and you have a smaller form and more targeted form of government going in and doing it — like, in New York, where the relationship is very good; like Gavin Newsom, where he made some very complimentary — because that’s California — he made some really complimentary comments the other day about how we’re working together. We worked on the ship together, but we worked on a lot of other things together, having to do with this.

And we’re — well, really, the relationship that we have — I can’t think of a bad relationship. We’re helping them. We’re funding them, in some cases, depending on what it is you’re talking about. And we’re all working together very closely. So we’ve done, really, I think a tremendous job of teamwork with the different states.

All right. One or two more. And if you have — if you have questions for these folks — does anybody have a question for the folks up here? Who has a question up here? You have? Okay, go ahead. If you have a question, go ahead.

Q Thank you. I have one for you as well.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. I thought — I knew you would.

Q (Laughs.) No, but I do have one for them, because I haven’t heard this yet.

THE PRESIDENT: I was waiting for that. Go ahead.

Q Because I haven’t heard this yet.

THE PRESIDENT: Ask them first, please.

Q Yes, I will. Okay. With regards to the CEOs, can you please tell us when you expect to see items like hand sanitizer that have been going out of stock very quickly back on the shelves? There have been a lot of reports about that.

And, for you, Mr. President, could you talk about a potential bailout for the cruise industry? You had suggested that could happen. Is that something you’re still looking at? And how much would that be?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I didn’t suggest that it could happen, but I can tell you it’s an industry that was very badly impacted by what’s going on with the virus. And it’s a great industry. It’s a very important industry and we will be helping them. And we will be helping the airline industry, if we have to — assuming we have to.

So far, people haven’t been asking. But if they should be asking, we’ll — we want to make sure our airlines are very strong. And then, one day — and one day, all of a sudden, it wasn’t looking so good.

Interestingly, we were just talking — I was talking to Doug, and the numbers they’re doing from the retailing standpoint — I guess, because of this, your business is like the opposite. All of you have done — you’ve been selling a lot of — a lot of stuff. Do you want to answer the question, as to the hand sanitizers?

MR. MCMILLON: Sure. Yeah, specifically the areas where we’re seeing pressure in the supply chain are surface cleaners, cleaning supplies, paper goods, in particular. Hand sanitizer is going to be very difficult to have 100 percent in stock on for some time. We’re still replenishing it and shipping it, but as soon as it hits the stores, it’s going. The same thing is true for the categories I just mentioned. So all of the retailers will be working hand-in-hand with the suppliers to bring that to the market as fast as we can.

Q What is your advice though for Americans who are seeking those items? What is your advice? They’re selling out online. They’re selling out in the stores. What —

MR. MCMILLON: I think — I think this team has given you other examples of what people can do to fight back against this virus, and you should look at the entire list.

THE PRESIDENT: Please.

DR. FAUCI: Please. I mean, obviously, it sounds very simplistic, but wash your hands as often as you possibly can. And I know you’re not always in a position to be able to wash your hands, but wash them as much as you can. If you don’t have the alcohol wipes, try and get them. If you can’t get them, just try as best as possible to do it. I mean you got to do the best you can.

THE PRESIDENT: Alex, please.

SECRETARY AZAR: Well, just general preparedness. You know, you want to wash your hands. You want to keep distance from people. And if you’re around someone sick, keep away from them. Just basic, basic public health.

No, these guys are selling a lot of toilet paper. I don’t know, there seems — Tony, do you need to give some guidance that toilet paper is not an effective protection against getting the coronavirus? (Laughs.) They’re selling out. But the — soap and water. Hot water, soap, 20 seconds. That’s how you do it.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. One more. Go ahead. Go ahead. No. Over here. Behind you. Behind you.

Q Thank you very much, Mr. President. You have a great team, of course.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s true. Thank you.

Q My question is to Mr. President: Are you happy from the Chinese response? What correctly really told you — what really happened those days?

And second, Prime Minister Modi, or India, have closed borders until April 15th. If you have spoken with the Prime Minister of India, and if they have needed any help?

And finally, sir, any message for the small businesses? Because they are losing some businesses because of this. Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, on small businesses, the Small Business Administration is now stacked with money to help them, and we’re going to make the money readily available if they need it — small businesses.

We had a great time in India. It was an incredible two days, and he’s a great friend of mine. And he’s a friend of his people, because he was greeted incredibly warmly, as was I. And that stadium — that was an incredible event. And I loved being with him, so just say hello to him. But we — we talked about everything. We talked about far more than just borders.

And as far as President Xi — likewise, he’s a friend of mine. I believe that we are dealing in good faith. And we just worked to, as you know, and as I just said — we just worked an incredible deal. A big deal. One of the biggest deals ever made of any kind. Big even by the standards of some of the people here — the deal with China. But I think that they want to get to the bottom of things also.

We’re working — our drug companies, our pharmaceutical companies are working very closely with China and with India, as you know, and with — all over the world. And they’re all over the world. These are magnificent companies that are very, very knowledgeable.

And it’s — we’re very lucky to have them, because I think you’re going to come up with — whether it’s therapeutic or whether it’s just help — helping getting better. And then ultimately, a vaccine, which takes a little bit longer because of the test periods and a couple of other reasons. You’re going to have it very quickly because of the great knowledge. And they’ll have it very quickly. They’ve made a tremendous amount of progress.

Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much.

END

4:42 P.M. EDT

TOPICS: Miscellaneous

KEYWORDS: coronavirus; trump china virusus; trump natl emergency; trump speech; trump transcript

________________________________________________________________

OPINION:  History in the making.

[ameeliabrown]

CoronaVirus Outbreak And Its Potential Impact to The U.S

The coronavirus outbreak has become a decidedly global occurrence, with governments across the globe struggling to plan effective responses while assuring increasingly anxious citizens. As different countries continue to confirm cases of this deadly virus, the United States has already taken its toll on the covid-19. At the time of writing this article, there are 78 cases of the disease in the U.S with one known dead, and most of the patients had recently traveled to Wuhan, China.

What is Coronavirus?

Coronavirus is a large family of virus whose effects range from triggering common cold to causing much more severe diseases, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory).

Effects of Coronavirus on The U.S Economy and Commerce

So far, the effects of coronavirus epidemic on U.S commerce and economy have been very modest. However, the effect is likely to grow if the outbreak keeps spreading, and the factory’s shutdown in China continues. In response, investors both local and international are increasingly waking up to the possible effect of the outbreak that has already claimed thousands of lives. Chinese authorities declared that the number of new cases has reduced, but WHO and other health officials are cautious, noting thousands of infections could go unnoticed. Likewise, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has asked communities and businesses to brace for impact.

Let us consider the effect of this outbreak on some key areas of the United States

U.S Drug Supply

The United States Food and Drug Administration is speeding up its monitoring of the drug supply for possible shortages, including products that may be at risk due to the outbreak that has shut down much of China. Oxford Economists predicted the virus could slow down global growth to its lowest levels and could affect global supply chains. The administration raises concerns about the nation’s convoluted and highly outsourced pharmaceutical supply chain. Most of the drugs used in the United States are manufactured abroad. Likewise, the chemicals and critical ingredients used to make these drugs are overwhelmingly made in China and other countries.

The supply chain’s roots now run deep that it is complicated to anticipate where critical shortages could emerge. However, the FDA claims that no company is currently reporting drug shortages due to the coronavirus. In an effort to get ahead of any problem, the agency, according to her spokesperson has contacted 180 China-based drug manufacturers, asking them to appraise their supply chains and the need to notify the agency of any looming disruptions. Many U.S. drug companies buy Chinese-made pharmaceutical ingredients, in bulk, insulating themselves against a supply disruption for weeks, months or even a year. Overall, the coronavirus is a deadly factor that can trigger retraction in business investment beyond actual disruption of supply chains.

Effect on the U.S markets

On the U.S markets, economic alarms continued to flash due to the increasing spread of covid-19. Just as the outbreak entered a bothersome new phase, the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst 5-day slump in four years as investors increasingly absorbed worrisome forecasts. Furthermore, some analysts are further dropping their forecasts for the U.S. economy. The chief economist of Moody Analytics, Mark Zandi, predicts that the covid-19 outbreak will reduce growth in the first three (3) months of 2020 with a value that is more than his earlier forecast of 0.4% to 0.5% a point. He further predicts, “For 2020, the virus will trim growth to about 1.7%. But if the epidemic becomes widespread globally, it almost certainly would lead to a global recession including the U.S”. Likewise, the stoppage of the production of Boeing’s 737 Max Airliner is anticipated to snarl in its first quarter. The virus is likely to reduce stock prices by 5%, trimming business and consumer spending even if the market rebounds by the end of the year, Zandi says.

The Threat to Travel and Tourism

The outbreak of covid-19 is also taking an increasingly severe toll on the U.S. through reduced tourism and travel. In recent years, Chinese tourism has become an important driver of U.S. GDP. About 3 million Chinese visits the USA yearly, spending up to $6,500 per trip, which is 50% more than other foreign visitors in the USA. Many airlines have canceled flights in and out of China, and the U.S. government has imposed restrictions on travels that bar any foreign national who has recently being to China from entering the United States. Consequently, visitations from China will almost certainly reduce by about 30% this year due to the epidemic, resulting in an economic loss of about $5.8 billion, says Moody, a Tourism Economist.

The Threat to the U.S Construction

According to Richard Branch, the chief economist of Dodge Data and Analytics, “the U.S Construction industry is also possible to be affected by the coronavirus. This is because 30% of its products are imported from China, compared to any other country”. Manufacturers will export less to Europe and Asia as their demand slackens. Imports from these regions are anticipated to result in shortages of retail products and spare parts in the U.S including higher prices that restrain consumer spending. “Except the virus is promptly curtailed, supplies will continue to tighten making prices of building and building materials to shoot up including potential cancellation or delays of projects”, He further states.

According to Zandi, “while many Chinese factories are close down and Chinese consumer demand is drooping, the U.S. exports to China will suffer, including plant equipment, computer chips, and aircraft. Even though factories can come up in the second half of the year to make up for the lost production and boost growth, a great part of the restaurant and hotel sales will most likely not be made up, Zandi further states.

The Threat to the U.S. Economic Growth

The coronavirus is also becoming a threat to the U.S economic expansion that is rising. According to the chief economist at Grant Thornton, Diane Swonk, “The Wuhan coronavirus is already causing an economic pandemic. We have a global response that is literally closing down businesses”. Some American manufacturers that use components sourced from China, particularly from infected areas such as Wuhan will either have to shut down production or import parts outside China. If they shut down production, definitely they will need to dismiss workers, who, in response, will lower their spending. The longer this issue goes on, the more the risk of a sadistic cycle”, she further states.

Effect of Coronavirus on Eateries

There is no exception to food and catering industry in the U.S. as restaurants starting to struggle amidst fears of coronavirus outbreak. Most of the restaurants are putting up different measures to ensure their customers are safe. If the virus is not contained quickly and it keeps spreading, I will not be surprised if some restaurants close down.

Coronavirus and U.S interest rates

One of the questions that investors and business owners are asking is if the coronavirus can affect interest rates. While other economists have a more evaluation view, Joe Brusuelas, chief economist of RSM and David Berson, Nationwide Chief economist state the advance of the virus has not influenced them to lower their forecasts. They both estimated that the epidemic would trim the first-quarter growth by a rather modest 0.2% point. Diane Swonk is of the opinion that the Federal Reserve may reduce interest rates at its mid-March meeting due to the intensified outbreak. This is expected to boost stocks, but FED has been playing the waiting game approach since reducing rates three times last year. On a contrary opinion, Zandi does not believe that the Federal Reserve will cut down interest rates again except the outbreak worsens considerably.

WAY FORWARD

What Are Scientists Doing?

Across the U.S and separately in China, New York and Texas, scientists are trying to create a vaccine for the virus, but do not expect it anytime soon. It might take more than a year before a vaccine actually become available.

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

Maintain social distance with anyone showing signs of Coronavirus, such as sneezing and coughing, the WHO says. Other symptoms of this coronavirus include shortness of breath and fever. Severe cases can result in kidney failure, pneumonia, and even death. Scientists and health officials believe that this coronavirus started in an animal in Wuhan China, and then spread to humans, so it is recommended you cook your eggs and meats thoroughly. Finally, the public should wash their hands regularly with water and soap for at least 20 seconds.

What The Trump Administration is Doing

Once the U.S. health emergency declaration becomes effective, all U.S. citizens who have spent a minimum of two weeks in China’s Hubei province and are returning to the States will be quarantined for about 14 days. The reason is due to the announcement by the State Department urging citizens not to travel to China due to the outbreak.

Final Thought

The coronavirus is gradually becoming a global epidemic whose effects can be severe if not contained in time. With the effects of COVID-19 on the U.S. as predicted, a clearer picture on the epidemic should become visible soon.

References;

Oxford Economics

https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/US-Viewpoint—Potential-Impact-of-Coronavirus-Outbreak-February-2020

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/how-a-coronavirus-pandemic-could-impact-the-2020-election-economy.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/coronavirus-update.html

The post CoronaVirus Outbreak And Its Potential Impact to The U.S appeared first on Health Tips For Housewives.

CoronaVirus Outbreak And Its Potential Impact to The U.S published first on https://healthtipsforhousewives.com/

[tinyshe]

Ireland to drop almost all COVID-19 restrictions in October

By Conor Humphries

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland, which had one of Europe's longest COVID-19 lockdowns, will drop almost all pandemic restrictions in October after one of the continent's most successful vaccine rollouts, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Tuesday.

From Oct. 22, the requirement for vaccine certificates in bars and restaurants will be dropped, as will all restrictions on the numbers attending indoor and outdoor events.

As part of a phased easing of restrictions, the government is recommending the reopening of theatres and cinemas at 60% capacity next week and a return of non-essential workers to offices from Sept. 20.

"Because of the effort of our vaccination team and because you have stepped up to the mark and taken the vaccine when it was offered, we are now entering a whole new phase of the pandemic," Martin said in a televised address.

Almost 90% of adults in Ireland are fully vaccinated as are 80% of over those over 12 years old.

Indoor dining in cafes, bars and restaurants was banned in Ireland for much of the 16 months to July, when the government opened the sector to people with vaccine certificates.

The Irish government in recent weeks has been heavily criticised by the live-events sector as large concerts took place in the United Kingdom, which dropped most restrictions on July 19 but has a lower level of vaccinations.

Martin struck a note of caution, however, warning of an increase in case numbers in the coming weeks before an expected decline.

"We are very unlikely to ever be able to be rid of the virus completely," he said.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Pink Floyd Greatest Hits Album Zip

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1-16 of 169 results for 'pink floyd cd greatest hits' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. By Pink Floyd Jun 24, 2016. 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,372. 'Wish You Were Here' (Wish You Were Here, 1975) Feels kinda wrong, doesn't it? To have a relatively.

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Alecia Beth Moore, stage name Pink was born on September 8, 1979 to Judith and Jim Moore in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Her brother Jason Moore was born in 1977. She went to Kutz Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, and Central Bucks High School and joined the Band, “Middleground,” which folded after their defeat at a “Battle of the Bands” competition. At 14, Pink performed in clubs across Philadelphia and went through phases from skateboarder to hip-hopper to rave child and finally rock band lead singer. At 16, Pink formed the R&B group “Choice” along with two other teenage girls Chrissy Conway and Sharon Flanagan. They send their first song “Key to My Heart” to LaFace Records in Atlanta, Georgia, where L.A. Reid signed a record deal with them. The girls relocated to Atlanta to record an album. “Key to My Heart” was made soundtrack for the 1996 film of the same name, but Choice disbanded in 1998. “Can’t Take Me Home was Pink’s debut album, produced by Terence “Tramp-Baby” Abney, She’ksphere, Dallas Austin, The Specialists and Steve Rhyme. It was released in April 2000 and was certified double Platinum in the U.S., selling five million copies worldwide. In 2000, Pink performed the opening act for ‘N Sync’s American Tour in the summer, and 2001 she became part of ensemble production of “Lady Marmalade” for the movie “Moulin Rouge!” alongside Lil Kim, Maya and Christina Aguilera. The music video won a Grammy Award for “best pop collaboration with vocals.” Pink recruited Linda Perry to co-write and co-produce her second album along with Dallas Austin and Scott Storch. The album “Missundaztood” was released in November 2001. The video for the single “Get the Party Started” won two awards at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Missundaztood went Gold or Platinum in over 20 countries, with 30 million in sales. The album and the lead single “Get the Party Started” were nominated at the 2003 Grammy Awards. In 2002 Pink and Perry co-written Faith Hill’s album “Cry,” and Pink headlined the “Party Tour” that went across America, Europe and down under to Australia. She would also perform as the supporting act in Lenny Kravitz’s “America” tour. On November 11, 2003, Pink’s third album “Try This” was released. It was certified Platinum in the U.S., selling more than five million copies worldwide. The single “Trouble” won Pink a Grammy Award at the 2004 Grammy Awards, and “Feel Good Time” was nominated. Pink toured Europe and Australia for the “Try This” Tour. In 2005, Pink collaborated with Lisa Marie Presley for Presley’s album “Now What.” Then in April 2006, Pink’s fourth album “I’m Not Dead” was released through LaFace Records, and it ranked 96th in the U.S. in 2007. The album’s lead single “Stupid Girls” earned a Grammy Award nomination and won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. The album was certified ten times Platinum, and Pink embarked on the globetrotting “I’m Not Dead” Tour, selling about 307,000 tickets in Australia. The DVD “Pink: Live From Wembley Arena” was released, which was taped at one of the London Shows of the tour. In 2006 Pink sang “Waiting All Day” for Sunday Night for NBC Sunday Night Football, contributed to soundtrack of the animated feature film “Happy Feet” and promoted the PSP (PlayStation Portable) by lending her name to Playstation. In Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveShow Tour Pink was the opening act. She also did some songwriting, crafting “I Will” for Natalia Druyts’s album. She co-wrote “Outside of You” which was recorded by Hilary Duff and released on Duff’s album “Dignity.” Pink also recorded song along with other females artists including Annie Lennox’s “Songs of Mass Destruction” album. Then in Decembet 2007 Pink Box special edition was released in Australia and was certified Gold. In October 2008 at the ARIA Music Awards in Sydney, Australia, Pink was the guest of honor. Then on November 3, 2008 her album “Funhouse” debuted and was certified double Platinum. The Funhouse Tour begun on February 24 in France. And on November 23, 2008 at the American Music Awards Pink performed “Sober,” and released a four-CD set of albums Can’t Take Me Home/Missundaztood/Try This/I’m Not Dead. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, Pink did a trapeze act while singing “Sober,” and won a nomination for Best Female Video. Then on January 31, 2010 Pink performed another trapeze act at the 2010 Grammy Awards, singing “Glitter in the Air” to a standing ovation. Finally, on October 4, 2009 Pink’s music became the theme of Australian Idol. Pink’s “Gatest Hits… So Far!!!” album was released on November 12, 2010 by LaFace Records to celebrate her first decade in the music industry, which is set to go on for many decades yet to come.

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Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Treatment Market Forecast Analysis-2027

Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment market - Regional Analysis

Geographically, the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America is expected to be dominant market, owing to rising government initiative for disease awareness and implementation of prenatal screening programs. However, Asia Pacific is expected to be fastest growing market for sexually transmitted diseases treatment, due to high incidence of sexually transmitted infections, owing to unprotected sexual practices in the region. For instance, according to Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), Asia Pacific had the second-highest number of people living with HIV in the world i.e. 5.1 million as of 2016, Moreover, China, India, and Indonesia accounts for three quarters of the total people living with HIV in Asia Pacific.

Sexually transmitted disease also known as venereal diseases is a clinical syndrome of infection, acquired and transmitted through sexual activity via body fluids such as semen, vaginal fluid or blood. Causative agent of STD are bacteria, parasites, yeast, and viruses. Symptoms of STDs includes skin rashes, warts, abdominal pain or genital ulcers. STDs are detected by physical examination or assays such as ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay), rapid plasma reagin blood test or antibody-absorption blood test. The sexually transmitted disease treatment market is expected to witness high growth in the forecast period (2017 – 2025), due to the factors such as increasing disease burden, governmental initiatives for increasing awareness, growing diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases, and increasing number of pipeline products by manufacturers for treatment of these diseases.

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Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment market – Driver

Increasing sexually transmitted disease burden is fueling growth of the STDs treatment market. Among 20 STDs, the most common are Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis, Herpes, Hepatitis (HBV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). For instance, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in year 2016, 1,598,354 cases of Chlamydia trachomatis infection were reported in the U.S., corresponding to 497.3 cases per 100,000 in 2015. Furthermore, 468,514 gonorrhea cases were reported for a rate of 145.8 cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 18.5% from 2015. This increasing incidence of STDs is also due to the unprotected sexual practice, which in turn fueling demand for STDs treatment. For instance, according to World Health Organization (WHO), unsafe sex is second most common risk factor for increasing disease burden.

The number of products in pipeline for HIV treatment are high, which is expected to propel growth of the sexually transmitted disease treatment market. For instance, in 2017, GSK and ViiV Healthcare applied in European Medicines Agency (EMA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for regulatory affiliation for a single-tablet, two-drug regimen of dolutegravir (by ViiV Healthcare) and rilpivirine (by Janssen) used for treatment of HIV-1 infection. Moreover, other drug candidates in pipeline includes – PrEP, PRO140 with ibalizumab, BMS- 955176, which are expected to be launched in the forecast period. Moreover, governments are focusing on funding research and development programs, which is expected to aid in growth of the market. For instance, British Columbia Center for Disease Control sponsored doxycycline (drug) studies for indication of syphilis and other sexually transmitted infection, which is in early phase I clinical trial as of 2016.

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Moreover, increasing governmental initiatives to spread awareness through organization of campaigns and free diagnostic camps is also expected to augment growth of the STDs treatment market. For instance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched Improving Sexually Transmitted Disease Programs through Assessment, Assurance, Policy Development, and Prevention Strategies, or STD-AAPPS, in 2014. Moreover, in 2018, Thunder Bay Group—HIV / AIDS / hepatitis C education and support services provider— expanded the access of hepatitis C medicine for individuals with level 2 hepatitis C, after negotiating with the provinces and drug manufacturers.

However, growth of the sexually transmitted disease treatment market is expected to be restrained by low rate of screening for diseases and late diagnosis of the disease such as HIV.  

Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment market – Competitor

Major players in highly fragmented sexually transmitted diseases treatment market are Merck & Co. Inc., Pfizer INC, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Gilead Sciences Inc., AbbVie Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Key players in sexually transmitted disease treatment market are focusing on adopting strategies such as mergers and collaborations for expanding their research for candidate drugs. For instance, in 2017, the drug Zoloflodacin entered into clinical trials, as a result of partnership between Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and Entasis Therapeutics. Moreover, in March 2018, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. entered into a deal with ApolloBio Corp., which have the exclusive rights for development, manufacturing, and commercialization of VGX – 3100, Inovio’s DNA immunotherapy product for pre-cancer indication.

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[newstfionline]

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Moms are hit hardest with camps and day cares closing again (Washington Post) Sarah Mordecai just got the phone call that no parent wants: Her son was exposed to covid at day care. She had to pick up her two children immediately and prepare to quarantine. Mordecai and her husband scrambled to swiftly rearrange their schedules to be home with their two kids, ages 1 and 3. They worry the entire rest of the year could be a series of emergencies like this where the kids get exposed and the whole family is back on lockdown. Panic is setting in among America’s 46 million parents of children under 12 as plans for in-person day care and schooling are getting disrupted yet again from the rise of the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus. While children do not tend to face the worst complications from the virus, they do get sick and spread the virus, which can close down camps, school and day care for weeks. All of this is happening just as many employers are demanding workers return to the office. When children have to stay home, the burden typically falls on moms. Some economists are warning the United States may be on the verge of a massive second wave of women dropping out of the labor force if the delta variant of the coronavirus cannot be stopped.

Weekend of fear looms for Californians in face of wildfires (AP) People living in the scenic forestlands of Northern California found themselves facing a weekend of fear as wildfires threatened to reduce thousands of homes to ashes. The Dixie Fire that incinerated much of the gold rush-era town of Greenville threatened more than 10,000 buildings in the northern Sierra Nevada. It had engulfed an area larger than the size of New York City. It was the largest current wildland blaze in the nation and the third-largest in recorded California history, according to the state Department of Fire and Forestry Protection. Wind-driven flames destroyed dozens of homes and most of Greenville’s downtown on Wednesday and Thursday, and also heavily damaged Canyondam, a hamlet with a population of about three dozen people. The fire reached Chester but crews managed to protect homes and businesses there, officials said.

Two arrested in alleged plot to kill or oust U.N. ambassador from Myanmar (Washington Post) Two men have been charged with conspiring to injure or kill Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who had denounced the military coup carried out in his country earlier this year and expressed support for a pro-democracy movement. Their alleged scheme involved tampering with the foreign diplomat’s car tires so the vehicle would crash and was allegedly an effort to force the ambassador to resign or be killed, according to an account from an alleged participant cited in court papers filed in federal court in White Plains. While the Justice Department did not name the special envoy in court filings, that post is held by Kyaw Moe Tun, whose public denunciation of the coup helped fuel a protest movement opposed to the junta. Myanmar’s military leaders responded to Tun’s speech by trying to oust him from his post in New York and charging him with treason. But he continued to be recognized at the United Nations and cast a vote on behalf of his country in June in favor of a resolution condemning the military takeover. After the vote, Tun reemphasized his desire for the United Nations and the international community to take the “strongest and most decisive action against the military” that had seized power from his country’s elected civilian government.

Ranks of Mexican poor swell to reach nearly half the population (Reuters) Mexico’s poverty rate grew to nearly 44% at the end of last year, government data released on Thursday showed, worsened by an economic slump as the coronavirus pandemic led to steep budget cuts, business closures and layoffs. Some 3.8 million more Mexicans fell below the official poverty line in 2020 to reach a total of nearly 56 million, compared with the end of 2018 when President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office on a pledge to prioritize the needs of the poor. Mexico’s population of about 126 million is the largest among Spanish-speaking countries, second only to Brazil in Latin America.

Argentines stream through city streets to press for more jobs, food (Reuters) Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Saturday to protest over poverty and a lack of jobs amid a lengthy economic crisis that has only deepened with the coronavirus pandemic. Organisations working with the unemployed and leftist groups led the protest that started at a church to the west of the Argentine capital where thousands of pilgrims travel each year to pray at the shrine of San Cayetano, the patron saint of work, whose feast day is Saturday. It ended in the Plaza de Mayo, a massive square in front of the seat of government where protests habitually take place. Protests also took place in other parts of the country, including in Argentina’s second city of Cordoba and the western city of Mendoza. A total of 19 million people, 42% of Argentina’s population, was classified as living below the poverty line in the second half of 2020 and unemployment at present stands at 10.2%.

Vaccine passes in Europe spur the pandemic’s second wave of protests (Washington Post) When French President Emmanuel Macron announced a mandatory health pass last month — requiring vaccination, immunity or a recent coronavirus test to access trains, restaurants and other venues — pharmacy worker Agnès Biblot felt an immediate impact in the eastern French city of Nancy. Within days, interest in getting vaccinated surged. But at Biblot’s pharmacy, the enthusiasm took a sudden and unexpected hit. On July 24, panicked staffers and pedestrians had to take shelter behind the shop windows, some of them struggling to breathe through the tear gas that floated in the air. Outside, a small group of protesters attacked and dismantled a coronavirus testing site that had been set up in a tent. They attempted to shatter a window of the pharmacy. On Saturday, France’s Interior Ministry said more than 230,000 people joined protests across the country against the restrictions, which are set to take full effect Monday. Some of those demonstrating work in industries directly affected by new government policies: nurses who oppose a vaccine mandate for health-care workers, and restaurant employees who object to being asked to enforce health pass requirements. The protesters also include people who express more generalized exasperation, who say they have had enough of what they characterize as government overreach.

Blaze sweeps through Athens suburbs in fifth day of Greece wildfires (Reuters) Flames swept through a residential town outside Athens overnight as wildfires burned across Greece for a fifth day on Saturday, and hundreds of people were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia east of the capital. The fire on Mount Parnitha on the outskirts of Athens has forced the evacuation of thousands of people since late Thursday, with emergency crews facing winds and high temperatures as they battle to contain its spread. Wildfires have erupted in many parts of the country amid Greece’s worst heatwave in more than 30 years, tearing through tens of thousands of acres of forestland, destroying homes and businesses and killing animals. Temperatures have been over 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) all week. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking after visiting the main fire control centre in Athens on Saturday, called it a “nightmarish summer.”

Afghan war has entered ‘deadlier and more destructive phase,’ UN says (CNBC) The U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan on Friday said the war in the country has entered a “deadlier and more destructive phase” and questioned the Taliban’s commitment to political settlement. This comes after Afghan civilian casualties climbed to more than 1,000 in the past month, and as the Taliban continues to achieve territorial gains in Afghanistan. On Friday, the Taliban captured its first provincial capital, Zaranj of the Nimroz province, since launching its offensive. The group also killed the Afghan government’s top media officer in Kabul on Friday, just days after attempting to assassinate the country’s acting defense minister, according to The Associated Press. The Taliban is also in control of large rural areas of Afghanistan, and is now challenging Afghan security forces in several large cities.

Tokyo Olympics cost $15.4 billion. What else could that buy? (AP) The official price tag for the Tokyo Olympics in $15.4 billion, which a University of Oxford study says is the most expensive on record. What else could those billions buy? The ballpark figure for building a 300-bed hospital in Japan in $55 million. So you could put up almost 300 of these. The average elementary school in Japan costs about $13 million. For that price, you get 1,200 schools. A quick search finds a Boeing 747 is priced at roughly $400 million. Voila: 38 jumbo jets for the cost of the Tokyo Olympics. The point is, Olympic Games are costly and may bump aside other priorities. In fact, several Japanese government audits say the real outlay for the Tokyo Games is even more than the official figure, perhaps twice as much. Olympic costs have been dissected in a study by the University of Oxford, which found that all Games since 1960 have had cost overruns averaging 172%. Tokyo’s cost overrun is 111% or 244% depending on which cost figure you select. So why did Tokyo want the Olympics? Why does any city? German sports economist Wolfgang Maennig said the Olympics offer little economic boost. So any value must be elsewhere. He has often likened the Olympics to throwing a big party for your friends and overspending, hoping they go away happy and remember you fondly.

Australia borders: Citizens living overseas could be ‘trapped’ if they return (BBC) Australians living overseas could be “trapped” in Australia if they return, after the nation’s government tightened its border rules without notice. Since March last year, the country has banned its citizens from leaving the country as part of its Covid strategy. That restriction has not previously applied to Australians who usually live in other countries. But they will now need to apply for an exemption for outbound travel—in line with rules for other Australians. Australia’s tough border rules have been controversial. Critics say this change—in effect from 11 August—will further punish families and deter citizens from returning. Australia already has a weekly limit on incoming travellers and bans foreigners from entry unless they have an exemption. Its policies are among the strictest globally. While the closed-border policy has been mostly supported in Australia, many have also criticised its impact on citizens. The BBC has been told of cases in the past year where Australians have been unable to leave to care for sick or dying loved ones, or to retrieve their children from relatives.

A Look Back At The Very First Website Ever Launched, 30 Years Later (NPR) On August 6, 1991, the first website was introduced to the world. And while perhaps not as exciting or immersive as some of the nearly 1.9 billion websites that exist today, it makes sense that the first web page launched was, well, instructions about how to use it. It launched at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, where it was created by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. Berners-Lee created the web for the same reason a lot of us visit websites today: to make life just a little bit easier. And so in 1989, Berners-Lee proposed the idea for an information management system to his managers at CERN. The system would use hypertext to connect documents on separate computers connected to the Internet. At first, the managers’ response was something along the lines of cool, but no thanks. But when Berners-Lee returned with a new-and-improved proposal a year later, the computer scientist was granted permission to work on the project. By 1991, it was ready to launch. Berners-Lee had developed HTML, HTTP and URLs—the building blocks for creating websites. And so, with the creation of a single web page, the World Wide Web was born. And it’s grown quite a bit since then. There were 10 websites by 1992, 3,000 websites by 1994 (after the W3 became public domain), and 2 million by the time the search engine Google made its debut in 1996.

[fumpkins]

Population hot takes from COVID-19 that need to die

Last spring, nature was apparently healing. 

COVID rates were spiking internationally and across many states across the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide cases were creeping into the millions. Deaths reached over 300,000 by May 2020. As emissions-heavy air travel came to almost a grinding halt, emissions began to drop across China and several European countries. By late March, Europe’s electricity usage sunk— Spain and France had decreased by 10 percent, and Italy dropped about 20 percent. As New York City entered its first phase of lockdown at the end of March, carbon monoxide levels decreased as much as 50 percent after a decrease in traffic. 

The initial lockdown also encouraged animals to roam and take up space in cities and towns across the planet, which rarely happens with regular foot traffic from locals and tourists. Lions in South Africa took it upon themselves to lounge in the middle of an empty road, and goats had a night out feasting on unattended shrubbery in Wales. 

Kruger visitors that tourists do not normally see. #SALockdown This lion pride are usually resident on Kempiana Contractual Park, an area Kruger tourists do not see. This afternoon they were lying on the tar road just outside of Orpen Rest Camp. 📸Section Ranger Richard Sowry pic.twitter.com/jFUBAWvmsA

— Kruger National Park (@SANParksKNP) April 15, 2020

As the animals came out of their hiding, so did the memes. A popular message online for a few weeks was that the environment was sorting itself out and as people were shuttered away inside their homes. Some posts even declared that humanity and overpopulation itself was the virus—a similar message to what a fake profile of climate change organization Extinction Rebellion tweeted. “The Earth is healing,” the tweet read. “The air and water is clearing. Corona is the cure. Humans are the disease,” to the dismay of other Twitter users. 

For some corners of the internet, it seemed that the virus came along to “heal” the environment after years of degradation and urban expansion. But researchers and environmental organizers, including political educator and organizer Hilary Moore, were quick to call out why the virus was not the “cure” to climate and population woes. Humanity’s relationship to the environment is way more complicated than that. 

[Related: 5 famous environmental disasters where humans and nature healed together.]

Last spring’s initial lockdowns led to what researchers call an anthropause, Moore says, or a slowdown of modern human activity. COVID-19 isn’t the only time the lack of human interaction changed a location’s landscape—some researchers have considered Chernobyl as one of the first officially studied anthropauses.

“[It’s] the idea that nature would take back or take over if human activity were to stop, or in some imaginations, if humans would disappear,” Moore says. 

A slowdown of everyday human activity like car and airline travel brought about the anthropause, but humans themselves are not “the virus.” New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this past April revealed that humans have sustainably lived and managed communities all over the earth for over 10,000 years—the vast majority of the human timeline. It wasn’t until “the appropriation, colonization, and intensification of use in lands inhabited and used by prior societies,” the authors write, that environmental degradation problems began to arise from human activity.

The presence of people isn’t the underlying issue itself. Lifestyles and systems that allow for inequality and overconsumption are. Placing the blame on people, particularly from poorer countries who contribute the least emissions, allows culprits like large corporations to go unchallenged. 

The seemingly harmless “Earth is healing” dialogue fed what Moore calls the “myth of overpopulation,” and this is hardly the first time the ugly ideology has reared its head.  Past conservationists and environmental activists have blamed environmental issues on communities of color and poor populations. Famous American 20th-century conservationist Madison Grant launched various conservation programs in the country. But his work also included writing that eventually led to restricting Eastern European and African immigrants into the United States. Other early 20th-century conservation efforts had founders and supporters that believed in eugenics and blamed immigration and overpopulation for environmental issues. 

Throughout history, this idea is often to criticize people from poorer countries in the Global South who happen to have larger families than richer countries—even when it is wealthier countries with giant per capita carbon emissions.

“We too often let extractive capitalism off the hook … the focus becomes people’s individual habits or where they live, rather than the mechanisms that keep ‘profit over people’ in place,” Moore says. “This keeps the systems that brought us to crisis completely intact.” 

Eco-fascism is the idea that human lives that happen to be under authoritarian leadership and repressive governments are expendable for the greater good of nature. Those lives are often marginalized communities such as racial and ethnic minorities despite many of those communities being less likely to contribute to the larger problem of pollution and environmental degradation. 

The marginalized communities accused of hurting the environment are more likely to be violently targeted. For example, before seeking to kill Latinos near the Mexican border, the El Paso shooter blamed immigrants for environmental problems. Environmental right-wingers have also blamed an influx of immigrants and communities of color to issues like urban sprawl and litter, ignoring the complex systems that cause communities to immigrate. 

Moore emphasizes that the “we” in the phrase “we are the virus” places collective blame on all communities that are continuing to struggle from the pandemic, even if certain lifestyles contribute very little to the spread. 

[Related: Can we still prevent an apocalypse? What Jonathan Franzen gets wrong about climate change.]

“We know that communities of color and poor communities are already disproportionately cast as threats to the environment …  blame has already been prescribed into our society, a society in which racism thrives,” she says. “[The phrase unveiled] that the kinds of racism usually associated with the far-right, were actually alive and well within the mainstream.” 

The global megacities network C40 Cities suggested creating “15 Minute Cities” as part of an agenda for “a green and just recovery” after the pandemic. The proposed intentional cities are environments where residents could meet most of their immediate needs by just walking or biking a mere 15 minutes away from home. Unlike the problematic demonization of a growing population, the initiative plans to tackle the increasing inequality in many cities during shutdowns by creating shorter commute times for residents, better accessibility, green infrastructure, and less pollution. 

“Building with nature to prioritize ‘nature-based solutions’ such as parks, green roofs, green walls, blue infrastructure, and permeable pavements, to help reduce the risks of extreme heat, drought, and flooding, and improve liveability and physical and mental health,” the C40 website reads. 

Moore explains that challenging the language and attitudes we hold towards the pandemic and how it connects to environmental issues and population growth is part of addressing inequity and the misunderstandings that come with it. 

“All environmental crises, at their core, are actually social problems,” she says. “Move conversations into action and to take action alongside the people at the frontlines of the crisis.”

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2021/05/29/population-hot-takes-from-covid-19-that-need-to-die/

[timesnest]

Covid-19 Live Updates: As Cases Rise, Europe Enters ‘Living-With-the-Virus Phase’

[dailynewswebsite]

Fur industry faces uncertain future due to Covid

Even earlier than the outbreak of Covid the fur commerce was struggling

Europe’s fur trade is again within the highlight after Denmark’s mass culling of hundreds of thousands of mink following an outbreak of coronavirus at farms within the nation.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen introduced that each one mink can be slaughtered. Denmark is the world’s greatest mink producer, farming as much as 17 million of the animals, and Covid has swept via 1 / 4 of its 1,000 mink farms.

Officers say this “reservoir” of illness poses a big well being danger for people, and fear that mutations detected in mink-related strains of the virus would possibly compromise a future vaccine.

However pictures of mink mass graves and farmers in tears have been adopted by outcry after the federal government admitted its order had no authorized foundation. The agriculture minister has since resigned. On Saturday a whole lot of tractors drove into central Copenhagen to protest in regards to the dealing with of the disaster.

Farmers protesting in opposition to the cull

The proposed ban on mink farming till 2022 now has parliamentary backing however negotiations over compensation are dragging out.

Authorities say all 288 contaminated herds have been killed and so they have put down roughly 10 million contaminated animals. It’s believed the vast majority of remaining wholesome mink have additionally been killed. In a short time, Denmark’s fur trade has virtually been worn out. Round 6,000 jobs are in danger.

“It’s a de facto everlasting closure and liquidation of the fur trade,” mentioned Danish Mink Breeders Affiliation chairman Tage Pedersen in an announcement. “This impacts not solely the mink breeders, however complete communities.”

Mink farmer Per Thyrrestrup doubts enterprise will ever come again: “To have the identical high quality of the skins, to have the identical color – it is going to be 15 to 20 years earlier than that is potential.”

Fur skins produced in Europe 2018

The world’s largest fur public sale home, Kopenhagen Fur, has additionally introduced a “managed shutdown” over two to a few years till this season’s pelts and older stockpiles are offered.

Story continues

1000’s of patrons, principally from China, as soon as flocked to auctions held within the Danish capital. It has been an enormous within the enterprise, buying and selling 25 million Danish and international furs final 12 months.

However even earlier than the pandemic struck, there have been indicators it was struggling.

A decade in the past commerce boomed, fuelled by an urge for food for luxurious items as Chinese language incomes grew. In 2013, Kopenhagen Fur offered about $2bn (£1.5bn) of furs, with world mink manufacturing value $4.3bn.

Mink pelts then price over $90 (£69) every, however the bubble burst and final 12 months skins fetched solely a 3rd of that. Native farmers have struggled to earn a living – and it’s a sample seen elsewhere. China is by far the largest fur importer, however it’s a main producer too.

Fur producers in Europe 2018

Else Skjold, head of vogue on the Royal Danish Academy, says this competitors has pushed costs down: “Lots of new farmers went into the market and so there was merely an overflow of fur.”

There’s additionally vital fur farming throughout Europe. In 2018 there have been 4,350 fur farms in 24 European nations, says trade group Fur Europe. Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania and Greece are the largest producers after Denmark – although the US, Canada and Russia additionally function farms.

For the reason that cull started costs have shot up. “Individuals have been involved that there is likely to be a scarcity,” says Mark Oaten, chief govt of the Worldwide Fur Federation (IFF). Denmark accounts for not less than 1 / 4 of the worldwide mink commerce.

Ms Skjold thinks international rivals will fill the hole: “They’ll make investments massively in increasing mink farming in China, I believe.”

Though fur farming is controversial, she believes requirements on Danish farms are excessive and one consequence of Denmark’s exit is a danger that animal welfare might worsen. “We’ll see farming in much less regulated and fewer managed nations,” she says.

Animal welfare campaigners have persuaded many customers to not put on fur

Mink seem significantly inclined to Covid and it may unfold shortly within the farms. Infections have been detected in Spain, Sweden, Italy, the US, Greece and the Netherlands, which is able to now ban fur farming by March 2021.

Animal welfare teams say that is additional cause to outlaw the observe, along with moral grounds.

“Fur farms usually are not solely the reason for immense and pointless animal struggling, they’re additionally ticking time bombs for lethal illnesses,” says Dr Joanna Swabe from the Humane Society Worldwide.

Over time, animal welfare campaigns have shifted public opinion. Quite a few vogue manufacturers have stopped utilizing fur and switched to artificial alternate options.

The UK banned fur farming in 2003. Austria, Germany and Japan have additionally stopped manufacturing and different nations are phasing it out.

Fur clothes on the catwalk in Beijing: Asia now accounts for 35-40% of fur gross sales

But as European customers turned away, Chinese language clients took their place. “In the direction of the 2000s you may see the Chinese language market develop. Fur represents that you have entered the center class,” says Else Skjold.

The IFF’s Mark Oaten says Asia now accounts for 35-40% of fur gross sales, with South Korea one other key market. Tendencies have additionally shifted away from the high-cost “grandma’s fur coat” to reasonably priced, on a regular basis clothes with small quantities of fur trim.

However the Chinese language market has additionally faltered. Financial slowdown had dampened client spending even earlier than Covid struck. Luxurious items spending “has actually taken a dip within the final three years,” says Mr Oaten.

“The entire trade has been struggling,” says Veronica Wang of OCC technique consultants, which specialises in luxurious attire and sweetness. “Even in China, this 12 months plenty of fur firms have closed.”

She says the issue is two-fold: “There’s a decline when it comes to demand and there may be the oversupply,” added to which Covid has made issues worse as there may be now nervousness inside China about buying and selling or importing animal merchandise.

Ms Wang provides that the urge for food for fur is altering amongst youthful Chinese language. Faux fur was seen as low high quality, however customers’ perceptions are altering as extra luxurious manufacturers make the swap.

“We all know that versus the earlier generations, these youthful customers, particularly Gen Z, have the next sense of social duty – I do see that pattern has began,” she says.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/fur-industry-faces-uncertain-future-due-to-covid/ via https://growthnews.in

[salamandersofftheclock]

The end may be near for the pestilence that has haunted the world this year. Good news is arriving on almost every front: treatments, vaccines, and our understanding of this coronavirus. Pfizer and BioNTech have announced a stunning success rate in their early Phase 3 vaccine trials—if it holds up, it will be a game changer. Treatments have gotten better too. A monoclonal antibody drug—similar to what President Donald Trump and former Governor Chris Christie received—just earned emergency-use authorization from the FDA. Dexamethasone—a cheap, generic corticosteroid—cut the death rate by a third for severe COVID-19 cases in a clinical trial.

Doctors and nurses have much more expertise in managing cases, even in using nonmedical interventions like proning, which can improve patients’ breathing capacity simply by positioning them facedown. Health-care workers are also practicing fortified infection-control protocols, including universal masking in medical settings. Our testing capacity has greatly expanded, and people are getting their results much more quickly. We may soon get cheaper, saliva-based rapid tests that people can administer on their own, itself a potential game changer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has finally acknowledged that aerosol transmission happens and that ventilation is important. The initial bungled messaging and science around masks was unfortunate, but things have turned around; the CDC has even publicized how masks can help protect the wearer from infection, as well as lower the chances of onward transmission. The importance of clusters and super-spreading is more widely appreciated, maybe partly because of the highly publicized White House cluster, which is still simmering.We have reasons to celebrate, but—and you knew there was a but—a devastating surge is now under way. And worse, we are entering this dreadful period without the kind of leadership or preparation we need, and with baseline numbers that will make it difficult to avoid a dramatic rise in hospitalizations, deaths, and potential long-term effects on survivors.Almost every day, America is breaking new records in confirmed cases: They are up 40 percent from just one week ago. These cases are not confined to a region or a state; the whole nation is in the midst of a terrible surge. So, too, is much of Europe, where country after country is experiencing record numbers of cases. This is not a “casedemic”—the false notion that we just have better testing and detection, without any real change in the underlying risk for illness and death. It’s true that we missed a lot of cases in the spring because we didn’t have enough tests, and that we are catching more of them now. But it’s not just confirmed cases that are on the rise. The United States is also experiencing a steep increase in hospitalizations, as well as about 1,500 reported deaths a day; those are the highest numbers since mid-May, and they are still rising sharply. Trevor Bedford, a scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, calculates that more than 2,000 deaths a day may already be baked in for early December, meaning that even if we stopped every new infection from now on, we’d still see that many people die per day in just a few weeks among those already infected.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine—or Moderna’s vaccine—may be available in the United States to health-care workers and other high-priority people as early as the end of this year. But it won’t be distributed widely until well into 2021, even in the best-case scenario—and the Pfizer vaccine needs two doses, about 21 days apart. Those promising monoclonal antibodies, too, are in very short supply. The president was one of fewer than 10 people to receive the treatment outside of a clinical trial. Even if the drug works as well as we hope, the 300,000 doses that Eli Lilly has agreed to deliver will not be enough when they finally arrive, probably toward the end of this year, when we have 150,000 positive cases a day, and still rising. Dexamethasone availability is excellent, but deaths are climbing despite its widespread use, because it helps address only one of this disease’s complications.

We have little reason to count on the authorities for leadership that has the precision and scale we need. The outgoing president has refused to concede the election and has launched a flurry of frivolous lawsuits to muddy the transition, thereby making the odds of an effective federal response over the next few months less likely.

All of this means we desperately need to flatten the curve again before hospitals nationwide are overrun. Utah, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, and other states are already reporting that hospitals and intensive-care units are at or near capacity. The bottleneck for medical care isn’t just lack of space, or even equipment, which we may be able to increase, but staff—trained nurses and doctors who can attend to patients, and who cannot be manufactured out of thin air. During the spring crisis in the New York tristate area, health-care workers from around the country rushed to the region, buttressing the exhausted medical workforce. With a nationwide surge, doctors and nurses are needed in their hometown hospitals.If fewer people can be admitted to hospitals because of lack of space, patients won’t benefit from our improved clinical management of COVID-19. We may give back some of our gains in the mortality rate. We may also see deaths rise from other causes: Fewer nonurgent but important surgeries, more overworked medical staff, and overburdened emergency rooms could all contribute to worsening health outcomes for many other viruses that peak in winter months, like influenza, as well other ordinary medical conditions.This seasonality is not a huge surprise, which makes our lack of preparation even more tragic.

The 1918 flu pandemic saw an earlier, milder wave in the spring; a lull in the summer; and a deadlier surge starting in the fall. Other coronaviruses endemic to us are also sharply seasonal, tending to peak in winter. This may be because the humidity and temperature conditions of fall and winter favor the virus more. It may also be because we spend more time indoors during the winter. Most likely, it’s a combination, along with other factors (less vitamin D? less light?). Whatever the causes, public-health experts knew a fall and winter wave was a high likelihood, and urged us to get ready.But we did not.The best way to prepare would have been to enter this phase with as few cases as possible. In exponential processes like epidemics, the baseline matters a great deal. Once the numbers are this large, it’s very easy for them to get much larger, very quickly—and they will. When we start with half a million confirmed cases a week, as we had in mid-October, it’s like a runaway train. Only a few weeks later, we are already at about 1 million cases a week, with no sign of slowing down.Americans are reporting higher numbers of contacts compared with the spring, probably because of quarantine fatigue and confusing guidance. It’s hard to keep up a restricted life. But what we’re facing now isn’t forever.It’s time to buckle up and lock ourselves down again, and to do so with fresh vigilance. Remember: We are barely nine or 10 months into this pandemic, and we have not experienced a full-blown fall or winter season. Everything that we may have done somewhat cautiously—and gotten away with—in summer may carry a higher risk now, because the conditions are different and the case baseline is much higher. When community transmission is this high, every kind of exposure is more dangerous. A gym class is more likely to have someone who is infectious. Workplaces will have more cases, meaning more employees will unknowingly bring the virus home. More people at the grocery store will be positive. A casual gathering of friends may be harder to hold outdoors. Even transmission from surfaces may pose a higher risk now, because lower humidity levels may improve the survivability of the virus.Plus, the holidays are upon us, which means a spike in gatherings of people who do not otherwise see one another. Such get-togethers, especially if they are multigenerational, can spark more outbreaks. I take no joy in saying this, but all of this means that any gathering outside one’s existing quarantine pod should be avoided for now—especially if it is indoors. Think of it as a postponement and plan to hold it later. Better a late Christmas than an early medical catastrophe. Pods should not expand unless absolutely necessary. Order takeout instead of dining indoors. Make game night virtual. Shop in bulk, so you can do fewer trips to the store. It’s not the right time for wedding receptions or birthday parties. Young people present one of the biggest challenges. Many colleges are ending school and sending students home, for what could be a country-wide super-spreader event. That age group—young adults—is especially dangerous; although they can get infected, they are less likely to get very sick, so they don’t stay put the way sick people would. That means they pose a great risk to their more vulnerable parents and other older relatives as they go about their lives. Ideally, colleges should offer the students already on campus the option to stay in the dorms over winter break, and those who live in off-campus housing should consider staying put. If they do go home, the students should quarantine for the recommended two weeks to the greatest degree possible.It might also be time for ordinary people to consider using higher-quality masks (N95s and KN95s)—something that public-health experts have long recommended. This is especially true for low-wage workers, a disproportionate number of whom are people of color and have to work indoors; older people, and anyone who works with them; and people with preexisting conditions that put them at higher risk. Ideally, we’d have a significant aid package, allowing businesses to remain closed and workers to stay home as much as possible, while also increasing workplace standards through better ventilation and masks. Tragically, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. On the plus side, though, it’s now possible for ordinary people to purchase higher-quality masks, which suggests that the dire shortage of the spring is over. It’s still wise to avoid hoarding; most people don’t need that many, and this surge will put a fresh strain on the supplies. As long as they are put on and taken off carefully (use hand sanitizer before and after), such masks are reusable after being left in a paper bag or breathable container for at least five days, which means as few as five are enough to rotate through a typical work week for people who work with others—especially indoors.All of this is unpleasant, but the alternative is much worse. There is a Turkish saying for times like these, when we can see a light at the end of the tunnel: “Time passes quickly if we can count the days until the end.” We are no longer in the open-ended, dreadful period of spring 2020, when we did not know if we’d even have a vaccine, whether any therapeutics would work, and whether we’d ever emerge from the shadow of this pandemic. We can see the cavalry coming, but until it’s here, we need to lock ourselves down once again.

- - Zeynep Tufekci is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and an associate professor at the University of North Carolina. She studies the interaction between digital technology, artificial intelligence, and society.