France Struggles With ‘Chilling’ COVID-19 Data From Nursing Homes; Italy Considers How to Move on After Coronavirus Peak

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By Politico. Even though older people are most at risk of developing COVID-19, French health authorities have struggled to get data on the spread of the coronavirus from a key source: nursing homes.

Weeks into the epidemic and shortly after a new reporting system was implemented, health officials raised concerns with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s office about the difficulties they face with private care facilities for the elderly, according to internal emails seen by POLITICO.

At least 3,237 people have died from COVID-19 in the country’s nursing homes since early March, according to the most recent official statistics published Tuesday. That was an increase of 820 from the day before and brings France’s death toll to over 10,000. . .

The number of deaths in nursing homes is “objectively chilling,” said Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas, the prime minister’s head of Cabinet, in an email dated Sunday to Aurélien Rousseau, head of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) for the Paris region. (Read more from “France Struggles With ‘Chilling’ COVID-19 Data From Nursing Homes” HERE)

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Phase Two: Italy Considers How to Move on After Coronavirus Peak

By Al Jazeera. Nearly a month after a nationwide lockdown was implemented to prevent the spread of the virus that was ravaging through Italy’s north, there are government discussions and public debate about moving to “phase two” – a period during which citizens will have to learn to live with the virus and one which could risk another outbreak.

Italy is in the unfortunate position of being two to three weeks ahead of other European countries in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

While figures suggest that the measures have achieved some level of success in slowing the rate of infection, it is likely they will remain in place over the coming Easter period, usually a time for gathering and celebration. . .

The Italian civil protection agency said the number of new infections had begun to decrease. But the daily recorded death toll remains high, 604 on Tuesday.

“Comforting data include the number of people who are admitted to hospital, which gives us a more accurate indication of how the epidemic is evolving compared with other data,” Matteo Villa, who has been crunching statistics for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, told Al Jazeera. (Read more from “Phase Two: Italy Considers How to Move on After Coronavirus Peak” HERE)

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Alaska Halts Abortions Due to COVID-19

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. . .On Tuesday, the state issued an update to a mandate released last month that required non-urgent or elective procedures be canceled or postponed for three months. The update states the intent is to preserve personal protective gear for health care workers and patient care supplies, ensure staff and patient safety and expand available hospital capacity in the midst of dealing with COVID-19.

The update was accompanied by a list of surgeries or procedures that would be considered non-urgent or elective. Under a section for gynecological procedures that “could be delayed for a few weeks,” it lists surgical abortion.

It says healthcare providers “are to postpone surgical abortion procedures unless the life or physical health of the mother is endangered by continuation of the pregnancy during the period of postponement.” The language leaves room for “professional judgment” on the timeframe, state health Commissioner Adam Crum said Tuesday. (Read more from “Alaska Halts Abortions Due to COVID-19” HERE)

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Bill Gates: This Is How Long It May Take Before Americans ‘Can Be Completely Safe’ From COVID-19

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It might not be until fall 2021 that Americans “can be completely safe” from COVID-19, Bill Gates said in a Tuesday interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour.

That’s because it will take more than a year before a vaccine can be developed and deployed, according to researchers working to develop a treatment for COVID-19.

“The vaccine is critical, because, until you have that, things aren’t really going to be normal,” the billionaire philanthropist told Woodruff. “They can open up to some degree, but the risk of a rebound will be there until we have very broad vaccination.”

Social distancing is helping to lower the number of COVID-19 cases. The goal, Gates explained, is to get that number down to a point where “contact tracing” (a process in which those within close contact with an infected person are closely monitored) can be done, in order to maintain necessary quarantines.

To understand what life in the U.S. will look like six to 12 months from now, Gates suggested China as a good model. “They are sending people back to work, but they’re wearing masks. They’re checking temperatures. They’re not doing large sporting events. And so they have been able to avoid a large rebound,” he said. (Read more from “Bill Gates: This Is How Long It May Take Before Americans ‘Can Be Completely Safe’ From COVID-19” HERE)

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White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO

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By NBC News. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is working on a possible plan to cut U.S. aid to the World Health Organization, administration officials said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump tries to deflect blame for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Administration officials said they also plan to look into the timeline of the WHO’s reaction to the coronavirus after it first appeared in China, as well as “links” to China.

“What the WHO knew and how it reacted to that knowledge is relevant to the U.S. government’s response to the crisis,” a senior administration official said. (Read more from “White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO” HERE)

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Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding

By CNBC. U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tension with the World Health Organization on Wednesday, once again criticizing the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to withhold funding.

“So we’re going to do a study, an investigation, and we’re going to make a determination as to what we’re doing. In the meantime, we’re holding back,” Trump said at a White House press conference Wednesday. It was not immediately clear from the president’s comment if he was “holding back” on the funding or probe of the WHO.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration is reevaluating the WHO’s funding, adding that the United Nation’s health organization hasn’t “achieved what it intended to do,” particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Organizations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended,” Pompeo said. “We need to make sure that, not only the World Health Organization but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America, we need to make sure it’s delivering on those tax payer dollars.” (Read more from “Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding” HERE)

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Bernie Sanders Drops out of 2020 Race

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Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign, he announced on Wednesday, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the apparent Democratic presidential nominee.

“I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign,” Sanders told supporters in a livestream, saying he wished he could provide supporters with “better news” but “I think you know the truth.”

“We are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden and the path to victory is virtually impossible,” he said. Sanders, I-Vt., called Biden “a very decent man who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.” . . .

He added that he understands some supporters who want him to fight on through the convention, but he could not “in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour” as the COVID-19 outbreak grips the nation.

He pledged to have significant influence over the party platform this summer, as he did during the 2016 convention. He pointed to policies like a $15 minimum wage, which has been picked up in some states and cities since he first began campaigning for it at the presidential level five years ago, as evidence that his progressive platform is winning. (Read more from “Bernie Sanders Drops out of 2020 Race” HERE)

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Fake Cops Are Stopping Drivers for Violating Stay-At-Home Orders

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Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams shakes his head in confusion: Somewhere out in his county, a guy with flashing lights on his Dodge Charger has been stopping drivers and warning them they’re violating coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

Whoever is stopping the cars isn’t one of Ream’s deputies. Instead, the police impersonator is himself breaking the law and putting himself at extreme risk, because traffic stops are among the most dangerous things most law enforcement officers do. The stops happened several times in March. . .

Reams is not alone. Authorities have reported police impersonators making coronavirus-related stops in Georgia and California, among others. While there are always some people, almost always men, who like to pretend they’re cops, the coronavirus outbreak seems to have emboldened an unusual number of them, particularly in Northern Colorado. . .

And he isn’t the only one. An apparently different group of imposters conducted an even more elaborate checkpoint in Greeley, the capital city of Weld County, around the same time, funneling drivers into a corral where men with unmarked black uniforms and dash-mounted flashing lights questioned them about violating travel restrictions, police said. Like other states, Colorado’s stay-at-home order permits essential travel, including trips to work. . .

In Georgia’s Dawson and Hall counties, a man driving a dark sedan with flashing blue lights in its windshield area stopped several drivers late last month to “enforce a curfew,” the Dawson County Sheriff’s office said. In California, authorities are investigating a man they say pretended to be a cop and falsely said on Facebook that officers from El Centro, a small city near the U.S.-Mexico border, were enforcing a quarantine against three families. (Read more from “Fake Cops Are Stopping Drivers for Violating Stay-At-Home Orders” HERE)

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FCC Makes Decision on Investigating Networks Airing Trump’s Coronavirus Briefings

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai dismissed a petition for the agency to investigate news networks that air President Donald Trump’s press briefings on coronavirus.

The independent government agency slapped down a request from advocacy group Free Press because press freedoms are too important, Pai said in a tweet Monday announcing the decision. The tweet included screenshot of a press statement addressing the petition. . .

Pai’s tweet and press statement comes after Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan demanded Saturday that news networks stop live-broadcasting Trump’s near-daily coronavirus briefings.

“The media must stop live-broadcasting Trump’s dangerous, destructive coronavirus briefings,” Sullivan tweeted along with her column explaining why. (Read more from “FCC Makes Decision on Investigating Networks Airing Trump’s Coronavirus Briefings” HERE)

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CDC May Loosen Guidelines Thanks to This Game-Changing Update

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By WND. A key model used by the White House Coronavirus Task Force lowered its projection of coronavirus deaths in the United States by 25% in an assessment issued Wednesday.

The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now forecasts 60,415 deaths, down from 81,766 in its previous report.

IHME’s director, director Christopher Murray, explained in a press release issued Sunday that this institute’s estimates “assume statewide social distancing measures are continuing in states where they have already been enacted, and for those states without such measures in place, it is assumed they will be will be in place within seven days.” . . .

The lowered projection comes as the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers loosening its guidelines for self-isolation. (Read more from “CDC May Loosen Guidelines Thanks to This Game-Changing Update” HERE)

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Feds Loosen Virus Rules to Let Essential Workers Return

By AP News. In a first, small step toward reopening the country, the Trump administration issued new guidelines Wednesday to make it easier for essential workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to get back to work if they do not have symptoms of the coronavirus.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced at the White House that essential employees, such as health care and food supply workers, who have been within 6 feet of a confirmed or suspected case of the virus can return to work under certain circumstances if they are not experiencing symptoms.

The new guidelines are being issued as the nation mourns more than 14,000 deaths from the virus and grapples with a devastated economy and medical crises from coast to coast. Health experts continue to caution Americans to practice social distancing and to avoid returning to their normal activities. At the same time, though, they are planning for a time when the most serious threat from COVID-19 will be in the country’s rear-view mirror. (Read more from “Feds Loosen Virus Rules to Let Essential Workers Return” HERE)

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WATCH: Boy, 7, Uses $600 of Savings to Make Coronavirus Care Packages for Seniors, Feed 90 Students

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a first-grader in Gaithersburg, Md., used money he saved up to help those in need as a way to overcome fear with acts of love.

Cavanaugh Bell, 7, spent $600 of his own money, saved up from two birthdays and three Christmases, to purchase and package 65 “COVID-19 Carepacks” along with 31 hot meals from a local restaurant, Buca Di Beppo, to serve to senior citizens and help the local businesses impacted by being closed after Gov. Larry Hogan shut down restaurants Monday.

He filled several shopping carts with food and a bottle of bleach to hand out to seniors. One responded, “Oh, thank you, sweetie!”

The 7-year-old added in another video, “Don’t forget our senior citizens. They need to eat, too.” . . .

Cavanaugh started a non-profit called “Cool and Dope” with the mission to “eradicate all bullying and youth suicide through political and social action by his 18th birthday on Nov. 20, 2030.” (Read more from “WATCH: Boy, 7, Uses $600 of Savings to Make Coronavirus Care Packages for Seniors, Feed 90 Students” HERE)

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New Wuhan Horror: Witness Claims Coronavirus Victims Burned Alive!; Time to Put China on Lockdown for Its Dishonesty Amid Coronavirus Crisis

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By WND. Coronavirus patients in the Chinese city where the pandemic originated, Wuhan, were put in body bags and burned alive at a funeral home, Radio Free Asia reported.

A source close to the funeral industry surnamed Ma claimed that some crematories have stopped working after running day and night, sometimes cremating several bodies at once.

Ma said reports have emerged of people restrained and forced into body bags when they were still moving.

“One old lady was saying that they put one guy into … a body bag when he wasn’t even dead yet, and took him off to the crematorium because there was no way of saving him,” the source said.

“Some people are saying that … there are video clips of screams coming from funeral homes, from inside the furnaces … which tells us that some people were taken to the funeral homes while they were still alive.” (Read more from “New Wuhan Horror: Witness Claims Coronavirus Victims Burned Alive!” HERE)

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Time to Put China on Lockdown for Its Dishonesty Amid Coronavirus Crisis

By USA Today. There are many lessons to be learned from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. But one is already clear: China needs to be isolated from the civilized world until its behavior improves. We are in the current situation, with deaths and economic devastation worldwide, because China handled this outbreak with its trademark mixture of dishonesty, incompetence and thuggery. Were China a more civilized nation, this outbreak would have been stopped early, and with far less harm, inside and outside of China. . .

But wherever the virus came from, China’s response was inept, dishonest and utterly inconsiderate of the rest of the world. A competent, honest response would have placed the world on notice much earlier. A China that cared about the rest of the world would have halted flights abroad while this disease was spreading, instead of allowing its citizens to spread willy-nilly around the globe. (As Brian Kennedy writes: “China seems to have taken the position that if they were to suffer the coronavirus, so too was the United States and the rest of the world. What else is to explain the continuation of flights from China to the United States at the rate of some 20,000 passengers a day, until President Trump wisely shut them down?”) . . .

This calls for a response.

The response needs to be harsh enough to teach the Chinese government a lesson, which means pretty harsh, as they appear to still think they can brazen this out. Among other things, the United States — and ideally the world community at large — need to sharply reduce economic relations with China. In particular, no one should be relying on them for medicines, medical equipment and other vital goods. (China’s state news service threatened to plunge America into a “mighty sea” of coronavirus by withholding critical medications.) Chinese scientists should no longer have easy access to Western laboratories or universities. Chinese political leaders should no longer find it easy to travel the world. (Read more from “Time to Put China on Lockdown for Its Dishonesty Amid Coronavirus Crisis” HERE)

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