Groups Representing 30,000 Physicians Sign Letter Demanding Abortions Be Suspended to Conserve Medical Resources During Pandemic (VIDEO)

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Groups representing 30,000 physicians signed a letter called for the suspension of abortions in order to preserve medical resources critical to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter was published on Monday as officials reported greater numbers of those infected and the stock market continued to tank.

The letter objected to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists classifying elective abortions as “essential healthcare,” and made the case to suspend abortions.

“In such an uncertain and tumultuous time, the entire healthcare profession is being called upon to conserve resources and healthcare professionals to an extent never seen before,” the letter read. “And yet, in the midst of this call, while hospitals are postponing elective procedures and many outpatient clinics are rescheduling non-essential office visits, the abortion industry continues with business as usual.”

(Read more from “Groups Representing 30,000 Physicians Sign Letter Demanding Abortions Be Suspended to Conserve Medical Resources During Pandemic” HERE)

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Reports: Obama Admin Used up the Stockpile of N95 Masks but Never Replenished the Supply, Despite Recommendations to Do so

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According to reports from the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News — not exactly right-wing media outlets — the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks was depleted under the Obama administration but never replenished, despite two separate recommendations to do so.

Critics of the current administration have blamed President Donald Trump for the shortage of respirator masks that has left the country looking for ways to mass-produce them in time to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

But a Sunday report from PJ Media found that stockpile shortage can be traced back much further back than to January or even nearly four years ago to Trump’s inauguration. The problem began in 2009 under the Obama administration. . .

In 2005, the George W. Bush administration published the “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza,” which outlined a strategy for the federal government to assist state and local efforts in the event of a pandemic. A key part of the strategy was for the federal government to distribute medical supplies, such as N95 masks, from the Strategic National Stockpile.

Then, in 2009, the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak swept through the United States, infecting 60 million Americans, hospitalizing 274,304, and killing 12,469, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Read more from “Reports: Obama Admin Used up the Stockpile of N95 Masks but Never Replenished the Supply, Despite Recommendations to Do so” HERE)

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Hillary Clinton Blames President Trump After Democrats Block Coronavirus Relief

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By Breitbart. Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday accused the GOP of pursuing a “#SelfDeal” and blamed President Trump for the lack of immediate economic relief for the American people during the coronavirus pandemic, even though Democrats blocked bipartisan legislation and have since packed a swath of demands unrelated to the issue at hand in their own proposal.

“In the face of crisis, FDR had the New Deal to help suffering Americans. Now, @realdonaldtrump, you and your fellow Republicans are pushing the #SelfDeal. See the difference?” she asked:

Clinton’s sarcastic message follows members of her own party blocking a bipartisan relief package and pushing a pork-filled proposal in lieu of the original measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) proposal, which reportedly spans roughly 1,400 pages, contains a swath of progressive policy agenda items unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic pain it has inflicted on millions of Americans across the country. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton Blames President Trump After Democrats Block Coronavirus Relief” HERE)

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U.S., Trump Says, Not Built to Be ‘Shut Down’

By ABC News. The novel coronavirus pandemic is spreading around the globe and in the United States, resulting in more than 41,700 cases domestically and more than 500 deaths.

The federal government has been rolling out its response to the virus, its efforts to stem the tide as well as to stimulate the economy, which has taken a severe hit.

President Donald Trump opened the daily White House Monday briefing expanding on reports that he was considering loosening coronavirus guidelines amid growing economic fallout.

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” he said emphatically.

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We’re not going to let the cure be worse than the problem. At the end of the 15-day period, we’ll make a decision as to which way we want to go,” he said, referring to the eventual “opening of our country.”

(Read more from “U.S., Trump Says, Not Built to Be ‘Shut Down'” HERE)

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State Releases Inmates to Stop ‘Overcrowding’

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By Breitbart. California’s coronavirus policy has reached a point of contradiction: the state is releasing inmates from its jails to prevent the spread of coronavirus in close quarters, while at the same time moving homeless people to recreation centers in residential areas.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

More California counties are releasing inmates to protect their jails againstpossible coronavirus outbreaks.

In Alameda County, officials announced 247 people were being released from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. San Diego County officials have announced similar moves, as have San Francisco, San Mateo and other counties.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has reduced its inmate population by 6% in the last three weeks and Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said her office would consider reducing bail for thousands of nonviolent offenders.

(Read more from “State Releases Inmates to Stop ‘Overcrowding’” HERE)

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State Prison Inmate in Lancaster, 2 Prison Employees in Chino Test Positive for Coronavirus

By Daily Bulletin. A man incarcerated at a state prison in Lancaster and five employees at corrections facilities in Chino, Sacramento and Folsom had tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Sunday, March 22, prison officials said.

The Lancaster case is the first to be reported among inmates in California’s prison system.

The first three confirmed cases of the virus in the prison system involved two employees at the California Institution for Men in Chino and another at California State Prison, Sacramento, officials for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation wrote in a statement issued Saturday, March 21.

The agency reported Sunday that an additional employee in Sacramento, one other at Folsom State Prison, and an inmate at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster had also contracted COVID-19. (Read more from “State Prison Inmate in Lancaster, 2 Prison Employees in Chino Test Positive for Coronavirus” HERE)

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ISIS Attack Targets U.S. Troops at Bagram Airfield in Third Such Incident Since Taliban Peace Deal

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An Islamic State militant fired mortars at U.S. and international troops at Bagram Airfield in what security officials said was the third attack on the base since the U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban last month.

No one was hurt during the attack Saturday night and Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, was not damaged, a spokesman for the NATO Resolute Support mission said Monday.

A man in a small pickup drove through a police checkpoint near Bagram about 8 p.m. Saturday and fired three mortars at the base before escaping, said Mohammad Mahfooz Alizada, police chief of Parwan province.

Afghan police destroyed the militant’s truck, causing a large explosion, said Bagram district governor Abdul Shokour Qudousi. All of the mortars were shot down, he said. . .

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Stars and Stripes on Monday in a phone interview that the group blamed the attack on spoilers trying to “sabotage” the peace process. (Read more from “ISIS Attack Targets U.S. Troops at Bagram Airfield in Third Such Incident Since Taliban Peace Deal” HERE)

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Not Forgotten: Devin Nunes Exploring ‘Legal Remedies’ After Adam Schiff Released Phone Records

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Rep. Devin Nunes said he is exploring “all” of his legal options in response to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff subpoenaing and releasing his phone records during the recent Ukraine-related impeachment investigation.

The California Republican, who is the ranking member on the intelligence panel, gave an update to Larry O’Connor on the Examining Politics podcast last week.

“We’re going to look at all the legal remedies that we can take,” Nunes said, adding that the situation is “complicated” because of the “corrupt Democratic Congress” and because “the fake news media make up and build narratives.”

The phone call logs, subpoenaed from AT&T and Verizon, appear in a 658-page December report from House Democrats, including records of some phone calls by Nunes, presidential lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, journalist John Solomon, Fox News host Sean Hannity, indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, and others. . .

“I’m in California, so for sure, state law, you cannot release somebody’s phone records,” Nunes said. “So, for sure, that right has been violated. But, we also have to look at the constitutional aspects of this, and do all the members of Congress have a right to privacy, and can just one member, because he doesn’t like someone and he’s a political opponent of someone, can that member just subpoena records and then release just to embarrass or to create a distraction or to build whatever fantasy-land narrative that they continue to build?” (Read more from “Not Forgotten: Devin Nunes Exploring ‘Legal Remedies’ After Adam Schiff Released Phone Records” HERE)

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WATCH: Dr. Fauci Slams the Media for Continually Trying to ‘Divide’ Him and Trump

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed his contempt for the media on Sunday during an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“You said this week that you differed from the president in an assessment that a combination of two drugs, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin, combined, could have an outcome that he described to the public,” Margaret Brennan said. “Who is the president listening to and do you see a concern here that those drugs could become, basically oversubscribed, and there could be a shortage that could impact people who have persistent medical issues, like Lupus, and need those?”

“There’s an issue here of where we’re coming from. The president has heard, as we all have heard, are what I call ‘anecdotal reports’ that certain drugs work. So, what he was trying to do, and express, was the hope that it might work, let’s try and push their usage,” Fauci explained. “I, on the other hand, am not disagreeing with the fact that, anecdotally, they might work. But my view is to prove, definitively, from a scientific standpoint, that they do work. So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint. And the president was trying to bring hope to the people.”

According to Fauci, the media is continually trying to find contrasts between what the NIAID director and the president have said about the Wuhan coronavirus.

“I think there’s this issue of trying to separate the two of us,” he said. “There isn’t fundamentally a difference there. He’s coming from a hope standpoint. I’m coming from it from a scientific standpoint.”

(Read more from “WATCH: Dr. Fauci Slams the Media for Continually Trying to ‘Divide’ Him and Trump” HERE)

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Germany’s Low Coronavirus Mortality Rate Intrigues Experts; Germany Bans Gatherings of More Than 2 to Contain Coronavirus Outbreak

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By The Guardian. Germany’s relatively low mortality rate continues to intrigue experts as Covid-19 spreads across Europe, with some questioning the methodology behind its data gathering while others argue the country’s high testing rates allow a more accurate approximation of the threat posed by the novel coronavirus.

While the pandemic has hit Germany with full force, with Johns Hopkins University noting 22,364 confirmed infections by Sunday morning, only 84 people are so far reported to have died.

This means Germany currently has the lowest mortality rate of the 10 countries most severely hit by the pandemic: 0.3% compared with 9% in Italy and 4.6% in the UK.

The contrast with Italy is especially surprising because the two countries have the highest percentage of citizens aged 65 or over in Europe. If anything, the Bloomberg Global Health Index would suggest Italians have a healthier lifestyle than Germans.

German politicians and senior health officials have been reluctant to comment on the low mortality rate while the situation is developing so rapidly. Lothar Wieler, the president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the government’s central public health body, has said he does not expect there to be a significant difference in mortality rates between Italy and Germany in the long run. (Read more from “Germany’s Low Coronavirus Mortality Rate Intrigues Experts” HERE)

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Germany Bans Gatherings of More Than 2 to Contain Coronavirus Outbreak

By Fox News. Germany took drastic action Sunday to slow the spread of the coronavirus as the European Union country banned public gatherings of more than two people.

Only families and people sharing a home are exempt from the stringent action, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, according to Bloomberg News.

“No one wants to stand before the people and discuss such rules,” Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin after a video conference with regional leaders, according to the news outlet.

Merkel, who after giving her remarks was placed in quarantine after a doctor she came in contact with tested positive for COVID-19, said the public gathering ban will be in effect for two weeks. (Read more from “Germany Bans Gatherings of More Than 2 to Contain Coronavirus Outbreak” HERE)

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Italian Virologist Says Political Correctness Doomed His Country’s Coronavirus Response; Italy Bans All Internal Travel to Stop Virus Spread

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By The Blaze. Italy is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe and one of the country’s top virologists says political correctness is partly to blame.

Dr. Giorgio Palù, a professor of virology and microbiology of the University of Padova and the former head of the European and Italian Society for Virology, recently said that concerns over “politics” and being perceived as “racist” delayed Rome’s response to the deadly virus that originated in China. . .

Palù told CNN that the Italian government failed by refusing to impose a wider and stricter lockdown earlier on, instead of the initial restrictions that focused on 11 areas Rome placed in a “red zone.” . . .

Palù also believes that politics delayed the government’s reaction, which he decried as “lazy in the beginning,” saying there is “too much politics in Italy.”

The virologist added, “There was a proposal to isolate people coming from the epicenter, coming from China.” However, he says the Italian government balked at the idea of singling out travelers coming from China out of concern it could be construed as racist. “Then it became seen as racist, but they were people coming from the outbreak.” (Read more from “Italian Virologist Says Political Correctness Doomed His Country’s Coronavirus Response” HERE)

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Italy Bans All Internal Travel to Stop Virus Spread

By Al Jazeera. Italy moved to stop all travel within the country, in a further escalation of its attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a month after announcing its first death from the disease.

Italy’s travel ban was announced as all non-essential businesses including car, clothing and furniture makers were ordered to close and a further 651 people died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Italy has recorded a death toll higher than China, where the virus first appeared late last year.

Domenico Arcuri, head of the government’s coronavirus relief effort, told state broadcaster RAI that Italy was “at war” with the virus. (Read more from “Italy Bans All Internal Travel to Stop Virus Spread” HERE)

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Senate Democrats Block Coronavirus Stimulus Bill

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By Daily Caller. The Senate on Sunday night failed to pass a procedural cloture vote on a phase-three coronavirus stimulus bill as there has been continued internal dispute between both parties.

The vote was 47-47. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that the bill would include $75 billion for hospitals and that two-thirds of all new money in the bill would go to states, however, this vote will likely end consideration of this bill. McConnell also said, “it’s just about time to take yes for an answer.” Democrats have said the coronavirus bill lacks new SNAP funds and were reportedly pushing for expanded emergency leave provisions and more than three months of unemployment insurance.

Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin, who has been negotiating with members of Congress on behalf of the White House, was spotted entering Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, 20 minutes away from the cloture vote.

McConnell voted no, which was not planned. He voted with the Democrats so he would have the option of recalling the vote, as Senate rules state.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she will halt negotiations with the Senate and move to pass her own coronavirus package in the House, which could drag things out longer than many expected. Pelosi’s legislation will be a $1.6 trillion emergency package, according to Politico.

The text for a phase-three Senate bill announced Friday would give $1,200 checks to every person, while couples would receive $2,400. That $1,200 check will go to Americans making less than $75,000 annually. Each child will receive $500. The amount is reduced by $5 for every $100 a person earns over $75,000. Those making above $99,000 would not get any money. (Read more from “Senate Democrats Block Coronavirus Stimulus Bill” HERE)

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Senate Democrats Block Mammoth Coronavirus Stimulus Package

By The Hill. Senate Democrats on Sunday blocked a coronavirus stimulus package from moving forward as talks on several key provisions remain stalled.

Senators voted 47-47 on advancing a “shell” bill, a placeholder that the text of the stimulus legislation would have been swapped into, falling short of the three-fifths threshold needed to advance the proposal. . .

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the bill includes “problematic” provisions and that McConnell should have made the negotiations include both chambers and the White House from the beginning.

“Unfortunately, the legislation has not improved enough in the past three hours,” he said.

McConnell appeared visibly angry as he spoke from the Senate floor after the bill failed, pledging to force the vote again. (Read more from “Senate Democrats Block Mammoth Coronavirus Stimulus Package” HERE)

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