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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Putin Sides With China in War of Words With the U.S. Over COVID-19 Origins

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By PJ Media. Chinese propaganda has been a marvel these last few weeks. They have “bent the curve” of history and rewritten the narrative to make themselves out to be heroic saviors of the world. They pretend that their initial response to the coronavirus was superior to any other nation’s and besides, the virus was let loose upon China by someone else; it didn’t originate there.

Any thinking person knows it’s all a lie. But there are many who choose to play along with Chinese propaganda — especially if it gives them the chance to criticize America.

Count Russian President Vladimir Putin as an enthusiastic booster of China’s lies.

Washington Examiner:

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Russian counterpart on the phone on Thursday, and “Putin commended the Chinese government for taking effective measures to not only contain the spread of the virus at home but also contribute to safeguarding the health and safety of people across the world,” according to a readout of the call Friday by China’s Foreign Ministry.

(Read more from “Putin Sides With China in War of Words With the U.S. Over COVID-19 Origins” HERE)

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Coronavirus Drives the U.S. and China Deeper Into Global Power Struggle

By New York Times. When President Trump took the podium at the White House briefing room one afternoon last week, his prepared remarks included a reference to the “corona virus.” But a close-up photograph revealed that Mr. Trump had used one of his signature Sharpies to cross out the word “corona,” changing the phrase to “Chinese virus.”

Mr. Trump was scathing as he accused Beijing of concealing the outbreak first detected in Wuhan that has become a pandemic now paralyzing the United States. “Certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did,” he said. And the next day, he was joined at a White House briefing by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who accused China’s government of distorting vital health data and said its response “creates risk to people all around the world.”

The withering criticism is an abrupt change in tone for a president who has long sought to stay on friendly terms with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and who initially praised Mr. Xi’s government for “doing a very professional job” against the epidemic. But as Mr. Trump and top American officials toughen their condemnations of Mr. Xi’s government, national security and public health experts fear that the two world powers are heading into a new Cold War that could seriously undermine joint efforts to quash the virus and salvage the global economy. (Read more from “Coronavirus Drives the U.S. and China Deeper Into Global Power Struggle” HERE)

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China Allegedly Destroyed Evidence of Wuhan Coronavirus in December; How China Can Be Held Legally Accountable for Coronavirus Pandemic; Report Claims China Is Faking Its Recovery

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By Legal Insurrection. My daily update must start with the revelation by an independent, investigative journalism team at Caixin Global.

The team discovered that Chinese scientists destroyed proof of research involving the novel coronavirus that is now spreading at pandemic levels.

An article published by the Times of London indicates that Chinese authorities have been deleting the stories from the internet.

Chinese laboratories identified a mystery virus as a highly infectious new pathogen by late December last year, but they were ordered to stop tests, destroy samples and suppress the news, a Chinese media outlet has revealed.

A regional health official in Wuhan, centre of the outbreak, demanded the destruction of the lab samples that established the cause of unexplained viral pneumonia on January 1. China did not acknowledge there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later.

(Read more from “Report: China Destroyed Evidence of Wuhan Coronavirus in December” HERE)

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How China Can Be Held Legally Accountable for Coronavirus Pandemic

By Fox News. A cover-up and clampdown by the Chinese government in the early weeks of the coronavirus’s emergence is raising questions over whether the communist superpower can be held legally accountable.

“Generally countries like China have sovereign immunity and governments cannot be brought to regular courts or held liable regardless of their conduct,” Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israel-based attorney who has long specialized in suing terrorist regimes and state sponsors who orchestrate human rights abuses on behalf of victims, told Fox News.

“However, an argument could be made that just like support for terrorism, which is legally actionable, a government that engages in such reckless disregard and negligence and covers up an epidemic which has the potential to spread worldwide could be held legally liable ,” Darshan-Leitner said. “Cover-ups and deliberate acts to conceal a deadly medical crisis are not [among] the protected acts of a sovereign state or of responsible leaders.”

According to Darshan-Leitner, if a private party like a hospital or health care worker of a chemical company had learned of a dangerous and highly contagious disease and then deliberately covered its existence up and concealed it from the public they would clearly face criminal and civil liability.

“Why should a local or national government be any different? Clearly, China signed treaties and had a duty under international law to report the virus and not cover it up,” she continued. “China is not to blame for creating the virus but for not sounding the international alarm and trying to conceal it from the world.” (Read more from “How China Can Be Held Legally Accountable for Coronavirus Pandemic” HERE)

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Report Claims China Is Faking Its Recovery From the Coronavirus Outbreak

By The Blaze. . .Those reports are being disputed by local Chinese officials who say the government is using deceptive measures to create the appearance of normal business operations and productivity, according to the Chinese media outlet Caixin.

Back to normal? For the first time since the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, was discovered, China has reported no new infections. For the past couple of days, the number of new reported deaths has been in the single digits.

As a result, some of the businesses in China that were forced to shut down have begun reopening, and some travel restrictions have been lifted (although that is creating some new issues, including a fear of imported COVID-19 cases).

Not what it seems: Although the Chinese government, well-known for concealing or manipulating information, would obviously prefer the world seeing signs of strength and recovery, that might not be the case. Chinese whistleblowers tell Caixin they’re working to create an appearance that things are back to normal when they’re not[.] (Read more from “Report Claims China Is Faking Its Recovery From the Coronavirus Outbreak” HERE)

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State Department Advises Against All International Travel; Trump to Partially Close U.S.-Mexico Border

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By Washington Examiner. The U.S. State Department advised the public to avoid travel to other countries as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep around the globe.

The department placed all international travel under a Level 4 advisory. In an alert, the department wrote, “In countries where commercial departure options remain available, U.S. citizens who live in the United States should arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period.”

Last week, the department placed international travel at a Level 3 restriction, advising all passengers to “reconsider international travel.” (Read more from “State Department Advises Against All International Travel” HERE)

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Trump to Partially Close U.S.-Mexico Border

By Politico. President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to temporarily close the border to nonessential travel to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

U.S. and Mexican officials have been in talks this week over how to work together in responding to the global pandemic while ensuring that bilateral trade and essential travel are not disrupted at the border. It’s a similar move to the U.S. and Canada’s decision on Wednesday to impose travel restrictions at the northern U.S. border.

“Both countries know the importance of working together to limit the spread of the virus and ensure the commerce that supports our economy continues to keep flowing,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a White House press conference. “The United States is glad to have a friend that is working side-by-side with us in the fight.”

The U.S.’ agreement with Mexico and Canada to restrict nonessential travel will go into effect on Saturday. (Read more from “Trump to Partially Close U.S.-Mexico Border” HERE)

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Iran Repeatedly Attacks U.S. Troops as Coronavirus Outbreak Distracts Public Attention; U.S. Slaps New Sanctions on Iran

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By Washington Examiner. Iran-controlled forces are launching rockets at U.S. troops in Iraq while Western leaders focus on a coronavirus pandemic that threatens to overwhelm hospital networks around the world.

“It feels like part of the American public may have forgotten that two Americans died in Iraq,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, an expert on the Iranian regime at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Washington Examiner.

American forces targeted five weapons depots controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, a Shia militia that the United States blamed for the attack that killed two Americans and one British service member last week. Yet the militias remain undeterred, as a Tuesday morning barrage marked the third attack on bases housing U.S.n troops in the last week, even as Tehran struggles to manage one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world.

“They view this as a kind of continuing campaign to push Americans out of Iraq,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, who directs the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, told the Washington Examiner. “They’ve lost a lot of citizens to corona, but for those kinds of regimes, it’s really kind of inconsequential to them. They don’t place as high a premium on life as we do.” . . .

Some analysts believe that Iran has renewed attacks on U.S. forces in order to distract from the coronavirus outbreak. “Iranians are fiercely nationalistic,” American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Rubin, who specializes in Iran and the Middle East, told the Washington Examiner. “And so, basically, it’s a no-brainer on the part of the Iranian regime to try to distract people from their own incompetence. And, even though — yeah, I’m a neocon, I’m a hawk, and so forth — I think the worst possible thing would be for Trump to hit Iran.” (Read more from “Iran Repeatedly Attacks U.S. Troops as Coronavirus Outbreak Distracts Public Attention” HERE)

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U.S. Slaps New Sanctions on Iran Amid Renewed Rocket Attacks in Iraq

The State Department on Wednesday announced it is slapping new sanctions on Iran as renewed rocket attacks have been launched at U.S. forces in Iraq by what are believed to be Tehran-backed militias.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that the sanctions will target nine entities and three individuals “who have engaged in activity that could enable the Iranian regime’s violent behavior.”

“The actions of these individuals and entities provide revenue to the regime that it may use to fund terror and other destabilizing activities, such as the recent rocket attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces located at Camp Taji in Iraq,” he said.

The sanctions mainly target Iran’s petrochemical industry and are intended to “further Iran’s economic and diplomatic isolation.” (Read more from “U.S. Slaps New Sanctions on Iran Amid Renewed Rocket Attacks in Iraq” HERE)

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If China Had Acted 3 Weeks Earlier Than They Did, Cases Would’ve Been Reduced 95%

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By Axios. Axios has compiled a timeline of the earliest weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in China, highlighting when the cover-up started and ended — and showing how, during that time, the virus already started spreading around the world, including to the United States.

Why it matters: A study published in March indicated that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier than they did, the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% and its geographic spread limited.

This timeline, compiled from information reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the South China Morning Post and other sources, shows that China’s cover-up and the delay in serious measures to contain the virus lasted about three weeks. (Read more from “If China Had Acted 3 Weeks Earlier Than They Did, Cases Would’ve Been Reduced 95%” HERE)

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Early and Combined Interventions Crucial in Tackling COVID-19 Spread in China

By University of South Hampton. A study by the University of Southampton examining non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in response to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in China shows that a range of early, coordinated and targeted measures are needed to help significantly reduce its spread.

Researchers in the population mapping group WorldPop ran complex modelling, using anonymised data on both human movement and illness onset, to help simulate different outbreak scenarios for cities in mainland China. This allowed them to understand how variations in the timing, level and combinations of interventions affect speed and transmission of the disease. . .

The study estimates that by the end of February 2020 there was a total of 114, 325 COVID-19 cases in China. It shows that without non-pharmaceutical interventions – such as early detection, isolation of cases, travel restrictions and cordon sanitaire – the number of infected people would have been 67 times larger than that which actually occurred.

The research also found that if interventions in the country could have been conducted one week, two weeks, or three weeks earlier, cases could have been reduced by 66 percent, 86 percent and 95 percent respectively – significantly limiting the geographical spread of the disease. However, if NPIs were conducted one week, two weeks, or three weeks later than they were, the number of cases may have shown a 3-fold, 7-fold, or 18-fold increase, respectively.

Study author Dr Shengjie Lai, of the University of Southampton, comments: “Our study demonstrates how important it is for countries which are facing an imminent outbreak to proactively plan a coordinated response which swiftly tackles the spread of the disease on a number of fronts. We also show that China’s comprehensive response, in a relatively short period, greatly reduced the potential health impact of the outbreak.” (Read more from “Early and Combined Interventions Crucial in Tackling COVID-19 Spread in China” HERE)

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China Complains Its Image Is ‘Seriously Tarnished’ by American Journalists and Is Retaliating Against Them; Why China Is Blaming the U.S. for Coronavirus Outbreak

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By Business Insider. China announced it would take “reciprocal countermeasures” against American journalists working in the country in yet another escalation of tensions between the two countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday released a statement ordering American journalists working for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post to return their media credentials — effectively disallowing them from reporting the news in China and Hong Kong.

The ministry claimed its decision to further regulate US journalists was predicated on the US’s actions against its own journalists, which included “slashing the staff size of Chinese media outlets in the US, which is expulsion in all but name.”

“In recent years, the US government has placed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese media agencies and personnel in the US, purposely made things difficult for their normal reporting assignments, and subjected them to growing discrimination and politically-motivated oppression,” the ministry said in its statement.

Chinese media companies, which are heavily regulated and censored by the government, have several bureaus working in the US. In February, the Trump administration designated five of those state-run organizations as “foreign embassies,” which requires them to register their assets with the US State Department. (Read more from “China Complains Its Image Is ‘Seriously Tarnished’ by American Journalists and Is Retaliating Against Them” HERE)

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China Announces Expulsion of U.S. Journalists

By TIME. The Chinese government moved Tuesday to strip credentials from American reporters working for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, in a tit-for-tat exchange with the U.S. that has escalated in recent weeks. Beijing also demanded those outlets, as well as TIME and Voice of America, hand over details about personnel and operations.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed Americans working for the three U.S. newspapers whose credentials expire at the end of the year to turn in their press passes within 10 days. Those reporters would then be barred from reporting inside China, as well as in China’s semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The ministry also demanded information “in written form” about staff, operations, finances and real estate of the five American news organizations, including TIME, in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The Chinese government said that the move to send reporters out of the country was taken in response to the U.S. not allowing more Chinese nationals working for state-run media to work in the U.S. On March 2, the Trump administration put a cap on the number of Chinese nationals allowed to be employed by five Chinese state-run news outlets operating inside the U.S. That action by the U.S. followed China’s decision to expel three reporters from the Wall Street Journal following the publication of an opinion article critical of the Chinese government. China’s “measures are entirely necessary and reciprocal countermeasures that China is compelled to take in response to the unreasonable oppression the Chinese media organizations experience in the U.S.,” the ministry wrote in a statement. (Read more from “China Announces Expulsion of U.S. Journalists” HERE)

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Why China Is Blaming the U.S. for Coronavirus Outbreak

By WIO News. Coronavirus has imposed a worldwide curfew, the most popular sites lie deserted. There are more than 1,80,000 confirmed cases and over 7000 have died. . .

They’re sparing no effort to deflect blame for the outbreak. China wants the world to believe that the coronavirus did not originate there.

Chinese diplomats are aggressively pushing conspiracy theories to spread that coronavirus originated in the United States of America (USA). They claim there’s evidence that the virus was not made in China. And they are doing so mainly to shrug off scrutiny. . .

However, the truth is China tried to hide the outbreak. There is no doubt that the Chinese people were the worst sufferers of this outbreak, but the Chinese state deserves no sympathy, let alone praise.

China’s new narrative on the coronavirus is designed for both the domestic and the international audience. It makes the communist party look strong at home. Ideally, China should help smaller countries, ramp-up efforts to contain the disease. (Read more from “Why China Is Blaming the U.S. for Coronavirus Outbreak” HERE)

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Early U.S. Coronavirus Patients Have Fully Recovered; France Says Coronavirus Situation ‘Deteriorating Very Fast’

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By The Epoch Times. Patients across the United States who earlier tested positive for COVID-19 have fully recovered.

Maryland’s first three patients have fully recovered after becoming infected while on a cruise on the Nile River.

“I’m happy to report that the first three cases reported last Thursday have all been cleared to return back to their normal daily schedules,” Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said in a video update on March 13.

The trio included a couple in their 70s and another unrelated person in her 50s.

Health officials across the country have reported patients fully recovering. About 4 out of 5 patients don’t require hospitalization, according to data that’s been widely cited by U.S. health officials. (Read more from “Early U.S. Coronavirus Patients Have Fully Recovered” HERE)

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France Says Coronavirus Situation ‘Deteriorating Very Fast’

By Times of Israel. The coronavirus outbreak in France is “very worrying” and “deteriorating very fast,” the head of the country’s health service says.

“The number of cases doubles every three days,” Jerome Salomon says on France Inter.

“I want our citizens to realize that there are people who are sick, who are in intensive care and that (their number) runs into hundreds,” he says.

According to the latest official figures published on Sunday, France has had 127 coronavirus deaths and 5,423 confirmed cases. (Read more from “France Says Coronavirus Situation ‘Deteriorating Very Fast’” HERE)

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Have They Found a Cure for the Coronavirus? Australian Researchers Claim Two Existing Drugs Could ‘Cure’ COVID-19; First Person Injected With Trial Coronavirus Vaccine in Seattle

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By Daily Mail. Drugs used to treat HIV and malaria could be used to tackle the coronavirus, according to scientists in Australia.

A team of infectious disease experts at the University of Queensland in Brisbane say they have seen two existing medications manage to wipe out COVID-19 infections.

Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, and HIV-suppressing combination lopinavir/ritonavir have both reportedly shown promising results in human tests and made the virus ‘disappear’ in infected patients.

The drugs are being tested as researchers and doctors around the world scramble to try and find a vaccine, cure or treatment for the deadly virus. . .

Professor Paterson said it wouldn’t be wrong to consider the drugs a possible ‘treatment or cure’ for the deadly respiratory infection. (Read more from “Have They Found a Cure for the Coronavirus? Australian Researchers Claim Two Existing Drugs Could ‘Cure’ COVID-19” HERE)

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First Person Injected With Trial Coronavirus Vaccine in Seattle

By Forbes. A new phase 1 clinical trial of a potential vaccine for the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus began on Monday in Seattle, as the first person to enroll in the trial received the vaccine.

The vaccine, mRNA-1273, was developed by biotechnology company Moderna in combination with researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial is being conducted at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

The phase 1 study aims to test three different doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine ad hopes to recruit 45 healthy adults for the initial trial. Participants will receive two shots of the vaccine, 28 days apart and will be monitored to evaluate both the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine. The latter involves seeing how well the vaccine stimulates an immune response to a protein on the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus surface.

The first person to get the vaccine was 43-year old Jennifer Haller from Seattle who said; “I hope that we get to a working vaccine quickly and that we can save lives and people can go back to life as soon as possible,” in an interview with TIME.

“This study is the first step in the clinical development of an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and we expect it to provide important information about safety and immunogenicity,” said Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer at Moderna in a press release. He added that Moderna is already working with the FDA and other organizations to prepare for a phase 2 trial, which would involve larger numbers of patients. (Read more from “First Person Injected With Trial Coronavirus Vaccine in Seattle” HERE)

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Spanish Nurse Details Horrific Conditions at Country’s Hospitals; Europe Hunkers Down for War Against Coronavirus

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By The Blaze. A Spanish nurse says that going to work on a daily basis and fighting COVID-19 is like going to war.

According to Business Insider, nurse Coral Merino said that COVID-19 patients are dying lonely deaths alone and away from their families. Health authorities said Saturday, according to a CNBC report, that coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in Madrid, since the first case was detected in Spain in late January. . .

Merino, an ER nurse at Principe de Asturias University Hospital in Alcala de Henares, added that health care providers are also at risk, because there isn’t enough personal protection wear to go around.

“These are hard times for all professionals, but especially for us,” she admitted. “We’re constantly in close contact with patients. … There simply aren’t enough masks to change them each time we go to see an isolated patient. There are no proper gowns. We just have to make do with porous ones and put plastic aprons over them.” . . .

Merino, who has been a nurse since 2011, added, “We’re reusing the goggles other colleagues have used, washing and disinfecting them ourselves.” (Read more from “Spanish Nurse Details Horrific Conditions at Country’s Hospitals” HERE)

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Europe Hunkers Down for War Against Coronavirus

By Politico. . .EU leaders on Monday imposed a new wave of drastic measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus that has infected more than 180,000 people worldwide, killed more than 7,000 and is now threatening to overwhelm health systems in the richest, most-advanced countries on Earth.

“We are at war,” French President Emmanuel Macron declared in a televised speech to his nation, in which he announced a 15-day lockdown that would permit only the most essential movements, beginning at noon on Tuesday.

“It is of course a sanitary war,” Macron said. “We are not fighting against an army, or another nation. But the enemy is here. It is invisible, elusive and it is progressing. And this requires our general mobilization.”

Macron’s speech was just one of many remarkable public appearances on Monday by world leaders who rolled out unprecedented measures to fight the microscopic enemy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing at a news conference in Berlin, said Germany would take “radical” steps including a ban on all travel “domestically or abroad” except for urgent work trips. She said bars, theaters, museums, cinemas and non-essential shops would be closed. (Read more from “Europe Hunkers Down for War Against Coronavirus” HERE)

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