Jobs Melting Away Fast as Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc on Economy

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. . .Layoffs have skyrocketed, nearly half of all U.S. companies expect to announce furloughs, and 37% have begun a hiring freeze as the virus reaches into every nook and cranny of commercial life.

Gap on Monday announced that it was shutting its doors across North America and Europe on April 1 and would furlough their workers. The company will halt wages but pay “applicable benefits” until stores reopen, it said.

Other prominent retailers announced massive layoffs in recent days. Macy’s and Kohl’s announced Monday that they furloughed staff and closed their doors.

They’re unlikely to open again until late spring or until the virus is checked. It has already infected more than 184,180 people in the United States and killed at least 3,720, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, said Tuesday that the expected peak of infection and death is still some two weeks away.

The White House recommended that everyone practice social distancing for another month, and stay home if possible. More and more states are issuing stay-at-home orders and extending them further into the future, meaning that all nonessential businesses will remain closed. (Read more from “Jobs Melting Away Fast as Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc on Economy” HERE)

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Jim Jordan Presses Jerry Nadler to Hold Hearing on FISA Abuse Following Another Damning IG Report

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Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called on House Democrats to invite Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to testify about his investigations of the FBI’s abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the committee, has resisted requests to invited Horowitz to testify about his office’s report of the FBI’s mishandling of surveillance against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Jordan renewed his request of Nadler after Horowitz released the preliminary results of an audit his office conducted of a sample of 29 applications that the FBI submitted to a federal court in order to spy on American citizens.

“Because of the pervasiveness and seriousness of the FISA application deficiencies — and the pending reauthorization of FISA — we renew our request that you invite Inspector General Michael Horowitz to testify at a public hearing promptly when the House returns to session,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Nadler obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Horowitz’s investigators found problems in all 29 applications selected for audit. A memo that Horowitz sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray said FBI agents failed to complete a series of procedures — called Woods Procedures — that are in place to ensure that investigators verify every piece of evidence that is cited in FISA applications. (Read more from ” (Read more from “Jim Jordan Presses Jerry Nadler to Hold Hearing on FISA Abuse Following Another Damning IG Report” HERE)

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Hospital Workers Threatened With ‘Termination’ for Voicing Coronavirus Shortages

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By Washington Examiner. Reminiscent of steps taken by the Chinese Communist Party after doctors attempted to warn the world about the coronavirus, some American hospitals are instructing workers to keep quiet about conditions at the facilities or face termination.

“Hospitals are muzzling nurses and other healthcare workers in an attempt to preserve their image,” Ruth Schubert, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Nurses Association, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. “It is outrageous.”

In an email sent to workers at NYU Langone Health on Friday, executive vice president of communications Kathy Lewis said employees cannot speak with the media unless authorized, or else they will be “subject to disciplinary action, including termination.” Jim Mandler, a spokesman for the hospital, followed up by saying the measures follow guidelines already in place that protect the privacy of patients and staff.

The message is similar to those received by healthcare workers in Washington and Illinois, who have been punished for voicing concerns about the lack of protective equipment available to staff.

Lauri Mazurkiewicz, a Chicago nurse who was fired by Northwestern Memorial Hospital after warning colleagues about a lack of protective equipment, is suing the hospital, claiming she was fired for speaking out. (Read more from “Hospital Workers Threatened With ‘Termination’ for Voicing Coronavirus Shortages” HERE)

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Are Hospitals Seeing a Surge of Coronavirus Patients? Some Officials Aren’t Saying

By NPR. With tests scarce, epidemiologists are looking at hospitalizations as an indicator of how the novel coronavirus is spreading. But in some of the areas of the country worst-hit by COVID-19, states and counties aren’t releasing that data.

The result is an incomplete picture of where the pandemic is surging, even in hotspots such as Washington and California.

“So as long as people aren’t being turned away, we must focus on hospitalizations and ICU cases,” says Steven Goodman, an epidemiologist and Stanford University’s associate dean of Clinical and Translational Research. “The more reliable numbers, aside from the number of deaths, are how many people get sick enough to be in the hospital and in the ICU. That’s what we need to know.” . . ,

Still, other hotspots aren’t releasing numbers at all, either because public health officials are overwhelmed by the crisis and are still compiling the numbers or for reasons they declined to explain, even though they are compiling the numbers internally. (Read more from “Are Hospitals Seeing a Surge of Coronavirus Patients? Some Officials Aren’t Saying” HERE)

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Justice Department Looking Into Senator’s Stock Sell-Off

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr sold off a large amount of stocks before the coronavirus market crash, and now the Justice Department is looking into his statements around this time period, NPR can report.

Media outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press have also reported that the FBI has reached out to Burr to assess whether he made stock sales based on nonpublic information.

NPR first broke news of a secret recording in which Burr, R-N.C., privately warned well-connected constituents in February about how bad the coronavirus crisis would become. . .

As chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Burr may have received private information about the coming pandemic.

“Was [that information] something that you and I, if we were shareholders of that company, would have reasonably expected it to be considered significant at the time?” said Doug Davison, a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer, laying out a key question that investigators would have. “The investigation needs to be surgical in the sense that you need to really focus like a laser on what information was provided to the Congress folks. Was it material? Was it nonpublic?” (Read more from “Justice Department Looking Into Senator’s Stock Sell-Off” HERE)

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Secretary of Defense Admits He Hasn’t ‘Had a Chance’ to Read Desperate Plea From Captain of Aircraft Carrier Filled With Sick Sailors

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Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell Tuesday that he hasn’t yet read the four-page plea for help “in detail” from the captain of an aircraft carrier filled with sailors who have the novel coronavirus.

Capt. Brett Crozier sent a four-page letter asking Navy officials to send the ship resources so his men don’t die, according to the letter obtained by The Chronicle. The USS Theodore Roosevelt has been siting in a Guam dock after a novel coronavirus outbreak on board less than one week ago.

“Well, I have not had a chance to read that letter, read it in detail,” Esper admitted after discussing the situation for a few minutes with O’Donnell. “Again, I’m going to rely on the Navy chain of command to go out there to assess the situation and to make sure they provide the captain and the crew all the support they need to get the sailors healthy and get the ship back at sea.”

Crozier said the crew is unable to adhere to social distancing guidelines while on board the ship and wrote that “we are not at war” and so not “a single Sailor” should have to die from the virus. The situation began with just three confirmed novel coronavirus cases on board. Now, there are reportedly 150 to 200, The Chronicle reported. (Read more from “Secretary of Defense Admits He Hasn’t ‘Had a Chance’ to Read Desperate Plea From Captain of Aircraft Carrier Filled With Sick Sailors” HERE)

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Tesla Plans to Supply FDA-Approved Ventilators Free of Cost; Texas ‘Mom and Pop’ Business Flooded With Orders for Helmet Ventilators

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By Reuters. Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday the company has extra FDA-approved ventilators that can be shipped free of cost to hospitals within regions where the electric carmaker delivers.

“Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know,” Musk said in a tweet. . .

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how many ventilators it has to offer, or how the company will prioritize requests. (Read more from “Tesla Plans to Supply FDA-Approved Ventilators Free of Cost” HERE)

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Texas ‘Mom and Pop’ Business Flooded With Orders for Helmet Ventilators Amid Coronavirus Crisis

By NBC News. One month ago, Chris Austin was running a little-known mom-and-pop business in Texas that fielded a few dozen orders a week for his helmet-style ventilation devices. . .

Austin’s company, Sea-Long Medical Systems Inc., is getting thousands of orders every day, from America’s top hospitals to countries as far flung as the United Arab Emirates. Researchers say the device, which costs less than $200, could help hospitals free up ventilators for only the most critically ill coronavirus patients.

“‘Overwhelmed’ doesn’t scratch the surface,” Austin told NBC News.

The demand for the Sea-Long helmet underscores the dire shortage of ventilators in the U.S. and around the globe fueled by a surge in hospital patients suffering from COVID-19.

In the last few weeks, hospitals have been flooded with patients experiencing respiratory problems so severe they need the help of a machine to help them breathe. (Read more from “Texas ‘Mom and Pop’ Business Flooded With Orders for Helmet Ventilators Amid Coronavirus Crisis” HERE)

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Barack Obama Falsely Accuses Trump of ‘Ignoring Warnings of a Pandemic’

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On Tuesday morning, Barack Obama criticized Trump’s rollback of fuel standards in a tweet that made what appears to be a backhanded critique of Trump’s response to the coronavirus. “We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic,” Obama said.

Who exactly was Obama talking about there? Now, it’s quite possible he was actually talking about himself, seeing as how even after the H1N1 pandemic that claimed as many as 18,000 American lives, according to CDC estimates, Obama’s response to the Ebola pandemic later in his presidency was similarly wrought with problems–so much so that even the Obama White House and the CDC acknowledged there were multiple “shortcomings” in the administration’s response. Those shortcomings may have been the result of Obama axing the White House pandemic response office in 2009, which was reinstated in 2016 specifically because of his administration’s poor response to the Ebola pandemic. . .

The likely source of Obama’s accusation was a Washington Post hit piece earlier this month that claimed intelligence agencies issued warnings about a possible pandemic back in January and February, “while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action” that might have slowed the spread of the coronavirus. This allegation was easily debunked by the facts. The Trump administration acted quickly and decisively after China reported the discovery of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019.

The Trump administration issued a travel notice for Wuhan, China, and established a coronavirus incident management system within the first week. Soon after, public health entry screening was put in place at the three U.S. airports receiving the most travelers from Wuhan. By Januray 20, the National Institutes of Health was already working on the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Does this sound like an administration that was “ignoring warnings of a pandemic”? Three days later, the CDC sought a “special emergency authorization” from the FDA to allow states to use its newly developed coronavirus test. Before the end of the month, the coronavirus was declared a public health emergency and Trump banned travel with China to slow the spread of the virus in the United States–that decision alone is credited with saving thousands of lives.

Now, let’s compare that with how Obama handled the H1N1 pandemic. The H1N1 outbreak originated in Mexico, but, the Obama administration refused to restrict travel with Mexico or close the border, despite calls to do so. “Closing our nation’s borders is not merited here,” said Obama’s DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano when a national health emergency was declared. She argued that closing the border or U.S. ports would have “no impact or very little” in stopping or slowing the spread of the virus. (Read more from “Barack Obama Falsely Accuses Trump of ‘Ignoring Warnings of a Pandemic'” HERE)

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Newly-Released Hillary Clinton Emails Show Classified Information, Redacted Obama Talking Points

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Last week, Judicial Watch released 80 pages of new emails recently found by the FBI that further reveal how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her insecure home-brew server to house and transmit classified and sensitive government information. This came after Judicial Watch released 37 pages of new Hillary Clinton emails in January.

“Magically, after years, the FBI finds more Clinton emails that are classified, involve Benghazi, and detail communications with President Obama,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “This drip, drip game that the DOJ, FBI, and State are playing is a key reason a federal court authorized more discovery, including the sworn deposition of Hillary Clinton.”

An August 29, 2011 email includes a document entitled “Talking Points for POTUS” for a briefing that day. The talking points are completely redacted.

This latest release follows a January release of 37 pages Hillary Clinton emails that also show the presence of classified information on Clinton’s home-brew server. The State Department de-classified the emails on January 8, 2020. The emails also show Clinton used text messages to conduct official business.

“Magically, after years, the FBI finds more Clinton emails that show Clinton used text messages for government work, not to mention the continuing flow of classified information transmitted over her unsecure email system,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement at the time. “These documents further underscore the need for a fresh, unbiased and thorough criminal investigation into Clinton’s blatant malfeasance – and the related DOJ, FBI, and State Department cover-up.” (Read more from “Newly-Released Hillary Clinton Emails Show Classified Information, Redacted Obama Talking Points” HERE)

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Donald Trump: ‘Sick Puppy’ Nancy Pelosi Was Focused on Impeachment During Coronavirus Outbreak

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President Donald Trump fired back at Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday after she accused the president of failing to act quickly enough to combat the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

“She’s a sick puppy, in my opinion. She really is,” Trump said. “She’s got a lot of problems. And that’s a horrible thing to say.”

In an interview Sunday, Pelosi said “as the President fiddles, people are dying” and that Trump cost American lives by downplaying the crisis in the early days of the outbreak.

“I thought it was a disgrace, I think it’s a disgrace to her country, her family,” Trump said, adding, “What a horrible statement to make.” . . .

“Don’t forget, she was playing the impeachment game, you know her game where she ended up looking like a fool,” Trump said. (Read more from “Donald Trump: ‘Sick Puppy’ Nancy Pelosi Was Focused on Impeachment During Coronavirus Outbreak” HERE)

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Kathy Griffin Gets Mexican Diarrhea — Blames Trump for Not Giving Her Coronavirus Test

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Kathy Griffin said Thursday she was home with a stomach infection after previously complaining of “unbearably painful” COVID-19 symptoms and blaming the Trump administration for her being unable to get a test for the disease.

In her latest medical update, Griffin told the Los Angeles Times she had recently returned from vacation in Mexico and experienced intense abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and a cough. She said she was sent to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and placed in its coronavirus isolation ward.

According to Griffin, an x-ray revealed her lungs were clear and another scan showed she had an abdominal infection. A doctor still wanted to administer a test for COVID-19 because some of her symptoms fit those of the respiratory infection caused by the novel coronavirus, the comedian claimed.

But, she said, the doctor explained he couldn’t give her the test because of guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A day earlier, Griffin, 59, a comedian and former “My Life on the D-List” reality show star, reported on Instagram she was in the coronavirus isolation ward of “a major hospital ER.” She said was unable to be tested for COVID-19 “because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions.”

(Read more from “Kathy Griffin Gets Mexican Diarrhea — Blames Trump for Not Giving Her Coronavirus Test” HERE)

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