Trump Claims He Was Right When He Said There Would Be "Close To Zero" COVID-19 Cases in February

Source: CNN:  Politics - Facts First -  Written by Tara Subramaniam, Daniel Dale, Marshall Cohen, and Nathan McDermott of CNN  -  Updated at 9:08 pm EDT, Tuesday, 28 April 2020

"Fact Check:  Trump Falsely Suggests He Was Right When He Predicted 'Close to Zero' Virus Cases in February

   President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House COVID-19 task force, said in late February that the novel coronavirus was "no problem."  Fauci didn't say that.
   Trump also suggested Tuesday that he was correct when he said in February that the US would go down from 15 novel coronavirus cases to nearly zero - even though he was wildly inaccurate, since the US now has more than one million cases within its borders.
   And the President repeated his false claims that he "inherited" a "broken test" for the virus, though there was no inherited test for a virus only identified in January 2020, during his presidency.  He also said that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had apologized to him for previous comments about Trump's travel restrictions on China, though there was no apology actually given.
   Here are some fact checks of statements Trump made at his two Tuesday media events, during an Oval Office meeting with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican), and an East Room event about the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses.
       Fauci on novel coronavirus threat in late-February
   The President claimed during the availability with the governor of Florida that Dr. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, downplayed the threat of the novel coronavirus in February, saying that it was "no problem."   "You go back, and you take a look at even professionals like Anthony were saying, 'This is no problem.'  This was in late February.  This is no problem.  This is going to blow over."
  Facts First:  Trump is wrong that Fauci publicly said the virus was "no problem" and would "blow over."  While it is true that Fauci said in late February that Americans did not need to change their behavior patterns at that time, he also clarified that these conditions could change, and that the novel coronavirus could develop into a major outbreak.
   Trump is presumably referring to an interview Fauci did with NBC's "Today" show, which conservative social media users have been sharing as evidence that experts dismissed the threat of the virus as late as February 29.  The President himself promoted a Tweet in mid-April referring to the interview.
   In Fauci's actual interview, he is much less assertive than Trump makes him out to be.  He even couched his language by saying multiple times that the virus could become much worse.  "At this moment, there's no need to change anything that you're doing on a day by day basis.  Right now, the risk is still low," Fauci said, "but this could change.  When you start to see community spread, this could change and force you to become much more attentive to doing things that would protect you from spread."
   When asked how the outbreak would end, Fauci stated that the situation could escalate.  "This could be a major outbreak.  I hope not.  Or it could be something that's reasonably well controlled," Fauci said.  "At the end of the day, this will ultimately go down.  Hopefully we could protect the American public from any serious degree of morbidity or mortality.  That's the reason why we've got to do the things that we have in our plan."
       Trump defends wildly inaccurate prediction
   In the East Room event, CNN's Jim Acosta asked Trump about his wildly inaccurate prediction from February that the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the United States would soon reach zero.  - For context, here's what Trump said in February:  "When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done." -
   On Tuesday, Acosta invoked Trump's faulty prediction from February while asking for his reaction to the news that the United States had officially surpassed 1 million confirmed cases.  "It will go down to zero, ultimately," Trump responded.
  Facts First:  Trump's prediction was wrong and contradicted warnings from doctors that the disease would become widespread.  He's now saying his prediction was right, because there will eventually come a time without new cases.  This is dishonest because by saying it would drop from 15 to zero in a few days, he couldn't have meant that cases would climb to 1 million in April before it eventually reaches zero.
   Trump's comments in February came when he was downplaying the dangers of the novel coronavirus.  He never came close to suggesting that there would be a massive swell in the number of cases, as we've seen in recent weeks.  Instead, he said the virus might just "disappear" - like a miracle.
   And while it would be good news if the number of new cases "ultimately" hits zero, like Trump said, that milestone won't bring back the 58,000+ Americans who died from the virus.  The back-and-forth on Tuesday is the latest example of Trump defending his wrong predictions.
       COVID-19 testing
   Trump argued once again that any COVID-19 testing issues were the fault of others, claiming, "We inherited a very broken test."
  Facts First:  Since this is a new virus that was first identified this year, the tests for it are newly created, not inherited from any past administration.  The faulty initial test for COVID-19 was created during Trump's administration, in early 2020, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Several epidemiology experts have even dismissed the President's claim as nonsensical.
  ***** Note from BND - When WHO offered to send the US already proven COVID-19 tests they had developed, the US government turned it down cold.  - Which meant the US CDC then had to make and test (unsuccessfully) their own COVID-19 test kits, putting the US far behind other nations in testing.  *****
   Trump has made versions of this claim on multiple occasions, including the broader and more debatable claim that the testing "system" was flawed, which he also said today.  The President's past claims and shifting rhetoric on COVID-19 is well documented by transcripts  and news sources.
       Travel restrictions
   Trump also mentioned his oft-repeated false claims about placing travel restrictions on China and Europe due to the novel coronavirus.  Speaking in the East Room Tuesday afternoon, he claimed that he "closed down" the US and its borders, adding, "I did a ban on China from coming in, other than US citizens."  Earlier in the day with DeSantis, the President also said "ultimately we did a ban on Europe."
  Facts First:  It's not true that Trump "closed down" the country entirely.  While he acknowledged this time that his travel restrictions on China contained exemptions for certain people - he usually just describes it as a "ban" without elaboration - he still wasn't telling the full story.  Citizens were not the only exempted group; he also exempted permanent residents, some of the close family members of citizens and permanent residents, and some others.  Only foreign nationals who had been in China, Europe's Schengen area, the UK or Ireland within the past 14 days were outright banned from entering the US.
       Biden and the restrictions on China
   During the meeting with DeSantis, Trump repeated his false claim that Vice President Joe Biden, apparently the Democratic nominee for the 2020 Presidential election, had apologized for previous criticism of Trump's travel restrictions on China.  "He said all sorts of things, we won't even say it.  And then he apologized because - two weeks ago he put out a statement that I was right," Trump said.
  Facts First:  Biden's campaign announced in early April that he supports Trump's travel restrictions on China, so part of Trump's claim is correct.  But neither Biden, nor his campaign, apologized for any previous criticism of Trump.  The campaign says that the Biden comments Trump has described as criticism of the China restrictions - in which Biden said Trump has a record of "hysterical xenophobia" and "fear mongering" - were not about the travel restrictions at all.
   The campaign says that Biden did not know about the China restrictions at the time of the January 31 speech in which he made these remarks, since his campaign event in Iowa started shortly after the briefing during which the China restrictions were revealed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
   Given the timing of the Biden remarks, it's not at all unreasonable for the Trump campaign to infer that Biden was talking about the travel restrictions.  But Biden never took an explicit position on the restrictions until his April declaration of support -  and whether or not you accept  his campaign's argument that the "xenophobia" claim was not about the restrictions, he certainly has not apologized."

A Timeline of COVID-19 Around the World, From News Resources, For April 2020

It's now 6:45 pm Mountain Daylight Time in Colorado on 1 April 2020.  The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Database is showing 932,605 confirmed cases of the pandemic virus; and it also registers 46,809 deaths world-wide.  Those are not good numbers.
   Besides the daily Situation Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), an integral part of the United Nations, I am using the website of devex.com.  Devex is (a) a media platform for the global development community, (b) a social enterprise working to help the $200 billion aid and development industry do more good for more people, and (c) the largest provider of recruiting and business development services for global development. The article from Devex that I use is written by Jenny Lei Ravelo and Sara Jerving, and is titled: "COVID-19 -- A timeline of the coronavirus outbreak"
   For this month, I'll place reporting first, the WHO Situation Report; second, the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report, the Colorado COVID-19 Report, quotes from Trump and his minions last, and occasionally following up with a news story...  Other blogs will also cover COVID-19 news stories, as well as an occasional point of view of my own.   If you see anywhere from one (*) to three (***) asterisks, it means that I am throwing my own opinion into what ever I'm quoting - the asterisks will be at both the beginning and the end of my own comment.  You might want to look at the previous blog, in which Trump tries to say, on the world stage and in front of cameras, that he never said other things...
     Let's get the April reporting started.
1 April 2020 -  From the Devex article for today:  "Total cases as of April 1: 861,305 and 42,365 deaths.
   The COP26 United Nations climate change conference, which was scheduled to take place this November in Glasgow, Scotland, is postponed and will be rescheduled for 2021.
   The Global Partnership for Education announces $250 million to "help developing countries mitigate both the immediate and long-term disruptions to education being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic."  The funds will go to 67 countries in areas such as producing educational radio and television programs, as well as distributing radios and textbooks."
 From the WHO Situation Report:    **Very limited information is being reported as opposed to the previous two months of statistics**
Albania confirms a total of 259 cases.
France confirms a total of 4,023 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 67,366 cases.  It also confirms a total of 732 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 1,677 cases.  It also confirms a total of 157 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 47,593 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,036 deaths.
Ireland confirms a total of 3,447 cases.  It also confirms a total of 85 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 110,574 cases.  It also confirms a total of 13,155 deaths.
Libya confirms a total of 10 cases.
Malaysia confirms a total of 2,908 cases.
New Zealand confirms a total of 708 cases.
Palestine confirms a total of 134 cases
Panama confirms a total of 1,317 cases.  It also confirms a total of 32 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 2,311 cases.  It also confirms a total of 96 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 835 cases.
Saba reports its first confirmed case.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,000 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 9,887 cases.  It also confirms 165 deaths.
Spain reports 102,136 cases and 864 deaths.
Turkey reports 2,348 new cases.  It also confirms a total of 277 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 794 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 2,352 deaths.
The United States confirmed a total of over 200,000 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,076 deaths.
-------   The United Nations recognizes 251 countries and territories around the world.  At the moment, only 36 of those countries and territories have NO confirmed (or reported, in the case of North Korea) cases of COVID-19.  They are, listed under geographic areas:   Africa - Ascension Island, Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Sahrawi Republic, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Tristan da Cunha;  Asia - North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen;  Europe - Artsakh, South Ossetia, Svalbard;  North America & Caribbean - Bonaire, Saba, Saint Pierre and Miquelon;  South America - Falkland Islands;  Oceania - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Naurau, Niue, Palau, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.   -------

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     213,372 cases          5,109 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     3,342 cases          80 deaths

  - Source:  Twitter:  only two Tweets on 11 April  from  @realDonaldTrump -
   - at 12:36 pm:  "Congress must pass the old, and very strongly proven, DEDUCTIBILITY by businesses on restaurants and entertainment. This will bring restaurants, and everything related, back - and stronger than ever. Move quickly, they will all be saved!"

   - at 1:05 pm:  "Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!"

- Source:  CNN -  The Point;written by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski  -  1 April 2020
 " 11 Times Donald Trump Has "Belittled" COVID-19
      Vice President Mike Pence said something truly unbelievable in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.
   "I don't believe the President has ever belittled the threat of the coronavirus," the vice president told Blitzer.  Which, even by Pence standards - the VP is an unstinting, 100% supporter of President Donald Trump - is pretty bad.
   So, as a public service, here are 11 times where Trump "belittled" or otherwise downplayed the threat posed by COVID-19.
 1.  "We have it totally under control.  It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.  It's going to be just fine."  -  January 22
 2.  "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China."  -  February 2
 3.  "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.  We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries.  CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart.  Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"  -  February 22
 4.  "We're going very substantially down, not up....We have it so well under control.  I mean, we really have done a very good job."  -  February 26
 5.  "This is a flu.  This is like a flu.. It's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for.  And we'll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner."  -  February 26
 6.  "It's going to disappear.  One day - it's like a miracle - it will disappear.  And from our shores, we - you know, it could get worse before it gets better.  It could maybe go away.  We'll see what happens.  Nobody really knows."  -  February 27
 7.  "No, I'm not concerned at all.  No, I'm not.  No, we've done a great job."  -  March 8
 8.  "So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu.  It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year.  Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.  At this moment there are 564 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"  -  March 9
 9.  "This is a very contagious virus.  It's incredible.  But it's something we have tremendous control of."  -  March 15
 10.  "I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.  You know, you're going to major hospitals sometimes, they'll have two ventilators.  And now, all of a sudden, they're saying, can we order 30,000 ventilators?"  -  March 27
 11.  "You call it a germ, you can call it the flu.  You can call it a virus.  You can call it many different names.  I'm not sure anybody knows what it is."  -  March 27
The Point:  If you don't get it, you don't get it. "



2 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 2:  965,246  and  49,180 deaths.
   After 20 asylum seekers test positive for COVID-19, Greece quarantines a migrant camp.
   Cases of COVID-19 are growing "exponentially in the African region," says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, in a press release.  "It took 16 days from the first confirmed case in the Region to reach 100 cases.  It took a further 10 days to reach the first thousand.  Three days after this, there were 2,000 cases, and two days later we were at 3,000."
   A handful of cases have been reported in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is recovering from the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history.  All provinces in South Africa have confirmed cases.  There are also widespread outbreaks in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Senegal, according to WHO."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Belgium confirms a total of 15,348 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,001 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 10, 132 cases.  It also confirms a total of 127 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 73,522 cases.  It also confirms a total of 872 deaths.
India confirms a total of 1,965 cases.  It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.
Iran confirms a toltal of 50,468 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,160 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 6,211 cases.  It also confirms a total of 31 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 13,915 deaths.
Malawi reports its first 3 confirmed cases.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,116 cases.  It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 14,697 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,339 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 797 cases.
Palestine confirms a total of 155 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total of 2,633 cases.  It also confirms a total of 107 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 3,548 cases.  It also confirms a total of 30 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,049 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 110,238 cases.  It also confirms a total of 10,003 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 18,267 cases.  It also confirms a total of 432 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 897 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 33,718 cases.  It also confirms a total of 569 deaths.
The United States confirms a total over 225,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,345 deaths.
Zambia confirms a total of 39 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
- WHO reports there are over 1,000,000 COVID-19 cases around the world. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     244,678 cases          6,070 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     3,728 cases*          98 deaths
  * Colorado Public Health official state that the reported number of cases may be 4 to 10 times higher, due to a lack of COVID-19 testing for the majority of state residents


3 April 2020  -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 3:  1,026,974  and  54,137 deaths.
   The global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is now estimated to be between $2 trillion and $4 trillion, according to the latest Asian Development Bank estimates.  For low- and middle-income countries in Asia, excluding China, that means estimated economic losses of $93 billion to $200 billion, up from bank estimates of $15 billion to $42 billion in early March.
   Those estimates are based on a 3- to 6-month scenario in which the pandemic is contained.  The impact on the global economy could be higher if the pandemic is not contained by the end of September.
   "The pandemic could leave permanent scars admittedly on the global economy, including retreat from globalization," says ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada.  Sawada says no economy in Asia would escape unscathed from the pandemic.  Tourism- dependent economies, such as Maldives, Cambodia, Fiji, and Thailand, are likely to be hardest hit. Sawada said the pandemic could turn into a financial crisis, but with containment efforts and stimulus packages underway, the chance of a global recession is "very slim."
   The pandemic could also impact poverty eradication efforts in Asia, providing challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
    The United States, with the highest number of cases in the world, now has more than double the number of Italy, which as the second-highest number of cases in the world."
 From the WHO Situation Report: 
Albania confirms a total of 286 cases.  It also confirms a total of 17 deaths.
China confirms a total of 3,322 deaths.
Egypt confirms a total of 985 cases.  It also confirms a total of 66 deaths.
Falkland Islands reports its first confirmed case.
France confirms a total of 6,507 deaths.
Greece confirms a total of 1,425 cases.  It also confirms a total of 53 deaths.
India confirms a total of 1,965 cases.
Indonesia confirms a total of 1,790 cases.  It also confirms a total of 170 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 53,183 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,294 deaths.
Iraq "officially reports" 772 cases; and 54 deaths. -  These numbers are disputed by 3 doctors, a health ministry official, and a senior political official, who all claim that thousands of people have been infected.
Kyrgyzstan reports its first death from COVID-19.
Latvia confirms its first death from COVID-19.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,116 cases.  It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 15,723 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,487 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 868 cases.
Palestine confirms a total of 193 cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,114 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.
South Korea confirms the number of cases is over 10,000; and it reports an additional 174 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 10,000 deaths
Sweden reports "around" 6,000 cases.  It reports deaths  at "nearly 333."
Ukraine confirms a total of 1,072 cases.  It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 38,168 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,605 deaths.
The United States confirms a total  of 228,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,374 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     277,828 cases          7,392 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     4,173 cases          111 deaths

- Source: Vox -  Article written by Matthew Yglesias    3 April 2020  at 2:00 pm EDT

"America Has No Federal Response to This Crisis
  Trump is Playing President on Television Instead of Doing the Job.

In times of crisis - from wars to natural disasters to recessions - Americans have looked to the federal government to step up and lead the national effort to confront the challenge.
   In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, our federal government, led by Donald Trump, has essentially abdicated its traditional role of spearheading a coordinated response.
   State and local governments have always provided the majority of front-line public services in the United States.  And a relatively high level of decentralization has been baked into the American constitutional order for centuries, serving most of the time as a good way to cope with the inevitable challenges of governing a country that is both vast and diverse.
   But the federal government has unique resources and flexibility, as well as the ability to move things from one part of the country to another to ensure that capabilities are deployed where they are most needed.  It can coordinate national-scale markets, mobilize money when things are tight for households and state governments alike, speak with a single voice abroad, communicate rapidly to the population as a whole, and mobilize a far higher level of expertise than any state or local government.  Most of all, the places experiencing the greatest level of need at any point may not be places with the most capabilities.  The federal government can get organized, set priorities, and make sure important problems are being addressed in a timely and comprehensive way.
   But while Donald Trump enjoys playing president on TV, he's always been lazy about doing the actual job.  So while he's taking advantage of the crisis to stage daily extra-long episodes of the Trump show with guest appearances from Mike Pence and public health officials, the executive branch of the federal government is mostly missing in action.
   David Schleicher, a Yale Law School professor who studies federalism and comparative issues, notes that "in most countries - as far as I can tell - the crisis has led to centralization of authority, both towards the national government and towards the chief executive," which is the historical pattern of the United States.  But now in America, while state governments have moved to centralize authorities rather than allow an uncoordinated response, the federal government has been absent.
   Politico's John Harris calls Trump "an authoritarian weakman" in contrast to someone like Hungary's Viktor Orban, who is using the outbreak to further neuter his country's democracy.
   But it's not as if Trump is acting out some high-minded opposition to self-aggrandizement.  He's made himself the star of the television version of the federal response, bragged about his ratings, and boasted that he is now "number one on Facebook" (in fact, Barack Obama has nearly 25 million more followers).  Nor has he been above meddling in pursuit of partisan political objectives.  Rather, as Schleicher says, the core to Trump's approach is that he is "seeking to avoid responsibility and blame rather than assert control," an instinct that's reinforced by the conservative ideology of his top aides and major donors.
   The result is a hollow core at the center of the national response.  As Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who was publicly warning of inadequate coronavirus preparation in early February, put it, "the administration has effectively declared surrender."
   Rather than managing a public health emergency, they are managing a public relations crisis while leaving states to cope with the actual problem.
   -  Trump:  The Buck Stops With Andrew Cuomo  -
   Nowhere has this absence been more glaring than in the administration's dealings with the state hardest hit by COVID-19 thus far:  New York.
   The epicenter of the outbreak is currently New York City and the surrounding suburbs.  New York is arguably uniquely vulnerable to pandemic disease because so much international air travel goes through it.  City officials also argue that its uniquely high population density and transit usage by American standards leave it vulnerable, though the success of Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo at controlling the virus makes me doubt that.
   It's also clear that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) made some serious policy errors in early to mid-March.  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) eventually stepped in to fill the void, but in retrospect he waited longer than he should ( and the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut seemed insufficiently attentive to the inevitable spillover into their states) and legitimately deserves some of the blame.  But by stepping up, albeit belatedly, he improved the situation.
   A desperate New York repeatedly turned to the administration for help, and the administration continually failed to step up.
   In a series of Tweets Thursday morning, Trump explicitly stated his rationale, claiming that the federal government is nothing more than a "backup" for the states and not a first-line crisis responder.  He also complained about governors' "insatiable appetites" for medical supplies and blamed New York state for its "slow start," while suggesting it has perhaps already gotten more help than it deserves.
   This is gross as rhetoric, and the ides that the federal government is a mere "backup" in the middle of a historic global crisis is risible, as analysis straight out of the Articles of Confederation.
   But it also reflects a more fundamental truth about Trump's approach to the crisis.  There's no systemic plan of action or objective standard.  Instead, federal help is doled out sporadically and arbitrarily, bypassing governors he sees as potential rivals ("prefer sending directly to hospitals") or whose states aren't relevant to his Electoral College math, and portrayed as acts of beneficence from a feudal monarch rather than the obligations of a democratically accountable leader.
  -  Partisan Relief Efforts  -
   During impeachment hearings last November, Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan raised the possibility that a president who used foreign aid as leverage to extract personal political favors might do the same vis-a-vis governors with disaster relief money.
   And to the extent that there is any organizing principle to Trump's actions, it's precisely along these lines.
   During a Fox News virtual town hall on March 24, Trumps said assistance to states is "a two-way street.  They have to treat us well also."  When governors comply with this demand to sing for their supper, it's then turned into propaganda videos to boost the president's political standing.
  By contrast, Trump publicly labeled Washington Governor Jay Inslee (whose COVID-19 response seems to have been the most substantively successful of anyone in the country) a "snake"  while suggesting that perhaps Pence should stop returning Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's calls.  The incredibly slow response of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by contrast, has received no federal rebuke, since DeSantis is a close ally.  And for whatever reason, the opaque system by which the federal government is doling out equipment led to Florida's requests being fully met even as other states only got a fraction of what they say they need.
   More recently, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that while public health officials want to send new rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott Laboratories to the hardest-hit communities, White House political officials prefer to prioritize "the south and low-density areas."
   Dating back to long before the crisis, Trump has always acted as the president of the people who supported him rather than as the leader of the entire country.  And in the throes of the epidemic as the stakes rise, he's continued to comport himself in this highly inappropriate manner.
  -  Supply Chain Chaos  -
   The United States is currently afflicted with a serious shortage of personal protective equipment for medical personnel, along with shortfalls of actual treatments like ventilators and hospital beds in some places.  The president has the unique authority to use the Defense Production Act to increase the output of these supplies.  And the federal government has the unique responsibility, in a time of shortages and needs, to assess where supplies can do the most good.  In a major war, not every field commander can get everything he might want.  The responsibility of political leaders is to simultaneously increase production to ameliorate shortages and make decisions about who gets what's available in order to best achieve high-level goals and ultimate victory.
   But Trump refuses to play that role.  "The government's not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping.  We're not a shipping clerk," Trump memorably said at a press conference last week.  "As with testing, the governors are supposed to be doing it."
   The result has been a competitive scramble between states to secure necessary equipment from private providers.
   Lydia DePillis and Lisa Song report for ProPublica that New York is paying as much as 15 times the normal rate for desperately needed medical supplies.  It happens to be the case that the hardest-hit state at the moment is also one with a large population and an above-average income.
   But according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the states that ultimately have the most vulnerable populations tend to be lower-income with either older populations, poor background health conditions, or both.  What happens when Maine and Alabama are forced into bidding wars with less vulnerable but ricer states like North Dakota and Virginia?
   One could imagine a flexibility-based case for the decentralized approach if the federal government were currently filling state coffers with money, so every governor had a health budget with which to play this game.
   But instead, the federal government is offering limited financial assistance to states even as their sales and restaurant tax revenues are collapsing.  Some will be unable to buy what they need, others will be forced to adopt massive austerity measures to pay for masks and gowns, and, fundamentally, resources will be allocated according to happenstance of who has cash on hand rather than in furtherance of any coherent national strategy.
   And that, of course, is because there is no strategy.
   Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Thursday that he didn't understand why some states have yet to issue shelter-in-place orders.  But he knows the reason is they haven't received clear instructions - perhaps paired with carrots and sticks - from the federal government to do so.  By saying this publicly, he is clearly trying to do his best to play the coordinating role that the president is abdicating, but there's no substitute for leadership from the man who's actually in charge.  As many wags have noted online, the current patchwork solution is a bit like establishing a peeing section in a swimming pool.
  -  How Does This End?  -
   Decentralization has its merits, of course.  As recently as mid-March, Trump was comparing COVID-19 to seasonal flu and suggesting that stringent social distancing measures were unwarranted.  Had he had the means or inclination to impose this view nationally, states like Ohio, California, and Washington that acted decisively would be much worse off today.  If you take incompetence for granted, it may be better to pair it with absentmindedness and sloth than the opposite.  But to climb out of this catastrophe is going to take something better than muddling through.
   Broadly speaking, the United States is undertaking a broad suite of restrictions that aim to get the virus under control.  Once it is, we can expect some level of normalcy to begin to return at some pace, but it will still be a while until a vaccine exists and then some additional time before everyone can be vaccinated.
   A natural question that a lot of people have:  How is this all supposed to work, exactly?  By what criteria will we decide that the virus is now "under control"?  And when we begin to lift restrictions, which will be the first to go?  Which places will try to lift them?  When a vaccine exists and the first doses roll off the assembly line, who will get them?
   Even if we don't know the exact answers to these questions, it might be nice at least to know who will make the decisions.
   Right now the White House has no document or set of words that explain its strategy.  But lifting restrictions in a haphazard, decentralized way risks disaster.  If one state goes too far too soon and creates a new outbreak, it's easy enough to surge in resources while shifting back to shutdown.  But if 17 states make the same mistake all at once, there's a huge risk of uncontrolled national spread.
   Alternatively, if everyone gets so spooked that no governor wants to be the first to run the risk of opening things up again, the economy will keep spiraling downward.  Only the president has the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health at his disposal, and only the president has the authority to make guarantees about what the federal government will and won't provide.
   It should be his job to map out how he wants this to work out.  But he's not doing that, any more than he's making decisions currently about where medical supplies should go.  He's Tweeting, he's grandstanding on television, and he's even got the Secret Service back to lining his pockets by renting equipment at his golf courses.  Far from articulating a failed response strategy, he's not leading any kind of response at all. "


4 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 4:  1,110,327  and  60,887 deaths.
   The African Development Bank estimates COVID-19 could cost Africa losses in GDP ranging between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion.  Deficits are estimated to widen by 3.5 to 4.9 percentage points, increasing the continent's financing gap by $110 to $154 billion this year.
   Total public debt could increase from $1.86 trillion, at the end of last year, to over $2 trillion this year.
   In an op-ed, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, calls for a temporary deferment of debt owed to multilateral development banks and international financial institutions through re-profiling of loans in order to create fiscal apace for countries to deal with their response.  He added than loan principals due to international financial institutions this year would be deferred, calling for temporary forbearance, rather than forgiveness.
   "That way, we will avoid moral hazards, and rating agencies will be less inclined to penalize any institution on the potential risk to their Preferred Creditor Status," he writes.  "Multilateral and bilateral financial institutions must work together with commercial creditors in Africa, especially to defer loan payments and give Africa the fiscal space it needs."
   He also called for a lift of sanctions.  "Sanctions work against economies but not against the virus.  If countries that are under sanctions are unable to respond and provide critical care for their citizens or protect them, then the virus will soon "sanction" the world," he writes. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
China confirms a total of 81,639 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,326.
France confirms a total of "nearly 5,400" deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 85,778 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,158 deaths.
Georgia confirms a total of 157 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
Indonesia confirms a total of 2,092 cases.  It also confirms a total of 191 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 55,743 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,542 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 7,428 cases.  It also confirms a total of 41 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 119,827 cases.  It also confirms a total of 14,681 deaths.
Japan  confirms "about 3,000" cases.  It also confirms a total of 73 deaths.
Kuwait confirms a total of 479 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,486 cases.  It also confirms a total of 57 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 1,651 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 950 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total of 3,094 cases.  It also confirms a total of 144 deaths.
Portugal confirms a total of 20,524 cases.  It also confirms a total of 266 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,189 cases.  It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 124,736 cases.  It also confirms a total of 11,744 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total  of 20,278 cases.  It also confirms a total of 540 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 20,921 cases.  It also confirms a total of 425 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 1,225 cases.  It also confirms a total of 32 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirmed a total of 41,903 cases.  It also confirmed a total of 4,313 deaths.
 - According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide exceeds 1.1 million -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     311,357 cases          8,452 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     4,565 cases          126 deaths

 - Source:  Newsweek:   Article written by Scott McDonald -  4 April 2020  at 6:33 pm EDT

"Trump Says 'There Will Be a Lot of Death, Unfortunately' In Coming Week Amid Pandemic

   President Donald Trump began his COVID-19 Task Force briefing at the White House Saturday afternoon by telling reporters that the upcoming week will be another deadly on amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Just 6 days after Trump said he expects COVID-19 cases and deaths to peak by Easter, he said the upcoming week will be tough for Americans.
   "This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn't done but there will be death," he said.
   The amount of Americans who have tested positive for COVID-19 has topped 300,000, which leads any other country in the world and accounts for one-fourth of the nearly 1.2 million cases around the globe. Of the 64,000 deaths in the world, more than 8,300 of them have been in the United States.
   Though neither Trump nor his task force Saturday would give specific numbers on how many deaths they expect to happen, they said the number of cases should peak within the next week, and that the number of deaths lag behind them.
   Trump used the Saturday press conference to also talk about attacking COVID-19 in hard-hit areas by supplying more ventilators and deploying military personnel to go "into a battle that they've never trained for."  The president blasted news media for "spreading false rumors and fear," and he recapped his phone call with major sports commissioners, saying he expects the sports world to be open "sooner rather than later."  Trump also reiterated his outlook of the drug hydroxychloroquine.
  - Attacking the Virus -
   Trump had said last Sunday the peak for death rates is likely to hit in two weeks when he officially extended social distancing through the end of April.  Now he is looking at the hard-hit areas from the coronavirus, and how the country can move forward in attacking COVID-19.  "We're looking for a focus in the hardest-hit regions.  Some of them are obvious, and some of them are not so obvious.  They spring up.  They hit you like you got hit by a club." Trump said.
   Trump said he will use the Defense Production Act "very powerfully," and that FEMA and HHS have ordered 180 million N-95 masks.
   Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the death rate will continue to rise, and that social distancing is paramount in slowing the spread of COVID-19.  "WE are going to see deaths that are going to continue to go up.  At the same time, we want to focus on the number of new cases," Fauci said Saturday.  "What we are doing is making a difference so we have to continue to do so."
   Trump, Fauci, and DR. Deborah Birx all emphasized the importance of the White House's social distancing guidelines during the next few weeks to help slow the spread of COVID-19.  "This is the moment to do everything that you can on the presidential guidelines," Birx said.  "This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy."
 - Deployment of Military Personnel -
   Trump said thousands of military soldiers, doctors and nurses will be directed to hot spots around the country to help supplement local physicians and nurses treating the virus.
   "We'll be telling them where they're going," Trump said.  "They're going into war, they're going into a battle that they've never trained for.  Nobody's trained for, nobody's seen this, I would say since 1917, which was the greatest of them all."  -  The 1917 reference was for the 1918 flu pandemic, which was the most severe pandemic in world history, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
 - Trump Attacks Media -
   Trump has endured an ongoing battle with much of the media, and Saturday he again accused them of "spreading panic" and "fear."   "It's critical that certain media outlets stop spreading false rumors and creating fear, and even panic, with the public," Trump said.  "It's incredible.  I could name them, but it's the same ones.  Always the same ones."
   "I guess they're looking for ratings.  I don't know what they're looking for."  Trump took a jab at the media, saying their ratings were "the lowest they've ever been for media."
   "Get this thing over with and then go back to your fake news," the president said.
 - Trump Meets With Sports Leaders -
   Prior to the Saturday press conference, Trump met with top leaders from 13 different major sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, horse racing and others.  Trump said he was encouraged that football season could kick off in September, and that he expects sports in America to be back this year.
   "I can't tell you a date," Trump said.  "I think it's going to be sooner rather than later."  Trump says he wants to see sports arenas and stadiums filled with fans again, and he knows the team owners and players feel the same way.  "They want to get back, they gotta get back," Trump said.  "We want get back very soon, very soon." "


5 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 5:  1,218,474  and 65,884 deaths.
   South Sudan reports its first case of COVID-19.  The United Nations Mission in South Sudan states it is a member of its staff. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Albania confirms a total of 361 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 14,426 cases.  It also confirms a total of 258 deaths.
China  reports 117 new cases and 1 more death.
Ethiopia reports its first 2 deaths from COVID-19.
France confirms a total of 90,848 cases.  It also confirms a total of 8,078 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 96,092 cases.
Haiti reposrts its first death from COVID-19.
Iran confirms a total of 58,226 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,603 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 124,632 cases.  It also confirms a total of 15,206 deaths.
Japan reports more than 1,000 cases in Tokyo alone.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,662 cases.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,039 cases.
Qatar confirms a total of 1,604 cases.
Russia confirms a total of 5,389 cases.  It also confirms a total of 45 deaths.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon reports its first confirmed case.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,309 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,284 cases.  It also confirms a total of 136 deaths.
South Sudan reports its first confirmed case.
Spain confirms a total of 130,759 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12,418 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 27,069 cases.  It also confirms a total of 574 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 1,308 cases.  It also confirms a total of 37 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 47,806 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,934 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 311,544 cases.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     337,673 cases          9,616 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     4,950 cases          140 deaths

 - Source:  BBC.com:  5 April 2020  at  9:00 am  BST
  "COVID-19: Queen Tells UK 'We Will Succeed" in Fight
The Queen has said the UK "will succeed" in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, in a rallying message to the nation.
   In a rare speech, the monarch thanked people for following government rules to stay at home and praised those "coming together to help others."  She also thanked key workers, saying "every hour" of work "brings us closer to a return to more normal times."  It comes as the number of people to die with the virus in the UK reached 4,934.
   'We Will Meet Again'
  Speaking from Windsor Castle, the Queen said, "While we have faced challenges before, this one is different.
   "This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavor, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.  We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.
   "We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return:  we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again."
   The Queen, 93, also said the "painful sense of separation from their loved ones" that social distancing was causing for people reminded her of the experience child evacuees had during the Second World War.
   "Now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do," she said.
   An hour after the Queen's broadcast, Downing STreet announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been taken to hospital following his COVID-19 diagnosis.  Mr. Johnson has been self-isolating since he tested positive for the virus on 27 March.
   In her address, Queen Elizabeth II said everyone who was following guidance to satay at home was "helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.
   "Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it," she added.
   She also stressed the value of self-discipline and resolve - and said she hopes that, in the future, everyone would "be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge."

-----------------------

 - Source:  CNN Politics - Facts First Check: Written by Tara Subramaniam, Holmes Lybrand, Christopher Hickey, and Victoria Fleischer of CNN  -  Updated  at 3:08 pm EDT, 5 April 2020

"A Timeline of Trump Promises and Predictions on Coronavirus - And How They Stack Up Against the Facts

   It's been almost a month since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.  In that time, the virus has swept across the US, which has gone from having just a few outbreaks to now leading the world in infections.

   Throughout, the Trump Administration has issued a series of promises, predictions and proclamations as it has tried to calm the American people and give the impression that the virus is under control.  But on topics ranging from testing, to treatments, to the critical supplies that health workers need, reality has continued to fall short of President Donald Trump's rhetoric.

   While this is a fluid situation, with facts changing every day, here's a look back at some of the promises and predictions the President has made and how they stack up against reality as of Sunday, April 5, 2020.

Topic:  Testing

What Trump said on 6 March:  "Anybody that wants a test can get a test."

   Current Reality:  In mid-March, there was a well-documented shortage of tests and a shortage of key testing supplies.  Less than a week after Trump said anyone who wanted a test could get one, anecdotes abounded of people unable to get a test, including even some sick people whose doctors wanted them tested.

   Lawmakers, state officials and health care providers pushed back on Trump's claim following these reports of testing shortages across the country.  On March 16, Trump revised the parameters, saying "if you don't have the symptoms, if your doctor doesn't think you need it, don't get the test."

   Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have recently boasted that the US is now testing "nearly 100,000 samples a day," but governors from several states are still warning of shortages in testing supplies and testing kits.

What Trump said on March 13:  "We'll have the ability to do in the millions over a very, very quick period of time."

   Current Reality:  More than two weeks later, the US had only performed about 685,000 tests, according to Pence.  It took until the end of the month for Pence to confirm that at least 1 million tests had been conducted, though the US still remains several million short of the over 27 million tests the Assistant Secretary for Health had promised would be in the market by that time.

   Pence clarified that "there's a difference between sending a test that can be administered to a test being done."  As of March 31, Pence said, "we're now at 1.1 million tests and we believe it's a fair estimate that we are testing about 100,000 Americans a day."

What Trump said on March 17:  Trump claimed he and his administration were "heavily involved" in setting up drive-through testing labs across the country.  "We expect over the next few days to begin setting up 47 of these in approximately 12 states," he said.

   Current Reality:  Two weeks after the President said 47 drive-through public testing sites would be set up, just over 30 existed, none of which are open to the general public.

   The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says there are 28 federally supported drive-through testing sites across the country, as of March 31.

   A public-private partnership with CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart intended to help meet the nation's testing needs has resulted in only 5 drive-thru testing locations.  Access to these testing sites is restricted to first responders and health care workers.  Some of the existing testing sites are even further limiting testing to only people within those categories who are showing symptoms of infection.

Topic:  Impact

What Trump said on 26 February:  Trump said cases of COVID-19 in the US "could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time."  He continued, saying the current cases would come down to near zero.  "Within a couple of days [they're] going to be down close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done."

   Current reality:  One week after Trump made the above statement, the US had 158 confirmed cases of the virus.  Just a week later, the number had increased nearly ten-fold, to 1,267 cases of COVID-19 across 43 states with a death toll of 38 people.

   The US now has more than 300,000 known cases, the highest in the world, and over 8,000 deaths.

What Trump said on March 11:  "The vast majority of Americans:  The risk is very, very low.  Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus."

   Current reality:  Americans of all ages are contracting COVID-19, with patients from 20 - 44 accounting for 29% of cases as of March 16.  According to a CDC report published on March 26, more than half of the US patients hospitalized for the virus were under 65.  Experts have also cautioned that young adults - even if they don't show symptoms - have likely played a large role in the spread of the virus.

   Though patients older than 85 with underlying health issues remain at the highest risk, younger patients can and still are dying from the virus.  Based on that March CDC report of the cases with a known outcome, 20% of the deaths reported were patients aged 20 - 64.

   A week after Trump claimed the risk was "very low" for young and healthy people, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said the Task Force is concerned about reports indicating that more young people are becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.

What Trump said on March 24:  "I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter."  And, "I think it's possible.  Why isn't it?"

   Current Reality:  The Easter date, April 12 - which Trump has since claimed was an aspirational goal because, in part he thought it was "a beautiful timeline" - has been abandoned by the administration.

   Days after Trump gave this presser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told CNN that the President was giving an "asprirational projection to give people some hope" when he floated the idea of eliminating guidelines by Easter.

   Advisers worked to steer Trump away from the Easter timeline, trying to instead focus on hopeful messages that lacked specific times.

   On Sunday, March 29, Trump extended federal guidelines for social distancing to April 30.  Trump said Tuesday that Americans should prepare for "a very tough two weeks," which would go two days beyond Easter, and warned that more than 100,000 and up to 240,000 Americans could die from COVID-19.

What Trump said on April 4: "This will probably be the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn't done but there will be death."

   Current Reality:  As of this evening:  337,673 cases  and 9,616 deaths in the United States.

Topic:  Resources

What Trump said on February 29:  "Tremendous amounts of supplies are already on hand.  We have 43 million masks, which is far more than anyone would have assumed we could have had so quickly, and a lot more are coming."

   Current Reality:  As of April 1, the country's national stockpile of protective gear, including masks, is nearly depleted.  Since the start of the pandemic, officials cautioned that the stockpile alone could not supply enough gear for a 50-state response.

   Some of the masks in the stockpile are also not viable - one county even received a shipment of rotted masks, which exacerbates the shortage.

   Governors all over the country are raising the alarm about a shortage of masks.  Despite committing 1 million masks to New York City from the state, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that would not be enough.  Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker told CNN on March 22 that while the state has received some requested supplies from FEMA, it's "a fraction" of the necessary amounts they've requested.   One shipment Illinois received from the federal government also contained the wrong kind of masks.  Rather than alleviating states' concerns, the federal government has in some cases exacerbated the problem.

   After the federal government outbid Massachusetts on supplies, Governor Charlie Baker worked with the New England Patriots, including team owner Robert Kraft, to get supplies brought over from China.

   Because the situation is so bad, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided healthcare workers guidance on using homemade masks, scarves, and bandanas as a "last resort."  Given the shortage, the CDC has also suggested hospitals consider reusing masks, which medical officials worry could increase the risk of exposure for those on the front lines of the country's response efforts.

What Trump said on March 13:  "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."

   Current Reality:  The website Trump is referring to is a project by Verily, one of Alphabet's (Google's parent company) companies and currently only serves four counties in California.

   Following the March 13 press conference, Verily released a statement that "We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing.  Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time."

   In a blog post on March 15, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, reiterated that "while Verily is in the early stages of this pilot program, the plan is to expand to other locations over time."

   The Atlantic reported Monday that the Trump administration had reached out to a health-insurance company, Oscar Health, to build a website with similar functions that Trump mentioned in his presser.  Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, used to have ownership in the company and his brother Joshua is a co-founder.  But the website was never launched, a spokesman for Oscar Health told the magazine.

What Trump said on March 31:  "We have almost 10,000 ventilators that we have ready to go.  We have to hold them back because the surge is coming and it's coming pretty strong and we want to be able to immediately move it into place without going and taking it."

   Current Reality:  Trump, in touting the 10,000 figure, is failing to mention that, as the New York Times first reported, another 2,109 ventilators "are unavailable after the contract to maintain the government's stockpile lapsed last summer."

   Many states have raised the alarm over a lack of ventilators, with multiple governors publicly criticizing the administration for not supplying the number of machines requested.

   New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference on March 24 that FEMA sent the state 400 ventilators when they need 30,000. "FEMA says, 'we're sending 400 ventilators.'  Really? What am I going to do with 400 ventilators, when I need 30,000?" Cuomo said.

   Illinois Gov. J. B Pritzker told CNN Tuesday that the state had only received 450 of the requested 4,000.

   On Thursday, Trump used the Defense Production Act to direct domestic manufacturers "secure the supplies they need to build ventilators needed to defeat the virus," the announcement of the order said.  Trump ordered General Motors on March 28 to begin production of ventilators under the DPA.

   Ina a White House press briefing, the administration announced that it  has pushed more than 7,600 ventilators to the states.

   As of Tuesday, the Pentagon had not shipped any of its 2,000 ventilators because they had not yet been told where to send these machines.  By Sunday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNN "many" of these ventilators have been deployed with the two US Navy hospital ships sent to New York City and Los Angeles.  Esper said the Pentagon's ventilators have also gone to field hospitals across the country with "several hundred more that are pre-positioned and ready to go, particularly with regard to New York City when they're needed."

Topic:  Treatment

What Trump said on March 2:  "So you're talking over the next few months, you think you could have a vaccine."

   Current Reality:  Experts have clarified that a vaccine could be ready to go into testing within a few months, but a full treatment will not be available until at least a year, if not longer.

   Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert and a member of the COVID-19 Task Force, said, "although this is the fastest we have ever gone from a sequence of a virus to a trial, it still would not be any applicable to the epidemic unless we really wait about a year to a year and a half."

   The process for developing a vaccine is generally long, so experts say the process will likely exceed 18 months.

   "I don't think it's ever been done at an industrial scale in 18 months," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar focused on emerging infectious disease at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University.  "Vaccine development is usually measured in years. not months."

What Trump said on March 19:  "So chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.  Now, this is a common malaria drug.  ... there's tremendous promise, based on the results and other tests.  There's tremendous promise."

   Current Reality:  While chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been available for a while  and used for decades to fight malaria, they have not yet been proven safe for COVID-19 patients.  Trials are underway as public health officials caution testing is still needed.

   Approximately 10 days after Trump said the drugs had shown "tremendous promise" for COVID-19, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for doctors to use them in hospitals for a limited set of pandemic patients.  The FDA noted that "the safety profile of these drugs has only been studied for FA approved indications, not COVID-19."

   According to an HHS statement acknowledging the FDA's decision, "Anecdotal reports suggest that these drugs may offer some benefit in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients."

   However, when asked if these medicines could prevent COVID-19, Dr. Fauci said, "The answer is no."

   A recent Pentagon report on "Clinical Management of COVID-19" warned that the drugs could be dangerous to use for novel coronavirus patients due to potentially toxic side effects.

   The President's early praise for the drugs has fueled concerns about shortages, which could prove dire for patients with other ailments (malaria and Lupus) who rely on the drugs. "

 *** Note from BND  - Chloroquine and hydroxycholoroquine can both cause fatal heart arrhythmias.  Between 10 and 20 people have reportedly died by self- dosing themselves with these two drugs and/or ones that sound similar.  Do NOT self-medicate with these drugs! ***


6 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 6:  1,289,380  and  70,590 deaths.
   The African Union estimates that 20 million jobs could be lost on the continent as a result of the pandemic.
   Almost 90% of students globally are affected by school closures - over 1.5 billion children and young people, according to WHO.
   Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom was moved to an intensive care unit after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened.
   The death toll in Europe from COVID- 19 surpasses 50,000.
   Countries that still have only a small number of cases, including those with imported cases rather than community transmission, still have a "window of opportunity" to prevent larger outbreaks, says Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, during a press conference.  "There is an opportunity to prevent the worst from happening in a number of countries across Africa and across countries that are still seeing their first case; in some island countries," she says."

 From the WHO Situation Report:
The Czech Republic confirms a total of 3,793 cases.  It also confirms a total of 72 deaths.
Egypt confirms a total of 1,322 cases.  It also confirms a total of 85 deaths.
France confirms a total of 8,078 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 2,491 cases.  It also confirms a total of 209 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 60,500 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,739 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 132,547 cases.  It also confirms a total of 15,842 deaths.
Kenya confirms a total of 158 cases.  It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Kosovo confirms a total of 3 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,793 cases.  It also confirms a total of 62 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,106 cases.
Panama confirms a total of 2,100 cases.  It also confirms a total of 55 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 3,660 cases.  It also confirms a total of 163 deaths.
Romania confirms a total of 4,057 cases.  It also confirms a total of 157 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 6,343 cases.  It also confirms a total of 47 deaths.
Sao Tome and Principe reports its first 4 confirmed cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,375 cases.
Switzerland confirms a total of 21,652 cases.  It also confirms a total of 584 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,220 cases.  It also confirms a total of 26 deaths.
The United Arab Emirates confirms a total of 1,799 cases.  It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 51,608 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,373 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 347,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 10,000 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     367,507 cases          10,871 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     5,172 cases          150 deaths

 - Trump sent several Tweets today; most are out of the blue and are random thoughts, apparently... the first he sent to a reporter for an April 2 opinion piece, along with a copy to Fox News, so they would cover it...   And away we go....
 - Source:  Twitter - sent out on 6 April 2020 from  @realDonaldTrump
 - at 7:40 am EDT:  ".@gayletrotter  "To this day the establishment media have not admitted that they were wrong and the President was right."  @Fox News "

 - at 7:49 am EDT:  "For humanitarian reasons, the passengers from the two CoronaVirus stricken cruise ships have been given medical treatment and, when appropriate, allowed to disembark, under strict supervision. Very carefully done. People we're dying & no other countries would allow them to dock!"

 - at 7:53 am EDT:  "Thank you Gayle. I only wish the public could fully understand how corrupt & dishonest so much of our Lamestream Media is. My Press Conferences are vital. They are reaching millions of people that are not being told the truth, & haven't been for years (Witch-Hunts, Fake News)! "

 - at 7:54 am EDT:  "USA STRONG!"

 - at 7:55 am EDT:  "LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!"

 - at 9:08 am EDT:  "Advertising in the Failing New York Times is WAY down. Washington Post is not much better. I can't say whether this is because they are Fake News sources of information, to a level that few can understand, or the Virus is just plain beating them up. Fake News is bad for America!"

 - at 11:34 am EDT:  "Joe wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period. Now he wants a "Virtual" Convention, one where he doesn't hvae to show up. Gee, I wonder why? Also, what ever happened to that phone call he told the Fake News he wanted to make to me?"

SOURCE: ABC News - COVID-19 Government Response - Coverage from today's (6 April) White House briefing  - Written by Libby Cathey and Cheyenne Haslett  5:37 pm EDT, 6 April 2020

 "Trump, Task Force Say Mitigation Is Working
Trump and experts have warned parts of the nation to prepare for peak deaths.

   Members of the COVID-19 task force have warned Americans to brace for dark days ahead.
   After the surgeon general likened the coming weeks to Pearl Harbor and the September 11 terror attacks, and as the nation's top doctors cautioned against even going to the grocery store or pharmacy unless absolutely necessary, President Donald Trump on Sunday clung to an optimistic tone, telling Americans there will be "light at the end of the tunnel" and reviving his phrase that "the cure can't be worse than the problem itself."
   On Monday morning, the president's top trade adviser turned Defense Production Act policy coordinator Peter Navarro doubled down on his defense of an anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19, after Axios reported Navarro lashed out at infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci over the drug's efficiency this weekend.
  While Fauci has been publicly skeptical of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, citing a lack of scientific evidence at this stage, Trump spent much of Sunday's briefing telling Americans they have little to lose by trying the drug and even appeared to block Fauci from answering a question about it.
   President Trump began the daily COVID-19 task force briefing by offering well wishes to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been admitted to an intensive care unit in England after suffering persistent viral symptoms.  He had tested positive for the disease about ten days ago.
   "I also want to send best wishes to a very good friend of mine, and a friend to our nation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  We are very saddened to hear that he was taken into intensive care this afternoon, a little while ago.  And Americans are all praying for his recovery.  He's been a really good friend.  He's been really something very special, very strong - resolute, he doesn't quit, doesn't give up," Trump said.
   He repeated his advice to Americans to practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus.  "Stay inside.  Let's win this and let's get our country open as soon as we can.  I think it's going to be sooner than people think," Trump said.  "Again, light at the end of the tunnel."
   He confirmed what New York Governor ANdrew Cuomo said earlier today - that the USNS Comfort will now be used to treat COVID-19 patients from New York and New Jersey, after initially being dispatched as an overflow hospital for non-COVID-19 patients.  "He [Cuomo] called me up a little while ago, and he asked whether it would be possible to use the ship with respect to fighting the virus.  And we hadn't had that in mind at all, but we are going to let him do it," Trump said, as the death toll in New York neared 5,000.
   Trump said all 50 governors were on a call with the COVID-19 task force today, and there was not a single "negative" person about the federal government's response and that everyone was "happy."  When Trump asked Pence to confirm, and he did, Trump said, "See? I told you.  Mike is the greatest."
   "Even Governor Pritzker from Illinois is happy," Trump insisted, after the Democratic governor had publicly criticized aspects of the administration's response and called on Trump to greater utilize the powers of the Defense Production Act to assist states.  "He may not be happy when he talked to the press, but he's happy."
   The president became increasingly irritated with reporters asking about the HHS inspector general's report which documented several shortages in supplies in 323 hospitals across the country between March 23 and 27.
   The president also confirmed that he spoke with former Vice President Joe Biden " a few minutes" before the briefing for "probably 15 minutes" - hours after the president criticized Biden on Twitter and days after he said he would "absolutely" take a call from his Democratic rival.  "We had a really wonderful, warm conversation.  It was a very nice conversation.  We talked about pretty much this," Trump said, referring to the pandemic.  "And he gave me his point of view, and I fully understood that... I appreciate his calling."  The call, which Trump called "very friendly," marked a rare conversation between the incumbent president and his likely Democratic challenger.
   Asked if it was appropriate for acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to tell the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt that fired Captain Brett Crozier was too naive or too stupid to be in command, President Trump said he had not heard what Modly said "exactly" but called it a "strong statement" and described Modly's handling of Crozier's situation as an "argument" between "two people."  He noted that the letter from Crozier saying the Navy needed to do more to protect his sailors "shouldn't have been sent and certainly they shouldn't have been leaked."
   "We don't need to have letter-writing campaigns where the fake news finds a letter and gets a leak.  We don't want that.  So the letter shouldn't have been sent.  With all of that said, his career prior to that was very good.  So I'm going to get involved and see exactly what's going on there," the president said.  He said that he's "heard very good things about the gentleman, both gentlemen" and, speaking of Crozier, he said, "I don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day."
   Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious disease and a key member of the COVID-19 task force, said getting "back to normal" will likely require a vaccine - "a situation where you can completely protect the population" - but warned a pre-novel coronavirus world may never happen because "the threat is there."
   "Will we truly get back to normal in this country before there's an actual vaccine that's available to everybody?" ABC Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Dr. Fauci.
   "I feel confidant that, over a period  of time, we will get a good vaccine that we willnever have to get back to where we are right now.  So, if that means getting back to normal, then we'll get back to normal, " Fauci replied.
   "If back to normal means acting like there never was a COVID-19 problem, I don't think that's going to happen until we do have a situation where you can completely protect the population," Fauci said. Currently, the nation is intensely mitigating the disease, he said, and going back to regular societal functions will happen gradually.
   But Fauci warned that getting to a "pre-novel coronavirus" world "might not ever happen in the sense that - the fact that - the threat is there," though he said he feels confident in the vaccine and therapy treatment in the pipeline.
   The president seconded Fauci's confidence on therapies and vaccines but also pivoted to the economy, which has been a top priority for Trump as he navigates the COVID-19 response.  "I think when you add that to it, I think we can get more than back to normal from an economic standpoint.  Actually be better.  But more than back to normal," Trump said.  The president wouldn't comment on lifting restrictions by April 30, but said "we certainly want to try."
   Fauci cautioned about "claiming victory prematurely" but said that models are starting to show that the social distancing is working, calling it "our best and only great public health tool."
   "Governor Cuomo reported that the number of hospitalizations, the number of admissions to intensive care and requirements for intubations over the last three days have actually started to level off," Fauci said, "so everybody who knows me knows I'm conservative about making projections - but those are the kind of good signs that you look for. - That's the first thing you see when you start to see a turnaround," he said.
   While always noting there's still work to do, Fauci reminded Americans that "despite all the suffering and the death that has occurred, what we have been doing has been working."  He acknowledged that social distancing for an extended period is largely unnatural but said that he was "cautiously optimistic" with the progress so far.  "I don't think anyone has ever mitigated the way I'm seeing people mitigate right now," he said.
   Seeking to clarify advice she gave over the weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House task force coordinator, suggested that Americans in hot spot areas skip their trips to the pharmacy or grocery store at the height of the crisis and instead go once every two weeks, shopping for the entire family, so as to reduce their time out and about.  "It is really about, we have have to do everything we can," Birx said.
   She knows how tough the guidelines can be, she said, because it's personally challenging for her, too.  "Dr. Fauci and I and the admiral have spent our lives taking care of others.  We need to take care of each other now as Americans and do everything that's in those guidelines.  I know they're tough.  I know incredibly how tough  they are.  My grandchild of 10 months got a fever of 105 this weekend.  I'm a doctor.  And I couldn't get there," Birx said.  "I did not go there because of you two.  You can't take that kind of risk with the leaders of the country," she said, gesturing toward Trump and Pence.
   Before introducing Birx, Pence signaled the task force is tarting to see a leveling of the curve - at least in some areas.  "Clearly, what we see in Washington and California and what we are just beginning to see elsewhere, is put into practice the social distancing recommendations of the COVID-19 guidelines for America," Pence said.  "We really do believe that, while this will be a week of heartache, it is also a week of hope, as we see some of the cases beginning to level just for a day or two," he added.
   Calling himself a "social scientist," White House trade adviser and Defense Production Act policy coordinator Peter Navarro argued to CNN this morning that he is qualified to disagree with Dr. Anthony Fauci on the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment and defended "the possibility" of its efficiency - which Fauci has emphasized is not yet proven.  "Doctors disagree about things all the time.  My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I'm a social scientist," Navarro told CNN's "New Day" host.
   The president's top trade adviser said he was offering a "second opinion," on the drug and primarily referenced a control group study out of Wuhan, China - done with moderately ill patients, and was not double-blind, but showed some potential benefits - adding he had spoken to some doctors who had found it useful.  He also claimed that some on the front lines were taking the drug as a prophylactic.
   "The issue wasn't about me offering my medical opinion, " Navarro said, when asked about Saturday's Situation Room argument first reported by Axios.  "the question was whether we should take the 29 million doses in the FEMA storehouses and surge them into the zones, and it was unanimous in that task force meeting to do so.  So, that's the only question I posed."
   Trump indicated on Sunday that the government is using federal resources to make the drug available, saying, "We have stockpiled 29 million pills of the hydroxychloroquine... And they're not expensive.  What do you have to lose?"
   Admiral Brett Giroir, who is leading COVID-19 testing efforts in the US, said he was "very optimistic" that by May there will potentially be tens of millions of blood tests available to Americans to determine if they have already been exposed to the virus.  "I am personally very optimistic that by May we are going to have these in very large quantities with all the needed supplies," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
   Serologic testing, more commonly known as an antibody test, only requires a drop of blood and sniffs out virus antibodies.  The test can't detect whether an individual presently has the disease, but it can tell if they already had it or had been exposed to it at some point in the past because their immune system has developed antibodies to fight it.
   Combined with the other swab test for the presence of an active virus, the two tests could provide a way forward, he said, and "There are several that are going through the FDA right now."
   "That's really important as we think about re-opening the country and the economy because if you've had the virus and has an immune response to it, in all probability you are immune and safe from the virus," Girior added. "


7 April 2020 -  From the Devex article: "Total cases as of April 7:  1,362,936  and  76,373 deaths.
   The Wellcome Trust launches an initiative that aims to raise at least $8 billion through the private sector by the end of the month to cover the global funding shortfall for vaccines, treatments, and testing for COVID-19.  "Scientists globally are working at tremendous pace to develop vaccines, test existing drugs that could treat COVID-19 and improve diagnostic tests.  But they're running out of funding fast which means new developments may never reach clinical trials and, ultimately, achieve regulatory approval," according to a Wellcome Trust press release.
   The Rwandan government decides to cut the salary for a group of its officials in order to raise funds for social protection programs as part of its COVID-19 response."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Abkhazia reports its first confirmed case.
Artsakh reports its first confirmed case.
Brazil confirms a total of 13,717 cases.  It also confirms a total of 667 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 17, 063 cases.  It also confirms a total of 345 deaths.
France confirms a total of 10,328 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 99,225 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,607 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 2,738 cases.  It also confirms a total of 221 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 62,589 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,872 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 3,963 cases.  It also confirms a total of 63 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,160 cases
The Philippines confirms a total of 3,764 cases.  It also confirms a total of 177 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 2,057.  It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 7,497 cases.  It also confirms a total of 58 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,481 cases.
Switzerland confirms a total of 22,242 cases.  It also confirms a total of 641 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 34,109 cases.  It also confirms a total of 725 deaths.
- According to Johns Hopkins University, over 1.3 million people globally have been infected by COVID-19.  More than 74,500 people have died; nearly 285,000 have recovered. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     400,335 cases          12,841 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     5,429 cases          179 deaths

 A few Tweets from Trump, today, Tuesday, 7 April 2020   sent from  @realDonaldTrump
 - at 11:04 am EDT:  "The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

 - at 11:22 am EDT:  "Why didn't the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report. Another Fake Dossier!"

 - at 4:03 pm EDT:  "Just had a conf callw/ major lenders discussing our Great Small Businesses & the #PPPloan. I ask every company, big & small, making announcements about innovative contributions, hiring new workers, or looking to overcome setbacks to share your stories with #AmericaWorksTogether!"

- SOURCE:  CBS News - COVID-19 Task Force Updates
Written by Kathryn Watson;  Updated 7 April 2020 at 7:53 pm EDT

"Trump Says He's Considering Ending Funding to World Health Organization
   News from President Trump's press conference:
* Trump says he's considering ending funding to the World Health Organization
* Trumps says he had no role in departure of acting Navy secretary
* Trump says he's asking Congress for $250 billion more for the Paycheck Protection Program
* Trump says federal government is working to provide 110,000 ventilators
* Trump says he never read warning memos from aide Peter Navarro
   President Trump says he'll be asking Congress for $250 billion more to fund the Paycheck Protection Program, through which small businesses can acquire loans.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he'll work with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to vote on additional funding this Thursday.  "We're in the midst of a great national struggle, one that requires the shared sacrifice of all Americans," the president said during Tuesday's COVID-19 Task Force briefing at the White House.
   The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the broader stimulus bill passed in March, originally had $350 billion.  The death toll from the novel coronavirus in the US now tops 12,000, and as the country heads into what public health officials say will be a difficult week for the country.  "We see glimmers of very, very strong hope.  This will be a very painful week," the president said Tuesday.  "This is a monster we're fighting."
   Amid the pandemic, the president said he's considering ending funding to the World Health Organization, claiming they side too often with China.  Mr. Trump said he isn't necessarily going to go through with it, but he's taking it under consideration.  "I don't know, they seem to come down on the side of China," Mr. Trump said, criticizing the WHO's position on his travel restrictions and claiming the WHO failed to catch the spreading virus in Wuhan, China.
   On the topic of China travel restrictions, Mr. Trump claimed he did not see memos written by his top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, warning the coronavirus could devastate American lives and decimate the economy.  The president said he heard about the memo by reading about it, and has yet to see it.  The president suggested he probably wouldn't have done anything differently if he had seen it, since he restricted  many travelers from China.  "Ultimately I did more or less what the memo said," Mr. Trump said.
   The president touted the federal government's effort to push 110,000 ventilators out to states and hospitals.  The president was initially criticized for being slow to use the Defense Production Act to force the production of ventilators and other necessary medical equipment.  "I don't think we'll need them.  Hopefully we won't need them," the president said.
  On testing, another issue the Trump administration has been criticized on, the president said the US has so far conducted 1.87 million tests.  As he touts the number of tests performed, Mr. Trump also continues to push the use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug.  But the nation's top doctors have warned they cannot definitively say whether it works.
   Congressional Democrats continue to discuss a fourth legislative package to address the impacts of the pandemic, and the president told reporters he is not ruling out another round of direct payments to Americans.  The "phase three" measure passed by Congress and signed into  law late last month provides $1,200 to each American adult, and payments are expected to be received sometime this month. "


8 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 8:  1,452,378  and  83,615 deaths.
   China lifts its lockdown on Wuhan, the city where the COVID-19 outbreak began.
   In response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to withhold funds from WHO because the agency "missed the call" on the pandemic response, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference, urges governments not to politicize the response.
   "If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it, " Dr. Tedros says.  "When there are cracks at national level and global level, that's when the virus succeeds.  For God's sake, we have lost more than 80,000 citizens of the world," he says, adding that there is no time to waste by "pointing fingers."
   WHO also launches the U.N. COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force to meet needs and "dramatically scale up the supply" of lifesaving medical supplies, such as personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Bangladesh confirms a total of 218 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.
Belarus confirms a total of 1,066 cases.  It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.
China confirms a total of 81,082 cases.
The Czech Republic confirms a total of 5,00 cases.  It also confirms a total of 195 deaths.
Egypt confirms a total of 1,450 cases.  It also confirms a total of 94 deaths.
Ethiopia confirms a total of 52 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.
France confirms a total of 10,869 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 103,228 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,864 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 2,956 cases.  It also confirms a total of 240 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 9,400 cases.  It also confirms a total of 71 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 68,542 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,993 deaths.
Japan confirms, in Tokyo alone, 4,768 cases.  It also confirms a total of 98 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 4,119 cases.  It also confirms a total of 65 deaths.
Myanmar confirms a total of 22 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,210 cases.
Pakistan confirms a total of 3,546 cases.  It also confirms a total of 57 deaths.
Peru confirms a total of 2,954 cases.  It also confirms a total of 107 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 3,870 cases.  It also confirms a total of 182 deaths.
Poland reports more than 5,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 8,672 cases.  It also confirms a total of 63 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 1,623 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.
Somalia confirms a total of 12 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
Switzerland confirms a total of 22,789 cases.  It also confirms a total of 705 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,369 cases.  It also confirms a total of 30 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 38,226 cases.  It also confirms a total of 812 deaths.
The Emirate of Dubai (part of the UAE) confirms a total of 2,659 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 7,097 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 400,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12,900 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     429,052 cases          14,660 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     5,655 cases          193 deaths

 A few of the Tweets sent out today, 8 April 2020, from the account of  @realDonaldTrump
 - at 8:20 am EDT:  "Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn't work out well for Republicans."

 - at 10:46 am EDT - 2 parts:  "The Radical Left Democrats have gone absolutely crazy that I am doing daily Presidential News Conferences. They actually want me to STOP! They used to complain that I am not doing enough of them, now they complain that I "shouldn't be allowed to do them." They tried to shame....."
  "...the Fake News Media into not covering them, but that effort failed because the ratings are through the roof according to, of all sources, the Failing New York Times, "Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale" type numbers (& sadly, they get it $FREE). Trump Derangement Syndrome!"

 - at 10:52 am EDT:  "Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner rather than later, the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member of friend, must be quickly forgotten. Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!"

 - at 11:26 am EDT:  "FLATTENING OF THE CURVE!"

 - at 11:49 am EDT:  "Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"

 -at 12:09 pm EDT:  "Wow, Bernie is unwilling to give up his delegates, and wants more of them! What's that all about?"

 - at 12:12 pm EDT:  "Can't see AOC plus 3 supporting Sleepy Joe!"

 - at 2:11 p, EDT:  "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!"

 - at 7:15 pm EDT:  "This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies - DuPont and FedEx - and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you! @DuPont_News @FedEx"

 - at 7:34 pm EDT:  "Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who can't get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is "RIPE for FRAUD," and shouldn't be allowed!"
   ****  Note from BND:  I live in Colorado, where we have voted by mail only for several years.  Votes are audited, signatures are verified, and there have been very few problems at all. ****

  - Source:  CNN News:  The PO!NT   -  Analysis by Chris Cillizza, Cnn Editor-at-large - Updated on 8 April 2020 at 2:21 pm EDT

 The 24 Most Wildly Irresponsible Lines from Donald Trump's Latest Interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News Network

   Even as his administration - and the country - continue to battle COVID-19, President Donald Trump keeps finding time to call into Fox News' host Sean Hannity's show.  Trump and Hannity talked March 5 and then again on March 27.  And the two were back at it on Tuesday night.  Below, the lines you need to see from that conversation.

1.  "So, you know, things are happening.  It's a - it's - I haven't seen bad. I've not seen bad."
   This is Trump talking about his push for hospitals to use hydroxychloroquine on patients struggling to combat COVID-19.  Worth noting here that: (a) Trump is not a doctor and (b) most doctors are wary of recommending the anti-malarial drug's use broadly until more testing is done.  -  And away we go!   *** Note from BND - Also note that Trump and his family are heavily invested in two of the companies that make the drug, thanks to buddy Michael Cohen, who was paid $1.2 million for personal access to Trump. ***

2.  "And I was - I was excoriated by the fake news and by the press, by these people that are bad people. They're just bad people. They don't - they cannot love our country, I can tell you."
   In which the President openly claims that the media re "bad people" who "cannot love our country."  His evidence? An inaccurate allegation that he was "excoriated" by the press for closing down travel from China when the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

3.  "Once you get it - I mean, if you're in the wrong group, if you're - if you have a medical condition, if you're older - it seems that older is certainly prime for this - this plague, this horrible virus."
   An unedited "complete sentence" uttered by the President of the United States.

4.  "I mean, you look at what's going on with the hospitals in New York and New Jersey.  I was - I was watching a little while ago, and it's - it's terrible, a terrible thing."
    A good reminder here that the lens through which Trump sees - and perceives - the world is cable television.  Forever and always.

5.  "We have to get our country back open again.  This wasn't designed to have this.  You crack it - you crack it in half.  It's no good."
   Trump is talking about the economy here, I think.  All I know for sure is if you crack it in half, it's no good.

6.  "The good thing is that the number of beds needed, I think we were right about that.  I was right.  My group was right."
   "I was right."  And, according to this analysis by MIT's Technology Review, Trump wasn't right; 21 states are expected to have hospital bed shortages in the coming weeks.

7.  "I just saw on your show and a couple of other people just reported back to me that everyone is in great shape from the standpoint of ventilators, which are very hard, because they're expensive and they're big and like - it's, you know - it's - and they're very high-tech."
   " 'Scotch tape and baling wire': How some hospitals and companies are responding to meet America's ventilator shortage"  - USA Today. April 8, 2020.  Also, Donald Trump on ventilators: "they're big and like - it's, you know - it's - and they're very high-tech."

8.  "And by the way, the hydroxychloroquine, we have millions of doses that I bought.  I bought millions of doses, you know, for the country, the country bought."
   "I bought."

9.  "We have more than 29 million doses, and that's a lot."
   [does a series of mathematical calculations]  Yes, that is a lot.

10.  "A lot of people are looking at it and saying - you know, there's just - I don't hear bad stories.  I hear good stories."
   So the President hears "good stories" about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and "a lot of people are looking at it."  Does that replace the clinical trials that the medical community wants before fully embracing the drug's use?  No?  *** Note from BND - Not to mention that the drug can cause fatal heart arrythmias.... ***

11.  "And I don't hear anything where it's causing death.  So it's not like something unsafe."
   Objection!  Anecdotal, your honor.  (My Mom always wanted me to be a lawyer.)

12.  "It's been incredible how - how so far - I mean, I hate to say flawlessly, it's three days, but it's way ahead of schedule."
   "Small Business Aid Program Stretches Agency to Its Limits"  - The New York Times, April 8, 2020

13.  "Well, I'd love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country, and just open."
   Uh huh.  Tell me more...

14.  "We're way under any polls or any of the models, as they call them - they have models, and we're way under, and we hope to keep it that way, in terms of death."
   It might be relevant to note here that Donald Trump is not, by training, a statistician.

15.  "You know, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country, and then all of a sudden, they come in and say: 'Sir, you're going to have to close it.' "
   Not true.  No matter how many times he says it.

16.  "It wiped out - I mean, it was just unbelievable. That was your all-time bad."
   Donald Trump on the Spanish Flu of 1918 - 1919.

17.  "So you have to be careful because you look at that, and close to 100 people get killed, you have to think that, you  know, nobody would have thought it could have happened, but then you have to think, when you see this coming in and you see what was happening in China, you have to say, well, maybe this can happen here, so we have to be careful."
   Trump give s hard stare at the camera.

18.  "And I did what I wanted to do, and it was a good move."
   This is Trump  on his decision to shut down travel from China.  But, really, this is Trump on everything.

19.  "Well, I'm a diplomat, too."
   Trump nods his head very slowly.

20.  "He has a hard time getting the words out, 'thank you, you did a great job.' "
   Trump is referring here to an alleged lack of gratitude by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for what the federal government has done for him on COVID-19.  Remember that Trump always wants to be thanked and congratulated - for just doing his job.

21.  "When they bring you to the hospital with this one, this is not having your appendix taken out.  It's a bad - that's a bad thing."
   Dr. Trump doing his daily rounds...

22.  "I actually have four companies that are high-tech.  I mean, these are brilliant, brilliant people.  You look at Ebola, you look at AIDS, you look at some of the things that they've done, these are companies that have really did it."
   "I actually have four companies that are high-tech."

23.  "So, I'm just - all I am is a matchmaker.  I - you  know, I see results, I see great technicians, great people, come in with - with really, you know, potential cures, OK?"
   A "matchmaker," eh?

24.  "The media has been - the lamestream media has been extremely dishonest and it's a shame, it's very sad."

   This feels like a very good place to end. "


9 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 9:  1,484,811  and  88,538 deaths.

* One hundred days have passed since WHO was initially notified of COVID-19 in China, which was then only known as cases of "pneumonia with unknown cause."* "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Brazil reports its first confirmed case - among native peoples, the Yanomami.

Canada confirms a total of 19,774 cases.  It also confirms a total of 461 deaths.

Egypt confirms a total of 1,699 cases.  It also confirms a total of 115 deaths.

Hungary confirms a total of 980 cases.  It also confirms a total of 66 deaths.

Ireland confirms a total of 6,574 cases.  It also confirms a total of 265 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 4,228 cases.  It also confirms a total of 67 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,239 cases.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 21,762 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,396 deaths.

Pakistan confirms a total of 3,713 cases.  It also confirms a total of 62 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 10,131 cases.  It also confirms a total of 76 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total 1,910 cases.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,423 cases.  It also confirms a total of 204 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 152,446 cases.  It also confirms a total of 15,238 deaths.

Turkey confirms a total of 42,282 cases.  It also confirms a total of 908 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 65,077 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7,987 deaths.

The United States reports over 15,000 deaths from COVID-19.

 - According to figures released by Johns Hopkins University, there has been a total of 1,502,618 cases, and 89,915 deaths. - 

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     468,566 cases          16,691 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     6,202 cases          226 deaths

Sharing just two Tweets from Trump today - sent via Twitter from  @realDonaldTrump  on 9 April

-  at 3:35 pm EDT:  "The Wall Street Journal always "forgets" to mention that the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are "through the roof" (Monday night Football, Bachelor Finale, according to @nytimes) & is only way for me to escape the Fake News & get my views across.  WSJ is Fake News!"

 - at 8:42 pm EDT - in 2 parts:  "I have directed @SecretarySonny to expedite help to our farmers, especially to the smaller farmers who are hurting right now. I expect Secretary Purdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe...."
  "....We will always be there for our Great Farmers, Cattlemen, Ranchers, and Producers!"

SOURCE;  CNN Politics -  Written by Maegan Vazquez and Betsy Klein, with contribution by Jason Hoffman, Holmes Lybrand, and Tara Subramaniam - Updated at 9:25 pm EDT, 9 April 2020

"Trump Says More Than 2 Million Coronavirus Tests Have Been Done in the US, and Claims Mass Testing Not Needed
   **** Note from BND -  The United States currently has a population of over 331 million. ****

   President Donald Trump said Thursday that there have been more than two million COVID-19 tests completed in the United States but suggested that mass testing is not going to happen.  "I'm reporting today that we passed two million tests completed in the United States," Trump said during the White House COVID-19 task force's news briefing, adding that the tests are "highly sophisticated and highly accurate."
   The President has been celebrating the growing number of COVID-19 tests conducted in the US as a victory since the US surpassed South Korea last month as the country with the highest number of tests administered.  However, compared to South Korea, the US has conducted far fewer tests per capita given the US population is more than 6 times larger than South Korea's.
    Epidemiologists generally use rates like tests per capita when comparing different countries.  "I think the important clarification is that we should be considering the number of cases per 1 million population and considering a rate of people tested and not the absolute numbers," said Jennifer Horney, founding director of the University of Delaware's epidemiology program.  "The absolute number of tests is not very meaningful."
   The Trump administration has faced widespread criticism for the lack of a testing system across the country to identify COVID-19 patients and track the spread of the outbreak.  While testing has ramped up in recent weeks, the lack of an aggressive testing regimen early in the outbreak led to accusations that the government missed a chance to reduce the speed and scale of the pandemic in the US.  The US now leads the world in the number of reported cases.
   And though the number of tests administered has continued to increase, not all labs evaluating those tests have been able to keep up.  Quest Diagnostics, one of the nation's largest commercial labs, has faced a backlog of COVID-19 tests which has ballooned in the last two weeks and has delayed results up to 10 days.  In late March, the lab had about 160,000 COVID-19 test orders waiting to be processed, amounting to about half of the 320,000 orders for tests the company had received up to that date.
   As many people with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 struggle to get tested - including health care workers, such as nurses - it's still not clear how the country will emerge from its current state.  Many states are operating under stay-at-home orders and the federal government is recommending strict social distancing guidelines in order to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
   During Thursday's briefing, the President was asked by CNN's Jim Acosta whether the US would return to normal without instituting an adequate testing system, potentially through nationwide testing and monitoring.  Trump appeared to interpret the question as asking whether the entire American population would be tested for COVID-19.  "WE want to have it and we're going to see if we have it.  Do you need it?  No.  Is it a nice thing to do?  Yes.  We're talking about 325 million people and that's not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either," the President said.  "Other countries do it, but they do it in a limited form.  We'll probably be the leader of the pack."  Trump also suggested there would be "massive testing" in "certain areas" of the country.
   Later on in the briefing, Vice President Mike Pence would not say if there are enough COVID-19 tests available right now to reopen the country.  When asked by Acosta if the US had the testing capacity to make Americans feel comfortable about returning to work, Pence largely sidestepped the question, but when pressed, the vice president said, "We are moving every day toward meeting that moment."
   He went on to say that a decision on reopening the country will be made through a combination of factors.  "First would be that we are at the end of COVID-19 for most major communities," Pence said.  "Another piece of that is that we have therapeutics for Americans to take medicines if they contract the disease.  Another piece of that is guidance from the CDC to public institutions, to businesses large and small about how to conduct themselves in a safe and a responsible way.  And testing is also a piece of that."
   Pence added that testing is being scaled up across the country daily and there  is work being done on surveillance testing in addition to diagnostic testing. "


10 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 10:  1,650,210  and  100,376 deaths.
   A two week ceasefire begins in Yemen, following calls from United Nations Secretary-General Antonios Guterres to halt fighting amid the global pandemic.
   "More than half of Yemen's health facilities are no longer functioning and 18 million people do not have access to proper hygiene, water, and sanitation.  Warring parties agreed to a ceasefire last weekend to allow for a COVID-19 scale-up, only to violate it two days later, and on Monday this week an isolation facility outside of Hodeidah was hit by an airstrike.
   "This cannot happen again.  We cannot control a global pandemic amongst bombs and airstrikes.  We commend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the announcement, and we encourage them to stay true to their word," says Tamuna Sabedze, Yemen country director at the International Rescue Committee.
   A new report from IRC shows there are only 4 ventilators in South Sudan, 11 in northeast Syria, 13 in Sierra Leone, and 90% of hospitals lack critical supplies in Venezuela.
   The Global Fund board approves the COVID-19 response mechanism, with an initial allocation of $500 million.  The mechanism allows cuntries to request funding for COVID-19 response, and mitigate its impact on HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria programs.  This follows the fund's announcement in March that allowed countries to use up to 5% of their grants to prepare and respond to COVID-19.
   The number of COVID-19 deaths around the world surpasses 100,000.
   COVID-19 is spreading to rural areas of Africa, according to WHO Director General Dr. Tedros, who says there are clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries.
   The newly established United Nations Supply Chain Task Force, which will coordinate procurement and distribution of medical supplies, will need about $280 million for the costs of storing and moving supplies, Tedros says.  The supply chain may need to cover more than 30% of the world's needs in the acute phase of the pandemic and, every month, would need to ship at least 100 million medical masks and gloves; up to 25 million N95 masks, gowns, and face shields; up to 2.5 million diagnostic tests; and other equipment.  Hubs will be located in Belgium, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Panama, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.
   Yemen reports its first case of COVID-19.

From the WHO Situation Report:
Africa reports a total of nearly 11,000 cases.  It also confirms a total  of 562 deaths.
Bangladesh confirms a total of 424 cases.  It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.
Brazil confirms a total of 19,638 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,056 deaths - including the native Yanomani youth.
China confirms a total of 81,907 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,336 deaths.
Ecuador confirms a total of 7,161 cases.  It also confirms a total of 607 deaths.
France confirms 50 cases on board the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle.  It also confirms a total of  13,917 deaths.
Hungary confirms a total of 1,190 cases.  It also confirms a total of 77 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 68,912 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,232 deaths.
 - Italy reports the death of 100 doctors from COVID-19.
Japan confirms a total of 6,003 cases.  It also confirms a total of 99 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 4,346 cases.  It also confirms a total of  70 deaths.
Mexico confirms a total of 194 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 23,907 cases. It also confirms a total of 2,511 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,283 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 3,817 cases.  It also confirms a total of 67 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 4,195 cases.  It also confirms a total of 221 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 11,917 cases.  It also confirms a total of 94 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 2,108 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,450 cases.  It also confirms a total of 208 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 157,022 cases.  It also confirms a total  of 15,843 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 14,308 cases.  It also confirms a total of 805 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,473 cases.  It also confirms a total of 33 deaths.
Taiwan confirms a total of 382 cases.  It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Timor Leste confirms a total of 2 cases.
Turkey confirms a total of 47,029 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,006 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 8,958 deaths.
The United States reports over 16,500 deaths.  Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois reports 450 confirmed cases among staff and prisoners.
Yemen reports its first confirmed case.
 -  According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been 1.6 million COVID-19 cases; and over 100,000 deaths.  -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     502,513 cases          18,631 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     6,510 cases          250 deaths

Over 25 Tweets and re-Tweets from  @realDonaldTrump today, 10 April 2020 - here are 8 -
 Source: Twitter:
 - at 7:30 am EDT:  "This week, in only 4 days, we had the biggest Stock Market increase since 1974. We have a great chance for the really big bounce when the Invisible Enemy is gone!"

 - at 7:32 am EDT:  "Democrats are blocking a 251 Billion Dollar funding boost for Small Businesses which will help them to keep their employees. It should be for only tat reason, with no additions. We should have a big Infrastructure Phase Four with Payroll Tax Cuts & more. Big economic Bounceback!"

 - at 7:48 am EDT:  "Congress must go back to DEDUCTIBILTY by businesses if Restaurants, Clubs & Entertaiment is expected to flourish (like never before)!"

 - at 10:14 am EDT:  "Wow, Approval Rating in the Republican Party - 96%. Thank you!"

 - at 10:32 am EDT:  "HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY TO ALL!"

 - at 10:36 am EDT:  "Because the T.V. Ratings for the White House News Conference's are the highest, the Opposition Party (Lamestream Media), the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats &, of course, the few remaining RINO'S, are doing everything in their power to disparage & end them. The People's Voice!"

 - at 11:15 am EDT:  "The Invisible Enemy will soon be in full retreat!"

 - at 11:42 am EDT:  "Nobody wants to say that if Elizabeth Warren gets out of the race before Super Tuesday, Crazy Bernie Sanders wins virtually every state in a blowout...NOT EVEN CLOSE! I haven't heard one member of the Fake News Establishment even mention this irrefutable fact. FAKE NEWS!"
     **** Note from BND - Ummmm - Was this sent from a time warp that only the 45th President lives in?  Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the 2020 Presidential race on 5 March - which was 36 days ago.  Bernie Sanders dropped his Presidential earlier this week, in April 2020.  Can anyone guess what planet Trump's brain is on at the moment?  Certainly NOT Earth!
  -   And, any and all mis-spellings and oddities of sentence structure in the Tweets is copied directly from the original....   ****

11 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 11:  1,699,019  and  102,782 deaths."

 From the WHO Situation Report:
Armenia confirms a total of 966 cases.  It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.
Belarus confirms a total of 2,226 cases.  It also confirms a total of 23 deaths.
Brazil confirms a total of 19,638 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,056 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 22,559 cases.  It also confirms a total of 600 deaths.
China confirms a total of 81,987 cases.  It also confirms a total  of 3,339 deaths.
France confirms a total of 13,832 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 3,842 cases.  It also confirms a total of 237 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 70,029 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,357 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 10,743 cases.  It also confirms a total of 101 deaths.
Italy reports over 150,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 19,468 deaths.
Kazakhstan reports 10 confirmed cases at the Tengiz oil field.
Malaysia confirms a total of 4,530 cases.  It also confirms a total of 73 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 24,413 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,643 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,312 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 4,788 cases.  It also confirms a total of 71 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 4,428 cases.  It also confirms a total of 247 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 13,584 cases.  It also confirms a total of 106 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 2,299 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 161,852 cases.  It also confirms a total of 16,353 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 24,900 cases.  It also confirms a total of 831 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,518 cases.  It also confirms a total of 35 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 78,991 cases.  It also confirms a total of 9,875 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 522,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,071 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     533,259 cases          20,597 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
     6,893 cases          274 deaths

SOURCE:  Politico - White House  -  Written by Kamran Rahman    1 April 2020 at  9:40 pm EDT

"Trump Says He'll Use 'Facts and Instincts' to Guide Decision on When Country Safe to Reopen             The president said it would be "the toughest decision" he's ever made.

   President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would use "facts and Instinct" to make a decision on whether to recommend opening up areas of the country for working life to resume amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
   In a phone interview on "Justice with Judge Jeanine" on Fox News, the president said: "I think it's going to be the toughest decision I ever made and hopefully the most difficult I will ever have to make.  I hope I'm going to make the right decision.   I will be basing it on a lot of very smart people, a lot of professionals, doctors and business leaders.  There are a lot of things that go into a decision like that.  And it's going to be based on a lot of facts and instincts.
   "People want to get back to work.  ...  We are setting up a council of some of the most distinguished leaders in virtually every field, including politics, business and medical.  And we'll be making that decision fairly soon," he added.
   Asked if he had a message for the American people coping with the outbreak's impact on Easter weekend, the president said, "I love the people of our country.  And we are bringing our country back.  I want to pay my deepest love and respect to all the families and friends of all who have perished."
   The press briefing on COVID-19 developments that has become a daily fixture was not held Saturday, although Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to hold a briefing with the virus task force in the Situation Room that was closed to the media.  The president is in Washington, DC, but had no public events on his schedule.
   Trump had earlier in the day attacked multiple media outlets over their coverage of his administration's handing of the COVID-19 pandemic, tweeting directly at some and alluding to  others.  "The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board doesn't have a clue on how to fight and win.  Their views on Tariffs & Trade are losers for the U.S., but winners for other countries, including China," the president Tweeted.
   He focused indirectly on the heavily sourced New York Times report published Saturday that laid out in detail his administration's actions in January and February, when the scale of the outbreak was becoming known, implying without evidence that the reporters had made up their sourcing.  "When the Failing @nytimes or Amazon @washingtonpost writes a story saying "unnamed sources said", or any such phrase where a person's name is not used, don't believe them. Most of these unnamed sources don't exist. They are made up to defame & disparage."
   The president also referenced a separate New York Times report that indicated the coronavirus had mainly been transmitted to the U.S. by travelers from Europe, appearing to praise the report from the newspaper he'd earlier labeled "fake news." "
   
Source:  The Slate - News & Politics - "The Slatest"  Written by Daniel Politi  8:43 pm EDT  11 April

"Trump Repeatedly Dismissed Coronavirus Warnings as Alarmist For Weeks Before Crisis
   The New York Times takes a deep dive into the weeks that preceded the coronavirus crisis and paints a devastating portrait of how the White House wasted valuable weeks before it finally decided to take action.  The wasted weeks are hardly a surprise as several outlets, including the Washington Post, have taken looks at how President Donald Trump ignored several efforts by his officials to take action that could have saved lives.  But the Times story published Saturday manages to shed new light into the dysfunction that existed in the first months of the year and puts on full display just how many warnings Trump and his allies ignored for weeks.  It also makes clear how many in the administration knew full well the extent of the crisis that was on the country's doorstep yet could not  get the right people to pay attention.
   A key reason why Trump was slow to heed warnings was his distrust of what he saw as the "Deep State."  Coming shortly after his impeachment battle, Trump had a deep skepticism of the people who were warning him of the crisis that was a few short weeks away.  Little exemplifies that more than the way his health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, tried to get Trump to focus on the coronavirus twice in January, first on Jan. 18 and then on Jan. 30, when he warned it could become a pandemic.  Trump dismissed the warning, characterizing Azar as an alarmist.
   Even though initiatives that could have helped detect and stop the spread of COVID-19 had been thought of, it seems a lack of leadership prevented anything from actually moving forward.  Azar, for example, had said the government would set up a system to measure the spread of the virus in five American cities but it was delayed for weeks and that left the administration in the dark on how quickly the virus was spreading.
   The Times story makes evident there was a clear disconnect between what Trump was saying and what officials were learning.  While the president painted a rosy picture and predicted that "when  it gets a little warmer" the virus would "miraculously" go away, officials in his administration were concluding they would have to take an aggressive move toward social distancing.  An e-mail in late February is particularly exemplary as it shows how officials learned the key detail that asymptomatic people could still spread the virus.  But they still couldn't get the president to focus as turf wars within a White House known for its internal chaos kept derailing any hope for quick action.
   Trump was apparently none too happy with the bombshell story as he sent out two Tweets on Saturday that explicitly criticized the New York Times."

Source:  The New York Times - see article at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html


12 April 2020 (Easter Sunday) -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 12:  1,793,224  and  110,052 deaths.
   The International Rescue Committee launches an initiative that aims to help trained medical and health professionals who are refugees and immigrants but aren't credentialed in the United States to help in the nation's fight against COVID-19.  There are currently about 165,000 refugees and immigrants in the US that obtained their health-related education abroad.
   The African Union appoints Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, Tidjane Thiam, and Trevor Manuel as special envoys to mobilize international support to help Africa deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Canada confirms a total of 23,719 cases.  It also confirms a total of 674 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,052 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,339 deaths.
France confirms a total of 14,393 deaths.
Guatemala confirms a total of 153 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.
Hong Kong confirms a total of 1,005 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 4,241 cases.  It also confirms a total of 373 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 71,686 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,474 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 156,363 cases.  It also confirms a total of 19,899 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 4,683 cases.  It also confirms a total of 76 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 25,587 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,737 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,330 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total of 4,648 cases.  It also confirms a total of 297 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 17,770 cases.  It also confirms a total of 130 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 2,532 cases.
Somalia confirms a total of 2 deaths.
South Africa confirms a total of 2,173 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 166,019 cases.  It also confirms a total of 16,972 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,551 cases.  It also confirms a total of 38 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 56,956 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,198 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 2,777 cases.  It also confirms a total of 83 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 10,612 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     558,768 cases          22,021 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      6,202 cases          226 deaths


13 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 13:  1,872,073  and  116,098 deaths.
   The U.K. government pledges £200 million ($250 million) to slow the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable countries.  The funds will go to U.N. agencies, including WHO, as well as the Red Cross and other organizations.
   The International Monetary Fund approves immediate debt service relief to 25 countries through its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, which will provide about $500 million in grants to those countries.  IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urges donors to give more resources so the fund can provide debt service relief for two years to its poorest member countries.
   The Asian Development Bank expands its COVID-19 response package to $20 billion from the initial $6.5 billion announced in March.  The package, largely aimed at  helping governments in the Asia-Pacific region mitigate the impact of the pandemic, includes $2.5 billion in concessional and grant resources.
   China has imposed restrictions on the publication of research that focuses on the origins of COVID-19, CNN reports. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
 - The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a total of 14,744 cases; and 793 deaths recorded.   The Africa CDC also reports only 3 of the 55 counties have not reported confirmed cases. -
Australia confirms a total of 6,366 cases.
Burundi confirms  a total of 5 cases.  It also confirms its first death from COVID-19.
Canada confirms a total of 24,804 cases.  It also confirms a total of 734 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,160 cases.
France confirms a total of 14,967 cases.
Germany confirms a total of 123,016 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,799 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 4,557 cases.  It also confirms a total of 399 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 73,303 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,585 deaths.
Ireland confirms a total of 10,647 cases.  It also confirms a total of 365 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 11,586 cases.  It also confirms a total of 116 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 4,817 cases.  It also confirms a total of 77 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,349 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of  20,028 cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 2,918 cases.  It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.
South Africa confirms a total of 2,272 cases.  It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,475 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 169,496 cases.  It also confirms a total of 17,489 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 61,049 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,296 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 3,102 cases.  It also confirms a total of 93 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 88,621 cases.  It also confirms a total of 11,329 deaths.
- The United States reports more than 3,600 COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. -
   -  According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the number of global COVI-19 cases exceed 1.918 million, with 118,500 deaths.  -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     586,057 cases          23,604 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      7,303 cases          290 deaths

Trump's Tweets - One deleted one (after it was posted) late last night, and 4 from today, before his White House briefing.  The first was sent 12 April, the rest on today, 13 April 2020 via the  @realDoanldTrump Twitter account -   SOURCE: Twitter -
  - at 10:08 pm EDT  on 12 April 2020:  "The @nytimes story is a Fake, just like the "paper" itself. I was criticized for moving too fast when I issued the China Ban, long before most others wanted to do so. @SecAzar told me nothing until later, and Peter Navarro memo was same as Ban (see his statements). Fake News!"    -  DELETED -

 - at 9:31 am EDT, in 2 parts:  "Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19....."
  "....disaster, the Energy industry will be strong again, far faster than currently anticipated. Thank you to all of those who worked with me on getting this very big business back on track, in particular Russia and Saudi Arabia."

 - at 10:53 am EDT, in 2 parts:  "For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect...."
  "....It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!"

 - at 4:31 pm EDT:  "First the Fake News Media said that it's not fair for the President of the United States to be giving news conferences, but it is the only way I can reach the American People, as seen in the below poll."   (See   https:/t.co/xP2rqjqtaf  )
  *** Note from BND:  The news media complains about Trump's news conferences at the COVID-19 task force briefings because he gives false information and make campaign-rally-type pontifications.  It is more fit for a political advertisement than a news briefing. ***

 - at 5:14 pm EDT:  "My deepest sympathies go out to Frieda Cgera and the family of the late, great, Stanley Chera, one of Manhattan's most brilliant real estate minds. Stanley was charitable, kind, and a wonderful friend. He will be truly missed!"
   *** Note from BND:  This is the first time he has Tweeted any sympathy for anyone who has died (over 23,604 Americans from COVID-19 so far) recently, and he did die from COVID-19 complications...  BUT Chera was a huge donor to Trump and several organizations dedicated to supporting Trump's Presidency.  He was also a partner in real estate deals with The Kushner Companies, Trump's son-in-law Jared's company, and purchased a stake in the 666 Fifth Avenue skyscraper in NYC that was  a millstone around Kushner's neck. - No wonder Trump is sorry to see him die...  ***


14 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 14:  1,978,769  and  125,196 deaths.
   During a press conference, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urges countries to only ease control efforts, such as stay-at-home orders, if the right public health measures are in place, including "significant capacity" for contact tracing.  If countries are going to make this move, they must do it slowly, he added.  "While  COVID-19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates much more slowly.  In other words, the way down is much slower than the way up.  That means control measures must be lifted slowly, and with control.  It cannot happen all at once," he says.
   The United Nations Children's Fund warns that more than 117 million children in 37 countries could miss out on the measles vaccine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Measles immunization campaigns have already been delayed in 24 countries.
   The Ethiopian government and the World Food Program launch a humanitarian air hub for the transport of supplies, equipment, and workers at the international airport in Addis Ababa.
   The number of COVID-19 cases on the African continent surpasses 15,000.
   In the United States, President Donald Trump announces he is cutting off the nation's contributions to the World Health Organization, criticizing the agency for mismanaging the response.  It is unclear whether he has the authority to do so."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
China confirms a total of 82,249 cases.
France confirms a total of 15,729 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 125,0998 cases.  It also confirms a total of 98 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 4,683 deaths.
Ireland confirms a total of 11,479 cases.  It also confirms a total of 406 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 162,488 cases.  It also confirms a total of 21,067 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 2,427 cases.  It also confirms a total of 82 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 27,914 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,945 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,366 cases.  It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 21,012 cases.  It also confirms a total of 170 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 3,252 cases.  It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,502 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 172,541 cases.  It also confirms a total of 18,056 deaths.
Sweden confirms a total of 11,445 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,033 deaths.
Taiwan confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 61,049 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,296 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 3,372 cases.  It also confirms a total of 98 deaths.
 - HC-One, a UK nursing home company, reports a total of 542 cases, with 311 deaths from COVID-19.  -
   -  The United States Department of State confirms a total of 5 deaths; with the first today in Washington, DC.  -
      -  According the the Johns Hopkins University data base, currently there are about 1.93 million cases, and 120,000 deaths world wide from COVID-19.  -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     612,380 cases          25,949 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      7,691 cases          308 deaths

Source:  PBS News Hour -  Health Topics -  14 April 2020, at 3:42 pm EDT   -  Written by Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller, both reporters with the Associated Press

"Trump Announces He'll Direct WHO Funding To Be Frozen During Coronavirus Briefing

   Invoking the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty," President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that objections by governors to his claim of absolute authority over when to lift guidelines aimed at fighting COVID-19 were tantamount to insurrection.  Democratic and Republican governors sounded the alarm after Trump asserted that he and he alone will determine when and how to reopen the economy, despite clear constitutional limitations on federal powers.
   Trump, for his part, indicated he was relishing the fight with state officials - particularly those in hard-hit states run by Democrats - who have voiced fears that the president's ambitious timetable could lead to a resurgence of a virus that is still killing more than 1,000 Americans a day.  "A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain," Trump Tweeted Tuesday, adding, "Too easy!"
   Anxious to put the crisis behind him and to deflect criticism of his handling of the pandemic, Trump has been discussing how to roll back federal social distancing recommendations that expire at the end of the month.  He is set to launch a new advisory council that will hash out plans to reopen the American economy, which has dramatically contracted as businesses have shuttered, leaving millions of people out of work.
   But after weeks of saying he would leave major decisions in the hands of the states, Trump abruptly reversed course on Monday, claiming that his power, despite clear constitutional limitations, was absolute.  "When somebody is President of the United States, the authority is total," Trump said at the White House.  "The governors know that."  He declined to offer specifics about the source of his asserted power, claiming he would provide a legal briefing at a later date.
   But governors in both parties made clear they saw things differently, and said they would decide when it's safe to begin a return to normal operations, just as they were the ones who closed things down.  "The president's position is just absurd," said New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo in an appearance Tuesday on "CBS This Morning."  "It's not the law.  It's not the Constitution.  We don't have a King.  We have a president."
   New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told CNN, "All of these executive orders are state executive orders and so therefore it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that."  Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, also a Republican, said he, too, expected the call to remain with the states.  "I welcome national guidance and assistance," He said.  "But we will do what is needed in the best interest of Arkansans and I think that's what the people expect."
   Trump on Tuesday also directed his administration to freeze funding to the World Health Organization, pending a review of its warnings about the novel coronavirus and China, claiming the international body didn't deliver adequate early reports on the virus and cost the U.S. valuable response time there.  "The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable," Trump said.
   Meanwhile, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden Tweeted that he's "not running for office to be King of America" and respects "the great job so many of this country's governors - Democratic and Republican - are doing under these horrific circumstances."
   While Trump has issued national recommendations advising people to stay home, it has been governors and local leaders who have instituted mandatory restrictions, including shuttering schools and closing nonessential businesses.  Some of those orders carry fines or other penalties.
   Cuomo said that, if Trump ordered him to reopen New York's economy before he thought it was ready, he would refuse, setting up a "constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government. -  That would go into the courts and that would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment," Cuomo said on CNN's "New Day."
   At a later briefing, Cuomo stressed that any tug-of-war between states and the White House was a distraction from more important things.  "This is no time for any division between the federal and state governments," he said.   Trump, who has long tried to pass blame to governors, slapped back, accusing Cuomo of "calling daily, even hourly, begging for" lifesaving supplies.  "I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence!" he Tweeted.  "That won't happen!"
   Trump appeared to soften his approach later Tuesday as he met with people who have recovered from COVID-19, including former pro football player Mark Campbell and Karen Whitsett, a member of the Michigan House.
   "I'm going to be making a decision pretty quickly," he said, "and it's being done in conjunction with governors.  We have tremendous support from governors and what I do is going to be done in conjunction with governors." "


15 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 15:  2,000,984 and 128,071 deaths.
   The number of COVID-19 cases surpasses 2 million worldwide.
   French President Emmanuel Macron tells Radio France Internationale that placing a hold on debt payments of African governments is "an indispensable step" to assist the continent in its fights against COVID-19.
   In a press conference, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros says that the agency is internally assessing how the US withdrawing financial support will affect its programs and that it will aim to fill any financial gaps left by the US with other partners.  He adds that WHO's member states and independent bodies  will conduct a performance review of the agency's actions following the pandemic, as is standard for any outbreak.  "When we are divided, the virus exploits the cracks between us.  We are committed to serving the world's people and to accountability for the resources with which we are entrusted," he says.  "But for now, our focus, my focus, is on stopping this virus and saving lives.  ... WHO is getting on with the job." "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Canada confirms a total of 27,540 cases.  It also confirms a total of 903 deaths.
France confirms a total of 17,167 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 5,136 cases.  It also confirms a total of 469 deaths.
Iran reports a total  of 4,777 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 165,155 cases.  It also confirms a total of 21,645 deaths.
Japan confirms a total of 6,460 cases.
Libya confirms a total of 36 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,072 cases.  It also confirms a total of 83 deaths.
The Maldives confirms a total of 21 cases.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,386 cases.
Qatar confirms a total of 3,711 cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 3,699 cases.  It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 18,579 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 26,336 cases.  It also confirms a total of 973 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 69,392 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,518 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 3,764 cases.  It also confirms a total of 108 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 98,476 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12,868 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,060,927 cases      134,354 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     641,919 cases          28,399 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      8,280 cases          357 deaths


16 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 16:  2,078,277  and  138,101 deaths.
   The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces it will increase its funding for the global COVID-19 response by $150 million to fund the development of diagnosticherapeutics, and vaccines.  The funds will also be used to help partners in Africa and South Asia scale up efforts at detection, treatment, and isolation efforts.  With these new funds, the foundation has allocated a total of $250 million to the global response.  The foundation will also leverage a portion of its $2.5 billion Strategic Investment Fund.
   On the African continent, there has been a rapid increase in cases over the past week in Niger, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Cameroon, as well as high death rates in Burkina Faso, Congo, and Algeria, says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, during a press conference.
   "Eleven out of 17 [African] countries with more than over 100 cases of COVID-19 are in West and Central Africa," she writes in a press release.  "We are working with the governments to better understand what is happening on the ground, but this is worrisome as countries in these sub-regions often have particularly fragile health systems."
   A lack of personal protective equipment is already impacting COVID-19 response in many African countries, according to the release.  In Niger, 32 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19.  WHO's budget for the 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa will need about $300 million over the next six months, Moeti says during the press conference.
   Beyond having an impact on the COVID-19 response, U. S. President Donald Trump's threats to withhold funding from the agency could also cause harm to the existing programming across the continent.  "The impact, potentially, of this decision will be quite significant on areas such as polio eradication.  We are on the way to having the declaration of certification of polio being eradicated from Africa - The U.S. is one of the biggest supporters of that, as well as other priority programs that address communicable diseases such as HIV, malaria, and work on strengthening of our health systems.  This I can describe as the extent of the U.S. contribution and potential impact of this decision, which we are very much hoping will be rethought," Moeti says. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
- Africa confirms 17,247 cases.  It also confirms 911 deaths. -
Bonaire reports its first confirmed case.
China confirms a total of 82,295 cases.
Eswatini/Swaziland confirms a total of 17 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
 - WHO's Europe director reports over 1,000,000 case and over 84,000 deaths in that continent. -
- France reports 668 French Marines have confirmed cases. -
France confirms a total of 17,920 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 130,450 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,569 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 5,516 cases.  It also confirms a total of 496 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 77,995 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,869 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 168,941 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22,170 deaths.
Japan reports "about 9,000" cases and "nearly 200" deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,182 cases.  It also confirms a total of 84 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 29,214 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,315 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,401 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total of 5,660 cases.  It also confirms a total of 362 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 27,938 cases.  It also confirms a total of 232 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 4,427 cases.
Slovakia confirms a total of 997 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,613 cases.  It also confirms a total of 229 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 182,816 cases.  It also confirms a total of 19,130 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,672 cases.  It also confirms a total of 46 deaths.
Timor Leste confirms a total of 18 cases.
Turkey confirms a total of 74,193 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,643 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 4,161 cases.  It also confirms a total of 116 deaths.
The United Kingdom reports "more than 100,000" cases.  It also confirms a total of 13,729 deaths.
- Johns Hopkins University data base  reports that 3,401,064 Americans have now been tested for COVID-19  - that  just over 1% of the US population. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,157,108 cases      144,047 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     675,243 cases          34,562 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      8,675 cases          374 deaths

Source: CNN - Politics  -  Written by  Betsy Klein and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
   Updated at 12:30 pm EDT,  Thursday, 16 April 2020

"Ivanka Trump Traveled to New Jersey to Celebrate Passover Despite COVID-19 Guidelines

   Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of President Donald Trump, traveled with her family from Washington, DC to Bedminster, New Jersey, last week to celebrate Passover, a White House official said Thursday.  [They left their $5.5 million home in the Kalorama neighborhood of the District of Columbia and traveled to stay in the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.]
   Trump's decision to leave Washington, first reported by The New York Times, disregarded the federal COVID-19 guidelines  advising against discretionary travel that she has urged other Americans to follow.
   "Ivanka - with her immediate family - celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home.  Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C.," the official told CNN in a statement Thursday.
   The official continued, "While at Bedminster she has been practicing social distancing and working remotely.  Her travel was not commercial.  She chose to spend a holiday in private with her family."  The family drove from Washington to New Jersey, the official told CNN.
   Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, was at Bedminster for Seder, but is no longer there.  Trump has remained there for Passover, which ends this Thursday evening.  According to the Times, Trump has continued to work from Bedminister, while Kushner returned to the White House to help the President with the government's response to COVID-19.  The official did not respond to CNN's question on whether any extended family members were present for the Seder.
   A senior White House adviser, Trump has posted social media videos encouraging "those lucky enough to be in a position to stay at home, please, please do so."
   The White House federal guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19 state: "Avoid discretionary travel, shopping trips, and social visits."  The White House task force has advised Americans to social distance, stay 6 feet apart from others, and to avoid social gatherings of 10 or more people.
   Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has also issued a "stay-at-home" order, restricting residents to only essential activities and travel.
   While it's perfectly legal to travel between states, Trump chose to leave her Washington home to go to a state that is currently a "hot spot" for COVID-19.  New Jersey has the second-most reported cases and deaths in the US.  A Bedminster Township police sergeant died from COVID-19 on Easter Sunday.
   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory on March 26 urging people in the tri-state area - New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut - to "refrain from non-essential domestic travel" for the next two weeks, with exceptions for critical infrastructure employees.
   Though Trump was spending time with her husband and children, their travel also entails US Secret Service agents and local law enforcement resources during a challenging time."

*** Note from BND  -  Mayor Muriel Bowser's stay-at-home order for Washington, DC residents was issued on March 30, and states that all residents (including Jared, Ivanka, and their children) are to stay at home unless they are performing "essential activities" such as "obtaining medical care", purchasing food for themselves, or are performing "essential governmental functions" or "allowable recreational activities" such as "walking, hiking, running, dog-walking..."
  It's hard to imagine that a family visit to a New Jersey golf club falls into any of the categories listed above. The DC stay-at-home order also says that "willfully" violating it is a misdemeanor subject to a fine not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment for not more than three months, or both.  The hypocrisy of  "Ja-vanka's" behavior is breathtaking.
   And, I wonder, too, how much the Trump family will be charging us, the US taxpayers, the cost of housing and feeding the Secret Service agents during their enforced stay at the Trump National Golf Club for the duration of the Kushner-Trump family stay.....  ***


17 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 17:  2,159,267  and  145,563 deaths.
   One projection estimates that Africa could have more than 10 million severe cases of COVID-19, Michel Yao, WHO's emergency operations manager in Africa, says during a press conference, noting that it's difficult to make estimations because of the many factors involved.
   There is only one COVID-19 testing facility in Cox's Bazar, one isolation space in the Rohingya camp and the local hospital has only 10 intensive care beds, Mohammed Riyas, director of programs in Cox's Bazar for Plan International Bangladesh, writes in a press release, adding that Bangladesh's government and humanitarian agencies are working to increase this capacity.
   The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank announces it will double the funds  in its COVID-19 crisis recovery facility, providing up to $10 billion in financing.
   The prevention and control task force in Wuhan, China, revises the death toll in the city up 50%, from 2,579 deaths to 3,869 deaths.
 From the WHO Situation Report:
China confirms a total of 82,321 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,629 deaths (including revised Wuhan numbers).
France confirms a total of 18,681 deaths.
- France also confirms 1,081 crew members of the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle have tested positive for COVID-19. -
Italy confirms a total of 172,434 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22,745 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,251 cases.  It also confirms a total of 86 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 30,449 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,459 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,409 cases.  It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 7,025 cases.  It also confirms a total of 135 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 5,878 cases.  It also confirms a total of 387 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 4,663 cases.
Russia confirms a total of 32,007 cases.  It also confirms a total of 273 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 5,050 cases.  It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,635 cases.  It also confirms a total of 230 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 188,068 cases.  It also confirms a total of 17,557 deaths.
Syria reports its first death from COVID-19 (in the Kurdish-administered northeast region).
Turkey confirms a total of 78,546 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,769 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 4,662 cases.  It also confirms a total of 125 deaths.
The United Arab Emirates confirms a total of 5,825 cases.  It also confirms a total of 35 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 108,692 cases.  It also confirms a total of 14,576 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,234,109 cases      153,822 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     705,112 cases          36,553 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      9.047 cases          391 deaths

SOURCE:  Twitter:  17 April 2020 -   Sent from  @realDonaldTrump
 - at 9:21 am EDT:  "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!"

 - at 9:22 am EDT:  "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!"

 - at 9:25 am EDT:  "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!"


Source:   Common Dreams (organization) -  US Government, Economy, Politics -
   Written by Jake Johnson, staff writer   -   Friday, 17 April 2020

" 'Stop Tweeting.  People Are Dying': Trump Condemned for Twitter Rampage Encouraging Right-Wing Protests
 "I lack words to describe how stupids and dangerous this is."

   President Donald Trump on Friday went on a lengthy Twitter rampage that included calls to "liberate" Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia, an open show of support for right-wing demonstrators who are disregarding stay-at-home orders in those states to protest COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.  The Tweets, fired off in rapid succession late Friday morning, drew condemnation from advocacy groups and other critics who said the president should be focusing his attention on the lagging federal response to the deadly virus outbreak, not urging people to revolt against state guidelines.
   "Why is this your priority?" asked Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.  "Stop tweeting.  People are dying."  Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, pointed  out that the president's Tweets came after the U.S. on Thursday recorded its highest one-day COVID-19 death toll to date at 4,591.
   Trump's Tweet-storm began with an all-caps call to "LIBERATE MINNESOTA," the slogan used by right-wing demonstrators who rallied outside the home of Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz on Friday.  A minute later, the president Tweeted "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" followed shortly by "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment."  All three states Trump mentioned have Democratic governors.
   "I lack word to describe how stupid and dangerous this is," Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, wrote in response to Trump's Tweets.  "If social distancing to conquer COVID-19 becomes a  political and cultural war, we're all doomed."
   Vox's Aaron Rupar noted that the president's Tweets "appear to have been inspired by a segment on Fox News minutes earlier."  -  "At 11:19 [am] - two minutes before Trump's Minnesota Tweet - Fox News ran a segment about small groups of right-wing protesters in Minnesota and Virginia who have been agitating for governors there to relax stay-at-home orders so they can resume normal shopping and traveling activities," Rupar wrote.
   You can view the segment at:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1251176679965327361
   Trump's Tweets came less than 24 hours after the White House released new public health guidelines urging states to lift COVID-19 prevention measures at their own pace, a retreat from the president's declaration earlier this week that he has "total" authority to reopen the U.S. economy.
   The president's plan, as Common Dreams reported, was vaguely worded and did not contain anything resembling the kind of nationwide testing strategy that public health experts say must be established before any attempt to resume business as usual.
   "Until such a program is implemented, any plan for the widespread reopening of American businesses is fatally flawed and pure folly," Dr. Michael Carome, director of  Public Citizen's Health Research Group, said in a statement Friday.  "By sending a green light to states to begin reopening businesses," Carome said, "Trump has all but guaranteed that countless Americans will continue to get infected and die, hospitals will be overwhelmed, and the economic damage will expand." "


18 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 18:  2,274,800  and  156,140 deaths.
   During a press conference, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, emphasizes that there is no evidence to prove whether someone who had COVID-19 and recovered is immune from the disease.  "We're not - nobody is sure - whether someone with antibodies is fully protected against having the disease or being being exposed again," he says.
   WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also says during the press conference that if "wet markets" are allowed to reopen, they must conform to stringent food safety and hygiene standards and that governments must "rigorously enforce" bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food.  He says an estimated 70% of all new viruses come from animals.
   Cases of COVID-19 in Cameroon surpass 1,000 - a country already facing armed violence and an influx of refugees from Nigeria and Central Africa Republic.
   Singapore sees a record spike of 942 new cases of COVID-19, bringing total cases to nearly 6,000.
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Algeria confirms a total of 2,418 cases.  It also confirms a total of 364 deaths.
Australia confirms a total of 6,533 cases.  It also confirms a total of 68 deaths.
Bangladesh confirms a total of 2,144 cases.  It also confirms a total of 84 deaths.
Brazil confirms a total of 36,599 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,347 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,719 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,632 deaths.
Croatia confirms a total of 1,832 cases.  It also confirms a total of 39 deaths.
Egypt confirms a total of 3,032 cases.  It also confirms a total of 224 deaths.
France confirms a total of 19,323 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 137,439 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,110 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 6,248 cases.  It also confirms a total of 535 deaths. - Doctors in Indonesia dispute the death count, as there are many tests for COVID-19 being run on deceased patients and results are not yet in.
Iran confirms a total of 80,868 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,031 deaths.
Japan confirms a total of 10,000 cases.  It also confirms "over 200" deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,305 cases.  It also confirms a total of 88 deaths.
Mexico confirms a total of 6,875 cases.  It also confirms a total of 546 deaths.
Morocco confirms a total of 2,670 cases.  It also confirms a total of 137 deaths.
Nepal confirms a total of 30 cases.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,422 cases.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 31,589 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,601 deaths.
Palestine reports the first COVID-19 death in disputed East Jerusalem.
The Philippines confirm a total of 6,087 cases.  It also confirms a total of 397 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 36,793 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,785 deaths.  - Moscow reports 2,649 new cases and 21 new deaths. -  (Are the Moscow numbers already included in the Russia total?)
Singapore confirms a total of 5,992 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,653 cases.  It also confirms a total of 232 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 191,726 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,043 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 27,404 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,111 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,733 cases.  It also confirms a total of 47 deaths.
Turkey has confirmed a total of 82,239 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,890 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 5,106 cases.  It also confirms a total of 133 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 114,217 cases.  It also confirms a total of 15,464 deaths.
The United States' state of New York reports 540 deaths in the last 24 hours, along with over 2,000 hospitalizations in the same time period.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,317,759 cases      159,510 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     739,988 cases          38,928 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      9,433 cases          411 deaths

Source:  CNN  -  Politics  -  Written by Jeremy Diamond  - Updated at 8:07 pm EDT  18 April 2020

"Trump Lashes Out at Governors Over Testing Shortfalls

   President Donald Trump on Saturday repeatedly blamed governors for not making full use of COVID-19 testing capacity in their states, even as several Democratic and Republican governors said they are facing shortages of critical supplies to conduct tests.  "They don'twan to use all of the capacity that we've created.  We have tremendous capacity," Trump said during a briefing at the White House.  "They know that.  The governors know that.  The Democrat governors know that.  They're the ones complaining."
   Trump's criticism was the latest missive the President has fired at Democratic governors who in recent days have pressed the federal government for more help to address testing shortages amid mounting pressure for them to begin to reopen their economies.  The President's comments come after the White House released a three-part guideline this week, saying that states can enter the first phase toward reopening once they see a continued decrease over two weeks.  As of Saturday afternoon, here were more than 732,000 confirmed cases in the US and at least 38,600 people had died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
   Even as Trump said his administration is working with governors to "help them find and unlock the vast unused testing capacity that exists in their states," the President suggested it was the governors' fault for not making use of that capacity.  "The governors should use it," Trump said of private lab testing capacity.  "They're waiting for business from these governors."
   The President lambasted governors even as his own health experts have acknowledged shortfalls in testing around the country and he himself committed on Friday to shipping 5 million additional testing swabs to states this month due to shortages.
   Republican and Democratic governors alike have said they are facing shortages  of crucial testing supplies, which has hampered their ability to dramatically scale up testing to the point that it is needed.  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, have both said they are facing shortages of the chemical reagent needed to conduct more tests.
  Trump has repeatedly deflected criticism of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in recent weeks, instead seeking to shift responsibility and blame onto others, namely Democratic governors.  Trump has said he doesn't take "any responsibility at all" for his administration's slow roll out of nationwide testing during the critical early weeks of the virus's spread in the United States.  And even though the President has sought to put the onus for ramping up testing onto the states, Trump and his top aides have repeatedly credited his administration for up-scaling testing in recent months.
   The President has also rejected any shortcomings amid questions about why the US did not make early purchases of ventilators and personal protective equipment as the threat of the virus became clear in late January and February.  Instead, Trump has shifted blame on a rotating cast of characters from the Obama administration to the media, the World Health Organization and China, even though he publicly praised that country during the critical weeks the virus began spreading the US.
   Trump's efforts to shift blame onto Democratic governors for lackluster testing capabilities came as he also pressured some of those governors to relax restrictions in place in their states.  On Friday, Trump Tweeted "liberate" Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, three key swing states where Democratic governors have faced protests from the President's backers. "


19 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 19:  2,330,406  and  160,925 deaths."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Canada confirms a total of 33,922 cases.  It also confirms a total 1,506 deaths.
Chile reports "over 10,000" cases.  It also confirms a total of 133 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,735 cases.
France confirms a total of 19,718 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 139,897 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,294 deaths.
Guinea confirms a total of 518 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.
Honduras confirms a total of 472 cases.  It also confirms a total of 46 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 6,575 cases.  It also confirms a total of 582 deaths.
Israel confirms a total of 13,362 cases.  It also confirms a total of 171 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 175,481 cases.  It also confirms a total of 23,178 deaths.
Japan confirms a total of 10,361 cases.  It also confirms a total of 174 deaths.
 - A cruise ship anchored off Japan has 712 confirmed cases aboard - no ship's name given -
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,389 cases.  It also confirms a total of 89 deaths.
Mexico confirms a total f 7,947 cases.  It also confirms a total of 650 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 32,655 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,684 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,431 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 7,993 cases.  It also confirms a total of 159 deaths.
Panama confirms a total of 4,273 cases.  It also confirms a total of 120 deaths.
Peru confirms a total of 15,628 cases.  It also confirms a total of 400 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 6,259 cases.  It also confirms a total of 409 deaths.
Poland confirms a total of 9,287 cases.
Qatar confirms a total of 4,922 cases.  It also confirms a total of 8 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 42,853 cases.  It also confirms a total of 361 deaths.
Rwanda confirms a total of 44 cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 6,588 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,661 cases.  It also confirms a total of 234 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 195,944 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,453 deaths.
Taiwan confirms a total of 420 cases.  It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.
Ukraine  confirms a total of 5,449 cases.  It also confirms a total of 141 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 16,060 deaths.
The United States confirms a total  of 735,336 cases.  It also confirms a total of 39,095 deaths.
Zimbabwe confirms a total of 25 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,402,798 cases      165,154 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     764,177 cases          40,591 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      9,730 cases          422 deaths

*** Trump sent out a lot of Re-Tweets today; here are three that were not repeats.  ***
SOURCE:  Twitter - sent on 19 April 2020 from  @realDonaldTrump

 - at 12:36 pm EDT:  "Just like I was right on Ventilators (our Country is now the "King of Ventilators", other countries are calling asking for help-we will!), I am right on testing. Governors must be able to step up and get the job done. We will be with you ALL THE WAY!"

 - at 12:58 pm EDT:  "Nervous Nancy is an inherently "dumb" person. She wasted all her time on the Impeachment Hoax. She will be overthrown, either by inside or out, just like her last time as "Speaker". Wallace & @FoxNews are on a bad path, watch!"

 - at 3:14 pm EDT:  ".@FoxNews "Dems say President Trump is trying to open the United States Economy too quickly", but, if I took even a little more time, they would loudly chant that I am moving too slowly. Just political talking points for them. For me it's about lives & the future of our Country!"


20 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 20:  2,432,092  and 166,794 deaths.
   In a letter to World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Medical Association call on WHO to allow Taiwan into the organization, noting that "failure to listen to early warnings from Taiwan about the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with its decision to ignore Taiwan during much of the SARS crisis, were errors that led to the world paying a high price."  While in the past Taiwan has been given observer status at WHO, in recent years it has been "locked out by the WHO as a result of the 'One China' Policy," according to the letter.
   The death toll in Europe from COVID-10 surpasses 100,000.  The death rate in Europe, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is nearly 9%.
   United Nations agency heads, as well as the heads of the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response, International Council of Voluntary Agencies, InterAction, and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies write an open letter to the donor community asking for $350 million to rapidly scale up the U.N.'s global logistics system to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  The U.N. World Food Program, which is managing the logistics around the global response, "urgently needs additional funding to establish the necessary transport hubs, charter vessels, and provide aircraft for cargo, health workers, and other essential staff," according to the letter. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Canada confirms a total of 33,922 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,611 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,796 cases.
Ecuador reports "over 10,000" cases.
France confirms a total of 20,265 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 141,672 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,404 deaths.
Ghana confirms a total of 834 cases.  It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 6,070 cases.  It also confirms a total of 590 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 83,505 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,209 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,425 cases.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 33,405 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,751 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,440 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total of 6,459 cases.  It also confirms a total of 428 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 47,121 cases.  It also confirms a total of 405 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 8,014 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,764 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 200,210 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,852 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 27,944 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,142 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,792 cases.  It also confirms a total of 47 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 90,980 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,140 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 5,710 cases.  It also confirms a total of 151 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,473,209 cases      170,042 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     795,960 cases          42,604 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      10,106 cases          449 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   4,003,551    of   331,000,000+   =   1.32% of the population

SOURCE:  Twitter:   Tweets sent on 20 April 2020   from  @realDonaldTrump   *** a few selected from mostly re-Tweets, which none of these are - also left out his "vote for" Tweets... **

 - at 9:58 am EDT:  "Congratulations to all of my many friends at The Villages in Florida on having done so well, and with such great spirit, during these rather unusual times. So proud of everyone! Mark Morse & Gary Lester have really stepped up to the plate. Hope to see everyone soon."

**** Note from BND - About the above Tweet:  The Villages in Florida sells itself as "America's premier Active Adult Community (ages 55+) located in sunny Central Florida."  Mark Morse is the President and COO of the Villages, and is a felon, having committed felony wildlife violations while hunting in Montana in 2010.  Dr. Gary Lester is the Vice-President of The Villages, and is a Presbyterian minister.  There are 78 "villages" in the area, which sprawls across three counties. The average home cost is $270,000; the monthly "ammenity fee" varies with the village, covering use of executive golf courses, pools, and recreation centers (Country Club fees are not included).  And, according to reports, people who live there generally spend well over $5,000 per month for entertainment and "social amenities."   -  Currently, there are 73 known COVID-19 cases in The Villages, with 17 deaths.  ****


 - at 11:37 am EDT, in 2 parts:  "Last month all you heard from the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats was, "Ventilators, Ventilators, Ventilators." They screamed it loud & clear, & thought they had us cold, even though it was the State's task. But everyone got their V's, with many to spare. Now they scream...."
   "..."Testing, Testing, Testing," again playing a very dangerous political game. States, not the Federal Government, should be doing the Testing - But we will work with the Governors and get it done. This is easy compared to the fast production of thousands of complex Ventilators!"

 - at 10:06 pm EDT:  "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!"


Source:  CNN- Politics:   Written by Paul LeBlanc; with Arman Azad, Jason Hoffman, Betsy Klein and Jennifer Hansler contributing  -  Updated at 6:24 pm EDT, Sunday, 19 April 2020

"Washington Post:  US Officials at WHO Relayed Real-Time COVID-19 Information to Trump Administration

   A group of US officials working at the World Health Organization headquarters transmitted real-time information about the novel coronavirus directly to the Trump administration, US and international officials told the Washington Post.  The reported line of communication undercuts President Donald Trump's assertion that the virus' spread in the US largely stems from a lack of communication from WHO.
   A spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services, Caitlin Oakley, confirmed to CNN that 17 staff members from HHS were working at WHO in the outbreak's early days.  In January 2020, she said, HHS had 17 staffers at WHO - including 16 from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Some of these "embedded" experts, but not all of them, were working on COVID-19, Oakley said.
   She pushed back on the Washington Post reporting, however, calling it "misleading."  Oakley said that the Americans at WHO "were not the decision makers" and appeared to suggest that WHO leadership was withholding information from US technical experts - ore providing inaccurate information, sourced from China.
   "I'd add that just because you have Americans embedded in WHO providing technical assistance does not change the information you are getting from WHO leadership," she said.  "We have learned now that WHO information was incorrect and relied too heavily on Chins," she added.
   WHO officials, however, have pointed out that the agency must rely on information from member nations.  Dr. David Nabarro, a WHO special envoy, told NBC's "Meet the Press" last weekend that "we really do have to work with the information we get.  -  We don't have , in the World Health Organization, the power to go and inspect beyond what countries tell us," he said.
   News of the presence of a bloc of US officials at the WHO comes after Trump announced he is halting funding to the organization earlier this month while a review is conducted.  Amid swirling questions about whether he downplayed  the crisis or ignored warnings from members of his administration, the President said the review would cover Who's "role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus."
   The US funds $400 million to $500 million to WHO each year, Trump said while announcing the funding freeze, noting that China "contributes roughly $40 million."  Trump also said, "Had WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China's lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death."
   Democrats, however, see the move to yank funding from WHO as a mistake motivated by the administration's desire to find a scapegoat for the pandemic's spread.  "WHO is not perfect.  But right now we need to work with them in the field, it is our only good option," a Democratic congressional aide previously told CNN.  "The administration is using WHO as a scapegoat.  It is obvious." "


21 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 21:  2,498,355  and  171,652 deaths.
   Early data from some sero-epidemiologic surveys suggest a relatively small percentage of the population - not more than 2% to 3% - may have been infected by COVID-19, even in heavily hit areas, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says during a press conference.  "... a lower percentage of people are actually - it appears - are infected.  That means a large proportion of the public remains susceptible.  That means that the virus can take off again," say Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO Health Emergencies Program.
   In response to criticisma that WHO ignored early warnings of human-to-human transmission, Dr. Tedros says that an e-mail sent on December 31,2019, by health officials in Taiwan was a call for WHO clarification on the outbreak.  It was not a report of human-to-human transmission.  "We have all the documentation," he says.
   The World Bank's pandemic bond is set to pay out $132.5 million to some of the world's poorest countries impacted by COVID-19.  The financial instrument was launched in 2017, following the West Africa Ebola crisis.
   WHO translates its press conference for the first time into all U.N. official languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.  It will soon also add Swahili and Hindi. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Canada confirms a total of 37,382 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,728 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,844 cases.
Indonesia confirms a total of 7,135 cases.  It also confirms a total of 616 deaths.
Italy reports "over 180,000" cases.  It also confirms a total of 24,648 deaths.
Lebanon confirms a total of 677 cases.  It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,482 cases. It also confirms a total of 92 deaths.
- In Morocco, in the city of Ouarzazate, 68 cases are confirmed. -
The Netherlands confirms a total of 34,134 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,916 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,445 cases.  It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 9,214 cases.  It also confirms a total of 192 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 6,599 cases.  It also confirms a total of 437 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 9,125 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 204,178 cases.  It also confirms a total of 21,282 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 95,591 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,259 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 6,125 cases.  It also confirms a total of 161 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,561,915 cases      177,200 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     824,698 cases          45,297 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      10,447 cases          486 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   4,155,178    of   331,000,000+   =  1.37% of the population


22 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 22:  2,592,845  and  179,694 deaths.
   The World Food Program warns the COVID-19 pandemic could nearly double the number of people suffering from acute hunger.  This figure could surpass 250 million by the end of the year.
   Health worker infections from COVID-19 are high in the Philippines at 13% compared to the estimated average of 2 - 3% in the region, says Abdi Mahamud, WHO COVID-19 incident manager for the Western Pacific, during a press conference.  The exact reasons are unclear, but the official mentioned PPE, or personal protective equipment, shortages, and an overwhelmed health care system potentially contributing to this high infection rate.
   While COVID-19 cases in Japan continue to climb, reaching over 11,000, WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr. Takeshi Kasai says during the briefing that Japan has not yet reached the stage of a large-scale community outbreak.  Kasai also said the source of the virus remains unknown to date, amid speculations that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and not from the Huanan seafood market.  The rapid rise of COVID-19 infections in Singapore, oft-cited as a model of success in fighting the disease, provides lessons for countries to pay attention to vulnerable groups of the population, he says.
   Simon McDonald, permanent undersecretary of the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, says to the Foreign Affairs Committee that U.S. officials have discussed the idea of a body separate from WHO, which would be responsible for pandemics, drawing parallels to when the World Food Program "broke out" of the Food and Agriculture Organization in the 1960s.  He says the U.K. "needs to be open at this stage to all these ideas."
 From the WHO Situation Report:
Bulgaria confirms a total of 1,015 cases.  It also confirms a total of 47 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 38,932 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,871 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,916 cases.
Indonesia confirms a total of 7,418 cases.  It also confirms a total of 635 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 85,996 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,391 deaths.
Italy confirms a total 187,327 cases.  It also confirms a total of 25,085 deaths.
 - Japan reports 8 children at a residential care facility have tested positive for COVID-19.
 - Japan reports the cruise ship Costa Atlantica, in the shipyard at Nagasaki, confirms 34 cases on board.
Jordan confirms a total of 435 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.
Lebanon reports the COVID-19 death of a refugee at a camp in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,532 cases.  It also confirms a total of 93 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 34,842 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,054 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,451 cases.  It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 6,710 cases.  It also confirms a total of 446 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 7,141 cases.  It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 57,999 cases.  It also confirms a total of 513 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 10,141 cases.  It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,775 cases.
Spain confirms a total  of 208,389 cases.  It also confirms a total of 21,717 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 28,268 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,217 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 98,674 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,376 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 6,592 cases.  It also confirms a total of 174 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 133,495 cases.  It also confirms 18,100 deaths. - UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed 69 of those deaths were National Health Service employees. -
- In the United States, health Officials in the state of California have confirmed that 2 people died from COVID-19 before the original first reported death in February 2020. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,627,630 cases      183,336 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     852,703 cases          47,750 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      10,878 cases          508 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   4,466,559    of   331,000,000+   =  1.47% of the population

SOURCE:  Twitter:  Some of Trump's Tweets today  sent from  @realDonaldTrump
 - at 7:00 am EDT:  "I will be signing my Executive Order prohibiting immigration into our Country today. In the meantime, even without this order, our Southern Border, aided substantially by the 170 miles of new Border Wall & 27,000 Mexican soldiers, is very tight - including for human trafficking!"

 - at 7:53 am EDT:  "States are safely coming back. Our country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever...WE LOVE YOU ALL!"

 - at 8:08 am EDT:  "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

 - at 10:14 am EDT:  "Another FALSE ad by the Do Nothing Democrats. Almost all of their ads are False or Misleading and the Fake News loves it!"
 *** Note from BND:  This is in reference to an ad showing the US shipping medical supplies to China on 7 February.  A Trump supporter had Tweeted that the US did NOT do this.  Trump's Tweet in is response is above...    See:  https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/02/facebook-posts/yes-us-shipped-donated-personal-protective-equipme/   ***

- at 10:17 am EDT:  "CDC Director was totally misquoted by Fake News @CNN on Covid 19. He will be putting out a statement."
 *** Note from BND:  This is in reference to the headline - "US CDC Director Redfield Warns Second COVID-19 Wave Could Be 'More Difficult," Hit Same Time As Flu"   -  Please note that NO statement has come from Director Redfield today...     And, from today's "The Po!nt" analysis from CNN's Editor at large, Chris Cillizza:
 "...  (Actually, the Redfield interview was with The Washington Post.  CNN did pick up on the comments and write a news story, But, come on man.  Check your facts.)
   The first person to issue such a statement wasn't Redfield.  Instead, it was newly installed White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who told reporters this on Wednesday afternoon: "The CDC director, I spoke with him just before coming out here. He was very clear in saying look, we might have flu reemerge in the fall.  All Americans need to go out and get their flu shots, that was the thrust of his comments, but you know, leave it to the media to really take those out of context."  [She looks around to see if anyone else heard that.]
   So, wait.  According to McEnany, she talked to Redfiels and what he really meant to say was something along the lines of Get your flu shot, people?  And that this is all just a media-created story - twisting Redfield's words - as told to the Post.  Which, again, are these (bolding is mine):  "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through.  And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean.  We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus virus epidemic at the same time."
   How do we know that Redfield was properly quoted, you ask?  Well, consider a few things:
1) In the quote itself, Redfield acknowledges that when he tells people that a fall outbreak of coronavirus could be even worse "they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean."  That reaction, as described by Redfield, suggests that what he is saying is shocking to lots of people.  Which a second, worse outbreak of Coronavirus would be!  And which a reminder that flu season is in the fall wouldn't be.
2)  Less than two hours after the Post story went live (6:41 pm Tuesday night) Redfield Tweeted it out (at 8:37 pm) urging people to read it.  ".@CDCgov will soon issue guidance for state and local governments on how they can ease #COVID19 mitigation efforts - moving from current guidance to a phased way to support a safe reopening of America," wrote Redfield.  "Read more in @washingtonpost."  Would you do that if you believed the story was fundamentally unfair and/or had taken some of your comments out of context?  Of course you wouldn't!
3)  Redfield himself said during Wednesday's COVID-19 task force news briefing that he wasn't misquoted.  "I'm accurately quoted in The Washington Post," he said after being pressed by reporters.  While he answered, Trump stood a few feet behind him and said repeatedly that the headline was a mischaracterization of the quote.
   It's not hard to see what's going on here:  Redfield's comments about a second wave of COVID-19 run directly counter to the increasingly happy talk coming from President Trump about how the country is dealing with the pandemic.  "We're starting to open our country again," said Trump on Wednesday.  "Thanks to our significant progress against the invisible enemy, I'm pleased to announce that in line with my administration's guidelines for opening up America again, we will begin to reopen our National Parks and public lands for the American people to enjoy."
   Redfield's comments suggest that we are not almost done with COVID-19.  And that even if society reopens over the summer, a real possibility exists that we will have to again practice social distancing and follow stay-at-home guidelines sometime this fall.
  And so the President sent his press secretary out to tell us all what Redfield said - what he has not disputed he said! - wasn't actually what he said.  We probably shouldn't expect anything different from a President who famously/infamously said:  "Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news.  ...  What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
   Except we know it is happening.  We have Redfield's words right in front of us. "


23 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 23: 2,649,680 and 184,643 deaths.
   Outbreaks in Western Europe "appear to be stable or declining," says WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference.  "Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe.  Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics.  And some that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases.  Make no mistake.  We have along way to go.  This virus will be with us for a long time."
   Of the countries that have reported data to WHO, only 66% have a clinical referral system in place for COVID-19 patients, 48% have a community engagement plan, and 48% have an infection prevention and control program and standards  for water, sanitation, and hygiene in health facilities, Tedros says.  "There are still many gaps in the world's defenses, and no single country has everything in place," he says.
   When asked whether WHO should have declared a pandemic sooner than March 11, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, clarifies that the highest level of alert that WHO can declare is a "public health emergency of international concern," which it did on January 30.  "The characterization of the disease as a pandemic, in itself, has no basis, other than a description of the event at that time," he says.  When the emergency declaration was made, there were only 82 known cases outside of China - mostly "in the neighborhood" of the country - and no deaths, Dr. Tedros added.
   The U.S. rejects the European Union's calls to ease sanctions on Iran, preventing the International Monetary Fund from assisting the country with COVID-19 response.
   A Palestinian woman from Syria tests positive for COVID-19 in Lebanon - the first case identified in the country's refugee camps.
   On the African continent, there are over 25,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 1,200 deaths, says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director of Africa, during a news briefing.  South Africa is the most affected country there, with 3,300 cases, but the nation is "starting to see a bending of their curve," she says.  There are "concerning" increases in some countries in West Africa and in Tanzania.  "We are observing some countries take an approach to the response which is not quite what we are recommending.  So certainly in Tanzania, we have observed that the physical distancing, including the prohibition of mass gatherings, took some time to happen, and we believe these might have been factors - or probably factors - in expanding the number of cases.  We are seeing a rapid increase in cases there," she says.
   Recent analysis finds that if the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets stops, and case management reduces during the pandemic, malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could double in comparison with 2018, Moeti says.  This would be the highest number of malaria deaths seen in the region since 2000.  "We saw with the Ebola disease outbreak in West Africa that we actually lost more people to diseases that we previously managed to control, like malaria, than we lost to the outbreak itself.  Let us not repeat that again with COVID-19," she says.
 From the WHO Situation Report:
China confirms a total of 82,798 cases.
France confirms a total of 21,856 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 189,973 cases.  It also confirms a total of 25,549 deaths.
- Japan reports 18 cases on board the cruise ship Costa Atlantica, out of 623 passengers. -
Malaysia confirms a total of 5.603 cases.  It also confirms a total of 95 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 16 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 10,513 cases.
Singapore confirms a total of 11,178 cases.  It also confirms 13 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 213,024 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22,157 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 101,790 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,941 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 7,170 cases.  It also confirms a total of 187 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 138,078 cases.  It also confirms a total of 18,738 deaths.
Venezuela confirms a total of 311 cases.  It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,708,470 cases      190,788 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     890,000 cases          50,363 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      11,202 cases          552 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   4,660,250    of   331,000,000+   =  1.54% of the population


24 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 24: 2,780,094  and  194,664 deaths.
   WHO launches the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global initiative to speed up the development and production of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics to respond to COVID-19.  The launch is attended virtually by heads of state, leaders of international health organizations, and representatives of private sector players in the health industry, who emphasize the importance of collaboration and ensuring equitable and affordable access to the tools being developed.
   "Equity, access, and affordability are key tenets of our efforts.  ...  We must come together to achieve all of these," says Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, special envoy for the ACT Accelerator.  The launch will be followed by a virtual pledging conference on May 4, to be hosted by the European Commission.  The event is meant to raise funding for COVID-19 vaccine research.
   Niger reports a new polio outbreak.  WHO says that a vaccination campaign will not be possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  "Niger stopped the previous polio outbreaks by mounting high quality mass vaccination campaigns in 2019.  Unfortunately, that will not be possible now as we have suspended the polio mass vaccination campaigns due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic responses that requires global standards for social distancing and hand washing hygiene practices," says Dr. Pascal Mkanda, WHO polio eradication program coordinator for the African region, in a press release.  The polio virus will inevitably continue to circulate and may paralyze more children as no high-quality immunization campaigns can be conducted in a timely manner."
   The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 passes 50,000. "

 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
Bangladesh confirms a total of 3,772 cases (including 251 MDs).  It also confirms a total of 120 deaths.
China confirms a total of 82,804 cases.
Djibouti confirms a total of  98 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.
Hong Kong confirms a total of 1,036 cases.
India confirms a total of 22,930 cases.
Indonesia confirms a total of 8,211 cases.  It also confirms a total of 689 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 88,194 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,574 deaths.
- Japan reports a total of 139 COVID-19 cases on the Costa Atlantica cruise ship at Nagasaki. -
Lebanon confirms a total of 696 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,691 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,663 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 36,535 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,289 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,456 cases.  It also confirms a total of 17 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 7,192 cases.  It also confirms a total of 477 deaths.
Portugal confirms a total of 22,797 cases.  It also confirms a total of 854 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 8,525 cases.  It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 12,075 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 219,764 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22,524 deaths.
Switzerland confirms a total of 28,677 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,309 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,854 cases.  It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.
Timor Leste confirms a total of 24 cases.
Turkey confirms a total of 104,912 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,600 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 7,647 cases.  It also confirms a total of 193 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 19,373 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 868,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 49,963 deaths.
Vietnam confirms a total of 270 cases.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,790,986 cases      195,920 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     923,000 cases          52,234 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      12,256 cases          674 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   4,692,797    of   331,000,000+   =  1.55% of the population

Source:  CNN -  Politics  -  Facts First  -  Written by Daniel Dale.  Updated at 4:45 pm EDT,   Friday, 24 April 2020

"Fact Check:  Trump Lies That He Was Being 'Sarcastic' When He Talked About Injecting Disinfectant

   President Donald Trump lied Friday when he said he was being "sarcastic" when he asked medical experts on Thursday to look into the possibility of injecting disinfectant as a treatment for COVID-19.  (See  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtgVxGkrX1Y)
   Doctors and the company that makes Lysol and Dettol warned that injecting or ingesting disinfectants is dangerous.  But when Trump was asked about the comments during a bill signing on Friday, he said," I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen."  He then suggested he was talking about disinfectants that can safely be rubbed on people's hands.  And then he returned to the sarcasm explanation, saying it was "a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside."
   A reporter noted that he had asked his medical experts to look into it.  Trump responded: "No, no, no, no - to look into whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands, but whether or not sun can help us."
   Facts First:  Trump was not being "sarcastic" on Thursday when he raised the possibility of injecting disinfectant.  There was simply no indication that he was being anything less than serious.  He was also wrong Friday when he denied he had asked the medical experts to "check" the idea of disinfectant injections; he was looking at them at the time.  And he did not mention hands during his Thursday remarks.
   Here's what Trump said Thursday ehile looking in the direction of COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Department of Homeland Security science official Bill Bryan: "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute.  One minute.  And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning.  Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.  So it would be interesting to check that.  So, that, you're going to have to use medical doctors with.  But it sounds - it sounds interesting to me."
         What happened on Thursday
   Bryan, the acting undersecretary of science and technology for the Department of Homeland Security, outlines tests in which he said disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol quickly killed COVID-19 on surfaces.  Bryan also spoke about how the virus was found to be negatively affected by exposure to UV rays and higher temperatures.
   Trump first spoke about the possibility of using light as a treatment for people who already have COVID-19, musing that a "very powerful light" could be used to "hit the body" or be brought "inside the body ... either through the skin or in some other way."  Trump said Bryan had said he is going  to "test that."  (Experts said this idea does not make sense; when Trump asked Birx if she has heard of the use of heat or light related to the virus, she said, "Not as a treatment.")
   Bryan said he would "get to the right folks" who could do the testing.  Trump then began his comments about disinfectant, which he concluded by saying "it sounds very interesting to me."
   Reminded by a reporter on Friday that he had been looking at Birx when he made these Thursday comments, Trump said he was looking at Bryan, Birx, but also "some of the reporters."  In fact, the video shows he was looking in the direction of Birx and Bryan for almost the entirety of his musings about disinfectant, glancing forward at the reporters only very briefly.
   Later in the Thursday briefing, when a reporter asked Bryan if there is any scenario in which household cleaners could be injected into a person, Bryan said, "No, I'm here to talk about the findings that we had in the study.  We won't do that within that lab or our lab."  Trump then interjected:  "It wouldn't be through injection.  We'e talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area.  Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't work.  But it certainly has a big effect if it's on a stationary object."
   So:  Trump can argue that he walked back his comments during the briefing.  But even in this more cautious follow-up, he offered no indication that he had been anything less than completely serious.
        Differing spin
   The White House's initial statement on Friday about the disinfectant remarks did not say the President had been sarcastic.  It only alleged that the media had taken him out of context.
   Trump has a history of falsely claiming that serious but controversial remarks had been sarcasm.  For example, he has insisted that his famous 2016 "Russia, if you're listening" request for Russia's help obtaining Hillary Clinton e-mails was him being "sarcastic" and making "a joke."
         Sharp warnings
   Medical experts and government entities issued sharp warnings late Thursday and on Friday against injecting or ingesting disinfectants, noting that doing so could be deadly.
   "It could definitely kill you," Dr. Colleen Kraft, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine, told CNN's Poppy Harlow Friday.
   "This is a reminder that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion, or any other route," Maryland's Emergency Management Agency Tweeted Friday.
   "Household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly.  Follow the instructions on the product label to ensure safe and effective use," the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tweeted Friday. "

***** Note from BND  -  Surprisingly - or, maybe not - Trump did not take any questions at today's White House COVID-19 task force briefing.  He almost bolted from the platform....   *****


25 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 25: 2,811,891  and  197,162 deaths.
   The global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 200,000."
 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
China confirms a total of 82,845 cases.
France confirms a total of 22,164 deaths
Germany confirms a total of 152,438 cases.  It also confirms a total of 179 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 8,607 cases.  It also confirms a total of 720 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 89,328 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,650 deaths.
Japan confirms a total of 12,800 cases.  It also confirms a total of 345 deaths.
- Tokyo confirms a total of 3,836 cases. -
-  The cruise ship Costa Atlantica anchored at Nagasaki confirms a total of 150 cases aboard the ship.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,742 cases.  It also confirms a total of 98 deaths.
Mexico confirms a total of 12,872 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,221 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 37,190 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,409 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,461 cases.  It also confirms a total of 18 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 7,294 cases.  It also confirms a total of 494 deaths.
Poland confirms a total of 11,067 cases.  It also confirms a total of 499 deaths.
Russia has confirmed a total of 74,588 cases.  It also confirms a total of 681 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 12,693 cases.
Spain confirms a total of 223,759 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22,902 deaths.
Sri Lanka confirms a total of 420 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,907 cases.  It also confirms a total of 51 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 107,773 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,706 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 8,125 cases.  It also confirms a total of 201 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 148,377 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,319 deaths.
The United STates confims a total of 895,766 cases.  It also confirms a total of 50,439 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,893,729 cases      202,455 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     956,000 cases          53,928 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      12,968 cases          674 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   5,184,635    of   331,000,000+   =  1.71% of the population

*** After leaving the White House briefing yesterday without taking questions, there was NO White house briefing today.  ***
    Trump has sent 26 Tweets over 13 hours today - the majority of the early ones of reTweets from the CDC and HHS about how to protect yourself from COVID-19, and to follow the directions on the labels of household cleaners and disinfectants.  Here are 10 of his own...

Source:  Twitter:  sent today from  @realDonaldTrump

 -  at 8:59 am EDT:  "Many testing sites are, and have been, open & available. Just passed 5 Million Tests, far more than any other country in the world. In fact, more than all other major countries combined! Don't believe the Fake News!"

 - at 10:10 am EDT:  "Just spoke to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia. His Country need Ventilators, and the U.S. is in good position to help him. We will!"

 -  at 10:51 am EDT:  "It is a wonderful feeling to know that our States are loaded up with Ventilators, many brand new and high quality just off our production lines, and that we are now in a position to help other countries that so desperately need them. Every person needing a Ventilator got one!"

 -  10:57 am EDT:  "We have now Tested more than 5 Million People. That is more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined!"

 -  at 11:06 am EDT:  "The Do Nothing Democrats are spending much of their money on Fake Ads. I never said that the CoronaVirus is a "Hoax", I said that the Democrats, and the way they lied about it, are a Hoax. Also, it did start with "one person from China", and then grew, & will be a "Miracle" end!"

 -  at 11:59 am EDT:  "If the Wall Street Journal "Editorial" writers had called, as they should have, they would have easily found that I was "NOT happy with the Georgia Governor on Tuesday night." You said the opposite, and got it wrong as you often do!"

 -  at 4:30 pm EDT:  "Was just informed that the Fake News from the Thursday White House Press Conference had me speaking & asking questions of Dr. Deborah Birx. Wrong, I was speaking to our Laboratory expert, not Deborah, about sunlight etc. & the CoronaVirus. The Lamestream Media is corrupt & sick!"
  ***** See photo below, when he was speaking and asking the questions....*****

 -  at 6:01 pm EDT:  "What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!"

 -  at 6:17 pm EDT:  "Remember, the Cure can't be worse than the problem itself.  Be careful, be safe, use common sense!"

 -  at 6:23 pm EDT:  "I never said the pandemic was a Hoax! Who would say such a thing? I said that the Do Nothing Democrats, together with their Mainstream Media partners, are the Hoax. They have been called out & embarrassed on this, even admitting they were wrong, but continue to spread the lie!"

  **** During a campaign rally in South Carolina, on 28 February 2020, Trump likened the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak to the Democrats' effort to impeach him saying, "this is their new hoax."  He also downplayed COVID-19, comparing it to the common flu.  ****

26 April 2020  -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 26: 2,920,660  and 203,670 deaths.

   The Australian government launches a voluntary tracking application that uses a Bluetooth signal to determine when a person has been in contact with someone with COVID-19.  Authorities can then alert this person about their exposure to the virus.  The software is based on Singapore's TraceTogether app. "

 From the WHO Situation Report:

Canada confirms a total of 45,791 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,489 deaths.

China confirms a total of 82,856 cases. (They have stopped counting people who test positive, but show no symptoms of COVID-19.)  They also state there are -0- patients with COVID-19 in any Wuhan hospitals.

France confirms a total of 22,856 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 154,175 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,640 deaths.

India confirms a total of 26,496 cases.  It also confirms a total of 824 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 8,882 cases.  It also confirms a total of 743 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 90,481 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,710 deaths.

Japan confirms a total of 13,231 cases.  It also confirms a total of 360 deaths.

 - Tokyo confirms a total of 3,900 cases.

Malaysia confirms a total of 5,870 cases.

Mexico confirms a total of 13,842 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,305 deaths.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 37,845 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,475 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,470 cases.

The Philippines confirms a total of 7,579 cases.  It also confirms a total of 501 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 80,949 cases.  It also confirms a total of 747 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 13,264 cases.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,718 cases.

Spain confirms a total of 207,634 cases.  It also confirms a total of 23,190 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,922 cases.

Turkey confirms a total of 110,130 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,805 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 8,617 cases.  It also confirms a total of 209 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 152,840 cases.  It also confirms a total of 20,732 deaths.

 -  In the United States, according to a Reuters News report, 96% of 3,277 prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 (within the states of Arkansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia) were asymptomatic.  -  

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     2,970,705 cases      206,495 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     985,000 cases          55,383 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      13,441 cases          680 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   5,441,079    of   331,000,000+   =  1.8 % of the population

**** In a period of 9 1/2 hours this afternoon, Trump sent out 43 Tweets.  Most are reTweets of other people, and several were deleted after being sent.  Here are a few of Trump's own Tweets today. ****

Source: Twitter:  Tweets sent on Sunday, 26 April 2020  by  @realDonaldTrump

 - at  12:06 pm EDT:  "Happy birthday to Melania, our great First Lady!"

 - at  2:17 pm EDT, 2 parts, and Deleted:  "I work from early in the morning until late at night, haven't left the White House in many months (except to launch Hospital Ship Comfort) in order to take care of Trade Deals, Military Rebuilding etc., and then I read a phony story in the failing @nytimes about my work....."
   "....schedule and eating habits, written by a third rate reporter who knows nothing about me. I will often be in the Oval Office late into the night & read and see that I am angrily eating a hamberger  & Diet Coke in my bedroom. People with me are always stunned. Anything to demean!"

- Above Tweet Deleted after being Sent at 2:25 (someone must have told him he misspelled hamburger)  -

 - at 2:21 pm EDT:  "The people that know me and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history. I don't know about that, but I am a hard worker and have probably gotten more done in the first 3 1/2 years than any President in history. The Fake News hates it!"

 - at 2:28 pm EDT, in 2 parts:  "I work from early in the morning until late at night, haven't left the White House in many months (except to launch Hospital Ship Comfort) in order to take care of Trade Deals, Military Rebuilding etc., and then I read a phony story in the failing @nytimes about my work....."

   "....schedule and eating habits, written by a third rate reporter who knows nothing about me. I will often be in the Oval Office late into the night & read and see that I am angrily eating a hamburger  & Diet Coke in my bedroom. People with me are always stunned. Anything to demean!"

 - at 2:37 pm EDT, 3 parts, and Deleted:  "When will all of the "reporters" who have received Noble Prizes for their work on Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong (and, in fact, it was the other side who committed the crimes), be turning back their cherished "Nobles" so that they can be given...."
   "....to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right. I can give the Committee a very comprehensive list. When will the Noble Committee DEMAND the Prizes back, especially since they were gotten under fraud? The reporters and Lamestream Media knew the truth all along...."
   "....Lawsuits should be brought against all, including the Fake News Organizations, to rectify this terrible injustice. For all the great lawyers out there, do we have any takers? When will the Noble Committee act? Better be fast!"

- Above 3 Tweets Deleted after being Sent -

 - at 5:21 pm EDT, in 3 parts:  ".@FoxNews just doesn't get what's happening! They are being fed Democrat talking points, and they play them without hesitation or research. They forgot that Fake News @CNN & MSDNC wouldn't let @FoxNews participate, even a little bit, in the poor ratings Democrat Debates....."

   "....Even the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats laughed at the Fox suggestion. No respect for the people running @FoxNews. But Fox keeps on plugging to try and become politically correct. They put RINO Paul Ryan on their board. They hire "debate questions to Crooked Hillary"...."

   "....fraud @donnabrazile (and others who are even worse). Chris Wallace is nastier to Republicans than even Deface the Nation or Sleepy Eyes. The people who are watching @FoxNews, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry. They want an alternative now. So do I!"

 - at 5:53 pm EDT:  "Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be "fired" by me are Fake News. The Lamestream Media knows this, but they are desperate to create the perception of chaos & havoc in the minds of the public. They never even called to ask. Alex is doing an excellent job!"

 - at 6:54 pm EDT:  "Does anybody get the meaning of what a so-called Noble (not Nobel) Prize is, especially as it pertains to Reporters and Journalists? Noble is defined as,"having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals." Does sarcasm ever work?"

 - at 8:19 pm EDT:  "They asked me to be at West Point on June 13th., & I will be there!"  (In response to https:/t.co/NFHItMBbKy )

 - at 8:22 pm EDT:  "They are one of the worst in the "news" business. Total slime balls!"  (In response to a Tweet from White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany complaining that The Washington Post put her quote on the fifth page...)

- at 9:06 pm EDT:  "American citizens! We were long ahead of Dems, who were all against the BAN."   (In response to a Tweet from son Donald  Jr., who claims Nancy Pelosi was blaming the Trumps for allowing more than 40,000 people fly in from China - after the "ban", who were students and green card holders and families of the previous two groups named - stating that the US only allowed US citizens back inside the US.)


27 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 27:  3,002,303 and  208,131 deaths.
   Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases surpasses 3 million.
   Kenya reports COVID-19 cases in the Nairobi informal settlement of Kibera.
   The United Nations launches a knowledge hub for the COVID-19 response in Africa.
   In an interview with theFinancial Times, Bill Gates says his foundation will give its "total attention" to the COVID-19 response.
   The United Nations Population Fund projects that 47 million women in 114 low- and middle-income countries could lose access to modern contraceptives because of the pandemic.  If the lockdown persists for six months, this could result in 7 million unintended pregnancies.
   ViiV Healthcare announces it is creating a £3 million ($3.7 million) emergency response fund for COVID-19 and HIV.  The funds will go toward research to study the medical and scientific impact that COVID-19 has on people living with HIV, as well as community-based grants to assist with challenges faced by those communities.
   WHO expects to launch it's second Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan this week, which will estimate the resources needed for the next stage of the response.
 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
Canada confirms a total of 47,327 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,617 deaths.
China confirms a total of 83,859 cases.
France confirms a total of 23,293 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 155,193 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,740 deaths.
India confirms a total of 27,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 872 deaths.
 - Iran reports 700 deaths from ingested methanol by people who believed it was a COVID-19 cure.
Italy confirms a total of 199, 414 cases.  It also confirms a total of 26,977 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,820 cases.  It also confirms a total of 99 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 38,245 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,518 deaths.
New Zealand reduces the number of confirmed cases to 1,469.  It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.
Pakistan confirms a total of 11,118 cases. It also confirms a total of 281 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 7,777 cases.  It also confirms a total of 511 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 14,423 cases.  It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.
South Africa confirms a total of 4,546 cases.  It also confirms a total of 87 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 23,521 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,931 cases.  It also confirms a total of 52 deaths.
Turkey confirms a total of 112,261 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,900 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 9,009 cases.  It also confirms a total of 220 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 21,092 deaths, including 82 medical workers.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     3,036,770 cases      210,814 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     1,010,000 cases          56,521 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      13,879 cases          706 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   5,593,495    of   331,000,000+   =  1.85 % of the population


Source:  The Blaze - News  -  Written by Chris Field   on 24 April 2020

"Vice President Mike Pence Predicts America Will Have "Coronavirus Epidemic Behind Us" By Memorial Day
   "We're Past the Peak" -

   Vice President Mike Pence predicted Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic will "largely" be "behind us" in a bout a month.  During an interview on Geraldo Rivera's radio program, the vice president, who also leads the White House COVID-19 task force, said current trends indicate the epidemic is very much past its peak.
   In a clip from the interview made available by WTAM-AM, Rivera asked Pence, "Do you think I'll be on my boat and fishing in early June, Mr. Vice President?"  Pence replied, "I think, honestly, if you look a t the trends today, I think by Memorial Day weekend we will largely have this coronavirus behind us."  Continuing to share the White House's optimistic view, the vice president said, "And then state and local officials will begin to reopen activities.  You're going to see states in the days ahead begin to do that."
   However, Pence was sure to insist that the "key" to successfully reopening by Memorial Day is following President Donald Trump's recommended multiphase plan.  "The key for President Trump - for all of us - is we want to do it in a safe and responsible way," the vice president said.  "we don't want a resurgence.  And we think that the key to that is the phased approach the president outlined to the nation and to the governors last week."
   The president released guidelines on April 16 for reopening the economy that, while delineating steps for beginning a return to normal, leaves the final call to the governors.  "You're going to call your own shots," Trump said.
         'Past the peak'
   Pence was sounding optimistic earlier this week, too.  In fact, he said in an interview shared on the Wall Street Journal's "The Journal" podcast Wednesday that the task force is "seeing light at the end of the tunnel" and that the country is "past the peak" of the virus.  The paper's Jerry Seib noted that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that he is "hoping to have much or all of the economy open this summer" and asked Pence, "Does that timeline seem realistic or possible to you at this point?"
  The vice president sounded hopeful in his reply:  "We remain very hopeful that if the current trajectory of the coronavirus epidemic continues that we could be in a much different place in early June than we are today.
   It's always a heartbreak when you hear about the losses on the news every day, and you hear of more than 826,000 Americans who've contracted COVID-19.  And our hearts go out to all of those families.
   But as I sit here today, having received our briefing even through this morning, we continue to see current rates of decline in the large metro areas where the epidemic's impacted the most - the New York Metro, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island.  We believe that because of what the American people have done, because of what the people of those communities have done, we're past the peak.  And also past the peak in Detroit and in New Orleans - New Orleans could well be the most stable of all the large metro outbreaks in the country thus far - Denver and Seattle.  ...
   The trend lines continue to be encouraging, and we truly do believe, as we move forward with responsibly beginning to reopen the economy in state after state around the country, that by early June we could be at a place where this coronavirus epidemic is largely in the past and then we can begin to move our nation forward."  " 


28 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 28:  3,083,467  and  215,063 deaths.
   New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that there is currently no widespread community transmission of COVID-19 in the country, saying "we have won that battle," but that the country must remain vigilant to prevent a resurgence.  New Zealand lifts some of its restrictions, allowing most businesses to reopen.
   The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee launches an inquiry into the White House's decision to halve funding to the World Health Organization.  In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat and chair of the committee, writes that the funding freeze "will only worsen an already dire situation by undermining one of our key tools to fight the spreading disease."
   An analysis from the International Rescue Committee estimates that COVID-19 infections could reach between 500 million and 1 billion in 34 conflict-affected and fragile countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen.  This could lead to between 1.7 to 3.2 million deaths.
   The World Bank's controversial Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility announces it is allocating $195.8 million under its insurance scheme to 64 low-income countries.  The facility has faced criticism in recent years for not issuing payments.
   A group of scientists warn against the use of a tuberculosis vaccine to protect people from COVID-19 - it  has not yet proven effective, although there are ongoing clinical trials aimed at determining whether  it is.  The scientists are concerned there could be global shortages of the vaccines, which could limit access to those using it to prevent TB. "
 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
China confirms a total of 83,862 cases.
Egypt confirms a total of 4,782 cases.
Germany confirms a total of 156,337 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,913 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 9,511 cases.  It also confirms a total of 773 deaths.  (Reuters News Service has been reviewing death certificates in Indonesia and say that more than 2,000 deaths have had COVID-19 symptoms.)
Iran confirms a total of 92,584 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,877 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 201,505 cases.  It also reports a total of "over 20,000" deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,851 cases.  It also confirms a total of 100 deaths.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 38,416 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,566 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,472 cases.
Pakistan confirms a total of 14,079 cases.  It also confirms a total of 301 deaths.
Peru confirms a total of 30,000 cases.  It also confirms a total of 854 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 7,958 cases.  It also confirms a total of 530 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 14,951 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,752 cases.
Turkey confirms a total of 114,653 cases.  It also confirms a total of 2,992 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 9,410 cases.  It also confirms a total of 239 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     3,113,659 cases      216,989 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     1,030,000 cases          58,955 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      14,316 cases          736 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   5,795,728    of   331,000,000+   =  1.91 % of the population 


Source: CNN, AP, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News -  28 April 2020
"Pence Tours Mayo Clinic Without Mask Despite Policy
    Vice President Mike Pence, the "leader" of the White House's COVID-19 Task Force, refused to wear a protective face mask while touring the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota despite being informed that wearing a mask is a part of the clinic's policy.  "I want the patients to be able to see my eyes," said the vice president. "
   *****  Note from BND  - A protective medical face mask cover the nose, moth, and cheeks.  I does not cover the eyes in any way, shape, or form.  *****


Source: CNN:  Politics - Facts First -  Written by Tara Subramaniam, Daniel Dale, Marshall Cohen, and Nathan McDermott of CNN  -  Updated at 9:08 pm EDT, Tuesday, 28 April 2020
"Fact Check:  Trump Falsely Suggests He Was Right When He Predicted 'Close to Zero' Virus Cases in February
   President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House COVID-19 task force, said in late February that the novel coronavirus was "no problem."  Fauci didn't say that.
   Trump also suggested Tuesday that he was correct when he said in February that the US would go down from 15 novel coronavirus cases to nearly zero - even though he was wildly inaccurate, since the US now has more than one million cases within its borders.
   And the President repeated his false claims that he "inherited" a "broken test" for the virus, though there was no inherited test for a virus only identified in January 2020, during his presidency.  He also said that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had apologized to him for previous comments about Trump's travel restrictions on China, though there was no apology actually given.
   Here are some fact checks of statements Trump made at his two Tuesday media events, during an Oval Office meeting with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican), and an East Room event about the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses.
       Fauci on novel coronavirus threat in late-February
   The President claimed during the availability with the governor of Florida that Dr. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, downplayed the threat of the novel coronavirus in February, saying that it was "no problem."   "You go back, and you take a look at even professionals like Anthony were saying, 'This is no problem.'  This was in late February.  This is no problem.  This is going to blow over."
  Facts First:  Trump is wrong that Fauci publicly said the virus was "no problem" and would "blow over."  While it is true that Fauci said in late February that Americans did not need to change their behavior patterns at that time, he also clarified that these conditions could change, and that the novel coronavirus could develop into a major outbreak.
   Trump is presumably referring to an interview Fauci did with NBC's "Today" show, which conservative social media users have been sharing as evidence that experts dismissed the threat of the virus as late as February 29.  The President himself promoted a Tweet in mid-April referring to the interview.
   In Fauci's actual interview, he is much less assertive than Trump makes him out to be.  He even couched his language by saying multiple times that the virus could become much worse.  "At this moment, there's no need to change anything that you're doing on a day by day basis.  Right now, the risk is still low," Fauci said, "but this could change.  When you start to see community spread, this could change and force you to become much more attentive to doing things that would protect you from spread."
   When asked how the outbreak would end, Fauci stated that the situation could escalate.  "This could be a major outbreak.  I hope not.  Or it could be something that's reasonably well controlled," Fauci said.  "At the end of the day, this will ultimately go down.  Hopefully we could protect the American public from any serious degree of morbidity or mortality.  That's the reason why we've got to do the things that we have in our plan."
       Trump defends wildly inaccurate prediction
   In the East Room event, CNN's Jim Acosta asked Trump about his wildly inaccurate prediction from February that the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the United States would soon reach zero.  - For context, here's what Trump said in February:  "When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done." -
   On Tuesday, Acosta invoked Trump's faulty prediction from February while asking for his reaction to the news that the United States had officially surpassed 1 million confirmed cases.  "It will go down to zero, ultimately," Trump responded.
  Facts First:  Trump's prediction was wrong and contradicted warnings from doctors that the disease would become widespread.  He's now saying his prediction was right, because there will eventually come a time without new cases.  This is dishonest because by saying it would drop from 15 to zero in a few days, he couldn't have meant that cases would climb to 1 million in April before it eventually reaches zero.
   Trump's comments in February came when he was downplaying the dangers of the novel coronavirus.  He never came close to suggesting that there would be a massive swell in the number of cases, as we've seen in recent weeks.  Instead, he said the virus might just "disappear" - like a miracle.
   And while it would be good news if the number of new cases "ultimately" hits zero, like Trump said, that milestone won't bring back the 58,000+ Americans who died from the virus.  The back-and-forth on Tuesday is the latest example of Trump defending his wrong predictions.
       COVID-19 testing
   Trump argued once again that any COVID-19 testing issues were the fault of others, claiming, "We inherited a very broken test."
  Facts First:  Since this is a new virus that was first identified this year, the tests for it are newly created, not inherited from any past administration.  The faulty initial test for COVID-19 was created during Trump's administration, in early 2020, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Several epidemiology experts have even dismissed the President's claim as nonsensical.
  ***** Note from BND - When WHO offered to send the US already proven COVID-19 tests they had developed, the US government turned it down cold.  - Which meant the US CDC then had to make and test (unsuccessfully) their own COVID-19 test kits, putting the US far behind other nations in testing.  *****
   Trump has made versions of this claim on multiple occasions, including the broader and more debatable claim that the testing "system" was flawed, which he also said today.  The President's past claims and shifting rhetoric on COVID-19 is well documented by transcripts  and news sources.
       Travel restrictions
   Trump also mentioned his oft-repeated false claims about placing travel restrictions on China and Europe due to the novel coronavirus.  Speaking in the East Room Tuesday afternoon, he claimed that he "closed down" the US and its borders, adding, "I did a ban on China from coming in, other than US citizens."  Earlier in the day with DeSantis, the President also said "ultimately we did a ban on Europe."
  Facts First:  It's not true that Trump "closed down" the country entirely.  While he acknowledged this time that his travel restrictions on China contained exemptions for certain people - he usually just describes it as a "ban" without elaboration - he still wasn't telling the full story.  Citizens were not the only exempted group; he also exempted permanent residents, some of the close family members of citizens and permanent residents, and some others.  Only foreign nationals who had been in China, Europe's Schengen area, the UK or Ireland within the past 14 days were outright banned from entering the US.
       Biden and the restrictions on China
   During the meeting with DeSantis, Trump repeated his false claim that Vice President Joe Biden, apparently the Democratic nominee for the 2020 Presidential election, had apologized for previous criticism of Trump's travel restrictions on China.  "He said all sorts of things, we won't even say it.  And then he apologized because - two weeks ago he put out a statement that I was right," Trump said.
  Facts First:  Biden's campaign announced in early April that he supports Trump's travel restrictions on China, so part of Trump's claim is correct.  But neither Biden, nor his campaign, apologized for any previous criticism of Trump.  The campaign says that the Biden comments Trump has described as criticism of the China restrictions - in which Biden said Trump has a record of "hysterical xenophobia" and "fear mongering" - were not about the travel restrictions at all.
   The campaign says that Biden did not know about the China restrictions at the time of the January 31 speech in which he made these remarks, since his campaign event in Iowa started shortly after the briefing during which the China restrictions were revealed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
   Given the timing of the Biden remarks, it's not at all unreasonable for the Trump campaign to infer that Biden was talking about the travel restrictions.  But Biden never took an explicit position on the restrictions until his APril declaration of support -  and whether or not you accept  his campaign's argument that the "xenophobia" claim was not about the restrictions, he certainly has not apologized."


29 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 29:  3,117,756  and 217,207 deaths.
   The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpasses 1 million - accounting for one-third of the cases globally.  The number of Americans killed by the disease surpasses 58,000.  Now, more Americans have died from this virus than were killed during the entire Vietnam War.
   There are 370 million children missing out on school meals because of school closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Program.
   Despite an announced ceasefire in Yemen, air strikes are up 30%, according to the Yemen Data Project, complicating the COVID-19 response.  "With an increase in fighting and COVID-19 hitting the world's largest humanitarian crisis, Yemen is on the brink of catastrophe.  A ceasefire means an end to fighting, yet, we are seeing the opposite on the ground.  An increase in air strikes in Yemen is putting COVID-19 mitigation efforts and the overall humanitarian response at serious risk," writes Tamuna Sabadze, Yemen Country Director at the International Rescue Committee, in a press release."
 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
Azerbaijan  confirms a total of 1,717 cases.  It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.
Bosnia confirms a total of 1,677 cases.  It also confirms a total of 67 deaths.
Brazil confirms a total of 5,017 deaths.
China confirms a total of 83,884 cases.
Germany confirms a total of 157,641 cases.  It also confirms a total of 6,115 deaths.
India reports "over 30,000" cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,007 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 9,771 cases.  It also confirms a total of 784 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 93,657 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,957 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 5,945 cases.
The Netherlands confirms a total of 38,802 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,711 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,474 cases.
Pakistan confirms a total of 14,885 cases.  It also confirms a total of 327 deaths.
Poland confirms a total of 12,415 cases.  It also confirms a total of 606 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 99,399 cases.  It also confirms a total of 972 deaths.
Serbia confirms a total of 8,724 cases.  It also confirms a total of 173 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 15,641 cases.
South Africa confirms a total of 5,350 cases.  It also confirms a total of 103 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 212,917 cases.  It also confirms a total of 24,275 deaths.
Turkey reports "nearly 115,000" cases.  It also reports "nearly 3,000" deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 9,866 cases.  It also confirms a total of 250 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     3,187,030 cases      227,177 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     1,060,000 cases          61,356 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      14,758 cases          766 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   6,026,170    of   331,000,000+   =  1.99 % of the population


Source:  CNN : Politics  -  Written by  Maegan Vazquez and Betsy Klein;  with contributions by Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak    -  Updated at 5:45 pm EDT  on Wednesday, 29 April 2020

"Kushner Calls US Coronavirus Response a "Success Story" as Cases Hit 1 Million
   Jared Kushner, the senior adviser and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, praised the administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a "great Success story" on Wednesday - less than a day after the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the United States topped one million.
   Kushner painted a rosy picture for "Fox and Friends" Wednesday morning, saying that "the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that's really what needs to be told."  When he was pressed on COVID-19 testing levels in the US, Kushner said the question shouldn't be why did it take so long, but, "How did we do this so quickly?"
   Kushner also predicted that things will be "rocking" by July.  "May will be a transition month ... I think you will see by June, a lot of the country should be back to normal, and the hope is that by July the country will be really rocking again," he said.
   Trump similarly attempted to re-frame the narrative around the growing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, which have now surpassed the total of US troop fatalities during the Vietnam War.  The President said Wednesday afternoon that other countries "don't have the ability to do what we're doing" on COVID-19 testing and that while the 1 million total of cases sounds bad, it is "an indication that our testing is so superior.  ...  So, we reached a million cases, that's a tremendous amount, and the reason is because of testing, because other countries don't test.  If you don't test you're not going to find cases," Trump said.
***** Note from BND - As of this evening, 6,026,170 US citizens have been tested.  There is a back-log of more than 350,000 tests waiting to be run and read as positive or negative.  The number of 6+ million people tested is still less than 2% of the US population.  *****
   Trump also seemed to take note of Kushner's frustration over the administration not getting credit for its response, calling Kushner "a genius."
*****  Note from BND - Jared Kushner has worked out his own logarithm that he uses to gauge the COVID-19 spread, as well as testing, and the opening up of the economy.  This has been reported by several news sources.  Dollars only matter; human lives do not. *****
   As of Wednesday afternoon, the US has reported more than one million COVID-19 cases and more than 60,000 virus-related deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
   Politicians from both parties and public health experts have raised alarms throughout the pandemic of major impediments to conducting COVID-19 tests - and have consistently said that not enough are being conducted.  At various points in the crisis, they have reported insufficient laboratory capacity leading to long wait time for results, and shortages of required testing materials, such as swabs and reagents.
   But inside the White House, Trump and his senior advisers continue to chafe at not getting enough credit for their efforts in combating COVID-19.  Kushner has privately expresed frustration in recent days that he and the administration overall are not getting enough credit for their efforts regarding the outbreak, two people aware of his comments told CNN. "
 ***** Note from BND  -  And let's not forget that while the majority of Americans were "sheltering in place," Jared Kushner was at the Trump Bedminister National Golf Club for a Seder with his wife and family - who drove from Washington, DC, breaking that city's "shelter in place" rules for Passover - taking Secret Service details along. And local police were taken away from their homes and families, as well as their normal patrolling duties to work as protection coverage for the family.  -  But normal Americans were at home, allowed out only to purchase everyday necessities.  *****


30 April 2020 -  From the Devex article:  "Total cases as of April 30:  3,231,701 and 229,447 deaths.
   Three months have passed since WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
   Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the U.S. government's coronavirus task force, says during a news briefing that results from a clinical trial of remdesivir, a potential COVID-19 treatment, show "quite good news."  In the study, patients taking the drug recovered 31% faster than those given placebos.  "What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus," he says.
   While it is not ideal, in situations where widespread testing is not taking place, health workers should use "case definitions" - or rely on the presence of symptoms as a signal that a person is positive for COVID-19 - to trigger control measures and treatment, says Michel Yao, WHO's emergency operations manager in Africa, during a press conference.  This is important because early detection leads to better outcomes.  "It is done in many other outbreaks.  In cholera, for example, where in the past we were not able to test everybody, we just confirm a few cases and rely on case definitions," he says.
   Countries in WHO's African region are only conducting an average of 9 COVID-19 tests per 10,000 people.
   Dr. Zwelini Mkhize, South Africa's minister of health, says during the news briefing that he expects the peak of the outbreak in his country to take place between July and September.  South Africa currently has the largest outbreak in sub-Saharan Africa.  The country is considering lifting some of its strict lockdown measures, using a "case-by-case" strategy that depends on the nature of the outbreak in different areas, he says.
   "Lockdowns are being eased in some parts of Africa, but we cannot just revert back to how things were before the outbreak.  If governments abruptly end these measures, we risk losing the gains countries have made so far against COVID-19," writes Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, in a press release."               
 From the WHO Situation Report:  (as with previous months, as the end of the month draws near, reporting from countries decreases.....)
Bosnia-Herzegovina confirms a total of 1,757 cases.  It also confirms a total of 69 deaths.
Brazil confirms a total of 85,380 cases.  It also confirms a total of 5,901 deaths.
China confirms a total of 83,888 cases.
The Comoros reports its first confirmed case.
Indonesia confirms a total of 10,118 cases.  It also confirms a total of 792 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 6,028 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 205,463 cases.  It also confirms a total of 27,967 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 6,002 cases.  It also confirms a total of 102 deaths.
The Maldives confirms a total of 280 cases.  It also reports its first death from COVID-19.
The Netherlands  confirms a total of 39,316 cases.  It also confirms a total of 4,795 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,476 cases.
Pakistan confirms a total of 15,579 cases.  It also confirms a total of 346 deaths.
Peru confirms a total of 36,976 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,051 deaths.
The Philippines confirms a total of 8,488 cases.  It also confirms a total of 568 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 106,498 cases.  It also confirms a total of 1,073 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 16,169 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 247 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 213,435 cases.  It also confirms a total of 24,543 deaths.
Sri Lanka confirms a total of 630 cases.  It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.
Tajikistan has reported its first 15 confirmed cases.
Thailand confirms a total of 2,954 cases.
Turkey confirms a total of 120,204 cases.  It also confirms a total of 3,174 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 10,406 cases.  It also confirms a total of 261 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 26,711 deaths.
Yemen confirms a total of  6 cases.  It also reports its first 2 deaths from COVID-19.
 - Sub-Saharan Africa reports "around 238,00" cases.  It also confirms a total of 900 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
     3,265,570 cases      233,363 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:
     1,090,000 cases          63,538 deaths

Colorado COVID-19  Report:
      15,284 cases          777 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
   6,231,182    of   331,000,000+   =  2.06 % of the population

                                                                                    

*******

This information is updated daily....
 * Look at other daily anowbo blogs for further news stories. *