A "Nasty" Older Woman's Biased Opinions: May 2020

Sunday, May 31, 2020

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

It's now 6:45 pm Mountain Daylight Time in Colorado on 1 May 2020. The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Database is showing 3,343,302 confirmed cases of the pandemic virus; and it also registers 238,506 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 the Devex 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.

Here in Boulder, all local government offices are closed, at the moment, until 1 June. People are required to wear a mask covering their nose and mouth within any places open for business - grocery and hardware stores, etc. There is a warning for non-compliance, if the police are called, followed by fines and possible jail time. People here do not believe that a mask protects both themselves and others. Twelve hours before this law was enacted, I had a woman without a mask within 2 inches of my face, yelling at me - she left spittle drops on my glasses, so probably on my mask as well.

People are carrying assault rifles into state capital buildings to protest their right to congregate and do whatever they wish to. - At this point in time, I wish that each of these people would be identified, and, if they become ill, are denied medical treatment for endangering others, as well as causing their own infections. - This is NOT a popular view, but I'm getting tired of the whiners who want to have their haircuts and beer parties while people are dying...

So let's start compiling information on the "merry, merry month of May" - in the year 2020....

1 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 1: 3,276,373 and 233,998 deaths.

"The window of opportunity to surge medical and humanitarian equipment into Africa to curb the pandemic is closing fast," writes Amer Dauodi, COVID-19 response director for the World Food Program, in a press release. Humanitarian actors and health officials are struggling to get supplies to fragile settings because of disruptions to supply chains and travel restrictions, according to the release. The agency previously launched a network of global logistic hubs to help ensure the delivery of medical and humanitarian supplies. May 1 sees the first flight of humanitarian workers transported from Ethiopia to Ghana.

WHO and the European Investment Bank, which is the world's largest international public bank, announce a new partnership for the COVID-19 response. The first phase of the partnership aims to strengthen primary health care to 10 African countries and scale up financing to support supply chains, including those for personal protective equipment and diagnostics.

"Many countries right now are struggling to capture the deaths that are occurring from COVID-19. There is a very good example across Europe through the EuroMOMO project, which is capturing excess mortality in many countries across Europe. And excess mortality right now is very high," says Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at the WHO Health Emergencies Program, during a press conference. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Australia reports "about 6,700" cases. It also confirms a total of 93 deaths.

Azerbaijan confirms a total of 1,804 cases. It also confirms a total of 24 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,000+ cases.

France confirms a total of 24,594 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 160,758 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,481 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 10,551 cases. It also confirms a total of 800 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 95,646 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,091 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,071 cases. It also confirms a total of 103 deaths.

Mexico confirms a total of 19,224 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,859 deaths.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 39,791 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,893 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,479 cases.

The Philippines confirms a total of 8,772 cases. It also confirms a total of 579 deaths.

Qatar confirms a total of 14,096 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 114,431 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,169 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 17,101 cases. It also confirms a total of 16 deaths.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,774 cases.

Spain confirms a total of 215,216 cases. It also confirms a total of 24,824 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,960 cases.

Turkey confirms a total of 122,392 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,258 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 10,861 cases. It also confirms a total of 272 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 27,510 deaths.

- The United States has an estimated total of "over 64,000" deaths. -

Yemen confirms a total of 7 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,343,302 cases 238,506 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,130,000 cases 65,435 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

15,768 cases 820 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

6,551,810 of 331,000,000+ = 2.16 % of the population (approximately)

Source: CNBC: Politics - Written by Jacob Pramuk; updated at 8:42 pm EDT on 1 May 2020

"White House Blocks Fauci From Testifying at House Coronavirus Hearing

The White House has blocked key Trump administration health official Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying at a [United States] House [of Representatives] hearing on the U.S. novel coronavirus response next week.

The House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies wanted Dr. Fauci, who has emerged as one of the most trusted voices on the virus, to appear at a Wednesday morning hearing on how the current government's administration has handled the pandemic. The panel was "informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying," committee spokesman Evan Hollander said in a statement.

White House spokesman Judd Deere also confirmed the White House stopped the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from appearing before the House. He said that while the administration tries to combat the pandemic that has now killed more than 60,000 Americans, "it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings." Deere said in a statement,"We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time."

As the White House faces backlash for its early efforts to slow the outbreak's spread and ramp up production of COVID-19 tests and medical supplies, it has chafed at most efforts to oversee its actions. On top of regular committee hearings in the House, Democrats also set up a select committee to monitor how the administration implements an unprecedented series of rescue packages that contains more than $2.5 trillion in federal spending.

The Trump administration agreed to the creation of a separate oversight panel as part of the $2 trillion rescue plan passed in March. But Trump removed the inspector general keeping an eye on how the administration handles the historic spending only days after the official, Glenn Fine, was appointed.

Anthony Fauci, a longtime government official, has been seen as a steady presence during the crisis - in contrast to a president who has frequently shared inaccurate or misleading information during administration briefings on the outbreak. Last month, Trump retweeted a social media user calling to "#FireFauci" after the health official said the U.S. "obviously" could have saved more lives if it had moved more quickly to contain the virus. - Fauci later joined Trump at a press briefing to say he used "the wrong choice of words."

He is one of the more trusted voices on the pandemic, according to a CNBC/Change Research poll taken last month. In six states - Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin - 76% of respondents said they trust Fauci "a lot" or "some" to decide when the economy should reopen, versus only 24% who said they trust him "not very much" or "not at all." "

2 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 2: 3,386, 519 and 240,654 deaths.

Russia records a one-day record for the country with 9,623 new COVID-19 infections. According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, 2% of that city's population has the virus.

India records 2,293 new cases in one day - the first time its daily count has surpassed 2,000.

Meanwhile, Iran, with 802 new COVID-19 cases, sees its lowest daily count in nearly two months.

Cases of COVID-19 on the African continent surpass 40,000. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

- The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that Africa has recorded nearly 40,000 cases and nearly 1,7000 deaths. COVID-19 has occurred in 53 African countries. -

Australia reports "nearly 6,800" cases and 93 deaths.

Brazil confirms a total of 92,200 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,412 deaths.

France confirms a total of 24,760 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 161,703 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,675 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 28,710 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,176 cases.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 40,236 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,987 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,485 cases. It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.

The Philippines confirms a total of 8,928 cases. It also confirms a total of 603 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 124,054 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,222 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 17,548 cases. It also confirms a total of 18 deaths.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,780 cases. It also confirms a total of 250 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 216,582 cases. It also confirms a total of 25,100 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,966 cases.

Turkey reports "over 122,000" cases. It also confirms a total of 3,200 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 11,411 cases. It also confirms a total of 279 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 28,131 deaths.

The United States confirms a total of 65,645 deaths.

Yemen confirms a total of 10 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

- Globally there are over 3.35 million cases and 239,000 deaths. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,426,711 cases 243,795 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,160,000 cases 67,046 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

16,225 cases 832 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

6,816,347 of 331,000,000+ = 2.25 % of the population (approximately)

***** It's 8:30 pm MDT, so 10:30 at the White House. 45 has sent out 39 Tweets since 9:06 this morning - many of them reTweets, to which he then replies. Here are a few of his originals: *****

Source: Twitter - sent Saturday, 2 May 2020 from - @realDonaldTrump

- at 9:06 am EDT: "There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn't because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows"

- at 9:17 am EDT: "96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you! Also, just out, highest ever Approval Rating overall in the new Gallup Poll, and shows "Trump beating Sleepy Joe Biden."

- at 12:56 pm EDT: Attached above a Tweet from Kimberley Strassel: "The Russia Hoax is the biggest political scandal in American history. Treason!!! Lets see how it ends????"

- at 5:07 pm EDT: "Impeachment Hoax will be exposed. Crazy Nancy gets Nothing Done, that's why she got thrown out as Speaker the first time. Also, she should come back to Washington now!"

- at 5:14 pm EDT: "Border Wall is going up FAST. Over 172 miles already built. 450 miles by early next year, or sooner! Dems want OPEN BORDERS. I want STRONG BORDERS!"

- at 6:32 pm EDT: "Not much time to sleep. Thank you!"

- at 7:00 pm EDT: "The Democrats are just, as always, looking for trouble. They do nothing constructive, even in times of crisis. They don't want to blame their cash cow, China, for the plague. China is blaming Europe. Dr. Fauci will be testifying before the Senate very soon! #DONOTHINGDEMOCRATS"

3 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 3: 3,449,986 and 244,239 deaths.

A random testing of 500 people in Kabul resulted in 150 positive cases of COVID-19, according to Afghanistan's public health ministry. A ministry spokesperson called the results concerning.

The West and Central Africa region accounts for 54% of cases and 35% of deaths in WHO's Africa region, with cases in Guinea and Nigeria increasing most rapidly. Eight countries in the region are reporting community transmissions. The number of cases in the region could double each week, if this trend continues, according to WHO. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Afghanistan reports "over 27,000" cases. It also confirms a total of 85 deaths.

Armenia confirms a total of 2,386 cases. It also confirms a total of 35 deaths.

Brazil confirms a total of 101,147 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,025 deaths.

Canada confirms a total of 57,148 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,606 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,877 cases.

France confirms a total of 24,895 deaths.

India reports "over 39,000" cases. It also confirms a total of 1,301 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 11,912 cases. It also confirms a total of 845 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 96,448 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,156 deaths.

Israel confirms a total of 16,194 cases. It also confirms a total of 230 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 210,717 cases. It also confirms a total of 28,884 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,297 cases. It also confirms a total of 105 deaths.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 40,471 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,056 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,487 cases.

The Philippines confirms a total of 9,223 cases. It also confirms a total of 607 deaths.

Qatar confirms a total of 15,551 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 134,687 cases (an addition of 10,633 in 24 hours).

Singapore confirms a total of 18,205 cases.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,793 cases.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,966 cases. It also confirms a total of 54 deaths.

Turkey confirms a total of 120,045 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,397 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 11,913 cases. It also confirms a total of 288 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 28,446 deaths.

Vietnam confirms a total of 271 cases, with the first new case reported in 9 days. They have more than 30,500 people in quarantine, and 261,000 people tested.

**** The United States report contains the statement that the first COVID-19 patient died today in the state of Virginia. Having been born and partially raised in Virginia, and with a huge number of relatives there, I follow the disease closely in that state. There have been 616 deaths attributed to COVID-19 since the outbreak began. I am not sure where WHO got this information, but it is mind-bogglingly wrong.... ****

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,504,129 cases 247,326 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,180,000 cases 68,276 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

16,635 cases 842 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

7,053,366 of 331,000,000+ = 2.33 % of the population (approximately)

Source: The Guardian - US edition: News, US Politics, Michigan - Written by Brian Armen Graham in New York; posted Sunday, 3 May 2020 at 7:49 pm EDT

" 'Swastikas and Nooses': Governor Slams 'Racism' of Michigan Lockdown Protest

Gretchen Whitmer says heavily armed men and Confederate flags at state capitol 'depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history'

Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan issued a rebuke of the armed protesters who gathered inside the state capitol last week in defiance of statewide lockdown orders, saying the demonstrators embodied some of the "worst racism" of the nation's history. "Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country," Whitmer said during a Sunday interview on CNN's State of the Union.

Last week [Friday], Donald Trump had said of the protesters: "These are very good people."

Hundreds of protesters, many not wearing protective face masks and some armed legally with "long guns," gathered inside the statehouse in Lansing on Thursday as lawmakers debated the Democratic governor's request to extend her emergency powers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The tightly packed crowd attempted to enter the floor of the legislative chamber and were held back by a line of state police and capitol staff, according to video footage posted by local journalists.

Whitmer highlighted that the number of protesters was relatively small but that the imagery some of them used was a disturbing reminder of ugly elements of America's past. "We know that people are not all happy about having to take the stay-home posture," Whitmer said on Sunday, "and you know what, I'm not either. But we have to listen to the public health experts and displays like the one we saw in our state capitol are not representative of who we are in Michigan.

"There were swastikas and Confederate flags and nooses and people with assault rifles. That's a small group of people when you think that this is a state of almost 10 million people, the vast majority of whom are doing the right thing."

Displaying the Confederate flag, or other symbols of the slave-owning south during the American civil war, is usually seen as racist. While some claim they are celebrating southern identity, it is widely seen as a racist symbol deeply offensive to black Americans. There is also an ongoing campaign to remove Confederate war statues from public display or rename streets and buildings which commemorate Confederate generals or politicians.

Last week, the Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who represents Michigan's 13th congressional district, condemned the demonstrations at the state Capitol. "Black people get executed by police for just existing, while white people dressed like militia members carrying assault weapons are allowed to threaten State Legislators and staff," Tlaib wrote in a tweet on Thursday.

The protests continued to draw national attention on Friday when Trump once again threw his support behind the right-wing movement, saying Whitmer should "make a deal" with the demonstrators. "The governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire," the president wrote on Twitter. "These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."

When asked if it was appropriate for the president to express support for protests in which "long guns" were carried on Friday afternoon, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said the president supported the right to protest within the law and while following federal social distancing guidelines. "The president says that we must protest lawfully and act within the bounds of the law," said McEnany.

The staggering effects of the pandemic among Whitmer's electorate in terms of both illness and unemployment have placed a nationwide focus on Michigan, which is certain to be a key battleground state in the upcoming presidential election. The state had long been regarded as a Democratic stronghold but went for Trump four years ago, helping to spring his surprise electoral victory."

4 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 4: 3,507,424 and 247,497 deaths.

From the WHO Situation Report:

Bangladesh confirms a total of 10,143 cases. It also confirms a total of 182 deaths.

Brazil confirms a total of 105,222 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,288 deaths.

Chile confirms a total of 20,643 cases. It also confirms a total of 270 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,893 cases.

Germany confirms a total of 163,175 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,692 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 11,587 cases. It also confirms a total of 864 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 98,647 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,277 deaths.

Israel confirms a total of 16,246 cases. It also confirms a total of 233 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 211,938 cases. It also confirms a total of 29,079 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,353 cases.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 40,770 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,082 deaths.

The Philippines confirms a total of 9,485 cases. It also confirms a total of 623 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 145,268 cases (more than 10,500 new cases).

Singapore confirms a total of 18,778 cases.

South Korea confirms a total of 10,801 cases.

Turkey confirms a total of 127,659 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,461 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 12,331 cases. It also confirms a total of 303 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 28,734 deaths.

Yemen confirms a total of 12 cases.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,580,247 cases 251,510 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,210,000 cases 69,579 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

16,907 cases 851 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

7,285,178 of 331,000,000+ = 2.41 % of the population (approximately)

5 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 5: 3,584,174 and 251,575 deaths.

A pledging conference hosted by the European Union and attended by dozens of world leaders raises $8.1 billion to fund research and equitable distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

The African Union says its in discussion with the government of Madagascar to receive technical data on the safety and efficiency of an herbal tonic that has been touted by the country's president as a cure for COVID-19. Tanzanian President John Magufuli also says he will send a plane to bring the herbal remedy to Tanzania.

"As efforts are under way to find a treatment for COVID-19, caution must be taken against misinformation, especially on social media, about the effectiveness of certain remedies," WHO writes in a press release. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Brazil confirms a total of 114,715 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,921 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,909 cases.

France confirms a total of 25,531 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 139,860 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,831 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 99,970 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,340 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 213,013 cases. It also confirms a total of 29,315 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,883 cases. It also confirms a total of 106 deaths.

Madagascar confirms a total of 149 cases.

New Zealand removes one rescinded case, confirming 1,486 cases.

Peru confirms a total of 51,189 cases. It also confirms a total 1,444 deaths.

The Philippines confirms a total of 9,684 cases. It also confirms a total of 637 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 155,370 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,451 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 19,410 cases. It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 219,329 cases. It also confirms a total of 25,428 deaths.

Sudan confirms a total of 778 cases. It also confirms a total of 45 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,988 cases.

Turkey confirms a total of 129,491 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,250 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 12,697 cases. It also confirms a total of 316 deaths.

The United Kingdom reports "over 30,000" deaths.

The United States confirms a total of 1,192,119 cases. It also confirms a total of 70,115 deaths.

Yemen confirms a total of 21 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,662,101 cases 256,928 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,230,000 cases 71,921 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

17,364 cases 903 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 yesterday, Monday, 4 May 2020 - at that time, approximately 2.41 % of the US population had been tested.

There are still huge backlogs of test kits waiting to be processed; and while multiple antibody test kits are available, the majority of them are untrustworthy, and give incorrect results most of the time.

6 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 6: 3,691,683 and 258,256 deaths.

Yesterday, May 5, U.K. coronavirus adviser Neil Ferguson resigns after disobeying the lockdown rules that he helped create.

A survey, conducted across 28 cities in 20 African countries, found that 32% of respondents said they do not have enough information about COVID-19; 62% believe the pandemic will have a major impact on their country; 44% believe it is a threat to them personally; 69% said food and water would be a problem if they were forced to remain at home for 14 days; and 51% said that they would run out of money. The report was produced by the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19.

At least five years of progress on efforts to control tuberculosis could be lost because of the pandemic, limiting efforts to diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease, according to a new report by the Stop TB Partnership. According to a modeling analysis, under the scenario of a three-month lockdown and 10-month restoration of services, there could be an additional 6.3 million cases of TB globally between now and 2025 and an additional 1.4 million deaths.

While 750 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Somalia, there is concern that many cases have gone untested. "The IRC is extremely concerned that Somalia is becoming quickly overwhelmed by a major uptick in COVID-19 cases. The situation is on the verge of spiraling out of control. We are seeing widespread community transmission in a country that will not be able to handle a multitude of severely ill patients at once.

"IRC staff are reporting that people with symptoms are being told to stay home to save limited health resources for those who become severely ill, showing that the official count is far off from reality," writes Richard Crothers, country director for Somalia at the International Rescure Committee, in a press release. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Canada confirms a total of 62,458 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,111 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,931 cases.

- In Ecuador, the Secoya (aka Siekopal) tribe reports 15 confirmed cases out of their entire population of 744 people. -

France confirms a total of 174,917 cases. It also confirms a total of 25,809 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 164,807 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,996 deaths.

Iran reports "over 100,000" cases.

Italy confirms a total of 214,457 cases. It also confirms a total of 29,684 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,248 cases. It also confirms a total of 107 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,488 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

The Philippines confirms a total of 10,004 cases. It also confirms a total of 658 deaths.

Qatar confirms a total of 15,890 cases.

Russia confirms a total of 165,929 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,537 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 20,198 cases. It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.

Slovakia confirms a total of 1,429 cases. It also confirms a total of 25 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 220,325 cases. It also confirms a total of 25,857 deaths.

Turkey confirms a total of 131,744 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,584 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 13,184 cases. It also confirms a total of 327 deaths.

Yemen confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

- The International Council of Nurses confirms 90,000 cases in affiliated nurses. It also confirms 260 deaths. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,751,069 cases 263,346 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,260,000 cases 74,347 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

17,830 cases 921 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 on Monday, 4 May 2020 - at that time, approximately 2.41 % of the US population had been tested.

Source: CNN - Politics: Written by Kevin Liptak, with contributions from Jim Acosta, Kristen Holmes, and Kaitlan Collins; updated at 2:34 pm EDT on 6 May 2020

"In Reversal, Trump Says Task Force Will Continue 'Indefinitely' - Eyes Vaccine Czar

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday his COVID-19 task force would continue "indefinitely" a day after he and Vice President Pence said they were phasing out the health-focused panel in favor of a group focused on reopening the economy. Trump, who said the panel would adopt a new focus on vaccines, is also considering naming an administration point person on treatment and vaccine efforts, according to people familiar with the matter.

And Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser, continues to play a central role in the White House's response effort, including on vaccines, despite questions about the efficacy of his attempts to source badly needed supplies.

According to Pence's public schedule, the task force was slated to meet at 4 pm EDT on Wednesday. A few hours earlier, Trump explained his retreat on phasing out the panel. "I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the task force is until, actually, yesterday when I started talking about winding it down," Trump said in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with nurses. "I get calls from very respected people saying, 'I think it would be better to keep it going, it's done such a good job.' ... "It's a respected task force. I know it myself," he added. "I didn't know whether or not it was appreciated by the public but it is appreciated by the public."

Some health experts had sounded alarm at the apparent disbanding of the task force since cases continue to arise. After touting achievements on testing and supplies, Trump said during a visit to a mask production facility in Arizona on Tuesday he was "looking at a little bit of a different form" for the task force "and that form is safety and opening."

Pence told reporters during a discussion in his office that administration officials were "having conversations about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work and for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency-by-agency level." Pence said the discussions are a "reflection of the tremendous progress we've made as a country."

But a day later, Trump wrote on Twitter the task force would "continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN." ... "We may add or subtract people to it, as appropriate," he wrote. "The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics. Thank you!"

Still, in the Oval Office, Trump likened the outbreak to an enemy attack rather than an ongoing crisis. "This is really the worst attack we've ever had. This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center. There's never been an attack like this," the President said.

He said the White House would be adding "two or three" people to the task force focused on reopening efforts, adding that some members who were more involved with producing ventilators may be leaving but "if they want to stay they can." There is a "whole list" of people who want to be on the task force, Trump said, and the new members will be announced Monday.

The reversal came after outcry and concern from outside health experts, who said it was too early to disband the health-focused panel. Senior administration officials said the plan was to phase out the current iteration of the task force by Memorial Day, though noted the panel's doctors - including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx - would still advise the President and speak to the media.

Trump has been eager to demonstrate momentum on combating the disease and reopening the country, including making his first foray from the East Coast on Tuesday for a trip to Arizona. He has acknowledged privately that his reelection chances in November will largely hinge on how voters view his response to the crisis and the strength of the economy.

To that end, the White House has turned its attention to reviving a moribund economy and advancing development of treatments and a vaccine for the virus. There has been increased discussion in recent days among some Trump aides of appointing a central figure to oversee vaccine and treatment options for COVID-19, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Jared Kushner, whose parallel task force was designed to corral the private sector into providing badly needed supplies, has come under new scrutiny, but is likely to be "engaged" in the administration's vaccine effort, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. But the official said the White House is eyeing a"prestigious" and "empowered" director to lead the effort. The conversations remain somewhat preliminary, but there is a sense among these aides that naming a "czar" to take charge of drug and vaccine development would streamline and potentially speed up the efforts. It's not clear the White House would use the term "czar."

Last week, the administration announced "Operation Warp Speed," which seeks to quickly ramp up production, organize distribution, and determine who gets the first doses of a potential vaccine. The goal - which may prove impossible to meet - is to make 100 million doses of the vaccine available by November, 200 million doses by December, and 300 million doses by January, a senior administration official has told CNN.

Scientists who are part of the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine project have identified 14 vaccines to focus on for development, according to a senior administration official. Those involved in the effort expect to have six to eight of the vaccines being tested make it to subsequent rounds of trials, the official said. Officials hope to have three to four vaccines make it through final testing and be made available, but that depends on how the testing and clinical trials proceed and how successful they are.

When the administration announced the creation of "Operation Warp Speed," it did not name the person who is leading it, though said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Defense Secretary Mark Esper had been tasked by Trump with standing up the effort. Azar, however, remains on shaky standing at the White House. And when Trump was asked last week who was in charge of "Operation Warp Speed," he said he was. "I'm really in charge of it," he said. "I think probably more than anything I'm in charge."

The HHS division tasked with vaccine development, BARDA, has seen its leadership in flux after the former director Dr. Rick Bright was ousted. Bright filed a formal whistleblower complaint on Tuesday alleging his early warnings about the novel coronavirus were ignored, and that his concerns about promoting an untested therapeutic drug heralded by the President led to his ouster. BARDA has issued close to $1 billion in grants to Moderna and Johnson and Johnson to develop a vaccine.

While the task force has discussed these issues over the past two months, there hasn't been a central figure to coordinate them specifically. Dr. Fauci, in his role at the NIH, has been focused on vaccine development, but his other roles in the task force have also occupied his time.

People familiar with the matter said the administration could name a director for Operation Warp Speed in the next few days, but that interviews for the role are still ongoing. "

7 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 7: 3,781,896 and 264,602 deaths.
The United Nations increases its Global Humanitarian Response Plan to nearly $7 billion.
Between 29 million and 44 million people could become infected with COVID-19 in Africa, and between 83,000 and 190,000 people could die in the first year of the pandemic, "if containment measures fail," according to a press release from WHO. This includes an estimated 3.6 million to 5.5 million hospitalizations, of which 82, 00 to 167,000 of these would be severe cases requiring oxygen, and between 52,00 and 107,000 would be critical cases that would require breathing support. "COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the region. We need to test, trace, isolate, and treat," writes Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a press release.
Almost 1,000 African health workers have been infected with COVID-19.
Eighty-five children are released from prison in South Sudan, as part of an effort to reduce crowding to prevent the spread of COVID-19. "
From the WHO Situation Report:

Afghanistan confirms a total of 3,563 cases. It also confirms a total of106 deaths.

- The Africa CDC reports "over 50,000" cases, with 8,000 in South Africa. -

Belarus confirms a total of 19,225 cases. It also reports "at least 112" deaths.

Brazil confirms a total of 125,218 cases. It also confirms a total of 8,536 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,933 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,633 deaths.

France confirms a total of 25,987 cases.

India confirms a total of 52,952 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,783 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 12,776 cases. It also confirms a total of 930 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 215,858 cases. It also confirms a total of 29,958 deaths.

Latvia confirms a total of 909 cases. It also confirms a total of 18 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,467 cases.

The Netherlands confirms a total of 41,774 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,288 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,489 cases.

Qatar confirms a total of 16,592 cases.

Russia confirms a total of 177,160 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,625 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 20,939 cases.

Spain confirms a total of 221,447 cases. It also confirms a total of 26,070 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 2,992 cases.

Turkey confirms a total of 133,721 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,641 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 13,691 cases. It also confirms a total of 340 deaths.

The United Kingdom confirms a total of 30,615 deaths.

- The United States confirms the first death from COVID-19 in an immigration detention facility, in San Diego, California. -

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:
3,845,607 cases 269,564 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:  (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)
1,290,000 cases 76,513 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:
  18,371 cases 944 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:
Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 on Monday, 4 May 2020 - at that time, approximately 2.41 % of the US population had been tested.
There are still huge backlogs of test kits waiting to be processed; and while multiple antibody test kits are available, the majority of them are untrustworthy, and give incorrect results most of the time.
***** It was announced yesterday that President Trump, Vice President Pence, and "members of their inner circle" are tested by medical officials once a week - while more than 97% of Americans have never yet been tested at all.... -  And, after the news broke today that on of Trump's personal Valet has tested positive for COVID-19, it was announced that he and Pence will be tested on a daily basis..... *****

Headlines from today's news:
* Trump's Personal Valet Tests Positive For COVID-19
* Authorities: Father, Son Charged With Murder of Black Man Killed While Jogging in Georgia
* AmTrak to Require Masks Starting Monday to Avoid Spread of the Coronavirus
* Trump Claims Coronavirus "Attack" Worse Than Pearl Harbor, 9/11
* White House Says It Ordered CDC to Revise Reopening Guidelines
* Barr Defends Dropping Flynn Case: "I'm Doing the Laws Bidding"
* Frustration and Division Frustrate Testing Rollout: The FDA Allowed Companies to Sell Antibody Tests Without Evidence They Worked. Then a Hodgepodge of Testing Methods Spung Up.
* A Bus Driver Told a Rider to Wear a Mask. Then the Passenger Spit on Her.
* A Security Guard Told a Client a Mask Was Necessary to Enter a Store. She Left, But her Father and Husband Came Back and Killed the Guard by Shooting Him in the Head.
* Nurses Head To the White House To Protest the Lack of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
* Tens of Thousands of People Are Still "Stuck" on Cruise Ships
* Gas Leak at Chemical Plant in India Leaves At Least 8 Dead and Over 280 People Hospitalized
* Customer Shot a McDonald's Employee After Being Told To Leave Due to COVID-19 Restrictions, Police Say
* Boulder County [Colorado] Begins Wear Mask in Public Law on May 9

8 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 8: 3,877,914 and 270,537 deaths.

During a press conference, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at the World Health Organization Health Emergencies Program, says that the scientific community is still a long way off from fully understanding COVID-19. "Although it has seemed like an incrediblylong time, we are at the very, very early stages of our understanding of how this virus affects the body, how the disease progresses, what disease that this infection causes," she says. "It's very difficult to collect a standardized set of data from patients when you are in the middle of a very intense outbreak and you are just trying to save as many lives as you can."

From the WHO Situation Report:

Argentina reports a total of "over 5,611" cases. It also confirms a total of 293 deaths.

Australia reports a total of "under 7,000" cases. It also reports a total of 100 deaths.

Brazil confirms a total of 145,328 cases. It also confirms a total of 9,897 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,949 cases.

France confirms a total of 26,230 deaths.

Honduras confirms a total of 1,461 cases. It also confirms a total of 99 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 30,201 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,535 cases.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,490 cases.

Qatar reports a total of "over 20,000" cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 187,859 cases. Ita also confirms a total of 1,723 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 21,707 cases.

Spain confirms a total of 26,229 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 3,000 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 14,195 cases. It also confirms a total of 361 deaths.

- The United States reports that in New York state, 73 children have been infected with a new inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to COVID-19. A 5-year-old boy has died from it. -

Yemen confirms a total of 34 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

3,937,813 cases 276,863 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,320,000 cases 78,198 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

18,827 cases 960 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 on Monday, 4 May 2020

***** It was announced yesterday that President Trump, Vice President Pence, and "members of their inner circle" are tested by medical officials once a week - while more than 97% of Americans have never yet been tested at all.... It was also announced, this afternoon that Trump and Pence will be tested daily, after one of 45's personal valet's tested positive for the virus. - Today, 8 May, it was confirmed that Pence's press secretary, tested positive for COVID-19. She is the wife of Stephen Miller, one of Trump's top advisers. *****

9 May 2020 - From the Devex article (https://www.devex.com/news/covid-19-a-timeline-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-96396) :
"Total cases as of May 9: 3,939,281 and 274,934 deaths."
From the WHO Situation Report:
Australia confirms a total of 6,927 cases. It also confirms a total of 97 deaths.
Belarus confirms a total of 21,101 cases. It also confirms a total of 26 deaths.
Canada confirms a total of 66,780 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,628 deaths.
France confirms a total of 26,310 deaths.
Germany confirms a total of 168,551 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,369 deaths.
Indonesia confirms a total of 13,645 cases. It also confirms a total of 959 deaths.
Iran confirms a total of 106,220 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,589 deaths.
Italy confirms a total of 218,268 cases. It also confirms a total of 30,395 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 6,589 cases. It also confirms a total of 108 deaths.
New Zealand confirms a total of 1,492 cases.
The Philippines confirms a total 10,610 cases. It also confirms a total of 704 deaths.
Qatar confirms a total of 21,331 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.
Russia confirms a total of 198,676 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,827 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 22,460 cases.
South Korea confirms a total of 10,840 cases. It also confirms a total of 256 deaths.
Spain confirms a total of 223,578 cases. It also confirms a total of 26,478 deaths.
Thailand confirms a total of 3,004 cases. It also confirms a total of 56 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 14,710 cases. It also confirms a total of 376 deaths.
The United Kingdom confirms a total of 31,587 deaths.
The United States confirms a total of 1,342,329 cases. It also confirms a total of 79,906 deaths. - In the state of New York, Governor Cuomo announces 3 more deaths of children (4 total) from an new inflammatory syndrome believed linked to COVID-19.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,023,539 cases 279,307 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,340,000 cases 79,645 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

19,345 cases 967 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

4,101,482 cases 282,700 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,360,000 cases 80,562 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

19,703 cases 971 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Source: The Guardian - US edition - US Politics, Mueller Investigation - Written by Martin Pengelly in New York - posted at 3:42 pm EDT, Sunday, 10 May 2020

"Trump Charges Obama With 'Biggest Political Crime in American History'

United States President Donald John Trump continued to fume over the Russia investigation on Sunday, more than a year after special counsel Robert Mueller filed his report without recommending charges against the president, but only three days after the justice department said it would drop its case against Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser. "The biggest political crime in American history, by far!" the president wrote in a tweet accomanying a conservative talk show host's claim that President Barack Obama "used his last weeks in office to target incoming officials and sabotage the new administration."
***** Note from BND - The Attorney General, William Barr, announced he was dropping all charges against Michael Flynn earlier this week. But there's a problem with that. First, Flynn pleaded guilty to the charges against him. Second, he has yet to be sentenced. Third, the paperwork to drop the charges has incorrect identification numbers scattered throughout. Fourth, it is completely in the hands of Judge Emmet Sullivan - and, then, only after Flynn's attorneys appear before the Judge and withdraw Flynn's guilty plea. *****
The tweet echoed previous messages retweeted by Trump, which earned rebukes for relaying conspiracy theories. On Sunday afternoon the president continued to send out a stream of tweets of memes and right-wing talking heads claiming an anti-Trump conspiracy. One tweet by Trump simply read: "OBAMAGATE!"
Trump fired Flynn, a retired general, in early 2107, for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador regarding sanctions levied by the Obama administration in retaliation for interference in the 2016 presidential election. The US intelligence community has long held that such efforts were meant to tip the election towards Trump and away from Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI - which Trump has acknowledged - and cooperated with Robert Mueller, who was appointed to take over the investigation of Russian interference after Trump fired FBI director James Comey. Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy but did lay out extensive links between Trump and Moscow, and instances of possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
Flynn sought to change his plea while awaiting sentencing and the president championed his case, floating a possible pardon. On Thursday, in an act that stunned the US media, attorney general William Barr said the justice department would drop the case entirely.
Trump and his supporters have loudly trumpeted the decision and across Saturday and Sunday the president unleashed a storm of retweets of supporters and conservative commentators attacking targets including President Obama, Mueller, Comey, and House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff.
The talk show host retweeted by the president, Buck Sexton, is a former CIA analyst who now hosts a show which he says "speaks truth to power, and cuts through the liberal nonsense coming from the mainstream media." In another message retweeted by the president, Sexton called former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe - who Trump fired just short of retirement - "a dishonorable partisan scumbag who has done incalculable damage to the reputation of the FBI and should be sitting in a cell for lying under oath."
In February, the US justice department said it would not charge McCabe over claims he lied to investigators about a media leak. Like Comey, McCabe released a book in which he was highly critical of Trump, who he said acted like a mob boss. McCabe also wrote that Trump had unleasehed a "strain of insanity" in American public life.
In his own tweets, Trump did not directly address comments made by Obama himself which were reported by Yahoo News. The former president told associates the Flynn decision was "the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic - not just institutional norms - but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk."
But Trump's anger was evident. "When are the Fake Journalists," he tweeted on Sunday, "who received unwarranted Pulitzer Prizes for Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Impeachment Scam, going to turn in their tarnished awards so they can be given to the real journalists who got it right. I'll give you the names, there are plenty of them!" The president did not immediately name anyone.
***** Note from BND - Trump has done this frequently before today. He rants about prize-winning journalists (either Pulitzer, or Noble - his spelling, not mine) and demands they return their awards - and that he can give long lists of names... *****
But in 2018 the Pulitzer committee did, awarding its prize for national reporting jointly to the Washington Post snd the New York Times for "deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation's understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the president-elect's transition team, and his eventual administration."
Trump has further reason to resent the Pulitzer committee and question its choices. In 2019, for example, a New York Times team won a Pulitzer for an "exhaustive 18-month investigation of President Donald Trump's finances that debunked his claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges."
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile was rewarded for "uncovering President Trump's secret payoffs to two women during his campaign who claimed to have had affairs with him, and the web of supporters who facilitated the transactions, triggering criminal inquiries and calls for impeachment."
Trump's actual impeachment, which he survived at trial in the Senate in February, concerned his attempts to have Ukraine investigate his political rivals. No reporter or news outlet won a 2020 Pulitzer, announced this week, for its coverage of that affair.
Trump's focus on Sunday remained largely on the Russia investigation despite continuing developments in the COVID-19 outbreak, which has infected more than 1.3 million Americans and killed nearly 80,000.
With cases confirmed among White House aides close to the president, top public health experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci in quarantine, and Trump reported by the New York Times to be "spooked," the president claimed in a rare non-Russia-related tweet: "We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic."
Of course, he also attacked Obama and his vice-president, Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president this year, over their response to the "disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu" in 2009.
Trump also marked a special day in the calendar, tweeting in trademark capitals: "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!" "

11 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 11: 4,126,154 and 283,120 deaths.

Yesterday, the Chinese government reported the first COVID-19 case in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated, since April 3. Today they reported the first cluster of cases in Wuhan since the government lifted the lockdown measures in the city.

Ethiopian troops may have shot down a plane on May 4 carrying humanitarian supplies to assist Somalia in its fight against COVID-19, The New York Times reports. A leaked report suggests there were fears that the private plane would carry out a suicide attack.

Vanuatu is preparing a request to defer its graduation from the category of "least developed countries," which is scheduled for December, because of the impact of the pandemic. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,726 cases. It also confirms a total of 109 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,497 cases.

Singapore has adjusted their case numbers: confirmed 23,787 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Ukraine confirms a total of 15,648 cases. It also confirms a total of 408 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,175,284 cases 285,971 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers)

1,380,000 cases 81,378 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

19,879 cases 987 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 on Monday, 4 May 2020

- On 6 May one of President Trump's personal valets tested positive for COVID-19.
On 8 May Vice President Pence's Press Secretary tested positive for COVID-19.
In late April, a personal assistant for Ivanka Trump, the President's daughter tested positive for COVID-19.
On 9 May it was announced that over 30 active Secret Service agents tested positive for COVID-19. Also on 9 May, the head of the CDC has self-quarantined, as he was at a press conference, without face masks worn by anyone on the stage, with VP Pence's Press Secretary on 7 May.
On May 11, it was announced that anyone working in the White, unless seated at their own work desk, must wear a face mask - except President Trump.

Source: CNN - CNN Business - Written by Oliver Darcy; Updated at 5:54 pm EDT, 11 May 2020

"Trump Abruptly Ends Press Conference After Contentious Exchange
The President told a journalist to "ask China" about her question. She responded by asking, "Why are you saying that to me specifically?"

[See video clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9bm13cWJw ]
**** The 45th President held a press conference in the White House Rose Garden today to talk about COVID-19 testing... ****

President Donald Trump abruptly ended his Monday press conference after a contentious exchange in which he told an Asian-American journalist to "ask China" about her question and then refused to take a query from another White House reporter.
Weijia Jiang, a White House correspondent for CBS News, asked the President why he sees coronavirus testing as a global competition when more than 80,000 Americans have died.
"Maybe that's a question you should ask China, " Trump told Jiang, who was born in China and immigrated to the United States when she was two years old. "Don't ask me. Ask China that question, OK?"
Trump attempted to move on by calling on Caitlin Collins, a White House correspondent for CNN, but Jiang injected with a follow-up question.
"Sir, why are you saying that to me specifically?" asked Jiang, who was visibly taken aback by Trump's demand.
"I'm telling you," Trump replied. "I'm not saying it specifically to anybody. I'm saying it to anybody that asks a nasty question."
"That's not a nasty question," Jiang said. "Why does it matter?"
Trump then looked again to take a question from another reporter.
Collins, who had let Jiang ask Trump her follow up questions, approached the microphone.
"I have two questions," Collins said.
"No, it's OK," Trump replied, gesturing at another reporter.
"But you pointed to me, " Collins said. "I have two questions, Mr. President. You called on me."
"I did," Trump said. "And you didn't respond, and now I'm calling on the young lady in the back."
"I just wanted to let my colleague finish," Collins explained. "But can I ask you a question?"
Trump then ended his press conference. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much," he said before leaving the Rose Garden.
The President was strongly criticized by critics for the behavior he displayed. "A very ugly, ugly ending to that one-hour appearance by the President in the Rose Garden," CNN's Wolf Blitzer said.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called the exchange "pretty pathetic" and wrote on Twitter that Trump "is a coward who tears down others to make himself feel powerful."
Some critics said Trump's remarks toward Jiang were racist. It wouldn't be the first time Jiang was confronted by racist remarks at the White House. Jiang wrote on Twitter in March that a White House official, who she did not name, had referred to the coronavirus as the "Kung-flu" to her face.
Other critics suggested the exchange was laced with sexism. "The President's unprofessionalism is always revealed most clearly when he is interacting with female reporters," Tweeted Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York magazine.
A CNN spokesman declined to comment. A spokesperson for CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. "

12 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 12: 4,178,156 and 286,353 deaths.
Five COVID-19 patients in intensive care die in a fire in St. Petersburg, Russia, that might have been caused by a ventilator short circuit.
According to a projection from WHO and UNAIDS, a six-month disruption of antoretroviral therapy due to the pandemic could lead to more than 500,000 additional deaths from AIDS-related illnesses, including tuberculosis, in sub-Saharan Africa, this year and next. Disruption in efforts to curtail mother-to-child transmission of the virus for six months could also lead to a sharp rise in HIV infections in children, including up to 37% in Mozambique, 78% in Malawi, 78% in Zimbabwe, and 104% in Uganda.
Herd immunity, a term rooted in animal husbandry, looks at the overall health of a herd of animals, rather than an individual's health. Globally, there have been conversations that countries could achieve this if enough people in a population contract and recover from COVID-19, creating some level of immunity. "Humans are not herds ... It can lead to a very brutal arithmetic which does not put people, and life and suffering at the center of the equation," says Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, during a press conference. "I think this idea that: Well, maybe countries who had lax measures and hadn't doe anything, will all of a sudden magically reach some herd immunity and 'so what' if we lose a few old people along the way? This is a really dangerous, dangerous calculation," he says."
From the WHO Situation Report:
India confirms a total of 70,756 cases. It also confirms a total of 87 deaths.
Malaysia confirms a total of 6,742 cases. .
Singapore confirms a total of 24,671 cases. It also confirms a total of 23 deaths.
Ukraine confirms a total of 16,023 cases. It also confirms a total of 425 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,259,255 cases 291,843 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US: (the US is now "rounding" the number of confirmed cases; not exact numbers - additionally note that since May 4, the number of cases "now reported in the US" has just automatically been increased by 20,000 each day)

1,400,000 cases 83,019 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

20,157 cases 1,009 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

13 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 13: 4,291,081 and 293,157 deaths.

Lesotho confirms its first case of COVID-19. It's the last country on the African continent to report a case.

The first case of COVID-19 in a crowdwed civilian protection camp is reported in Juba, South Sudan. The country has 126 confirmed cases of the virus. "This pandemic is also coinciding with the start of the lean season in South Sudan . There is still a real worry that the measures taken to suppress the spread of the coronavirus run the risk of disrupting livelihood activities, delaying access to food assistance, and placing additional strain on poor households' abilities to buy food, seeds and other essentials. They risk having a particularly bad effect on the urban poor and those living in displacement sights," writes Mercy Laker, deputy country director for programs in South Sudan CARE, in a press release.

Both Brazil and Mexico report the highest daily fatalities in their countries since the pandemic began. "

From the WHO Situation Report: despite the above reporting, the WHO report only states -
Indonesia confirms a total of 15,438 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,028 deaths.

Lesotho reports its first confirmed case.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,779 cases. It also confirms a total of 111 deaths.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,502 cases.

Singapore confirms a total of 25,346 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 16,425 cases. It also confirms a total of 439 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,345,645 cases 297,108 deaths

1,420,000 cases 84,763 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

20,475 cases 1,062 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

14 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 14: 4,371,611 and 297,682 deaths.

During a news briefing, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, warns against lifting lockdowns prematurely and without the right public health surveillance measures in place to detect it, including community-based surveillance and wide spread testing. "If that virus transmission accelerates, and you don't have the systems to detect it, it will be days or weeks before you know something has gone wrong," he says. "We sholud not be waiting to see if opening of lockdowns has worked by counting the cases in an ICU or counting bodies in the morgue."

The government of Burundi confirms that it expelled WHO country representative Walter Kazadi Mulombo, declaring him a "persona non grata," without providing a reason.

Heads of state, among others, pen an open letter calling on health ministers at the upcoming World Health Assembly to create a global agreement that "ensures rapid universal access to quality-assured vaccines and treatments with need prioritized above the ability to pay. ... Now is not the time to allow the interests of the wealthiest corporations and governments to be placed before the universal need to save lives, or to leave this massive and moral task to market forces," the letter says.

Most food produced in Africa is by smallholder farmers, who tend to be elderly because many youth have left the rural areas for the cities, says Chris Nikoi, regional director for West and Central Africa at the World Food Program, during a news briefing. If coronavirus cases among these elderly farmers begin to escalate, it will have "serious implications for food production going forward," he says. "If I look at West and Central Africa, we are now about to enter the planting season and just imagine if, in most of rural Africa, people who farm are falling ill." "

From the WHO Situation Report: despite the above reporting, the WHO report only states -

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,819 cases. It also confirms a total of 112 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 16,098 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 16,847 cases. It also confirms a total of 456 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,442,163 cases 302,418 deaths

1,450,000 cases 86,541 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

20,838 cases 1,091 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

15 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 15: 4,443,986 and 302,493 deaths.

The head of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in France, Olivier Bogillot, says for a future COVID-19 vaccine developed by the company, "the goal is to have this vaccine available to the U.S. as well as France and Europe at the same time." The remarks came after Paul Hudson, Sanofi CEO, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the "U.S. government has the right to the largest pre-order [of the vaccine] because it's invested in taking the risk." The comment caused outrage in France, with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe saying equal access for all to the vaccine is not negotiable.

The first COVID-19 case is confirmed in the densely-populated Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Home to nearly 900,000 people, this is the "realization of a nightmare scenario," writes Refugees International in a statement.

For the third time, the Asian Development Bank revises its estimates on the economic impact of the novel coronavirus. The global impact estimated to range from $5.8 trillion on a short term containment scenario of 3 months, to $8.8 trillion for a longer term containment scenario of 6 months. The latest estimates are higher than the World Bank and International Monetary Fund-released estimates in April - and are more than double the figures ADB released in April that estimated global economic losses at over $2 trillion to $4.1 trillion. The bank noted that the latest figures factor in a significant increase in COVID-19 infections from April, and a difference in modeling approach. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,855 cases.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,148 cases (with 350 more cases probable).

Singapore confirms a total of 26,891 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 17,330 cases. It also confirms a total of 476 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,538,406 cases 307,486 deaths

1,470,000 cases 88,199 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

21,232 cases 1,150 deaths

Number of Americans Tested for COVID-19 from Johns Hopkins University database:

Johns Hopkins stopped posting the number of Americans tested for Covid-19 on Monday, 4 May 2020

- On 6 May one of President Trump's personal valets tested positive for COVID-19.
On 8 May Vice President Pence's Press Secretary tested positive for COVID-19.
In late April, a personal assistant for Ivanka Trump, the President's daughter tested positive for COVID-19.
On 9 May it was announced that over 30 active Secret Service agents tested positive for COVID-19. Also on 9 May, the head of the CDC and Dr,. Fauci have self-quarantined, as they were at a press conference, without face masks worn by anyone on the stage, with VP Pence's Press Secretary on 7 May.
On May 11, it was announced that anyone working in the White, unless seated at their own work desk, must wear a face mask - except President Trump.

Source: CNN - Politics - The Po!nt With Chris Cillizza - Written by Lauren Dezenski and Allison Gordon Friday, 15 May 2020

"Trump Is Ready to Move On From Coronavirus

*Quote of the Day:  "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back." -  President Trump said the US will rebound regardless of a coronavirus vaccine. He repeated there are diseases that don't have a vaccine that sometimes just "go away." *

  The White House's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic - and reopening the country's economy - took center stage this week.
The virus not only infiltrated the White House, prompting new protocols over mask-wearing and social distancing, but also Capitol Hill.
Both the House and Senate brought experts in for virtual hearings to dig into the administration's coronavirus response and just how the country can return to normal (spoiler: They said it's going to take a long time).
The nation also heard from Rick Bright, the ousted director of a crucial federal office charged with developing countermeasures to infectious diseases. Bright recalled a colorful exchange with a US based mask-producer, raising alarms about the country's troubling production capacity.
Just across the street from Congress, the Supreme Court continued to meet (virtually), this time debating President Donald Trump's tax returns. Trump's team argued for "temporary presidential immunity."
Despite it all, Trump is still eager to return to normal life. His visit to a Pennsylvania mask producer on Thursday was in his presidential capacity, but Trump's campaign is already mulling how to bring back in-person campaign rallies.
The Point:  Trump is anxious to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind him, but not everyone is on the same page.
- - Lauren

And now, the week in 15 headlines:
  Monday
* White House scrambles after staffers test positive as new mask mandate takes effect
* A reporter questioned Trump and he told her to "ask China"
* Mitch McConnell: Obama "should have kept his mouth shut" instead of criticizing US coronavirus response
  Tuesday
* Supreme Court debates Trump's ability to keep financial information and taxes secret
* GOP split on whether to back Fauci's or Trump's assessment on reopening economy
* Jeff Sessions says his recusal from Russia probe was an attempt to help Trump
* CNN Poll: Most Americans would be uncomfortable returning to regular routines today
  Wednesday
* Dr. Bright to warn of "darkest winter in modern history"
* Republicans win back California seat they lost in 2018 after Democrat concedes
* Trump privately questions whether COVID-19 deaths are being over-counted as Fauci projects the opposite
* CDC guidelines shelved by Trump administration spell out far stricter road map to reopening
  Thursday
* Richard Burr to step down as Intelligence Committee chairman
* Michigan closes state Capitol as protesters gather against stay-at-home order
  Friday
* Trump to unveil new vaccine effort
* Trump campaign laying groundwork for a return to in-person rallies

16 May 2020 -  From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 16: 4,543,297 and 307,705 deaths."

From the WHO Situation Report:
Malaysia confirms a total of 6,872 cases. It also confirms a total of 113 deaths.
Singapore confirms a total of 27,356 cases. It also confirms a total of 22 deaths
Ukraine confirms a total of 17,858 cases. It also confirms a total of 497 deaths.

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,629,575 cases 311,425 deaths

1,500,000 cases 89,420 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

21,633 cases 1,192 deaths

President Trump has sent 59 Tweets on his @realDonaldTrump account today - many are reTweets of some he sent yesterday, and some are reTweets of other people. Here are 12 from today -
SOURCE: Twitter : sent today, Saturday, 16 May 2020, from Camp David (today is US Armed Services Day, which he does not mention all day):
- at 7:56 am EDT: "The Radical Left is in total command &control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google. The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events. Thank you Michelle!" - This was in response to https://t.co/ZQfefD3HKg which has since been deleted...

- at 8:19 am EDT: " "Scandal has defined the Obama Administration." @LisaMarieBoothe @ffweekend "

- at 8:51 am EDT: "Lou, this is just one of numerous concepts being considered under which we would pay 10% of what we have been paying over many years, matching much lower China payments. Have not made final decision. All funds are frozen. Thanks!" - In response to Tweet from Lou Dobbs at https//t.co/XQUzHy4NDa

- at 8:56 am EDT: "Mexico must take control of this very big problem!" - In response to Twitter post https://t.co/VfSw5j1OWI

- at 9:10 am EDT: "95% Approval Rating in Republican Party. 51% Plus, overall. But you NEVER read or see this in the Fake News Media. Always hearing bad, made up numbers on how badly I'm doing. Lamestream Media is unhinged and CORRUPT!" - attached to https://t.co/ebrufe2ZEQ

- at 9:30 am EDT: "We've done a GREAT job on Covid response, making all Governors look good, some fantastic (and that's OK), but the Lamestream Media doesn't want to go with that narrative, and the Do Nothing Dems talking point is to say only bad about "Trump". I made everybody look good, but me!"

- at 9:33 am EDT: "People can't get enough of this. Great people!" - attached to https://t.co/b4HM0C298h

- at 11:00 am EDT: "I'm not running against Sleepy Joe Biden. He is not even a factor. Never was, remember 1% Joe? I'm running against the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats & their partner, the real opposition party, the Lamestream Fake News Media! They are vicious & crazy, but we will WIN!"

- at 11:36 am EDT: "This is true. I say it all the time. The Republicans must play by the same rules, or die! Wow, Mollie, you are good." - attached to https://t.co/CThwiLRn9F

- at 11:51 am EDT: "Mitch, I love you, but this is 100% true. Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late. The Dems are visious, but got caught. They MUST pay a big price for what they have done to our Country. Don't let them get away with this! @LindseyGrahamSC " - attached to https://t.co/PplfqTJdHc

- at 4:14 pm EDT: "OBAMAGATE!"

- at 6:58 pm EDT - 2 parts: "Why is it that China, for decades, and with a population much bigger than ours, is paying a tiny fraction of $'s to The World Health Organization, The United Nations and, worst of all, The World Trade Organization, where they are considered a so-called "developing country" and..."
".....are therefore given massive advantages over The United States, and everyone else? Prior to the Plague floating in from China, our Economy was blowing everybody away, the best of any country, EVER. We will be there again, and soon!"

17 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 17: 4,636,173 and 311,827 deaths."

- No other reporting than the numbers on Saturday and Sunday -

From the WHO Situation Report:

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,894 cases.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,499 cases.

Singapore confirms a total of 28,038 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 18,291 cases. It also confirms a total of 514 deaths.

**** Note from BND - I have been stupid and lax - I assumed that Wikipedia was reporting, in its "daily coverage of the WHO Situation Reports," all of the reports they are NOT. Tomorrow I will list the FULL report from WHO... ****

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,713,620 cases 315,185 deaths

1,520,000 cases 89,932 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

  21,938 cases 1,215 deaths

Source:  Raw Story: Raw Story Investigates - Trump Written by Terry H. Schwadron DC Story
Published at 8 am EDT on Sunday, 17 May 2020

"Trump's Voter Registration Trips Up His Mar-A-Lago Plans

Amid all the intensity and seriousness of pandemic, this little fable with no international significance has been percolating over in a quiet corner of our world...
Once upon a time, a couple of months ago, Donald Trump moved his formal residence - and voting address - from the gilded Trump Tower in New York City to the equally exclusive Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. But, in doing so, he stubbed his toe on local regulations that are now keeping him from adding a dock to his property.
Maybe he plans to move from golf to boating. More likely, he wanted to serve his high-flying friends and visitors at Mar-a-Lago by providing a waterside mooring.
Now, Trump has ended withdrawing his dock request after The Washington Post disclosed that there was a local law requiring that only residential owners are eligible for docks in the interior south Florida waterways.
Ah, therein lies the quandary: At the time of purchasing Mar-a-Lago in 1993, Trump signed agreements with the town of 8,000 that he was opening a club, not a residence. The town was wary about new water traffic in converting Mar-a-Lago from a single-family residence to a private club owned by a corporation that Trump controls.
The agreement also bans members from using the club's guest rooms for loner than seven days at a time three times a year. Trump's attorney at the time, Paul Rampell, assured town council members that he [Trump] would not live at the club.
So, he owns a club, not a private residence, which means that in registering to vote, just maybe Trump has made his voting address moot.
Indeed, he has created, you know, just the kind of mail ballot fraud he bleats about, since he voted by mail in Florida's Republican presidential primary.
  Having it Both Ways
It turns out that the West Palm Beach town council has been staying at home. Expecting bad news, Trump's lawyers withdrew this dock request by mail and promised to revisit it when the council is meeting physically again, but without mentioning coronavirus.
Trump's Palm Beach neighbors and their attorneys accused him and his legal team of trying to jam through the dock request while attention is focused on the unnamed pandemic.
But we're skipping the good part beyond the dock. If it's a club and not a residence, Trump can't legally use it as a residence. Doing so is, how-you-say, illegal.
Reginald Stambaugh, lawyer for one of Mar-a-Lago's neighbors, notes that besides the dock, "One prevalent issue remains lingering, whether President Trump still considers Mar-a-Lago Club his residence. He still can't have it both ways. It's either a club or a residence - not both. Florida's voting laws apply to citizen Trump. If he resides there, he will have to close the club."
The 1993 agreement also banned construction of a dock, but Trump was asking for that condition to be waived. Trump's lawyer originally argued that the dock was necessary for the president's protection, an assertion in the dock application that made no mention of Mar-a-Lago being the president's home. In a later application, the rationale was changed, with Trump asserting that the club is his "personal residence."
"The request is simply to add an accessory structure," his attorney wrote. "A dock for private family use only."
  Hypocrisy Reigns
As a fable, it may be like learning not to throw rocks at mail-in ballot windows if you live in a glass house. Or maybe it is like the fisherman who wanted a larger and more golden palace before the dream disappeared. Or wanting too many grapes from the ground. But old Aesop would have had a ball with this one.
Poor little rich boy gets dream house that he cloaks in corporate clothes and more riches, only to get tripped up by the mundane tasks of registering to vote.
You call it home, I call it a club. Let's call the whole thing off.
Or how about just stop complaining about non-existent fraud in mail-in ballots. "

18 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 18: 4,716,965 and 315,248 deaths.

The Kenyan Government says 78 foreign truck drivers tested positive for COVID-19 at the border and were denied entry into the country in the past week. The government announces there will be no passenger traffic through its Tanzania and Somalia land borders, and that all drivers of cargo vehicles will undergo mandatory testing. Uganda also announces that only truck drivers with negative test results can enter the country.

Chinese officials quarantine 8,000 people in the northeast part of the country after a cluster of new infections are reported.

Over 100 countries have backed a draft resolution to the World Health Assembly calling for an independent inquiry into the handling of the novel coronavirus crisis, including an impartial, comprehensive evaluation into "the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic." "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Afghanistan confirms a total of 7,072 cases. It also confirms a total of 173 deaths.

Albania confirms a total of 948 cases. It also confirms a total of 31 deaths.

Algeria confirms a total of 7,019 cases. It also confirms a total of 548 deaths.

Andorra confirms a total of 761 cases. It also confirms a total of 51 deaths.

Angola confirms a total of 48 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Anguilla confirms a total of 3 cases.

Antigua & Barbuda confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Argentina confirms a total of 7,805 cases. It also confirms a total of 366 deaths.

Armenia confirms a total of 4,823 cases. It also confirms a total of 61 deaths.

Aruba confirms a total of 101 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Australia confirms a total of 7,045 cases. It also confirms a total of 98 deaths.

Austria confirms a total of 16,154 cases. It also confirms a total of 629 deaths.

Azerbaijan confirms a total of 3,274 cases. It also confirms a total of 39 deaths.

Bahamas confirms a total of 96 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Bahrain confirms a total of 6,930 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Bangladesh confirms a total of 22,268 cases. It also confirms a total of 328 deaths.

Barbados confirms a total of 86 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Belarus confirms a total of 29,650 cases. It also confirms a total of 165 deaths.

Belgium confirms a total of 55,280 cases. It also confirms a total of 9,052 deaths.

Belize confirms a total of 18 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Benin confirms a total of 339 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Bermuda confirms a total of 143 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Bhutan confirms a total of 21 cases.

Bolivia confirms a total of 3,826 cases. It also confirms a total of 165 deaths.

Bonaire, Saint Eustatius & Saba confirms a total of 6 cases.

Bosnia & Herzegovina confirms a total of 2,289 cases. It also confirms a total of 132 deaths.

Botswana confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Brazil confirms a total of 233,142 cases. It also confirms a total of 15,633 deaths.

British Virgin Islands confirms a total of 8 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Brunei Darussalam confirms a total of 141 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Bulgaria confirms a total of 2,235 cases. It also confirms a total of 110 deaths.

Burkina Faso confirms a total of 796 cases. It also confirms a total of 51 deaths.

Burundi confirms a total of 42 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Cabo Verde confirms a total of 328 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Cambodia confirms a total of 122 cases.

Cameroon confirms a total of 3, 047 cases. It also confirms a total of 139 deaths.

Canada confirms a total of 76,204 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,702 deaths.

Cayman Islands confirms a total of 94 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Central African Republic confirms a total of 327 cases.

Chad confirms a total of 503 cases. It also confirms a total of 53 deaths.

Chile confirms a total of 43,781 cases. It also confirms a total of 450 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,494 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,645 deaths.

Colombia confirms a total of 14.939 cases. It also confirms a total of 562 deaths.

Comoros confirms a total of 11 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Congo confirms a total of 410 cases. It also confirms a total of 15 deaths.

Costa Rica confirms a total of 853 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Cote d'Ivoire confirms a total of 2,109 cases. It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.

Croatia confirms a total of 2,226 cases. It also confirms a total of 95 deaths.

Cuba confirms a total of 1,872 cases. It also confirms a total of 79 deaths.

Curacao confirms a total of 16 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Cyprus confirms a total of 916 cases. It also confirms a total of 17 deaths.

Czechia confirms a total of 8,475 cases. It also confirms a total of 298 deaths.

Democratic Republic of the Congo confirms a total of 1,454 cases. It also confirms a total of 60 deaths.

Denmark confirms a total of 10,927 cases. It also confirms a total of 547 deaths.

Djibouti confirms a total of 1,401 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Dominica confirms a total of 16 cases.

Dominican Republic confirms a total of 12,314 cases. It also confirms a total of 428 deaths.

Ecuador confirms a total of 32,723 cases. It also confirms a total of 2,688 deaths.

Egypt confirms a total of 12,229 cases. It also confirms a total of 630 deaths.

El Salvador confirms a total of 1,338 cases. It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.

Equatorial Guinea confirms a total of 719 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Eritrea confirms a total of 49 cases.

Estonia confirms a total of 1,774 cases. It also confirms a total of 63 deaths.

Eswatini confirms a total of 203 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Ethiopia confirms a total of 317 cases. It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) confirms a total of 13 cases.

Faroe Islands confirms a total of 187 cases.

Fiji confirms a total of 18 cases.

Finland confirms a total of 6,347 cases. It also confirms a total of 298 deaths.

France confirms a total of 140,036 cases. It also confirms a total of 28,059 deaths.

French Guiana confirms a total of 197 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

French Polynesia confirms a total of 60 cases.

Gabon confirms a total of 1,320 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Gambia confirms a total of 24 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Georgia confirms a total of 701 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 174,697 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,935 deaths.

Ghana confirms a total of 5,735 cases. It also confirms a total of 29 deaths.

Gibraltar confirms a total of 147 cases.

Greece confirms a total of 2,834 cases. It also confirms a total of 163 deaths.

Greenland confirms a total of 11 cases.

Grenada confirms a total of 22 cases.

Guadeloupe confirms a total of 155 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Guam confirms a total of 149 cases. It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.

Guatemala confirms a total of 1,763 cases. It also confirms a total of 33 deaths.

Guernsey confirms a total of 252 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Guinea confirms a total of 2,727 cases. It also confirms a total of 16 deaths.

Guinea-Bissau confirms a total of 990 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Guyana confirms a total of 117 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Haiti confirms a total of 358 cases. It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.

Honduras confirms a total of 2,565 cases. It also confirms a total of 138 deaths.

Hungary confirms a total of 3,535 cases. It also confirms a total of 462 deaths.

Iceland confirms a total of 1,802 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

India confirms a total of 96,169 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,029 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 17,514 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,148 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 120,198 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,988 deaths.

Iraq confirms a total of 3,404 cases. It also confirms a total of 123 deaths.

Ireland confirms a total of 24,112 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,543 deaths.

Isle of Man confirms a total of 335 cases. It also confirms a total of 24 deaths.

Israel confirms a total of 16,607 cases. It also confirms a total of 271 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 225,435 cases. It also confirms a total of 31,908 deaths.

Jamaica confirms a total of 517 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Japan confirms a total of 16,305 cases. It also confirms a total of 749 deaths.

Jersey confirms a total of 297 cases. It also confirms a total of 27 deaths.

Jordan confirms a total of 613 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Kazakhstan confirms a total of 6,440 cases. It also confirms a total of 34 deaths.

Kenya confirms a total of 887 cases. It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.

Kosovo confirms a total of 955 cases. It also confirms a total of 29 deaths.

Kuwait confirms a total of 14,850 cases. It also confirms a total of 112 deaths.

Kyrgyzstan confirms a total of 1,216 cases. It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.

Laos confirms a total of 19 cases.

Latvia confirms a total of 1,008 cases. It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.

Lebanon confirms a total of 911 cases. It also confirms a total of 26 deaths.

Lesotho confirms a total of 1 case.

Liberia confirms a total of 226 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Libya confirms a total of 65 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Liechtenstein confirms a total of 83 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Lithuania confirms a total of 1,541 cases. It also confirms a total of 56 deaths.

Luxembourg confirms a total of 3,945 cases. It also confirms a total of 107 deaths.

Madagascar confirms a total of 304 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Malawi confirms a total of 70 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 6,894 cases. It also confirms a total of 113 deaths.

Maldives confirms a total of 1,094 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Mali confirms a total of 850 cases. It also confirms a total of 62 deaths.

Malta confirms a total of 551 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Martinique confirms a total of 192 cases. It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.

Mauritania confirms a total of 62 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Mauritius confirms a total of 332 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Mayotte confirms a total of 1,342 cases. It also confirms a total of 18 deaths.

Mexico confirms a total of 47,144 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,045 deaths.

Moldova confirms a total of 6,060 cases. It also confirms a total of 211 deaths.

Monaco confirms a total of 96 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Mongolia confirms a total of 136 cases.

Montenegro confirms a total of 324 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Montserrat confirms a total of 11 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Morocco confirms a total of 6,870 cases. It also confirms a total of 192 deaths.

Mozambique confirms a total of 137 cases.

Myanmar confirms a total of 187 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Namibia confirms a total of 16 cases.

Nepal confirms a total of 304 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Netherlands confirms a total of 43,995 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,680 deaths.

New Caledonia confirms a total of 18 cases.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,499 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Nicaragua confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 8 deaths.

Niger confirms a total of 904 cases. It also confirms a total of 54 deaths.

Nigeria confirms a total of 5,959 cases. It also confirms a total of 182 deaths.

North Macedonia confirms a total of 1,792 cases. It also confirms a total of 101 deaths.

Northern Mariana Islands confirms a total of 21 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Norway confirms a total of 8,197 cases. It also confirms a total of 232 deaths.

Oman confirms a total of 5,379 cases. It also confirms a total of 23 deaths.

*Other* confirms a total of 712 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Pakistan confirms a total of 42,125 cases. It also confirms a total of 903 deaths.

Palestine (occupied) confirms a total of 560 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Panama confirms a total of 9,449 cases. It also confirms a total of 269 deaths.

Papua New Guinea confirms a total of 8 cases.

Paraguay confirms a total of 786 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Peru confirms a total of 88,541 cases. It also confirms a total of 2,523 deaths.

Philippines confirms a total of 12,513 cases. It also confirms a total of 824 deaths.

Poland confirms a total of 18,529 cases. It also confirms a total of 925 deaths.

Portugal confirms a total of 29,036 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,218 deaths.

Puerto Rico confirms a total of 2,646 cases. It also confirms a total of 123 deaths.

Qatar confirms a total of 32,604 cases. It also confirms a total of 15 deaths.

Reunion confirms a total of 443 cases.

Romania confirms a total of 16,871 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,097 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 290,678 cases. It also confirms a total of 2,722 deaths.

Rwanda confirms a total of 292 cases.

Saint Barthelemy confirms a total of 6 cases.

Saint Kitts & Nevis confirms a total of 15 cases.

Saint Lucia confirms a total of 18 cases.

Saint Martin confirms a total of 39 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Saint Pierre & Miquelon confirms a total of 1 case.

Saint Vincent & the Grenadines confirms a total of 17 cases.

San Marino confirms a total of 668 cases. It also confirms a total of 41 deaths.

Sao Tome & Principe confirms a total of 169 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Saudi Arabia confirms a total of 54,752 cases. It also confirms a total of 312 deaths.

Senegal confirms a total of 2,480 cases. It also confirms a total of 25 deaths.

Serbia confirms a total of 10,610 cases. It also confirms a total of 230 deaths.

Seychelles confirms a total of 11 cases.

Sierra Leone confirms a total of 505 cases. It also confirms a total of 32 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 28,038 cases. It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.

Sint Maarten confirms a total of 78 cases. It also confirms a total of 15 deaths.

Slovakia confirms a total of 1,494 cases. It also confirms a total of 28 deaths.

Slovenia confirms a total of 1,466 cases. It also confirms a total of 104 deaths.

Somalia confirms a total of 1,421 cases. It also confirms a total of 56 deaths.

South Africa confirms a total of 15,515 cases. It also confirms a total of 264 deaths.

South Korea confirms a total of 11,065 cases. It also confirms a total of 263 deaths.

South Sudan confirms a total of 282 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 231,350 cases. It also confirms a total of 27,650 deaths.

Sri Lanka confirms a total of 981 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Sudan confirms a total of 2,591 cases. It also confirms a total of 105 deaths.

Suriname confirms a total of 10 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Sweden confirms a total of 30,143 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,679 deaths.

Switzerland confirms a total of 30,504 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,602 deaths.

Syrian Arab Republic confirms a total of 58 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Tajikistan confirms a total of 1,322 cases. It also confirms a total of 39 deaths.

Tanzania confirms a total of 509 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 3,031 cases. It also confirms a total of 56 deaths.

Timor-Leste confirms a total of 24 cases.

Togo confirms a total of 301 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Trinidad & Tobago confirms a total of 116 cases. It also confirms a total of 8 deaths.

Tunisia confirms a total of 1,037 cases. It also confirms a total of 45 deaths.

Turkey confirms a total of 149,435 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,140 deaths.

Turks & Caicos confirms a total of 12 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Uganda confirms a total of 227 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 18,616 cases. It also confirms a total of 535 deaths.

United Arab Emirates confirms a total of 23,358 cases. It also confirms a total of 220 deaths.

United Kingdom confirms a total of 243,699 cases. It also confirms a total of 34.636 deaths.

United States of America confirms a total of 1,432,265 cases. It also confirms a total of 87,180 deaths.

United States Virgin Islands confirms a total of 69 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Uruguay confirms a total of 734 cases. It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.

Uzbekistan confirms a total of 2,762 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Vatican City (Holy See) confirms a total of 12 cases.

Venezuela confirms a total of 541 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Viet Nam confirms a total of 320 cases.

Yemen confirms a total of 132 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Zambia confirms a total of 753 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Zimbabwe confirms a total of 44 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

*Other* is The Diamond Princess, a cruise ship

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,801,943 cases 318,481 deaths

1,540,000 cases 90,694 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

22,202 cases 1,224 deaths

19 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 19: 4,822,430 and 318,851 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump sends a letter to World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warning if the agency "does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization."
Trump also says he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week - a drug the president has been touting as a potential treatment for COVID-19, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautions against its unproven use, warning of harmful side effects.
Preliminary data from the first COVID-19 vaccine trial in humans shows that the vaccine is creating an immune response and is "generally safe and well tolerated," according to the manufacturer, Moderna. This data is based on eight people in the trial who have received two doses of the vaccine.
South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar and his wife test positive for COVID-19.
A report from the World Food Program finds that the number of people facing food insecurity in East Africa and the Horn of Africa over the next three months could double because of the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. An estimated 20 million people already faced acute food insecurity in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Eritrea before the crisis.
Refugees are one of the most affected groups. "A shortage of funding already means most refugees in the region are not receiving all the food they need, and they could face further cuts as scarece resources become even more over-stretched," writes UN Refugee Agency Regional Director Clementine Nkweta-Salami, in a press release. "

**** From now on, I shall be adding the complete WHO Situation Report ONLY on Mondays, since it is so large and covers every country that reports to WHO (at the moment, only North Korea does not report) - huge surges, or other news-worthy events will be noted in the Devex articles above, or in news articles listed below the Colorado COVID-19 Report... ****

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,893,195 cases 322,861 deaths

1,560,000 cases 92,258 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

22,482 cases 1,257 deaths

SOURCE: Occupy Democrats - News Analysis, Politics - Written by Vinnie Longobardo; posted 19 May 2020

"Trump Warns "Nobody Will Be Guarding Your Potatoes" in Weird Vow To "Go After Virginia"

Can you imagine a president of the United States - a man sworn to faithfully execute his office and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution - publicly announcing a vendetta against one of those states?
With Donald Trump as president, you don't have to imagine.
The rub here is that the presidential oath of office qualifies that vow with the modifier "to the best of my Ability" - a commodity in short supply in this particular president.
The incident in question happened at the White House today at a press event where the president was announcing the launch of a new initiative supporting America's farmers.
A jocular Trump casually threw in a threat against the state that borders the nation's capital, telling the assembled crowd of agricultural executives and reporters that he would be going after Virginia because of that state's Democratic governor's attempts to pass sensible gun regulations - or as Trump puts it, taking away your Second Amendment.
Trump's familiarity with the agricultural output of Virginia seems to be as limited as his awareness of anything outside his bubble as he joked that "you'll have nobody guarding your potatoes" once he finishes "going after Virginia."
Apparently Trump has confused the state with Idaho, the number one producer of the tuberous plants in the United States, growing about 13 billion pounds of potatoes each year.
Virginia, on the other hand, doesn't even break the top 10 among states with potato crops, growing a measly 200 thousand pounds of the vegetable each year, and barely eking into the top 10 cash crops in a state where marijuana and tobacco head the list in the top two positions.
Exactly why Trump chose the humble potato as his target of supposed theft risk as opposed to soybeans or corn, both of which individually account for three times the value of potatoes in Virginia's agricultural economy, is unknown.
Perhaps because every Big Mac he eats is accompanied by an extra-large portion of fries, the potato has a special place in Trump's consciousness and holds a special value to him. Still, he didn't mention tomatoes or lettuce which are also a part of every standard Donald's McDonald's meal.
Nonetheless, the very idea of a president announcing that he's out to "go after" a state verges on unconstitutionality and treason. It also indicates that Trump may have all but given up hope of winning Virginia's electoral votes in the upcoming election.
In other words, unguarded potatoes would hardly be the disastrous threat that the president paints it out to be in his threat.
After his performance during this pandemic, he should give up hope altogether and simply resign now.
How do you like them potatoes, Donald? "

*** Note from BND - Trump announced that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine - that he asked his physician to prescribe for him - for as week. The unusual side effects of taking this drug include: (1) blistering, peeling, loosening of the skin; (2) blurred vision or other vision changes; (3) chest discomfort, pain, or tightness; (4) cough or hoarseness; (5) dark urine; (6) decreased urination & water retention; (7) defective color vision; (8) diarrhea; (9) difficulty breathing; (10) difficulty seeing at night; (11) dizziness or fainting; (12) fast, pounding, uneven heartbeat; (13) feeling that other are watching you or controlling your behavior; (14) feeling that others can hear your thoughts; (15) feeling, hearing, or seeing things that are not there; (16) fever with or without chills; (17) general feeling of tiredness or weakness; (18) headache; (19) inability to move the eyes; (20) increased blinking or spasms of the eyelid; (21) joint or muscle pain; (22) large hive-like swellings on the face, eyelids, lips, tongue, throat, hands, legs, feet, and sex organs; (23) loss of hearing; (24) lower back or side pain; (25) noisy breathing; (26) Painful or difficult urination; (27) red irritated eyes; (28) red lesions, often with a purple center; (29) severe moods or mental changes; (30) sore throat sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or in the mouth; (31) sticking out of the tongue; (32) stomach pain; (33) swelling of the feet or lower legs; (34) swollen or painful glands; (35) trouble with breathing, speaking, or swallowing; (36) uncontrolled twisting movements of the neck, trunk, arms, or legs; (37) unusual behavior; (38) unusual bleeding or bruising; (39) unusual facial expressions; (40) unusual tiredness or weakness; (41) yellow eyes or skin.
Any of these sound familiar? ***

20 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

" Total cases as of May 20: 4,900,253 and 323,345 deaths

The World Bank Group announces its emergency support has reached 100 low- and middle-income countries, which is home to 70% of the world's population. This initial assistance - part of it's pledge to make available $160 billion in grants and financial support over 15 months - is the largest and fastest crisis response in he bank's history.

According to a study published in the academic journal Nature Climate Change, daily carbon emissions have dropped by 17% this year, through April, as compared to last year, because of reduced transportation and changed consumption patterns due to the pandemic. These reductions "are likely to be temporary as they do not reflect structural changes in the economic, transport or energy systems," according to the study.

The Lancet refutes claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump that ir published reports regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, saying it is "factually incorrect." The first reports the journal published about the virus was on January 24, according to the journal."

**** From now on, I shall be adding the complete WHO Situation Report ONLY on Mondays, since it is so large and covers every country that reports to WHO (at the moment, only North Korea does not report) - huge surges, or other news-worthy events will be noted in the Devex articles above, or in news articles listed below the Colorado COVID-19 Report... ****

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

4,995,712 cases 328,095 deaths

1,580,000 cases 93,806 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

22,797 cases 1,299 deaths

Source: NBC News - Politics - Written by Josh Lederman, Laura Strickler and Dan De Luce - Updated 19 May 2020 at 6:38 pm EDT

"Pompeo's Elite Tax-Payer Funded Dinners Raise New Concerns
The Secretary of State's exclusive 'Madison Dinners' have featured guest lists heavy on influencers but light on diplomatic invitees.

As federal workers file out of the State Department at he end of a Washington work day, an elite group is often just arriving in the marbled, flag-lined lobby: Billionaire CEOs, Supreme Court justices, political heavyweights and ambassadors arrive in evening attire as they're escorted by private elevator to dinner with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Until COVID-19 shut them down in March, the gatherings were known as "Madison Dinners" - elaborate, unpublicized affairs that Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, began in 2018 and held regularly in the historic Diplomatic Reception Rooms on the government's dime.
State Department officials involved in the dinners said they had raised concerns internally that the events were essentially using federal resources to cultivate a donor and supporter base for Pompeo's political ambitions - complete with extensive contact information that gets sent back to Susan Pompeo's personal e-mail address. The officials and others who attended discussed the dinners on condition of anonymity.
An NBC News investigation found that Pompeo held about two dozen Madison Dinners since he took over in 2018. NBC News obtained a master guest list for every dinner through the end of 2019, as well as internal State Department calendars from before the pandemic emerged, showing that future dinners were on the books through at least October 2020. The master list includes the names of nearly 500 invitees and specifies who accepted, although it is possible some people RSVP'd but didn't show up in Foggy Bottom for dinner.
The records show that about 29 percent of the invitees came from the corporate world, while about a quarter of them hailed from the media or entertainment industries, with conservative media members heavily represented. About 30 percent work in politics or government, and just 14 percent were diplomats or foreign officials. Every single member of the House or the Senate who has been invited is a Republican.
The dinners are named after James Madison, America's fourth president and fifth secretary of state, who made a habit of inviting foreign diplomats to exchange ideas over dinner. But historians could point to no precedent for a secretary of state's playing host to such frequent gatherings, paid for by State Department funds, involving political and business leaders.
"Madison certainly paid his own entertainment expenses," said Kevin Gutzman, a professor at Western Connecticut State University who wrote a biography of Madison.

The Madison Dinners, which aren't disclosed on Pompeo's public schedule, add another element to what his critics say is a pattern of pushing the edge of the envelope by using government resources for potential personal or political gain.

Steve Linick, who was abruptly fired Friday evening as the State Department's inspector general, was investigating whether Pompeo made a political appointee carry out personal errands like walking his dog, NBC News reported.

On Tuesday, a State Department official and two other people familiar with the matter identified the political appointee to NBC News as Toni Porter, who had also worked for Pompeo at the CIA and now works in the Office of the Secretary of State. Emails reviewed by NBC News show that Porter was the chief liason between Pompeo's office and the Office of the Chief of Protocol, which runs the Madison Dinners.

It's unclear whether the inspector general was also investigating the Madison Dinners, but two administration officials told NBC News that Linick made some typr of inquiry to the protocol office last week, before he was fired. One of the officials said Pompeo's office was then notified.

When the dinners started, two State Department officials said, concerns were raised to the State Department's legal adviser, who they said responded by saying events hosted by the secretary should be related to foreign policy. On Capitol Hill, several committees have also been looking into the dinners, congressional aides said.

In the opinion of a senior Trump administration official who requested anonymity out of concern for retribution, "if the president knew about any of this, he would have fired Pompeo months ago."

In a letter to the State Department reviewed by NBC News, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote: "I am concerned by allegations that the Secretary appears to be using those taxpayer resources to host large domestic-focused political gatherings that serve little-to-no foreign policy purpose." The letter requested "a complete accounting" of funds used for the dinners and copies of any remarks Pompeo delivered at a Madison Dinner.

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the dinners are "a world-class opportunity to discuss the mission of the State Department and the complex foreign policy matters facing our exceptional nation."

"Invited guests have included many foreign diplomats, thought leaders, academics, government leaders at many levels, business leaders, Members of Congress, and the media - each of whom has a stake in America and its leadership in the world," Ortagus said.

She added that Pompeo has "benefited greatly from these gatherings as he has gained knowledge listening to his guests from all across the political spectrum and all around the world."

"Foreign policy-focused social gatherings precisely like these are in the finest tradition of diplomatic and American hospitality and grace," Ortagus said. "The secretary looks forward to continuing these Madison Dinners as they are an important component of the execution of his duties as secretary of state."

An invitation to an 'intimate evening'

Invitations obtained by NBC News describe the dinners as an "intimate evening" in the spirit of James Madison, who as secretary of state "hosted dinners that gathered thinkers and leaders to share ideas on the future of America and the World."

"Through the Madison Dinner Series, Secretary Pompeo honors their wisdom in seeing the value of building relationships an sharing intellectual thought to enrich our country and to further our diplomatic goals," an official invitation reads.

Many of those invited are, indeed, global thought leaders whose perspectives could be valuable to America's top diplomat: foreign ministers from allied countries, senators and prominent historians. But others seem to have little connection to the world of diplomacy, such as country singer Reba McEntire, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

At one of the final dinners before the pandemic, as President Donald Trump was edging away from a potential military confrontation with Iran in January, Pompeo and his wife hosted the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Princess Reema bint Bandar; Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy; national security adviser Robert O'Brien; and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, according to a seating list reviewed by NBC News.

At a dinner in November, as impeachment hearings were in full swing, the Pompeos dined with former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, American Gaming Association President Bill Miller, and Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. ANthony List, the influential anti-abortion rights lobbying organization. The Malaysian ambassador ans Representative Lee Zeldin, R-New York, a key defender of Trump during the impeachment proceedings, rounded out the list.

Then there was the dinner in May 2019 that occurred after Trump stormed out of an infrastructure meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, who accused him of throwing a "temper tantrum." Among those invited for the next evening's dinner were Fox News host Laura Ingraham; the E.U. ambassador; Republican power couple Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, and Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy, a major donor to campaigns against same-sex marriage.

"The CEO of Chick-fil-A is not someone I would say is involved in foreign policy," a person with knowledge of the dinner said.

NBC News obtained a master guest database that details each guest's name, title, spouse, dietary restrictions and dates of invitation and acceptance. The database runs from July 2018, a few months after Pompeo was sworn in, through the start of 2020.

The business moguls invited to the affairs include AOL co-founder Steve Case and Republican mega-donors like Home Depot founder Ken Langone, hedge fund executive Paul SInger, and Texas real estate tycoon Harlan Crow. The invitees also include Pompeo's classmates from the U.S. Military Academy, including Joe DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven, and Steve Cannon, whose company owns the Atlanta Falcons. Twenty-three percent of invitees have been associated with media or entertainment, and another 30 percent are government types: current or former officials, members of Congress, and judges and their spouses. Media figures skew heavily toward conservative TV personalities, with 39 percent of them from Fox News.

Only 14 percent are diplomats or foreign officials. More than 50 ambassadors show up on the guest list, with nearly two-thirds from countries in Europe and the Middle East and smaller numbers from Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Many are major players in Republican politics, such as former Bush strategist Karl Rove and David Urban, a lobbyist and political consultant on Trump's 2020 advisory committee. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch appear on the list, as do Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, although it's unclear whether all of them attended.

The guest list includes many notations on specific invitations being handled directly by Susan Pompeo, including those for Sununu, the New Hampshire governor; Dr. Larry Beamer, a surgeon in Wichita, Kansas; and historian Niall Ferguson. Pompeo, a former House member from Kansas who entered political life without significant wealth, has presented himself publicly as more of a low-key politician, especially compared to his last two predecessors at the State Department, who were extremely wealthy.

"I'm not in it for the fancy dinners in Paris or Switzerland or Vienna," Pompeo told the American Conservative Union Foundation in February, alluding to frequent European trips by former Secretary of State John Kerry. "That, my friends, is a lot of cocktails."

The night before those remarks, NBC News journalists had spotted guests arriving in the State Department lobby for pre-dinner cocktails as one of the last pre-coronavirus gatherings got under way.

Cocktails and conversations

The evening typically starts at 6 p.m. Guests arriving by car pull in to the horseshoe driveway of the Harry S. Truman Building, the headquarters of U.S. diplomacy, where officials are waiting to greet and escort them to a special elevator reserved for the evening, people present for the dinners said.

Once upstairs on the eighth floor, they're given a walking tour of the iconic Diplomatic Reception Rooms, a museum of U.S. diplomacy that includes the Benjamin Franklin State Dining room, the Martha Washington Ladies' Lounge, and the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room.

The it's cocktail time for roughly half an hour before the guests are seated for dinner, which lasts about an hour. The secretary or his wife tap their glass and give a welcome toast, but the conversation is informal, and there's no specific topic or theme.

The menu, however, is often curated to reflect the season. The featured cocktail might be one paying homage to the time of James and Dolley Madison, or French 75 cocktails might be served up in honor of Mardi Gras. At a dinner in February 2019 occurring the same week of Mardi Gras, guests were served a king cake, a New Orleans tradition with a baby figurine baked in.

"It's not the secretary of state of the United States. It's more like Secretary Mike and Susan," said a person who's been at one of the dinners.

A checklist for the events shows that a harpist is brought in to play the cocktail hour, and a photographer is arranged to take a group photo in front of a fireplace.

As guests depart, usually around 9 p.m., they're given a journal and a pen as gifts - both custom-embossed with the Madison Dinner logos. The State Department special-ordered hundreds of each in 2018, the pens for $23.75 apiece, and the journals for $8, officials said.

Pushing the envelope on precedent?

Madison was, indeed, known to hold salon dinners in the early 1800s to build bridges on foreign policy between Americans and foreigners. Hospitality, public diplomacy, and the informal exchange of ideas are among the traditional tools secretaries of state use to promote democratic values and advance U.S. interests, and other secretaries of state have held social events to expand their networks and conduct informal diplomacy.

"The dinners are not unusual," said former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, a Trump critic and MSNBC contributor who attended one of the dinners. He said the dinner was in keeping with Pompeo's diplomatic role and added: "There's no big deal there."

But the manner in which Pompeo has carried out the dinner series has raised concerns for the State Department officials on multiple fronts, including the use of taxpayer dollars and the involvement of his wife.

Former officials said that it's up to each secretary to decide how involved their spouses should be and that no regulation prohibits a spouse from playing the role of de facto social secretary. Susan Pompeo, who isn't a government official, was also known to play an active role when Pompeo was CIA director, and although he has called her a "force multiplier," her presence on official State Department trips has raised questions before.

In the Madison Dinners, Susan Pompeo's role is central. E-mails obtained by NBC News show her communicating directly with State Department officials, setting guest lists and dates to be put on the calendar for dinners, and arranging menu choices.

Officials involved in carrying out dinners say all the information collected by the State Department during the invitation process, including the names and contact information for potential guests, is e-mailed back and forth to Susan Pompeo's private Gmail account. Two congressional officials expressed concern that information could then be used by Pompeo as a potential donor Rolodex if he runs for office again. The Hatch Act prohibits most federal employees from engaging in political activity at work or in their official capacities.

Pompeo has resisted ongoing efforts by Senate Republicans to recruit him to run for the Senate in Kansas this year, and he is also often mentioned as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.

The dinners are paid for out of the State Department's Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular Service Appropriation, known as the "K Fund," which can be used for "confidential requirements in the conduct of foreign affairs as well as other authorized activities that further the realization of U.S. foreign policy objectives," according to the State Department's website. Current and former officials said that to comply with the spirit of the appropriation, State Department officials generally work to ensure that a significant proportion of foreign dignitaries or officials attend.

Unlike for most State Department events, cost estimates for the dinners aren't circulated to staffers working on the events, officials said. But two sources with knowledge of the events and the underlying costs estimated that the bill probably runs to several hundred dollars per plate, likely pushing the total cost of the dinners to date into the six figures.

The dinners also circumvent the normal procedure for an official event for the secretary, in which an "activity sheet" is sent out from the secretary's office notifying other officials of the plans. People familiar with the Madison Dinners said they're instead arranged informally between the Office of the Chief of Protocol and Pompeo's executive office on the seventh floor.

That means there's no coordination with the desks at the State Department overseeing specific regions of the world. For example, if the South Korean ambassador goes to a Madison Dinner, the State Department's bureau handling Asia may not even be aware or know to follow up to see hat the ambassador and Pompeo may have discussed, officials familiar with the dinners said. "

21 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
" Total cases as of May 21: 5,016,171 and 328,471 deaths.
The number of COVID-19 cases surpasses 5 million globally.
WHO receives reports of 106,000 new cases of COVID-19 - the most the agency has seen in a single day since the outbreak began.
In response to a question about the implications of the U.S. potentially pulling funding from WHO indefinitely, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, says during a press briefing: "Much of the U.S. funding that reaches us here actually goes out in the Emergencies Program to humanitarian health operations all over the world in all types of fragile and difficult settings. It's of the order of 200 million or 100 million a year, which is actually the greatest proportion of funding that we receive from WHO within the Emergencies Program."
Bolivian Health Minister Marcelo Nahjas is arrested as part of an investigation into the importation of over-priced ventilators from Spain.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five countries account for 56% of coronoavirus cases on the African continent: South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Nigeria. The countries with the highest number of cases per 100,000 people include Djibouti, Dao Tome and Pricipe, Gabon, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,101,400 cases 332,876 deaths

1,610,000 cases 95,087 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

  23,191 cases 1,310 deaths

**** Note from BND - The words per capita are a term used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistics, economicindicators, and built enviromental studies. Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per - a preposition, taking the accusative case, and meaning "by means of;" and capita - a noun, accusative plural of caput, meaning "head." The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head" or, in today's vernacular, "per each individual or person." **** See below for this inclusion...

Source: The White House, Washington, DC - Remarks on Healthcare - 20 May 2020 from White House transcription of meeting (including the media and Dr. Deborah Birx of the COVID-19 task force) that began at 4:32 pm EDT in the Cabinet Room

"Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting With Governor Hutchinson of Arkansas an Governor Kelly of Kansas

  ... Question: (inaudible) follow up. How does it compare to a per capita basis? Obviously, the United States is much larger than a lot of these European countries.
Trump - "Yeah."
Question: How does our testing compare per capita -
  Trump - "Sure."
Question: - to those nations?
Trump - "You want to do that, Deborah?"
Dr. Birx - "Yeah."
  Trump - "Per capita."
Dr. Birx - "Yeah, our - you know, our testing now, we're almost up to 4 percent. So some of the state - some of the European countries are at 4 to 5 percent. And I think our goal is to ensure that we can find the asymptomatics. And I think that's really our focus right now, working with every state to really help them identify where these clusters came from historically, and then proactively going for those clusters, identifying them early, and finding the asymptomatic individuals before. And no one is intending to spread the virus. I always want to be very clear about that. Asymptomatic patient - people don't know they're infected. And so, together, we're really working to find them.
And I think it's a - it's a unique challenge, and I think together we're really making progress.
Trump - And, you know, when you say "per capita," there's many per capitas. It's, like, per capita relative to what? But you can look at just about any category, and we're really at the top, meaning positive on a per capita basus, too. They've done a great job.
.... "

See: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/12/health/us-coronavirus-testing-per-capita/index.html
"Trump Say the US Leads the World in Testing. But it's Far Behind in Testing Per Capita, Studies Show"

22 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
" Total cases as of May 22: 5,128,492 and 333,489 deaths.
An estimated 80 million children under the age of 1 are at risk of diseases including diphtheria, measles, and polio because the pandemic is disrupting routine vaccination efforts, according to data collected by WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Vaccination efforts have been disrupted for reasons including the reluctance or inability of parents to leave their homes to take children to be vaccinated, health workers facing movement restrictions or redeployment to focus on COVID-19, and a lack of personal protective equipment. There are also delays in the transport of vaccines. "Disruption to immunization programs from the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to unwind decades of progress against vaccine-preventable diseases like measles," says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general at WHO, in a press release.
Countries with large populations of non-immunized children, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Philippines, and Ukraine, should make plans for restarting their vaccination campaigns, says Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF, during a press briefing.
A study finds that the use of hydroxychloroquine among hospital patients with COVID-19 is linked to increased rates of death and heart arrhythmias. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,205,900 cases 337,534 deaths

1,630,000 cases 96,276 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

23,487 cases 1,324 deaths

Source: National Public Radio - CPR National News - The Coronavirus Crisis Written by Brian Naylor, with contributions from Roberta Rampton - Updated at 3 pm EDT, Friday, 22 May 2020

"Trump Calls On States To Reopen Places of Worship Immediately
President Trump said Friday that state governors should allow churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship to reopen immediately.
In brief comments at the White House, Trump said houses of worship are "essential places that provide essential services." Churches have faced restrictions for gatherings and ceremonies as public health officials worked to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some have chafed at the restrictions.
Trump said governors should allow the houses of worship to reopen "right now for this weekend." The president threatened that if they don't, "I will override the governors," he said, adding, "In America, we need more prayer, not less."
"These are places that hold our society together," he said.
It's not clear what authority Trump has to override states who wish to keep houses of worship closed. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany didn't elaborate on what action Trump would take if governors didn't direct churches and other places of worship to open, calling those situations hypothetical.
"We can all hope that this Sunday, people are allowed to pray to their gods across this country," she said.
Trump said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released guidance to help churches reopen but did not provide details. White evangelicals have been among Trump's strongest supporters.
Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force coordinator, said faith leaders considering reopening should be in touch with their local health departments to advice their congregants properly. She also said people with risk factors or co-morbidities in communities with a high number of cases may consider staying away fro now.
"I know those houses of worship want to protect them. ... Maybe they can't go this week," she said.
"But there is way to social distance ... in places of worship."
Birx also encouraged people to enjoy the outdoors during the Memorial Day weekend, including going to beaches, golfing or playing tennis, as long as they maintain 6 feet of social distancing."

23 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
" Total cases as of May 23: 5,128,492 and 333,489 deaths. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,288,392 cases 340,875 deaths

1,660,000 cases 97,414 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

23,964 cases 1,327 deaths

**** A comment from BND -
Unfortunately, the United States' death toll from COVID-19 will probably hit 100,000 tomorrow night or Monday morning. There are almost 1 million 700 thousand known infections in the US. (Don't forget our population is over 331 million.) President Trump continues to claim that both numbers are "inflated."
Be that as it may, while most states have relaxed their "stay at home" quarantine rules - especially since it's Memorial Day weekend - a lot of US residents are still extremely restricted in their movements. President Trump today traveled by motorcade from Washington, DC to Sterling, Virginia - locales in which stay-at-home orders make golf off limits to regular residents. It was Trump's first golf outing since 8 March - but it was also his 250th golf "outing" since he began his presidency in January 2017. As he usually does, the president played at one of his own corporate-owned courses - a practice that helps promote his floundering hospitality business, and forces the Secret Service to spend our tax-payer monies at a Trump-owned property.
Some Americans have consistently argued that Trump's golfing, and his hypocrisy regarding golf, is unimportant if you also look at his governmental policy failures. His COVID-19 response, denial, and constant excuses for failure to act are wide open to criticism.
But symbolism matters. This weekend, we should be thinking about those who gave their lives in the service of our country. - And, in a way, the citizens who have died from COVID-19 so far, are victims of a war that Trump has chosen to deny exists. As our death toll rises daily, the president chose golf and lining his own pockets as his symbol today. ****

24 May 2020 - From the Devex article: - Devex did not update anything today, 24 May.....

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,400,608 cases 344,760 deaths

1,680,000 cases 98.011 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

24,174 cases 1,332 deaths

Source: CNN - Politics - "THE PO!NT with Chris Cillizza" - Written by Chris Cillizza, Editor-at-large Updated 5:03 pm EDT, Sunday, 24 May 2020

"Why Donald Trump's Wild Weekend Can't Be Normalized

On Friday morning, Joe Biden said something dumb - and offensive. - "Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black," Biden told 'Charlemagne tha God' in a a radio interview for "The Breakfast Club."
He apologized later that day, saying he "shouldn't have been such a wise guy" in the interview with Charlemagne.
President Donald Trump - and his allies - seized on the Biden comment expressing their horror that the presumptive Democratic nominee would so glibly take the votes of African Americans for granted. (**** My African American roommate had absolutely NO problem with it then or now - BND ****) Trump's campaign quickly produced "You Ain't Black" t-shirts and sent their surrogates out to condemn the former vice president.
"I have struggled with Biden's recent remarks," tweeted former Trump administration ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Saturday afternoon. "They were gut wrenchingly condescending. Regardless of color, gender, or class, to label any individual with what he or she is expected to think, believe, and vote is demeaning and disrespectful. Not to mention arrogant and entitled." ****Note from BND - The GOP is grroming Haley as a possible GOP presidential candidate for the 2024 election.****
Which, fine. Biden was wrong. He shouldn't have said it. - And he apologized for saying it.
But, the outrage summoned by Haley and her ilk seems to miss one big reality: Trump says and does things on an almost-daily basis that far exceed the inappropriateness of Biden's comment. And yet, there is a silence from the same people so willing to leap to condemn Biden.
Just to prove my point, let's go through just some of what Trump has tweeted and re-tweeted between Friday morning - when Biden made his "ain't black" remark - and Sunday morning.
Trump:
* Retweeted a post calling 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a "skank."
* Retweeted a post suggesting - contrary to science - that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for coronavirus, adding these words: "Many physicians agree with you. Also, some very good studies!"
* Retweeted a photo of former 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams that included these words: "She fought a tough race, kissed a lot of babies and visited every buffet restaurant in the State."
* Retweeted two doctored photos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - one with a Trump 2020 face mask on, and one with duct tape over her mouth. The tweet said: "To protect PolyGrip during this pandemic, we have developed 2 options. With the DJT option, she will be able to tongue and adjust her dentures more easily. With duct tape, she won't be able to drink booze on the job as much."
* Tweeted, with no evidence or proof, that mail-in ballots will produce "the greatest Rigged Election in history."
* Retweeted an article about the death of an intern in then-Florida Rep. Joe Scarborough's office, adding: "So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die? I would think there is a lot more to this story than that?" **** Note from BND - This same story goes on to claim that then FSU student (now FL Rep) Matt Gaetz was not investigated for the murder of his dorm roommate, and was allowed to escape justice because his Daddy was a big-wig in the Florida Legislature.... Interesting how THAT part was left out.... ****
* Tweeted this unfounded speculation about the 1990s death of the intern in Scarborough's office: "A blow to her head? Body found under his desk? Left Congress suddenly? Big topic of discussion in Florida...and, he's a Nut Job (with bad ratings). Keep digging, use forensic geniuses!"
* Tweeted that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions should drop out of the Alabama Senate race - accusing him of having "no courage, & ruined many lives."
That's all in the last 48 hours.
So, you can see why the shock and horror that Trumpworld is expressing over Biden's admittedly dumb comment is a little hard to take. If you want to act like Biden's "you ain't black" remark is the worst thing you've ever heard, while simply ignoring the President of the United States suggesting a) a former Congressman - and now cable TV host - committed a murder (with zero evidence); b) the former Secretary of State is a "skank;" c) a former gubernatorial nominee is overweight; and d) the Speaker of the House has a drinking problem, it's going to be very hard for me to consider your upset as genuine.
And, by the way, you don't get off the hook by simply rolling your eyes and saying something like "That's just how Trump talks." Yes, it is. But, to give Trump some sort of pass because he has so lowered the bar of acceptable behavior in a president is to normalize him - and in so doing, allow him to be judged by a different standard than Biden is being held to.
I've said - and written - many times that one of the tactics Trump has employed throughout his campaign and his presidency is to say so many outrageous things that the bar for writing about them or commenting on them is lowered beneath the floor.
It's like in a basketball game if one side fouls the other team on every play. The refs are forced to decide whether, as the rules suggest, to call a foul on every play and foul the one team out in the first quarter, or to change the way in which they officiate the game - thereby allowing the one team a level of leeway in terms of fouls and on-the-court conduct that the other team doesn't enjoy.
That's what Trump is doing here. Suggesting that Biden's comment is somehow the worst thing that has ever been said by a politician even as the President himself says five things more offensive - by any objective measure in a 24-hour period.
Trump's behavior - this weekend and almost all the time - is not normal. It doesn't make what Biden said right. It isn't. But it sure as heck calls into question those Republicans who are shocked - SHOCKED! - at Biden's comment and choose to somehow miss all of the offensive things the President says. "

25 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 25: 5,410,439 and 345,105 deaths.

Brazil surpasses Russia as the country with the second highest number of cases, following the United States. Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's emergencies program, says during a news briefing that South America is becoming "a new epicenter" of the pandemic.

The first death from COVID-19 is reported from the Gaza Strip on 23 May.

Indigenous people in Brazil are dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of the rest of the country's population, CNN reports.

The first indications of whether a potential vaccine is effective could be available in autumn, Gavi head Seth Berkley tells Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. "Unfortunately, we really do not know which vaccine will work and whether there will be one at all. If we're lucky, we'll receive indications in autumn as to [a potential vaccine's] effectiveness," he said. "

From the WHO Situation Report:

Afghanistan confirms a total of 10,582 cases. It also confirms a total of 218 deaths.

Albania confirms a total of 989 cases. It also confirms a total of 32 deaths.

Algeria confirms a total of 8,113 cases. It also confirms a total of 592 deaths.

Andorra confirms a total of 763 cases. It also confirms a total of 51 deaths.

Angola confirms a total of 60 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Anguilla confirms a total of 3 cases.

Antigua & Barbuda confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Argentina confirms a total of 10,649 cases. It also confirms a total of 439 deaths.

Armenia confirms a total of 6,661 cases. It also confirms a total of 81 deaths.

Aruba confirms a total of 101 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Australia confirms a total of 7,106 cases. It also confirms a total of 102 deaths.

Austria confirms a total of 16,407 cases. It also confirms a total of 639 deaths.

Azerbaijan confirms a total of 3,982 cases. It also confirms a total of 49 deaths.

Bahamas confirms a total of 97 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Bahrain confirms a total of 8,802 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Bangladesh confirms a total of 32,078 cases. It also confirms a total of 452 deaths.

Barbados confirms a total of 90 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Belarus confirms a total of 35,244 cases. It also confirms a total of 194 deaths.

Belgium confirms a total of 56,810 cases. It also confirms a total of 9,237 deaths.

Belize confirms a total of 18 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Benin confirms a total of 339 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Bermuda confirms a total of 143 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Bhutan confirms a total of 24 cases.

Bolivia confirms a total of 5,579 cases. It also confirms a total of 230 deaths.

Bonaire, Saint Eustatius & Saba confirms a total of 6 cases.

Bosnia & Herzegovina confirms a total of 2,371 cases. It also confirms a total of 140 deaths.

Botswana confirms a total of 29 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Brazil confirms a total of 330,890 cases. It also confirms a total of 21,048 deaths.

British Virgin Islands confirms a total of 8 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Brunei Darussalam confirms a total of 141 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Bulgaria confirms a total of 2,408 cases. It also confirms a total of 126 deaths.

Burkina Faso confirms a total of 831 cases. It also confirms a total of 52 deaths.

Burundi confirms a total of 42 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Cabo Verde confirms a total of 371 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Cambodia confirms a total of 124 cases.

Cameroon confirms a total of 4,400 cases. It also confirms a total of 159 deaths.

Canada confirms a total of 82,892 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,277 deaths.

Cayman Islands confirms a total of 129 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Central African Republic confirms a total of 552 cases. It also confirms 1 death.

Chad confirms a total of 648 cases. It also confirms a total of 60 deaths.

Chile confirms a total of 65,393 cases. It also confirms a total of 673 deaths.

China confirms a total of 84,525 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,645 deaths.

Colombia confirms a total of 19,131 cases. It also confirms a total of 682 deaths.

Comoros confirms a total of 34 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Congo confirms a total of 487 cases. It also confirms a total of 16 deaths.

Costa Rica confirms a total of 911 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Cote d'Ivoire confirms a total of 2,366 cases. It also confirms a total of 30 deaths.

Croatia confirms a total of 2,243 cases. It also confirms a total of 99 deaths.

Cuba confirms a total of 1,931 cases. It also confirms a total of 81 deaths.

Curacao confirms a total of 16 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Cyprus confirms a total of 927 cases. It also confirms a total of 17 deaths.

Czechia confirms a total of 8,890 cases. It also confirms a total of 314 deaths.

Democratic Republic of the Congo confirms a total of 2,140 cases. It also confirms a total of 62 deaths.

Denmark confirms a total of 11,289 cases. It also confirms a total of 561 deaths.

Djibouti confirms a total of 2,270 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Dominica confirms a total of 16 cases.

Dominican Republic confirms a total of 14,422 cases. It also confirms a total of 458 deaths.

Ecuador confirms a total of 36,258 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,096 deaths.

Egypt confirms a total of 16,513 cases. It also confirms a total of 735 deaths.

El Salvador confirms a total of 1,819 cases. It also confirms a total of 33 deaths.

Equatorial Guinea confirms a total of 1,043 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Eritrea confirms a total of 49 cases.

Estonia confirms a total of 1,821 cases. It also confirms a total of 64 deaths.

Eswatini confirms a total of 238 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Ethiopia confirms a total of 494 cases. It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) confirms a total of 13 cases.

Faroe Islands confirms a total of 187 cases.

Fiji confirms a total of 18 cases.

Finland confirms a total of 6,568 cases. It also confirms a total of 306 deaths.

France confirms a total of 142,173 cases. It also confirms a total of 28,281 deaths.

French Guiana confirms a total of 261 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

French Polynesia confirms a total of 89 cases.

Gabon confirms a total of 1,934 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Gambia confirms a total of 25 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Georgia confirms a total of 730 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Germany confirms a total of 178,281 cases. It also confirms a total of 8,247 deaths.

Ghana confirms a total of 6,617 cases. It also confirms a total of 31 deaths.

Gibraltar confirms a total of 151 cases.

Greece confirms a total of 2,876 cases. It also confirms a total of 171 deaths.

Greenland confirms a total of 11 cases.

Grenada confirms a total of 22 cases.

Guadeloupe confirms a total of 156 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Guam confirms a total of 161 cases. It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.

Guatemala confirms a total of 2,743 cases. It also confirms a total of 53 deaths.

Guernsey confirms a total of 252 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Guinea confirms a total of 3,176 cases. It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.

Guinea-Bissau confirms a total of 1,114 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Guyana confirms a total of 127 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Haiti confirms a total of 812 cases. It also confirms a total of 25 deaths.

Honduras confirms a total of 3,477 cases. It also confirms a total of 167 deaths.

Hungary confirms a total of 3,741 cases. It also confirms a total of 486 deaths.

Iceland confirms a total of 1,804 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

India confirms a total of 131,868 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,867 deaths.

Indonesia confirms a total of 21,745 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,351 deaths.

Iran confirms a total of 133,521 cases. It also confirms a total of 7,359 deaths.

Iraq confirms a total of 4,272 cases. It also confirms a total of 152 deaths.

Ireland confirms a total of 24,582 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,604 deaths.

Isle of Man confirms a total of 336 cases. It also confirms a total of 24 deaths.

Israel confirms a total of 16,712 cases. It also confirms a total of 279 deaths.

Italy confirms a total of 229,372 cases. It also confirms a total of 32,735 deaths.

Jamaica confirms a total of 544 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Japan confirms a total of 16,550 cases. It also confirms a total of 820 deaths.

Jersey confirms a total of 306 cases. It also confirms a total of 29 deaths.

Jordan confirms a total of 704 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Kazakhstan confirms a total of 8,322 cases. It also confirms a total of 35 deaths.

Kenya confirms a total of 1,192 cases. It also confirms a total of 50 deaths.

Kosovo confirms a total of 1,025 cases. It also confirms a total of 29 deaths.

Kuwait confirms a total of 20,464 cases. It also confirms a total of 148 deaths.

Kyrgyzstan confirms a total of 1,403 cases. It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.

Laos confirms a total of 19 cases.

Latvia confirms a total of 1,046 cases. It also confirms a total of 22 deaths.

Lebanon confirms a total of 1,097 cases. It also confirms a total of 26 deaths.

Lesotho confirms a total of 2 cases.

Liberia confirms a total of 255 cases. It also confirms a total of 26 deaths.

Libya confirms a total of 75 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Liechtenstein confirms a total of 83 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Lithuania confirms a total of 1,616 cases. It also confirms a total of 63 deaths.

Luxembourg confirms a total of 3,990 cases. It also confirms a total of 109 deaths.

Madagascar confirms a total of 488 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Malawi confirms a total of 83 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Malaysia confirms a total of 7,183 cases. It also confirms a total of 115 deaths.

Maldives confirms a total of 1,313 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Mali confirms a total of 1,015 cases. It also confirms a total of 62 deaths.

Malta confirms a total of 609 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Martinique confirms a total of 197 cases. It also confirms a total of 14 deaths.

Mauritania confirms a total of 227 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Mauritius confirms a total of 332 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Mayotte confirms a total of 1,521 cases. It also confirms a total of 19 deaths.

Mexico confirms a total of 62,527 cases. It also confirms a total of 6,989 deaths.

Moldova confirms a total of 6,994 cases. It also confirms a total of 250 deaths.

Monaco confirms a total of 98 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Mongolia confirms a total of 141 cases.

Montenegro confirms a total of 324 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Montserrat confirms a total of 11 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Morocco confirms a total of 7,406 cases. It also confirms a total of 198 deaths.

Mozambique confirms a total of 168 cases.

Myanmar confirms a total of 201 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Namibia confirms a total of 20 cases.

Nepal confirms a total of 584 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Netherlands confirms a total of 45,064 cases. It also confirms a total of 5,811 deaths.

New Caledonia confirms a total of 18 cases.

New Zealand confirms a total of 1,514 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Nicaragua confirms a total of 279 cases. It also confirms a total of 17 deaths.

Niger confirms a total of 943 cases. It also confirms a total of 61 deaths.

Nigeria confirms a total of 7,596 cases. It also confirms a total of 221 deaths.

North Macedonia confirms a total of 1,941 cases. It also confirms a total of 113 deaths.

Northern Mariana Islands confirms a total of 22 cases. It also confirms a total of 2 deaths.

Norway confirms a total of 8,309 cases. It also confirms a total of 235 deaths.

Oman confirms a total of 7,257 cases. It also confirms a total of 36 deaths.

*Other* confirms a total of 712 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Pakistan confirms a total of 54,601 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,133 deaths.

Palestine (occupied) confirms a total of 602 cases. It also confirms a total of 5 deaths.

Panama confirms a total of 10,267 cases. It also confirms a total of 295 deaths.

Papua New Guinea confirms a total of 8 cases.

Paraguay confirms a total of 850 cases. It also confirms a total of 11 deaths.

Peru confirms a total of 111,698 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,244 deaths.

Philippines confirms a total of 13,777 cases. It also confirms a total of 863 deaths.

Poland confirms a total of 20,931 cases. It also confirms a total of 993 deaths.

Portugal confirms a total of 30,471 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,302 deaths.

Puerto Rico confirms a total of 3,100 cases. It also confirms a total of 127 deaths.

Qatar confirms a total of 42,213 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Reunion confirms a total of 452 cases. It also confirms 1 death.

Romania confirms a total of 17,857 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,170 deaths.

Russia confirms a total of 344,481 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,541 deaths.

Rwanda confirms a total of 325 cases.

Saint Barthelemy confirms a total of 6 cases.

Saint Kitts & Nevis confirms a total of 15 cases.

Saint Lucia confirms a total of 18 cases.

Saint Martin confirms a total of 39 cases. It also confirms a total of 3 deaths.

Saint Pierre & Miquelon confirms a total of 1 case.

Saint Vincent & the Grenadines confirms a total of 18 cases.

San Marino confirms a total of 672 cases. It also confirms a total of 42 deaths.

Sao Tome & Principe confirms a total of 174 cases. It also confirms a total of 8 deaths.

Saudi Arabia confirms a total of 70,161 cases. It also confirms a total of 379 deaths.

Senegal confirms a total of 2,976 cases. It also confirms a total of 34 deaths.

Serbia confirms a total of 11,092 cases. It also confirms a total of 238 deaths.

Seychelles confirms a total of 11 cases.

Sierra Leone confirms a total of 621 cases. It also confirms a total of 39 deaths.

Singapore confirms a total of 31,068 cases. It also confirms a total of 23 deaths.

Sint Maarten confirms a total of 78 cases. It also confirms a total of 15 deaths.

Slovakia confirms a total of 1,504 cases. It also confirms a total of 28 deaths.

Slovenia confirms a total of 1,478 cases. It also confirms a total of 106 deaths.

Somalia confirms a total of 1,594 cases. It also confirms a total of 61 deaths.

South Africa confirms a total of 21,343 cases. It also confirms a total of 407 deaths.

South Korea confirms a total of 11,190 cases. It also confirms a total of 266 deaths.

South Sudan confirms a total of 563 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Spain confirms a total of 235,290 cases. It also confirms a total of 28,678 deaths.

Sri Lanka confirms a total of 1,089 cases. It also confirms a total of 9 deaths.

Sudan confirms a total of 3,634 cases. It also confirms a total of 146 deaths.

Suriname confirms a total of 11 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Sweden confirms a total of 33,188 cases. It also confirms a total of 3,992 deaths.

Switzerland confirms a total of 30,642 cases. It also confirms a total of 1,640 deaths.

Syrian Arab Republic confirms a total of 70 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

Tajikistan confirms a total of 1,738 cases. It also confirms a total of 44 deaths.

Tanzania confirms a total of 509 cases. It also confirms a total of 21 deaths.

Thailand confirms a total of 3,040 cases. It also confirms a total of 56 deaths.

Timor-Leste confirms a total of 24 cases.

Togo confirms a total of 373 cases. It also confirms a total of 12 deaths.

Trinidad & Tobago confirms a total of 116 cases. It also confirms a total of 8 deaths.

Tunisia confirms a total of 1,048 cases. It also confirms a total of 48 deaths.

Turkey confirms a total of 155,686 cases. It also confirms a total of 4,308 deaths.

Turks & Caicos confirms a total of 13 cases. It also confirms a total of 1 death.

Uganda confirms a total of 312 cases.

Ukraine confirms a total of 20,986 cases. It also confirms a total of 617 deaths.

United Arab Emirates confirms a total of 28,704 cases. It also confirms a total of 244 deaths.

United Kingdom confirms a total of 257,158 cases. It also confirms a total of 36,675 deaths.

United States of America confirms a total of 1,679,448 cases. It also confirms a total of 98.011 deaths.

United States Virgin Islands confirms a total of 69 cases. It also confirms a total of 6 deaths.

Uruguay confirms a total of 753 cases. It also confirms a total of 20 deaths.

Uzbekistan confirms a total of 3,132 cases. It also confirms a total of 13 deaths.

Vatican City (Holy See) confirms a total of 12 cases.

Venezuela confirms a total of 944 cases. It also confirms a total of 10 deaths.

Viet Nam confirms a total of 321 cases.

Yemen confirms a total of 216 cases. It also confirms a total of 40 deaths.

Zambia confirms a total of 920 cases. It also confirms a total of 7 deaths.

Zimbabwe confirms a total of 56 cases. It also confirms a total of 4 deaths.

*Other* is The Diamond Princess, a cruise ship

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,493,482 cases 346,209 deaths

1,700,000 cases 99,459 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

24,269 cases 1,333 deaths

26 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 26: 5,512,055 and 346,612 deaths.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpass the 5.5 million mark globally.
The World Health Organization puts a temporary pause on its trials of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, following an observational study of the drug and its effects on COVID-19 patients that have been hospitalized, published in The Lancet on May 22. The study found that patients that took the drug had increased rates of death and heart arrhythmias.
Assuming that a second wave of COVID-19 cases will be tied to a change in the seasons is problematic, says Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO's emergencies program, during a press briefing. "My concern right now is that people may be assuming the current drop in infections represents a natural seasonality," he says. "A huge effort has been made to suppress transmission of this virus, and to remove pressure from the virus, at this point, making an assumption that it's on a downward trajectory, and the real next danger point is sometime in October or November, I think that would be a dangerous assumption." "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,588,299 cases 350,423 deaths

1,720,000 cases 100,063 deaths

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

24,565 cases 1,352 deaths

27 May 2020 - From the Devex article:
"Total cases as of May 27: 5,618,829 and 351,146 deaths.
A final decision on whether hydroxychloroquine causes harm or benefit to COVID-19 patients is expected in mid-June, following a review of data from ongoing trials and already published evidence, according to WHO.
Antibody tests for COVID-19 are accurate only about half of the time, and it is still unclear whether people who have antibodies are protected against contracting the disease again, according to new guidance published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHO launches an independent grant-making foundation to broaden its contributor base. One of the reasons for its creation is that the agency has been constrained by having the majority of its funding as earmarked and inflexible, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says during a press conference.
The foundation aims to increase WHO's funding base through nontraditional sources, such as the general public, individual major donors, and corporate partners. Broader than the COVID-19 pandemic, its mandate includes global health programming more generally. The idea for the foundation started more than two years ago, Tedros says. It is legally separate from WHO but will facilitate contributions to the agency. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,690,951 cases 355,615 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:

1,699,126 cases 100,411 deaths

1,730,000 cases 102,000 deaths (from the Google COVID-19 site)

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

24,767 cases 1,392 deaths (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)

Source: Newsweek: U.S. News - Written by Elizabeth Crisp; updated at 9:45 pm EDT, 27 May 2020

"Donald Trump to Issue Social Media Executive Order After Twitter Fact-Checks Tweets

President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order related to social media Thursday after Twitter - his favored mode of direct communication to his supporters - attached a fact-check disclaimer to his tweets about mail-in voting this week.
What the order will say is not yet clear. However, two of Trump's close GOP allies in Congress signaled earlier Wednesday a willingness to strip the social media giant of the special speech liability immunity it receives because of the fact-checking flap. Trump's move, in the end, is widely expected to be a strong-arming of the platform into not flagging his tweets.
Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his plans after he returned to the White House following a trip to Florida on Wednesday. However, he expressed his frustration - on Twitter no less - about the messaging platform.
"Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen," Trump tweeted Wednesday. "Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots)is correct. Big action to follow!"
One of Trump's supporters, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday questioning the platform's "unprecedented decision to single out the President for disfavor, based on his political speech."
"Twitter's 'fact check' raises serious questions about whether Twitter targeted the president for political reasons," Hawley wrote in the letter.
Hawley's office did not respond to Newsweek's query whether he had been in touch with the president ahead of Trump's order, but the senator frequently confers with Trump about tech matters.
Twitter and similar social media platforms receive a special carve-out from liability that traditional publishers hold under the Communications Decency Act because they are considered passive distributors of third-party content.
"Editorializing is what publishers do, like the New York Times and the Washington Post," Hawley wrote in his letter to Dorsey. "Your company is treated very differently from publishers, as you know."
Representatives from Twitter did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment.
Another Trump ally, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), said during his podcast, "Hot Takes With Matt Gaetz," on Wednesday that he also backs an effort to prevent social media giants like Twitter from fact-checking content on their platforms.
"Are going to continue to treat entities like Twitter, like Facebook, like Google as unbiased platforms or are they going to take on more of a news organization?," he said. "The initial play from Twitter is that they're not merely going to provide a place for people to share their ideas, they're going to add their analysis to those ideas."
A spokesman for Gaetz referred Newsweek back to Gaetz's comments on his podcast.
Gaetz said on his podcast that social media platforms are protected from the types of repercussions that newspapers, TV stations and traditional media outlets face.
"They have special benefits as digital platforms because they're not creating content for which they should be liable," Gaetz said. "They're not making decisions about content, they're simply saying come one, come all with your content ... they're getting a bunch of protections."
A day earlier, Twitter - for the first time ever - flagged two Trump tweets with a fact-check disclaimer that linked to a page with additional context about mail-in voting after the president tweeted Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed."
The fact check page led to a headline that read "Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud" with notes calling Trump's claims "false," citing NBC News, CNN, the Washington Post and other fact checkers.
It sparked backlash from the president and his campaign.
"Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!" Trump tweeted hours later.
In an interview scheduled to air on Fox News Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sides with Trump's position.
"I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online," he said in a preview clip shared on the network's website. "Private companies probably shouldn't be, especially these platform companies, shouldn't be in the position of doing that."
A Facebook spokesman told Newsweek the company had no further comment beyond Zuckerberg's remarks in the interview. "

28 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 28: 5,722,859 and 356,279 deaths.

Albert Bourla, chief executive officer of Pfizer, says the distribution of vaccines could be challenging in Africa because of the lack of widespread infrastructure to deliver them at a cold temperature. "I'm sure that we will come to the Western world with this vaccine first, but as a second wave, we are working on making sure that we can develop and manufacture products that are not requiring a different, extreme temperature with different technologies," Bourla says during a press conference.

In terms of manufacturing, there are not enough glass vials globally to meet the expected demand for the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine around the world, according to Pascal Soriot, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca. Typically, vaccines are produced in single-dose vials. Soriot says the company is exploring the feasibility of delivering multi-dose vials.

There could be a need for 15 billion doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, says Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,803,416 cases 359,791 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:

1,720,613 cases 101,573 deaths

1,760,000 cases 103,000 deaths (from the Google COVID-19 site)

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

25,121 cases 1,421 deaths (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)

**** Today, President Trump signed an executive oder aimed at limiting the broad legal protections enjoyed by social media companies, two days after he attacked Twitter for fact-checking two of his tweets.
"We're here today to defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history, frankly," Trump said from the Oval Office. "A small handful of powerful social media monopolies control the vast portion of all private and public communications in the United States."
The President said the tech companies have "unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter" a large sphere of human interaction. "They have points of view," he said. The Trump administration hopes the order will eventually set the stage for new regulations on tech platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
But legal experts said they were doubtful the move would have any practical effect on the tech giants. Legal observers described the action as "political theater," arguing that the order does not change existing federal law and will have no bearing on federal courts.
- - - - The tweets that Twitter fact-checked were regarding Trump's assertions that mail-in voting would cause rampant and huge illegal votes from fraudulent voters through out the country. Someone in West Virginia tried to do that.... read the following article......

Source: CNN - Politics - Written by Kelly Mena and Rebekah Riess, with contributions by Holes Lybrand and Daniel Dale; updated at 7:37 pm EDT on Wednesday, 27 May 2020

"What a West Virginia Man Says Was a Small, Joking Attempt at Voter Fraud Shows Just How Closely Officials Are Watching

A case of alleged election fraud that a West Virginia mail carrier says was a joking attempt to alter ballot requests shows just how closely local and federal officials are watching.

According to a complaint written by an investigator working for the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, Thomas Cooper, 47, of Dry Fork, West Virginia, and a mail carrier for Pendleton County, was joking when he altered ballot requests sent by some people on his delivery route, changing their party affiliations from Democrat to Republican.

The complaint goes on to note that the local clerk knew the people named on the ballot requests weren't Republicans and gave them a call.

The revelation launched an investigation by the West Virginia Election Fraud Task Force, led by assistant US attorneys from the Northern and Southern districts of West Virginia, special agents from the FBI, and investigators from the West Virginia's Secretary of State's Office, and an attempted election fraud charge against Cooper. US Attorney Bill Powell announced the charge on Tuesday.

An affidavit filed with the criminal complaint alleges that last month, the Pendleton County clerk received "2020 Primary Election COVID-19 Mail-In Absentee Request" forms from eight voters, where the voter's party-ballot request appeared to have been altered. The clerk reported the finding to the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, according to the US attorney's office, which began an investigation.

That investigation found five ballot requests that had been altered from "Democrat" to "Republican." On three other requests, the party wasn't changed but the word "Republican" was circled in addition to the checked "Republican" box.

Cooper, who was responsible for mail delivery in the three towns from which the tampered ballot requests were mailed, admitted to altering some of the requests, saying it was a joke, according to the affidavit.

CNN has reached out to Cooper and the US Postal Service for comment.

It was not immediately clear if Cooper has retained an attorney and no court date has been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.

The crackdown in West Virginia comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims alleging widespread voter fraud in the US, including specific allegations that millions of illegal votes have been cast, and has criticized Democrats in California, Michigan and Nevada for their push to expand vote-by-mail amid the pandemic.

There is no evidence of rampant nationwide voter fraud, and numerous studies have suggested that voter fraud is all but nonexistent in the US. But for years, Trump has embraced conspiracy theories about voter fraud. He set up a presidential commission to investigate the issue, but the panel disbanded without uncovering any evidence to support his claims that millions had voted illegally in 2016, costing him the popular vote.

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, a Republican, announced earlier this year that the state would send every voter absentee-voting applications for the June 9 primary election amid COVID-19-related health concerns.

He said last week that because of investigators' quick response in this case, the scheme was uncovered early and will not have an impact on the outcome of the election.

"Our primary strategy is o deter and prevent election fraud from taking place. I prefer compliance with the law over criminal convictions," Warner said in a statement announcing the investigation last week. "But those who try to meddle with our elections will be held accountable." "

29 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 29: 5,851,494 and 361,270 deaths.

WHO and Costa Rica launch a COVID-19 Technology Access Pool - a voluntary mechanism aimed at making vaccines, tests, treatments, and other health technologies universally accessible and affordable by pooling the scientific knowledge, data, and intellectual property around the tools created to fight COVID-19.

"Tools to prevent, detect, and treat COVID-19 are global public goods that must be accessible by all people," WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says during the launch of the initiative.

One of the big challenges is getting pharmaceutical companies on board, participants in the launch say.

"There has to be returns to those who are making the research, although much of the money is coming from the government, we should be clear about that - it's been de-risked," says Joseph Stiglitz, economics professor at Columbia University. "But we can do that through royalties, through charging for appropriate prices - that can be done within the patent pool." "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

5,923,055 cases 364,836 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:

1,745,636 cases 102,798 deaths

1,780,000 cases 104,000 deaths (from the Google COVID-19 site)

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

25,613 cases 1,436 deaths (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)

***** Rioting and protests are occurring across the United States. They are tied to two specific incidents - the deaths of two African-Americans in two different cities in two different states.
One was a young woman, an EMT paramedic, at home, asleep in her bed, in Louisville, Kentucky. She shared the apartment with her boyfriend. Louisville police had a "no-knock" search warrant for the apartment, entered, and the boyfriend shot a gun at the 3 policemen. Breonna Taylor was shot 8 times with police weapons while sleeping in her own bed in her own apartment. This happened on 13 March 2020, but did not reach national attention until her family filed charges against the Louisville Police Department in the middle of this month. Breonna was 26 years old.
On 25 May, the Minneapolis Police Department received a call from Cup Foods, where an employee had returned a $20 bill to a customer stating that the bill counterfeit. The man, George Floyd, left his purchase on the counter and left the store. According to a local radio station, the way a statement was worded about the transaction, it sounded "as if a forgery" had been committed. Four policemen confronted Mr. Floyd, who did not resist arrest (shown by several outdoor surveillance cameras) and surrendered to police. He was hand-cuffed and placed on the pavement. Multiple people passing by stopped and filmed the incident. A police officer knelt upon George Floyd's neck for a total of 8 minutes and 46 seconds. At the beginning, he was yelling "I can't breathe!", and finally was calling, "Mama!" He stopped moving and calling out for a full 2 minutes and 53 seconds before the police officer removed his weight from Floyd's trachea. The police then called for an ambulance. Multiple people steeped forward to try to help Mr. Floyd, but were told by the three other police officers present that they would be pepper-sprayed and charged with assisting a criminal. George Floyd was pronounced dead at the scene once the ambulance arrived. George was 46 years old.
Both of these incidents follow close to the shooting death of un-armed Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American who was jogging near Brunswick, Georgia. He frequently jogged in the area of his neighborhood. On 23 February 2020, however, he was pursued by three men in two vehicles. The first two men, a father and son in a truck, confronted the young man, after the third man used his car to keep Arbery between the two vehicles. The third man then filmed a part of the confrontation. Arbery was shot three times at close range with a shotgun, taking the loads in his chest. A local police investigation was conducted, but nothing was done. A copy of the video showing the confrontation was released on You Tube and it went viral. Seventy-four days after the shooting occurred, the father and son were arrested. Several days later, the man who filmed the shooting was also arrested. ---------
Last night, after violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, took his phone in his fat, sweaty hand and once again tweeted to the world. (This after getting angry with Twitter for fact-checking his crazy lies about massive illegal voting if mail-in ballots are allowed - and after signing a toothless executive order against Twitter and Facebook yesterday.)
Trump tweeted a 2-parter: " I can't stand back and watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will snd in the National Guard & get the job done right..... ...These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"
Twitter obscured the offending message - the second part only - on Trump's profile with the following warning: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."
The official White House Twitter account later re-tweeted Trump's post about looting and shooting. It also was marked with a warning.
"We've taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts," Twitter said in a statement on its @TwitterComms account. It said the company had kept Trump's tweet live "because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance."
---- The Minneapolis police officer who was filmed kneeling on the neck of George Floyd has been arrested; the other three officers have been fired.... ----
And that's the way it is, on the last Friday of May 2020...... *****

30 May 2020 - From the Devex article: The only entry is the number of cases and deaths.

"Total cases as of May 30: 5,931,963 and 365,051 deaths."

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

6,060,207 cases 369,156 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:

1,770,384 cases 103,781 deaths

1,810,000 cases 105,000 deaths (from the Google COVID-19 site)

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

26,098 cases 1,443 deaths (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)

**** I am just too emotionally wrung out to report or write much. The state National Guards are being deployed in multiple places around the nation -including in Denver, Colorado, 36 miles from my home. Denver is under a curfew to prevent rioting and looting. ****

31 May 2020 - From the Devex article:

"Total cases as of May 31: 6,075,786 and 369,433 deaths.

On 29 May, U. S. President Donald Trump says during a press conference the country is "terminating" its relationship with WHO and "redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs." He says the move comes because WHO failed to make requested reforms.

A vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and China National Biotec Group Co. may be available by the end of the year, according to a report.

Brazil reports a record 33,274 new cases of COVID-19.

Cases of COVID-19 surpass six million globally. "

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

6,166,946 cases 372,035 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:

1,790,172 cases 104,381 deaths

1,830,000 cases 106,000 deaths (from the Google COVID-19 site)

Colorado COVID-19 Report:

26,378 cases 1,445 deaths (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)

***** I have two friends, a couple, who are painters - one in water colors, one in acrylics. They usually travel a good deal, and finally "just had to" get away for a few days. They hooked up their compact travel trailer and went to Wyoming Saturday. I am taking care of their critters until Wednesday afternoon - hens, cats, fish and 4 new pullets. So I am having to use the transit - bus - system to get around....
Yesterday I was amazed by the number of people I saw out and about who were not wearing masks. The state of Colorado still has a public health order in place that says if you're going to be in a public place, where you might come closer than 6 feet to another person, you must wear a mask, and masks must be worn inside any building that is a business, and masks must be worn when using any type of public transportation. That is also the Boulder Health Department's rules.
When I walk to and from the grocery store I see multiple people without masks. I make a 15 foot circle around them. In my bus trips taking care of my friends' pets, I pass by the crowded sidewalks of the Pearl Street Mall 4 times a day. I have yet to see, yesterday and today, even 50% of the people on the Mall wearing masks. When I'm walking to and from the bus stops, people without masks pass within close proximity when they are running, jogging, on a skateboard, on a Razor scooter, or on a bike. Most are panting and sending out all kinds of nasty particles....
At a lot of heavily used intersections, the City of Boulder has placed signs at pedestrian crosswalks, asking the people to use an elbow or a shirt-sleeve and not their hand. Today I saw three separate people read the signs and then use the sole of their shoe to touch the button. All three then laughed hysterically, getting the people with them to laugh along. I found it disgusting.
Tonight, I caught the last bus home from the bus station. I was the third person to get on, with another four behind me. The last three men to get on the bus did not have their masks on. The bus driver is supposed to have the riders wear masks, or not even get on the bus. the bus driver never even looked at the passenger as we got on. I asked the three men, individually to pull up/put on their masks. Two of the three did. The third one completely ignored me. I asked him, again, to pull his bandana up and cover his nose and mouth, stating I didn't want to catch anything. He still did not move. We stopped to pick up another passenger, and I asked the driver to tell the man to pull up his face covering. She, the driver, said, "Sir, please pull up your mask and cover your face." He did not comply, and she drove on... After 5 more minutes, he pulled his face mask up. A few minutes later, we reached my stop. I stood up, and the two men who had pulled their masks up, at my request, got up and went to the door before me. They stood side by side and threatened me, standing in front of the exit door. I was told, "You're a mean nasty old bitch. The next time we see you, you're gonna find out what a real man can do when he's mad." And, "You're gonna pay for being a rule follower, old lady. We're gonna beat you to death." Unfortunately, both men live in my apartment complex, also. They followed me home, shouting threats all the way. I walked through the complex, made certain they turned toward their apartment, and then walked back to mine.
I also reported the driver, and incident, to RTD. Those men should not have been allowed on without their masks, and she should have refused to move the bus until each rider had a face cover on... *****

*****

This information is updated daily...

* Look at other daily anowbo blogs for further news stories. *

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Sunday, May 31, 2020

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

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