Joe Biden tells Bernie Sanders he will begin the vice president vetting process

Joe Biden emphasized 'it's critically important that the vice president be a woman, with the experience and background to do the job."

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Blame the Chinese Communist Party for the coronavirus crisis

Coronavirus crisis proves communism is still a grave threat to the entire world. If Beijing had just been honest, the pandemic could be preventable.

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Thousands of applicants, zero loans: Trump's small businesses lending program is a failure to launch

One day after the launch of a $350B loan program designed to rescue millions of small businesses, technical glitches continue to cripple the process.

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Coronavirus 'could wipe out Brazil's indigenous people'

Respiratory illnesses are already the main cause of death for the country's native communities.

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Spain Virus Cases Pass Italy, Where Daily Deaths Are Falling

(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s Covid-19 cases surpassed Italy as Europe’s two main epicenters continue to struggle to curtail the virus, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announcing plans to extend the country’s lockdown until April 25.Spain’s confirmed cases increased by 7,026 to 124,736 over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 809 to 11,744. Total cases are now higher than Italy’s 124,632, where the country reported the fewest number of new deaths since March 26. In France, the total number of fatalities rose to 7,560 and the U.K. reported its deadliest day yet with an increase of 708 deaths.The virus has crippled Europe at different times with most countries now in some form of lockdown, even as nations like Sweden and the U.K. were more reluctant to take drastic measures earlier. Governments and policy-makers are scrambling to find ways to mitigate the damage with entire economies headed into deep recession and a common approach still elusive.As attention shifts to Spain, Italy has signaled the situation, while still grave, is improving. Angelo Borrelli, the head of the country’s civil protection agency, said the number of patients in intensive care has dropped by 74, the first fall since the country went into a state of emergency.In Spain, a slower pace of fatalities and new cases is also offering some hope that the outbreak may be moving toward a peak. Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Friday that the goal of slowing the epidemic was “within reach.”The government in Madrid has imposed some of the most restrictive lockdown measures in Europe, shuttering most businesses and forcing people to stay in their homes except to buy groceries and seek healthcare.Containment measures across the continent have cut off border crossings and limited air travel, while countries have announced trillions of euros in aid to support businesses and individuals.Italy’s ruling parties and the Treasury reached an agreement to free up an additional 200 billion euros ($216 billion) of liquidity for firms, according to daily newspaper La Stampa. It said the moves, part of a new aid decree, will be approved by Monday and will let companies seek bank loans for as much as 25% of their revenue, most of which will be granted by the state.In Germany the number of coronavirus deaths and confirmed cases climbed further, a day after Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler warned the country might require further intensive-care space. Germany has boosted capacity by more than 40% since the outbreak began.The death rate in Europe’s largest economy has been well below the levels seen in Italy and Spain, but government officials and healthcare experts insist it’s too early to ease social distancing rules and transport restrictions.Swedish QuestionThere are signs in turn that the death rate in Sweden is growing faster than elsewhere in Scandinavia, raising pressure on the government to abandon its controversial hands-off approach -- schools, restaurants and cafes remain open -- in tackling Covid-19.The number of Swedish deaths from the virus rose to 373 on Saturday, up 12% from Friday. That brings the rate per million in Scandinavia’s biggest economy to 36, compared with 29 in Denmark and 9 in Norway, where much tougher lockdowns are in place.Prime Minister Stefan Lofven warned that Sweden may now be facing “thousands” of deaths, and said the crisis is likely to drag on for months rather than weeks.When, and How, Does the Coronavirus Pandemic End?: QuickTakeApart from imposing lockdowns, several European leaders have moved to institute other controls which in some cases could also consolidate their own holds on power.In Hungary, political parties will lose half of their state funding this year, Gergely Gulyas, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s office, said in a video briefing. The move comes after Prime Minister Viktor Orban secured the power to rule by decree this week, drawing criticism from European Union members that he staged a power grab under the cover of the Covid-19 crisis.Equipment TensionsMeanwhile another dispute emerged over emergency medical equipment with Madrid accusing Ankara of retaining a shipment of respirators bought by two regional Spanish governments from a Turkish company.Turkey cited the risk of a shortage at home in holding onto the ventilators, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Spain would insist on reimbursement if the equipment was not released, it added. There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government.It comes after local officials in France and Germany accused unnamed Americans of using unfair means to obtain protective masks. The U.S. embassy in Paris said any suggestion that the federal government was involved in such practices was “completely false.(Updates with context and numbers throughout)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Coronavirus kills some people and hardly affects others: How is that possible?

How can the new coronavirus affect people so differently — killing some while leaving others blissfully unaware that they have been infected at all?

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: 'America Together,' 9 pm ET on Fox News

04/05/20 5:54 PM

Americans Don’t Trust the Media Anymore. So Why Do They Trust the Cuomos?

By BY BEN SMITH from NYT Business https://ift.tt/34hyULI

Japan PM Abe to declare state of emergency as early as Tuesday: Yomiuri

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus as early as Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the number of infections topped 1,000 in the capital, Tokyo.

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Boris Johnson hospitalised for tests after persistent coronavirus symptoms

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus, though Downing Street said he remained in charge of the government.

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Timeline: Johnson's activities before his hospitalisation with coronavirus

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday in what Downing Street said was a "precautionary step" because he was showing persistent symptoms of the coronavirus 10 days after testing positive for it.

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Number of coronavirus intensive care patients in Italy drops for first time

Italy reported its lowest daily rise in COVID-19 deaths for nearly two weeks on Saturday and said the number of patients in intensive care had fallen for the first time. The Civil Protection department reported 681 deaths, bringing the total to 15,632 since the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic in northern Italy on Feb. 21. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 124,632 from 119,827 reported on Friday but for the first time, the number of patients in badly stretched intensive care units fell, with 3,994 patients being treated, down 74 from 4,068 on Friday.

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Police in Russia shoved a man into a van and forced him to abandon his dog in a park for violating the city's lockdown order

At the end of March, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin closed all restaurants, cafe, bars, and parks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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President Trump says US to deploy 1,000 military personnel to New York City to battle coronavirus

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will send 1,000 military personnel to New York City to help battle the coronavirus epidemic.

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Why wear face masks in public? Here's what the research shows

With the coronavirus pandemic quickly spreading, U.S. health officials have changed their advice on face masks and now recommend people wear cloth masks in public areas where social distancing can be difficult, such as grocery stores. But can these masks be effective?President Donald Trump, in announcing the change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on April 3, stressed that the recommendation was voluntary and said he probably wouldn’t follow it. Governors and mayors, however, have started encouraging the precautions to reduce the spread of the virus by people who might not know they are infected.Some cities have gone as far as setting fines for failing to wear a mask. In Laredo, Texas, anyone over the age of five who walks into a store or takes public transit without their mouth and nose covered by a mask or bandana could now be fined up to $1,000. These new measures are designed to “flatten the curve,” or slow the spread of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.They’re also a shift from the advice Americans have been hearing since the coronavirus pandemic began.The World Health Organization and the CDC have repeatedly said that most people do not need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. In February, the U.S. surgeon general even urged the public to stop buying medical masks, warning that it would not help against the spread of the coronavirus. Part of the reason was to reserve N95 respirators and masks for healthcare workers like myself who are on the front lines and exposed to people with COVID-19. Today, there is much more data and evidence on how COVID-19 is spread, and the prevalence of the disease itself is far more widespread than previously thought. Sick, but no symptomsAs recently as early February, the World Health Organization stated that viral transmission from asymptomatic people was likely “rare,” based on information available at the time. But a growing body of data now suggests that a significant number of infected people who don’t have symptoms can still transmit the virus to others. A CDC report issued March 23 on COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships offers a glimpse of the danger. It describes how the testing of passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess found that nearly half – 46.5% – of the more than 700 people found to be infected with the new coronavirus had no symptoms at the time of testing. The CDC explained that “a high proportion of asymptomatic infections could partially explain the high attack rate among cruise ship passengers and crew.”Dr. Harvey Fineberg, former president of the National Academy of Medicine and head of a new federal committee on infectious diseases, told CNN on April 2 that he will start wearing a mask in public, especially at grocery stores, for this very reason. “While the current specific research is limited, the results of available studies are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing,” he said. It is these “silent carriers” – people infected with the virus but without fever, cough, or muscle aches – that proponents of universal mask wearing point to as proof that more could be done beyond social distancing to slow the virus’s spread. More effective than doing nothingWhile research on the effectiveness of universal mask wearing for reducing respiratory droplet transmission is still thin, there is evidence to support it.Research on SARS, another coronavirus, found that N95 masks were highly effective at blocking transmission of that virus. Even ill-fitting medical face masks have been found to interrupt airborne particles and viruses, keeping them from reaching as far when someone sneezes.Another study determined that, while masks made out of cotton T-shirts were far less effective than manufactured surgical masks in preventing wearers from expelling droplets, they did reduce droplets and were better than no protection at all. A challenge with cloth: washingThe surgical masks that doctors and nurses typically wear are designed for one-time use, while cloth masks used by the general public would likely be washed, which raises another concern.A study from Nepal on cloth masks designed to protect wearers from larger particles, such as pollution or pollen, found that washing and drying practices deteriorated the mask’s efficiency because they damaged the cloth material. It is clear that urgent research is needed on the best material suitable for universal masks, their storage and care, or the creation of proper reusable masks for the public. A low-risk interventionAs an obstetrician-gynecologist and researcher, I believe that some protection for the public is better than none. A recent article in the medical journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine states a similar rationale.The universal use of mouth and nose covering with masks is a low-risk intervention that can only assist in reducing the spread of this terrible illness. If everyone wears a mask, individuals protect one another, reducing overall community transmission. It could even remind people not to touch their faces after touching potentially contaminated surfaces. As the research shows, masks aren’t shields. It’s still important to help prevent transmission by practicing social distancing by staying at least 6 feet away from others in public, staying home as much as possible, and washing hands frequently and properly. [Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Coronavirus case counts are going to go up – but that doesn’t mean social distancing is a bust * Social distancing works – just ask lobsters, ants and vampire batsHector Chapa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Trump accused of ‘firing people for telling the truth’ after dismissing man who handled impeachment complaint

Donald Trump has fired the US inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, the man who first handled the complaint made by an anonymous CIA whistleblower that became the basis for his impeachment.The president wrote to the House and Senate intelligence committees late on Friday informing them of his decision, saying it was “vital” he had confidence in the independent government watchdog and and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general”.

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A Tiger at the Bronx Zoo Has Tested Positive for Coronavirus

The tiger was tested for the virus after several of the zoo's lions and tigers started showing signs of respiratory illness

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Indian state authorities warn coronavirus lockdown could be extended

Authorities in some India states warned on Saturday that lockdowns to rein in the coronavirus pandemic could be extended in parts of the nation as the number of domestic coronavirus cases rose above the 3,000 mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a three-week lockdown of India's 1.3 billion people on March 24 to avert a massive outbreak of infections. The country has recorded 3,072 coronavirus cases, of which 75 people have died.

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Barr orders increase in home confinement as virus surges

Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Friday to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates at three federal prisons where coronavirus cases have skyrocketed. Officials were told to give highest priority to inmates who are being held at FCC Oakdale, a prison complex in Louisiana where five inmates have died and more than a dozen others remain hospitalized. Also listed were FCI Elkton in Ohio — where three inmates have died — and FCI Danbury in Connecticut, which has reported 20 inmates testing positive for coronavirus.

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Amazon is turning away employees with temperatures over than 100.4 degrees and slashing up to half their pay

Amazon employees say the new policy could be a devastating blow to many workers who live paycheck to paycheck.

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Coronavirus: Trump says teenage son Barron ‘isn’t as happy as he could be’ as quarantine frustrations hit White House

Donald Trump offered a rare personal insight into the life of his 14-year-old son Barron Trump and how he is faring in quarantine during his latest White House briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.The president had tweeted a message of encouragement to the nation’s frustrated Little League baseball players earlier in the day, telling them to “Hang in there!”

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Social Distancing Is a Privilege

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He Led a Top Navy Ship. Now He Sits in Quarantine, Fired and Infected.

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