The outbreak in Italy was a surprise. If there is anything to learn from Italy is the virus is highly opportunistic. Italy is a First World country with sophisticated medical and disease regimes in place when such issues erupt. Italy still had a population of people develop the virus. It is not yet understood completely and people need to pay attention. This is a virus that attacks the respiratory system and it has to be spread in that way. I haven't yet read anything that states the size of the virus, but, the average filter masks may not do anything except make people feel safe as they go through their daily lives.
China quarantines something like a million or more people to their homes. They were flying drones overhead when someone was spotted outside their home. That is not a virus that is understood, but, has proven to be highly opportunistic in it's ability to infect. By any measure these efforts in China could be viewed as extreme and unnecessary, however, China is beginning to see a slowing of the infected according to one article I read. I try to find it and post it here.
The virus is showing up in Croatia, Bahrain, Spain, and Thailand. It is not contained even with all the emergencies measures. At least not yet.
Of course, there is that outbreak in South Korea which more foolishness by people who believe they are immune from disease because of their religious devotion. That is nonsense and places more people at risk.
New York Times:
February 18, 2020
New cases in China appear to be slowing. (click here)
On Wednesday, the number of confirmed new cases in China appeared again to be slowing, and was put at 1,749. That brought the country’s total number of reported infections to 74,185. Deaths in the previous 24 hours were put at 136, bringing the total to 2,004.
That is one report and I am not saying it is wrong, but, I haven't seen it duplicated yet.
February 24, 2020
By Bill Chappell
Italy reported (click here) a total of 229 novel coronavirus cases on Monday, leaping ahead of Japan (156 cases) on the list of worst-hit countries. Six people have died from the respiratory disease COVID-19 in Italy, and 27 more are in intensive care.
Italy's biggest cluster of cases is in the Lombardy region, which has 172 cases, the country's Health Ministry said Monday afternoon. The Veneto region, which includes Venice, has 33 cases, and Emilia-Romagna has 18.
Italian health officials have ordered a quarantine for tens of thousands of residents in Lombardy. But as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome, Italy's experts have not been able to piece together how the coronavirus got a foothold there.
"Angelo Borrelli, head of the national Civil Protection [Department], expressed frustration, telling reporters, 'Health officials have not yet been able to pinpoint patient zero,' " Poggioli reports for NPR's Newscast unit.
As they watched the number of COVID-19 cases in Italy grow from a handful to hundreds, officials in Lombardy, which includes Milan, banned large public gatherings and shut down schools, universities, museums, movie theaters and other gatherings for at least one week....
I don't want to appear to be over concerned, but, there are reasons to think we need an abundance of caution with this virus.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
The New Zealand Herald:
26 February 2020
By Alle McMahon
Scientists have warned the coronavirus (click here) appears to be spreading across Europe and Asia without showing symptoms, and even the most radical screening measures are likely missing most cases.
More than 80,000 people have now been infected with the Covid-19 virus and 2707 people have died since it first emerged at a seafood market in China in late December.
Cities across the world have been plunged into lockdown, with borders closed and airports thoroughly checking travellers for fevers or flu-like symptoms, news.com.au reported.
But Dr Simon Clarke, a specialist in cellular microbiology at England's University of Reading, said the virus was proving "extremely difficult to track"....
26 February 2020
The head of Iran's counter-coronavirus task force (click here) has tested positive for the virus himself, authorities announced Tuesday, showing the challenges facing the Islamic Republic amid concerns the outbreak may be far wider than officially acknowledged.
The announcement regarding Iraj Harirchi came after he gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus just one day prior, seeking to minimise the danger posed by the outbreak.
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday meanwhile banned all flights to and from Iran over the outbreak of the new coronavirus, just a day after its spread from the Islamic Republic was announced across multiple Mideast nations. Iran earlier raised the official death toll from the virus to 15 killed amid 95 confirmed infections....
Sydney Morning Herald
26 February 2020
By Kate Aubusson and Melissa Cunningham
The Australian government (click here) has activated its emergency response plan to an impending coronavirus pandemic, foreshadowing fever clinics, fast-tracked vaccines and severe pressure on hospitals, blood banks, medical supplies and mortuaries.
Dubbed "The COVID-19 plan", the blueprint outlines a strategy in the event of a large-scale coronavirus outbreak as world leaders and biosecurity experts warn a pandemic is almost inevitable....
CNA (Asian News) - the US is terrified by Russian Fake News campaign.
22 February 2020
Washington - Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts (click here)
have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic, US officials say.
The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image around the world by seizing on health concerns....
Sputnik: There is absolutely radio silence about any coronavirus in Russia. Populous banter is all that can be found.
25 February 2020
A volunteer (click here) has gone -or rather jumped - to great lengths to keep a locked-up area secure, for fear of the further spread of the Novel Coronavirus.
A Chinese officer has been recorded resorting to a martial arts stunt to prevent a villager from entering the area locked down due to a coronavirus flare-up.
Footage shows a male resident pulling up to the red ribbon indicating a no-go zone, wishing to cross the blockade, “just for a short while, to go home and have a look”, but he had to step back and drive away on his bike when a volunteer security guard screams and performs a backflip, before thrusting his leg in a spinning kick....
Plenty of information about the coronavirus in Europe. Italy is having some reports though.
Earlier in the day, (click here) authorities of several European countries, namely Austria, Croatia and Switzerland confirmed first cases of people infected with the coronavirus in their countries.
The death toll from coronavirus infection in Italy has risen to ten with the addition of three more victims in the north of the country, Angelo Borrelli, head of National Civil Protection Service, said Tuesday....
And, of course, more information about Trump's Deep State.
25 February 2020
By Tim Korso
Earlier, (click here) US media reported that the country's intelligence community had informed some American lawmakers about alleged attempts by Russia to meddle in the 2020 presidential election, despite Moscow on numerous occasions denying such interference in US domestic affairs.
US President Donald Trump stated during his visit to India that American intelligence agencies have not briefed him on any information regarding alleged meddling attempts by Russia in the 2020 presidential election. He also suggested that the reports of Moscow's support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders might have been initiated by members of the Democratic Party, who want him to lose the primaries....
It's Trump's very own Deep State. It never gets better no matter who is at the helm. Trump is always grieving over the Deep State. Poor, poor Donald is always so misinformed.
Last week President Donald Trump appointed Richard Grenell, (click here) a former US ambassador to Germany, as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to oversee the nation's 17 spy agencies and organisations. CIA veterans Philip Giraldi and Larry Johnson explain Trump's move and the liberal media's outrage over it.
Though US career diplomat Richard Grenell is the first openly gay person to assume the highest intelligence post, the liberal media has somehow fallen short of rejoicing at this fact, and has raised an uproar over what they call Trump's "disastrous choice".
"Widely disliked by diplomats and journalists, but loved by his boss who's made clear that 'he values loyalty above all', the appointment of the nation's new top intelligence official is a sign that Trump's purge is spreading fast", Vanity Fair wrote on Monday.
As the former Ambassador was about to fill the boots of his predecessor, Joseph Maguire, the MSM presumed that the US president sacked the latter over the 13 February briefing on Russia's alleged "interference" in the 2020 elections held by Maguire's appointee at the House Intelligence Committee. According to ex-CIA Director John Brennan, the dismissal of the chief spy amounts to a "virtual decapitation of the intelligence community"....
The Associated Press: Evidently, the quarantined woman broke out of the hospital was tracked down and returned to custody. No one around her is wearing masks either.
February 17, 2020
Moscow - A Russian woman (click here) aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has become the first Russian citizen to be diagnosed with COVID-19, Russia said Monday.
The woman on the ship will be transferred to a hospital and receive treatment, the Russian Embassy in Japan said in its Facebook posting. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that would be in Russia or Japan.
The virus, which emerged in central China in December, has infected 454 people on that particular cruise ship. Globally, the virus has infected more than 71,000 people, killing 1,770 patients in mainland China and five others elsewhere. China has instituted strict lockdown measures on over 60 million people in central Hubei province.
In January, Russia reported two confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hospitalized two Chinese citizens, who have since recovered.
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Russian government has halted most of its air traffic to China. All trains connecting Russia to China and North Korea have been suspended and the Russian land border with China and Mongolia is closed.
Moscow has temporarily stopped issuing work visas to Chinese citizens and Chinese students who had left for the Lunar New Year vacation have been asked not to resume their studies in Russian universities until March 1.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has said that Russia may start deporting foreigners infected with the virus.
BBC - Also reporting on trial drug being tested in USA. It is not a vaccine, it is a potential treatment. Anti-viral drug. " Acyclovir" is an anti-viral drug. It isn't like this hasn't been investigated before, there is just no vaccines for a coronavirus. Treatments have been developed. The effectiveness AGAIN depends on the health of the individual and their ability to tolerate the drugs as well as the disease.
26 February 2020
By Alle McMahon
Scientists have warned the coronavirus (click here) appears to be spreading across Europe and Asia without showing symptoms, and even the most radical screening measures are likely missing most cases.
More than 80,000 people have now been infected with the Covid-19 virus and 2707 people have died since it first emerged at a seafood market in China in late December.
Cities across the world have been plunged into lockdown, with borders closed and airports thoroughly checking travellers for fevers or flu-like symptoms, news.com.au reported.
But Dr Simon Clarke, a specialist in cellular microbiology at England's University of Reading, said the virus was proving "extremely difficult to track"....
26 February 2020
The head of Iran's counter-coronavirus task force (click here) has tested positive for the virus himself, authorities announced Tuesday, showing the challenges facing the Islamic Republic amid concerns the outbreak may be far wider than officially acknowledged.
The announcement regarding Iraj Harirchi came after he gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus just one day prior, seeking to minimise the danger posed by the outbreak.
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday meanwhile banned all flights to and from Iran over the outbreak of the new coronavirus, just a day after its spread from the Islamic Republic was announced across multiple Mideast nations. Iran earlier raised the official death toll from the virus to 15 killed amid 95 confirmed infections....
Sydney Morning Herald
26 February 2020
By Kate Aubusson and Melissa Cunningham
The Australian government (click here) has activated its emergency response plan to an impending coronavirus pandemic, foreshadowing fever clinics, fast-tracked vaccines and severe pressure on hospitals, blood banks, medical supplies and mortuaries.
Dubbed "The COVID-19 plan", the blueprint outlines a strategy in the event of a large-scale coronavirus outbreak as world leaders and biosecurity experts warn a pandemic is almost inevitable....
CNA (Asian News) - the US is terrified by Russian Fake News campaign.
22 February 2020
Washington - Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts (click here)
have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic, US officials say.
The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image around the world by seizing on health concerns....
Sputnik: There is absolutely radio silence about any coronavirus in Russia. Populous banter is all that can be found.
25 February 2020
A volunteer (click here) has gone -or rather jumped - to great lengths to keep a locked-up area secure, for fear of the further spread of the Novel Coronavirus.
A Chinese officer has been recorded resorting to a martial arts stunt to prevent a villager from entering the area locked down due to a coronavirus flare-up.
Footage shows a male resident pulling up to the red ribbon indicating a no-go zone, wishing to cross the blockade, “just for a short while, to go home and have a look”, but he had to step back and drive away on his bike when a volunteer security guard screams and performs a backflip, before thrusting his leg in a spinning kick....
Plenty of information about the coronavirus in Europe. Italy is having some reports though.
Earlier in the day, (click here) authorities of several European countries, namely Austria, Croatia and Switzerland confirmed first cases of people infected with the coronavirus in their countries.
The death toll from coronavirus infection in Italy has risen to ten with the addition of three more victims in the north of the country, Angelo Borrelli, head of National Civil Protection Service, said Tuesday....
And, of course, more information about Trump's Deep State.
25 February 2020
By Tim Korso
Earlier, (click here) US media reported that the country's intelligence community had informed some American lawmakers about alleged attempts by Russia to meddle in the 2020 presidential election, despite Moscow on numerous occasions denying such interference in US domestic affairs.
US President Donald Trump stated during his visit to India that American intelligence agencies have not briefed him on any information regarding alleged meddling attempts by Russia in the 2020 presidential election. He also suggested that the reports of Moscow's support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders might have been initiated by members of the Democratic Party, who want him to lose the primaries....
It's Trump's very own Deep State. It never gets better no matter who is at the helm. Trump is always grieving over the Deep State. Poor, poor Donald is always so misinformed.
Last week President Donald Trump appointed Richard Grenell, (click here) a former US ambassador to Germany, as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to oversee the nation's 17 spy agencies and organisations. CIA veterans Philip Giraldi and Larry Johnson explain Trump's move and the liberal media's outrage over it.
Though US career diplomat Richard Grenell is the first openly gay person to assume the highest intelligence post, the liberal media has somehow fallen short of rejoicing at this fact, and has raised an uproar over what they call Trump's "disastrous choice".
"Widely disliked by diplomats and journalists, but loved by his boss who's made clear that 'he values loyalty above all', the appointment of the nation's new top intelligence official is a sign that Trump's purge is spreading fast", Vanity Fair wrote on Monday.
As the former Ambassador was about to fill the boots of his predecessor, Joseph Maguire, the MSM presumed that the US president sacked the latter over the 13 February briefing on Russia's alleged "interference" in the 2020 elections held by Maguire's appointee at the House Intelligence Committee. According to ex-CIA Director John Brennan, the dismissal of the chief spy amounts to a "virtual decapitation of the intelligence community"....
The Associated Press: Evidently, the quarantined woman broke out of the hospital was tracked down and returned to custody. No one around her is wearing masks either.
who broke out of the hospital on Feb. 7 after learning that she would have to spend 14 days in isolation instead of the 24 hours doctors promised her, is escorted by a bailiffs form a court after a session in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Feb. 17, 2020.
Moscow - A Russian woman (click here) aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has become the first Russian citizen to be diagnosed with COVID-19, Russia said Monday.
The woman on the ship will be transferred to a hospital and receive treatment, the Russian Embassy in Japan said in its Facebook posting. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that would be in Russia or Japan.
The virus, which emerged in central China in December, has infected 454 people on that particular cruise ship. Globally, the virus has infected more than 71,000 people, killing 1,770 patients in mainland China and five others elsewhere. China has instituted strict lockdown measures on over 60 million people in central Hubei province.
In January, Russia reported two confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hospitalized two Chinese citizens, who have since recovered.
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Russian government has halted most of its air traffic to China. All trains connecting Russia to China and North Korea have been suspended and the Russian land border with China and Mongolia is closed.
Moscow has temporarily stopped issuing work visas to Chinese citizens and Chinese students who had left for the Lunar New Year vacation have been asked not to resume their studies in Russian universities until March 1.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has said that Russia may start deporting foreigners infected with the virus.
BBC - Also reporting on trial drug being tested in USA. It is not a vaccine, it is a potential treatment. Anti-viral drug. " Acyclovir" is an anti-viral drug. It isn't like this hasn't been investigated before, there is just no vaccines for a coronavirus. Treatments have been developed. The effectiveness AGAIN depends on the health of the individual and their ability to tolerate the drugs as well as the disease.
Ireland's minister for health (click here) said the Six Nations rugby match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin "should not go ahead" due to the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy.
Simon Harris said it was the "very clear view" of the public health emergency team that the game on 7 March should be cancelled.
He told RTE news: "It would constitute a significant risk, because a very large number of people will be travelling from what is now an affected region.
"So my department will be contacting the IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) in relation to this.
"I know (it will) cause a great disappointment to many, but it is important to make decisions in relation to public health above and beyond all other considerations."...
26 February 2020
A hotel in the Austrian Alps (click here) has been put on lockdown after an Italian receptionist working there contracted the virus.
Officials haven't named the hotel, but they have said it's in the Alpine city of Innsbruck. It's also not clear how long it will remain on lockdown.
Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told reporters: "No one can get in or out of the hotel to make sure that if other infected people are staying in the hotel, the virus won't be spread.
"All these measures have one purpose - to stop the virus and its spread. There is no reason to panic."
Innsbruck is the capital of the state of Tyrol, which borders Italy.
The infected woman's home was also being isolated, a state government spokeswoman told AFP.
She and her partner, both 24, had travelled to Innsbruck by car from their home in Lombardy, Italy last week.
Italy is the worst-hit European country, with 322 cases and 11 deaths.
It is rather incredible the ease with which this virus will infect health care workers who know how to protect themselves. The virus is highly opportunistic. Any source of DNA will do evidently.
The plans for the Japanese Olympics are going forward.
"Mission Impossible" filming is delayed by Paramount because of the concern for the cases in Italy.
26 February 2020
A hotel in the Austrian Alps (click here) has been put on lockdown after an Italian receptionist working there contracted the virus.
Officials haven't named the hotel, but they have said it's in the Alpine city of Innsbruck. It's also not clear how long it will remain on lockdown.
Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told reporters: "No one can get in or out of the hotel to make sure that if other infected people are staying in the hotel, the virus won't be spread.
"All these measures have one purpose - to stop the virus and its spread. There is no reason to panic."
Innsbruck is the capital of the state of Tyrol, which borders Italy.
The infected woman's home was also being isolated, a state government spokeswoman told AFP.
She and her partner, both 24, had travelled to Innsbruck by car from their home in Lombardy, Italy last week.
Italy is the worst-hit European country, with 322 cases and 11 deaths.
It is rather incredible the ease with which this virus will infect health care workers who know how to protect themselves. The virus is highly opportunistic. Any source of DNA will do evidently.
The plans for the Japanese Olympics are going forward.
"Mission Impossible" filming is delayed by Paramount because of the concern for the cases in Italy.
Trump cannot be trusted with the country. How low can he go to buoy his Wall Street economy?
Trump's half truths are very dangerous. There is nothing he says that is believable, especially considering the fate of some when contracting the corona virus. He will declare an emergency and fund a border wall. He will declare a health emergency for opioid epidemic WITHOUT funding that emergency, but, he absolutely will not declare a health emergency for the coronavirus. He should never have been left in office. He is untrustworthy and dangerous.
If Wall Street can be buoyed with lies, then there is no real economy.
February 25, 2020
By Kevin Breuninger
The White House said (click here)President Trump was referring to the Ebola virus — not the deadly coronavirus — when he claimed that “we’re very close to a vaccine.”
The Food and Drug Administration announced in December that it had approved a vaccine for the prevention of the Ebola virus.
The president’s comments came as he and his administration have worked to ease the growing fears, from markets and governments alike, that a pandemic is on the way.
He is only capable of the unthinkable. It is the only thing he ever contemplates.
Ebola trial vaccine (click here)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (click here) approved the Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV (tradename “Ervebo”) on December 19, 2019. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine is a single dose vaccine regimen that has been found to be safe and protective against only the Zaire ebolavirus species of ebolavirus. This is the first FDA approval of a vaccine for Ebola.
Another investigational vaccine was developed and introduced under a research protocol in 2019 to combat an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This vaccine leverages two different vaccine components (Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo) and requires two doses with an initial dose followed by a second “booster” dose 56 days later. The second vaccine is also designed to protect against only the Zaire ebolavirus species of Ebola.
Regarding COVID-19:
February 24, 2020
By James Hamblin
...The Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch (click here) is exacting in his diction, even for an epidemiologist. Twice in our conversation he started to say something, then paused and said, “Actually, let me start again.” So it’s striking when one of the points he wanted to get exactly right was this: “I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable.”...
...Within the past two weeks, the CDC said it would start screening people in five U.S. cities, in an effort to give some idea of how many cases are actually out there. But tests are still not widely available. As of Friday, the Association of Public Health Laboratories said that only California, Nebraska, and Illinois had the capacity to test people for the virus.
With so little data, prognosis is difficult. But the concern that this virus is beyond containment—that it will be with us indefinitely—is nowhere more apparent than in the global race to find a vaccine, one of the clearest strategies for saving lives in the years to come....
There was absolutely no coordination or cooperation when Americans returned from Japan. Decisions as to where they would land and be quarantined was still undecided as the jet was in mid-air to the USA from Japan.
There is no leadership and when mistakes are made and things fall through the cracks the resolve by Trump is, "Your fired," after the fact. There is not enough qualified staff with this administration. Decisions are made without facts. It is like a air traffic control tower without air traffic controllers.
February 20, 2020
By Lena H. Sun, Lenny Bernstein, Shibani Mahtani and Joel Achenbach
..."It was like the worst nightmare,” (click here) said a senior U.S. official involved in the decision, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. “Quite frankly, the alternative could have been pulling grandma out in the pouring rain, and that would have been bad, too.”
The State Department won the argument. But unhappy CDC officials demanded to be left out of the news release that explained that infected people were being flown back to the United States — a move that would nearly double the number of known coronavirus cases in this country.
The tarmac decision was a pivotal moment for U.S. officials improvising their response to a crisis with few precedents and extraordinarily high stakes. Efforts to prevent the new pathogen from spreading have revealed the limits of the world’s readiness for an unprecedented public health emergency. In the worst-case scenario, covid-19, a flulike respiratory infection, could become a full-blown global pandemic....
If Wall Street can be buoyed with lies, then there is no real economy.
February 25, 2020
By Kevin Breuninger
The White House said (click here)President Trump was referring to the Ebola virus — not the deadly coronavirus — when he claimed that “we’re very close to a vaccine.”
The Food and Drug Administration announced in December that it had approved a vaccine for the prevention of the Ebola virus.
The president’s comments came as he and his administration have worked to ease the growing fears, from markets and governments alike, that a pandemic is on the way.
He is only capable of the unthinkable. It is the only thing he ever contemplates.
Ebola trial vaccine (click here)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (click here) approved the Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV (tradename “Ervebo”) on December 19, 2019. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine is a single dose vaccine regimen that has been found to be safe and protective against only the Zaire ebolavirus species of ebolavirus. This is the first FDA approval of a vaccine for Ebola.
Another investigational vaccine was developed and introduced under a research protocol in 2019 to combat an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This vaccine leverages two different vaccine components (Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo) and requires two doses with an initial dose followed by a second “booster” dose 56 days later. The second vaccine is also designed to protect against only the Zaire ebolavirus species of Ebola.
Regarding COVID-19:
February 24, 2020
By James Hamblin
...The Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch (click here) is exacting in his diction, even for an epidemiologist. Twice in our conversation he started to say something, then paused and said, “Actually, let me start again.” So it’s striking when one of the points he wanted to get exactly right was this: “I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable.”...
...Within the past two weeks, the CDC said it would start screening people in five U.S. cities, in an effort to give some idea of how many cases are actually out there. But tests are still not widely available. As of Friday, the Association of Public Health Laboratories said that only California, Nebraska, and Illinois had the capacity to test people for the virus.
With so little data, prognosis is difficult. But the concern that this virus is beyond containment—that it will be with us indefinitely—is nowhere more apparent than in the global race to find a vaccine, one of the clearest strategies for saving lives in the years to come....
There was absolutely no coordination or cooperation when Americans returned from Japan. Decisions as to where they would land and be quarantined was still undecided as the jet was in mid-air to the USA from Japan.
There is no leadership and when mistakes are made and things fall through the cracks the resolve by Trump is, "Your fired," after the fact. There is not enough qualified staff with this administration. Decisions are made without facts. It is like a air traffic control tower without air traffic controllers.
February 20, 2020
By Lena H. Sun, Lenny Bernstein, Shibani Mahtani and Joel Achenbach
..."It was like the worst nightmare,” (click here) said a senior U.S. official involved in the decision, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. “Quite frankly, the alternative could have been pulling grandma out in the pouring rain, and that would have been bad, too.”
The State Department won the argument. But unhappy CDC officials demanded to be left out of the news release that explained that infected people were being flown back to the United States — a move that would nearly double the number of known coronavirus cases in this country.
The tarmac decision was a pivotal moment for U.S. officials improvising their response to a crisis with few precedents and extraordinarily high stakes. Efforts to prevent the new pathogen from spreading have revealed the limits of the world’s readiness for an unprecedented public health emergency. In the worst-case scenario, covid-19, a flulike respiratory infection, could become a full-blown global pandemic....
Bernie Sanders lost the Nevada caucuses by 6.3 percent.
Nevada Caucuses 2020: Live Election Results (click here)
Senator Bernie Sanders had a great night in the Nevada Caucuses, but, he did not win with a majority of all votes.
When the votes are completely tabulated and all the other candidates are one total the OTHER candidates won by 53.1 percent. Senator Sanders did not have an overwhelming majority of the vote that would rule out the success of another candidate had there only been two contenders.
When the votes are completely tabulated and all the other candidates are one total the OTHER candidates won by 53.1 percent. Senator Sanders did not have an overwhelming majority of the vote that would rule out the success of another candidate had there only been two contenders.
From where I sit the field needs to be winnowed and a realistic front runner realized. There are too many candidates and while that is exciting for those that remain to qualify for the next debate, it is providing a "false positive" for the Democrats in their choice as candidate.
There is no irrefutable victory among the Democratic candidates.
1,991 Pledged Delegates Needed to Win on 1st Ballot.
There are 771 Superdelegates. Yes, that means every House or Senate member will have a vote in the 2nd ballot.
30 distinguished party leaders (DPL), consisting of current and former presidents, current and former vice-presidents, former congressional leaders, and former DNC chairs
236 Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives (including non-voting delegates from DC and territories)
48 Democratic members of the US Senate Including Independent Bernie Sanders
28 Democratic governors
438 other elected members from the DNC including vice-chairs of state parties.
It is all about the numbers and to date it has been nothing but exciting.
There is no irrefutable victory among the Democratic candidates.
1,991 Pledged Delegates Needed to Win on 1st Ballot.
There are 771 Superdelegates. Yes, that means every House or Senate member will have a vote in the 2nd ballot.
30 distinguished party leaders (DPL), consisting of current and former presidents, current and former vice-presidents, former congressional leaders, and former DNC chairs
236 Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives (including non-voting delegates from DC and territories)
48 Democratic members of the US Senate Including Independent Bernie Sanders
28 Democratic governors
438 other elected members from the DNC including vice-chairs of state parties.
It is all about the numbers and to date it has been nothing but exciting.
The Middle East is not ready for a virulent virus.
"Community Isolation" should never be permitted with any illness. Isolating an entire community together only spreads the disease and does not isolate it. The ONLY way to isolate from further transmission is to secure THE INDIVIDUAL. That means if an entire cruise ship is isolated at sea or in port, or if an entire group of eighth graders are secluded together, the chances of the virus spreading is greater than if they are isolated individually until the course of their illness or wellness is secured.
February 22, 2020
Israeli authorities on Saturday (click here) ordered to put some 90 high school students in isolation after it transpired that the children might have come in contact with tourists from South Korea believed to be infected with coronavirus.
At least 30 of the students are understood to reside in the southern city of Beersheba while the other 60 are from the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim.
The move if part of the Israeli government's efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic in the Jewish state.
The isolation period can vary from case to case, yet is typically set as 14 days since potential exposure to the virus.
Earlier in the day the Health Ministry confirmed that nine South Korean pilgrims who earlier in the month toured Israel for one week have been diagnosed with coronavirus....
Isolating people together while a virulent disease exists with one or two of them only condemns the others to contract the disease even if they didn't have it before.
Each individual of a group should be in their own isolation room with negative pressure to insure the virus won't spread into the surrounding air. When a person is known to have the disease, they are already isolated and under treatment. If a person in isolation is proved to be well, then no harm will come to them just by being in the same room with someone infected. I have never witnessed such extreme fear in handling this outbreak. It is counter productive to ending the infection rate.
The Holy Men of the Middle East MUST call upon all their people to conduct themselves well in realizing the danger this virus has presented. Please don't allow the pilgrims to believe there is little to no danger.
Mardi Gras in the USA needs to be called off this year.
Each year during Mardi Gras, (click here) approximately 1.4 million visitors
take to the streets of New Orleans to participate in the city’s iconic Fat Tuesday parades and festivities. The annual celebration of excess and indulgence is observed everywhere from Rio de Janeiro to Venice, but New Orleans’s unique Mardi Gras customs (more on those below) make the city’s celebration particularly renowned....
February 25, 2020
By David D Kirkpatrick. Farnaz Fassihi
Religious pilgrims, (click here) migrant workers, businessmen, soldiers and clerics all flow constantly across Iran’s frontiers, often crossing into countries with few border controls, weak and ineffective governments and fragile health systems.
Now, as it struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Iran is also emerging as the second focal point after China for the spread of the disease. Cases in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates — even one in Canada — have all been traced to Iran, sending tremors of fear rippling out from Kabul to Beirut.
The Middle East is in many ways the perfect place to spawn a pandemic, experts say, with the constant circulation of both Muslim pilgrims and itinerant workers who might carry the virus. Iran’s economy has been strangled by sanctions, its people have lost trust in their government and its leaders are isolated from much of the world, providing little clarity about the extent of the epidemic.
Civil wars or years of unrest have shattered the health systems of several neighboring countries, like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. And most of the region is governed largely by authoritarians with poor track records at providing public transparency, accountability and health services....
The Middle East never took MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) seriously and now there is a more virulent strand of similar virus. The religious leadership must tell their followers this is a very dangerous time. They can frame it any way they want so long as the people realize there is a limit on their movement and sense of community.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) (click here)
is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Most MERS patients developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. About 3 or 4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died....
February 22, 2020
Israeli authorities on Saturday (click here) ordered to put some 90 high school students in isolation after it transpired that the children might have come in contact with tourists from South Korea believed to be infected with coronavirus.
At least 30 of the students are understood to reside in the southern city of Beersheba while the other 60 are from the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim.
The move if part of the Israeli government's efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic in the Jewish state.
The isolation period can vary from case to case, yet is typically set as 14 days since potential exposure to the virus.
Earlier in the day the Health Ministry confirmed that nine South Korean pilgrims who earlier in the month toured Israel for one week have been diagnosed with coronavirus....
Isolating people together while a virulent disease exists with one or two of them only condemns the others to contract the disease even if they didn't have it before.
Each individual of a group should be in their own isolation room with negative pressure to insure the virus won't spread into the surrounding air. When a person is known to have the disease, they are already isolated and under treatment. If a person in isolation is proved to be well, then no harm will come to them just by being in the same room with someone infected. I have never witnessed such extreme fear in handling this outbreak. It is counter productive to ending the infection rate.
The Holy Men of the Middle East MUST call upon all their people to conduct themselves well in realizing the danger this virus has presented. Please don't allow the pilgrims to believe there is little to no danger.
Mardi Gras in the USA needs to be called off this year.
Each year during Mardi Gras, (click here) approximately 1.4 million visitors
take to the streets of New Orleans to participate in the city’s iconic Fat Tuesday parades and festivities. The annual celebration of excess and indulgence is observed everywhere from Rio de Janeiro to Venice, but New Orleans’s unique Mardi Gras customs (more on those below) make the city’s celebration particularly renowned....
February 25, 2020
By David D Kirkpatrick. Farnaz Fassihi
Religious pilgrims, (click here) migrant workers, businessmen, soldiers and clerics all flow constantly across Iran’s frontiers, often crossing into countries with few border controls, weak and ineffective governments and fragile health systems.
Now, as it struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Iran is also emerging as the second focal point after China for the spread of the disease. Cases in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates — even one in Canada — have all been traced to Iran, sending tremors of fear rippling out from Kabul to Beirut.
The Middle East is in many ways the perfect place to spawn a pandemic, experts say, with the constant circulation of both Muslim pilgrims and itinerant workers who might carry the virus. Iran’s economy has been strangled by sanctions, its people have lost trust in their government and its leaders are isolated from much of the world, providing little clarity about the extent of the epidemic.
Civil wars or years of unrest have shattered the health systems of several neighboring countries, like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. And most of the region is governed largely by authoritarians with poor track records at providing public transparency, accountability and health services....
The Middle East never took MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) seriously and now there is a more virulent strand of similar virus. The religious leadership must tell their followers this is a very dangerous time. They can frame it any way they want so long as the people realize there is a limit on their movement and sense of community.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) (click here)
is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Most MERS patients developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. About 3 or 4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died....
The Weinstein defense team is a perversion of law.
The only person Harvey Weinstein ever had permission to have sex with was his wife, every other woman in that man's life was coerced and intimated into submission for sex., including his secretary.
Rotunno had no right in stating the jury felt obligated to return some kind of guilty verdict. That is a perversion of law and an insult to the jury. She needs to apologize to every woman Weinstein porked and the jury, too.
THERE IS NOT A WOMAN IN WEINSTEIN'S LIFE THAT PROVIDED PERMISSION FOR SEX, except, the woman with the wedding band.
Harvey Weinstein's office was a trap by any woman willing to cross the door jam into it. When considering the power he had within the move making industry, any woman seeking to be a star from the time she was a little girl to the time she completed acting classes NEVER in their wildest imagination believed they had to have sex with a total stranger in order to have a successful career!
Harvey Weinstein held their careers in his simple presence and that presence better be the best any actress could put forward, otherwise, sell the car, house and jewelry because that woman's acting reputation would be scarred forever. There is no excuse to believe that man was innocent of ANYTHING! He was, at the time, one of the most successful producers in the industry and in TOTAL cultural silence, he laid women he inducted as actresses. Who were they going to turn to? Their mothers? Their boyfriends? Their leading man? Who! No one. They were abandoned to the demands of Harvey Weinstein, his power and money.
THE LAW IS COMPLETELY INADEQUATE IN PROTECTING WOMEN FROM PREDATION WHEN IT COMES TO THE POWERFUL. There is no excuse to put the blame anywhere else EXCEPT THE WEAKNESS IN THE LAW BY DESIGN!
February 24, 2020
By Nate Day
...Rotunno (click here) admitted that she was surprised by the verdict and felt it was brought about partly because the jury felt they couldn't leave without a guilty verdict....
Rotunno had no right in stating the jury felt obligated to return some kind of guilty verdict. That is a perversion of law and an insult to the jury. She needs to apologize to every woman Weinstein porked and the jury, too.
THERE IS NOT A WOMAN IN WEINSTEIN'S LIFE THAT PROVIDED PERMISSION FOR SEX, except, the woman with the wedding band.
Harvey Weinstein's office was a trap by any woman willing to cross the door jam into it. When considering the power he had within the move making industry, any woman seeking to be a star from the time she was a little girl to the time she completed acting classes NEVER in their wildest imagination believed they had to have sex with a total stranger in order to have a successful career!
Harvey Weinstein held their careers in his simple presence and that presence better be the best any actress could put forward, otherwise, sell the car, house and jewelry because that woman's acting reputation would be scarred forever. There is no excuse to believe that man was innocent of ANYTHING! He was, at the time, one of the most successful producers in the industry and in TOTAL cultural silence, he laid women he inducted as actresses. Who were they going to turn to? Their mothers? Their boyfriends? Their leading man? Who! No one. They were abandoned to the demands of Harvey Weinstein, his power and money.
THE LAW IS COMPLETELY INADEQUATE IN PROTECTING WOMEN FROM PREDATION WHEN IT COMES TO THE POWERFUL. There is no excuse to put the blame anywhere else EXCEPT THE WEAKNESS IN THE LAW BY DESIGN!
February 24, 2020By Nate Day
...Rotunno (click here) admitted that she was surprised by the verdict and felt it was brought about partly because the jury felt they couldn't leave without a guilty verdict....
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