The Trump administration will no longer ship personal protective equipment to allies overseas as the United States grapples with critical shortages of supplies and coronavirus cases continue to soar.
A congressional source told CNN on Wednesday that they were informed late last Friday night that the coronavirus task force – led by Vice President Mike Pence – was stopping overseas shipments of the medical equipment and instead asking that the supplies be distributed within the United States.
The world’s largest coronavirus lockdown is having a dramatic impact on pollution in India
From CNN’s Rebecca Wright
When India imposed a nationwide lockdown a week ago, it was designed to stop the imminent spread of the novel coronavirus.
But grinding this country of 1.3 billion people to a near halt has also provided a temporary remedy to another pressing health issue: suffocating pollution levels.
The world’s largest lockdown means all factories, markets, shops, and places of worship are now closed, most public transport suspended and construction work halted, as India asks its citizens to stay home and practice social distancing.
India has recorded more than 1,998 cases of Covid-19, including 58 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Already, data shows that the main cities are recording much lower levels of harmful microscopic particulate matter known as PM 2.5, and of nitrogen dioxide, which is released by vehicles and power plants.
“I have not seen such blue skies in Delhi for the past 10 years,” said Jyoti Pande Lavakare, the co-founder of Indian environmental organization Care for Air, and author of upcoming book “Breathing Here is Injurious To Your Health.”
“It is a silver lining in terms of this awful crisis that we can step outside and breathe.”
The rest of the world is coming around to Asia’s point of view on face masks
Analysis by CNN’s James Griffiths
In the coming weeks, if they have not already, your government is likely to begin advising you to wear a face mask to protect against coronavirus.
For those living in Asia, such announcements will be a vindication of a tactic that has been adopted across much of the region since the beginning of the crisis and appears to have been borne out by lower rates of infection and faster containment of outbreaks.
In other parts of the world, this message may be confusing, coming after weeks of public health authorities, politicians and media figures confidently claiming masks do not help and urging people instead to focus on washing their hands and maintaining social distancing.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appeared before lawmakers in late February. Asked if people should wear masks, he had a straightforward answer: “No.”
Now he’s not so sure. On Monday, Redfield told NPR that the CDC was reviewing its guidelines and may recommend general mask use to guard against community infection. It’s likely only a matter of time before other mask holdouts, most prominently the World Health Organization, follow suit.
Writing last month, Adrien Burch, an expert in microbiology at the University of California, Berkeley, noted that “despite hearing that face masks ‘don’t work,’ you probably haven’t seen any strong evidence to support that claim. That’s because it doesn’t exist.”
In fact, there is evidence of the exact opposite: that masks help prevent viral infections like the current pandemic.
Many countries and territories across Asia have been wearing masks for the entire length of the pandemic, and this strategy has been borne out by lower infection rates and more easily contained outbreaks. Now the rest of the world is finally coming around to this strategy.
US veterans’ home employee reprimanded for wearing PPE, according to letter obtained by CNN
From CNN’s Jason Carroll
A worker at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts is angry with his superiors at the facility for what he calls a lapse in judgment in how the outbreak was handled.
The worker says he was reprimanded for wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) on March 18.
According to a letter obtained from a spokesperson for Service Employees International Union Local 888, of which the worker is a member, the employee donned the equipment “without permission or need.”
CNN is not naming the employee nor the individual who sent it, but it is on letterhead from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.
The news comes after the governor of Massachusetts hired an attorney to investigate the deaths of 13 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home.
The worker – a caregiver – says he first came into contact with a veteran with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, who was not isolated, but rather walking around and coughing.
It is unclear whether the PPE was personal or belonged to the facility.
FBI sees spike in gun sale background checks amid coronavirus pandemic
By CNN’s Josh Campbell
The FBI reported a 41% surge in background checks on individuals attempting to buy firearms in the United States in the past month, as the country faces a growing coronavirus epidemic.
According to newly released data from the FBI, 3.7 million gun purchase background checks were made in the month of March alone.
It is the most checks conducted in a single month since the FBI’s National Instant Background Check (NICS) system was launched in 1998.
Which states have the most checks? By far, the state leading in federal firearm background checks in March was Illinois – with over half a million checks conducted – followed by Texas, Kentucky, Florida, and California.
Under US law, federally licensed gun dealers must run checks on every buyer, whether a purchase is made in a store or at a gun show.
“The rise in gun and ammunition sales during this crisis is understandable as the fear of the unknown can drive purchasing far off their norms,” said Jonathan Wackrow, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and former special agent with the US Secret Service.
“Research has shown that during a crisis, if individuals let fear, anxiety, and confusion spread, they will most likely begin to feel helpless. For many, the purchase of a weapon resolves that sense of helplessness.”
Mexico calls on citizens to avoid nonessential travel during the pandemic – particularly to the US
From CNN’s Natalie Gallon in Mexico City
Mexico has urged its citizens to avoid nonessential travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, specifically asking them not to go to the United States.
The country’s foreign ministry is calling on its citizens to avoid tourism or recreational travel, “particularly between Mexico and the United States,” according to a statement released Wednesday, as Mexico attempts to “mitigate the spread, transmission and complications of COVID-19 in the community.”
The government is also urging Mexicans who are permanent residents in the US wanting to reunite with families to “temporarily stop nonessential travel to our country,” the statement adds.
As of Wednesday night, there were a total of 37 deaths, and 1,378 positive cases of the coronavirus recorded in the country, Mexico’s health authorities said during a nightly health news conference.
Only some medical supplies from overseas going directly to coronavirus hotspots
By Leyla Santiago, Priscilla Alvarez and Kristen Holmes, CNN
(CNN)Only a portion of the medical supplies being flown in by the Federal Emergency Management Agency from overseas are being allotted to critical hotspots prioritized by the agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The rest will resupply the private market, where competition between states and the federal government has been a source of frustration for governors trying to shore up equipment to treat patients with coronavirus, according to multiple officials.
The Trump administration has touted the incoming flights, billing them and the equipment they’re bringing in as a reprieve to states desperate for supplies. But states are not the sole recipients of the equipment, according to a FEMA spokesperson. Supplies will also be sent to the private market, where states have been in fierce competition with each other to get hold of hard-to-come-by supplies.
“These supplies will soon be distributed around the country. We have large cargo planes coming in from various parts of the world,” President Donald Trump said during Wednesday’s briefing, noting it includes gloves, gowns, goggles and masks. “We’re adding more and more.”
Trump has suggested that states are overestimating their needs, previously saying, “Some people frankly think they need them and they don’t need,” referring to ventilators.
To fill the supply shortage, FEMA is chartering overseas flights with medical supplies secured by private companies. On the first overseas flight that landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday, according to FEMA, the federal agency purchased 60% of the supplies from the private company, and distributed the supplies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The remaining 40% of the supplies on the flight went back to the private market.
In the overseas flights that have followed, however, FEMA has given the private companies supplying medical equipment a list of prioritized hot spots, identified by FEMA and HHS, that should receive at least 50% of supplies from the flight. According to one official, each chartered flight will be different in terms of what resources get distributed where, based on contracts negotiated by the government and the companies providing the supplies.
As of noon Wednesday, four flights – all chartered by FEMA – had arrived with supplies, according to FEMA. The agency has not released a list of the counties that will receive supplies but indicated they include areas in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Washington and California.
FEMA, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, has been fielding requests for medical supplies and personal protective equipment from states. The agency says it’s focusing allocation of resources to “highly impacted areas,” but some governors, like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, say they’ve faced pushback to those requests. Pritzker told CNN that Vice President Mike Pence shot down the state’s estimate of how many ventilators were needed.
“Well, unfortunately, we, as I said, we need 4,000 ventilators,” Pritzker told CNN Tuesday. “And I spoke with the vice president earlier today. When I said that and repeated that to him, he said, ‘Well, our models show that maybe you need 1,400 ventilators.’”
Requests are being adjudicated against need and priority, according to a senior DHS official, who added algorithms are being developed to help in the decision-making process.
FEMA told stakeholders earlier this week that it’s distributing resources based on “data-informed” decisions that will be coordinated between the US government and the private sector, according to an advisory obtained by CNN.
As the government enlists companies to ramp up production, the so-called National Resource Prioritization Cell has also been established to “unify government and private industry prioritization recommendations which will inform federal, state and private sector operations,” according to the advisory.
The agency also provided guidance on questions regarding requests for ventilators, a critical item for treating some coronavirus patients. Among the questions is how many usable ventilators, ICU beds, and convertible ventilators are available within the state or tribe, how many anesthesia machines does a state or tribe have and have they been converted, among others.
Still, there’s been widespread confusion among governors and lawmakers about distribution decisions. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts requested information on how the federal government plans to get equipment to her state in a letter to FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor.
Washington, one of the states hardest hit by coronavirus, has also received little explanation as to why they haven’t received certain supplies and equipment.
One of the sources of supplies – the Strategic National Stockpile – is deploying the last round of shipments in its inventory, depleting the bulk of its protective gear, according to a source familiar.
As the National Stockpile runs low, FEMA is assessing the global market for much needed medical supplies and working with private entities to secure and distribute that equipment to health care workers across the country. The chartered flights, according to the administration, will expedite the process for companies seeking to get medical supplies to clients in the US.
But where those items will go is still not a guarantee, even for states where the flights are expected to land. A senior Illinois state official told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday that the state was not benefiting from the supplies coming to their state.
Referring to “Project Airbridge” – the airlift of supplies – the official said “all the goods went to other states.”
“We got nothing,” the official added.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/fema-flights-distribution/index.html
I still can’t believe the pushback that I and others are getting on our town’s Facebook page. One comment: “Please stop judging people and spreading anger and hate. If there was ever a time to spread love, this is it.” Another comment: " I’m also doing the best I can to trust the universe and let each human make choices for themselves."
On the positive side, I’m getting lots of likes when I posted a photograph of a colorful poster titled, “NO MEANS NO!” on that same town Facebook page. The woman who was Director of Public Health in Maine for 15 years even liked it. 
The poster explains that there should be no gatherings with friends or family for any reason, and then lists a lot of the excuses people are giving.
I understand that I won’t change a single person’s mind, but maybe it will give a parent a little ammunition to use when little Suzy wants to go for a walk with her boyfriend.
Malaysian government apologizes after advising wives to avoid “nagging” during quarantine
From CNN’s Joshua Berlinger in Hong Kong
The Malaysian government was forced to apologize after its Women’s Development Department published a series of sexist “tips” to help deal with home quarantine, like advising women to continue to wear makeup and to “avoid nagging.”
The campaign was met with fierce backlash, and the posts have since been deleted from the department’s social media account.
One of the biggest criticisms was that the government body charged with supporting women appeared to be ignoring concerns about a rise in domestic violence that may accompany stay-at-home orders to focus on things like how women should dress.
“The approach used was to share methods and practices to maintain positive relationships within the family and during the phase of working from home,” she said in a statement. "We have taken note of numerous comments on some tips for women which were promoted through posters via our social media accounts.
The Malaysian government and its leaders have faced accusations of sexism and misogyny on multiple occasions in recent years. During a debate on amending domestic violence laws in 2017, a member of parliament said husbands were “abused” when wives threw insults, withheld sex and denied consent for Muslim men to take another wife.
British doctors have received guidance on which patients to save if health system overwhelmed
From CNN’s Simon Cullen in London
Older patients with a low chance of survival could have life-saving ventilators removed so the machines can be given to healthier patients under new ethics guidelines issued by the British Medical Association (BMA).
The guidance has been prepared for doctors who will need to make “grave decisions” about who should receive “scarce lifesaving resources” if the country’s health system is overwhelmed by coronavirus cases.
“As such, some of the most unwell patients may be denied access to treatment such as intensive care or artificial ventilation,” the BMA’s ethics guidance note states.
“This will inevitably be indirectly discriminatory against both the elderly and those with long-term health conditions, with the latter being denied access to life-saving treatment as a result of their pre-existing health problems.”
Older patients given lower priority: The guidance says imposing an age cut-off would be illegal, but adds that older patients with pre-existing respiratory problems would have a “very high chance of dying despite intensive care,” and are therefore lower priority for admission.
The guidance states: “In dangerous pandemics the ethical balance of all doctors and health care workers must shift towards the utilitarian objective of equitable concern for all – while maintaining respect for all as ‘ends in themselves.’”
The ethics guidance note was updated on April 1. The UK government has previously warned the country’s health system could be overwhelmed if strict social distancing measures are not followed.
UK health authorities look to Germany to scale up coronavirus testing
From CNN’s Simon Cullen
Public Health England says it’s in contact with its peers in Germany amid criticism that the UK is significantly lagging behind in its coronavirus testing capacity.
The organisation’s medical director Paul Cosford told Sky News that the UK is testing nearly 15,000 people a day and aims to reach 25,000 a day by the middle of April.
In contrast, Germany leading virologist Christian Drosten says his country is testing 500,000 a week.
“I absolutely accept that we need to build this further,” Professor Cosford said. “There is a lot of work that is going on in order to get this testing capacity in place.”
“We’re in constant discussions with colleagues in Germany – and other countries – around what they’re doing, where their sources are coming from, what their supply system is. “Of course we need to build this further.”
He says only “about 2,000” frontline National Health Service workers have so far been tested for the virus.
In a worrying sign, a refugee camp in Greece has been placed under quarantine after 20 of its in-place residents were diagnosed with coronavirus, reports Helena Smith in Athens.
Officials began testing people in the facility after a woman from the camp was discovered to have contracted the virus after giving birth in an Athens hospital this week.
Those who tested positive were among a group of 63 traced through the woman although officials none were displaying symptoms of the novel virus, the migration ministry said. Northeast of the capital, the Ritsona installation is home to some 3,000 asylum seekers.
“For a period of 14 days, entry and exit form the reception centre will be strictly forbidden,” the ministry said in a statement this morning. “There is a reinforced presence of police in the surrounding area.”
The national organisation of public health had also rushed in extra staff. Tests will continue to be conducted throughout the day, officials said.
Greece has faced growing pressure from an array of organisations, including the United Nations, to evacuate severely overcrowded migrant and refugee camps since the pandemic’s arrival in Europe. Facilities on Aegean isles opposite the Turkish coast - outposts that have been the main port of entry for refugees into Greece and the EU - are currently hosting more than 40,000 men, women and children.
In Lesbos, alone, around 22,000 people are crammed into a single camp where doctors say extremely poor sanitation and lack of basic facilities make it a particularly high-risk environment for the spread of coronavirus. (Guardian)
Documents show backlog of 160,000 coronavirus tests at just one lab company
From CNN’s Drew Griffin, Curt Devine, Scott Bronstein and Nelli Black
As the US health-care system has scrambled to track the spread of coronavirus, one of the nation’s largest commercial labs has faced a backlog of tests that ballooned in the past two weeks.
Delayed results in some cases take up to 10 days.
New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics had about 160,000 coronavirus test orders waiting to be processed on March 25, which amounted to about half of the 320,000 total orders for the tests the company had received up to that date, according to Quest internal materials obtained by CNN.
The company, which is now testing for the virus at a dozen labs across the country, referred to the orders as a “significant amount of backlog,” according to the materials.
Although a vast network of labs at public health departments and universities are also testing for the novel coronavirus, the Trump administration has leaned on commercial labs, which have greater capacity, to roll out widespread testing.
Third federal prisoner dies from coronavirus, as number of infected inmates rises
From CNN’s David Shortell
A third inmate at the federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, died Wednesday from coronavirus, according to a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman.
Three inmates at the low-security prison have now died from the virus, including two on Wednesday.
No details about the inmate were immediately available, the BOP said. All three deaths in the federal prison system have so far occurred at the Louisiana facility, which houses 980 male offenders.
Number of infected prisoners growing: As of Wednesday, 57 federal inmates have been officially diagnosed with coronavirus – up from 28 on Monday – in addition to 37 BOP staff members.
Wednesday also saw the first day of a heightened state of lockdown at the nation’s 122 federal prisons. Under a new BOP protocol, the fifth phase of its Covid-19 Action Plan, inmates began a two-week period confined in their cells with limited exceptions for education programs, health treatment and some prison services.
[ This story was posted a few days ago but I’m posting again because the count for positives is up to 44 from 28 previously reported. ]
More than 40 spring breakers who ignored public health advice test positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Christina Zdanowicz
Dozens of spring breakers from Texas boarded a plane for fun and came home with coronavirus.
About 70 people in their 20s chartered a plane from Austin, Texas, to Mexico for spring break two weeks ago. They went against the advice of White House officials who asked that people avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 and nonessential air travel.
Now 44 of those people have tested positive for coronavirus – all of them University of Texas at Austin students, a university spokesman told CNN on Wednesday.
An elected official had a blunt message for the spring breakers.
“Quit being an a**,” Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen told CNN affiliate KXAN. “Get over yourselves. Whether you think this is an issue or not, it is. Whether you think it could affect you or not, it does. The reality of it is, if I’m a college kid who’s going to spring break in Mexico, you’re affecting a lot of people. Grow up.”
What’s also alarming is that some of the passengers who went on the trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, took commercial flights home, the Austin Public Health Department said.
In Australia, there are now at least 576 coronavirus cases nationwide linked to the Ruby Princess.
In a move the NSW health minister later admitted was a mistake, 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark without checks from NSW Health on 19 March, with many boarding flights interstate. Another boatload of passengers disembarked on 8 March.
On Tuesday, we revealed that there were at least 229 cases interstate – according to the health departments of every state and territory. That number will be inevitably be higher today, as we’re still waiting for the other states to release their latest numbers.
But as of Wednesday, there were 78 in SA, and of Monday, there were 70 in Queensland, 43 in Western Australia, 22 in the ACT, 18 in Victoria, 3 in Tasmania and 3 in the NT. Add that to NSW’s announced 340, and you get 576.
That’s 11.5% of our national total of coronavirus cases (4,976). (Guardian)
Animal tragic: New Zealand zoos strive to entertain lonely inhabitants amid lockdown
While humans have been using Netflix and Zoom to quell the coronavirus lockdown ennui, New Zealand’s zoo animals have also been struggling with boredom – and zookeepers have had to resort to some unusual measures to keep them entertained.
Puzzles, perfume and new types of play have all been deployed to keep the more curious residents engaged and happy.
The rhinos keep turning up for their 3.15pm appearances – when they usually get a belly rub – while the giraffes have remained punctual for their noon and 3pm commitments.
Zookeepers have been forced to work twice as hard to stimulate and entertain the animals, including taking llamas for long walks, spraying cologne and perfume in hiding places to intrigue the lions, and offering puzzle feeders or playing unusual sounds to keep the keas on their toes. (Guardian)
California appears to be flattening the curve. But its testing lags behind other states
The Guardian’s Maanvi Singh reports from Oakland with Sam Levin in Los Angeles
California has not seen the surge in coronavirus cases that have overwhelmed cities like New York and Detroit in the past week, which suggests that the state’s early and restrictive shelter-in-place orders could be slowing the virus’ spread. But experts say delays in testing have limited the understanding of the outbreak and have hindered containment efforts.
As of Tuesday, more than 86,100 tests had been administered in the state, and of those, 57,400 results were still pending. By comparison, New York, which has about half the population of California, has processed more than 200,000 tests. Washington state, which has less than a fifth of California’s population, has processed 65,462 tests.
Testing efforts in California have been set back due to a lack of swabs, vials and media for collecting patient samples, as well as a shortage of kits and bottlenecks at labs.
The award-winning singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger, best known for his work with US rock band Fountains Of Wayne, has reportedly died at the age of 52 after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Fountains Of Wayne’s hits included Stacy’s Mom and Hey Julie. They formed in New Jersey in 1995 and were named after a lawn ornament store in the state. Over his career, Schlesinger earned nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, Tonys, Grammys and Emmys, winning the latter two.
In 2019 he won the Emmy for outstanding original music and lyrics for Antidepressants Are So Not A Big Deal from the TV musical drama Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
He died on Wednesday morning, according to Variety.
A statement from his family on Tuesday said he was in hospital in New York fighting Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. (Guardian)
The Pentagon is looking into sourcing and providing as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for civilian use, according to Bloomberg News.
Bloomberg reports:
The Pentagon is looking into buying more bags and will draw some initially from a stockpile of 50,000 it maintains, according to two people familiar with the request.
The move is a somber counterpoint to the Pentagon’s highly-praised deployment of two hospital ships to New York and Los Angeles to help alleviate pressure on regional hospitals overburdened by the pandemic.
The Defense Logistics Agency’s Troop Support unit manages the Pentagon’s stockpile of the green nylon, 94-inch by 38-inch body bags that are typically distributed to war zones. The unit has been in contact with the current contractor to assess its manufacturing capabilities but hasn’t yet placed a formal order, according to one of the people.
Yesterday, the White House projected that as many as 240,000 Americans could die from Covid-19, even if distancing meaures and other public health interventions are put in place.
Cambodian government accused of using coronavirus pandemic to assert absolute power
The Cambodian government has been accused of manipulating the coronavirus pandemic to assert absolute power “over all aspects of civil, political, social, and economic life”, after it put forward a draft state of emergency law that includes no time limits, checks or balances, reports Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok.
Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s regional director, described the draft law as “wildly disproportionate”, adding that it threatens to permanently undercut the human rights of everyone in the country.
The legislation contains sweeping provisions that would grant the government 12 specific powers including unlimited surveillance of telecommunications and control over the press and social media. The government would also gain the ability to restrict freedom of movement and assembly, seize private property and enforce quarantines.
In addition, a catch-all clause would grant unlimited powers by authorising any “other measures that are deemed appropriate and necessary in response to the state of emergency.”
A state of emergency could be invoked whenever “the nation is facing a great risk” such as in war, a pandemic, or “grave disruption to national security and to public order”, according to the draft law.
Rights groups point out prime minister Hun Sen’s poor record on human rights, and warn the law is so vaguely worded that it could be used to target government critics.
Anyone found guilty of disobeying emergency measures faces 10 years in prison.
Brad Adams, Human Right Watch’s Asia director said the Cambodian government was using the pandemic as “a pretext to assert absolute power over all aspects of civil, political, social, and economic life”.
The country has recorded more than 100 coronavirus cases. (Guardian)
Russia records largest single-day rise in coronavirus cases
Andrew Roth Andrew Roth, Guardian
Russia posted its largest single-day rise in identified cases of coronavirus as the country has passed tougher measures to enforce shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the disease, reports Andrew Roth in Moscow.
Officials said they had identified 771 new cases of coronavirus in the past day, a 28% from the previous day that brings the country’s total number of infected to 3,548. Nearly 600 of the new cases were in Moscow, which has been the Russian city hit hardest by the crisis, with 2,475 confirmed cases. So far, 30 people have died due to the virus, official statistics report.
Putin has also signed into law tougher sentences for violating medical quarantines required for coronavirus patients and others required to self-isolate, and also for spreading false information about coronavirus and ways to prevent its spread. The toughest measures would give violators of quarantines up to seven years in prison, if their actions lead to the deaths of two people or more.
The numbers indicate that the disease is still on the rise in Russia and reflect the country’s increased testing capacity, which this week began to announce strict shelter-in-place measures. Moscow has told its population of 12 million to stay at home unless they are seeking medical help, going to the store or pharmacy, or walking a pet. Vladimir Putin, who shook hands last week with a doctor who later tested positive for coronavirus, is holding his meetings by teleconference, according to a Kremlin spokesman.
Russia yesterday said it had delivered a planeload of medical supplies, including masks and ventilators, to the United States to help fight coronavirus there. US officials however said that the equipment had been purchased. Russia in early March banned the export of masks because of a lack of medical supplies in the country. Most pharmacies in Moscow do not have masks for sale.
**
Here is npr about dr Christian Drosten, world renown covid expert,number one apple podcast in Germany.
I will do my very best not to comment on NY any longer but let’s be clear, Governor Cuomo was quoted many, many times as saying the he needed schools open because that was the childcare for his healthcare workers. He said multiple times that if there was no school, no hospital workers. He wanted to keep basic social programming up and running. Not just schools, but other agencies too. When NY should have been shuttered, he was still saying to, “go out but wash your hands.”
Governor Cuomo was very late to shut down hence the horrific blue line that is haunting. The CA and WA lines tell the tale.
On a personal note I am very worried about the “lunch ladies” who are now responsible for providing food for communities. Cuomo has kept the school lunch programs open which are largely staffed by older ladies. These women have no personal protection and should be home social distancing as well. They went from part time job working at the school kitchen for minimum wage, to essential community worker. At some point people need to drop to neighbors helping neighbors, families helping families and rely on food banks and let these ladies stay home and protect themselves.
It’s all very sad.
I realize that by now we’re likely well page 604 which is where I stopped.
@cmfl11 : to you and to @milee30 and your fellow Floridians.
I’m glad many Floridians are social distancing. But I’ve been very worried about people in Florida because your governor didn’t seem to understand the few facts we do know about the virus. I’ve been worried enough that a couple weeks ago, even before spring break, I’ve convinced someone not to go. Not because I don’t trust Floridians who are in self isolation or follow their county’s rules. But because it needs to be everywhere to be effective and people who understand the virus carriers to be exogen don’t get that they could be spreading the disease.
From what I’ve read, most people contaminate four others, which is why it spreads fast. But some people seem to be able to contaminate 50 or 60 people…
So I’m even more glad that there’s a statewide order that will prevent those who don’t care/don’t get it from annihilating the sacrifices made by their fellow Floridians.
I saw that some towns and counties made difficult choices at least a week ago to protect their residents.
But you need as close to zero as possible and it can’t happen unless there’s a statewide order, enforced.
Otherwise, you and your family are sacrificing but could still get infected by people who cough near you at the grocery store (some stores have a quota of customers allowed inside but even then most people shopping simply don’t measure distances in the aisles. Not to mention all the products that were touched by how many people…)
Unless it’s statewide and enforced, people just go where the rules aren’t strictly enforced or where there’s no stay at home order. A county’s beaches may be closed and another one open, people will just go to the open beach, friends will share bottles from a common cooler, socialize, etc. Some old people still think the virus has been blown out of proportion, that it’s some kind of my that’ll disappear in warm weather.
The past three weeks have been chock full of opportunities for the virus to spread.
Something else, an observation after 4 weeks of social distancing and three weeks in isolation:
Social distancing may not be an obvious instant decision, many can mean well and get it wrong. Like that person who didn’t see the harm in teens walking hand in hand. Like the guy who went fishing, on his own. Even worse, it’s hard to get rid of lifelong habits. 
Not all people who make “social distancing” mistakes are selfish jerks or bozos. They think they’re social distancing but don’t realize they aren’t.
It takes about two weeks, sometimes more, to change habits.
Yes! In twenty years of reading various message boards I have never felt the need to use the ignore feature until this thread.
This is the best hope I’ve heard in a long time (well, few days - which is a long time under the circumstances)!
May this and things like it work, get spread world-wide, save tons of lives, and let the non-believers feel smug about it all being an overreaction!
(I don’t believe the non-believers one hoot, but I’m ok with their continued delusion as I doubt anything will change their minds - the alternative is having tons of deaths and no amount of “proving it” is worth that if we get alternatives. I’m still really hoping social distancing and slowing things allows such medical breakthroughs to happen and make a difference.)
@sue22:
one thing that might already be done but just in case: in France, empty hotels are donating rooms to healthcare workers, so that they don’t have to drive after exhausting shifts and don’t have to worry about contaminating their families.
I’m hoping your daughter gets to have access to this. It’s not much considering the risks she’s taking and the state she must be in.
Young people organize neighborhood pick ups that they deliver to old people, "frontline"and “homefront”* families, and to the hotels so that the healthcare workers don’t have to worry about cooking. I suppose the same is going on everywhere with stay-at-home orders.
Perhaps not relevant, except in some big cities: Some families in historical centers near hospitals left for their second home (very common in France, which became industrialized later than many countries, so that many urban dwellers have places in the countryside they can’t sell because no one wants to live where there are more cows than people; and of course, upper middle class people have second homes. That’s something like 10% of all dwellings.) These families let healthcare workers use their apartments.
*“homefront” workers are people who work in grocery stores, teachers who volunteered to teach/watch healthcare workers’ children (groups of 8 max), police officers tasked with enforcing the “shelter in place” order and, when appropriate, the curfews, etc. Personal translations, the official terms are “personnes en première ligne”, “personne en 2e ligne du front”.
@privatebanker: Thanks. I remember that in one of the last posts of yours that I’d read you’d mentioned your wife, so I also hope she’s okay.
(Edited because that was too much personal information, sorry). I was checked by a pneumologist and I’m fine despite a cough that won’t go away. It’s hard being away even though I know it’s the right thing to do.
I try to handle my advisees and their parents. Those who freak out I understand, those who say “it’s okay, everything’s normal” I worry about.
Another thing that may seem strange to think about but it’s the right site for it: college in the Fall and college admissions are going to be greatly impacted.
For all of you conversing about the different places and current “where they are on the curve” bit, it might help to remember a lot depends upon the unknown. How many real cases were there in that area to start the curve and how active were the original spreaders?
If Area 1 had 10 cases listed, but there were really 100 just 90 weren’t found, and 50 of those were gleefully or unknowingly out gallivanting there’s a high spread so their curve really got started.
If Area 2 had 10 cases listed, but there were really just 15 and 4 of the other 5 were natural introverts with the 5th keeping to a regular routine, they didn’t get as quick of a start on the curve.
Natural social distancing helps too as does luck of the draw with who went where.
Our county doesn’t have many cases (yet). The first one found returned from a trip to Spain. Their family knew the risk and stayed home. Had that person (and their family) decided to go out and about vs being intelligent our whole region would be different right now. Fortunately for us, they were intelligent.
Laws are needed in part because there are too many stupid (or perhaps selfish) people out there. BUT in the beginning, not much was known (or shared) and we all know that even Powers That Be in our country were calling it a non-issue well after it was known to be an issue. Spread then wasn’t necessarily intentional. It was luck (bad or good depending on where one was).
How folks in the bad luck places reacted to it then seems to have made the difference in hot spots now. Folks in good luck places are fortunate. But how they react now will make a difference in their futures too because the virus is all over, just no one knows exactly where. There’s still a bit of luck involved.
ST. LOUIS — So far it seems the stay-at-home order issued to combat the coronavirus pandemic is reducing crime in the city of St. Louis and elsewhere.
According to preliminary crime statistics, shootings and certain types of assaults and thefts are down by as much as a third when compared to the same week last year in St. Louis – and police aren’t as active, either.
Assaults are down by 34%; assaults with a gun are down 29%; and thefts without any use of force are down by 18% for the week ending March 25 when compared to the same week in 2019.
Homicides, burglaries and carjackings remain relatively stagnant, with homicide numbers being too low for meaningful comparisons, said University of Missouri-St. Louis Criminologist Rick Rosenfeld.
More disturbing news this morning. From CNN:
Wear a mask, or something similar, when you go to public places where there’re other people! It may just save you.
I grew-up in a rural, depressed area (coal mining). I’ve run across other hunters while hunting. When I asked “what are you hunting for?” the answer has been “supper”. They weren’t kidding. If they didn’t take home venison or fowl there was no protein on the table.
One time I walked into my grandfather’s garage. He was cleaning a groundhog and dropped it in a pot. I asked what he was doing. He said “supper”. No thanks. Those old-timers were tough. I once attended a rattlesnake rodeo in Alabama. The grilled rattlesnake was sold out before I could get any.
I still hunt but mostly donate the venison to the food banks. They love it. I can’t speak for bats or other exotic animals but with venison it’s all in how you take care of the meat after harvest.