Tag: coronavirus

Trump signs $8.3 billion coronavirus package

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Friday signed a bill providing $8.3 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The bill provides $7.76 billion to federal, state and local agencies to combat the coronavirus and authorizes an additional $500 million in waivers for Medicare telehealth restrictions.

Trump was originally expected to sign the bill at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Friday but abruptly cancelled his trip there. He told reporters Friday morning that the trip was cancelled because of a suspected coronavirus case at the CDC itself but that it turned out to be negative. The White House later put the CDC visit back on Trump’s schedule for Friday afternoon. Continue reading.

What A Sane Government Would Do

As the new coronavirus casts a frightening shadow across the nation and the world, it is glaringly obvious how poorly prepared we are for the pandemic — despite many warnings we should have heeded over the past two decades. Perhaps we will again escape without catastrophic consequences, although that is by no means certain.

If we do, it will largely be a function of lucky circumstance. But we may not be so lucky again. And there are many things that a competent and intelligent government can do — could have done — to prevent the worst.

Competent and intelligent government is not what exists in Washington now. We know that not only because everything President Donald Trump has said about COVID-19 is precisely false, or because the Trump administration has screwed up the simplest preparations for its spread, but because two years ago, this president dismantled the agencies created by his predecessor after the Ebola outbreak to cope with a future medical crisis. Continue reading.

Trump’s bogus effort to blame Obama for sluggish coronavirus testing

Washington Post logo“The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing. And we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion. That was a decision we disagreed with. I don’t think we would have made it, but for some reason it was made. But we’ve undone that decision.”

— President Trump, remarks at a roundtable with airline executives, March 4

“This was a very big move. It was something that we had to do and we did it very quickly. And now we have tremendous flexibility. Many, many more sites. Many, many more people. And you couldn’t have had that under the Obama rule, and we ended that rule very quickly.”

— Trump, additional remarks at the same meeting

When things get tough in the Trump administration, the president has a default position — blame Barack Obama.

The administration has been under fire for its failure to quickly expand testing for coronavirus across the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had distributed flawed tests to state and local health departments. The lack of tests, compared with countries like South Korea that have tested tens of thousands of people, has meant the possible spread of the virus in the United States may be hidden.

‘Doomed from the Start.’ Experts Say the Trump Administration’s Coronavirus Response Was Never Going to Work

The Trump Administration’s strategy to combat COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, began with a relatively simple focus: keep it out of the United States. In service of that goal, the White House issued drastic travel restrictions, imposed mandatory quarantines, and repeatedly told the public that these steps were working.

“We have contained this. I won’t say airtight but pretty close to airtight,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in a television interview on Feb. 25, echoing Trump’s tweeted declaration that the virus was “very much under control” in the United States.

But it wasn’t, and the administration’s rosy messaging was fundamentally at odds with a growing cacophony of alarm bells inside and outside the U.S. government. Since January, epidemiologists, former U.S. public health officials and experts have been warning, publicly and privately, that the administration’s insistence that containment was—and should remain—the primary way to confront an emerging infectious disease was a grave mistake. Continue reading.

White House sidelines Azar from coronavirus response

HHS Secretary Alex Azar has gone from the face of President Donald Trump’s virus team to a supporting character.

There will be a notable omission when Vice President Mike Pence visits Washington state Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response: health Secretary Alex Azar.

The White House on Wednesday also benched Azar from a coronavirus task force press briefing, the latest sign of diminished standing for an official who was the face of the U.S. response to the disease just a week ago.

Four of Azar’s deputies — including Medicare chief Seema Verma and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Steve Hahn, who were both added to the task force after Pence took over the federal response — joined the vice president and other officials at the White House on Wednesday. Continue reading.

Coronavirus testing could cost some patients extra

The Hill logoThe Trump administration’s efforts to scale up coronavirus testing in the U.S. could leave some patients with unexpected medical bills.

The federal government will rely heavily on commercial labs to run the vast majority of coronavirus tests. Those labs, along with hospitals and academic institutions, could bill patients and their insurance companies for testing.

How much each patient pays will ultimately depend on whether they have insurance, what kind of plan they have and whether it requires cost-sharing, like deductibles and copays. Continue reading.

Here’s how Padma Lakshmi and other expert cooks say you should stock your pantry for a coronavirus quarantine

Washington Post logoEdward Lee is not prepared for a coronavirus lockdown. His pantry is not stocked. He shops often, buying only what he needs and what will fit in his small kitchen. “I’m a chef, so I rarely cook at home from scratch,” he said with a shrug. “My fridge is filled with leftovers from the restaurant. My whole life is eating leftovers.”

In other words, he’s like a lot of people.

For years, nutritionists and cookbook writers have advised Americans to keep a stocked pantry, and to cook and eat together. It’s better for our health. It’s better for our relationships. (There are even apps that will help you do a lot of the planning.) And yet, we’ve stubbornly refused. Research firm NPD reported in 2017 that cold cereal, toaster pastries, yogurt and tap water are among the most popular “meals” prepared at home. Food Genius, a food-data firm now owned by U.S. Foods, estimates that as many as 80 percent of Americans don’t make plans for dinner until at least 4 p.m. the same day. Continue reading.

Trump says thousands with coronavirus could go to work and get better as CDC says ‘do not go to work’

AlterNet logoRunning roughshod over the advice of trained medical professionals and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Donald Trump Wednesday night suggested to millions of Fox News viewers that people infected with coronavirus could still go to work and recover, comments that were immediately condemned as irresponsible and dangerous.

“A lot of people will have this and it’s very mild. They’ll get better very rapidly,” Trump told Fox‘s Sean Hannity. “They don’t even see a doctor, they don’t even call a doctor. You never hear about those people.”

“So you can’t put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and/or virus,” Trump continued. “So you just can’t do that. So, if, you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better.” Continue reading.

Rep. Dean Phillips Statement on Minnesota Coronavirus Case

MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA – Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) released the following statement today:

“Today’s announcement of a coronavirus (COVID-19) case in Minnesota is cause for concern but not cause for panic. I’m grateful to the extraordinary public health officials in Minnesota for their quick and transparent response, am monitoring the developing situation closely, and remain committed to tackling this threat with a unified, nonpartisan front at home and overseas.

We all have a role to play in keeping our community healthy – cover your cough, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, and please stay home if you are sick. If you or a loved one are exhibiting symptoms, call the Minnesota Department of HealthCoronavirus Hotline at 651-201-3920.”

For up-to-date information about coronavirus, visit:

 

Statement on first Minnesota case of COVID-19

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Majority Leader Ryan Winkler released the following statement on the first case of the COVID-19 virus in Minnesota:

“The Minnesota House of Representatives is continuing to work with Governor Walz, the Minnesota Senate, and local officials to ensure our state is prepared to respond to COVID-19. We encourage Minnesotans to follow the health guidelines put forward by the Minnesota Department of Health and the CDC.”