Tag: coronavirus

$8.3 billion coronavirus emergency bill deal reached

The House is expected to vote on the bill to respond to the COVID-19 illness outbreak Wednesday

House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a nearly $8.3 billion emergency aid package to help contain and treat the novel coronavirus-caused respiratory illness that has resulted in the deaths of nine individuals in the U.S. and thousands worldwide.

The House is expected to vote on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill to respond to the COVID-19 illness outbreak on Wednesday, according to a notice sent to members from Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md.

Negotiators spent the night trading offers and seeking to resolve the biggest sticking point: how to apply government purchasing standards dictating that contracting officers “shall” obtain supplies and services — in this case, products like drug treatments, test kits and eventually vaccines — at “fair and reasonable prices.” Continue reading.

Mike Pence shook hands with 44 military cadets whose fellow student is now being quarantined for coronavirus

AlterNet logoA mother and son from Sarasota Military Academy in Florida are being quarantined for COVID-19, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. On the Academy’s Facebook page, the school posted on Monday that the “mother’s contact with a patient at Sarasota Doctors Hospital in her professional role,” had led to both her and her son to be quarantined as a “precautionary measure.” The two reportedly showed no symptoms of the virus.

On Friday, Feb. 28, Trump’s top coronavirus point man and non-believer in science, Mike Pence, held a fundraiser in Sarasota at the home of Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan. At the event, Pence talked about “possible changes in travel status to the United States,” while shaking hands with dozens of supporters and 44 cadets from Sarasota Military Academy. Ruh-roh.

The school’s executive director Col. Christina Bowman told the Tribune that “We have been in touch with the Pentagon, so we assured them that particular cadet was not present for that occasion.” Of course, his fellow students were and it sounds like Vice President Pence shook all of their hands. Hopefully none of the people involved test positive for COVID-19—including Pence. Continue reading.

Fed cuts interest rates by half a percentage point amid coronavirus fears

The Hill logoThe Federal Reserve on Tuesday cut interest rates amid concern about the potential economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets Fed interest rates, announced it would cut its baseline rate range by 0.5 percentage points to a 1 to 1.25 percent spread.

“The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity,” the FOMC said Tuesday in a statement. “In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals, the Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower the target range for the federal funds rate.” Continue reading.

Phillips, Problem Solvers meet with Vice President Pence on Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Dean Phillips joined members of the bipartisan Problems Solvers Caucus to meet with Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, in the White House Situation Room. After the meeting, Phillips released a statement:

“This morning I was among a small group of Democrats and Republicans who met with the Vice President to discuss the federal response to COVID-19. The role of Congress in a public health emergency of this magnitude is to appropriate the necessary resources to effectively and efficiently address the pandemic while providing oversight and ensuring accountability. I am on a mission to serve and protect my constituents and all Americans, and will continue to ask critical questions and demand action during the months ahead. We must tackle this threat with a unified, nonpartisan front at home and overseas, and ensure that our public health officials are afforded the resources to protect our nation.”

Live updates: Fed cuts interest rate; G-7 finance chiefs stop short of announcing specific actions to contain coronavirus fallout

Washington Post logoWith the coronavirus spreading unpredictably and Americans bracing for an increasing impact at home, the Federal Reserve made an emergency interest rate cut Tuesday, slashing the benchmark U.S. rate by half a percentage point.

The central bank has not made an emergency move like this since late 2008. It was also a sign that global central banks are prepared to act to contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus. The move came after President Trump, in a tweet, called for a “big” interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve “to make up for China’s coronavirus situation and slowdown.”

The markets quickly rallied after the Federal Reserve announced the decision. The rebound came after a volatile morning, with futures pointing positive and then staging a U-turn. Continue reading.

Furious Trump fans barrage conservative columnist who admitted coronavirus is a real problem

AlterNet logoA conservative columnist who is generally a supporter of President Donald Trump recently found himself getting barraged by the president’s fans because he admitted coronavirus could be a real problem for the global economy.

As the New York Times reports, Republican Rob Maness recently wrote a column for the conservative LifeZette website that outlined potential negative economic impacts from coronavirus, including the disruption of supply chains.

“The most significant major concern in America is the impact on pharmaceutical supply,” Maness wrote in his column. “Large numbers of drugs used to treat serious medical conditions are manufactured or their key components are produced in China. Medicines such as antibiotics amoxicillin, doxycycline, penicillin and other’s availabilities will be impacted as China continues its lock-down of factory workers because 90% of their sourcing is in China.” Continue reading.

Kept at the Hospital on Coronavirus Fears, Now Facing Large Medical Bills

New York Times logoCare was mandated by the government, but it’s not clear who has to pay.

Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter, Annabel, are among the dozens of Americans the government has flown back to the country from Wuhan, China, and put under quarantine to check for signs of coronavirus.

Now they are among what could become a growing number of families hit with surprise medical bills related to government-mandated actions.

Mr. Wucinski, a Pennsylvania native who has lived in China for years, accepted the U.S. government’s offer to evacuate from Wuhan with Annabel in early February as the new coronavirus spread. His wife, who is not an American citizen and remains in China, developed pneumonia that doctors think resulted from Covid-19, the disease caused by the respiratory virus. Her father, whom she helped care for, was infected and recently died. Continue reading.

CDC under fire for not releasing information on how coronavirus patients recovered

AlterNet logoThe CDC is again falling short of its responsibilities under the impending coronavirus pandemic. The agency that was once considered the best public health agency in the world for preventing the spread of infectious disease has withered under President Donald Trump, who installed as the head of the CDC a physician who “has no experience leading a public health agency.”

First the CDC botched the coronavirus test. The CDC insisted on creating and producing its own test rather than using one from the World Health Organization. Then it produced a faulty one that renders the test useless.

That likely explains why less than 500 people in the U.S. have been tested for COVID-19, while in other countries the number of people tested is dramatically higher. South Korea, according to the CDC, has tested 70,940 people as of Feb. 28. Continue reading.

Scoop: Lab for coronavirus test kits may have been contaminated

Axios logoA top federal scientist sounded the alarm about what he feared was contamination in an Atlanta lab where the government made test kits for the coronavirus, according to sources familiar with the situation in Atlanta.

Driving the news: The Trump administration has ordered an independent investigation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab, and manufacturing of the virus test kits has been moved, the sources said.

Why it matters: At the time the administration is under scrutiny for its early preparations for the virus, the potential problems at the lab became a top internal priority for some officials. But the Trump administration did not talk publicly about the Food and Drug Administration’s specific concerns about the Atlanta lab. Continue reading.

Internet recoils as ‘doped-up’ Trump stumbles through coronavirus press conference

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump once again hastily called a press conference held literally minutes after news broke that the U.S. has had its first coronavirus-19 death, in Washington state. Trump by most accounts did not inspire confidence, He also understated the number of people in the U.S. confirmed to have been infected by this new novel coronavirus. But perhaps most disturbing, many say, is Trump once against did not inspire confidence as he rambled and rattled off words that did not seem to make much sense.

Here’s what experts and others are saying in response to the Trump-Pence press conference. Continue reading.