Tag: pandemic

‘It’s Time To Listen To The Facts’: Progressive Group’s Ads Call Out Rush Limbaugh On Coronavirus

314 Action, which backs scientists for office, is airing the spots during Limbaugh’s broadcasts in 14 states.

A progressive group plans to run ads during Rush Limbaugh’s radio show in 14 states, aiming to counter the popular ultra-conservative talk-show host’s misinformation about the severity of the coronavirus and his criticisms of government scientists.

“Fox News and their friends ― and I mean that broadly, not in reference to the program ― has turned a global pandemic into a litmus test about loyalty to Donald Trump,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, a chemist and former Democratic congressional candidate who leads the group 314 Action, which is focused on backing candidates with a background in science. Limbaugh, she said, is “endangering the lives of his own listeners.”

Limbaugh, along with other Trump-aligned conservative media figures, has repeatedly aired skepticism of the deadliness and seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed nearly 11,000 American lives and has sent the country into an all-but-certain recession as millions of Americans stay home in an effort to limit the strain on the country’s health care system.  Continue reading.

Acting Navy secretary apologizes for mocking captain who warned about coronavirus

In an extraordinary reversal, Thomas Modly, acting secretary of the Navy, has apologized for mocking Capt. Brett Crozier, who was removed from his post after warning about a coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker reports for TODAY. View the post here.

Pressure mounts on Congress for quick action with next coronavirus bill

The Hill logoLawmakers are facing mounting pressure to move to the next phase of coronavirus legislation, less than two weeks after passing a historic $2.2 trillion economic relief bill.

While the most recent round of federal funding was unprecedented in its scope and scale, the delivery of the aid to its intended targets has been hobbled by administrative and other logistical pitfalls, causing delays in distribution and sparking widespread anxieties about when the assistance will reach businesses, families and workers hardest hit by the swift-moving pandemic.

Those problems have unfolded just as President Trump and his public health team are warning that the next two weeks could prove to be one of the most trying stretches in modern American history, as the number of cases and deaths are expected to spike and governments at every level implement ever-more-stringent self-isolation measures, which have already devastated businesses large and small across the country. Continue reading.

Justice Ginsburg sends out dire warning about the new Supreme Court ruling in Wisconsin election case

AlterNet logoJustice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a disturbing dissent on Monday as the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in Tuesday’s upcoming Wisconsin election with a move she warned could result in “massive disenfranchisement.”

The election, which includes the Democratic presidential primary, a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and a raft of other local campaigns, has become embroiled in controversy as observers warn the coronavirus pandemic threatens the safety and integrity of the election. While Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has pushed to delay the election until June in light of the pandemic, the Republican-dominated legislature has refused to act, apparently believing the chaos caused by the crisis will depress turnout and benefit the GOP.

A federal district court had previously stepped in and issued a ruling extending the deadline for the state to accept absentee ballots because, due to the pandemic, demand for such ballots has surged. Some fear that not all eligible voters will receive their ballots by April 7, election day, so the lower court had ruled that any ballot that was mailed in to the state by April 13 would be valid. Continue reading.

Plutocratic Rule In A Pandemic Is Terrible for Our Health

The novel coronavirus is quickly exposing the deadly dysfunction of our national government, which we can all now see represents capital rather than people. The problem is not capitalism per se. As Joe Biden reminds us, the billionaires who fund the campaigns of our leaders “aren’t bad guys.” The problem is that we have allowed these plutocrats to purchase politicians and thereby direct public policy. And the interests and needs of the plutocrats are diametrically opposed to the interests of ordinary working people.

This wasn’t always the case. A half century ago, it could be said that “what’s good for General Motors is good for America.” Back then, industry titans relied on American workers to produce their products and American consumers to buy them. They cared about the health of the nation, and were thus willing to fund things like public schools and infrastructure. They paid decent wages so that their workers could afford to buy their products.

Today’s plutocrats outsource manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries. They send their kids to private schools, live in gated communities, fly on private jets, and drink bottled water. They still care about profits and return on investment capital, but today, there is little connection between the health of the nation and the health of Wall Street. Indeed, last week, while a record 3.3 million Americans lost their jobs and filed for unemployment benefits, the stock market posted some of its largest gains since 1933, as Wall Street anticipated the $4 trillion slush fund that our government will set up to bail out corporate America, even as it continues laying off its workers. Continue reading.

Trump Threatens Inspector General Who Reported Virus Test Shortages

Donald Trump is attacking a report released Monday that found hospitals are the country are “unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands” and experiencing “severe shortages.”

The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services conducted phone interviews with administrators from 323 hospitals across 46 States to prepare its report.

Asked about the report’s findings at his daily coronavirus press briefing, Trump immediately launched into an attack on report because it was prepared by an inspector general. Continue reading.

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham spins a theological theory about the coronavirus origins on Fox News

AlterNet logoChristian evangelist Franklin Graham told Judge Jeannine Pirro on Fox News that the coronavirus pandemic happened because the world “has turned its back on God.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s God’s plan for this to happen,” Graham told Pirro after she asked Saturday why God would allow a pandemic to occur. “It’s because of the sin that’s in the world, judge. Man has turned his back on God, we have sinned against him and we need to ask for God’s forgiveness. And that’s what Easter is all about — it’s about God so loving the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have everlasting life.”

He added, “Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world. And if we put our faith and trust in him, he’ll forgive our sins. And he’ll heal our hearts, and he’ll change the course of our lives. And this pandemic — this is the result of a fallen world. A world that has turned its back on God. And so I would encourage people to pray, and let’s ask God for help.” Continue reading.

Health professionals warn of ‘explosion’ of coronavirus cases in minority communities

Covid-19 is hitting black and brown communities especially hard. But many states aren’t releasing or collecting the data to help fight back.

Early data shows the coronavirus is hitting black and brown Americans especially hard. But spotty government data collection and publication could prevent resources from flowing to the communities most ravaged by the pandemic.<

In Florida, five counties have revealed that black and Latino Covid-19 patients are getting hospitalized and, in some places, dying at higher rates than white patients. In Michigan, African Americans make up 14 percent of the state’s population but accounted for 33 percent of the Covid-19 cases and 41 percent of deaths as of Monday.

And when Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday that his state would begin releasing preliminary data on race and coronavirus deaths, he said he had a “disturbing” note: “Slightly more than 70 percent of all the deaths in Louisiana are of African Americans.” Continue reading.

Why does Trump call an 86-year-old unproven drug a game-changer against coronavirus?

Washington Post logoMedical experts say there is not enough evidence that anti-malarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine benefit patients with covid-19

The lack of vaccines and treatment for the novel coronavirus has allowed it to sweep the planet virtually unchecked. With a regimen of hunkering down and hand-washing the only effective way to slow its path, national leaders are desperate to find a medicine that could have an effect. But President Trump’s cheerleading for anti-malarial drugs has raised hopes beyond what is supported by the scientific facts.

>Bayer invented the medicine chloroquine in 1934, and it has been used for decades to treat malaria throughout the world. Hydroxychloroquine was invented during World War II to provide an alternative with fewer side effects.

Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil, is also used by patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to control inflammation. Both drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, are available as generics, but public and political interest has caused runs, hoarding and severe shortages in recent weeks. Continue reading.  Free article

Trump confronts most difficult week yet in coronavirus battle

The Hill logoPresident Trump and his administration are confronting the most difficult week yet of the novel coronavirus outbreak as cases are expected to approach peak levels in some of the hardest-hit areas of the country.

The administration is facing growing pressure to get medical supplies to states where hospitals fear shortages, and critics say a leadership vacuum has hurt the disbursement of critical resources.

The week ahead also will tell the tale of whether the administration’s guidelines for social distancing are working to flatten the curve of infections. Continue reading.