Tag: pandemic

Trump wants to deport 27,000 health care workers

AlterNet logoThe huge spike in coronavirus cases across the United States has hospitals struggling to remain fully staffed. A looming national doctor shortage appears imminent, and it’s never been clearer just how important America’s frontline medical workers are.

Many of them may not be able to work here much longer. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether hundreds of thousands of young people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—among them thousands of doctors and other medical professionals—lose the protected status that allows them to temporarily live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

The U.S. Supreme Court in November heard oral arguments on a set of cases challenging the legality of President Donald Trump’s efforts to terminate DACA,  which provided temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to some 825,000 undocumented young people, including those who are studying to enter the medical field. A decision from the high court could come any day. Continue reading.

Trump says coronavirus restrictions will be lifted “soon,” dismissing health experts

Axios logoPresident Trump struck a new tone at Monday’s coronavirus press briefing, suggesting that social distancing restrictions will be lifted “fairly soon” and that the U.S. has learned enough lessons to re-open the economy despite the ongoing pandemic: “I’m not looking at months, I can tell you that right now.”

Why it matters: Trump and some of his political and economic advisers are losing patience with public health experts who believe that easing restrictions and returning to normal life before “flattening the curve” could overwhelm the health system.

Reality check: We cannot both stop the spread of the coronavirus and reopen the economy. Continue reading.

Trump signals openings: US not ‘built to be shut down’

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Monday that his administration would work to allow local economies to “cautiously resume” activities at the appropriate time amid the coronavirus outbreak, adding that the United States “wasn’t built to be shut down.”

“Our public health experts, who are terrific, are studying the variation and the disease across the country, and we will be using data to recommend new protocols to allow local economies to cautiously resume their activity at the appropriate time,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room Monday evening.

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” Trump continued. “This is not a country that was built for this.” Continue reading.

Trump’s incompetence made the COVID-19 outbreak worse. Now he may spread the disease further to save his own skin

AlterNet logoThe reason why tens of millions of Americans are staying at home, watching their retirement accounts drop if they’re lucky enough to have one, is that the United States was woefully unprepared to conduct proper disease surveillance in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. If we had had sufficient testing early enough, we could have identified and isolated the infected. Because we didn’t–and because we still lack testing capacity even now, months into the outbreak–we have to isolate the healthy in order to drag out the spread of the infection so a surge in new cases doesn’t overwhelm our healthcare system, and hopefully for long enough that effective vaccines and/or antivirals can be developed and brought to market.

Our underfunded disease surveillance system predated Donald Trump’s presidency, but his leaderless regime aggravated the problems by disbanding the NSC’s pandemic team and cutting funding for the CDC and other relevant agencies.

And he is directly and personally responsible for spending weeks downplaying the severity of the outbreak instead of ordering ramped-up production of testing equipment, masks, etc. Even today, Trump claims to be a “wartime president” but he refuses to act like one… Continue reading.

Statement from Speaker Hortman on legislative activity

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA— Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman released the following statement on legislative activity:

“State Representatives are working to craft measures to assist Minnesotans coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and its related disruptions. We know that Minnesotans are facing significant medical concerns and financial hardships, and the Minnesota House of Representatives is working hard with the goal of a legislative session on Thursday to pass legislation to safeguard their health and economic well-being.

“The House is working via informal working groups, which mirror the existing committee structure. We are working to create opportunities for the public to engage and offer their feedback. In addition to reaching out to their representatives directly, members of the public may use a feedback form on the House website. We are working to implement a virtual committee hearing process that would be open to the public as soon as possible. DFL State Representatives alone have received input from and responded to thousands of constituents over the last week. We encourage members of the public to continue reaching out to their legislators. Continue reading “Statement from Speaker Hortman on legislative activity”

Jared Kushner behind plan to turn over pandemic crisis management to department with little medical experience: report

AlterNet logoBuried deep in an article describing the rift between the Trump administration and U.S. companies awaiting instructions on what the government requires of them to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reports that White House adviser Jared Kushner was behind a move to transfer responsibility for dealing with health crisis to FEMA although the agency lacks deep experience in dealing with health-related crises. Read the post here.

 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to self-quarantine after contact with confirmed case of COVID-19

A member of the governor’s security staff tested positive for the disease.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has gone into self-quarantine and is working from home after being exposed to someone with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The governor found out about his exposure Monday morning and has not left his home. Walz is not showing any symptoms of the disease but will follow the 14-day self-quarantine guidelines that health officials recommend after coming into contact with a known COVID-19 carrier.

Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals his ongoing battle to reason with Trump in surprisingly candid interview: ‘You have to say things 1, 2, 3, 4 times’

AlterNet logoDuring an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — for Science Magazine, writer Jon Cohen asked the well-known immunologist a blunt question: how has he managed to avoid getting fired from President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force? Fauci responded that despite disagreements “on some things,” Trump “does listen to what I say.” But Fauci, during the interview, went on to say that he has to repeat himself a lot with Trump — and some pundits are saying Fauci probably wouldhave been fired by now were he not so widely respected.

Fauci told Cohen, “When you’re dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times — and then, it happens. So, I’m going to keep pushing.”

When the Washington Post’s Jenna Johnson tweeted the interview and highlighted the “one, two, three, four times” quote, Twitter user Josh Jordan responded, “This quote is really stunning, and if Fauci wasn’t so well respected by both sides right now, Trump would’ve fired him this morning.” Continue reading.

Senators blast Rand Paul’s ‘irresponsible behavior while awaiting coronavirus results

Sen. Rand Paul, who confirmed Sunday that he had tested positive for coronavirus, spent a week interacting with other lawmakers and aides and using Capitol Hill facilities while awaiting his results, fellow lawmakers griped Monday.

“It’s disappointing that he went to the gym after he knew he didn’t get the results back. That’s very disappointing,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told reporters of Paul’s actions on Capitol Hill Monday morning.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) suggested that Paul’s prior occupation as a doctor should have made him act more mindfully. Continue reading.