Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R) announced Wednesday he tested positive for COVID-19 after developing symptoms Saturday.
He is the first member of Congress to test positive for the novel coronavirus. Shortly after his announcement another House member, Rep. Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah), 45, announced he had also tested positive for the virus.
Diaz-Balart, 58, has been in self-quarantine in his Washington, D.C., apartment since Friday. Continue reading.
Within weeks, our old lives were goneMy family lives in the Veneto, in Northern Italy, one of the regions worst hit by the novel coronavirus. We are on lockdown. It’s scary. It’s lonely. It’s uncomfortable. And did I mention scary?
I’ll spare you the statistics and the sermons; both are already abundant. But I do want to make one thing clear: If you think that by stocking up your pantries you have absolved yourself from the responsibility of preparing for this virus, you are mistaken. This is a crisis like none before. Be skeptical of both naysayers and doomsayers; there’s no way of knowing how this will end.
The restrictions came upon us slowly but steadily. Within two weeks, our old lives were gone. First the schools closed, then came social distancing. Then the government locked down the hardest-hit areas: no more going in and out of certain provinces; limited movements within the “red zones.” Then the whole country shut down. Most stores closed their doors. People who could were asked to telework; those who could not, and did not have a job related to the continuation of essential services, were placed on part-time schedules or unpaid leave. When we went out, we had to carry a pass explaining our reasons for being outside to show to the law enforcement officers patrolling the streets. The priority became keeping everyone inside, at all times. Continue reading.
Hi Neighbors,
Challenging days lie ahead, but I want you to know what we will overcome together. I’m writing to check in, share information, and to let you that I will always have your back.
As COVID-19 cases continue to be confirmed in Minnesota, I remind you that we all have a role to play in keeping our community safe and healthy. While closings, social distancing, and changes to our daily routines are challenging, it’s the pragmatic and responsible approach to protecting our healthcare professionals and ensuring hospital capacity can meet expected demand. We will succeed together, and I am proud to stand with Minnesota’s entire Delegation in support of our extraordinary front-line healthcare workers. With a united voice, we ask you to support them too. Continue reading “Rep. Dean Phillips: Flatten the Curve”
Are They Needed, Who Should Get Them, and What Conditions Ought To Be Attached?The COVID-19 pandemic is just beginning—but it is already having profound effects on many large businesses, which could lead to requests for federal government bailouts. Travel, hotel, and leisure industries have seen sharp declines in demand, and service sector activity is very likely to shrink dramatically. Businesses, and the people they employ, will be forced to adapt to falling revenues and will need to adapt to keep their doors open.
When self-help is insufficient, there are standard options for firms in trouble. They can borrow to get through cash flow problems. Or, when credit isn’t there, but the business is viable in the long run, they can ask for bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy gives them time to execute any needed reorganization and make deals with those to whom they owe money. These options are the default policy stance toward businesses under financial stress.
But at least one industry—airlines—has asked for a huge level of public support: more than $25 billion in outright grants and $25 billion in loans. This is a staggering request, bigger than the annual budgets of many states, which raises the issue of when a large firm or industry should be given public support to endure an economic shock. Making that decision at the current moment requires answers to three questions. Continue reading.
New reporting on Wednesday reveals the federal government assumes the coronavirus outbreak will last at least 18 months, lead to “significant shortages,” and cause “straining” of the healthcare system—an outlook greatly at odds with the president’s repeated public downplaying of the virus’s threat.
The forecast is laid out in an internal unclassified document, “U.S.Government COVID-19 Response Plan,” which was seen by the New York Times. Marked “for official use only/not for public distribution or release,” the document is dated March 13—the same day President Donald Trump finally declared a national emergency and rejected any responsibility for the lag in testing for the novel coronavirus, which has stymied efforts to track and appropriately respond to COVID-19’s national spread.
As the Times reported Wednesday, the document includes in its assumptions that:
|
|
|
March 19, 2020 Below is an update on the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to Minnesota as of 6:00 PM on 3/19/2020. Updates from the GovernorGovernor Tim Walz signed an executive order today ordering health care providers to prioritize COVID-19 care by postponing elective surgeries, including elective dental procedures. This order complies with guidance issued on March 17, 2020, from the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as similar guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued on March 18, 2020, to delay elective surgeries and procedures, both to conserve health care resources and to reduce contact between patients and providers. Continue reading “Gov. Walz COVID-19 Response and Preparation: March 19, 2020” |
As was only fitting on St. Patrick’s Day, my brother Tommy and I congratulated each other on our hardy Irish peasant genes. Centuries of living on dirt floors with pigs, we smugly agreed, have rendered us Micks immune from contagion.
Um, except for our grandfather Michael Sheedy, who died in the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic—the last time a highly contagious virus with no immunity and no vaccine spread worldwide. He’s buried in Elizabethport, NJ, within walking distance of the salt water that carried his family here from County Cork on so-called “coffin ships” (because so many passengers died at sea) during the Great Irish Famine. He was 32.
That’s basically all we know. Our mother was two when her father died; her mother remarried. We must have Sheedy cousins somewhere, but we’ve never met them. Continue reading.
Rory Cooper, a lifelong Republican who worked on disaster response after the 9/11 terrorist attacks under former President George W. Bush, thinks that President Donald Trump is still absolutely blowing the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Writing in The Daily Beast, Cooper slammed Trump for getting into Twitter fights with Democratic governors at a time when the administration needs to have good working relationships with governors regardless of party affiliation.
“This is a failed approach that the White House needs to correct fast,” he writes. “Close coordination and cooperation with state and local officials is absolutely critical in a crisis like this… After 9/11, as a staffer in the White House Homeland Security Council, I was a point of contact for those officials as we coordinated our ongoing response to the threat of global terrorism. The Bush White House team developed very close, cordial, and trusting relationships with state and local partners that transcended politics.” Continue reading.
President Trump announced Wednesday that he will invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA), which would allow the administration to force American industry to manufacture medical supplies that are in short supply in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Hospitals, health workers and state and local officials have said they are quickly running out of personal protective equipment (PPE), like masks, gowns and gloves, that are crucial to keeping doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic safe.
“There’s never been an instance like this where no matter what you have it’s not enough,” Trump said at a White House briefing with reporters. Continue reading.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
During this trying time with COVID-19 being an immediate health concern, I wanted to let you know that I am still here. While not holding regular meetings at my office due to the virus, my staff and I are still reachable by phone and email to answer any questions that you may have. I also wanted to update you on happenings at the Capitol.
At the Legislature we have passed emergency legislation to help navigate us through this challenge before us all.
Specifically, the legislation provides $200 million in investments of which $150 million is appropriated to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to make grants to eligible providers for costs related to planning for, preparing for, or responding to an outbreak of COVID-19; fund the establishment and operation of temporary sites to provide testing services, to provide treatment beds, or to isolate or quarantine affected individuals, to respond to an outbreak of COVID-19; and administer the grant program. Continue reading “Sen. John Hoffman (SD36) Update: March”
