Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response

Trump administration pushing to block new money for testing, tracing and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill

Washington Post logoWhite House posture angers some GOP senators who are trying to include billions of dollars in the bill

The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.

The administration is also trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.

The administration’s posture has angered some GOP senators, the officials said, and some lawmakers are trying to push back and ensure that the money stays in the bill. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal confidential deliberations, cautioned that the talks were fluid and the numbers were in flux. Continue reading.

85 infants test positive for COVID-19 in Texas county amid alarming spike

The Hill logoEighty-five infants tested positive for the coronavirus this week in a Texas county amid an alarming spike in cases in the state.

Nueces County’s public health director said at a meeting Friday that a review of the county’s coronavirus data unveiled the startling statistic.

“These babies have not even had their first birthdays yet,” Annette Rodriguez said. “Please help us to stop the spread of this disease. Stay social distanced from others; stay protected. Wear a mask when in public and for everyone else, please do your best to stay home.” Continue reading.

Trump’s Visa Ban Causes Shortage Of Young Doctors

As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months — with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall — some are acutely short-staffed because of an ill-timed change to immigration policy and its inconsistent implementation.

A proclamation issued by President Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas, came right as hospitals were expecting a new class of medical residents. Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.

Trump’s order included the H1-B visa for highly skilled workers, which is used by some practicing doctors abroad who get U.S. residency slots. The proclamation stated that doctors “involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized” should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent. Continue reading.

Rancor between scientists and Trump allies threatens pandemic response as cases surge

Washington Post logoThis week’s remarkable character assault by some top White House advisers on Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert, signified President Trump’s hostility toward medical expertise and has produced a chilling effect among the government scientists and public health professionals laboring to end the pandemic, according to administration officials and health experts.

As novel coronavirus cases surge out of control coast to coast, the open rancor between the scientific community and a White House determined above all to resuscitate the economy and secure a second term for Trump threatens to further undermine the U.S. response, which already lags behind those of many other developed nations.

A chorus of voices — including Fauci; Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and even Mick Mulvaney, the White House chief of staff during the start of the pandemic — has been speaking out publicly and with increasing urgency about the crisis in ways that contradict or undermine Trump. Some of them have sharply criticized testing capacities and efficiencies, suggested that everyone wear masks and warned of the virus spread worsening. Continue reading.

After the Recent Surge in Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Are Now Rising Too

New York Times logoThe reopening and relaxing of social distancing restrictions in some states may be contributing to the first noticeable nationwide increase in coronavirus fatalities since April, when the pandemic initially peaked.

The number of cases in late June surged higher than during the outbreak’s first peak. At this same time, daily Covid-19 fatalities decreased slightly, leading President Trump to proclaim that deaths were “way down.” But that divergence may have come to an end last week, when the average number of new deaths per day began steadily rising again.

Public health experts have pointed to a few factors that help explain why the death count was initially flat. Treatment has improved and young people, who are less likely to die from Covid-19, make up a larger share of new cases. Continue reading.

Trump says he won’t issue national mask mandate

The Hill logoPresident Trump says he will not issue a national mandate requiring Americans to wear masks in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“I want people to have a certain freedom and I don’t believe in that, no,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Chris Wallace that will air in full on “Fox News Sunday.”

Trump also seemed to express skepticism about the efficacy of masks, noting that public health officials initially said that facial coverings were not necessary for healthy individuals, before later adding that he is a “believer in masks.” Continue reading.

CNN host cuts off a Trump spokesperson with a devastating fact-check about the president’s COVID-19 predictions

AlterNet logoDuring a very contentious interview with a spokesperson for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, CNN host Poppy Harlow was forced to cut-off senior advisor Mercedes Schlapp and list off all the times the president predicted the COVID-19 crisis would subside on its own.

In the interview, which ran over 15 minutes, the CNN host and the Trump spokesperson repeatedly talked over each other, with Harlow at one time telling her guest that they had plenty of time to discuss the topics at hand and to please let her finish asking her questions.

As host Harlow attempted to press her on the growing caseload of COVID-19 infections, Schlapp attempted to bring former Vice President Joe Biden into the conversation which forced the CNN host to stop her. Continue reading.

Trump faces rising disapproval and widespread distrust on coronavirus, Post-ABC poll finds

Washington Post logoAmericans’ views of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have deteriorated significantly as cases rise across the country and personal fears of becoming infected persist, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.

The Post-ABC poll shows 38 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the outbreak, down from 46 percent in May and 51 percent in March. Sixty percent disapprove, up from 53 percent in May and 45 percent in March.

More than half of the public — 52 percent — now disapproves “strongly” of Trump’s handling of the outbreak, roughly double the percentage who say they strongly approve of his efforts and an increase from 36 percent in strong disapproval since March. Continue reading.

Coronavirus updates: U.S. infections top 76,000 in a day as virus’s spread continues unabated

Washington Post logoThe United States on Friday set another record for daily coronavirus infections, with states reporting a combined 76,403 new confirmed cases — more than double the amount the country was reporting daily during the initial surge of cases in the spring.

Coronavirus-related deaths are rising, too, after declining nationally throughout May and June. The country reported 963 fatalities from the virus Friday, the most in a single day since June 3.

Here are some other significant developments: Continue reading “Coronavirus updates: U.S. infections top 76,000 in a day as virus’s spread continues unabated”

Teachers are drawing up their wills before heading back to school this fall

Even before coronavirus hit the United States, America has demanded far too much from its underpaid, overworked teachers. They are educators, yes, but at any given moment they are also expected to be babysitters, disciplinarians, chefs, social workers, crisis managers, and whatever other pressing role needs filling both inside and out of the classroom.

Then came the pandemic, and with it the waves of school closures and well-intentioned attempts to replicate the normal educational experience by planting both students and teachers in front of a computer and basically telling them all to figure it out. Suffice it to say, it has not been a smashing success.

So now, despite skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in states across the country, and the Trump administration’s utter failure to stem the tide of a first pandemic wave — to say nothing of bracing for a second one — the president, along with his White House enablers and national network of Republican cronies, is pushing extremely, even fanatically hard, to force public schools to reopen this coming fall, health concerns be damned. Continue reading.