Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response

No Mr. Trump, the virus is not under control. It is in control.

Washington Post logoIN A week in which the United States exceeded 50,000 new coronavirus cases on multiple days, more than double the rate of just a few weeks ago, there are important messages that President Trump could have sent from the White House podium on Thursday. He could have insisted that all Americans wear face masks in public, or urged them to steer clear of crowded July 4 celebrations. He could have pledged a renewed federal effort to expand the still-troubled program of diagnostic testing, a prerequisite for a return to normalcy. He could have given governors support for the need to impose new restrictions to contain the virus.

He did none of these things.

Instead, Mr. Trump remains in blissful denial as crisis ripples through the Sun Belt, threatening to create chaos and distress nationwide for months to come. On Wednesday, he said of the pandemic, “I think at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope.” On Thursday, in a brief appearance before reporters, without wearing a face mask and refusing to take questions, he said, “We have some areas where we are putting out the flames, or the fires, and that’s working out well.” He went on to assert that the United States, like Europe and China, is “getting it under control.” Some areas are suffering a “flare up,” he acknowledged, “and we are putting out the fires” with a strategy to “vanquish and kill the virus.” Continue reading.

Trump Boasts Economic ‘Comeback’ With Unemployment Over 11 Percent

Donald Trump took a victory lap on the economy after the monthly jobs report released earlier in the morning showed 4.8 million of the jobs lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic returned in June.

“It’s all coming back. It’s coming back faster, bigger, and better than we ever thought possible,” Trump said in a speech from the White House briefing room on Thursday morning. “These are the numbers. These are not numbers made up by me. These are numbers.”

However, the unemployment rate remains at 11.1 percent — higher than it was at the peak of the Great Recession in 2008 — with 17.8 million Americans still out of work. Continue reading.

Secret Service agents preparing for Pence Arizona trip contracted coronavirus

Washington Post logoVice President Pence’s trip to Arizona this week had to be postponed by a day after several Secret Service agents who helped organize the visit either tested positive for the coronavirus or were showing symptoms of being infected.

Pence was scheduled to go to Phoenix on Tuesday but went on Wednesday instead so that healthy agents could be deployed for his visit, according to two senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private details of the trip.

Arizona has seen a spike in cases in recent weeks, and Pence scaled back the trip before the delay because of the growing amount of infections in the state. Continue reading.

After June Job Gains, Still a ‘Deep Hole,’ and New Worries

New York Times logoSome 4.8 million positions were added last month, but renewed shutdowns could accelerate the continuing layoffs.

Employers brought back millions more workers in June as businesses began to reopen across the country. But the recent surge in coronavirus cases is threatening to stall the economic recovery long before it has reached most of the people who lost their jobs.

\U.S. payrolls grew by 4.8 million in June, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the second month of strong gains after April’s huge losses, when businesses laid off or furloughed tens of millions of workers as the pandemic put a large swath of economic activity on ice.

The job growth surpassed economists’ forecasts, and it was broad based, cutting across industries and demographic groups. Continue reading.

Heart conditions drove spike in deaths beyond those attributed to covid-19, analysis shows

Washington Post logoFear of seeking care in hospitals overwhelmed by the pandemic may have caused thousands of deaths, experts say

The coronavirus killed tens of thousands in the United States during the pandemic’s first months, but it also left a lesser-known toll: thousands more deaths than would have been expected from heart disease and a handful of other medical conditions, according to an analysis of federal data by The Washington Post.

The analysis suggests that in five hard-hit states and New York City there were 8,300 more deaths from heart problems than would have been typical in March, April and May — an increase of roughly 27 percent over historical averages.

That spike contributed to Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York state and the city having a combined 75,000 “excess deaths” during that period, 17,000 more than the number officially attributed to covid-19, the disease the virus causes.  Continue reading.

Fed officials raised concerns in June that U.S. could enter a much worse recession later this year if coronavirus cases continued to surge

Washington Post logoThe scenario, which officials described as plausible, was revealed in minutes of their June meeting before the surge in cases escalated

Federal Reserve officials raised concerns about additional waves of coronavirus infections disrupting an economic recovery and triggering a new spike in unemployment and a worse economic downturn, according to minutes released Wednesday by the central bank about its June 9-10 meeting.

Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell has repeatedly said that the path out of this recession, which began in February, will depend on containing the virus and giving Americans the confidence to resume normal working and spending habits. But the notes from the two-day meeting reveal how interconnected Fed officials view a prolonged economic recession and the pandemic’s continued spread — and why Powell often asserts that lawmakers will need to do more to carry millions of Americans out of this crisis.

“In light of the significant uncertainty and downside risks associated with the pandemic, including how much the economy would weaken and how long it would take to recover, the staff judged that a more pessimistic projection was no less plausible than the baseline forecast,” the minutes read. “In this scenario, a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, with another round of strict limitations on social interactions and business operations, was assumed to begin later this year, leading to a decrease in real GDP, a jump in the unemployment rate, and renewed downward pressure on inflation next year.” Continue reading.

Politicians, scientists back masks: They work

The Hill logoPolitical leaders are increasingly embracing recommendations from scientists and public health experts that face masks can drastically slow transmission of the coronavirus, even as many right-wing commentators scorn their use.

The science is clear: Face masks reduce transmission of COVID-19 by about 85 percent. At least three dozen studies have been published in recent months. A review of recent studies published by 19 public health experts in May found dramatic reduction in spread even if only half the population of a given country wears masks.

Those findings make scientific sense based on what is known about other respiratory diseases: Similar studies of diseases like influenza, transmitted through aerosol droplets produced by coughs or sneezes, also find masks effective. Continue reading.

Six months in, coronavirus failures outweigh successes

The Hill logoIn the six months since the World Health Organization (WHO) detected a cluster of atypical pneumonia cases at a hospital in Wuhan, China, the coronavirus pandemic has touched every corner of the globe, carving a trail of death and despair as humankind races to catch up.

At least 10.4 million confirmed cases have been diagnosed worldwide, and the true toll is likely multiples of that figure. In the United States, health officials believe more than 20 million people have likely been infected.

A staggering 500,000 people around the globe have died in just six months. More people have succumbed to the virus in the U.S. — 126,000 — than the number of American troops who died in World War I. Continue reading.

Shout or stay silent? Trump team splits over coronavirus surge

One group of White House aides wants more attention on the surging virus. The other wants to leave it to local officials. Now they’re trying to find a middle ground.

The Trump White House has a new internal battle: how much to talk publicly about a pandemic that’s crippling huge swaths of America.

President Donald Trump’s top aides are divided over the merits of resuming national news briefings to keep the public informed about the latest coronavirus statistics as infection rates spike in large states including California, Texas, Florida, Arizona and Georgia.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, senior adviser Jared Kushner, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and counselor to the president Hope Hicks are among the aides arguing against these regular sessions because they want to keep the White House focused on the path forward and the nascent economic recovery — without scaring too much of the country about a virus resurgence when infections are rising at different paces in different regions. Continue reading.