Tag: Trump mishandling pandemic crisis

Food supply worries grow after outbreak closes Smithfield meat plant

The Hill logoPork processor Smithfield Foods’ decision to shut down a major U.S. plant after a coronavirus outbreak among workers is putting a spotlight on the food supply chain during the pandemic.

Consumer and worker safety groups say the Smithfield incident highlights that more must be done to ensure the welfare of those working in the industry as well as those buying food. And there are worries that if more plants close, American consumers could be hit by shortages.

Some industry groups say the Trump administration must provide more protections for essential workers, a category that includes food suppliers. Continue reading.

The Memo: Speculation grows about Fauci’s future

The Hill logoAnthony Fauci looks to be skating on thin ice with President Trump, despite — or perhaps because of — a growing sense that he is the most trusted expert on the coronavirus crisis.

The White House moved on Monday to squash suggestions that Fauci could be ousted from the president’s task force on the crisis.

And Fauci himself sought to shore up his position during the White House press briefing, when he walked back remarks he had made at the weekend.  Continue reading.

Two months in the dark: The increasingly damning timeline of Trump’s coronavirus response

Washington Post logoThe spread of the coronavirus in the United States continues, now with more confirmed deaths than any other country in the world (with the caveat that data from China aren’t reliable). And as it has spread, we keep learning about new warning signs that apparently weren’t heeded.

It wouldn’t be until mid-March that Trump would truly acknowledge the gravity of the situation. He would repeatedly say the situation was “under control,” downplay the threat and compare it to the flu. For about two months before that, though, people around him were offering cautions about the pandemic that it would become.

Below is a timeline of all the reported warning signs, with some of Trump’s public actions and comments interspersed. Much of it is based upon two investigative pieces published by The Washington Post on March 20 and April 4. Continue reading.

Trump Aide Navarro ‘Slam Dunked’ By 60 Minutes On Pandemic Preparedness

During a recent appearance on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Peter Navarro (one of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers) aggressively defended the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and demanded to know when 60 Minutes addressed the last two presidential administrations’ preparedness for a pandemic. And a video shows that in fact, the CBS program did exactly that.

The video opens with Navarro asserting, “Show me the 60 Minutes episode — a year ago, two years ago — during the Obama administration, during the Bush administration, that said, ‘Hey, a global pandemic’s coming. You gotta do X, Y and Z’…. Show me that episode. Then, you’ll have some credence in terms of attacking the Trump administration for not being prepared.” And the video then segues into “60 Minutes” reports from 2005 (when George W. Bush was president) and 2009 (when Barack Obama was president).

In the 2009 segment, 60 Minutes can be seen warning about the threat of H1N1 and reporting, “H1N1 is a pandemic, meaning it’s a global epidemic. It’s the first flu pandemic in 41 years.” Continue reading.

Navy battles growing coronavirus outbreak on hospital ship Mercy as 7 test positive

Naval health officials are fighting an outbreak of the novel coronavirus among the crew of the hospital ship Mercy, where four more sailors tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total cases among the crew to seven, a Navy official said Monday.

The affected sailors, as well as those with whom they had close contact, have left the ship and are either isolated or quarantined off the ship, according to Cmdr. John Fage, a 3rd Fleet spokesman.

“The ship is following protocols and taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of all crewmembers and patients on board,” Fage said in an email. Continue reading.

Fauci at center of conservative storm

The Hill logoCriticism of Anthony Fauci from the right has picked up in recent days, with some conservatives calling for President Trump to dump the infectious disease expert after he made comments about how imposing social distancing rules earlier could have slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States. 

Fauci has become a national name with his regular presence at the daily coronavirus task force briefings and in other media appearances, and poll numbers show he’s trusted by a majority of Americans. It would set off a political storm if Trump were to sideline him in the middle of a pandemic.

Yet the criticism of Fauci by two conservative lawmakers in a Saturday op-ed and Trump’s retweet of a conservative’s call to “#FireFauci” were unmistakable signs that the public health official is coming under pressure from some on the right to be loyal to the president. Continue reading.

Trump removed the head of the coronavirus bailout oversight board. Its members could be next

AlterNet logoIn the wake of President Trump’s move to push aside the official who was supposed to lead the coronavirus bailout watchdog group, four other members are just as vulnerable.

Trump was able to remove the panel’s chosen head, Glenn Fine, by naming a new Defense Department inspector general and bumping Fine to the No. 2 job at the Pentagon watchdog office. No longer an acting inspector general, Fine was disqualified from serving on the panel he was supposed to lead.

Fine’s removal sounded an alarm among Democrats in Congress, who had demanded that spending safeguards be built into the $2 trillion recovery package. House Democrats rushed out a proposed tweak that would stop further removals like Fine’s by opening up eligibility to senior officials in IG offices, not just IGs themselves. Continue reading.

‘Chaos’: Kushner-commandeered supply chain task force operates in the dark — and turned government into arm of big business

AlterNet logoJared Kushner is best known for his failures, and his decision to commandeer the supply chain task force and turn it into an arm of Big Business may be his greatest.

The supply chain task force, a part of the larger coronavirus task force, should be helping the federal government procure desperately-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks and shields, along with life-saving medical equipment like ventilators, at a lower cost, and distributing it to the areas that need it the most.

But under Kushner’s manipulation, the supply chain task force has “virtually no accountability,” NBC News reports. It has “operated almost entirely in the dark, releasing few details of their arrangements with the big companies; created a new and convoluted emergency response system; and sown confusion and distrust in the states and among the people who need medical supplies.” Continue reading.

Roosevelt sailor with coronavirus dies

The Hill logoA sailor from the U.S. aircraft carrier stricken with the novel coronavirus has died from complications related to COVID-19, the Navy said Monday.

The sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt was declared dead Monday after being taken to an intensive care unit last week, the Navy said in a statement.

The sailor’s identification is being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin is notified. Continue reading.

‘It is just criminal’: Michigan ER doctor slams Trump and GOP leaders for failing to lead as group plans mass march against COVID-19 quarantine

AlterNet logoAppearing on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” an emergency room doctor hammered Donald Trump for undercutting health officials who have been stating the country has a long way to go before coming out of quarantine and said the president’s actions are “criminal” and will get people killed.

Speaking remotely, Dr. Robert Davidson expressed dismay at the president’s claim that testing will not be necessary for everyone in the country and that the quarantine should end as soon as possible.

The ER doc from hard-hit Michigan explained that fans of the president will suffer if they listen to him and not health officials.
“He said we don’t need a nationwide testing system. It would be nice, but we don’t need it,” said host Reid quoting the president. Continue reading.