EveryMintNews: March 2020

The captain of the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, in a blunt letter, has called on Navy leadership for stronger measures to save the lives of his sailors and stop the spread of the coronavirus aboard the huge ship. The four-page letter, the contents of which were confirmed by U.S. officials to Reuters on Tuesday, described a bleak situation onboard the nuclear-powered carrier as more sailors test positive for the virus. Captain Brett Crozier, the ship's commanding officer, wrote that the carrier lacked enough quarantine and isolation facilities and warned the current strategy would slow but fail to eradicate the highly contagious respiratory virus.

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McConnell: Impeachment 'diverted attention' from coronavirus

President Donald Trump's impeachment trial distracted the federal government from the coronavirus as it reached the United States in January, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, despite warnings at the time from public health experts and members of Congress about the spread of the deadly virus. The Trump administration has been severely criticized for its slow response to the pandemic, especially for the shortage of coronavirus testing kits when the infection first spread to the U.S. from China.

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AOC Drifts Away from Activist Left, Toward a More Conventional Staff and Political Strategy

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has taken steps recently to collaborate more with the Democratic establishment, taking a less contentious approach and allying with fellow Democratic members.After urging fellow progressives in 2018 to run for office with the support of the progressive group the Justice Democrats, which supported her, the New York Democrat has declined to endorse most of the candidates the group is backing to oust incumbent Democrats in 2020.Of the six candidates the group is backing this time around, Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Jessica Cisneros in Texas and Marie Newman in Illinois, both of whom are running against conservative Democrats who oppose abortion and were subsequently supported by several other high-profile Democrats.The move comes as the Justice Democrats are recruiting progressive candidates to run against liberals and moderate Democrats."We don’t usually endorse so far out," Ocasio-Cortez's communications director, Lauren Hitt said of the congresswoman's lack of endorsements for the group of candidates, according to Politico.Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez, who shot to notoriety in 2018 when she ousted powerful Democratic congressman Joe Crowley, is also replacing some of her more radical, progressive top aides with more conventional political professionals, Politico reported.The freshman congresswoman has also struck a more conciliatory tone towards Democratic leadership in recent months, in February calling Pelosi the “mama bear of the Democratic Party.”She also criticized supporters of her progressive ally, 2020 presidential contender Bernie Sanders, for their antagonistic behavior online.“There’s so much emphasis on making outreach as conflict-based as possible,” she said. “And sometimes I even feel miscast and understood. Because it’s about what tools you use, and conflict is one tool but not the only tool.”Nevertheless, Ocasio-Cortez has largely maintained her status as a progressive standard-bearer. Earlier this year, she endorsed a group of progressive women running for Congress on Friday through her political action committee, Courage to Change.In January, she announced that she would not pay dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the House.

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U.S. records 700 coronavirus deaths in a single day for first time

The U.S. government raced to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals to ease the strain on overwhelmed healthcare systems as the United States marked 700 deaths in a single day from COVID-19 for the first time on Tuesday. Nearly half those deaths were in New York state, still the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for reinforcements from the Trump administration, saying the worst may still be weeks away. De Blasio, a Democrat, said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by April 5 but had yet to receive an answer from the Trump administration.

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Saudis Start to Unleash Oil Wave Despite U.S. Pressure

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia has made good on its pledge to ramp up oil exports in April, with a first wave of crude already on its way toward Europe and the U.S., a clear sign the price war remains in full swing.The kingdom has loaded several of the supertankers it hired earlier this month to boost its ability to increase exports, according to ship-tracking data. In addition, Riyadh has used the last few weeks to shuttle large amounts of crude into storage in Egypt, a stepping stone to the European market.The movements suggest that Riyadh is ramping up its oil production toward its target of supplying a record 12.3 million barrels a day in April, up from about 9.7 million in February, despite American pressure to end the price war.Saudi Arabia earlier this month slashed its official selling prices and announced the output hike after Russia refused to join other nations inside the OPEC+ alliance to cut output. The announcement, interpreted in the market as an oil price war, sent Brent and West Texas Intermediate crudes tumbling. Since then, the collapse in oil demand due to lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus has depressed prices even more.In a sign that Riyadh is opening the valves, oil shipments have already surged in late March. For the first three weeks of March, Saudi Arabia was exporting at a rate of around 7 million barrels a day, but that jumped to more than 9 million barrels a day in the fourth week of the month.With oil prices at the lowest in nearly two decades, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo last week directly asked the kingdom to “rise to the occasion and reassure” the energy market, diplomatic language for ending the oil price war.American President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed in a phone call Monday that “current oil prices aren’t in the interests of our countries,” according to a Kremlin spokesman, though he declined to say what might be done to change the situation.Trump earlier indicated that he was concerned about the impact of low oil prices on the American petroleum industry. In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” he said Russia and Saudi Arabia “both went crazy” and started an oil price war.Despite the diplomatic pressure, Saudi Arabia is preparing to export more in the next few days. At least 16 very large crude carriers, collectively able to carry about 32 million barrels, are stationed near the Saudi oil terminals of Ras Tanura and Yanbu, according to shipping data tracked by Bloomberg.“Regardless of the recent headlines about the U.S. pressuring Saudi Arabia, we do not see any change in Saudi or Russian policy for now,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., a London-based consultant.Riyadh has already loaded three supertankers that are likely to head to the U.S., and it’s loading a fourth right now, according to oil market intelligence firm Vortexa Inc. The tankers, all hired by the Saudi national tanker company in the past few weeks to boost its shipping capacity, include the Dalian, the Agios Sostis I, the Maran Canopus, and the Hong Kong Spirit.Shipments to EgyptAlready through March, Saudi Arabia has exported about 1.3 million barrels a day into Egypt -- the highest level in at least three years -- to pre-position crude for re-export into Europe, according to shipping tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and people familiar with the operation.The surge in shipments to Egypt was so large that the African nation may become the largest destination for Saudi crude in March, displacing China and Japan, which traditionally top the ranking every month.The cargoes have gone to a terminal at the south end of the Suez Canal before getting pumped via pipeline across the country to a storage and export facility called Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean Sea. From there, the crude will then get re-exported as part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to supply as much as it can, at deep discounts, into a market that doesn’t need the supply. The world’s largest oil tankers, known as VLCCs, cannot sail the Suez Canal fully loaded due to draft limitations.The next sign of whether the oil price war continues will come around April 5, when state-owned Saudi Aramco is expected to release its monthly official selling prices for May. Oil refiners and traders believe that Riyadh will have to deepen its discounts to sell all the oil the kingdom wants. If Aramco does indeed deepen the discounts, it will trigger a fresh round of tit-for-tat actions with other oil producing nations, piling further pressure on prices.(Updates with statement from Kremlin in seventh paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Top White House advisers predict as many as 240,000 US deaths from coronavirus - live updates

Members of the Trump administration laid out dire estimates Tuesday to underscore the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.

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Trump: a U.S. coronavirus death toll of 100,000 would mean his administration did 'a very good job'

President Trump on Sunday said if his administration can keep the coronavirus death toll to 100,000 in the United States, it will have done a "very good job."Earlier in the day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the coronavirus pandemic could cause between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in the United States. Trump said while 100,000 is "a horrible number," if the U.S. can keep its death toll to "100,000, so we have between 100,000 and 200,000, we altogether have done a very good job."Trump also announced he is extending social distancing guidelines to April 30, a departure from his earlier declaration of having the U.S. "opened up" by Easter on April 12. That proclamation was "aspirational," Trump said.As of Sunday night, there are more than 139,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in the United States, and at least 2,400 people have died from the virus.More stories from theweek.com Fox News reportedly fears its early downplaying of COVID-19 leaves it open to lawsuits CDC is weighing advising Americans to wear face masks outdoors Trump's message to blue states battling coronavirus: Drop dead

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Women who left N.Y. for China amid U.S. coronavirus outbreak document their journey

“Because we're kind of in between these two cultures, we also understand both. So it feels like our experience could speak to both of the audiences.”

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10 cruise ships that are still at sea as the coronavirus shuts down the cruise industry

Ships from cruise lines like Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Cunard Line are still at sea.

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Fact check: Did NY pass on buying ventilators to fund tuition for undocumented immigrants?

We rate as false a Facebook user's claim about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ventilator stockpiling and tuition for undocumented immigrants.

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Idaho governor signs into law anti-transgender legislation

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‘Don’t bank on summer, remain alert’

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Govt taps 92k NGOs to help feed migrants

The Centre has roped in civil society organisations to assist state governments and district administration in taking care of food, shelter and other needs of migrant workers who have been affected by the 21-day lockdown announced by the government to combat the spread of Covid-19 virus.

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Inside Trump’s Coronavirus Theatrics on War Powers, Ventilators and GM

On Friday, Mar. 27, President Donald Trump took what appeared to be bold, decisive action in the fight against the new coronavirus. Reaching for wartime powers under the Defense Production Act, Trump ordered the federal government to “use any and all authority” to force auto giant General Motors to produce ventilators, the life-saving medical devices desperately needed by patients and hospitals struggling to survive the fast-spreading COVID-19 respiratory illness. For good measure, Trump tweeted, “General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!”

But if Trump’s Friday performance conveyed urgency and action, four days later, neither is anywhere in evidence. Despite the tough talk and the invocation of presidential powers, Trump and his team by midday on Tuesday had yet to formally file a single order for a GM-made ventilator. While negotiations were ongoing, they had set no mandatory timeline for delivery of the machines, or even suggested a voluntary one. And they had not informed GM of what prices the federal government will pay for the machines under Trump’s executive order. For its part, GM has continued following the plan to produce ventilators that it had discussed with the White House for weeks prior to Trump’s order, a plan that was already well underway when he issued it, according to documents reviewed by TIME.

The GM episode is just the latest in what has become a common Trump-led scene during the pandemic’s spread. As known U.S. cases skyrocketed from 98 to 177,300 over the last four weeks, Trump has made vocal public shows of action that in several cases have yielded few real results. On Mar. 13, he declared Google was building a website to help people find local coronavirus testing sites. Thus far, it has ended up being little more than a bare-bones, aggregational site with a series of links. That same day, he promised big box retailers—Walgreens, Walmart and CVS—would roll out drive-thru testing sites in their parking lots, a notion that also hasn’t fully materialized.

Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking on this link, and please send any tips, leads, and stories to virus@time.com.

It’s not unusual for a president to use his position to project optimism and progress at times of crisis. FDR famously declared in 1932, during the depths of the Great Depression, that America demanded “bold, persistent experimentation” and that if a first effort failed to “admit it frankly and try another.” Trump aides claim that his efforts are spurring action and setting a positive tone at the top. But Republican and Democratic critics say Trump’s approach appears to be less focused on solving the life and death problems that COVID-19 are imposing on Americans, than on the political challenges the disease is presenting to him.

The GM case in particular brought together several political vulnerabilities for Trump. First, it was taking place in Michigan, a state he barely won in 2016, where Republicans fared poorly in the 2018 mid-terms and where Trump is currently trailing Joe Biden by 3 or more percentage points in several polls. More broadly, Trump’s order came as he was under repeated criticism for not taking more action to help states in desperate need of assistance. “They were getting a lot of pressure,” says Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a former Defense Department and CIA official who sponsored bipartisan legislation to require the president to implement the DPA to speed the production and distribution of supplies.

As Trump continues to project action and accomplishment, COVID-19 cases continue to spike and so does the urgency of demand from mayors, governors and leaders around the world for ventilators. The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 41,650 people across the globe, including more than 3,500 Americans. The sickest of those infected have severe inflammation in their lungs, which stiffens them, and makes it impossible to breathe without help from a ventilator. Some of these victims need the device for weeks at a time. Hospital staff say they are concerned about shortages of specialized equipment. If the system swells over capacity, doctors and nurses worry they may ultimately have to ration health care and decide who lives and who dies. Trump’s medical advisors said Monday that even if everything goes perfectly the number of deaths in America could hit 240,000.

Some at GM say it is unfair for the President to make them the bad guys. “It felt like we were getting punched in the gut,” says a long-time GM employee, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “We did everything in our power to transition from building Tahoes to building ventilators without any guarantee of a federal contract.”

In any case, the company’s officials say, they’re not waiting for direction from the federal government or anyone else. GM forged a deal with Seattle-area ventilator manufacturer Ventec Life Systems and already has begun retooling a factory to build thousands of them beginning next month. “We’re not waiting around for anyone to dictate what number of ventilators need to be made,” says Chris Brooks, Ventec’s chief strategy officer. “Our north star has always been to make as many ventilators as possible, as quickly as possible, to arm front-line medical professionals with the tools they need to save lives.”

GM Kokomo Operations to Build Ventec Life Systems Ventilators — AJ Mast for General MotorsWork being done Monday, March 30, 2020 at the General Motors manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana, where GM and Ventec Life Systems are partnering to produce Ventec VOCSN critical care ventilators.

GM’s strategy to build ventilators began as the company was facing its own coronavirus crisis. Like other companies around the country, it was projecting dramatic contraction in demand for its cars as unemployment spiked and spending plummeted nationwide. At the same time, it needed to temporarily close plants to prevent the spread of the virus. On March 17, ten days before Trump’s big announcement, and the day before GM announced it would shutter all of its North American factories due to coronavirus, GM CEO Mary Barra called White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow to discuss converting factory space for ventilator production.

Kudlow and the White House turned to a newly formed organization of business leaders, called StopTheSpread.org, for help. The group is led by the former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Rachel Carlson, founder of the online education firm Guild Education, who volunteered to help the Trump Administration in harnessing private industry. In exploratory phone calls with GM, the group discovered what the automaker needed was a medical device-making partner with a reputable product.

StopTheSpread.org matched them up with Ventec, maker of a toaster-sized device known by its acronym, VOCSN (for ventilator, oxygen, cough, suction and nebulizer). On Mar. 18, the two companies held initial phone calls to discuss what could be done. The next day, GM chartered a late-night flight and four engineers, including Phil Kienle, manufacturing chief for North America, flew from Detroit to Seattle for face-to-face talks.

The GM team spent the next three days at Ventec’s headquarters in Bothell, Wash. examining machines that breathe life into immobilized people who can’t do it on their own. They pored over blueprints illustrating where each of the device’s 700 parts come together largely by hand. Images of the parts were handed to a GM purchasing agent see if suppliers could replicate the handiwork. “We sourced literally hundreds of parts and components in just over a week, which is lighting speed, and we will begin production by mid-April,” says Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing. “From there, production will scale up to 10,000 or more per month very quickly.”

Next up were workers. GM called 1,000 workers to see if they were willing to come to work for the company on ventilators. Greg Wohlford, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 292, which represents the shuttered GM plant in Kokomo, Ind., told the Kokomo Tribune he was just waiting to hear about the training details. “It’s going to happen, we’re just trying to work out all the details,” he said. “But everybody is thrilled. Everyone is really excited.” New manufacturing space was located in a 2.6 million square foot facility with clean rooms where small electronic components for cars are manufactured. Construction workers began tearing up carpet and knocking down walls to make way for additional workstations. Cameras were installed to document the progress.

All told, it took less than a week for GM to forge a partnership with Ventec, according to internal communications, travel logs and interviews with both companies’ officials. The companies produced a full set of manufacturing plans that leveraged union labor, industrial buying power and a worldwide chain of 700 suppliers. Ultimately, the companies claimed they would be able to produce up to 21,000 ventilators a month, if needed.

On Mar. 23, GM and Ventec presented the Federal Emergency Management Agency with the strategy. The companies provided the administration with an itemized list that laid out how many ventilators could be produced, how quickly and at what cost, depending on the options the federal government selected, according to two officials involved in the contracting process.

And then they waited to hear back.

Four days later, they got their response. First, at 11:16 a.m. on March 27, Trump issued a series of tweets blasting GM and Barra. Then, later, at the White House, he elaborated. “We don’t want prices to be double, triple what they should be,” he told reporters. “So General Motors, we’ll see what happens, but now they’re talking. But they weren’t talking the right way at the beginning, and that was not right to the country.” GM pushed back in a public statement that said the company’s commitment to the Ventec ventilator project “has never wavered” and that “GM is contributing its resources at cost.” Officials insisted nothing had changed in their schedule.

As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, “very quickly”. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke “P”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020

In the days leading up to Trump’s comments, governors and lawmakers from the hardest-hit states pleaded with him to use the DPA, a little-known Cold War-era law that enables the president to force businesses to accept and prioritize government contracts during natural disasters, terrorist attacks and other emergencies. Dwindling supplies of respirator masks, gowns, gloves and other basic protective equipment are pushing the nation’s front-line medical workers toward a breaking point.

Politicians from both parties were convinced that using the statute could prevent counterproductive bidding wars that were breaking out across the country, as states competed with each other to acquire the same medical supplies from suppliers. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said ventilators on the market now cost more than $50,000, which represents a 150% increase from the $20,000 when his state first tried to purchase them.

Trump has insisted that invoking the DPA was government overreach and that companies were stepping up on their own. But perceptions of a weak federal response to the growing crisis is seen as a political liability to Trump in key election states, including Ohio and Michigan. When on Mar. 26, for example, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, publicly said her state wasn’t getting the medical equipment it needed, Trump responded on Twitter that she was “way in over her head” and that she “doesn’t have a clue.”

The administration says Trump’s Mar. 27 flare-up had nothing to do with politics. By invoking the DPA, the president compelled GM to “to accept, perform, and prioritize contracts or orders for the number of ventilators,” according the executive order. Peter Navarro, Trump’s Trade Adviser and Policy Coordinator for the DPA, told TIME in a statement that the GM action aimed to jumpstart work on ventilators. “Prior to the DPA order being signed, the GM/Ventec venture was sputtering. Since the DPA order was signed, GM has moved into high gear. That’s the poster child of an effective DPA action,” Navarro said.

Navarro also says the President’s declaration was designed to spur competition between different automakers turning to produce ventilators. Ford is working with GE Healthcare to increase GE’s production of its own advanced ventilators, although manufacturing details remain unclear. Ford announced Monday it plans to make as many as 50,000 smaller ventilators, which are licensed by GE, within 100 days at a plant in Ypsilanti, Mich. Now that GM has been pushed publicly by Trump, Navarro suggests, there will be urgency to sprint to the market first. “Now let’s see which venture rolls the first hundred ventilators off their new assembly lines—Ford/GE or GM/Ventec. We expect that within the next 30 days, American lives are at stake, and GM’s lesson from this should be you can’t get to the finish line until you first get to the starting line. Now, a very real race is on.”

Whatever the logic behind Trump’s public statements about GM and his use of emergency powers, the company maintains that Trump’s tough talk resulted in no change from the Mar. 23 plan they presented to his government. Two days after his Mar. 27 statements, on Sunday, Trump was asked at the White House how negotiations GM were going since he invoked DPA two days earlier. Although nothing had changed, he responded that the automaker was now doing a “fantastic job.”

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Monday, 30 March 2020

Congress Just Spent $2 Trillion on Coronavirus Relief. It’s Eying More.

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3dMluM7

Cuomo says he doesn't want to fight with Trump in coronavirus response, appeals for unity - Reuters

Cuomo says he doesn't want to fight with Trump in coronavirus response, appeals for unity ReutersView Full Coverage on Google News

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Police arrest Florida pastor for holding church services despite stay-at-home order - CNN

Police arrest Florida pastor for holding church services despite stay-at-home order CNNView Full Coverage on Google News

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Saudi-UAE coalition carries out air raids on Yemen's Sanaa - Al Jazeera English

Saudi-UAE coalition carries out air raids on Yemen's Sanaa Al Jazeera English
Houthis launch air attacks on Saudi capital The Guardian
Saudi Arabia Says It Struck Yemen Missile Sites Where Iran's Military Was Present Newsweek
Saudi king offers to pay for coronavirus patients' treatment Al Jazeera English
Saudi, UAE businesses battle cash crunch despite anti-coronavirus stimulus Reuters
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Coronavirus: Amazon workers plan strike at New York facility - WSOC Charlotte

Coronavirus: Amazon workers plan strike at New York facility WSOC Charlotte
Coronavirus Protest: Amazon And Instacart Workers Walk Off Jobs NPR
Amazon and Instacart workers walking off job amid safety concerns over coronavirus CBS News
Coronavirus in NY: Amazon's Staten Island employees strike over response New York Post
Amazon warehouse workers are walking out and Whole Foods workers are striking TechCrunch
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Furloughs at Macy’s, Gannett and Gap signal mounting economic distress - The Washington Post

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‘Tiger King’ star Doc Antle, Britney Spears shared VMAs stage in 2001 - Fox News

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Even after Tom Brady's departure, new-look Patriots 'have a great opportunity,' Matthew Slater says - mynamy.com

Even after Tom Brady's departure, new-look Patriots 'have a great opportunity,' Matthew Slater says mynamy.com
Slater: Patriots' 'standard doesn't change' NFL.com
Patriots’ Jarrett Stidham Receives Positive Endorsement From Matthew Slater NESN
Tom Brady pitched himself to Bucs brass, Tampa Bay GM says ESPN
The Sports World Went Dark. NFL Teams Spent More Than $2 Billion in a Week. The Wall Street Journal
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North Korea says US clearly doesn't want nuclear talks

North Korea said Monday that “reckless remarks” by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear that Washington has no intention of resuming nuclear talks, and warned that it is now compelled to pay back “the pains the U.S. has imposed on our people.” After a teleconference of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations last week, Pompeo told reporters the international community must remain united in urging North Korea to return to nuclear talks and in continuing to apply pressure on its nuclear and missile programs. Pompeo’s remarks showed the U.S. has no strategy to stop “a countdown of confrontation,” North Korea said in a statement attributed to its new Foreign Ministry department director general in charge of negotiations with Washington.

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Photos show the 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort arriving in New York to support the city in its fight against the coronavirus

Patients to be treated on the USNS Comfort will be transferred from local hospitals, according to the US Navy.

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Pelosi on virus: ‘As the president fiddles, people are dying’

“As the president fiddles, people are dying,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during an interview on Sunday morning.

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Trump claims masks needed for coronavirus are 'going out the backdoor' of NYC hospitals by the thousands

Trump said this a day after the number of coronavirus deaths in the US passed 2,000, and as he extended social distancing until April 30.

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At least 27 Afghan security personnel killed in Taliban assaults

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29 Best Closet Organization Ideas to Maximize Space and Style

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Serial killer dubbed Grim Sleeper dies in California prison

Lonnie Franklin, the convicted serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" who preyed on the women of South Los Angeles for more than two decades, has died in prison. California corrections officials said Franklin was found unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State Prison on Saturday evening. An autopsy will determine the cause of death; however, there were no signs of trauma, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said in a statement.

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'I don't know how you look at those numbers and conclude anything less than thousands of people will pass away': Cuomo discusses state fatality projections

Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke about New York state’s fatality projections during a press conference on Sunday.

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Coronavirus: New York bar owner becomes first to be arrested for ignoring lockdown

The owner of a bar in New York City has been arrested for operating in contravention of the city’s coronavirus lockdown measures.New York police confirmed on Monday that 56-year-old Vasil Pando had been arrested on Saturday night at an address in Brooklyn.

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The UK's coronavirus lockdown could be extended for up to 6 months, with some restrictions lasting even longer

The UK government's deputy chief medical officer said it would probably take three to six months "to see at which point we can get back to normal."

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Trump extends social distancing guidelines to April 30, predicts 'great things' by June 1

Trump last week said he wanted to see the much of the country opening back up by Easter.

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Ardern Urges Calm as Some Flout New Zealand Lockdown

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Coronavirus live: Total cases in India rise to 1251

The govt has said there is no plan to extend the lockdown beyond 21 days, and trashed media reports hinting at such a possibility. Meanwhile, the number of positive cases in India has crossed 1200 and the death toll stands at 32. Stay with TOI for the latest developments.

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The Atlantic Daily: One Virus, Two Americas

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.

One virus, two Americas

Maybe you live in a blue state, in a hard-hit, urban area, and are currently under lockdown orders from your Democratic governor. Or maybe you live in small-town, conservative America, in one of the places that’s been relatively free of COVID-19 cases, where local Republican officials are resisting further preventative measures.

Red-state and blue-state America aren’t experiencing the same pandemic, and it’s showing in the polls. National surveys reveal geographic and partisan splits in attitude, with Democrats and urban dwellers more likely to express their concern. And, perhaps even more troubling, these divides seem to be worsening.

The pandemic, and America’s response, is being swallowed up by the country’s culture wars. As our politics staff writer McKay Coppins reports today, social distancing has morphed into a political act—“a way to signal which side you’re on.”

A few things to consider as you make sense of the situation:

The messaging is coming from the top. Trump refers to this strain as “the China virus,” in an attempt to incite a culture war, Adam Serwer argues.
But it’s also part of a decade-long philosophical battle between parties. One that predates Trump altogether: “How much do the healthiest people in society owe to the most vulnerable?”
All of this might change if, or when, the virus hits red states. And that might happen sooner than you think: Keep your eyes on Louisiana, which Trump carried in 2016.

What to read if … you just want practical advice:

One question, answered: How can you fight back against misinformation about the virus?

Two experts detail steps you should take to weed out falsehoods—and help stop their spread. Their first tip:

Consider the source, and consider the source’s source. Both of these steps help guard against disinformation (the intentional spread of false information), as well as misinformation (the unintentional, inadvertent spread of false information).

Tonight’s Atlantic-approved self-quarantine activity:

This one is courtesy of our space reporter Marina Koren:

“Get your hands on a jigsaw puzzle, preferably one with 1,000 pieces. Puzzles are the perfect pandemic activity because they keep both your mind and your hands occupied for hours; it’s hard to dwell on the outbreak—and scroll through the latest headlines on your phone—when you’re laser-focused on finding that one elusive piece.”

What to read if … you’d like to read about something—anything—other than the coronavirus:

Emma Perrier spent months messaging a man she believed was a 34-year-old electrician, but who was actually a 53-year-old retail decorator. Their first in-person meeting broke her heart. But when she reached out with a warning to the Turkish model whose photos her catfish was using, things took a turn for the better.

We are continuing our coverage of the coronavirus. View all of our stories related to the outbreak here. Let us know if you have specific questions about the virus—or if you have a personal experience you’d like to share with us. In particular, we’d like to hear about how the pandemic has affected your family life—whether that’s child care, partner relationships, or any other family dynamic.

Dear Therapist

Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. This week, she does something extraordinary: answers her own question. She explains:

This week, I decided to submit my own “Dear Therapist” letter following my father’s death. As a therapist, I’m no stranger to grief, and I’ve written about its varied manifestations in this column many times.

Even so, I wanted to write about the grief I’m now experiencing personally, because I know this is something that affects everyone. You can’t get through life without experiencing loss. The question is, how do we live with loss?

And how do we do so amid a frightening pandemic? Read Lori’s advice to Lori. Write to her anytime at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com.

This email was written by Caroline Mimbs Nyce, with help from Isabel Fattal and Annika Neklason, and edited by Shan Wang. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign yourself up for The Daily here.

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/3av1pI7

Banks yet to act on EMI relief, spark confusion

With just two days left for the next EMI cycle to begin, most big lenders are unprepared to follow the Reserve Bank of India’s blanket order allowing borrowers to hold back from paying instalments for the month. Top lenders such as State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank have not activated any channel for customers to exercise an option.

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2X6CLd1