Author: danelabonte

“With a startling 6.6 million people seeking unemployment benefits last week, the United States has reached a grim landmark: More than one in 10 workers have lost their jobs in just the past three weeks to the coronavirus outbreak.”

“The figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948. By contrast, during the Great Recession it took 44 weeks — roughly 10 months — for unemployment claims to go as high as they now have in less than a month.”

(https://apnews.com/20a7e14dada836862b250b54a11305dd)

“New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.”

“The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.”

“In January, as the scope of the catastrophe in China became clear, a few countries started an aggressive testing program. They were able to track the arrival of the virus on their territory and track its spread through their populations.”

“But the United States fumbled in making its first diagnostic kits and initially limited testing only to people who had come from China and displayed symptoms of Covid-19.”

“It was a disaster that we didn’t do testing,” Dr. Heguy said.”

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/new-york-coronavirus-cases-europe-genomes.html)

“Speaking to reporters, Fauci said that he was “cautiously optimistic” that his inspector-general analogy would finally spur Trump to action, but added, “Jared could still screw this up.”

#satire

(https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/fauci-urges-trump-to-attack-the-coronavirus-as-if-it-were-an-inspector-general)

“First, it was the media that was at fault. Then, Democratic governors came under fire. China, President Barack Obama, and federal watchdogs have all had a turn in the crosshairs. And now it’s the World Health Organization that’s to blame.”

“Last month, as the nation began to lock down, Trump declared “I don’t take responsibility at all” for a lack of testing.”

“…when asked this week if he would have responded to the crisis differently had he seen a January memo from a senior adviser warning about the potential severity of the virus outbreak in the U.S., the president was blunt. “I couldn’t have done it any better.”

“Trump has transformed the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing into a substitute for his canceled rallies.”

“There is no “The buck stops here,” like the sign once found on President Harry S. Truman’s desk.”

“Since ancient times, leadership has been about wearing a mask of command. Trump is the opposite — a bundle of insecurities, neediness and wants.”

(https://apnews.com/58f1b869354970689d55ccae37c540f3)

“…about 90% of the personal protective equipment in the stockpile has been distributed to state and local governments.

“…the remaining 10% will be kept in reserve to support federal response efforts.”

(https://apnews.com/a464316e25560d393bd07a021b7e81ba)