Author: danelabonte

“Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI).”

“It was then briefed multiple times to” the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and the White House.”

“From that warning in November, the sources described repeated briefings through December for policy-makers and decision-makers across the federal government as well as the National Security Council at the White House. All of that culminated with a detailed explanation of the problem that appeared in the President’s Daily Brief of intelligence matters in early January.”

(https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/intelligence-report-warned-coronavirus-crisis-early-november-sources/story?id=70031273)

“Trump also played down the release of January memos from a senior adviser that represented an early warning of a possible coronavirus pandemic, saying he had not seen them at the time.”

“Trump continued on Tuesday to defend his actions in the early days of the crisis. He played down memos written by Peter Navarro, a senior White House adviser, that were made public this week. In the late January memos, the most direct warning as yet uncovered in the upper levels of the Trump administration, Navarro warned that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.”

(https://apnews.com/84d346817770d2841d22efcd833fa7e0)

“More people have died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

“At least 4,000 people have been killed in the city by the virus, according to a new count released by state health officials.

“The deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil killed 2,753 people in the city. Another 224 died when hijacked planes slammed into the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001.”

(https://apnews.com/72a432c5ef566621f3b288146d2bc00d)

“A Post analysis of what data is available and census demographics shows that counties that are majority-black have three times the rate of infections and almost six times the rate of deaths as counties where white residents are in the majority.”

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/07/coronavirus-is-infecting-killing-black-americans-an-alarmingly-high-rate-post-analysis-shows/)

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The AP found similar results.

“Of the victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials — nearly 3,300 of the nation’s 13,000 deaths thus far — about 42% were black, according to an Associated Press analysis. African Americans account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis.”

(https://apnews.com/71d952faad4a2a5d14441534f7230c7c)

“Trump has removed the inspector general tapped to chair a special oversight board for the $2.2 trillion economic relief package on the coronavirus, the latest in a series of steps Trump has taken to confront government watchdogs tasked with oversight of the executive branch.”

“In the past four days, Trump has fired one inspector general tied to his impeachment, castigated another he felt was overly critical of the coronavirus response and sidelined a third meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of funds for businesses in economic distress.”

(https://apnews.com/cc921bccf9f7abd27da996ef772823e4)

“The Pentagon was aware of the likelihood of a pandemic brought on by a novel coronavirus years ago, predicting with startling accuracy shortages of masks, hospital beds and ventilators that could occur in an outbreak, according to a 2017 internal document reported by The Nation.”

“…cites a novel respiratory illness as the “most likely and significant threat” in a pandemic situation.”

“…warns that shortages of masks and ventilators would have a “significant impact on the availability of the global workforce.”

“And while President Trump has said the current COVID-19 pandemic “came out of nowhere,” Klippenstein says it is “inconceivable that the White House did not receive this.”

“The threat of a highly transmissible pathogenic virus that targets the respiratory system, this was appreciated for at least the last 10 years.”

(https://www.npr.org/2020/04/05/827692672/report-pentagon-aware-of-possible-coronavirus-threat-for-years)

“Trump himself has a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.”

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html)

President Trump again touted a potential coronavirus drug on Saturday, saying he would try it—despite not having coronavirus, and despite the drug not being approved for widespread use. The FDA has approved the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria and lupus drug, to treat COVID-19 symptoms. It’s still undergoing clinical trials to determine if widespread use is safe and effective, but that hasn’t stopped Trump from repeatedly calling it a “game changer.” Trump has tested negative twice for coronavirus but on Saturday he said: “I may take it. I have to ask my doctors about that.” He said 29 million doses of the drug were now available for doctors to use on COVID-19 patients, and it had great potential. “I hope they use hydroxychloroquine,” he said. “What do you have to lose?” He also mentioned unspecified reports that people taking the drug weren’t getting coronavirus. “Maybe that’s correct, maybe that’s false, you’ll have to check it out.”

(https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-says-he-would-try-hydroxychloroquine-an-unproven-coronavirus-drug-but-wont-wear-face-mask)