Trump now says if 100,000 Americans die from coronavirus he will have done 'a very good job'

At the first formal press briefing with his coronavirus task force on Feb. 26, President Trump said he didn't agree with the assessment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that an outbreak was “inevitable” in the United States, noting that the country had just 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no deaths attributed to the virus. “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done,” Trump said at the time. Ever since, Trump has been moving the goalposts on the pandemic, and on Sunday, with coronavirus cases and deaths mounting, Trump said that keeping the U.S. death toll between 100,000 and 200,000 would be “a very good job.”

Rep. Velazquez has presumed COVID-19 infection, was near Pelosi, other lawmakers last week

Rep. Nydia Velazquez said Monday that she's been "diagnosed with presumed coronavirus infection," three days after she spoke on the House floor and stood near 80-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the signing of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill. In a statement, Velazquez, D-N.Y., 67, said she first started feeling sick "in the wee hours of Sunday morning." At the advice of The Attending Physician, neither COVID 19 laboratory testing nor a doctor's office visit was recommended.

Study shows middle-age COVID-19 mortality risk

Taking into account estimates of the number of cases that may not have been clinically confirmed -- that is, mild or asymptomatic infections -- the data showed the hospitalisation rate of patients in their fifties was 8.2 percent. The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, estimated that the mortality rate from confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China was 1.38 percent. If unconfirmed cases were taken into account, the death rate dropped to 0.66 percent.

'I don't know what he's trying to say': Cuomo on Trump's accusation that medical PPE is being stolen by health workers

At a coronavirus press briefing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he didn't know what President Trump was talking about with regard to his accusation that medical personnel were stealing personal protective equipment.

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  Cuomo: Rate of hospitalizations decreasing

  Yahoo News Video
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  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on COVID-19: ‘We're really the canary in the coal mine’

  ABC News Videos

Coronavirus: Racist 'zoombombing' at virtual synagogue

"Zoombombing" - where uninvited guests enter meetings - is on the rise as more people use the app to stay in touch during the coronavirus restrictions. Experts advised people to secure meetings against intruders. A BBC employee who attended the meeting at a synagogue in London explained what happened: "There were about 205 of us logged on - including lots of families with little kids - and suddenly the numbers went up to 243."

The Mafia’s Using the Italy Lockdown to Raise Hell and Recruit

Authorities warn that the Mafia—likely behind the unrest—will soon step in as an ostensible savior bringing the southern region back to order, offering loans and black market jobs to fill the vacuum created by a lack of state attention to anyone outside the coronavirus red zone in the north. In exchange La Cosa Nostra will have recruited a whole new army of civilians ready to help it exploit whatever rises from the pandemic ashes. All this, and we aren't even halfway through the fourth week of the lockdown, now extended until “at least Easter” with most authorities cautioning it will be more like June or later before life is anywhere close to what it once was.

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  Coronavirus: UK considers virus-tracing app to ease lockdown

  BBC
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  Coronavirus: How are Royal Mail services impacted by the nationwide lockdown?

  The Independent

Wuhan Residents Dismiss Official Coronavirus Death Toll: ‘The Incinerators Have Been Working Around the Clock’

Wuhan residents are increasingly skeptical of the Chinese Communist Party's reported coronavirus death count of approximately 2,500 deaths in the city to date, with most people believing the actual number is at least 40,000. “Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality,” a Wuhan resident, who gave only his surname Mao, told Radio Free Asia. A city source added that, based on the aggregation of funeral and cremation numbers, authorities likely know the real number and are keeping it under wraps.

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  Wuhan's death toll could be astronomically higher than the Chinese government has reported, some residents say

  Business Insider
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  Shops open in Wuhan as virus outbreak wanes

  Associated Press Videos

The US passed a grim milestone with a single-day coronavirus death toll above 500, bringing the country's overall count past 3,000

More than 3,000 people had died of the novel coronavirus in the US as of Monday night after a single-day death toll of more than 500. Previously, the highest death toll in 24 hours was 446 deaths, according to The Washington Post. The top US infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN the country could see "millions of cases" as the outbreak pans out, with 100,000 to 200,000 deaths.

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  Spain coronavirus death toll jumps 849 in one day to 8,189

  The Independent
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  France death toll tops 3,000 after biggest daily one-day increase

  The Independent

US asks Juan Guaido to renounce claim to Venezuela leadership – for the time being

The United States has called on Venezuela's Juan Guaido to temporarily renounce his claim to the presidency as it recalibrates its strategy to oust leader Nicolas Maduro. The shift came after more than a year of faltering US-led efforts to oust the leftist Mr Maduro. Mr Guaido came under growing pressure from authorities, who on Tuesday summoned him to answer charges of attempting a coup.

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  In Venezuela shift, US offers sanctions relief for transitional government

  AFP
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  US offers Venezuela sanctions relief for power-sharing agreement

  BBC

Russian plane takes off for U.S. with coronavirus help onboard: state TV

A Russian military transport plane took off from an airfield outside Moscow early on Wednesday and headed for the United States with a load of medical equipment and masks to help Washington fight coronavirus, Russian state TV reported. President Vladimir Putin offered Russian help in a phone conversation with President Donald Trump on Monday, when the two leaders discussed how best to respond to the virus. The flight, which was organised by the Russian Defence Ministry, is likely to be unpopular with some critics of Trump who have urged him to keep his distance from Putin and who argue that Moscow uses such aid as a geopolitical and propaganda tool to advance its influence, something the Kremlin denies.

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  Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Weaker Shorts Covering as US, Russia Agree to Talk About Price Crash

  FX Empire
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  Oil ends March with biggest monthly and quarterly losses ever

  Reuters

One country is refusing to shut down to stop the coronavirus

While officials from Montreal to Moscow have placed populations under some form of lockdown designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, one man continues to hold firm to the notion that the rest of the world has lost its mind: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees!” Lukashenko told a Belarusian television reporter Saturday when asked whether the coronavirus could stop him from hitting the rink for a propaganda-filled hockey game. Lukashenko, one of the longest-serving leaders in the former Soviet Union, has been in power for over 25 years.

12 Buildings That Show the Beauty of Deconstructed Architecture

From Zaha Hadid's majestic MAXII in Italy to the stunning beauty of Frank Gehry's Vitra Design Museum, these structures elevate the environment they were built in Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

A man hid his coronavirus symptoms to join his wife in a New York hospital maternity ward. She ended up infected also.

A man is suspected of infecting his pregnant wife with the novel coronavirus after hiding his symptoms to join her in a New York hospital maternity ward, USA Today reports. The incident prompted the hospital — Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York — to impose stricter screening measures on the already few visitors allowed in the maternity ward. A man hid his coronavirus symptoms from hospital staff so he could be with his pregnant wife in a New York hospital maternity ward last week, USA Today reported Tuesday.

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  John Prine's Wife Says Musician Is Stable After Being Hospitalized with Coronavirus Symptoms

  People
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  Wife Sick After Husband Hid Coronavirus Symptoms To Visit Her In Maternity Ward

  HuffPost

Why Taiwan has become a problem for WHO

Taiwan is seen as one of the few places in the world which has successfully stemmed the spread of the coronavirus without resorting to draconian measures. This all exploded over the weekend when a top WHO official appeared to avoid questions about Taiwan in a TV interview that has gone viral, attracting criticism and even accusations of bias. On Saturday, Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK aired an interview with Bruce Aylward, the WHO assistant director-general, who spoke to journalist Yvonne Tong on a video call.

Stabbing of Asian-American 2-Year-Old and Her Family Was a Virus-Fueled Hate Crime: Feds

The vicious stabbing of an Asian-American family, including a 2-year-old girl, at a Sam's Club in Texas earlier this month has been deemed a hate crime by the feds, as authorities continue to raise alarm bells about a potential surge in racially motivated crimes amid the coronavirus outbreak. Jose L. Gomez, 19, confessed to authorities that he attempted to murder three Asian-American family members, including the toddler and a 6-year-old, on March 14 at the Midland, Texas store, according to the Midland Police Department.

A guide to surviving financially as the bills come due

The coronavirus has dealt a financial blow to millions of Americans and now April's bills are coming due. Reach out immediately to your mortgage lender, student loan servicer or utility provider to see what's available. Other assistance, such as stimulus checks or unemployment benefits, will take more time.

U.S. is swiftly deporting migrant children at the border

Citing a public health order to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration is swiftly deporting unaccompanied migrant minors apprehended near the U.S.-Mexico border, upending a long-standing practice required under a federal law designed to protect children from violence and exploitation. Despite initially maintaining that the new measures would not apply to unaccompanied minors, Customs and Border Protection on Monday said its officials could deny entry to children who cross the southern border alone under an order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The agency said some minors could be excluded from the CDC directive if a border official "suspects trafficking or sees signs of illness."

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  Editorial: Migrant children shouldn't be detained, but especially not during a pandemic

  Los Angeles Times Opinion
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  New rulings amid coronavirus could force Trump to release migrant children and parents

  LA Times

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has quietly backed off endorsing Democratic primary challengers

But since she's entered Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has largely declined to endorse progressives following her lead, Politico reports. Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress last year ready to shake things up. She quickly joined up with the progressive group Justice Democrats and called on its supporters to run against incumbents, and reportedly set her primarying sights on House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.

Trump warns of 'painful two weeks' as officials predict up to 240,000 US coronavirus deaths

Donald Trump has warned America to brace for a “very, very painful two weeks” as the White House projected that the coronavirus pandemic could claim 100,000 to 240,000 lives, even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained. Striking an unusually sombre tone at the start a marathon two-hour briefing, the US president defended his early handling of the crisis and displayed models that, he said, justified his decision to keep much of the economy shut down. “I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead,” Trump said at the White House.

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  White House projects 100K to 240K US deaths from virus

  Associated Press
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  Trump warns of 'very painful' time as aides predict US coronavirus death toll could reach 240,000

  USA TODAY

Venezuela prosecutor's office summoned Guaido for 'attempted coup'

State prosecutors in Venezuela have summoned opposition leader Juan Guaido for an alleged "attempted coup d'etat" and attempted assassination, Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced Tuesday. In a statement broadcast on state television, Saab said Guaido had been summoned to appear before prosecutors next Thursday following an investigation last week into the seizure of a weapons cache in neighboring Colombia that he said was to be smuggled into Venezuela. The subpoena was delivered to his head of security on Monday night, Saab said.

India and Pakistan crack down on Muslim group emerging as COVID-19 cluster

India and Pakistan sealed off centers belonging to a Muslim missionary group on Tuesday and began investigating how many coronavirus cases were linked to its activities. Tablighi Jamaat is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim missionary movement that preaches worldwide. Every year, tens of thousands attend its congregations in the Pakistani city of Lahore and other parts of South Asia.

• Delhi Religious Center Becomes India’s Latest Virus Hotspot

  Bloomberg
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  A religious congregation in Delhi could be the coronavirus hotspot India was trying to escape

  Quartz

A coronavirus patient's phlegm or poop could still have live virus in it even after they recover and test negative, new research suggests

The new coronavirus typically spreads via airborne particles from an infected patient's coughs or sneezes. A new study found that the virus lingers in recovered patients' phlegm and poop for weeks after diagnostic tests using swabs from their nose and throats came back negative. This could mean doctors are discharging patients from the hospital who have tested negative for COVID-19 but are still shedding viral particles.

Sweden's 'free will' coronavirus strategy alarms some scientists

As the temperature passed 50 degrees in Stockholm last week, people congregated in parks unable to resist socializing during the first signs of spring in the Swedish capital. The Swedish government has left it up to individuals to act responsibly and decide whether to stay home or not. Public gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited but there are no restrictions on private meetings, meaning parties and corporate events can still go ahead.

An influencer, her husband, and their 5 kids broke quarantine to flee NYC in an RV. A wave of backlash followed.

Screenshot Instagram/@taza A parenting blogger with nearly half a million Instagram followers sparked a wave a backlash when she posted that she, her husband, and her 5 kids were choosing to leave New York City in an RV amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite leaving a day before the CDC issued its domestic travel advisory asking New York residents to stay put, Naomi Davis' explanation for fleeing the city was met with hundreds of negative comments. "After two full weeks in the apartment, we made the family decision to drive out west so we can have a little more space (namely some outdoor space for the kids) for a little while," she captioned her announcement.