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.”

More than 70% of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 had at least 1 underlying health condition, the CDC says — here's the breakdown

Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images In the US, 73% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have had at least one underlying condition, according to a new CDC report. People with preexisting health conditions "appear to be at a higher risk for severe disease from COVID-19" than those without, the report said. Diabetes, chronic lung disease, and heart disease were the most commonly reported conditions among US coronavirus patients.

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  Major Epidemic Diseases of the Past 2 Decades

  TheStreet.com
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  The CDC is said to be considering asking people to cover their face in public — but would reserve masks for medical workers

  Business Insider

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.

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."

Italy coronavirus deaths rise by 812, number of new cases falls sharply

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy climbed by 812 to 11,591, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday, reversing two days of declines in the daily rate. Some 5,217 cases were recorded on Sunday and 5,974 on Saturday. Italy has registered more deaths than anywhere else in the world and accounts for more than a third of all global fatalities from the virus.

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

  The Independent
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  Cuomo says coronavirus death toll is 'already staggering' as it passes 1,200 in New York

  The Week

Meet Candy Sterling, a fierce drag queen at night and a corporate professional by day

This is Candy Sterling – a fierce drag queen who lights up the New York City nightlife while maintaining a professional day job. Get to know her both in and out of drag on this week's episode of Behind the Drag.

Lindsey Graham Calls on IG Horowitz to Testify in Further FISA Hearings after Scathing New Report

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) plans to call DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz to testify before congress regarding his office's audit of the FBI's FISA application process, which was released Tuesday and revealed potentially systematic abuses of the transparency measures required of the Bureau when agents interact with the FISA court. I have just been briefed on Inspector General Horowitz's audit of FISA applications involving American citizens. This random audit shows discrepancies regarding verification of the information under the Woods Procedures,” Graham said in a press release.

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

Open coffins are left on roads to remind people to stay inside while soldiers shoot disinfectant from water cannons. Here's what lockdown for 57 million people in the Philippines looks like.

Ezra Acayan/Getty The Philippines' main island Luzon, which has a population of more than 57 million, is on lockdown. Along with people's movements being restricted, soldiers are covering residents and the streets in disinfectant, and open coffins have been left on the roads as a warning to people to stay inside. On Sunday, the Philippines reported 343 new coronavirus cases in a day — its highest one day increase yet.

CNN’s Jim Acosta: ‘This Was a Different Trump’ at Coronavirus Briefing

CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, known for his rough-and-tumble verbal battles with President Donald Trump, likely raised eyebrows among CNN viewers on Tuesday night when he praised the president's new tone at the latest White House press briefing, claiming “this was a different Trump.” During the briefing, Acosta asked whether projections of up to 200,000 deaths would be lower if Trump had acted sooner, prompting the president to insist that he did act early. Appearing on CNN later in the evening, Acosta told anchor Anderson Cooper that the president and the rest of the White House coronavirus task force delivered a sober message to the public that they'll need to be prepared for a heavy death toll.

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  White House turns to statistical models for virus forecast

  Associated Press
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  More Americans could die from coronavirus than those killed in battle during Civil War, White House projection shows

  Business Insider

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.

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.

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.

'Sailors do not need to die,' warns captain of coronavirus-hit U.S. aircraft carrier

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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  Coronavirus: US Navy captain pleads for help over outbreak

  BBC
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  'Sailors Do Not Need to Die': Carrier Captain Pleads for Help as Virus Cases Surge

  Military.com

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.

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

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

India’s coronavirus emergency just beginning as lockdown threatens to turn into human tragedy

An estimated 120 million Indian labourers are in the same predicament as Mr Asif, and Mr Modi has been accused of causing a humanitarian disaster by locking down the cities and unleashing a wave of poor migrant workers. Many of those who have been forced out of work have streamed back along highways and railway lines to their home states and villages, potentially spreading the coronavirus infection into the country's hinterlands. Mr Modi's lockdown was a knee-jerk reaction without thought for the consequences to the poor, claimed Manish Tewari, an MP for the Congress party.

Trump Vows to Send Ventilators to Europe as U.S. Governors Plead for Supplies

President Donald Trump is so confident in the country's production of ventilators that he's dangling the idea of helping countries abroad by sending them surplus supplies even as U.S. governors continue to ask the federal government for that crucial medical equipment. During a press briefing Monday, the president took a business friendly approach, touting an announcement from Ford and General Electric Healthcare that they would “produce 50,000 ventilators,” as well as nine additional companies also “doing ventilators.” “As we outpace what we need we're going to be sending them to Italy,” Trump said.

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  Federal agencies warned of ventilator shortages for nearly two decades

  FOX News Videos
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  Ford, GE to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days

  Reuters Videos

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

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.

The coronavirus is spreading quickly through Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities

In Israel, the coronavirus is spreading in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities up to eight times faster than anywhere else in the country. Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for 12 percent of Israel's population, but they make up 40 to 60 percent of coronavirus patients at four of the country's largest hospitals, officials told Israeli media. Health experts said the virus is moving so quickly in these communities because the ultra-Orthodox have large families, don't trust the government, and pay little to no attention to secular media.

China zeroes in on coronavirus patients with no symptoms as new infections rise

China will start releasing information from Wednesday on coronavirus patients who show no disease symptoms, ordering them into quarantine for 14 days, a health official said, after the mainland witnessed its first rise in infections in five days. As local infections peter out and new cases surface among travelers returning home, the existence of virus carriers with no symptoms is fuelling public concern that people could be spreading it without knowing they are ill. From April 1, the daily report of the National Health Commission will include details of such cases for the first time, Chang Jile, a commission official, told a briefing.

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.

Fox News Poll: Biden leads Trump in head-to-head

In a head-to-head presidential match-up, Biden is up by 49-40 percent over Trump, a lead that is outside the poll's margin of sampling error. Another 11 percent would vote for someone else or are undecided. That's all according to the latest Fox News poll.