A Can Trump Continue A Steady Approach On Coronavirus? | Morning Joe | MSNBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rYIjOB9Uno
The panel continues its discussion on the president's sober remarks on the severity of the coronavirus crisis and the new report that is informing Trump's approach. Aired on 3/17/2020.
White House Urges New Restrictions To Slow Spread Of Coronavirus | TODAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H-8zWi5kBc
Coronavirus update: Germany raises threat level to 'high' | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjpcR9Hfm-E
The Robert Koch Institute has changed its COVID-19 threat risk for Germany from "moderate" to "high." It said the pandemic and some imposed restrictions could last for two years. The RKI also warned that an increasing number of COVID-19 infections cannot be traced back to known cases. Germany currently has over 7,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 20 deaths
Coronavirus update: Macron puts France on lockdown, UK shifts Corona strategy | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq7HZGToZK4
France becomes the third country in Europe to go into lockdown over coronavirus. The country is just minutes away from a nationwide lockdown. President Emmanuel Macron says the country is facing a public health war, and that it will take an all out mobilization to slow the spread of coronavirus. The virus has so far killed 148 people in France and infected more than 6,600. All citizens will be required to stay home from midday. The restrictions will stay in place for at least fifteen days. Chancellor Merkel toughens Germany's tactics to slow the spread of the virus. Merkel announces that all non-essential stores will stay closed and advises Germans to stay home. Some more of the latest coronavirus developments: - Iran has temporarily freed 85,000 prisoners in response to the epidemic, including political detainees. - Hong Kong will quarantine all new arrivals for 14 days, to preserve its current success at limiting the outbreak. - South Korea will also tighten border checks, after three days of reporting less than 100 new infections. - Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first detected, reported just one new locally transmitted case on Tuesday.
Coronavirus update: Spain on lockdown, Germany shuts borders | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3LOvv9Z-0
Germany joins a growing list of EU countries to at least partially shut out its neighbors. Authorities here have decided to close borders with Switzerland and Austria. That's according to German media reports. Added restrictions are also being imposed on the French-German boundary. Spain is in lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19. Unprecedented lockdowns and border closures are coming into effect in many European countries, and the streets are empty throughout Europe, with Spain and France among the worst hit by the virus' spread behind Italy. England is planning self-isolation measures for all people over 70, for up to four months. Austria's Chancellor Sebstian Kurz says his government is banning gatherings of more than five people. Iran's coronavirus death toll has leapt by 113 in one day to reach 724. And the Vatican says all Easter services will take place without worshipers in attendance. Pope Francis will hold Sunday blessings via TV and the internet. Meanwhile, the United States has tightened its ban on visitors from Europe. President Donald Trump says it will now include travelers from Britain and Ireland. In countries that are far away from coronavirus hotspots, like Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia, the response from authorities has ranged from tough to nonexistent
Italy Still On Lockdown After 1,200 People Die From COVID-19 | NBC News NOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-JpJxEEKk
NBC News’ Matt Bradley details the measures Italy has taken as it remains on lockdown from COVID-19 after the virus infected over 17,000 people and killed 1,200
Iran is building a massive grave for coronavirus victims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjuWyXzKBIw
In Iran - now facing one of the largest outbreaks of the novel coronavirus outside of China - graves are being dug at an unusual speed in a cemetery in Qom. Iranian authorities downplayed the spread of the virus by incorrectly reporting the death toll and failing to implement preventative measures, like closing holy sites in Qom where visitors were filmed touching and kissing shrines.Eventually, the government began to show more transparency in addressing the crisis, but videos and satellite imagery reveal how the situation quickly worsened after the government’s slow response. Just days after Iran declared its first cases of coronavirus, authorities began digging a pair of trenches for the victims of the disease. Together their lengths are now that of a football field. According to expert analysis, videos and official statements, the graves were dug to address the rising rate of deaths from the virus. This investigation verifies the visual evidence that shows what is going on in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak and a contradictory government narrative. It lays out a timeline of events, which shows the consequences of the Iranian government’s initial downplaying of the virus’ spread. Read more: https://wapo.st/3aUUZSo. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK
Trump’s Racially-Charged Retweet of ‘China Virus’ Message Fuels Tensions With Beijing
https://time.com/5800917/trump-china-virus-tweet/
Both U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping have good reasons to deflect political blame for the coronavirus outbreak. And that has both of them zeroing in on the pathogen’s name.As the disease formally designated as COVID-19 expands across the U.S., Trump and other top Republicans have sought to highlight the outbreak’s foreign origin and even use it to justify curbs on immigration — including a wall on the southern border with Mexico. On Tuesday, Trump retweeted supporter Charlie Kirk calling it the “China virus,” with the president agreeing “we need the Wall more than ever!”That’s a characterization that Beijing has been fighting since the virus was first discovered in humans in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December. Chinese diplomats and state media have pushed back against terms like the “Wuhan flu” wherever they turn up, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian arguing last week that “no conclusion has been reached yet on the origin of the virus.”
“By calling it ‘China virus’ and thus suggesting its origin without any supporting facts or evidence, some media clearly want China to take the blame and their ulterior motives are laid bare,” Zhao said. The World Health Organization named the disease COVID-19 — short for “coronavirus disease 2019” — in part to avoid stigmatizing any one place or group for a virus that poses risks to everyone. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S.’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agreed that the term Chinese coronavirus was inappropriate when asked about Trump’s tweet at a congressional hearing Tuesday.
The term has caught on among some Republicans anxious about the political fallout, as financial markets endure their worst turmoil in a decade and Democrats assail the Trump administration’s early response on the campaign trail. Similarly, Xi’s Communist Party wants to suppress the phrase at home and abroad to minimize its own responsibility for a disease that has infected more than 118,000 people and threatens to push the global economy into recession.The tense back-and-forth over what to call the virus is the latest chapter in a broader clash between the world’s two largest economies that ranges from trade and military competition to network equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co. It’s also a continuation of a diplomatic spat that began when the U.S. accused Beijing of delaying visits to China by American health experts, and risks hampering global efforts to combat the rapidly spreading outbreak.Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.“The geopolitical blame game is likely to be lose-lose for China and America,” said Rory Medcalf, a professor who heads the National Security College at the Australian National University. “This global health and economic crisis began with China’s suppression of truth domestically. But the world will lose an opportunity to cope with the dangers through honest cooperation, if both Washington and Beijing don’t move quickly now to focus on global solutions — not finger-pointing narratives.”The debate intensified after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo complained during a March 6 Fox News interview that China wasn’t being transparent about what he called the “Wuhan virus.” Asked about the term, he said Chinese officials acknowledged that the disease began there: “Don’t take my word for it, take theirs. They’re right on this one.China’s foreign ministry hit back, denouncing Pompeo’s terminology as “despicable.”“Despite the fact that the WHO has officially named this novel type of coronavirus, a certain American politician, disrespecting science and the WHO decision, jumped at the first chance to stigmatize China and Wuhan with it,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular briefing on Monday. Asked again Wednesday, Geng said such rhetoric was “not conducive to a concerted international effort to combat the epidemic.”In China, where most confirmed cases and deaths have occurred, Xi has been struggling to control the political narrative. He replaced top political leaders in Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei last month after a rare public outcry over the government’s response to the disease, which was first found in humans near a food market that sold wildlife.The virus is also now dominating the U.S. political agenda, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders criticizing Trump’s handling of the outbreak and canceling their own events to avoid worsening it. Several Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, have quarantined themselves as a precaution after coming into contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19.
Everything you need to know about the Chinese coronavirus can be found on one, regularly-updated website: https://t.co/nGCCDVqcqe
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 9, 2020
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the chamber’s top Republican, defended a tweet describing the disease as the “Chinese coronavirus.” That led Representative Lois Frankel, of Florida, to press the CDC’s Redfield whether he would agree that such terminology was “absolutely wrong and inappropriate.”
“Yes,” Redfield said. “China was the first phase. Korea and Iran was the second phase, with Italy, now all of Europe.”
—With assistance from Dandan Li.
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