Tag Archives: Coronavirus

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U.S. to Lock Down 70 Million People to Try and Stop Coronavirus Spread

70 million people across America’s mostly densely populated states are preparing for lock down. New York and Illinois  are expected to follow California, in restricting residents to their homes.

Hospitals are already facing the strain of Covid-19, and health officials are desperately trying to avoid a repeat of what has happened in Italy and Spain.

Northern Italy is still in the grips of an out of control spread of Coronavirus. With the health care system unable to cope with the shear numbers of sick and dying.

President Trump addressed the nation saying:

“Every American has a role to play in defending our nation from this invisible, horrible enemy.

“It really is an invisible enemy – and we will be successful, hopefully very much sooner than people would think.

“So we say stay at home and save lives. It is a time of shared national sacrifice but it’s also a time to treasure our loved ones and to take stock of what is most important; our faith, our families, our neighbours and our great country.

“I want to thank all of the incredible people, the citizens of our country.”

Read More: ITV

Connecting The Dots, News

U.S. Government Seeks to Use Smartphone Data to Monitor Social Distancing Compliance

The U.S. government  are reportedly considering ordering tech companies to hand over data to monitor if people are complying with social distancing guidelines during the Coronavirus pandemic.

According the NBC

Federal health officials say they could use anonymous, aggregated user data collected by the tech companies to map the spread of the virus — a practice known as “syndromic surveillance” — and prevent further infections. They could also use the data to see whether people were practicing “social distancing.”

Some sources stressed that the effort would be anonymized and that government would not have access to specific individuals’ locations. They noted that users would be required to opt-in to the effort.

The federal effort, first reported by The Washington Post, will force the tech giants to weigh their commitments to user privacy against their desire to help combat a disease that has cost thousands of human lives and upended the global economy.

Google confirmed that it is looking at how anonymous aggregated user data could be used in the fight against Covid-19. Saying they are,  “exploring ways that aggregated anonymized location information could help in the fight against COVID-19. One example could be helping health authorities determine the impact of social distancing, similar to the way we show popular restaurant times and traffic patterns in Google Maps.”

Read More: Breitbart

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Cannes Film Festival to be Postponed

The most prodigious of the film festivals- Cannes- is to be postponed this year. Organisers have said that until the Coronavirus is under control in France will the make a decision.

“Several hypotheses are being studied to preserve the festival, the main one of which would be a simple postponement,” the festival said in a statement. “As soon as the development of the French and international health situation will allow us to assess the real possibility, we will make our decision known.”

Already South by Southwest and the Tribeca Film Festivals have been cancelled. But the industry hopes that Cannes will survive as it is closer to summer.

Read More: Breitbart

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President Trump Announces Travel Ban from Europe

The President has announced a thirty day travel ban between the US and Europe. The ban will affect the Schengen area. This covers the countries in Europe which allow free movement of people within the EU, and includes Italy, France and Germany. Italy has particularly struggled to contain the virus, and has today ordered all shops apart from pharmacies and supermarkets to remain closed. The UK and Ireland will not be included in the travel ban.

EU leaders reacted angrily to the ban. However, the President said that the ban could be shortened or lengthened depending on how the outbreaks continues.

Read More: Sky News

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Investors and Analysts Predict Market Turmoil Could Threaten Trump’s Re-Election Bid

Monday saw global markets plummet and oil prices fall heavily, as fears around Coronavirus fuel the prospect of a global recession.

Analysts are now warning that if the economy is severely affected by the global outbreak of Corvid-19 it could harm Trump’s re-election bid.

“President Trump’s re-election likely hinges on the economy — a medical and/or economic shock from COVID-19 are arguably the biggest threats to his re-election,” Raymond James analysts said in a note on Sunday, referring to the virus’s official name.

“To preserve the economy and prevent a further market sell-off, it is in the best interest of President Trump to aggressively push for a large-scale fiscal response,” they wrote.

“If we go into recession, history speaks for itself. No sitting president has ever been re-elected in a recession,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Spartan Capital Securities.

Read More: Newsmax

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Trump Expected to Announce Payroll Tax Cut for Workers Affected by Coronavirus

The President is expected to announce new measures to help  ease the economic affects of Coronavirus. These include payroll tax cuts for those directly affected by the virus.

“The president has tasked this economic team and is working already with leaders in the Congress to make sure that [no one] feels that they are at risk of losing their job or their paycheck if they contract the coronavirus,” Pence said. Pence has been placed at the head of the committee to tackle coronavirus.

Read More: The Daily Caller

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Adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Dies of Coronavirus

Coronavirus has hit Iran hard. With members of the Iranian government contracting the illness. It has now been confirmed that Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71,  who was an Expediency Council member and adviser to Khamenei has died. COVID-19 has already infected Iran’s Vice President and Deputy Health Minister.

Iran has rejected help from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The US are concerned that Iran is covering up details about the spread of the virus.

Iran’s mortality rate of the virus has been 5.5%, compared with 2% in China. The virus has killed at least 66 people in Iran, the highest death toll outside of China. The majority of 1,150 cases throughout the Middle East are linked back to the country.

Iran has closed schools, but has allowed religious sites to remain open. Footage from Iran last week showed Iranians licking shrines in defiance to the virus.

Read More: Fox News

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First American Dies of Coronavirus

The first American death from Coronavirus was announced this week. The lady in her fifties was reported to be a medically high risk individual.

The President addressed a news conference. Where he updated the media on the situation saying: there are still four people very ill, but 15 are on the way to recovery or have recovered. However the President warned more cases are expected.

The President announced greater travel restrictions to south east Asia, Iran and Italy. He also did not rule out tighter border controls along the Mexican border.

Coronavirus continues to spread globally with Italy and Iran being particularly hard hit outside of China. Little is still known about the virus. But it appears that for 3 out of every 4 cases the patient will have mild to moderate flu like symptoms. However there are those people for whom the virus requires hospital treatment. Those at greatest risk of death are the elderly, the very young, and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Read More: Fox

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WHO Declares Global Health Emergency Over Coronavirus

The World Health Organisation has declared a global health emergency over coronavirus. This comes as the virus has spread across every region of China and continues to spread to other nations.

“The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The virus has claimed 170 lives in China. The WHO has said there are 98 confirmed cases across 18 other countries outside of China.

Read More: BBC

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New Chinese Virus: US Announces First Case

A deadly SARS like virus which has spread across south China and into some south-east Asian counties has entered the US. The coronavirus has been confirm in an individual in Seattle. The person had traveled into Seattle from China, after  taking unwell they sought medical help. The coronavirus has now been confirmed.

The virus has spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan and has seen more that 300 people taken ill, with six deaths. The virus is believed to have originated in a market selling seafood, where live animals are also present. It was confirmed the virus can pass from person-to-person.

Read More: BBC