Author: Media Watch

China’s Coronavirus: A Shocking Update. Did The Virus Originate in the US?
Japan, China and Taiwan Reports on the Origin of the Virus

By Larry Romanoff

Global Research, March 04, 2020

Region: Asia

Theme: Intelligence, Science and Medicine
The Western media quickly took the stage and laid out the official narrative for the outbreak of the new coronavirus which appeared to have begun in China, claiming it to have originated with animals at a wet market in Wuhan.

In fact the origin was for a long time unknown but it appears likely now, according to Chinese and Japanese reports, that the virus originated elsewhere, from multiple locations, but began to spread widely only after being introduced to the market.

More to the point, it appears that the virus did not originate in China and, according to reports in Japanese and other media, may have originated in the US.

Chinese Researchers Conclude the Virus Originated Outside of China

After collecting samples of the genome in China, medical researchers first conclusively demonstrated that the virus did not originate at the seafood market but had multiple unidentified sources, after which it was exposed to the seafood market from where it spread everywhere. (1) (2) (3)

According to the Global Times:

A new study by Chinese researchers indicates the novel coronavirus may have begun human-to-human transmission in late November from a place other than the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.

The study published on ChinaXiv, a Chinese open repository for scientific researchers, reveals the new coronavirus was introduced to the seafood market from another location(s), and then spread rapidly from the market due to the large number of close contacts. The findings were the result of analyses of the genome data, sources of infection, and the route of spread of variations of the novel coronavirus collected throughout China.

The study believes that patient(s) zero transmitted the virus to workers or sellers at the Huanan seafood market, the crowded market easily facilitating further transmission of the virus to buyers, which caused a wider spread in early December 2019. (Global Times, February 22, 2020, emphasis added (2)

Chinese medical authorities – and “intelligence agencies” – then conducted a rapid and wide-ranging search for the origin of the virus, collecting nearly 100 samples of the genome from 12 different countries on 4 continents, identifying all the varieties and mutations. During this research, they determined the virus outbreak had begun much earlier, probably in November, shortly after the Wuhan Military Games.

They then came to the same independent conclusions as the Japanese researchers – that the virus did not begin in China but was introduced there from the outside.

China’s top respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan said on January 27

“Though the COVID-19 was first discovered in China, it does not mean that it originated from China”

“But that is Chinese for “it originated someplace else, in another country”. (4)

This of course raises questions as to the actual location of origin. If the authorities pursued their analysis through 100 genome samples from 12 countries, they must have had a compelling reason to be searching for the original source outside China. This would explain why there was such difficulty in locating and identifying a ‘patient zero’.

Japan’s Media: The Coronavirus May Have Originated in the US

In February of 2020, the Japanese Asahi news report (print and TV) claimed the coronavirus originated in the US, not in China, and that some (or many) of the 14,000 American deaths attributed to influenza may have in fact have resulted from the coronavirus. (5)

A report from a Japanese TV station disclosing a suspicion that some of those Americans may have unknowningly contracted the coronavirus has gone viral on Chinese social media, stoking fears and speculations in China that the novel coronavirus may have originated in the US.

The report, by TV Asahi Corporation of Japan, suggested that the US government may have failed to grasp how rampant the virus has gone on US soil.

However, it is unknown whether Americans who have already died of the influenza had contracted the coronavirus, as reported by TV Asahi. (People’s Daily, English, February 23, 2020, emphasis added)

On February 14, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they will begin to test individuals with influenza-like-illness for the novel coronavirus at public health labs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and New York City.

The TV Asahi network presented scientific documentation for their claims, raising the issue that no one would know the cause of death because the US either neglected to test or failed to release the results. Japan avoided the questions of natural vs. man-made and accidental vs. deliberate, simply stating that the virus outbreak may first have occurred in the US. The Western Internet appears to have been scrubbed of this information, but the Chinese media still reference it.

These claims stirred up a hornet’s nest not only in Japan but in China, immediately going viral on Chinese social media, especially since the Military World Games were held in Wuhan in October, and it had already been widely discussed that the virus could have been transmitted at that time – from a foreign source.

“Perhaps the US delegates brought the coronavirus to Wuhan, and some mutation occurred to the virus, making it more deadly and contagious, and causing a widespread outbreak this year.” (People’s Daily, February 23, 2020) (1)

China – Western China Bashing – vs. Western Biowarfare?

Shen Yi, an international relations professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, stated that global virologists “including the intelligence agencies” were tracking the origin of the virus. Also of interest, the Chinese government did not shut the door on this. The news report stated:

“Netizens are encouraged to actively partake in discussions, but preferably in a rational fashion.”

In China, that is meaningful. If the reports were rubbish, the government would clearly state that, and tell people to not spread false rumors.

Taiwan Virologist Suggests the Coronavirus Originated in the US

Then, Taiwan ran a TV news program on February,27,(click here to access video (Chinese), that presented diagrams and flow charts suggesting the coronavirus originated in the US. (6)

Below is a rough translation, summary and analysis of selected content of that newscast. (see map below)

The man in the video is a top virologist and pharmacologist who performed a long and detailed search for the source of the virus. He spends the first part of the video explaining the various haplotypes (varieties, if you will), and explains how they are related to each other, how one must have come before another, and how one type derived from another. He explains this is merely elementary science and nothing to do with geopolitical issues, describing how, just as with numbers in order, 3 must always follow 2.

click map to enlarge

One of his main points is that the type infecting Taiwan exists only in Australia and the US and, since Taiwan was not infected by Australians, the infection in Taiwan could have come only from the US.

The basic logic is that the geographical location with the greatest diversity of virus strains must be the original source because a single strain cannot emerge from nothing. He demonstrated that only the US has all the five known strains of the virus (while Wuhan and most of China have only one, as do Taiwan and South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, Singapore, and England, Belgium and Germany), constituting a thesis that the haplotypes in other nations may have originated in the US.

Korea and Taiwan have a different haplotype of the virus than China, perhaps more infective but much less deadly, which would account for a death rate only 1/3 that of China.

Neither Iran nor Italy were included in the above tests, but both countries have now deciphered the locally prevalent genome and have declared them of different varieties from those in China, which means they did not originate in China but were of necessity introduced from another source. It is worth noting that the variety in Italy has approximately the same fatality rate as that of China, three times as great as other nations, while the haplotype in Iran appears to be the deadliest with a fatality rate of between 10% and 25%. (7) (8) (9)

Due to the enormous amount of Western media coverage focused on China, much of the world believes the coronavirus spread to all other nations from China, but this now appears to have been proven wrong. With about 50 nations scattered throughout the world having identified at least one case at the time of writing, it would be very interesting to examine virus samples from each of those nations to determine their location of origin and the worldwide sources and patterns of spread.

The Virologist further stated that the US has recently had more than 200 “pulmonary fibrosis” cases that resulted in death due to patients’ inability to breathe, but whose conditions and symptoms could not be explained by pulmonary fibrosis. He said he wrote articles informing the US health authorities to consider seriously those deaths as resulting from the coronavirus, but they responded by blaming the deaths on e-cigarettes, then silenced further discussion. …

The Taiwanese doctor then stated the virus outbreak began earlier than assumed, saying, “We must look to September of 2019”.

He stated the case in September of 2019 where some Japanese traveled to Hawaii and returned home infected, people who had never been to China. This was two months prior to the infections in China and just after the CDC suddenly and totally shut down the Fort Detrick bio-weapons lab claiming the facilities were insufficient to prevent loss of pathogens. (10) (11)

He said he personally investigated those cases very carefully (as did the Japanese virologists who came to the same conclusion).. This might indicate the coronavirus had already spread in the US but where the symptoms were being officially attributed to other diseases, and thus possibly masked.

The prominent Chinese news website Huanqiu related one case in the US where a woman’s relative was told by physicians he died of the flu, but where the death certificate listed the coronavirus as the cause of death. On February 26, ABC News affiliate KJCT8 News Network reported that a woman recently told the media that her sister died on from coronavirus infection. Montrose, Colorado resident Almeta Stone said, “They (the medical staff) kept us informed that it was the flu, and when I got the death certificate, there was a coronavirus in the cause of death.” (12)

We cannot ascertain the number of such cases in the US but since the CDC apparently has no reliable test kits and is conducting little or no testing for the virus, there may be others.

***

Just for information

In the past two years (during the trade war) China has suffered several pandemics:
- February 15, 2018: H7N4 bird flu. Sickened at least 1,600 people in China and killed more than 600. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.
- June, 2018: H7N9 bird flu. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.
- August, 2018: outbreak of African swine flu. Same strain as Russia, from Georgia. Millions of pigs killed. China needs to purchase US pork products.
- May 24, 2019: massive infestation of armyworms in 14 province-level regions in China, which destroy most food crops. Quickly spread to more than 8,500 hectares of China’s grain production. They produce astonishing numbers of eggs. China needs to purchase US agricultural products – corn, soybeans.
- December, 2019: Coronavirus appearance puts China’s economy on hold.
- January, 2020: China is hit by a “highly pathogenic” strain of bird flu in Hunan province. Many chickens died, many others killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.
The standard adage is that bad luck happens in threes, not sixes.

***

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Larry Romanoff is a retired management consultant and businessman. He has held senior executive positions in international consulting firms, and owned an international import-export business. He has been a visiting professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, presenting case studies in international affairs to senior EMBA classes. Mr. Romanoff lives in Shanghai and is currently writing a series of ten books generally related to China and the West. He can be contacted at: 2186604556@qq.com. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Notes

(1) https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1180429.shtml

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6) https://m.weibo.cn/status/4477008216030027#&video

(7)

(8)

(9) Coronavirus has Mutated, Iran attacked by a Different Strain from Wuhan

(10) https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/health/fort-detrick-lab-shut-down-after-failed-safety-inspection-all/article_767f3459-59c2-510f-9067-bb215db4396d.html

(11) https://www.unz.com/wwebb/bats-gene-editing-and-bioweapons-recent-darpa-experiments-raise-concerns-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/

(12) https://www.sohu.com/a/376454525_164026

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright © Larry Romanoff, Global Research, 2020
March 17, 2020
Epidemics in world history: the coronavirus in context

United World International

Coronavirus has officially made its appearance in Turkey, putting it in the headlines and minds of people across the country — but how serious is the problem in comparison with other major outbreaks of the past?

The Antonine Plague (Plague of Galen)

The Antonine plague was an epidemic brought by soldiers returning from their eastern conquests between the years 165 and 180 AD. It was one of the first major plagues and is known to have killed roughly 2,000 people a day at its peak.

Although researchers suspect that the disease was smallpox or measles, the true cause of the plague remains unknown. The plague killed the Roman Emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and caused the empire to lose around 30% of its total population.

The Plague of Justinian

In 541, while the Emperor Justinian sat on the throne in Constantinople, a plague that began in Europe first reached Egypt, then Palestine, Syria and Anatolia. Even though Emperor Justinian closed all the entrances and exits to Constantinople, the plague somehow found its way through mice in the equipment that soldiers had brought to the city.

An airborne insect called ‘Xenopsylla’, which had lurked inside the mice’s fur and were more than a millimeter small, carried a deadly bacterium called ‘Pasteurella pestis’ into the city.

The disease continued its normal course and disappeared slowly over time, but not before it killed around 40% of the population of Constantinople, one of the most populated cities of the time. The plague caused the weakening of the Byzantine Empire which suffered a massive loss of labor and soldiers and made it vulnerable to outside attacks. This eventually led to the events that radically changed European history.

The Black Death (Black Plague)

The Black Death plague, which occurred between the years 1346 and 1353, is believed to have killed between 75 and 200 million people. Although it is impossible to know the exact numbers, it is estimated that the European population has decreased by roughly 30% to 60% during these years.

The Black Death led to a questioning of religion and the church and is thought to be one of the main causes of the Reformation and the Renaissance.

Smallpox in the Americas

In the 15th century, Europeans discovered the New World. The European explorers quickly came into contact with the natives in the Americas, intentionally and unintentionally infecting them with viruses and bacteria that they had brought along with them.

Smallpox had already killed one third of Europe, but the Native Americans whose immune systems had not encountered the disease and who had no proper medicines stood no chance against it. Millions of people eventually died, around 90% of the indigenous population being extinguished. This made it a great deal easier for the Europoeans to colonize the Americas.

Cocoliztli epidemics

The epidemics in the 16th century in the region called ‘New Spain’ (now known as Mexico), are in fact several different epidemics occurred in the same period which are collectively called the “Cocoliztli epidemics.”

Today’s investigations show that the epidemics could have been caused by salmonella bacteria found in fish, and ended up killing around 15 million people between the years 1520 and 1576. This led to the end of the Mayan Civilization, and over the years it is thought to have spread from Venezuela to Canada.

The Third Cholera epidemic

There have been several major cholera epidemics in the history of civilization, but the deadliest was the third major outbreak which occurred between 1852 and 1860. The main cause of Cholera is the contamination of the drinking water, but this was not understood until during the third epidemic.

For a long period of time, human feces and other waste were poured into the water sources that were also used for drinking and cooking. India in particular faced disaster during this time.

With the massive outbreak in the 19th century, Cholera had spread all over in India, and then to Afghanistan and Russia. According to the official records, the outbreak killed 1 million people in Russia alone before reaching Europe, Africa and finally the Americas.

When not treated quickly, half of the infected people are likely to die. Although the exact number of people dying in the all cholera outbreaks is unknown, it is possible to estimate them in millions.

During the third major cholera outbreak, doctors found the cause of the disease, after which disinfecting and boiling drinking water became commonplace throughout the world.

The Third Plague pandemic

This outbreak began in China and killed around 12 million people in China and India alone between the years 1855 and 1859. It was called “the Third Plague Pandemic” after the Plague of Justinian and European Black Death.

The outbreak, which had lasted for about a century, came to the Americas on mice from the Far East. Unlike during previous plagues, modern medicine allowed the examination of this disease and the synthesis of a cure, including antibiotics.

Typhus outbreak during the First World War

The Typhus bacteria was spread widely by lice during the First World War. In Europe and Asia, more than 25 million people were infected and nearly 3 million people died as a result, particularly in the Soviet Union. Western countries understood what caused the outbreak more quickly and the measures had been taken in order to get rid of the lice. Eastern countries took action only later, which is why many more people died in these parts of the world.

The 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak

In the years following the First World War, the H1N1 influenza virus, which had infected around 500 million people, caused the deaths of between 50 and 100 million people worldwide. This number is more than the total number of people killed in the First and The Second World War combined.

The 1957 Asian Flu outbreak

This Pandemic is thought to be a result of the Influenza-A virus, which began in China and mutated in ducks and passed on to humans. The so-called Asian Flu disease killed up to 4 million people. The outbreak was prevented by vaccinations, with some 40 million being vaccinated within a single year.

HIV (AIDS) virus

The first example of the HIV virus, which is thought to have been passed from the apes to humans during the mid-20th century, has been traced back to Congo in 1959. However, its diagnosis and classification were only made in the 1980s. There is still no effective cure to the virus, which has taken 36 million lives in the last 30 years. The only way to handle the virus has been to take precautions from getting it in the first place, or to take medications one’s entire life.

The Hong Kong flu

The Hong Kong flu was seen between 1968 and 1969 and is estimated to have killed around 2 million people.

Ebola

The Ebola pandemic first began in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, and has led to more than 11,300 deaths. The West African Ebola pandemic began in Guinea in December 2013, and eventually spread to the West African countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus infected around 28,616 people before coming to an end in June 2016. This pandemic was recorded as the deadliest Ebola pandemic in history, in terms of the number of infected and number of deaths.

This article was originally published in the Turkish scientific magazine, Bilim ve Ütopya (bilimveutopya.com.tr)

March 17, 2020
Coronavirus Updates …. THE WASHINGTON POST

What to know about the novel coronavirus outbreak, from To Your Health.

By Angela Fritz
with Meryl Kornfield
Email

The Post’s coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free to access from this email.

The latest

Vice President Pence announced Saturday the Trump administration is expanding the travel ban from Europe to include the United Kingdom and Ireland. United States citizens and legal residents will still be allowed to return. Experts say travel bans do more harm than good.

During the press briefing, President Trump confirmed he was given a coronavirus test but doesn’t know when the results will come back. He said his temperature was “totally normal.”

Meanwhile, health experts say Trump is breaking all the rules when it comes to communicating about the crisis. “For those of us in this field, this is profoundly and deeply distressing,” said Matthew Seeger, a risk communication expert who developed the CDC’s guidebook for how U.S. leaders should talk to the public during crises.

When Trump was asked Friday why he disbanded the White House pandemic office, he denied it, saying, “I didn’t do it … I don’t know anything about it,” and told the reporter it was a “nasty” question. He also said “I don’t take responsibility at all” for the disastrous delays in testing. During that event, the president shook hands, patted backs and touched the microphone 31 times.

Spain’s prime minister announced a 15-day nationwide lockdown, meaning residents will be permitted to leave their homes only for essential activities. Spain is emerging as a new coronavirus hot spot.

France is closing all nonessential businesses until further notice to reduce the spread, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said. Banks, gas stations, supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open.

In the U.S., confirmed cases have climbed to nearly 2,500, and 50 people have died. Experts believe the actual number of cases is much higher – but they only know what they can test and confirm.

A new analysis found coronavirus could be worse for all adults — young and old — than we previously thought. The Kaiser Family Foundation study determined that about 4 in 10 adults (18+) in the United States have a higher risk of developing a serious illness if they get the infection, either due to their age (60+) or because of an underlying health condition.

The House passed an economic relief bill early this morning that would dedicate tens of billions of dollars for paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free testing and other measures. Even after President Trump criticized House Democrats Friday, he endorsed the legislation on Twitter.

Acting Brazilian ambassador Nestor Forster, who sat at President Trump’s table last weekend during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Forster is the third person who visited the president’s South Florida resort last weekend to test positive for the novel virus. A potential fourth, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, is awaiting test results.

As nonperishable goods fly off shelves at record pace, groceries are cutting back business hours, in part to give staff more time to disinfect. Some stores are putting a limit on the number of products people can purchase at one time. (Still, no guarantee your store will have toilet paper in stock.)

Groceries are bracing for labor shortages in the coming months. Supermarkets and distribution facilities are facing a dilemma: How are they going to keep stores stocked and keep their workers safe as they interact with hundreds — sometimes thousands — of customers per day.

Your questions, answered

Is going out to restaurants safe? What about shopping at Macy’s or Target? A visit to the post office? The library? I think people need guidance on what must change in ordinary life. —Peter Eggenberger, Oakland, Calif.

I went to the grocery this morning with Peter’s question weighing heavily on my mind. We’re all assuming some risk when we go out in public, especially now that the virus has been confirmed in 49 states. The amount of risk, of course, depends on where you’re going and what your own circumstances are.

We posed Peter’s question to Dr. Timothy Brewer, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California in Los Angeles.

“While there is likely to be some risk from casual contact — restaurant, stores — the risk is likely to be lower than that of close contacts,” Brewer said. From what doctors have seen in China, people “who are in close contact with an infected person for prolonged periods of time” are at the highest risk.

He recommended what other experts have been saying for weeks: adults over 60 should limit their time in public places, because the illness takes a more significant toll and is more deadly in older populations.

Eating at a restaurant poses its own risks, but we’ve seen that some restaurants are taking precautions like doing more deep cleaning and even providing disposable utensils. Experts say food delivery is probably still a good option for people who want to indulge in restaurant fare. “It’s a good way to do social distancing, which is especially important for the elderly,” Amesh Adalja, a physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Post’s Tim Carman.

March 14, 2020
Coronavirus pandemic “could be over by June” if countries act, says Chinese adviser
World News

March 12, 2020 / 3:53 AM / Updated an hour ago

Kevin Yao, Min Zhang

BEIJING (Reuters) – The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.

Women wears face masks outside an office complex in Beijing as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, China, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China’s central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.

Chinese authorities credit strict measures they have taken, including placing Hubei under near total lockdown, with preventing big outbreaks in other cities, and say other countries should learn from their efforts.

“Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China,” said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission. “The increase of new cases is falling.”
Related Coverage
- China government spokesman says U.S. army might have brought virus to China
- Shanghai says travelers from more countries to face quarantine
See more stories
Zhong Nanshan, the government’s senior medical adviser, told reporters that as long as countries take the outbreak seriously and are prepared to take firm measures, it could be over worldwide in a matter of months.

“My advice is calling for all countries to follow WHO instructions and intervene on a national scale,” he said. “If all countries could get mobilized, it could be over by June.”

Speaking to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Xi Jinping similarly expressed confidence, state television reported.

“After hard work, China has shown a trend of continuous improvement in epidemic prevention and control,” the report cited Xi as saying.

“I am confident that the Chinese people will be able to overcome this epidemic and achieve their intended economic and social development goals.”

Zhong, an 83-year-old epidemiologist renowned for helping combat the SARS outbreak in 2003, said viruses in the same family typically became less active in warm months.

“My estimate of June is based on scenarios that all countries take positive measures.”

Later on Thursday, Zhong held a teleconference with a group of U.S. medical experts, including from Harvard University, state television reported.

Zhong and his team shared their experiences of quickly testing and containing the virus, difficulties in treatment, and cooperation in clinical research, the report added.

The United States is now facing its own virus crisis as the number of infected people rises.

BUSINESSES REOPEN

With the marked slowdown of the spread of the virus in China, more businesses have reopened, with authorities cautiously easing strict containment measures.

Hubei province announced a further loosening of travel restrictions and will also allow some industries to resume production.

Hubei’s economy, driven by manufacturing and trade, including a sizable auto sector in the provincial capital, Wuhan, had been virtually shut down since Jan. 23.

Slideshow (4 Images)

While the virus is spreading quickly globally, its progress in China has slowed markedly in the past seven days. In all, 15 new cases were recorded in mainland China on Wednesday, down from 24 the day before. Seven of the new cases were outside Hubei, including six imported from abroad.

While only 85 of the cases in China have come from abroad, the rising number of such incidences has prompted authorities to shift their focus on containing the risk of imported cases.

The total number of cases recorded in mainland China was 80,793. As of Tuesday, 62,793 people had recovered and been discharged from hospital, or nearly 80% of the infections.

In Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, 34,094 patients had been discharged from hospitals, but over half were still under observation at so-called “recovery stops” – quarantine venues repurposed from hotels and student dormitories.

Hubei’s health authority said the post-discharge quarantine was a precautionary measure, after a few discharged patients tested positive again.

As of the end of Wednesday, the death toll in mainland China had reached 3,169, up by 11 from the previous day. Hubei accounted for 10 of the new deaths, including seven in Wuhan.

China is focusing on restarting factories and businesses hit by the containment policies. Factory activity plunged to its worst level on record in February, and while more businesses have reopened in recent weeks as containment measures have been eased, analysts do not expect activity to return to normal until April.

Airlines have been hit particularly hard. China’s airlines reported total losses of 20.96 billion yuan ($3 billion) in February. The total number of airline passengers fell 84.5% year-on-year last month, China’s aviation regulator said.

Reporting by Ryan Woo, Se Young Lee, Lusha Zhang, Stella Qiu, David Stanway, Cate Cadell, Gao Liangping, Engen Tham, Judy Hua and Kevin Yao; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel, Toby Chopra and Nick Macfie

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
March 12, 2020
Trump suspends all travel from Europe to U.S. over ‘horrible’ coronavirus pandemic
By Chris Sommerfeldt

New York Daily News

Mar 11, 2020 10:37 PM

President Trump speaks from the Oval Office on Wednesday.(Doug Mills/AP)

President Trump took the extraordinary step Wednesday of announcing a suspension of travel from much of Europe to the U.S. in an effort to contain the coronavirus, calling the fast-spreading respiratory illness a “horrible” pandemic that requires an “aggressive” response.

After downplaying the virus for days, Trump struck a sober tone as he said in a nationally-televised address from the Oval Office that the travel ban will take effect Friday and last for the next 30 days.

“To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe,” Trump said — though officials later said the ban would be limited.

The extremely unusual announcement came hours after the World Health Organization officially designated the virus as a global pandemic, a rare label that has only been used for a handful of diseases over the course of history.

The U.S. death toll from the virus, meanwhile, climbed to 37 and the number of Americans infected surpassed 1,100, with more than 200 in New York alone. Globally, some 110,000 people have been infected and more than 4,000 have died.

Trump said in his address the new travel restrictions will apply to the “tremendous amount of trade and cargo” coming from Europe, in addition to individuals, sparking concerns across the globe about a devastating economic hit.

But the White House walked back Trump’s statement afterward and said the ban does not apply to trade and cargo, effectively admitting the president misspoke.

Despite Trump’s claim that all travel from Europe would be restricted, Homeland Security officials later clarified the new ban would apply mostly to foreign nationals traveling from the continent’s “Schengen Area.”

[More Politics] NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade postponed; Cuomo cites coronavirus concerns

The United Kingdom will be exempt from the ban entirely.

American citizens, permanent U.S. residents and their families will be allowed to return from Europe as long as they undergo “appropriate screenings,” Trump said.

Additionally, Trump said he will take executive action in short order to provide economic relief for Americans whose lives have been disrupted by the virus.

[More Politics] National Grid’s plans are ‘onerously expensive and environmentally detrimental:’ NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer

“To ensure that working Americans impacted by the virus can stay home without fear of financial hardship, I will soon be taking emergency action, which is unprecedented, to provide financial relief,” Trump said. “This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to coronavirus.”

The president did not elaborate on the economic relief measures.

Administration officials were in talks earlier in the day with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about an emergency aid package that would guarantee paid sick leave, food assistance, free medical tests and unemployment assistance, as thousands of Americans are forced to stay home from work as the virus continues to spread.

[More Politics] Bernie Sanders vows to stay in race and debate even after crushing primary loss to Joe Biden

A vote on such a measure is expected in the House as early as Thursday.

In another nearly unheard of development, the NBA announced late Wednesday it was suspending the rest of its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus.

Adding to the anxiety, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced an aide in her office had tested positive for the virus, raising the prospect that the pandemic may have been spreading on Capitol Hill.

[More Politics] Rush Limbaugh says reports on coronavirus concerns, like climate change, are all about making Trump look bad

Beyond economic relief for individuals, Trump said he would ask Congress to provide a $50 billion boost to a program providing loans for small businesses suffering from economic disruptions.

He said he would also ask lawmakers to “very strongly” consider implementing a payroll tax break, even though leaders from both parties rejected the request earlier this week.

The president’s announcement — while drastic — fell short of the national disaster declaration that some congressional Democrats had asked for.

[More Politics] Disappointing results leave Sanders campaign at crossroads

Mayor de Blasio also blasted Trump for failing to make good on providing an update on “the most important thing: rapid, expansive testing.”

“Our ‘leader’ is more preoccupied with who to blame than how to protect people now that it’s in our communities,” de Blasio said in a statement. “New Yorkers don’t care where the virus came from. They just want every level of Government to do the utmost to halt the spread.”

Trump’s bid for reelection is centered on the relatively strong state of the U.S. economy and a payroll tax break would likely help soothe growing fear over the virus on Wall Street.

[More Politics] Trump trashes Vanity Fair for critical coronavirus story — and ‘third rate’ magazine hits right back

After the WHO’s pandemic announcement Wednesday afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 6%, bringing it 20% below last month’s high and officially putting the index into what traders call a “bear market” for the first time in 11 years.

Trump already pitched Senate Republicans on a payroll tax measure Tuesday.

However, he offered few specifics and Republicans appeared unlikely to support the costly proposal.

[More Politics] AOC admits there’s ‘no sugarcoating’ Bernie Sanders’ crushing defeat

Democrats say they won’t consider it, either, as they are more interested in providing immediate relief for workers instead of easing the stock market, which has suffered historic losses in the past few days.

“Right now we’re trying to deal with the direct impact of the virus on individual citizens,” House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said earlier Wednesday.

After Trump’s address, the White House announced he would not travel to Nevada and Colorado later this week “out of an abundance of caution.”

Related Gallery
(DOUG MILLS / POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump

Donald Trump in the White House
The travel announcement is expected to deliver yet another blow to an airline industry already reeling from a drop in bookings and a surge in people canceling reservations for fear of getting sick with the coronavirus. The disruption is also certain to ripple through economies, causing widespread damage to hotels, car rental companies, museums and restaurants.

Airlines have been slashing their flight schedules, especially on international routes, to cope with a sharp decline in travel demand among fearful customers. Business travel is slowing as companies impose restrictions on employee travel and major conferences are canceled.

An industry trade group warned that airlines worldwide could lose up to $113 billion in revenue from the virus — several times the damage caused by the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S. Since mid-February, shares of American Airlines have dropped by nearly half, United Airlines by more than one-third, and Delta Air Lines more than one-fourth.

[More Politics] Bernie Sanders captures win in North Dakota caucuses

It isn’t just U.S. airlines feeling the pain. Germany’s Lufthansa plans to cut up to half its flights because of a “drastic” drop in bookings. In Asia, travel restrictions are taking a toll on that region’s airlines. Cathay Pacific Airways warned Wednesday it faces a “substantial loss” in the first half of this year. The Hong Kong-based airline canceled 90% of its flight capacity to the mainland at the start of February after Beijing told the public to avoid travel as part of efforts to contain the outbreak centered on the city of Wuhan.

On Wednesday, Boeing’s stock fell 18% — its biggest one-day percentage drop since 1974 — and the iconic airplane manufacturer announced a hiring freeze.

The president’s drastic travel announcement sharply contrasted his response to the virus so far.

[More Politics] Joe Biden wins Michigan primary, at least three more contests in major blow to Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday II

He has consistently sought to downplay the severity of the virus, including falsely claiming last month that the number of U.S. cases would be “close to zero” within days. Instead of recommending that people to take precautions, Trump has repeatedly pleaded for “calm” and inaccurately said the illness is no worse than seasonal flu.

Contrastingly, Trump said in his Oval Office address that people should wash their hands, clean used surfaces, cover their mouths while sneezing and not go to work if they feel sick. He urged older people, in particular, to follow the advice.

“This is not a financial crisis,” Trump said. “This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”

[More Politics] Andrew Yang endorses Joe Biden in 2020 race, warns him against ‘business as usual’ policies

Earlier in the day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, offered dire warnings about the virus during an appearance before the House Oversight Committee.

“I can say we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now,” Fauci said, adding that the virus could impact “many, many millions” of people if “we are complacent.”

Health experts have warned that upward of 60% of the American population could be infected by the virus.

[More Politics] Rosario Dawson says she voted for Bernie Sanders after Cory Booker’s endorsement of Joe Biden

Fauci also affirmed that the coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu, directly contradicting Trump’s previously rosy assessments.

Most people recover from the virus within a few weeks and only experience mild symptoms, such as fever and a cough. However, older people and individuals with underlying health problems can experience more severe symptoms, including pneumonia.

With News Wires

Chris Sommerfeldt

Contact

Chris Sommerfeldt is a reporter covering national politics and the Trump administration. He started working for the Daily News in May 2015 as a city desk reporter.
March 12, 2020
In Moscow, Erdogan kneels to Putin

by Tom Rogan

| March 05, 2020 11:53 AM

Even by Vladimir Putin’s standards for embarrassing his foreign counterparts, his treatment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday was a spectacle — and not a good one for the Turkish president.

Meeting Putin in the aftermath of a recent Syrian airstrike, which killed 34 Turkish soldiers, Erdogan might have been expected to take a tough stance with the Russian leader. Or at least a harder line than his submissiveness of past.

After all, Erdogan knows full well that Russia authorized Bashar Assad to carry out the attack which killed his soldiers. The Russians knew his forces were in the strike location before the attack began. Putin is ultimately responsible for the bloody strategic context here — namely, the Assad-Iran-Russia axis offensive in Syria’s Idlib governate. In stark breach of cease-fire agreements with Turkey, the axis’s offensive (and its deliberate targeting of schools and hospitals) has sparked a refugee exodus to Turkish borders.

So, yes, Erdogan had good reason to play hardball in Moscow. Instead, he decided to lick Putin’s boots.

“I would like to once more give my condolences for the death of your soldiers in Syria,” Putin began, without even looking Erdogan in the eye. He continued with a vintage show of Chekist dark humor, “This is always a big tragedy.” Then, the former KGB lieutenant colonel jumped to the central lie. “Unfortunately, nobody, even the Syrian military, knew about their whereabouts.” And Putin added, “Syrian soldiers have also suffered.”

Any leader with a basic sense of self-respect or national honor would have interrupted Putin here. As I say, Erdogan knows that Putin knew where his forces were. He knows that those forces were targeted with Putin’s approval. Putin’s words were thus an insult to all Turks.

Erdogan responded by staring blankly at Putin, offering not even a hint of anger. Putin had won.

Amazingly, Erdogan then decided to make himself look even weaker, and he succeeded.

He offered an excuse as to why the meeting was being held in Moscow and not Ankara, even though he had requested the latter. Erdogan knows that the meeting is in Moscow because Putin wanted the image of Erdogan coming to pay homage and beg for a compromise. But rather than sidestep this issue, the Turkish president said he had only accepted Moscow due to Putin’s constitutional changes. It would be laughable were it not so pathetic.

It was always a danger that Erdogan would allow Putin to play him yet again, but this is really something to behold. The United States and Turkey’s other NATO allies were ready to consolidate his position against Putin’s pressure. Coordinated economic action could have brought Assad to heel and forced Russia into an Idlib retreat.

But Erdogan couldn’t stomach going eyeball to eyeball with Putin. Faced with the KGB man, he buckled. Ataturk must be turning over in his grave.

Washington Examiner

March 7, 2020