Project Veritas today released a video featuring conversations with funeral home directors and their staff throughout New York City questioning the number of deaths officially attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project Veritas is a controversial non profit investigative team that became famous during the Obama era for looking into ACORN (voter registration non profit) and suspicious activities they advocated for. Critics on the left instantly attacked and claimed the videos were edited. They also reported on planned parenthood in depth, and are known for using undercover reporters posing as characters to get officials to admit to wrongdoings on camera. Project Veritas has been repeatedly attacked and attempts to discredit them have been a major goal of left wing activists.
Before posting this video, I researched the name of every funeral director in this video. Every person in this video is a real individual. They firmly believe COVID-19 is being used too frequently on the death certificates.
One of the funeral directors claims in his opinion : ” “Whether they had a positive test or didn’t, so I think again this is my personal opinion, I think like the mayor and our city–they’re looking for federal funding and the more they put COVID on the death certificate the more they can ask from the federal funds.”
““I think it’s political, so, I’m going to turn around and say: ‘You know, like, not everybody
that we have here that has COVID on the death certificate died of COVID.’ Can I prove that? No, but that is my suspicion.”
Watch this explosive video and decide for yourself.
Israel had reason to celebrate more than just its independence on Wednesday. The number of those recovered from the coronavirus has passed for the first time the number of those ill with the disease, the Health Ministry revealed.
Of the 15,782 confirmed cases in Israel, 7,929 have recovered. Of the 7,641 still suffering from the disease, 120 are listed as in serious condition and 91 are on ventilators. Eighty-five are in moderate condition.
While the number of serious cases are up slightly from the 117 listed on Tuesday, that number was a drop of 9 percent since Monday.
Although 212 Israelis have died, the country’s corona numbers have continued to improve over the last few days. On Tuesday, Health ministry statistics showed the number of hospitalized dropping to 354, less than half the 783 needing hospitalization on April 15. Tuesday was the second day in a row with less than 150 new corona cases in Israel.
Even the frightening case of an 11-year-old girl hospitalized in serious condition had improved by Tuesday.
Israel has loosened restrictions on movement and the economy amid the hopeful signs that the worst of the pandemic is behind it. A panel of Israelis, including economists and epidemiologists, presented an exit strategy plan for reopening shopping malls to the National Economic Council on Monday.
Israel’s Education Ministry says the country’s preschools and primary schools will reopen next week.
Some 1 million Israelis, an astonishing one-quarter of its workforce, had been laid off or went out of business during the pandemic.
Israel has temporarily tightened restrictions for Independence Day, which falls on Wednesday. The country fears that the holiday which involves large public gatherings in normal times will spark a resurgence of the disease.
The Health Ministry hopes to keep tabs on the coronavirus’s spread through careful testing. It has contracted with a China-based company to test up to 20,000 a day.
Riots recently broke out in the city’s banlieues, the working class, largely immigrant areas known for their high crime rates, and where Muslim youth have long clashed with French police. In 2005, the death of two young Muslim boys from Clichy sous Bois, for instance, led to weeks of uprisings. Thousands of cars were torched, as were schools, synagogues, mosques, churches, and shops. Three people died in the melée; 126 – mostly first responders – were injured. Now, officials fear a repeat of the 2005 uproar as Muslim youth react against COVID-19-related restrictions, felt particularly acutely at the start of Ramadan.
And it isn’t only Paris. While the rest of us concern ourselves with the health, safety, and well-being of our families and loved ones, extremists of all types are using the coronavirus pandemic to recruit, propagandize, and even to stage attacks across Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
ISIS and other extremist groups – including those from the far right and far left – deliberately exacerbate fear of the virus and an overall sense of vulnerability as a means to “reinforce their strategy and call for action,” counterterrorism expert Andreea Stoian Karadeli said last Thursday during a webinar sponsored by the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). In addition, they have used disinformation to recruit, often by promoting hate against enemy groups – infidels and Jews, for instance – whom they blame for the pandemic.
In fact, she warned, “With the COVID-19, the problems that we had in our society have not disappeared. They actually got more intense, and have been empowered by the virus.”
Indeed, early in the pandemic, ISIS, al-Qaida and other Islamist terrorist groups encouraged their followers to exploit the situation, calling COVID-19 “a soldier of Allah” and recommending attacks where people were likely to gather during the lockdowns: grocery stores and hospitals. And with students now stuck at home and largely locked onto the internet, radical groups are taking the opportunity to spread their online outreach among vulnerable youth, promoting hate-filled conspiracy theories, many of which blame Jews for the virus.
Added to this, the lockdowns also allow for the nursing of grievances – again easily exploited by those hoping to motivate destructive and violent action. In the largely-Muslim Brussels section of Anderlecht, for instance, riots broke out earlier this month after a young Muslim man died when his motor scooter crashed into a police car. The 19-year-old – identified only as Adil C. – had been pulled over by police for questioning after they spotted him on the streets in violation of lockdown orders.
Rather than comply, however, Adil raced off, only to collide with an oncoming backup car during the ensuing chase. He died on the scene. A bystander filmed the entire event– then posted the video online, calling for revenge under the hashtag “#JusticePourAdil” (JusticeForAdil).
The protests began the following afternoon, as local youth began burning cars and attacking police with stones.
“It is clear they did not come here to honor the memory of the young man who died, but were looking for a confrontation with the police,” Anderlecht Mayor Fabrice Cumps later told Belgian national De Morgen.
Belgian leftists, too, are hoping to exploit the situation to attack police and other authorities. The pro-anarchist platform IndymediaBruxsel posted a pamphlet on April 8 providing instructions for possible action, beginning in May.
“The time is right to attack,” the text said. “Our opponents are busy with other things. Authorities were never so overworked and yet so omnipresent in public, with their police cars and drones, or on foot patrol…. What would happen if we attack them with stones, explosives, and Molotov cocktails?”
Other proposed forms of attack: sabotaging GSM providers and internet systems.
How to do it? In a clear effort to take advantage of the crisis, the pamphlet notes that “hydro-alcoholic hand gel can also be used to set fires.”
Notably, too, Belgium’s Nieuwsbladreports, an update to the site also points to the death of Adil, which will “never be forgiven or forgotten.” Accordingly, the call for protest in his memory points out that “Confinement has its negatives… but also some advantages: it is recommended to wear masks, and it is completely normal to wear gloves (no fingerprints!)”
While to date no violence seems to have erupted from anarchist groups, the same cannot be said of Islamists. In Romans-sur-Isere, a town outside Lyon where lockdown rules allow residents only to shop for groceries and other essentials, a Sudanese immigrant selected a street lined with bakeries, butchers, and tobacconists to whip out a knife on a sunny April Saturday and slash the throat of a Romanian man before his wife and small child. He attacked two workers and a customer in a tobacco shop before fleeing for a butcher shop and subsequently a nearby grocer. Police arrested him outside, praying in Arabic, the New York Timesreported. Investigators later found documents in the suspect’s home expressing anger at living in a country “of unbelievers.” Two people were killed and eight injured, two critically, in the rampage.
Less than two weeks later, on April 15, another knife-wielding man identified only as “of Afghan origin” threatened police while they were patrolling a park outside of Paris – part of new measures to secure COVID-related ‘shelter in place” regulations. When he lunged toward them, the officers opened fire, shooting him “multiple times,” police later stated. While terror motives have not been determined, “nothing has been ruled out,” they said. Past similar knife attacks on French police were determined to have been terror-related.
Moreover, counterterror officials are evidently not as distracted as ISIS and other terror groups may have thought. On April 15, for instance, German officials arrested four Tajik extremists believed to have been planning to attack U.S. Air Force bases. Plans also seem to have been in the works to assassinate critics of Islam. The four, who swore allegiance to ISIS in 2019, Deutsche Welle reports, also “had contacts with high-ranking figures from the group in both Syria and Afghanistan.”
Similarly, on April 16, Poland’s special services apprehended a resident of Lebanese origin, also said to have had ties to ISIS, and who had been in regular contact with the group and with other ISIS members based in Europe. His ultimate aim: “to set up a network in Poland and elsewhere in the EU that would carry out attacks in western European countries,” according to a statement from the Polish special service.
In fact, in some instances, conditions created by the COVID pandemic have even proved helpful in fighting the terror threat. Early on, ISIS leaders advised former fighters planning stealth returns to their European homelands to avoid Europe altogether, even as they called on Europe-based sympathizers to launch attacks. Others who were slated to return under official conditions, such as women and children held in the Kurdish-run camps, or those who, like the Belgian ISIS widows Tatiana Wielandt and Bouchra Abouallal, had been captured and held in Turkish prisons awaiting extradition, are also unable to cross the now-heavily controlled borders into Europe.
Those controls have also helped lawmakers capture several widely- and long-sought terrorists, including one unnamed Belgian-Moroccan who had evaded law enforcement for 12 years. The 51-year-old, charged with affiliation with a Moroccan-based terror group, was planning an attack when the car he and a friend were traveling in was stopped for a routine Corona check on the Luxemburg-German border.
And in Spain, police tracked down and detained notorious British-Egyptian ISIS fighter Abdel-Majid Abdel Bary, a former rapper and son of U.S. embassy bomber, Adel Abdel Bary. According to Britain’s Daily Mail, Bary and two accomplices had “adapted their behavior to the state of emergency…as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, making few exits, separately, and always with masks to avoid being detected.”
Still, experts warn that officials will need to maintain high alert, even as they are distracted by the events surrounding the virus’s ongoing spread.
“If we take our eye off the ball for one second, given that we are under extreme conditions, we give these groups and networks the windows of opportunity that they seek,” counterterrorism consultant Munir Zamir noted at the GCSP event. “And so actually inadvertently we may be one of the decisive factors in the re-emergence of certain narratives, actions, and ideology. And if we are talking about fear, we are no longer talking about hope. And one of the things that diasporas and communities will need to inoculate themselves against narratives of hate and extremism is narratives of hope, and of unity.”
Abigail R. Esman is a freelance writer based in New York and the Netherlands. She is the author ofRadical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West (Praeger, 2010). Her next book, Rage: Narcissism, Patriarchy, and the Culture of Terrorism, will be published by Potomac Books in October, 2020. Follow her at @radicalstates.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, embraced the endorsement this month from the American Jewish lobby group J Street.
“I’m honored to have earned J Street’s first-ever presidential endorsement,” he said on April 17. “J Street has been a powerful voice to advance social justice here at home and to advocate for a two-state solution that advances Middle East Peace.”
He added, “I share with J Street’s membership an unyielding dedication to the survival and security of Israel, and an equal commitment to creating a future of peace and opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian children alike. That’s what we have to keep working toward—and what I’ll do as president with J Street’s support.”
At the end of the day, how much sway will J Street and the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party have on the former vice president in terms of positions on the U.S.-Israel relationship and Iran? Would a Biden presidency veer left of the Obama administration?
In a statement on April 17, president of J Street Jeremy Ben-Ami said “at a time when the threats to our core values both at home and abroad have never been more serious, all of us in the pro-Israel, pro-peace community know that the path to a better future begins with defeating Donald Trump at the polls.
“To help achieve that pivotal goal, we’re thrilled to endorse Vice President Biden—a longtime friend of J Street who truly understands the need for a bold new era of American foreign policy rooted in principled, proactive diplomacy,” he said.
Biden’s embrace of the endorsement comes at a time where many are concerned about the erosion of support for Israel within the Democratic Party, especially with far-left Democrats like Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) openly endorsing the BDS movement. They have also been associated with continued anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric.
Political strategist Jeff Ballabon, who played a role in shaping the 2016 Republican platform on Israel, told JNS that Biden and former President Barack Obama began the path of eroding bipartisan support for the Jewish state during their tenure.
“Let’s recall that Obama, with Biden by his side, drove the U.S.-Israel relationship steadily, often shockingly, down,” he said. “Since then, the push leftward has continued among Democrats. In fact, it was Obama-Biden’s leftward push that normalized radical anti-Israelism in our country’s national politics, and led directly to the mainstreaming of individuals like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.”
Biden, who spoke at a number of J Street conferences when he was vice president, did not speak in person at its gathering in October (instead, he sent a video). That’s when then-candidate Bernie Sanders said that U.S. aid to Israel should be conditioned on ending its “occupation,” and that some of it should go to Gaza. Biden later called Sanders suggestion “absolutely outrageous.”
At the same time, Biden has maintained strong ties with AIPAC, the main pro-Israel lobby group in Washington, D.C., which has been challenged by the left-leaning J Street for the past decade.
He made another video, this one addressed to the AIPAC conference in early March, where he warned that Israel’s policies in the disputed territories have been ostracizing American Jewish youth.
“That’s going to choke off any hope for peace. And to be frank, those moves are taking Israel further from its democratic values [and] undermining support for Israel in the United States, especially among young people in both political parties,” he said.
‘A secure, peaceful future for Israel’
With Sanders now out of the race, Biden is receiving support from major Democratic Jewish groups.
In a letter from Jewish Democratic Coalition of America’s board of directors and its executive director, Halie Soifer, to the former vice president, they wrote, “You share the Jewish community’s commitment to the principle of tikkun olam, healing the world, in addition to our commitment to combating the rise of anti-Semitism and supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.”
“For decades, you have demonstrated—and continue to demonstrate—a steadfast commitment to Israel’s security and right to self-defense, as well as a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” they continued. “We know your commitment to Israel is unwavering, and we will defend your record against ongoing Republican efforts to exploit it as a political wedge issue.”
“I’m honored to have the endorsement of the Jewish Democratic Council of America,” Biden said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “They are an important new voice for the progressive values that unite us here at home and for a secure, peaceful future for the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.”
Former National Jewish Democratic Council head Aaron Keyak told JNS that Biden has played a key role in securing aid for Israel.
“Throughout his entire career, Vice President Joe Biden has been a leader in the fight to strengthen the U.S.-Israel partnership, including voting against the Reagan administration’s sale of AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia and a $38 billion MOU with Israel negotiated by the Obama-Biden administration, the largest such agreement ever negotiated,” he said.
“As president of the United States, Joe Biden with restore America’s leadership abroad and bring dignity back to the White House,” continued Keyak. “When we are a stronger, more well-respected country, that not only benefits our closest allies, but will make the entire world more stable and secure.”
‘A dangerous pivot away from policies’
Ballabon, however, dismissed Biden’s congressional experience in that his positions on the U.S.-Israel alliance don’t reflect his stances during the Obama administration.
“The Democrats’ problem is that the party elite has moved far to the left of much of the base and certainly of swing voters,” he told JNS. “In response, Biden’s supporters are trying to sell his history in the Senate because that history reflects behavior in line with a Democrat[ic] Party far more moderate, rational and patriotic than the one we have today.”
Nevertheless, Democratic Majority for Israel president and CEO Mark Mellman told JNS that it is Biden’s long history of support for Israel that stands out.
“Having served as chairman or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly two decades and then as Vice President for eight years, Joe Biden brings substantive expertise and a real record, as well as a personal commitment, to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Mellman. “He seeks out opinions from lots of quarters, as any responsible leader does, but no individual or organization is going to lessen his support for our alliance with Israel.”
Still, Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss told JNS that a Biden administration is likely to be to the left of the Obama administration.
“We know this because the mainstream of the Democrat Party has moved away from its traditional bipartisan pro-Israel stance, leaving the Republican Party as the only pro-Israel party,” he said.
“For proof, look no further than Biden inviting Bernie Sanders’ foreign-policy team onto his campaign and embracing J Street’s endorsement,” he noted.
“The U.S.-Israel relationship suffered greatly during the Obama-Biden administration,” continued Strauss. “By contrast, a Biden presidency would be a sharp and dangerous pivot away from the policies of the most pro-Israel President ever in history, Donald Trump. A risk we can’t afford to take.”
Shifting tone, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is “open” to considering additional funds for state and local governments in the next coronavirus relief bill as the chamber returns to session during the pandemic.
The Republican leader faced a storm of criticism from the nation’s governors after panning Democrats’ proposal for more than $500 billion to help cash-strapped local governments cover the sudden extra costs of police, fire and other front-line workers in the crisis. Last week, he suggested states should be allowed to go bankrupt.
While saying he’s willing to consider new funds, McConnell insisted the next package must also include federal liability protections from what he warned will be an “avalanche” of lawsuits against businesses that reopen during the pandemic.
“There’s no question all governors, regardless of party, would like to have more money, I’m open to discussing that,” McConnell said on Fox News Radio.
Congressional leaders staked out priorities Wednesday for the next round of aid even as key senators joined their House colleagues in sounding alarms over the health risks of reopening the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged McConnell to reconsider, saying there is “no way” to bring 100 senators plus staff to the Capitol complex without “increased risk.”
Feinstein said, “This is the wrong example for the country.”
The Washington, D.C., region remains a virus hot spot, health officials say. Feinstein noted the number of Capitol staff and police officers testing positive for the virus. Stay-home orders are in place through mid-May for the District of Columbia.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a state home to many federal workers, said by asking people to return to the Capitol “without effective safeguards in place, Mitch McConnell is endangering the lives of the staff who work there.”
The House canceled its scheduled return after lawmakers revolted and the Capitol physician warned of the health risks for the 430 lawmakers and their staff.
McConnell said Wednesday the Senate will not “sit on the sidelines.”
McConnell’s office would not say if he consulted with the Capitol physician on the decision to resume Senate operations.
As Congress reaches for the next package, McConnell said his liability proposal must be included. He said he’s trying to prevent a “second pandemic — which is going to be lawsuits against doctors, nurses, hospitals and brave business people opening up.”
Democrats are also refining their approach to ward off GOP attacks that federal aid to the states would be a bailout for governors suffering from past budgeting decisions.
Chief among McConnell’s critics was New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who urged the nation’s leaders to adopt the spirit of the thousands of doctors and nurses who descended on New York to help in the crisis.
“You can’t stop the politics, even in this moment?” Cuomo, a Democrat, said during a press briefing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the federal aid could come in separate installments for state, local and municipal governments as reimbursement of costs of handling the health crisis as the economy shuts down.
Pelosi said House lawmakers are fielding calls from local officials suddenly staring down red ink.
“This is an overwhelming issue for them,” she said.
Pelosi also named six Democratic lawmakers to join House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn on a new bipartisan committee that will track the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus aid.
The new panel will add another layer of oversight as President Donald Trump’s administration carries out the largest economic rescue in U.S. history.
It was not clear Wednesday whether Republicans will join the panel. GOP lawmakers unanimously opposed its creation. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s office blasted it as “impeachment 2.0.”
House and Senate leaders are straining to respond to the pandemic crisis as they face the reality that Congress may not be able to fully resume for some time.
Senators are returning on Monday to an agenda of confirming Trump’s nominees for judicial and executive branch positions.
Among them is Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, who is Trump’s choice to be the new director of the Office of National Intelligence. The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to consider the nomination, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the situation and granted anonymity.
Feinstein said in a letter to leadership that coronavirus-related measures should be passed swiftly. “Votes on routine nominees, however, is not essential and comes with significant risk,” she wrote.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate instead should focus on congressional oversight of the federal coronavirus response.
Democrats proposed a new effort Wednesday to federalize the nation’s medical supply chain. Schumer said resources will be needed as the country ramps up testing and contract tracing in the months ahead.
In the House, frustrated at-home lawmakers long for what’s being lost as a co-equal branch of government and have started holding virtual committee briefings as a way to tackle issues and speak to constituents.
A bipartisan House task force is also considering a proposal for proxy voting, which would be a first in the House’s 200-plus-year history.
Senate Republicans are planning to hold their regular Tuesday lunch, in what will perhaps be one of the largest gatherings in the area.
The last time Republicans senators met for lunch, several decided to self-quarantine after fellow Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the Trump administration will not permit the United Nations to lift a ban on Iran’s purchase of advanced military technology later this year.
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.
Pompeo said the United States is laying the groundwork to stop U.N. member nations—primarily Russia and China—from lifting an international arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire under the terms of the landmark nuclear deal.
While President Donald Trump removed the United States from the nuclear accord, the administration maintains that it still has sufficient leverage at the U.N. to stop the arms embargo from lifting. If these efforts fail, the Trump administration could petition the U.N. Security Council for what is known as snapback, the reimposition of all global sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal signed during the Obama administration.
“The failures of the Iran nuclear deal are legion. One of them is now upon us,” Pompeo said. “It’s now just several months out where China, Russia, other countries from around the world can all sell significant conventional weapons systems to the Iranians in October of this year. This isn’t far off. This isn’t some fantasy by conservatives. This is a reality.”
Pompeo said it is clear Iran will immediately move to purchase a range of advanced military equipment once the embargo is lifted. Russia and China, which have sold Iran military equipment in the past, have the most to gain if the embargo is removed, he said.
“Does anybody think that the nation that today is conducting terror campaigns by Lebanese Hezbollah or Iraqi Shia movements or firing military missiles into the air ought to be permitted to purchase conventional weapons systems in just a few months?” Pompeo asked. “I think the world realizes that’s a mistake.”
U.S. officials are currently working to convince their European counterparts the arms embargo remains critical to stopping Iran’s terrorism enterprise.
“We’re urging our E3 partners (France, Germany, and Italy) to take action, which is within their capacity to do,” Pompeo said. “We’ll go—we’ll work with the U.N. Security Council to extend that prohibition on those arms sales. And then in the event we can’t get anyone else to act, the United States is evaluating every possibility about how we might do that.”
While some nations have argued the United States has no right to sway the arms embargo debate since it abandoned the nuclear accord, Pompeo made clear the State Department rejects this view.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which codified the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—including the restrictions on the arms embargo and its subsequent expiration date—does not bar the United States from taking action.
“We don’t have to declare ourselves a participant,” Pompeo said.
“It’s unambiguous and the rights that accrue to participants in the U.N. Security Council resolution are fully available to all those participants,” he said. “We’re going to—we are going to make sure that come October of this year, the Iranians aren’t able to buy conventional weapons that they would be given what President Obama and Vice President Biden delivered to the world in that terrible deal.”
Biden is being urged to withdraw from the hotly contested race
for the White House by a Peter Dauo, a political activist and former Hillary Clinton supporter, due to new
developments in the sexual assault allegation against him. Photo Credit: AP
The New York Times is pushing back against talking points circulated by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s presidential campaign that the paper says inaccurately cite its reporting to rebut a sexual assault allegation.
The talking points, whose existence was first reported Monday evening by BuzzFeed News, “inaccurately suggest” that the paper’s investigation into the allegation detailed by a former Biden aide, Tara Reade, did not happen, the Times said Wednesday.
“BuzzFeed reported on the existence of talking points being circulated by the Biden campaign that inaccurately suggest a New York Times investigation found that Tara Reade’s allegation ‘did not happen,'” Danielle Rhoades Ha, the paper’s vice president of communications, told the Washington Free Beacon in an email. “Our investigation made no conclusion either way.”
The Biden campaign is asking supporters to lean into the Times report as evidence of Biden’s innocence. “In this case, a thorough review by the New York Times has led to the truth: this incident did not happen,” they say.
The Times, however, made clear in its April 12 story on the allegations that it was unable to reach a definitive conclusion about the veracity of Reade’s claims. The paper’s reporters spoke both to former colleagues of the alleged victim who said they didn’t recall the incident as well as to friends who said that Reade detailed Biden’s sexual advances at the time.
“As BuzzFeed correctly reported, our story found three former Senate aides whom Reade said she complained to contemporaneously, all of whom either did not remember the incident or said that it did not happen,” Rhoades Ha said. “The story also included former interns who remembered Reade suddenly changing roles and no longer overseeing them, which took place during the same time period that Reade said she was abruptly reassigned. The Times also spoke to a friend who said Reade told her the details of the allegation at the time; another friend and Reade’s brother say she told them of a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden.”
Though Biden has yet to comment directly on the allegations, his campaign has vigorously denied them. The campaign’s talking points have been parroted by Biden supporters Stacey Abrams and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), who are under consideration as vice presidential nominees. Both women referenced the Times report in when offering statements of support for the embattled vice president.
Since the Times story was published, additional witnesses have emerged to corroborate Reade’s claims in on-the-record interviews.
Scientists on Wednesday announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus — an experimental drug that can speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients — in a major medical advance that came as the economic gloom caused by the scourge deepened in the U.S. and Europe, AP reported
The U.S. government said it is working to make the antiviral medication remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible.
“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert. “This will be the standard of care.”
The Food and Drug Administration is likely to issue an emergency approval for remdesivir, a senior administration official told The New York Times. Eventually the drug, made by Gilead Sciences, could be the first approved treatment for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus.
An emergency authorization by the F.D.A. is not the same as a formal drug approval by the agency. When the federal government declares a public health emergency, the F.D.A. can approve certain drugs or tests to address the emergency if there are no other alternatives. That is the case with the coronavirus, since no drugs have been proven to be effective against the virus.
The Jewish voice has reported numerous times on remdesivir and Gilead Sciences
TJV reported: Remdesivir was initially developed by American biotech company Gilead Sciences, as a treatment for Ebola and the Marburg virus. In October 2015 preclinical results revealed that it had blocked the Ebola virus in Rhesus monkeys. However, in August 2019 Congolese health officials announced it was less effective than monoclonal antibodies in treating Ebola and so it’s use was terminated. However, the numerous trials conducted confirmed its safety profile. It is currently being tested in five clinical trials and more information will soon be forthcoming. Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization’s spokesperson, recently remarked “there’s only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy, and that’s remdesivir.
Gilead does a lot of work in Israel and has headquarters in the Jewish state, in addition to several other locations. The company has deep Israeli roots.
Gilead Sciences purchased Israel’s Kite Pharma Inc. for some $11 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2017
Kite, founded by an Israeli professor in 2009, is among several companies working on technology that uses the body’s immune cells to recognize and attack malignant cells.
Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa today issued a report to Governor Cuomo outlining the COVID-19 Maternity Task Force’s initial recommendations. Governor Cuomo has accepted these recommendations in full. The recommendations include measures to diversify birthing site options and support patient choice; extend the period of time a healthy support person can accompany a mother post delivery; mandate testing of all pregnant New Yorkers; ensure equity in birthing options; create an educational campaign; and review the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and newborns with special emphasis on reducing racial disparities in maternal mortality. The task force’s full report is available here.
“In the midst of this pandemic many women are struggling with additional stress and anxiety caused by the uncertainty of this virus and how it might affect their pregnancy or birthing plan,” Governor Cuomo said. “I’m grateful to the task force for their quick work, and I am accepting all their recommendations which will help tackle the problems that so many women are facing and ensure safer, healthier pregnancies for all.”
“COVID-19 has caused enormous stress for women and expecting parents who are preparing to bring a child into this world in the midst of this global pandemic,” Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor and Chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, said. “I am proud that during these uncertain times, New York is leading the way in ensuring laboring mothers are properly supported and safely cared for. The policies being advanced today will be implemented immediately to address the very valid fears and concerns that so many women are now facing, and to address issues that impact pregnancy and infants.”
Recommendation One: Diversify Birthing Site Options to Support Patient Choice
The Task Force members recommend that Governor Cuomo issue an Executive Order to allow for the immediate establishment of additional birthing surge sites operated by currently established licensed birthing hospitals and centers.
The Task Force also recommends that the New York State Department of Health be directed to develop a streamlined process to accept applications from licensed health care facilities, such as community health centers and federally qualified health centers, to convert unused space in their facility to dedicated labor and delivery spaces during an emergency. The Task Force also recommends that the State limit emergency birthing centers to licensed facilities.
Further, to increase access to midwifery services, the Task Force recommends DOH move to expedite, within the next 45 days, the finalization of the licensure process for the establishment of midwifery led birthing centers in New York State to ensure there are sufficient birthing facilities available to meet community need during emergency situations.
Recommendation Two: Extend Period of Time a Healthy Support Person Can Accompany a Mother Post Delivery
The Task Force recommends that Governor Cuomo update the Executive Order 202.13, authorizing at least one support person to accompany a pregnant individual for the duration of their stay in any hospital, birthing facility or postpartum unit, as medically appropriate. This order must clarify that “duration of stay” includes labor, delivery and the postpartum period, including recovery. This order should also clarify that doulas are considered an essential part of the support care team and should be allowed to accompany a pregnant individual during labor and delivery as an additional support person, as medically appropriate. Exceptions should be made only in limited circumstances and based on clinical guidance, such as availability of PPE.
Recommendation Three: Mandate Testing of All Pregnant New Yorkers
The Task Force recommends universal COVID-19 testing for all pregnant individuals and for all support persons accompanying pregnant individuals at birthing facilities, as testing becomes available.
The Task Force also recommends that DOH issue guidance for COVID-19 testing that defines pregnant individuals as a priority population for testing and states that pregnant individuals be tested during pregnancy and one week prior to their estimated due date or upon admission if the second test is not conducted one week prior to delivery.
The Task Force also recommends that DOH monitor the availability of testing supplies to support equitable access to testing kits and laboratory analysis for all pregnant individuals in all birthing settings.
Recommendation Four: Ensure Equity in Birthing Options
The Task Force recommends work groups charged with developing standards, policies and/or regulations related to birthing options develop include participation from community members.
The Task Force also advises that DOH identify and engage community members and representatives from maternal child health serving community-based organizations to join a NYS COVID-19 Maternity Task Force working group charged with the development of a messaging and education campaign aimed at those most impacted by racial/ethnic, economic or other disparate outcomes.
Recommendation Five: Educational Campaign
The Task Force recommends that DOH engage subject matter experts, community members and representatives from community-based organizations serving maternal and child health populations to create an educational campaign on behalf of the COVID-19 Maternity Task Force. This campaign would be designed to:
Emphasize the safety of and rebuild confidence in maternity care at all certified birthing facilities;
Explain infection control practices in each type of birthing facility; and
Increase patient understanding of different levels of maternity care and types of birthing facilities as well as how to work with your provider to select the appropriate patient- centered delivery.
Recommendation Six: Reviews of the Impact of COVID-19 on Pregnancy and Newborns with Special Emphasis on Reducing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality
The Task Force recommends that DOH work with the University at Albany School of Public Health Maternal & Child Health Program to conduct a review of the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and discuss a summary of its findings with the Task Force and the Regional Perinatal Centers.
DOH will host weekly statewide interactive webinars addressing the management of maternity care during the pandemic as needed as part a collaboration with the New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative in partnership with American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology District II. DOH will also host a webinar on obstetrical care and implicit bias within the context of the COVID-19. DOH will also collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a COVID-19 Pregnancy Module that will capture supplemental data on COVID-19 during pregnancy.
This module will help describe risk for severe illness or adverse outcomes among pregnant individuals with laboratory evidence of COVID-19 infection up to delivery, and their newborns, to inform public health guidance and risk communication messages.
The Department and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology District II will issue guidance on best practices, including prenatal care, during the time of COVID, with a special emphasis on reducing racial disparities.
About the New York State COVID-19 Maternity Task Force
In April 2018, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a multi-faceted initiative to combat maternal mortality and racial disparate outcomes in New York State. Continuing New York State’s commitment to improve maternal and child outcomes and recognizing the significant strain the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on hospital infrastructure and the concerns of many pregnant individuals across New York State, Governor Cuomo directed the NYS Council on Women and Girls, with the support of the New York State Department of Health, to convene an expert task force to address the impact of COVID-19 on maternity. Chaired by Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, the Task Force was charged with examining the best approach to provide mothers a safe alternative, when appropriate, to already stressed hospitals amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Comprised of a multi-disciplinary group of maternal and infant health professionals from across New York State, the Task Force met remotely to discuss these issues and propose recommendations. Given the urgency of the COVID-19 emergency and its impact on pregnant people, meetings of the Task Force were held within a week in order to make an initial set of recommendations. Recommendations were compiled and analyzed by DOH staff and shared with Task Force members, who reviewed the submissions and made a collective determination to advance the recommendations outlined below.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold, the Task Force will stay in place and consider additional ways to address issues that impact pregnancy and infants, starting with review of relevant literature conducted by DOH and University at Albany School of Public Health’s Maternal & Child Health Program.
Prior to the creation of the Task Force, New York State took several steps to expand access to access to maternal care during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
Expanding access to telehealth and telephonic visits;
Expanding access to midwives to ensure sufficient personnel are available to provide maternity care;
Mandating the presence of a support person throughout the birthing process and recovery;
Authorizing out-of-state obstetrician-gynecologists and midwives from other states to practice in New York to improve surge capacity; and
Identifying sexual and reproductive health services as essential.
Members of the COVID-19 Maternity Task Force include:
Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts
Christa Christakis, MPP – Executive Director, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists District II
Sascha James-Conterelli, DNP, RN, CNM, FACNM – President, NYSAssociation of Licensed Midwives
Loretta Willis, Vice President Quality & Research, Healthcare Association ofNYS
Lorraine Ryan, Sr. VP Legal Regulatory & Professional Affairs Greater NY Hospital Association
Rose Duhan, President & CEO, Community Health Care Association of NYS
Ngozi Moses, Executive Director Brooklyn Perinatal Network
Nan Strauss – Every Mother Counts
Dr. Deborah E. Campbell, MD – Montefiore Medical Center
Whitney Hall, CCE, LM, CLC – President, NYS Association of Birth Centers
Natasha Nurse-Clarke, PhD, RN – Regional Perinatal Center Coordinator, Maimonides
Dr. Dena Goffman, MD – NYP/Columbia
Rev. Diann Holt – Founder/Executive Director Durham’s Baby Café
Cynthia Jones, MD, MPH – Mosaic Health Center
Anti-Semitism traverses across cultures, borders and ideologies, making it all but impossible to stop. Filmmaker Andrew Goldberg explores its infectious behavior in his film VIRAL: ANTISEMITISM IN FOUR MUTATIONS premiering Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings).
Written, produced and directed by Goldberg, and produced and edited by Diana Robinson, the 90-minute documentary -which had a short theatrical release earlier this year – visits four countries to speak first hand with victims, witnesses and anti-Semites. Interviewees include: Fomer US President Bill Clinton, Former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Journalists Fareed Zakaria and George Will, and Professor Deborah Lipstadt. The film is narrated in part by Julianna Margulies.
VIRAL: ANTISEMITISM IN FOUR MUTATIONS examines the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the rise of anti-semitism on the far right. In Hungary, it looks at how Prime Minister Viktor Orbán launched a massive campaign reminiscent of Nazi propaganda against Jewish billionaire George Soros. In England, members of the traditionally anti-racist, far-left Labour party conflate Israel and Jews with antisemitic vitriol, causing tremendous pain for the Jewish community. And in France, the film illuminates the seemingly endless wave of violence against Jews by Islamists and radicals.
The increasing bigotry and, at times, violence within each of these four countries paints a terrifying portrait of how global hatred disseminates and harms. As activist Maajid Nawaz says in the film, “If we don’t draw a red line in the sand when it comes to antisemitism, Muslims will be next, gays will be next and everyone else who is deemed a minority will be next.”
With a career spanning more than 20 years, Emmy Award-winning investigative producer/director Andrew Goldberg has executive produced and directed 13 primetime documentary specials for PBS and public television. He has also produced numerous long and short-form segments for outlets, including CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC News, and National Public Radio. Goldberg has been honored with over 20 major awards, including five CINE Golden Eagles, 10 Telly Awards, a NY Festivals World Medal, The Genesis Award (Guest of Honor), The St. Vartan’s Award, The Joachim and Anne Humanitarian Award. Some of his previous films include The Armenian Genocide, Jerusalem: Center of the World and They Came to America.
Another 330 New Yorkers died of coronavirus yesterday, governor Andrew Cuomo announced during his daily briefing on the state’s response to the pandemic.
Tuesday’s daily death toll was almost identical to Monday’s, meaning the rate of fatalities in the state is remaining high, even though it has come down significantly from a few weeks ago.
Cuomo noted overall coronavirus hospitalizations once again dropped slightly, but the number of new hospitalizations was up slightly from Monday, a disconcerting sign as the state looks ahead to reopening.
The governor announced the state has conducted more than 2,000 antibody tests on first responders so far, which showed 17.1% of New York fire department and EMT workers and 10.5% of New York police officers tested positive.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state would administer coronavirus tests to 1,000 transportation workers. Cuomo said he has also directed the MTA to develop a plan to disinfect every subway car every night to limit the spread of the virus. The governor railed against allowing those who are homeless to sleep in subway cars, warning that could cause transmission of the virus.
“To let homeless people stay on the trains with no mask, no equipment — you’re not helping the homeless,” Cuomo said. (Editor’s Note, TJV has been reporting repeatedly that the homeless on the trains are a major spreader of COVID-19)
The governor unveiled a collage of masks after sharply criticizing Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s comments last week suggesting states should declare bankruptcy rather than receive additional federal funding. “Politicians, try to be half as good as the American people,” Cuomo said as he stood beside the collage. (SIDE NOTE: on Twitter after the State posted a picture of the mask collage, people commented why those masks are not being distributed, the questions were not directly answered)
The governor also suggested Republicans were trying to direct government funds to big businesses instead of average Americans as the country suffers deep economic hardship. (Editor’s Note: one party does not control every decision made with the relief money, Cuomo sounded very political, something he has repeatedly railed against) Cuomo spent around 10 minutes attacking Republicans, then unveiled the mask collage.
Editor’s note: Cuomo disappointingly used his briefing to attack the GOP, instead of informing the public in a non partisan fashion, that we have all become accustomed to. Also of note, another windfall of bailout money is already planned that will address the needs Cuomo hammers on about.
Ironically after blaming Republicans for favoring big business and reciting reliable Democratic talking points about the opposition Cuomo stated” “it’s extraordinarily dangerous” to bring politics into the country’s response to coronavirus.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of Robert and nephew of John F. Kennedy, said that the National Institute for Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Fauci’s agency, will collect 50% of all royalties from a potential coronavirus vaccine.
The Gates Foundation invests in Dr. Fauci’s NIAID as part of its Decade of Vaccines program which aims to introduce a Global Vaccine Action Plan., as per Irish Central
He recently appeared on far right wing conservative podcast hosted by Gateway Pundit, RFK Jr. is a traditional liberal and life time environmentalist
The four major vaccine manufacturers in the US are Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi, and if one of those four companies successfully develops a Coronavirus vaccine, Fauci and the NIAID stand to collect half of the royalties, according to Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy Jr said that Dr. Fauci owns a patent for a specific type of vaccine that packages a virus in a protein sheet.
Several media outlets have “debunked” his claims. It is up to you to decide the validity of RFK’s claims.
RFK JR, is well known for his controversial viewpoints, but has been consistent his entire career
Recently The Jewish Voice ran a story about 2 doctors in California, who disagree with the quarantines , who stated that EMS is over-counting COVID-19 deaths and in detail described their data and the science of immunity. The doctor’s videos on youtube went totally viral, with over 6 million people watching them
These are medical doctors, who held a press conference, big tech, does not believe you deserve to hear their studies and experiences.
The censorship being perpetrated by You Tube is out of control. They no longer act like a platform, they are officially publishers, that decide what you can see and not see. YouTube should be forced to declare themselves PUBLISHERS, which would hold them accountable for everything they PUBLISH. You Tube wants it both ways, they want to claim they are a platform to avoid any legal responsibility from the user content and at the same time, want to select what you are allowed to see. You can’t have it both ways.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported on this topic last night. and discusses censorship and the power of big tech. He does a wonderful job. Watch below:
Supporters of Rabbi Chaim Mertz, who reportedly died from the coronavirus, gathered Tuesday evening to mourn the passing of the religious leader, flouting the social distancing guidelines put forth by both state and city municipalities.
A social media figure posted the images to twitter, resulting in Mayor de Blasio responding
Tipster says this is the Williamsburg funeral today of Rabbi Chaim Mertz who died from COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/wsTvCrlzpb
Deblasio shot out two tweets, first he stated “Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large funeral gathering in the middle of this pandemic. When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus”
The second tweet drew blowback: ” My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”
The internet has responded to de Blasio’s threats and he set off anger and condemnation from all sides.
The ADL responded:
Hey @NYCMayor, there are 1mil+ Jewish people in #NYC. The few who don’t social distance should be called out — but generalizing against the whole population is outrageous especially when so many are scapegoating Jews. This erodes the very unity our city needs now more than ever. https://t.co/jcYO9QQred
Mr. Mayor, your words are unacceptable. To condemn our entire community over one group of people is something you would not do to any other ethnic group, and I know you long enough to know that you know this. https://t.co/tkKQrc0bXA
— Kalman Yeger ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם (@KalmanYeger) April 29, 2020
He received criticism from his fellow left wing travelers
Really? Are we gonna call out blacks next? @NYCMayor needs to chill. There is enough anti-semitism and xenophobia and racism already being stoked up by the fear this virus has brought. Shameful for a progressive mayor to add to it. https://t.co/ZzOuEiaIq7
You lowlife cretinous bobblehead. There’s only one community you would address this way. And it’s the one that just went through a pogrom on your watch, as you let it happen.
The Jewish people will survive your term in office, despite your best efforts. Am Yisrael chai. https://t.co/mcOcjnWdFf
Going after Jewish people doesn’t erase your failure to order supplies until a week into March or failure to help nursing homes transfer coronavirus patients to Javits or Comfort.
You’re an awful human being. And for the record I was ahead of the curve on it. Also, my sister and her family just moved out of what was once the greatest city in the world. Mazel tov. (Thats Jew talk.) pic.twitter.com/o7XLR7YBSc
The CDC released new priorities for coronavirus testing including tests for asymptomatic individuals in high-risk settings. Photo Credit: AP
By: Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin & Jonathan LeMire
The White House released new guidelines aimed at answering criticism that America’s coronavirus testing has been too slow, and President Trump tried to pivot toward a focus on “reopening” the nation.
Still, there were doubts from public health experts that the White House’s new testing targets were sufficient.
Monday’s developments were meant to fill critical gaps in White House plans to begin easing restrictions, ramping up testing for the virus while shifting the president’s focus toward recovery from the economic collapse caused by the outbreak. The administration unveiled a “blueprint” for states to scale up their testing in the coming week — a tacit admission, despite public statements to the contrary, that testing capacity and availability over the past two months have been lacking.
The new testing targets would ensure states had enough COVID-19 tests available to sample at least 2.6% of their populations each month — a figure already met by a majority of states. Areas that have been harder hit by the virus would be able to test at double that rate, or higher, the White House said.
The testing issue has bedeviled the administration for months. Trump told reporters on March 6 during a visit to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta that “anybody that wants a test can get a test,” but the reality has proved to be vastly different.
CVS CEO Larry Merlo listens during a meeting with President Donald Trump about coronavirus testing, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, April 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The initial COVID-19 test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was contaminated, and early kits operated only on platforms able to perform a small number of tests per day. While the rate of testing increased as tests developed for higher-capacity platforms, they were still limited by shortages of supplies, from nasal swabs to the reagents used to process the samples.
Administration officials maintained Monday that the limiting factor now is actually the availability of samples from people who have been tested — either because guidelines on who could be tested are too stringent or because there are not enough health workers able to take nasal swab samples from them.
The CDC moved to address one of those concerns Monday, expanding the list of people to be prioritized for virus testing to include those who show no symptoms but are in high-risk settings like nursing homes. And Trump met with leaders of businesses including CVS, Walmart and Kroger, who said they were working to expand access to tests across the country.
“Testing is not going to be a problem at all,” Trump said later in the Rose Garden.
However, many of the administration’s past pledges and goals on testing have not been met.
Jeremy Konyndyk, a disaster preparedness expert who helped lead the Obama administration response to Ebola, said the administration’s testing plans are well short of what is needed.
Researchers at Harvard have estimated the country needs to be testing a minimum of 500,000 people per day, and possibly many more. Konyndyk said the aim should be 2 million to 3 million per day. Trump said the current total, up sharply in recent days, is over 200,000 per day.
Konyndyk said: “Over the past month, we’ve doubled or if you want to be really generous tripled the testing capacity in this country. We need to take where we are now and expand it tenfold.”
The testing blueprint for states provides details missing from the administration’s guidelines for them to return to normal operations, released more than a week ago. It includes a focus on surveillance testing as well as “rapid response” programs to isolate those who test positive and identify those with whom they had come in contact. The administration aims to have the market “flooded” with tests for the fall, when COVID-19 is expected to recur alongside the seasonal flu.
Trump and administration medical experts outlined the plan on a call with governors Monday.
Trump has sought to regain his footing after weeks of criticism and detours created in part by his press briefings.
Days after he set off a firestorm by publicly musing that scientists should explore the injection of toxic disinfectants as a potential virus cure, Trump said he found little use for his daily task force briefings, where he has time and again clashed with medical experts and reporters. Trump’s aides had been trying to move the president onto more familiar and, they hope, safer, ground: talking up the economy in more tightly controlled settings.
Republican Party polling shows Trump’s path to a second term depends on the public’s perception of how quickly the economy rebounds from the state-by-state shutdowns meant to slow the spread of the virus.
On Monday, the White House initially announced there would be a Trump briefing, but canceled it as Trump’s greatest asset in the reelection campaign — his ability to dominate headlines with freewheeling performances — was increasingly seen as a liability.
But hours later, Trump held court in the Rose Garden. He said he hoped that virus deaths would end up no more than 60,000 to 70,000, slightly revising upward his public estimate of recent days as the U.S. toll neared 56,000 on nearly 1 million cases. Still, he claimed a victory given dire, tenfold-higher predictions if the U.S. hadn’t adopted restrictive social distancing measures.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and President Donald Trump listen during a meeting with business leaders on coronavirus testing, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, April 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Meanwhile, the CDC was beginning to release more detailed guidelines on reopening schools, restaurants and other establishments. Draft guidelines include a long list of recommendations for organizations as they begin to reopen, such as closing break rooms at offices, spacing desks six feet apart at schools and using disposable plates and menus at restaurants.
Some states have started to ease closure orders, and Trump is expected to spend coming days highlighting his administration’s efforts to help businesses and employees.
Still, medical experts warn that the virus will continue to haunt the country until a vaccine is developed. They say the risk of a severe second wave is high if social distancing measures are relaxed too quickly or if testing and contact tracing schemes aren’t developed.
In other Coronavirus news, President Trump says states should “seriously consider” reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though dozens already have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or fall.
Trump made the comments Monday in a call with governors discussing how to reopen their economies, among other topics.
“Some of you might start thinking about school openings, because a lot of people are wanting to have the school openings. It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through,” he said. While addressing Vice President Mike Pence, Trump added that it’s something “they can seriously consider, and maybe get going on.”
Later in the call, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said his state’s schools are not reopening fully before summer but hope to open some buildings for special education meetings and for small groups of students in vocational programs.
“We’re hoping at least for those last few weeks that kids who are taking classes that need the physical equipment, they can come in in smaller groups,” Polis said. “But we want to reconfigure it with better social distancing for next school year.”
Trump made the comments as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked to finalize guidelines for reopening the economy. For schools, that included putting students’ desks 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart, serving meals in the classroom instead of the cafeteria and closing playgrounds.
Reopening schools is considered key to getting the economy moving again. Without a safe place for kids, many parents would have difficulty returning to work.
But some education officials say opening schools quickly would bring major risk and little reward, especially since the end of the school year is approaching.
“Are they going to reopen for two weeks? Three weeks?” said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, “It’s not the right thing to do. Particularly when we’re involving the safety and welfare of our students.”
At a White House news conference Monday, Trump acknowledged that there’s little time left in the school year, even as he said many states are thinking about getting kids back into the classroom.
“I think you’ll see a lot of schools open up even if it’s for a very short period of time,” he said. “In terms of what this vicious virus goes after, young people seem to do very well. Young people seem to do very well so I know that there are some governors that aren’t necessarily ready to open up states, but they may be ready to open up the school systems.”
Schools across the nation have closed during the coronavirus pandemic, and dozens of states have ordered their schools to remain closed through the rest of this academic year. Only a few have publicly discussed earlier openings, including Montana, which says school districts can resume classroom instruction on May 7.
In many districts, officials have said it’s still unclear whether students will be able to return to the classroom by next fall. And even if they do, many are planning for social distancing measures that could make school look radically different from the past.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on CNN that it’s “way too early” to reopen his city’s schools, adding that “you don’t get a lot of credit for moving too quickly to reopen.”
Responding to Trump’s comments, one of the nation’s largest teachers unions said there’s still much work to be done before schools can open safely. The American Federation of Teachers said there needs to be better testing and tracking for the virus, and schools must have access to personal protective equipment.
“It’s good the president understands that reopening society and the economy hinges on successfully and safely reopening schools,” said Randi Weingarten, the union’s president. “But the question should not be whether we open schools, but how we do it safely. COVID-19 is a terrible virus that has already taken too many lives, and, in the absence of a vaccine, there is no magic wand or magic elixir as the president would have us believe.”
If schools reopen too quickly and end up spreading the coronavirus, they could be held legally liable, said Francisco Negrón, chief legal officer for the National School Boards Association. And while coronavirus cases have been mild among U.S. children, many schools have students with medical conditions that could make them vulnerable, he said.
“The foremost concern for schools is going to be safety of their students and safety of their employees,” Negrón said.
In this April 2, 2020 file photo, "For Sale By Owner" and "Closed Due to Virus" signs are displayed in the window of a store in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. The second round of loan applications for the government's small business relief program has been slowed by computer issues at the Small Business Administration. Lenders complained Monday, April 27, that they couldn't get their applications into the SBA system known as ETran that processes and approves loans. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Edited by: JV Staff
The second round of loan applications for the government’s small business relief program has been slowed by computer issues at the Small Business Administration, according to an AP report.
Lenders complained Monday that they couldn’t get their applications into the SBA system known as ETran that processes and approves loans. The agency said it notified lenders Sunday that it was limiting the number of applications any lender could submit at once.
The AP reported that the SBA began accepting applications at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time for $310 billion in funding. The program’s initial $349 billion was exhausted in less than two weeks after more than 1.7 million loans were approved. That first round was also slowed by computer issues at the SBA.
Banks had thousands of applications ready to go Monday. Richard Hunt, president of the trade group Consumer Bankers Association, said the SBA’s announcement on application limits was too last-minute — bankers had already sent large batches of applications to the agency, not knowing that a new procedure was being planned.
“We learned at the 11th hour that SBA had changed its process. They could have told us well ahead of time,” Hunt said. He said the agency’s computers weren’t able to accept even the reduced number of applications per hour that it had planned.
CNBC reported that the government’s Paycheck Protection Program sparked outrage after its initial $350 billion allotment quickly ran out and it was revealed that big public companies secured loans while hundreds of thousands of small businesses seeking relatively tiny amounts were left in limbo.
Last week, the Small Business Administration attempted to close that loophole, saying that big public companies “with substantial market value and access to capital markets” aren’t eligible and that firms that already tapped the fund had two weeks to return the PPP money, according to the CNBC report.
Since then, companies including Ruth’s Hospitality Group and sandwich chain Potbelly have followed Shack Shack in returning their PPP funds.
CNBC reported that more than 245 public companies applied for at least $905 million from the government program that was billed as for small businesses without access to other sources of capital, according to Washington D.C.-based data analytics firm FactSquared.
That includes $126.4 million for three public companies affiliated with Texas hotelier Monty Bennett. One of those firms, Ashford Hospitality Trust, applied for $76 million in 117 separate loans, the most by a single company, according to regulatory filings.
AP reported that the ETran system normally handles under 60,000 applications in a year and wasn’t built to handle the volume of applications it has been receiving this month.
The fresh round of funding was expected to go quickly because banks already had thousands of applications in hand and were accepting more as they waited for Congress to approve the additional money. If the new funds do get depleted, it’s feared that many companies will be shut out unless lawmakers are willing to approve a third round.
The loans offer forgiveness for the money owners spend on workers’ pay. Millions of workers lost their jobs as companies such as restaurants, retailers, gyms and entertainment venues were forced to close to curb the spread of the virus.
