COVID-19
The CDC announced that Americans need to prepare for the disruptions that Coronavirus will bring: As of “Tuesday, the United States has just 57 cases, 40 of them connected to the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship overwhelmed by the coronavirus after it docked in Japan. Those patients are in isolation in hospitals, and there are no signs of sustained transmission in American communities.”
On Wednesday Trump gave a Coronavirus press conference and named Pence as the person in charge of the US response.
From the New York Times, and other newspapers, Thursday night: “Federal health employees interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to the coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then scattered into the general population, according to a government whistle-blower who lawmakers say faced retaliation for reporting concerns.”
At a rally in South Carolina on Friday, Trump suggested the coronavirus fear mongering was a “new hoax” by the democrats to undermine him, linking it with the Mueller Report”: “The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. They’re politicizing it,” he said. “They don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa. No, they can’t. They can’t count their votes. One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That did not work out too well. They could not do it. They tried the impeachment hoax.” Then Trump called the coronavirus “their new hoax.”
Friday saw the largest stock market drop since 2008, based on virus related fears of an economic downturn.
According to the New York Times: “Sixty-five cases of the virus have been reported in the United States, but until this week, all of the cases could be explained by overseas travel or contact with someone who had been ill. The three new cases on Friday, and a case earlier in the week, in California, were the first in the United States where the cause was mysterious and unknown…”
On Saturday the CDC announced the first death from the virus, a man in Washington state.
In Other News
A three judge panel ruled that the House cannot compel Don McGahn to testify since Trump told him not to.
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Trump’s Job Approval: 43.3%
COVID-19 Cases/Deaths: 65/1