California is launching a $125m disaster relief fund for undocumented immigrants, the first of its kind in the nation, California governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
Undocumented immigrants make up 10% of California’s workforce, Newsom said, but are ineligible for unemployment insurance, pandemic unemployment assistance and federal stimulus support.
“Regardless of your status, documented or undocumented, there are people in need,” Newsom said. “And this is a state that steps up, always to support those in need, regardless of status.”
The governor noted that there was an overrepresentation of the undocumented workforce in essential services, “in the healthcare sector, in the agriculture and food sector, in the manufacturing and logistics sector, and in the construction sector.”
“We feel a deep sense of gratitude for people that are in fear of deportation but are still addressing the essential needs of tens of millions of Californians,” he said.
California contributed $75m of the $125m disaster relief fund for undocumented immigrants, with philanthropic groups such as the Emerson Collective, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the James Irvine Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation and the California Endowment providing the additional $50m.
The amount should allow for $500 to $1,000 in household assistance, which governor Gavin Newsom acknowledged barely scratched the surface in a state with as high a cost of living as California. “I’m not here to suggest that $125m is enough, but I am here to suggest that it’s a good start and I am very proud that it is starting here in the state of California,” he said.
“I recognize that we still have more to do in this space,” Newsom said. “We will endeavor to find more areas of support in the next days and weeks and over the next year as we transition back to some version of normalcy.”
The relief fund comes as the number of Californians filing for unemployment insurance tops 2.7 million, Newsom said. The need for unemployment assistance has risen to a point that the governor signed an executive order launching a new call center to run 12 hours a day, seven days a week to handle the influx.
Newsom’s announcement was met with both applause and backlash, with conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren calling the “fund for illegals” “unbelievable”.
Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist and founder of Define American, a not-for-profit that advocates for accurate representation of immigrants in the media, tweeted that other governors, particularly New York governor Andrew Cuomo, should take note.
“As an undocumented immigrant who was raised in California and call the Bay Area my home, thank you,” Vargas wrote to Newsom. “Thank you for remembering that undocumented Californians are an inextricable part of our state.”
There were 24,421 positive cases reported in California on Wednesday, with 821 deaths. On Tuesday, Newsom cautiously outlined the state’s next steps, saying that there was no specific timeline for when he will modify the stay-at-home order.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to do what no American president before him has done: Unilaterally adjourn Congress so that he can appoint his nominees to senior positions and the federal bench without Senate approval.
But according to legal scholars, the president only has the authority to adjourn Congress if — and only if — the House and the Senate disagree with one another over when to adjourn. Currently, there is no such disagreement.
“The Senate’s practice of gaveling into so-called pro forma sessions where no one is even there has prevented me from using the constitutional authority that we’re given under the recess provisions,” Trump said during Wednesday’s coronavirus pandemic briefing. “The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees, or it should formally adjourn so that I can make recess appointments.”
During congressional recess periods, both chambers hold extremely brief parliamentary sessions every few days, known as pro forma sessions, precisely so that the legislature is never officially adjourned, and no president can bypass the Senate’s confirmation process to make recess appointments.
Trump said he needed the ability to make recess appointments in order to appoint key officials to aid in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government and now more so than ever before because of the virus,” Trump said in the Rose Garden.
“If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” the president said. “The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro-forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam that they do.”
No president before has ever forcibly adjourned Congress. And while the Constitution does give the president that power, it only applies in limited circumstances, all of which are nearly unimaginable.
Even if the GOP controlled Senate agreed to adjourn, formal adjournment resolutions must be adopted by both chambers of Congress, and it’s hard to envision a scenario in which Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would agree to adjourn so that Trump could appoint his nominees.
Not only would the Democratic controlled House surely object to such an adjournment, but shortly after Trump issued his threat Wednesday, a spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that the Senate would likewise not adjourn.
“Leader McConnell had a conversation today with the president to discuss Senate Democrats’ unprecedented obstruction of the president’s well-qualified nominees, and shared his continued frustration with the process.” the spokesperson said. “The Leader pledged to find ways to confirm nominees considered mission-critical to the COVID-19 pandemic, but under Senate rules will take consent from Leader Schumer.”
It’s not clear precisely why Trump chose Wednesday to unleash his frustration over stalled nominees, especially while so much of his administration is currently focused on the coronavirus response.
But one clue may lie in the stalled nominee who Trump repeatedly mentioned during the briefing: Michael Pack, Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The agency oversees the Voice of America news service, among other government-run media services.
“He’s been stuck in committee for two years, and it’s preventing us from managing the Voice of America,” Trump said, before launching a broadside at the internationally respected VOA.
“If you heard what’s coming out of the Voice of America, it’s disgusting,” Trump said. “The things they say are disgusting toward our country. Michael Pack, he would do a great job but he’s been waiting for two years, because we can’t get him approved.”
Pack is a controversial nominee whose ties to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon have done little to endear him to either Republican or Democratic senators.
Pack’s nomination was further imperiled last year when CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reported that Pack had been funneling money from a nonprofit group he ran into a private media company that he owned.
The White House declined to comment.
Yet even the president himself seemed to acknowledge that he was pushing the boundaries of constitutional law with his threat to adjourn Congress. “Perhaps it’s never been done before. Nobody’s even sure if it has. But we’re going to do it,” Trump said.
Asked whether there was a deadline for the Senate to approve more nominees, Trump dodged the question. “They know they’ve been warned and they’ve been warned right now,” Trump said. “If they don’t approve it, then we’re going to go this route. And we’ll probably be challenged in court, and we’ll see who wins.”
Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday confirmed 42 more deaths linked to the coronavirus, the highest number reported in a single day, bringing the county’s death toll to 402.
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer also confirmed 472 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the county’s total to nearly 10,500. Officials have previously said the case count includes people who have recovered, but there is no way to track those numbers.
Among the most recent deaths, 24 people were older than 65, 11 were ages 41 to 65 and one person was 18 to 40, Ferrer said. Information on the six other deaths wasn’t immediately available.
“These are now our worst two days back to back,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a news conference Wednesday evening, referencing Tuesday’s death toll of 40. “These are not statistics. These are stories.”
The county’s news comes after nearly a month of unprecedented social distancing efforts that have altered the lives of Californians. Public officials across the state this week have begun offering their insights as to when the restrictions may finally be eased.
A common theme appears to be emerging: Now is not the time to loosen stay-at-home orders. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said California needs to increase testing, protect high-risk residents from infection and expand hospital capacity before the state can begin to modify the stay-at-home order he imposed a month ago and gradually return to a sense of normalcy.
The parameters Newsom outlined suggest the state must meet a high bar before walking back the order.
“I want you to know it’s not, it will not be a permanent state,” he said. “We recognize the consequences of the stay-at-home orders have a profound impact on the economy, your personal household budget, your personal prospects around your future.”
“This is not the end, and it’s not even the beginning of the end, but perhaps the end of the beginning,” Anna Roth, director of Contra Costa Health Services, said Tuesday, quoting Winston Churchill’s comments after a victory in World War II in 1942. “Now is not the time for us to take a victory lap.”
Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County’s health officer, went further. “It’s not even the end of the beginning. It’s still the beginning of the beginning in this crisis,” Farnitano told the county Board of Supervisors. “If we do not continue our efforts to really reduce the spread within our community by our social-distancing and staying-at-home efforts … we are still at risk of facing a surge that could overwhelm our hospitals,” he said.
In Los Angeles, Garcetti said, a key step toward lifting restrictions will be widespread, two-pronged testing — virology tests, which check whether you’re actively infected, and serology tests to detect whether you’ve been infected by the virus in the past.
The tests, he said, will help L.A. move “from crisis to recovery.”
Managing outbreaks in long-term care facilities, where older patients with underlying health conditions are among the most vulnerable, remains a priority, Long Beach officials said Wednesday, noting that of the city’s 18 COVID-19 deaths, 13 have been associated with long-term care facilities. The city issued a new health order on Wednesday requiring that all staff and residents have their temperatures checked daily and mandating that staff wear surgical masks at all times.
In the Bay Area, which initially saw the largest concentration of cases statewide but has had success flattening the curve, officials on Wednesday doubled down on a message from last week: Don’t even think about packing together in public on 4/20.
The city’s legendary love fest to cannabis won’t be tolerated this year and the streets surrounding Golden Gate Park, where the event is held each year, will be fenced off, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said during a news conference. “If we have to cite, we will,” Scott said. “If we have to arrest, we will.”
California’s hospitals have not been stretched to the limit, as medical facilities have been in New York. As of Wednesday, California had reported 858 deaths, while New York state has reported more than 10,000. Over the last week, California has averaged 1,177 new cases and 48.3 new deaths per day.
Daily coronavirus related deaths reached new heights in Los Angeles County this week. Health officials on Tuesday confirmed 40 deaths linked to the coronavirus, which before Wednesday, was the highest number reported in a single day.
The latest number of those infected includes 28 people in the homeless community. While the majority of those people were unsheltered, officials noted that six people who tested positive for COVID-19 were staying in a shelter. At least three of the cases were reported at the Union Rescue Mission on skid row.
Ferrer added that county health officials are “making sure everybody is appropriately isolated and quarantined” at the shelter.
She said officials are using daily data on countywide infections and deaths to make decisions about when to start relaxing social distancing requirements. She’s hopeful this could begin by the middle or end of May, but encouraged residents to continue their efforts, including wearing face coverings in public and staying home as much as possible, in the meantime.
“The sacrifices made cannot be counted: Some have lost loved ones, some have been ill, some have lost jobs, some have had to temporarily close business, some are guiding children through remote learning and everyone has had to live our day-to-day life very differently than we are used to,” Ferrer said. “Thank you for continuing to do what you’re doing. Engaging in these practices is making a difference, and we will get to the other side of this together.” However, it may be quite a while before life as most Angelenos know it returns to normal.
An internal Los Angeles Fire Department email reviewed by The Times indicates that the city may hold off on allowing big gatherings, like concerts and sporting events, until 2021 because of the coronavirus threat. Mayor Eric Garcetti raised the issue during his weekly briefing Monday with a group of high-level staff from several departments, including Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas, according to the email.
Newsom and officials in his administration say their strategy to slow the spread of the virus is working, pointing to relatively low growth in COVID-19 hospitalizations as evidence that staying home and social distancing are preventing a surge of infections.
But that success comes with a cost.
More than 2.3 million Californians filed for unemployment benefits in the last month as businesses closed due to state mandates, and the economy continues to unravel. Some students lost access to free and reduced-cost meals when schools shuttered, and many have not participated in virtual learning. To meet a growing demand in L.A., Garcetti said Wednesday that the city plans to more than double the number of seniors receiving free meals several times a week from 5,000 to 12,000. And the governor’s strategy of distancing residents can also lead to social isolation and increased health risks for the elderly and vulnerable.
Despite his attempts to quell uncertainty, Newsom has not yet provided a timeline for when the state’s nearly 40 million people can expect to return to work — or move about freely. And to those struggling to make ends meet, that’s the question they want answered most.
“When are the restrictions going to be lifted?” asked Miguel Tot, who last worked at his job managing a downtown Los Angeles restaurant on March 16. “There’s no timetable on that, so I have no idea, you know, when normality is going to come back.”
Times staff writers Marisa Gerber, Richard Winton, Colleen Shalby, Dakota Smith and Ben Welsh contributed to this report
Nicole Hutcherson first noticed something was wrong with her father — normally a spry early-riser who enjoyed yard work and home renovation projects — earlier this month, when he wasn’t getting out of bed until nearly midday.
Her dad, Frank M. Carter, 82, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, insisted he felt fine, despite some nausea and vomiting. Hutcherson suspected he was dehydrated, so she went to his house to give him intravenous fluids. Hutcherson is a nurse, and had supplies on hand.
That was when she noticed her father, who had shown no previous signs of dementia, was largely unaware of what was happening around him.
“He looked distant,” Hutcherson recalled. “He just had this weird look in his eye, like his mental status had changed.”
Carter didn’t react at all when his daughter put the IV needle in his arm. “It was like he was sedated,” she said.
Hutcherson believes that the delirium she noted in her father was one of the first signs that he had been infected with the coronavirus. Carter died within a week.
There is growing evidence to suggest that COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, can affect not only the lungs, but the brain, too.
A recent study of 214 patients in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic started, found more than a third had neurologic manifestations of the disease, including loss of consciousness and stroke.
Physicians in the U.S. have noted the same.
“We’re seeing a significant increase in the number of patients with large strokes,” Dr. Johanna Fifi, associate director of the cerebrovascular center at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, said.
Many are patients in their 30s and 40s. Over a recent two-week period, Fifi told NBC News she had five COVID-19 patients under age 49, all with strokes resulting from a blockage in one of the major blood vessels leading to the brain.
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Two of those patients had what Fifi described as mild coronavirus conditions before the stroke. The other three had no symptoms at all.
Dr. E. Wesley Ely, left, and Dr. Feng Li of Vanderbilt University Medical Center hope to learn how COVID-19 affects brain tissue.Courtesy of Dr. E. Wes Ely
How the virus might lead to a stroke or other neurological impairment remains unclear. Fifi said it’s possible that inflammation in the body could damage blood vessels in the brain, or that the viral infection leads to increased clotting.
“I don’t think we know right now which one it is,” she said.
Dr. E. Wesley Ely, a professor of medicine and critical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has another theory: that the virus is “probably invading the brain.”
Ely explained that symptoms such as loss of smell and taste reported among some coronavirus patients are neurologic in nature.
“This virus goes into your nose, and says, ‘I’m just going to attack the first thing I see.’ That’s the respiratory tract,” Ely said. But because humans have no immunity to this new virus, it’s possible that it can attack any part of the body, including the brain.
“That’s something that still needs to be teased apart and figured out,” Dr. Felicia Chow, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, said.
But the issues surrounding loss of taste and smell “make us highly suspicious that … the cranial nerves may be affected by the virus,” she said. “We just don’t have any direct proof at this point.”
Related
To fill that void, Ely and colleagues with the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, in partnership with Vanderbilt and the Nashville VA, have launched a study of post-mortem brain tissue to look for signs of COVID-19 in the brain. The National Institutes of Health is funding the research.
The team will examine the brains’ neurons for damage, measure various brain regions to see if parts have become unusually small, and analyze the hippocampus, which plays a large role in memory. They’ll also look for evidence of amyloid and tau, two proteins linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“Anything we find is important because we’re trying to understand the pathophysiology of this disease,” Ely said.
The first brain donated to the project was Frank M. Carter’s.
“My father would have wanted to do this because he was selfless,” Hutcherson said. “He would have wanted to help others.”
Hutcherson urged others to watch for unusual cognitive changes in family members, including lapses in consciousness and unexplained confusion. It is unknown whether Carter had suffered a COVID-19-related stroke.
Chow added that awareness of other stroke symptoms is also critical, including “drooping of the face, weakness of the arm or leg, especially on one side, and difficulties either understanding or producing speech.”
“Those are definitely symptoms of a potential stroke and a reason to immediately call 911,” whether they’re related to COVID-19 or not, Chow said.
Delaying care can have devastating consequences. “One of our patients waited over a day at home, getting progressively weaker,” Fifi, of Mount Sinai Health System, said. The patient told physicians she’d been afraid to go to the hospital because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“If you’re having symptoms, it’s safer to be in the hospital,” Fifi said.
“If you don’t re-establish blood flow quickly, the brain becomes irreversibly damaged. The sooner you do it, the better.”
President Donald Trump said the U.S. has “passed the peak” of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 632,000 people in America.
“While we must remain vigilant, it is clear that our aggressive strategy is working,” Trump said at a White House news briefing with coronavirus task force on Wednesday. “The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases.”
Trump said new cases are “declining” in New York, which has more confirmed cases than any country outside the U.S. He added that cases are “flat” in Denver and Detroit, while other cities including Baltimore and Philadelphia “are showing great signs of success.”
“Some states are looking at other states and they’re saying I can’t imagine what they’re going through because they’re not in that position. They’re in very good shape,” he said. “I would say that we have 20 states, at least, but you really have 29 that are in extremely good shape. You have others that are getting much better.”
Trump said he will discuss guidelines for reopening the country on Thursday. The governors of seven states on the East Coast and three states on the West Coast have announced regional working groups to coordinate the reopening of the regions.
“My administration is using every available authority to accelerate the development, study and delivery of therapies,” he said, adding that at least 35 clinical trials of treatments are underway.
Over the past six days, the rate of new cases has declined across the country, Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said, adding that nine states have less than 1,000 cases each and report fewer than 30 new cases per day. However, she said the administration is concerned about Providence, Rhode Island, which is in a “unique situation,” caught between two hot spots, New York and Boston.
She added that now is the time to continue practicing social distancing.
“Social gatherings, coming together, there is always a chance that an asymptomatic person can spread the virus unknowingly,” she said. “To all of you that are out there that would like to join together and just have that dinner party for 20, don’t do it yet. Continue to follow the presidential guidelines.”
More than 3.3 million tests have been “conducted and completed,” Vice President Mike Pence said, adding that 24% of all counties in the country have not reported a single case of Covid-19. He also said half of all states in the country have fewer than 2,500 cases each.
“We’re going to reflect on the fact that, as the president said, there will be areas of the country that will require continued mitigation and strong efforts and there will be other areas of the country that will be given guidance for greater flexibility, the president has so directed our team,” Pence said.
On Tuesday, New York City officials said they would begin counting “probable” Covid-19 deaths, which are people “who had no known positive laboratory test,” but are believed to have died due to Covid-19. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene estimates that there have been 3,778 probable Covid-19 deaths since March 11 that weren’t previously counted in the city’s official tally. There have been 6,589 confirmed Covid-19 deaths in New York City so far.
“I want the whole truth out. Wherever the facts take us, I want the whole truth out,” de Blasio said Wednesday at a news briefing. “Absolutely, I believe there are more people who died because of Covid-19, in one way or another, because of something that happened to them related to Covid-19.”
President Trump at the daily coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, when he declared his intent to halt funding to the World Health Organization, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
Alex Brandon/AP; Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
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Alex Brandon/AP; Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump at the daily coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, when he declared his intent to halt funding to the World Health Organization, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
Alex Brandon/AP; Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
On Tuesday, President Trump said he’s suspending U.S. funding for the World Health Organization. He said the agency has “mismanaged” the pandemic, has been slow to respond to the crisis and is “China-centric.”
We looked at the public record to see what Trump and the WHO had to say over the past 15 weeks about the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s a timeline highlighting key quotes.
Jan. 5
The WHO reported a “pneumonia of unknown cause” in Wuhan, China.
The health organization advised against restrictions to China: “WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the current information available on this event.”
Jan. 9
WHO released a statement announcing the source of the disease: “Chinese authorities have made a preliminary determination of a novel (or new) coronavirus, identified in a hospitalized person with pneumonia in Wuhan.”
It added: “In the coming weeks, more comprehensive information is required to understand the current status and epidemiology of the outbreak, and the clinical picture.”
A security guard stands outside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the novel coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China.
Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
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Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
Jan. 22
Asked by CNBC whether there were any concerns about the virus spreading to the U.S., Trump responded: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Jan. 23
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that it is too early to declare the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. “Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.”
The Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan on Jan. 22.
Stringer/Getty Images
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Jan. 24
In a tweet, Trump praised China for its efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
Jan. 29
Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said, “The whole world needs to be on alert now. The whole world needs to take action and be ready for any cases that come from the epicenter or other epicenter that becomes established.”
Jan. 30
At a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump talked about the U.S. partnership with China to control the disease. “We only have five people. Hopefully, everything’s going to be great. They have somewhat of a problem, but hopefully, it’s all going to be great. But we’re working with China, just so you know, and other countries very, very closely. So it doesn’t get out of hand.”
Tedros announced that the outbreak had become a “public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus.”
Feb. 2
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said, “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.” His executive order banning anyone who has been in China in the previous 14 days — excluding U.S. residents and their family members or spouses of U.S. residents or citizens — went into effect.
Feb. 4
At a WHO briefing, Tedros urged that there be no travel bans. “We reiterate our call to all countries not to impose restrictions that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit. … Where such measures have been implemented, we urge that they are short in duration, proportionate to the public health risks and are reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves.”
Feb. 10
At a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., Trump said: “Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. I hope that’s true. But we’re doing great in our country. China, I spoke with President Xi, and they’re working very, very hard. And I think it’s going to all work out fine.”
Feb. 11
At a WHO briefing, Tedros urged world leaders to give priority to containing the virus: “To be honest, a virus is more powerful in creating political, economic and social upheaval than any terrorist attack. A virus can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action, and that’s true. If the world doesn’t want to wake up and consider this enemy virus as Public Enemy Number 1, I don’t think we will learn our lessons.”
Feb. 13
In an interview with Geraldo Rivera, Trump characterized the threat of the virus in the U.S. by saying: “In our country, we only have, basically, 12 cases, and most of those people are recovering and some cases fully recovered. So it’s actually less.”
Feb. 24
In a tweet, Trump wrote, “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
Feb. 26
In a news conference, Trump said: “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
Feb. 28
The WHO raises the global risk of the coronavirus from “high” to “very high.”
March 5
In a WHO briefing, Tedros praised China and the U.S. for taking “the right approach.” He said: “After our visit to Beijing and seeing China’s approach, and President Xi leading that, and also in the U.S., President Trump himself, and also for regular coordination, designating the vice president. These are the approaches we’re saying are the right ones, and these are the approaches we’re saying are going to mobilize the whole government.”
In a Fox News town hall, Trump said, “It’s going to all work out. Everybody has to be calm. It’s all going to work out.”
Customers line up to buy water and other supplies in Burbank, Calif., on March 6 in reaction to fears that the novel coronavirus would spread and force people to stay indoors.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
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Customers line up to buy water and other supplies in Burbank, Calif., on March 6 in reaction to fears that the novel coronavirus would spread and force people to stay indoors.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
March 10
In a meeting with Republican senators at the U.S. Capitol, Trump said, “This was unexpected. … And it hit the world. And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”
March 11
Trump said in an Oval Office address: “The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low.”
Tedros said the WHO has “made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”
A digital sign on March 28 directs patients to the drive-through coronavirus test site at Stony Brook University in New York.
John Paraskevas/Newsday via Getty Images
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A digital sign on March 28 directs patients to the drive-through coronavirus test site at Stony Brook University in New York.
John Paraskevas/Newsday via Getty Images
March 16
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected,” Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva. He added, “We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test. Test every suspected case.”
At a press briefing, Trump issued orders to control the spread of the virus in the U.S.: “My administration is recommending that all Americans, including the young and healthy, work to engage in schooling from home when possible. Avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people. Avoid discretionary travel. And avoid eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and public food courts. If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus. And we’re going to have a big celebration all together. With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly.”
March 17
Trump told reporters: “This is a pandemic. … I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Pat Herrick holds a photo of her mom, Elaine Herrick, 89, a resident of Life Care Center, who died of complications from COVID-19. The nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, was the location of one of the first coronavirus outbreaks in the U.S.
Jason Redmond /AFP via Getty Images
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Jason Redmond /AFP via Getty Images
March 21
Trump tweeted about potential coronavirus treatments: “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)…..”
March 23
In a WHO briefing, Tedros said “using untested medicines without the right evidence could raise false hope and even do more harm than good.”
He also said that the “pandemic is accelerating … It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases.”
March 24
Trump said: “Easter is a very special day for me. And I see it sort of in that timeline that I’m thinking about. And I say, wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full?”
March 26
“We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart,” said Tedros to world leaders in a special virtual summit on the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 6
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO health emergencies program, said you can’t lift a lockdown all at once. “You need to say, ‘We will stop doing this element of the shutdown, and then we will wait, and we will look at the data. And if that works, we go to the next stage and the next stage.’ So a careful calibrated step-wise exit from lockdown.”
April 7
Trump criticized WHO for mishandling the pandemic. “The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China- centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”
April 8
“Please don’t politicize this virus,” Tedros said in a briefing in Geneva after he was asked about Trump’s remarksthe day before. He later urged political leaders to “please quarantine politicizing COVID.”
April 14
“Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump said in a briefing at the White House.
April 15
“We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization,” said Tedros in a news conference.
Responding to the U.S. accusations, Mike Ryan of the WHO said “in the first weeks of January the WHO was very, very clear.”
“We alerted the world on January the 5th,” Ryan said. “Systems around the world, including the U.S., began to activate their incident management systems on January the 6th. And through the next number of weeks, we’ve produced multiple updates to countries, including briefing multiple governments, multiple scientists around the world, on the developing situation — and that is what it was, a developing situation.”
In an interview with NPR that will air on April 16, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft stated: “[the World Health Organization] was not accurate, had it been accurate it would have slowed the virus and saved thousands of lives.”
Jason Beaubien, Pien Huang, Ben de la Cruz, Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, Domenico Montanaro and Barbara Van Woerkom contributed to this report.
U.S. military investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic suggest the virus was probably not created in a lab, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley said on Tuesday.
Speculation that the deadly coronavirus, first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, escaped from a lab has been fueled by Beijing’s early attempts to coverup the outbreak and more recently by details from U.S. diplomatic cables.
“There’s a lot of rumor and speculation,” said Milley an Army General told a news conference at the Pentagon.
“It should be no surprise to you that we’ve taken a keen interest in that, and we’ve had a lot of intelligence take a hard look at that,” he said. “And I would just say, at this point, it’s inconclusive. Although the weight of evidence seems to indicate ‘natural.’ But we don’t know for certain.”
Milley’s careful choice of words is unlikely quell rumors on the internet, and questions in the media, that virus was created in a lab at Wuhan’s Institute of Virology.
The speculation has persisted despite statements from scientists and researchers who say the virus’ genetic makeup did not indicate an inorganic formation, meaning it was unlikely the disease came from inside a laboratory.
China’s behavior had fueled suspicions that Beijing tried to suppress information about the outbreak and silenced doctors who tried to warn the world. It then went on to falsely accuse the U.S. military of starting the epidemic. Months after the virus first emerged, there is little confidence in China’s officially announced death tolls or infection tallies.
Diplomatic cables from 2018 showed U.S. embassy officials were worried that inadequate safety procedure at the Wuhan lab, which was testing coronavirus strains in bats, could lead to a future epidemic, according to the Washington Post.
China’s officials have been subject to criticism from various entities since the virus broke out. Most recently, a group of international policy experts and politicians denounced the country’s initial approach to containment in an open letter published Tuesday, reiterating previously aired accusations that its leaders covered up, or at least downplayed, the crisis.
The letter also touched on possible coronavirus origins in Wuhan, saying, “while the exact source and spread of the virus are not clear yet the question of origin is highly important, for the people of China and for all humankind: only by understanding how this global disaster could emerge we can prevent it from happening again.”
“The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam. What they do, it’s a scam and everybody knows it,” Trump said.
Thousands of protesters on foot and in vehicles converged Wednesday on Michigan’s capital to rally against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders in the state.
“Operation Gridlock,” organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, created a huge bumper-to-bumper traffic jam around the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing, Fox 2 Detroit reported.
Meshawn Maddock, an organizer for the group, said the demonstrators include Republicans, Democrats and independents.
“Quarantine is when you restrict movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people,” Maddock told Fox News. “Every person has learned a harsh lesson about social distancing. We don’t need a nanny state to tell people how to be careful.”
The protests had been expected to start at noon, but a line of vehicles stretching for miles began earlier in the morning.
“Operation Gridlock” was just one of many demonstrations planned across the country to push back on the stay-at-home orders, calling on state governments to focus on the economic toll the coronavirus pandemic has caused along with taking care of the sick.
Nearly 17 million Americans have been laid off or furloughed in the past three weeks – or one out of every 10 workers.
People take part in a protest for “Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine” at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan today.Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
Echoing President Trump that “we cannot let the cure be worse than the disease,” Maddock said the restrictions are wrecking people’s lives and may have killed more than the virus.
“The health-care system is basically shut down,” she said. “People with issues are having trouble seeing a doctor because everyone is focused on the virus. My husband and I are checking in on my in-laws, but even doing that is now breaking the law.”
Whitmer, who acknowledged that people in Michigan are under pressure by the orders she signed last week, compared the stay-at-home orders to being snowed in.
“So we just had snow. I got snow on the ground here in Michigan. I got snow on the ground in Lansing and we’re expecting up to 30 inches of snow in the Upper Peninsula,” she said on the “Today” show.
“The fact that we’re cracking down on people traveling between homes or planting or landscaping or golfing, really, for a couple more weeks is not going to meaningfully impact people’s ability to do so, because the snow will do that itself.”
Asked what factors she is looking at to determine whether it’s safe to return to work, Whitmer said more testing capability.
“It’s that we get robust testing, and that is still a struggle across this nation. We need some assistance from the federal government when it comes to swabs and reagents and making sure that we get the kind of robust testing that we need so we get data that we can actually rely on,” Whitmer said.
Some governors, including New York’s Andrew Cuomo, have joined regional task forces to decide when to have their states ease restrictions and reopen their economies.
Between the multiple Trump Towers, Trump Plazas, Trump International Resorts, and the now-defunct Trump Steaks, it’s clear President Donald Trumphas a penchant for putting his name on things. And that predilection has now been extended to include the coronavirus stimulus checks.
The Treasury Department on Monday ordered that Trump’s name appear on the paper checks being rushed to millions of people by the IRS.
Those checks could end up being delayed a few days in order to add the president’s name to them, according to senior IRS officials. In order to add Trump’s name — which will appear in typeface rather than as a signature given the checks are from the Treasury rather than from the president — the code in the IRS’s computers must be tweaked and subsequently tested.
“Any last minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay,” Chad Hooper, a quality control manager who serves as national president of the IRS’s Professional Managers Association, told the Washington Post.
A Treasury Department representative denied that the change would result in a delay, however. “Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned—there is absolutely no delay whatsoever,” the representative said in a written statement to the Post.
It’s clear that many Americans need their stimulus checks as soon as possible. Over the past three weeks, there have been 16.8 million new initial claims for unemployment as restaurants, retailers, and other nonessential businesses have been shuttered to limit the spread of the virus. The scale of this crisis has some lawmakers calling for more stimulus funds, as Vox’s Dylan Matthews explained:
[The CARES Act’s] cash checks are a one-off, with no automatic payments to kick in if and when unemployment spikes. The increase in unemployment benefits is similarly temporary and not tied to objective economic metrics that could keep them from being withdrawn early. The benefits to businesses are opaque and might be inferior to just having the government temporarily take over payroll for struggling companies, the way Denmark has done as its crisis response. There’s too little aid to state and local governments to forestall budget cuts, and no mandate forpostal voting inthe 2020 election to be sure it’s conducted safely if the country is still under quarantine.
Regardless of whether the stimulus will work or if Congress will need to authorize more spending, Trump seems determined to grab whatever political credit comes from it.
The IRS, which is responsible for distributing the checks, is supposed to be a nonpartisan agency, and it has held to that tradition since former President Richard Nixon targeted political opponents, including civil rights groups, reporters, and prominent Democrats, with tax audits. After that, Congress enacted laws to ensure that the agency operates apolitically.
Trump’s move, critics fear, changes that. They argue this move is a blatantly political attempt to tie the president to the popular stimulus checks, even though Trump had initially pushed for a payroll tax cut rather than direct stimulus.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the president for injecting politics into a process meant to help everyday Americans. “Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump’s catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
This is the first time a president’s name will appear on an IRS disbursement. The president reportedly initially pushed to have his name appear on the signature line; however, presidents are not authorized signers for legal disbursements from the Treasury Department. As a result, the president’s name will appear in the memo line, just below a note saying “Economic Impact Payment,” according to administration officials.
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WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, who is facing a tough reelection battle in the fall, gave a “mixed” review of President Donald Trump’s public statements on the coronavirus outbreak.
The Maine Republican told Politico on Tuesday that when the president is effective, he defers to health experts at his almost daily news briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic. But she said his occasional tangents or dust-ups with reporters were counterproductive.
“It’s been very uneven. There are times when I think his message has been spot on and he has really deferred to the public health officials who have been with him at these press conferences,” Collins said in the interview. “And then there are times when I think he’s been off message and has brought up extraneous issues. So I think it’s been mixed.”
She said his conflicts with reporters were not “helpful” and “when he gets off message or brings up issues that have nothing to do with the coronavirus, it is not reassuring to the American people.”
Last month, Collins told the Bangor Daily News that Trump should “step back” from the briefings and said the administration’s statements on the virus had been “inconsistent.”
A moderate, Collins has criticized Trump on a number of occasions. She did not vote for Trump in 2016 and has declined to say if she plans to in November.
But Collins has been chided by critics for often expressing concern about Trump’s words or deeds and then consistently voting with him on controversial issues such as the 2017 tax cut, Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and Trump’s impeachment trial.
She is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection this year and political contributions from across the nation indicate that win or lose, her quest for a fifth term will be a very costly campaign.
On Wednesday, Majority Forward, a liberal political action committee, launched a new ad condemning Collins for telling the Bangor Daily News in an April 2 interview that she thought Trump “did a lot that was right in the beginning” of the outbreak.
“For example, he acted very early to ban travel to China, and that was a move, an action that he took that undoubtedly saved lives,” she said. “I think in the beginning there were times when he was speaking about what he hoped would happen rather than relying on the data and information of his experts. That has changed, and I’m glad that it has.”
During that interview, she said Trump’s initial statements on the virus “may have given some people a false sense of security,” but that the briefings with health experts Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx were “far more helpful to the American people.”
Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, is the Democratic primary frontrunner to take on Collins. Two recent polls indicate a tight race with Gideon holding a narrow lead.
A Critical Insights poll conducted in March found Collins’ job approval rating to be at 37% – four percentage-points lower than a year before, which was the first time the survey found her approval rating below 50%. Her disapproval rating was the highest the survey has found at 52%. By contrast, 59% of Maine voters approved of the job independent Sen. Angus King has done while 21% disapprove.
“It’s over when people know I’m 100% safe and I don’t have to worry about this. When does that happen? When we have a vaccine?” he said. “Until you have a vaccine, until you have the medical treatment, what do you do? How are you building the bridge? Well, it’s going to be a phased reopening.”
Part of that phased reopening is requiring people to wear face masks, he said. Local governments would enforce the order, but fines won’t be issued at this time, he said. It would apply to people on public transit, including subways and buses, as well as in public spaces like grocery stores, he said. It would even apply to people walking on the sidewalk. The covering can be a bandana or scarf as long as it covers their nose and mouth.
“You’re right to go out for a walk in the park, go out for a walk because you need to get out of the house. The dog is getting on your nerves, fine. Don’t infect me. You don’t have a right to infect me,” he said.
While Cuomo said he’s not going to impose fines right now, he didn’t rule out the possibility.
“Now, if they don’t accept that and there’s widespread noncompliance, could we go to civil penalty or could I say you can’t be on the trains or buses unless you wear a mask, you could get there.”
He said he hopes New Yorkers follow the rule “because it makes sense.”
Cuomo’s order came nearly two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its national coronavirus guidelines to recommend wearing face coverings in public places “where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain … especiallyin areas of significant community-based transmission.”
Paramedics and hospital workers prepare to lift a COVID-19 patient onto a hospital stretcher outside the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus in the Bronx, Tuesday, April 07, 2020, New York City.
John Moore/Getty Images
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Nearly 9,300 U.S. health care workers contracted COVID-19, and 27 have died. A majority of those who tested positive (55%) think they were exposed while at work.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released preliminary data on infections among frontline health workers. Nearly three-quarters are women and more than a third had some underlying health condition. The median age is 42.
About 8% of those who tested positive didn’t have symptoms. And the majority (90%) didn’t have to be hospitalized. But as many as 5% did require intensive care. A third of the health care workers who died were over 65 years old.
“The increased prevalence of severe outcomes in older [health care providers] should be considered when mobilizing retired [health care providers] to increase surge capacity,” the authors conclude.
The CDC researchers acknowledge the figures are almost certainly a substantial undercount because most of the people tested in the overall data set (84%) didn’t say whether they’re a health care worker or not.
“This data is really helpful because it’s giving us those first indicators of health care worker risks and exposures,” says Dr. Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at a large health system in Phoenix. “But ultimately we need to be collecting more on this because we have to understand the failures, so we can correct them in the future.”
Local data reveals more alarming rates of infection. In Ohio, one in five positive tests has been a health care worker. In Detroit, more than 700 employees of the Henry Ford Health System (which has more than 30,000 employees in total) tested positive.
Kaiser Health News and the Guardian are now collecting the stories of frontline health workers who have died from the virus — they include a VA nurse on the verge of retirement, a hospital custodian in Rochester and a Haitian-born surgeon in the Bronx.
For those working in hospitals treating COVID-positive patients, infection control has become the first thing on their minds. “Each day without proper protection means the risk of another nurse contracting COVID-19 and no longer being able to provide patient care,” says Connie Barden of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. “We can neither put another nurse in harm’s way, nor can we afford to lose even one nurse.”
CDC researchers write that their findings suggest the need for proper personal protective equipment in treatment of COVID-19 patients: “It is still critical that, when caring for patients, [health care workers] continue to wear recommended personal protective equipment,” including gowns, N95 respirator if available, eye protection and gloves.
At Williamson Medical Center — outside Nashville, Tenn. — pulmonary critical care specialist Aaron Milstone says they have instituted a process where other workers now watch as their colleagues don their protective suits and gear, just to make sure no one breaks protocol.
And frontline workers face their fears every day when they go to work.
“When I put all the PPE on and I’m ready to enter the room and I open that door, the very first thought that goes through my mind is not the patient’s well-being. It’s, did I put the PPE on correctly?” Dr. Milstone says. “That is an awful feeling.”
The AACN has called any shortage of protective gear a “clear and present danger” to nurses.
“Without sufficient PPE, not only will thousands of lives be lost, but this crisis will be prolonged, placing an even greater burden on the nation’s health care system and the economy,” Barden says. “To protect the United States against COVID-19 and accelerate a return to ‘normal,’ we must ensure the safety of the 18 million plus physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and other healthcare workers.”
President Donald Trump indicated during Tuesday’s coronavirus task force press briefing that some states could rescind their stay-at-home orders and reopen for business “almost immediately” despite warnings from the CDC that opening before May 1 could be detrimental to the public health.
Trump told reporters that he was aware of 29 states that were in “very very good shape” and could potentially reopen quickly. While the president said he would leave the final decision of when to reopen states up to governors, Trump stated that some states would be able to reopen “maybe even before the date May 1st.”
“We have one country but lots of different pieces,” Trump said. “We have beautiful states with beautiful governors. They know it is time to open.”
“I’m not putting any pressure on,” Trump added. “Some of them are ready to go and that’s a good thing. So we will open it up in beautiful pieces as it comes along.”
However, infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force Dr. Anthony Fauci told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a deadline of May 1 for reopening the U.S. was “a bit overly optimistic.”
“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said, citing a lack of contact tracing and coronavirus testing procedures.
Tuesday, The Washington Post published a plan, allegedly written by officials from FEMA and the CDC, that outlines a plan to reopen the country in stages. Bringing areas with low mitigation rates back into business is not recommended by the plan until May 1.
“Some communities implemented significant mitigation measures well before community transmission was occurring and may be overly restricted,” the plan read. “These communities could lift mitigation measures significantly and remain prepared to monitor local conditions closely and increase mitigation measures when needed.”
According to the plan, areas that engaged in moderate mitigation are not likely to be ready until June, although “brief periods of significant mitigation may be useful and if well planned and coordinate across sectors could mitigate the jarring impact” of the extended closure of schools and non-essential businesses.
“Models indicate 30-day shelter in place followed by 180-day lifting of all mitigation results in large rebound curve—some level of mitigation will be needed until vaccines or broad community immunity is achieved for recovering communities,” the plan states.
However, the plan calls for the constant monitoring of all communities until the coronavirus spread ends or a vaccine becomes available.
Newsweek reached out to CDC for comment. The White House declined to comment for this story.
“As members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, CDC and FEMA are part of the data-driven effort to move our country forward,” a FEMA spokesperson told Newsweek Tuesday. “We will not comment on a leaked, draft document.”
Although Trump recognized state autonomy concerning the decisions on when states would reopen their businesses, he said the federal government would have a hand in those final determinations.
“You know, there are some [states] that want to open up almost now,” Trump said. “Now, if we disagree with it, we’re not going to let them open. We’re not going to let them open. If some governor said, you know—has a lot of problems, a lot of cases, a lot of death—and they want to open early, we’re not going to let it happen.”
“So we’re there to watch,” Trump added. “We’re there to help. But we’re also there to be critics.”
Updated 9:53 p.m. EST 04/14/2020: This story has been updated to include a statement from FEMA.
Apple has officially announced the new iPhone SE, a lower-cost iPhone that starts at $399 for a version with 64GB of storage. It has the same basic shape and look as the iPhone 8, which means it has a 4.7-inch screen, large bezels on the top and bottom, and a home button with Touch ID. It’s a design that has stayed consistent since the iPhone 6, which makes the iPhone SE essentially the fifth generation of that same look. Apple knows this design well.
It is available for preorder this Friday, April 17th, and it will ship on April 24th. There will be a 128GB model offered for $449 and a 256GB model for $549. Like other iPhones, it will come with a free year of Apple TV Plus. It will come in black, white, and Product Red.
The iPhone SE is essentially an iPhone 8 with a better camera and processor — and a lower price tag. Although it’s a relatively old design, this iPhone SE has Apple’s A13 Bionic chip, the same that’s available in the latest iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models.
That should ensure that it has a much longer lifespan than the $449 iPhone 8 model that it’s replacing in Apple’s lineup, which had an A11 chip from 2017. There won’t be a plus-sized version of the second-generation iPhone SE, but the iPhone 8 Plus will continue to be sold in certain markets.
The processor also lets the new iPhone SE gain some new camera features. There’s a single 12-megapixel camera lens on the back (along with a flash). Apple says it’s using the A13 Bionic’s chips to improve its Smart HDR photography, which combines multiple shots into a single photo to improve lighting and detail.
It also has a portrait mode with technology Apple calls “monocular depth sensing.” It uses machine learning to detect depth and faces — which, unfortunately, means that it will only work on people, not pets. It includes optical image stabilization, and Apple says it can do “cinematic” stabilization on video as well as support 4K video at 60fps. The front-facing selfie camera is 7-megapixels, and it can also do portrait mode effects.
Image: Apple
Many of the new second-generation iPhone SE parts are identical to the iPhone 8. It should have about the same battery life as the iPhone 8 (but no word on exact battery size). Apple says that cases designed for the iPhone 8 will work fine on the SE. It has Apple’s 4.7-inch IPS LCD Retina display with True Tone color. It sounds as though it’s the exact same display as what’s on the iPhone 8.
That’s not a problem from a quality perspective. This IPS display is well-known and well-regarded, but it does mean that people who were holding out for a smaller phone are out of luck. Apple says that this is the most popular screen size it has ever sold — 500 million devices and counting — and that’s part of the reason it’s using this screen size now.
iPhone SE 2 specs
Screen: 4.7-inch True Tone display
Rear cameras: 12-megapixel single 6-element lens, features OIS, flicker sensor for white balance, focus pixels, HDR, and portrait mode for people, video recording at 4K/60fps
Selfie camera: 7-megapixel camera
Dimensions: 67.3 x 138.4 x 7.3mm, 148 grams
Processor: A13 Bionic
Memory: TBD
Storage: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB
Battery: TBD
OS: iOS 13
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit LTE, Dual SIM with eSIM
Biometric authentication: second-generation Touch ID fingerprint sensor
Wireless charging, Lightning connector, 5W charger included
IP67 protection
It only comes with a dinky 5W charger in the box, though it can support 18W fast charging if you have the right adapter. It uses a Lightning connector for charging, of course, and it will also support Qi wireless charging. There is no headphone jack, but it will come with Lightning headphones in the box.
Rounding out some of the other modernized specs, it supports Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit LTE, and dual-SIMs. (The second one is an eSIM, however.) It also supports Haptic Touch, which is Apple’s replacement for 3D Touch, amounting to a long press with haptic feedback.
The 2020 iPhone SE is another major smartphone release coming in the midst of the pandemic. The SE’s lower cost and Touch ID sensor may have slightly more appeal than usual, especially as people realize that they’ll be wearing masks more often. Apple noted that it believes that people are depending on their phones more than ever right now, but there’s no getting around the fact that its physical stores are closed. Apple’s website and app offer good customer support, but it remains to be seen what the appetite for new phones will be right now. Best Buy will be offering curbside pickup at locations where that is available.
The iPhone SE looks like a very good deal overall. It’s a $400 phone with what appears to be a strong camera and the very same processor that’s in Apple’s most expensive iPhones. As noted above, that means a phone purchased today should be getting software updates for many years to come.
Deciding whether it’s a good phone will have to wait for a full review, but I suspect more than a few people who have been waiting for this phone will be a little disappointed. The original iPhone SE from 2016 is beloved in part because it was so small compared to most other smartphones. It had the same design as the iPhone 5 — and while that screen is tiny by today’s standards, it also still feels like a more natural size for some. Apple stopped selling the original SE in 2018.
For people who thought the iPhone 6, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8 were too large, the second-generation iPhone SE is unlikely to change their minds. But it’s clear that phone screens are all going to be big from now on, which makes 4.7 inches the new small.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is defending the World Health Organization, blasting President Donald Trump‘s decision to halt funding for the U.N. agency in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Microsoft co-founder and his wife, Melinda, voiced support for the WHO in separate Twitter posts early Wednesday, a day after Trump announced that he is halting U.S. funding while the administration reviews the agency’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever,” Gates tweeted.
The White House defended Trump’s announcement.
“Any suggestion that the President is putting the health and safety of the American people or global health aid in jeopardy is false,” deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. “The WHO’s response to COVID has been filled with one misstep after another, and President Trump is standing up for the American taxpayer to ensure we hold WHO accountable for their flawed actions.”
Gates has long focused on the health field within his work at the nonprofit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, though he often avoids diving into political issues. However, he has been speaking out on the coronavirus pandemic. In late March he said the United States missed its chance to avoid mandated shutdowns because it didn’t act fast enough on the pandemic.
Trump said Tuesday that his administration is suspending funding from the WHO as it investigates how the agency reacted to the coronavirus outbreak. Trump said the international health agency made mistakes that “caused so much death,” as the virus continues to spread.
It’s unclear exactly what mechanism Trump intends to use to withhold WHO funding, much of which is appropriated by Congress. The president typically does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect congressional funding.
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