Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Mourners attend a funeral in Brooklyn, New York, as the city’s coronavirus death toll hit a record high for a third day

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any other country outside the US, according to latest figures.

The state’s confirmed caseload of Covid-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, placing it ahead of Spain (153,000 cases) and Italy (143,000).

China, where the virus emerged last year, has reported 82,000 cases.

The US as a whole has recorded 462,000 cases and nearly 16,500 deaths. Globally there are 1.6 million cases and 95,000 deaths.

While New York state leads the world in coronavirus cases, its death toll (7,000) lags behind Spain (15,500) and Italy (18,000), though it is more than double the official figure from China (3,300).

Photos have emerged of workers in hazmat outfits burying coffins in a mass grave in New York City.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

About 40 coffins were buried on Thursday

Image copyright
Reuters

Drone footage showed workers using a ladder to descend into the huge pit where the caskets were stacked.

The images were taken at Hart Island, off the Bronx, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

Prisoners from Rikers Island usually do the job, but the rising workload has recently been taken over by contractors.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated earlier this week the city’s public cemetery might be used for burials during the pandemic. 

“Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island,” he said.

Media captionIs it too soon for a thriller movie on coronavirus?

The number of coronavirus deaths in New York state increased to 799 on Wednesday, a record high for a third day.

But Governor Andrew Cuomo took heart from the fact that the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to New York hospitals dropped for a second day, to 200.

He said it was a sign social distancing was working. He called the outbreak a “silent explosion that ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11”.

Another glimmer of hope was heralded on Thursday as official projections for the nationwide death toll were lowered.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC News’ Today show on Thursday the final number of Americans who will die from Covid-19 in the outbreak “looks more like 60,000”.

In late March, Dr Fauci estimated “between 100,000 and 200,000” could die.

The 60,000 projection would match the upper estimate for total flu deaths in the US between October 2019 to March 2020, according to government data.

But Vice-President Mike Pence stressed on Thursday that Covid-19 is about three times as contagious as influenza.

The White House has previously touted estimates that 2.2 million Americans could die from coronavirus if nothing was done to stop its spread.

Stay-at-home orders have in the meantime closed non-essential businesses in 42 states, while drastically slowing the US economy.

New data on Thursday showed unemployment claims topped 6 million for the second week in a row, bringing the number of Americans out of work over the last three weeks to 16.8 million.

Chicago meanwhile imposed a curfew on liquor sales from 21:00 local time on Thursday to stop the persistent violation of a ban on large gatherings.

Media captionHow caravans are helping frontline medics with a place to stay

The measure, due to remain in place until 30 April, comes after health officials this week said black Chicagoans account for half of all the Illinois city’s coronavirus cases and more than 70% of its deaths, despite making up just 30% of the population.

“We are putting this curfew in place because too many individuals and businesses have been violating the stay-at-home order,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday.

Gun violence in Chicago on Tuesday left seven dead and 14 injured, which city officials said was unforgivable given the virus crisis.

“Every one of those ER beds taken up by a gunshot victim could be somebody’s grandmother, somebody with pre-existing conditions, somebody that is in danger of losing their lives because of the pandemic,” Supt Charlie Beck said. 

Media caption‘I just had a baby – now I’m going to the frontline.’

Figures from Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan, Wisconsin and New York reflect the same racial disparity in coronavirus infections.

Presumptive Democratic White House nominee Joe Biden joined growing calls on Thursday for the release of comprehensive racial data on the pandemic.

He said it had cast a spotlight on inequity and the impact of “structural racism”.

Meanwhile, a court has blocked parts of Texas’ temporary abortion ban, which the state announced last month citing the coronavirus outbreak.

The order against “medically unnecessary” procedures was introduced to reserve valuable medical resources for those treating Covid-19 only, the state’s Republican attorney general said in March.

Media captionItalian PM Giuseppe Conte said he might begin to relax some measures by the end of this month

But Judge Lee Yaekel, a George W Bush appointee, granted a temporary restraining order against the ban on Thursday.

“As a minimum, this is an undue burden on a woman’s right to a previability abortion,” he wrote in his ruling.

Alabama, Iowa, Ohio and Oklahoma have introduced similar abortion bans.

While there is still no vaccine for Covid-19, America’s culture wars have proved similarly incurable.

Legal battles have also ensued over whether guns shops should be closed during the pandemic, and if religious services should be exempt from state orders that ban large gatherings.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52239261

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, seen above in 2018, gives high marks for social distancing efforts during the coronavirus pandemic but low marks for testing. He says he thinks large public gatherings may have to wait until there’s a vaccine.

Carolyn Kaster/AP


hide caption

toggle caption

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, seen above in 2018, gives high marks for social distancing efforts during the coronavirus pandemic but low marks for testing. He says he thinks large public gatherings may have to wait until there’s a vaccine.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Five years ago, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates gave a TED Talk about global pandemics, warning that the world was not ready to take one on.

Now, in the midst of such an outbreak, he has been thinking about how to make up for lost time. Gates has invested in coronavirus research as well as global health more broadly. [Note: Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an NPR funder. The Gates Foundation funds the work of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which produced a coronavirus model that predicts the U.S. death toll through early August.]

In a conversation with NPR’s Ari Shapiro, Gates gives the U.S. response high marks for social distancing efforts but low marks for testing.

If you were tomorrow appointed the COVID-19 czar in the U.S., what steps would you take immediately?

It’s pretty simple to say there should be a government website that you enter your symptoms, your profession, and it gives you a rating in terms of this very finite testing capacity we have to make sure that you always get results within 24 hours, that health care workers are getting those results very quickly, that it’s not random based on where you are in the country or your relationship to the hospital. Rather, we’re using that as the indicator of where we need to intensify distancing or where we can back off.

How confident are you the U.S. will take a responsible, evidence-based approach to returning to normal?

What I’m saying, what Dr. [Anthony] Fauci is saying, what some other experts are saying, there’s a great deal of consistency. We’re not sure yet which activities should be resumed, because until we get a vaccine that almost everybody’s had, the risk of a rebound will be there. … As we follow the numbers into May and see if we can get them down to a very low level, then in parallel, this debate about which things have benefits to society and can be formatted so the infection risk is very low, which things should we resume? I do think manufacturing, construction, a lot of things we’ll do, but large public gatherings may have to await until we have that vaccine.

After this crisis subsides, what do you think the world needs to do to make sure that we’re more prepared for the next one?

Imagine that the diagnostics had been available in a month and the therapeutics in four months and the vaccine in less than a year. When you have something that grows exponentially, the speed of those responses makes all the difference. A few countries really jumped on the testing, prioritized it properly, and they are not going to suffer nearly the deaths or the economic loss that most other countries will go through. We should make sure that we have those platforms ready to go. And the science is such that’s very doable, and so we won’t have to see this as something that’s coming again and again and again.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/831174885/bill-gates-who-has-warned-about-pandemics-for-years-on-the-response-so-far

Attorney General William Barr called the restrictions intended to slow the spread of coronavirus “draconian” and said they should be re-examined next month.

Government officials, Barr said on Fox News Wednesday evening, should be careful to ensure “that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified, and there are not alternative ways of protecting people.”

“I think, you know, when this period of time at the end of April expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have and not just tell people to go home and hide under the bed, but allow them to use other ways of social distancing and other means to protect themselves,” Barr told Laura Ingraham.

The Trump administration recommended a number of guidelines including that people not gather in groups of 10 or more, cut out non-essential travel and refrain from going to bars and restaurants last month and expanded them until the end of April.

William BarrREUTERS/Yuri Gripas

A majority of the states have also imposed similar guidelines.

The attorney general also said the Justice Department would keep an eye on any measures used to track the spread of coronavirus to determine if they “restrict people’s liberty.”

“I’m very concerned about the slippery slope in terms of continuing encroachments on personal liberty,” he said. “I do think during the emergency, appropriate, reasonable steps are fine.”

As of Thursday morning, the US has more than 430,000 coronavirus cases and the death toll is approaching 15,000.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/ag-barr-draconian-coronavirus-restrictions-should-be-reevaluated/

The debate over how to lift the lockdown is replete with trade-offs. Lifting it too soon, experts said, could reignite the contagion and force a new lockdown, which they said would shatter the confidence of businesses. But leaving it in place for too long could force many companies into insolvency and cause lasting damage.

Although the government put off the decision until next week, its hand has effectively been forced. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Thursday that the lockdown there was likely to continue “for some weeks to come,” with no prospect of the measures being lifted in the coming days. The authorities in Wales made it clear they felt the same way.

That reflected their worries that, without a clear pledge to continue the restrictions, Britons would take them less seriously over the Easter holiday weekend. But while there was a consensus that it was too soon to end the lockdown, there were growing calls for the government to clarify its approach.

Keir Starmer, the new leader of the opposition Labour Party, called on the government to publish its exit strategy, saying on Twitter: “I’m not calling for precise timings, but the strategy. This is incredibly difficult on people and we need to know that plans are in place, and what they are.”

There are at least four possible outcomes, said Devi Sridhar, the director of the global health governance program at Edinburgh University. They range from a coordinated global effort to close borders, which she said was highly unlikely, to intensive testing and contact tracing for people infected, which is more realistic.

“If we can actually test people and quarantine those who are carrying the virus, we could relax it for everyone else,” Dr. Sridhar said. “We could keep that person and their family home for two weeks.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/world/europe/coronavirus-boris-johnson-united-kingd.html

Confirmed global coronavirus infections have passed the 1.5 million mark, as a new study of containment measures in China suggests that countries preparing to ease their lockdowns will have to continuously monitor potential new cases to prevent a second deadly outbreak.

The running count kept by Johns Hopkins University was updated, as many countries around the world entering the Easter and Passover holidays or anticipating the Ramadan month of fasting warned citizens to continue to abide by physical distancing measures.

In the US, figures showed that a staggering one in 10 workers – 16.8 million – had lost their jobs in the past three weeks. There are fears that the total could hit 20 million by the end of the month.

While countries such as Spain and Italy reported that their rates of infection were beginning to plateau, others reported record one-day rises, including Russia, where the president, Vladimir Putin, warned that the coming weeks would be decisive in the fight against the virus.


Why are coronavirus mortality rates so different? – video explainer

For a second day in a row Singapore reported a sharp rise in new infections. The Asian city-state had been regarded as a coronavirus success story, and the latest figures will intensify concerns about the ability of Covid-19 to rebound after lockdowns are eased.

The uneven progress of countries’ efforts to control the virus has led researchers in Hong Kong to warn that nations will have to monitor closely for new infections and adjust the measures in place until a vaccine is available.

China’s aggressive controls over daily life have brought the first wave of Covid-19 to an end, the researchers say, but the danger of a second wave remains high.

“While these control measures appear to have reduced the number of infections to very low levels, without herd immunity against Covid-19, cases could easily resurge as businesses, factory operations and schools gradually resume and increase social mixing, particularly given the increasing risk of imported cases from overseas as Covid-19 continues to spread globally,” said Prof Joseph T Wu of the University of Hong Kong, who co-led the research.

Europe remains the hardest-hit continent, with 787,744 confirmed cases. Italy has the highest death toll (18,279), followed by Spain (15,238). France has had 10,869 deaths and Britain 7,978.

Nevertheless, some European countries say they are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. In Spain, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said his country was close to the start of a decline in the epidemic. He urged all political parties to join a pact for national economic revival after the health crisis.

The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said restrictions on public life were taking effect. “The number of newly reported infections is flattening out. We are seeing a linear increase again rather than the dynamic, exponential increase we saw in mid-March,” he said.

With the annual cycle of major holidays associated with the Abrahamic religions under way, world leaders and health officials are warning that hard-won gains must not be jeopardised by people relaxing physical distancing measures.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, warned against even short trips, to the seaside or the mountains or relatives, saying they “can’t happen over Easter this year”. Spaniards appear to be responding to the strict confinement rules applied more than three weeks ago, as authorities made extra calls for them to remain at home during the traditional April break. And in New Zealand, police warned people not to drive to their holiday homes over Easter, saying they risked arrest.

In New York, the worst-hit state in the US, the governor, Andrew Cuomo, delivered a similar message: “We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing. But it’s not a time to be complacent. It’s not a time to do anything different than we’ve been doing.”

The US has by far the most confirmed cases, its figure of 430,000 three times the number of the next three countries combined. New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, making an overall death toll of almost 6,300. More than 40% of the 15,000 US deaths have occurred in New York.

In China, a slight increase in new cases was reported for the second day, as the number of infections involving travellers arriving from abroad hit a two-week high.

Meanwhile, in an escalating feud between Taiwan and the World Health Organization, key figures publicly traded accusations. The WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that he had been subjected to months of attacks, including racist ones against him and black communities, and accused Taiwan of condoning the “campaign”.

On Thursday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry demanded a clarification and apology for the “groundless” accusation and an “extremely irresponsible act of slander”. It said the government in no way condoned or encouraged personal attacks on Tedros.

“Taiwan’s 23 million population also experiences serious discrimination from the global health system,” the ministry said. “We can relate [to Tedros] and we condemn any form of discrimination and injustice.”

The feud largely stems from Taiwan’s continued exclusion from WHO membership and activities because of lobbying by the Chinese government, which claims Taiwan as its territory.

Taiwan has had extraordinary success in preventing a major outbreak, and has repeatedly complained that it has been left out of the global response coordination.

Meanwhile, health officials in Africa warned that if Covid-19 was left to spread on the continent the world would remain at risk. According to the WHO, fewer than 5,000 intensive care unit beds are available across 43 of the continent’s 54 countries.

“We cannot be neglected in this effort,” the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. “The world will be terribly unsafe, and it will be completely naive, if countries think they can control Covid-19 in their countries but not in Africa.”

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/global-coronavirus-deaths-pass-15-million-amid-fears-of-second-wave-of-outbreaks

When Pritzker set the 10,000 daily test goal on March 29, the state was processing about 4,000 tests a day. On Wednesday, Pritzker said the state has surpassed 6,000 tests a day but will not reach the 10,000 mark this week.

Source Article from https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-20200409-qusa53emd5avldhzk2l6prc7hi-story.html

President Donald Trump on Thursday said a widespread COVID-19 testing program to assess whether workers can safely return to their workplaces is “never going to happen” in the United States.

As he addressed reporters during the daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Trump touted the fact that 2 million Americans had been tested for the virus as a “milestone” in the U.S. fight against the global pandemic caused by SARS-Cov-2.

The 2 million tests that have been administered so far represents a high water mark after weeks of problems in obtaining and administering tests caused by the Trump administration’s rejection of a test developed by the World Health Organization. However, that number means only .61 percent of the 330 million U.S. population has been tested for COVID-19.

That’s a paltry number compared to many other countries which have implemented testing programs. Italy, for example, has administered tests to approximately 1.4 percent of its population, and South Korea, which flattened its infection curve with widespread testing, has reached .9 percent of its population.

Most public health experts have stressed the need for the U.S. to significantly expand its testing program, both with currently available tests to determine whether a given person is infected with SARS-Cov-2, and with so-called “antibody tests” to determine whether a person has successfully fought off the virus and is therefore immune to it.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the daily coronavirus briefing as Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia (R) looks on in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 09, 2020 in Washington, DC. U.S. unemployment claims have approached 17 million over the past three weeks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex Wong/Getty

Both varieties of test, experts say, must be administered in far greater quantities than currently being done in order to allow Americans to return to work without fear of infection, though Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. could begin to emerge from social distancing measures within a few weeks.

But when asked how his administration could discuss “reopening” the U.S. economy without an adequate testing program in place, Trump claimed that such a program was not just unnecessary, but was something that was simply not in the cards.

“Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,” Trump said.

“We’re talking about 325 million people, and that’s not going to happen,” he continued, adding later that testing at such a high rate “would never happen with anyone else, either,” and claiming that the countries that have implemented such programs “do it in a limited form” and that the U.S. would soon be “the leader of the pack” on testing.

Correction (4/9/2020, 11:00 p.m.): This article was updated to correct mathematical errors in the percentages of those tested.

Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-widespread-coronavirus-testing-would-never-happen-isnt-needed-reopen-country-1497210?amp=1

New York City officials have hired contract labourers to help bury the dead in its potter’s field on Hart Island as the city’s daily death rate from the coronavirus epidemic has reached grim new records in each of the last three days.

Drone pictures show bodies being buried on New York’s Hart Island, where the department of corrections is dealing with more burials overall, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has killed more than 5,000 people in New York City alone. 

The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.

Typically, some 25 bodies are interred each week by low-paid jail inmates working on the island, which sits off the east shore of the city’s Bronx borough and is accessible only by boat. That number began increasing in March as the new coronavirus spread rapidly, making New York the epicentre of the global pandemic.

There are about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week buried on the island, said Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction, which oversees the burials.

Before burial, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets. The deceased’s name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps should a body need to be disinterred later. They are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.


“They added two new trenches in case we need them,” Kersten said. To help with the surge, and amid an outbreak of the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the virus at the city’s main jail, contract laborers have been hired, he said.

“For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic,” Kersten said.

A barge could be seen arriving at the island on Thursday morning with a refrigerated truck aboard containing about two dozen bodies.

The department referred questions about causes of death to the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman, said it would take time to collate individual causes of death from the office’s records, but it was probable some of the recent burials include those felled by the coronavirus.

Temporary burials?

The island may also be used as a site for temporary interments should deaths surge past the city’s morgue capacity, a point that has not yet been reached, Kersten and Worthy-Davis said.

“We’re all hoping it’s not coming to this,” Kersten said. “At the same time, we’re prepared if it does.”

OCME can store about 800 to 900 bodies in its buildings, and has room to store about 4,000 bodies in some 40 refrigerated trucks it can dispatch around the city to hospitals, which typically have only small morgues, Worthy-Davis said.

Another island to the south of Hart, Randall’s Island on the East River, is being used as a parking depot for dozens of empty refrigerated trucks between deployments outside city hospitals.

On Thursday, two trucks containing bodies that had been parked outside a hospital were temporarily moved back to the island depot, in a stadium car park, to make way for a delivery of oxygen and other supplies at the hospital.

Source Article from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/dozens-buried-ny-hart-island-day-coronavirus-deaths-surge-200409202454538.html

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday offered assurances that the state will have enough ventilators to “meet the needs” of Californians stricken by the novel coronavirus based on the state’s projections of the outbreak.

CLICK FOR STORY: https://www.latimes.com/california/st…

Source Article from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r7QkL8Td60

Hong Kong (CNN)In the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where cases of the novel coronavirus were first detected late last year, the mood was one of triumph this week, as residents finally emerged from months of lockdown.

    ‘);$vidEndSlate.removeClass(‘video__end-slate–inactive’).addClass(‘video__end-slate–active’);}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: ‘none’,video: ‘world/2020/04/08/wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn’,width: ‘100%’,height: ‘100%’,section: ‘domestic’,profile: ‘expansion’,network: ‘cnn’,markupId: ‘body-text_27’,theoplayer: {allowNativeFullscreen: true},adsection: ‘const-article-inpage’,frameWidth: ‘100%’,frameHeight: ‘100%’,posterImageOverride: {“mini”:{“width”:220,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-small-169.jpg”,”height”:124},”xsmall”:{“width”:307,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-medium-plus-169.jpg”,”height”:173},”small”:{“width”:460,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-large-169.jpg”,”height”:259},”medium”:{“width”:780,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-exlarge-169.jpg”,”height”:438},”large”:{“width”:1100,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-super-169.jpg”,”height”:619},”full16x9″:{“width”:1600,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-full-169.jpg”,”height”:900},”mini1x1″:{“width”:120,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200408135404-wuhan-china-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epicenter-lockdown-lifted-culver-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx-00004304-small-11.jpg”,”height”:120}}},autoStartVideo = false,isVideoReplayClicked = false,callbackObj,containerEl,currentVideoCollection = [],currentVideoCollectionId = ”,isLivePlayer = false,mediaMetadataCallbacks,mobilePinnedView = null,moveToNextTimeout,mutePlayerEnabled = false,nextVideoId = ”,nextVideoUrl = ”,turnOnFlashMessaging = false,videoPinner,videoEndSlateImpl;if (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === false) {autoStartVideo = false;if (autoStartVideo === true) {if (turnOnFlashMessaging === true) {autoStartVideo = false;containerEl = jQuery(document.getElementById(configObj.markupId));CNN.VideoPlayer.showFlashSlate(containerEl);} else {CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = true;}}}configObj.autostart = CNN.Features.enableAutoplayBlock ? false : autoStartVideo;CNN.VideoPlayer.setPlayerProperties(configObj.markupId, autoStartVideo, isLivePlayer, isVideoReplayClicked, mutePlayerEnabled);CNN.VideoPlayer.setFirstVideoInCollection(currentVideoCollection, configObj.markupId);videoEndSlateImpl = new CNN.VideoEndSlate(‘body-text_27’);function findNextVideo(currentVideoId) {var i,vidObj;if (currentVideoId && jQuery.isArray(currentVideoCollection) && currentVideoCollection.length > 0) {for (i = 0; i 0) {videoEndSlateImpl.showEndSlateForContainer();if (mobilePinnedView) {mobilePinnedView.disable();}}}}callbackObj = {onPlayerReady: function (containerId) {var playerInstance,containerClassId = ‘#’ + containerId;CNN.VideoPlayer.handleInitialExpandableVideoState(containerId);CNN.VideoPlayer.handleAdOnCVPVisibilityChange(containerId, CNN.pageVis.isDocumentVisible());if (CNN.Features.enableMobileWebFloatingPlayer &&Modernizr &&(Modernizr.phone || Modernizr.mobile || Modernizr.tablet) &&CNN.VideoPlayer.getLibraryName(containerId) === ‘fave’ &&jQuery(containerClassId).parents(‘.js-pg-rail-tall__head’).length > 0 &&CNN.contentModel.pageType === ‘article’) {playerInstance = FAVE.player.getInstance(containerId);mobilePinnedView = new CNN.MobilePinnedView({element: jQuery(containerClassId),enabled: false,transition: CNN.MobileWebFloatingPlayer.transition,onPin: function () {playerInstance.hideUI();},onUnpin: function () {playerInstance.showUI();},onPlayerClick: function () {if (mobilePinnedView) {playerInstance.enterFullscreen();playerInstance.showUI();}},onDismiss: function() {CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer.disable();playerInstance.pause();}});/* Storing pinned view on CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer So that all players can see the single pinned player */CNN.Videx = CNN.Videx || {};CNN.Videx.mobile = CNN.Videx.mobile || {};CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer = mobilePinnedView;}if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (jQuery(containerClassId).parents(‘.js-pg-rail-tall__head’).length) {videoPinner = new CNN.VideoPinner(containerClassId);videoPinner.init();} else {CNN.VideoPlayer.hideThumbnail(containerId);}}},onContentEntryLoad: function(containerId, playerId, contentid, isQueue) {CNN.VideoPlayer.showSpinner(containerId);},onContentPause: function (containerId, playerId, videoId, paused) {if (mobilePinnedView) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleMobilePinnedPlayerStates(containerId, paused);}},onContentMetadata: function (containerId, playerId, metadata, contentId, duration, width, height) {var endSlateLen = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find(‘.js-video__end-slate’).eq(0).length;CNN.VideoSourceUtils.updateSource(containerId, metadata);if (endSlateLen > 0) {videoEndSlateImpl.fetchAndShowRecommendedVideos(metadata);}},onAdPlay: function (containerId, cvpId, token, mode, id, duration, blockId, adType) {/* Dismissing the pinnedPlayer if another video players plays an Ad */CNN.VideoPlayer.dismissMobilePinnedPlayer(containerId);clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== ‘undefined’ && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);videoPinner.animateDown();}}},onAdPause: function (containerId, playerId, token, mode, id, duration, blockId, adType, instance, isAdPause) {if (mobilePinnedView) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleMobilePinnedPlayerStates(containerId, isAdPause);}},onTrackingFullscreen: function (containerId, PlayerId, dataObj) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleFullscreenChange(containerId, dataObj);if (mobilePinnedView &&typeof dataObj === ‘object’ &&FAVE.Utils.os === ‘iOS’ && !dataObj.fullscreen) {jQuery(document).scrollTop(mobilePinnedView.getScrollPosition());playerInstance.hideUI();}},onContentPlay: function (containerId, cvpId, event) {var playerInstance,prevVideoId;if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === ‘function’) {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout(‘restoreEpicAds’);}clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== ‘undefined’ && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);videoPinner.animateDown();}}},onContentReplayRequest: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== ‘undefined’ && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);var $endSlate = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find(‘.js-video__end-slate’).eq(0);if ($endSlate.length > 0) {$endSlate.removeClass(‘video__end-slate–active’).addClass(‘video__end-slate–inactive’);}}}},onContentBegin: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (mobilePinnedView) {mobilePinnedView.enable();}/* Dismissing the pinnedPlayer if another video players plays a video. */CNN.VideoPlayer.dismissMobilePinnedPlayer(containerId);CNN.VideoPlayer.mutePlayer(containerId);if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === ‘function’) {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout(‘removeEpicAds’);}CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoSourceUtils.clearSource(containerId);jQuery(document).triggerVideoContentStarted();},onContentComplete: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === ‘function’) {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout(‘restoreFreewheel’);}navigateToNextVideo(contentId, containerId);},onContentEnd: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== ‘undefined’ && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(false);}}},onCVPVisibilityChange: function (containerId, cvpId, visible) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleAdOnCVPVisibilityChange(containerId, visible);}};if (typeof configObj.context !== ‘string’ || configObj.context.length 0) {configObj.adsection = window.ssid;}CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;CNN.VideoPlayer.getLibrary(configObj, callbackObj, isLivePlayer);});CNN.INJECTOR.scriptComplete(‘videodemanddust’);

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/asia/china-korea-singapore-coronavirus-second-wave-intl-hnk/index.html

    He compared the economic and humanitarian crisis in New York to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the city, which felled the twin towers of the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people.

    “9/11 was so devastating, so tragic, and then in many ways we lose so many New Yorkers to this silent killer,” Cuomo said, “that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.”

    The Democratic governor has worked closely with President Donald Trump and other federal officials in an all-hands effort to contain the spread of the virus, which has hit New York much harder than any other state in the U.S

    There are more than 151,000 confirmed cases across the state and 81,800 in New York City alone — almost as many as China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

    Cuomo and Trump, who said he wants governors to be “appreciative” of his efforts, have largely stayed on good terms as they navigate the crisis.

    But earlier in the conference, Cuomo once again slammed the so-called Phase 3 coronavirus relief package that passed Congress with bipartisan support and was signed by Trump late last month.

    That $2 trillion legislation – the largest aid package in U.S. history – meted out just $1.3 billion to the Empire State, Cuomo said.

    New York had expected to receive between $5 billion and $6 billion in federal relief – an amount that Cuomo had already called inadequate before it even passed Congress.

    “When we did our state budget a couple of weeks ago, we believed what they said and we thought we were looking at $6 billion in health-care funding,” Cuomo said at the presser Thursday.

    “Turns out, when we actually read the language, it was about $1.3 billion to the state of New York, which is much different than $5 [billion] or $6 billion. And the funding disqualified one-third of New York Medicaid recipients, which nobody said,” the governor said.

    “We need the federal government to be responsible” and “pass legislation that helps,” he added.

    The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cuomo’s remarks.

    After the funding bill passed the Senate in late March, Cuomo decried it as “irresponsible” and “reckless.” He said at that time that the $5 billion New York would receive from the bill doesn’t come close to covering the state’s projected revenue shortfall, which could total $15 billion.

    Correction: The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City killed nearly 3,000 people. An earlier version misstated the figure.

    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/coronavirus-update-cuomo-not-confident-in-feds-handling-of-crisis.html

    ‘) : “”;
    }, t.getDefinedParams = function (n, e) {
    return e.filter(function (e) {
    return n[e];
    }).reduce(function (e, t) {
    return p(e, function (e, t, n) {
    t in e ? Object.defineProperty(e, t, {
    value: n,
    enumerable: !0,
    configurable: !0,
    writable: !0
    }) : e[t] = n;
    return e;
    }({}, t, n[t]));
    }, {});
    }, t.isValidMediaTypes = function (e) {
    var t = [“banner”, “native”, “video”];
    if (!Object.keys(e).every(function (e) {
    return s()(t, e);
    })) return !1;
    if (e.video && e.video.context) return s()([“instream”, “outstream”, “adpod”], e.video.context);
    return !0;
    }, t.getBidderRequest = function (e, t, n) {
    return c()(e, function (e) {
    return 0 t[n] ? -1 : 0;
    };
    };
    var r = n(3),
    i = n(115),
    o = n.n(i),
    a = n(12),
    c = n.n(a),
    u = n(10),
    s = n.n(u),
    d = n(116);
    n.d(t, “deepAccess”, function () {
    return d.a;
    });
    var f = n(117);

    function l(e) {
    return function (e) {
    if (Array.isArray(e)) {
    for (var t = 0, n = new Array(e.length); t \n ‘)) : “”;
    }

    function ae(e, t, n) {
    return null == t ? n : J(t) ? t : Q(t) ? t.toString() : void j.logWarn(“Unsuported type for param: ” + e + ” required type: String”);
    }

    function ce(e, t, n) {
    return n.indexOf(e) === t;
    }

    function ue(e, t) {
    return e.concat(t);
    }

    function se(e) {
    return Object.keys(e);
    }

    function de(e, t) {
    return e[t];
    }

    var fe = ge(“timeToRespond”, function (e, t) {
    return t = e.length ? (this._t = void 0, i(1)) : i(0, “keys” == t ? n : “values” == t ? e[n] : [n, e[n]]);
    }, “values”), o.Arguments = o.Array, r(“keys”), r(“values”), r(“entries”);
    },
    101: function _(e, t, n) {
    “use strict”;

    var r = n(102),
    i = n(72);
    e.exports = n(104)(“Set”, function (t) {
    return function (e) {
    return t(this, 0 >> 0,
    o = 0;
    if (t) n = t;else {
    for (; o = b.syncsPerBidder ? a.logWarn(‘Number of user syncs exceeded for “‘.concat(t, ‘”‘)) : d.canBidderRegisterSync(e, t) ? (f[e].push([t, n]), (r = p)[i = t] ? r[i] += 1 : r[i] = 1, void (p = r)) : a.logWarn(‘Bidder “‘.concat(t, ‘” not permitted to register their “‘).concat(e, ‘” userSync pixels.’)) : a.logWarn(“Bidder is required for registering sync”) : a.logWarn(‘User sync type “‘.concat(e, ‘” not supported’));
    var r, i;
    }, d.syncUsers = function () {
    var e = 0 Object(y.timestamp)();
    },
    s = function s(e) {
    return e && (e.status && !S()([O.BID_STATUS.RENDERED], e.status) || !e.status);
    };

    function w(e, r, t) {
    var i = 2 i && (r = !1)), !r;
    }), r && e.run(), r;
    }

    function g(e, t) {
    void 0 === e[t] ? e[t] = 1 : e[t]++;
    }
    },
    addWinningBid: function addWinningBid(e) {
    g = g.concat(e), x.callBidWonBidder(e.bidder, e, o);
    },
    setBidTargeting: function setBidTargeting(e) {
    x.callSetTargetingBidder(e.bidder, e);
    },
    getWinningBids: function getWinningBids() {
    return g;
    },
    getTimeout: function getTimeout() {
    return S;
    },
    getAuctionId: function getAuctionId() {
    return m;
    },
    getAuctionStatus: function getAuctionStatus() {
    return b;
    },
    getAdUnits: function getAdUnits() {
    return y;
    },
    getAdUnitCodes: function getAdUnitCodes() {
    return d;
    },
    getBidRequests: function getBidRequests() {
    return h;
    },
    getBidsReceived: function getBidsReceived() {
    return f;
    },
    getNoBids: function getNoBids() {
    return l;
    }
    };
    }, n.d(t, “c”, function () {
    return H;
    }), t.f = d, t.d = J, n.d(t, “e”, function () {
    return Y;
    }), n.d(t, “h”, function () {
    return f;
    }), n.d(t, “g”, function () {
    return l;
    }), t.i = p;

    var C = n(0),
    s = n(9),
    w = n(42),
    a = n(26),
    o = n(78),
    j = n(11),
    _ = n(3),
    r = n(32),
    i = n(13),
    c = n(12),
    B = n.n(c),
    U = n(33),
    u = n(2);

    function R(e) {
    return (R = “function” == typeof Symbol && “symbol” == _typeof(Symbol.iterator) ? function (e) {
    return _typeof(e);
    } : function (e) {
    return e && “function” == typeof Symbol && e.constructor === Symbol && e !== Symbol.prototype ? “symbol” : _typeof(e);
    })(e);
    }

    function D() {
    return (D = Object.assign || function (e) {
    for (var t = 1; t e.getTimeout() + _.b.getConfig(“timeoutBuffer”) && e.executeCallback(!0);
    }

    function J(e, t) {
    var n = e.getBidRequests(),
    r = B()(n, function (e) {
    return e.bidderCode === t.bidderCode;
    });
    !function (t, e) {
    var n;

    if (t.bidderCode && (0 t.max ? e : t;
    }, {
    max: 0
    }),
    g = 0,
    b = v()(e.buckets, function (e) {
    if (n > p.max * r) {
    var t = e.precision;
    void 0 === t && (t = y), i = (e.max * r).toFixed(t);
    } else {
    if (n = t.length ? {
    value: void 0,
    done: !0
    } : (e = r(t, n), this._i += e.length, {
    value: e,
    done: !1
    });
    });
    },
    62: function _(e, t, r) {
    function i() {}

    var o = r(28),
    a = r(94),
    c = r(63),
    u = r(50)(“IE_PROTO”),
    s = “prototype”,
    _d = function d() {
    var e,
    t = r(55)(“iframe”),
    n = c.length;

    for (t.style.display = “none”, r(97).appendChild(t), t.src = “javascript:”, (e = t.contentWindow.document).open(), e.write(“

    Source Article from https://slate.com/business/2020/04/biden-sanders-american-health-service-reform.html

    Then in 1996, fate handed her the proof she needed: Monica Lewinsky. The former White House intern, still in the midst of her two-year affair with the president, was transferred to the Pentagon in an effort to limit their contact. At 46, Tripp was 24 years older than Lewinsky, but the two became close. Although some co-workers described Tripp as abrasive and overbearing, others said she was a maternal figure, nurturing and understanding. Lewinsky began to share details of her tortured affair with a married man — and not just any married man.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/linda-tripp-clinton-lewinsky-scandal/2020/04/09/0c3b7d68-7a7b-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html

    President Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House on Wednesday.

    Bloomberg via Getty Images


    hide caption

    toggle caption

    Bloomberg via Getty Images

    President Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House on Wednesday.

    Bloomberg via Getty Images

    Updated at 5:45 p.m.

    The White House tested reporters attending the daily briefing on Thursday for the coronavirus as a precaution after a member of the White House press corps experienced symptoms after leaving the building on Tuesday and awaited test results.

    That member of the press corps, who was not identified, tested negative for the virus, the White House Correspondents’ Association announced late on Thursday.

    Reporters and photographers in the close confines of the West Wing have been taking precautions, leaving many seats in the normally-packed briefing room empty. Some have worn face masks.

    The White House medical office takes temperatures of anyone entering the building to try to reduce the risk, and people entering the grounds to meet with President Trump or Vice President Pence are now routinely tested for the virus.

    Watch Thursday’s task force briefing live.

    The CDC on Wednesday recommended new guidelines for essential employees who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, including having temperatures taken before work, wearing face masks at all times, and practicing social distancing as much as their duties allow.

    While the United States is enduring a “very bad week” in the COVID-19 pandemic, officials say that efforts to reduce the amount of physical time spent with people outside of their immediate households, known as social distancing, are working.

    Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and national expert on infectious diseases, on Thursday said projection for the death toll appear lower than originally projected.

    “There are some glimmers of hope,” Fauci said on NBC News’ Today show. “It looks more like the 60,000 [deaths] than the 100,000 to 200,000. But having said that, we better be careful.”

    President Trump has said he is eager for the country to return to a degree of normalcy “soon,” and has said he will take recommendations from medical experts to determine exactly when to lift federal social distancing guidelines that have kept many people away from work and schools closed.

    Loading…

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/828340027/watch-live-white-house-takes-new-precautions-ahead-of-coronavirus-briefing

    Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

    CNN was lampooned by critics on Thursday after a headline of its report on Senate Democrats blocking financial relief for small businesses was quickly changed.

    A $250 billion urgent request to shore up a depleting small business fund failed to pass the Senate Thursday after Democrats objected to the measure pushed by the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

    With lawmakers home and social distancing, McConnell sought to pass the cash infusion swiftly Thursday by unanimous consent with a skeleton group of senators, but Democrats blocked the effort because they want add-ons to help businesses in disadvantaged communities and an additional $250 billion in funds for other priorities.

    However, many noticed on social media that CNN’s framing of the blocked fund was shifted away from Democrats.

    CNN’S DON LEMON CONDEMNS TRUMP FOR SAYING HE’S A ‘CHEERLEADER’ FOR THE COUNTRY

    “Democrats block GOP-led funding boost for small business aid program,” read the first headline published at 10:36 a.m., while the second headline read, “Senate at stalemate over more COVID-19 aid after Republicans and Democrats block competing proposals,” which was updated 11:15 am.

    CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘HIJACKING’ WHITE HOUSE PRESSER, TRASHES HIS RESPONSE TO OUTBREAK

    Critics piled on the liberal outlet for the editorial change.

    “Gee, it’s almost as if CNN has a partisan agenda…” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, swiped the network.

    “The intellectual gymnastics that CNN will engage in to pretend this is the GOP’s fault will be Olympian,” radio host Buck Sexton reacted, later adding that they’ve “already started.”

    “I don’t think the explanation for this change is going to make the @brianstelter newsletter,” conservative commentator Stephen Miller poked fun at CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter.

    “This has become the most predictable two-step in politics. Somebody accidentally writes what happened and then the in-house Democrat stenography team deploys the mind eraser,” former McConnell chief of staff Josh Holmes wrote.

    CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

    Fox News’ Marisa Schultz contributed to this report. 

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-changing-headline-senate-dems-blocking-250b-small-business-fund

    He compared the economic and humanitarian crisis in New York to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the city, which felled the twin towers of the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people.

    “9/11 was so devastating, so tragic, and then in many ways we lose so many New Yorkers to this silent killer,” Cuomo said, “that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.”

    The Democratic governor has worked closely with President Donald Trump and other federal officials in an all-hands effort to contain the spread of the virus, which has hit New York much harder than any other state in the U.S

    There are more than 151,000 confirmed cases across the state and 81,800 in New York City alone — almost as many as China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

    Cuomo and Trump, who said he wants governors to be “appreciative” of his efforts, have largely stayed on good terms as they navigate the crisis.

    But earlier in the conference, Cuomo once again slammed the so-called Phase 3 coronavirus relief package that passed Congress with bipartisan support and was signed by Trump late last month.

    That $2 trillion legislation – the largest aid package in U.S. history – meted out just $1.3 billion to the Empire State, Cuomo said.

    New York had expected to receive between $5 billion and $6 billion in federal relief – an amount that Cuomo had already called inadequate before it even passed Congress.

    “When we did our state budget a couple of weeks ago, we believed what they said and we thought we were looking at $6 billion in health-care funding,” Cuomo said at the presser Thursday.

    “Turns out, when we actually read the language, it was about $1.3 billion to the state of New York, which is much different than $5 [billion] or $6 billion. And the funding disqualified one-third of New York Medicaid recipients, which nobody said,” the governor said.

    “We need the federal government to be responsible” and “pass legislation that helps,” he added.

    The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cuomo’s remarks.

    After the funding bill passed the Senate in late March, Cuomo decried it as “irresponsible” and “reckless.” He said at that time that the $5 billion New York would receive from the bill doesn’t come close to covering the state’s projected revenue shortfall, which could total $15 billion.

    Correction: The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City killed nearly 3,000 people. An earlier version misstated the figure.

    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/coronavirus-update-cuomo-not-confident-in-feds-handling-of-crisis.html

    WASHINGTON – In a first, small step toward reopening the country, the Trump administration issued new guidelines to make it easier for essential workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to get back to work if they do not have symptoms of the coronavirus.

    Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Wednesday at the White House that essential employees, such as health care and food supply workers, who have been within 6 feet of a confirmed or suspected case of the virus can return to work under certain circumstances if they are not experiencing symptoms.

    The new guidelines are being issued as the nation mourns about 15,000 deaths from the virus and grapples with a devastated economy and medical crises from coast to coast. Health experts continue to caution Americans to practice social distancing and to avoid returning to their normal activities. At the same time, though, they are planning for a time when the most serious threat from COVID-19 will be in the country’s rear-view mirror.

    Layoffs show no letup:Another 6.6M Americans file for unemployment benefits

    President Donald Trump said that while he knows workers are “going stir crazy” at home, he can’t predict when the threat from the virus will wane.

    “The numbers are changing and they’re changing rapidly and soon we’ll be over that curve. We’ll be over the top and we’ll be headed in the right direction. I feel strongly about that,” Trump said about the coronavirus, which he called “this evil beast.”

    Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/09/cdc-essential-workers-exposed-coronavirus-can-work-if-no-symptoms/5120738002/

    The lowering of the Medicare age from 65 to 60 is a small step compared with the universal, government-run “Medicare for all” plan that Mr. Sanders has championed, but a symbolically significant one given that Mr. Sanders has made expanding access to health care a centerpiece of his agenda.

    Mr. Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan — which would eliminate student debt for low-income and middle-class people who attended public colleges and universities, historically black colleges and universities, and other institutions that serve students of color — also does not go as far as Mr. Sanders’s plan to eliminate all student debt.

    Mr. Sanders and Mr. Biden have sounded similar notes of alignment in their public appearances in the last day. Speaking to Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show,” Mr. Sanders acknowledged on Wednesday night that “Joe, he’s not going to adopt my platform. I got that.”

    “But if he can move in that direction,” Mr. Sanders added, “I think people will say this is a guy that we should support and will support.”

    Mr. Biden, speaking to donors at a Wednesday fund-raiser via videoconference, called Mr. Sanders “a powerful voice for a fairer and more just America” and previewed the incorporation of some elements of the Sanders agenda into his own.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/politics/biden-sanders-medicare-student-debt.html

    As health experts in Hong Kong call for masks to be made mandatory to tackle coronavirus, a ban on their use that was introduced in response to protests has been largely upheld by the appeal court.

    The court also used its ruling to push back at accusations that its role in assessing the constitutionality of laws was an affront to Beijing.

    The judgment, delivered on Thursday afternoon, said Hong Kong’s chief executive could use colonial-era laws to make emergency decrees for public safety and that banning masks was constitutional at unlawful gatherings. But it also found that banning masks at lawful gatherings and allowing police to demand their removal was unconstitutional.

    Hong Kong’s mask ban was introduced in October as widespread protests in the city grew increasingly violent.

    The chief executive, Carrie Lam, invoked the colonial-era emergency regulations ordinance (ERO), categorising the protests as a state of “public danger”, to ban the wearing of masks at both lawful and unlawful assemblies.

    “The violence and damage are mostly caused by protesters wearing masks and dressed in black outfits,” said Thursday’s court judgment. “At the same time, it is a common phenomenon that many other protesters participating in public assemblies and processions who are not involved in violence are also wearing masks and dressed in black outfits.”

    The judgment said there was “nothing objectionable” in Lam having the power to determine whether a public danger existed, and the chief executive was “evidently the only suitable person to make the call”.

    “That said, it does not follow that the CE could act freely without any rein as she wishes,” it added.

    The court found the mask ban, which indisputably “imposed restrictions on fundamental rights”, did not meet standards of proportionality in applying to lawful gatherings, and noted the risk to bystanders or people who joined a lawful rally and did not realise when authorisation had been revoked.

    “[A] total ban of facial coverings from all public demonstrations, processions and gatherings cannot pass the test of reasonable necessity even in the context of the public danger in which the [anti-mask law] is meant to address,” the judgment said.

    It added that police already had powers to seek identification of suspects, and found the powers granted to police to physically remove masks was unconstitutional.

    Speaking outside court, one activist, Leung Kwok-hung, popularly known as “Long Hair”, said he was disappointed with the ruling, the South China Morning Post reported.

    “The definition of ‘public danger’ is too wide, it will allow the chief executive to abuse his or her power in order to avoid ordinary people from exercising their basic rights such as freedom of assembly or freedom of speech,” he said.

    The mask ban in October prompted further protests as well as legal challenges by pro-democracy legislators, and in November the high court ruled the ban and the use of the ERO was unconstitutional, a decision that angered Beijing.

    Under the “one country, two systems” framework, the city is meant to enjoy semi-autonomy from China until 2047.

    “Whether Hong Kong’s laws are consistent with the Basic Law can only be judged and decided by the [National People’s Congress standing committee],” said Zang Tiewei, the spokesman for the committee, which is China’s top legislative body. “No other authority has the right to make judgments and decisions.”

    However, in Thursday’s ruling the court appeared to defend itself against this charge. It said laws could be adopted and later found to be in contravention of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, which does not “in any way diminish the authority of the NPCSC’s decision”.

    There were 632 people arrested under the law, but only three were arrested solely in relation to that offence. Sixty-one were charged. The maximum penalty is one year in prison or a fine of HK$25,000 (£2,600).

    Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold the law has been criticised for contradicting public health measures. Hong Kong, like many other Asian cities, embraces the use of masks to prevent the spread of disease.

    This week health experts called for the wearing of masks to become mandatory in Hong Kong.

    Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at Hong Kong University, told local radio masks were effective to an extent, and that some infection clusters may have been related to people not wearing masks.

    Ahead of the ruling legal academics called for the Hong Kong government to repeal the law regardless of the outcome, to avoid confusion that could put people’s health at risk.

    Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/hong-kong-court-upholds-face-masks-ban-despite-coronavirus