A Key G.O.P. Strategy: Blame China. But Trump Goes Off Message.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/us/politics/trump-china-virus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Republicans increasingly believe that elevating China’s culpability for spreading the coronavirus may be the best way to improve their difficult election chances. The president is muddying the message.

 

Rising Shortage of Dialysis Units Alarms Doctors

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/us/coronavirus-updates.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Kidney specialists now estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of patients in intensive care suffered kidney failure and needed emergency dialysis. Outside of New York, the growing demand for kidney treatments is becoming a major burden on hospitals in emerging hot spots like Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Detroit.

 

White House defends Ivanka Trump's personal travel amid lockdown

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52317673

The White House has defended Ivanka Trump's personal trip to New Jersey last week even as federal guidelines advise Americans to remain at home.

The president's eldest daughter and her family travelled from Washington DC to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster to celebrate Passover.

Time to fire Jared and Ivanka

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/opinions/fire-ivanka-and-jared-passover-travel-bergen/index.html

 The hypocrisy of the Kushner and Trump's behavior is breathtaking.

Kushner has now positioned himself as the overall czar of the coronavirus relief effort. Just like his dismal peace-making efforts in the Middle East, Kushner has added another layer of confusion to the muddled White House coronavirus response by, for example, promoting the speedy development of drive-thru nationwide testing sites that still haven't materialized.

Meanwhile Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser, has positioned herself as an avatar of social distancing, telling her 8.5 million followers on Twitter on April 12, "There's no substitute for social distancing."

 Ivanka Trump traveled to New Jersey to celebrate Passover despite coronavirus guidelines

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/ivanka-trump-travels-to-new-jersey-coronavirus/index.html

  Ivanka Trump traveled with her family from Washington to Bedminster, New Jersey, last week to celebrate Passover, a White House official said Thursday.

Trump's decision to leave Washington, first reported by The New York Times, disregarded the federal coronavirus guidelines advising against discretionary travel that she has urged other Americans to follow.

"Ivanka -- with her immediate family -- celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home. Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C.," the official told CNN in a statement Thursday.

The official continued, "While at Bedminster she has been practicing social distancing and working remotely. Her travel was not commercial. She chose to spend a holiday in private with her family."

U.K. Paid $20 Million for New Coronavirus Tests. They Didn’t Work.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/world/middleeast/coronavirus-antibody-test-uk.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 The two Chinese companies were offering a risky proposition: two million home test kits said to detect antibodies for the coronavirus for at least $20 million, take it or leave it.

The asking price was high, the technology was unproven and the money had to be paid upfront. And the buyer would be required to pick up the crate loads of test kits from a facility in China.

Yet British officials took the deal, according to a senior civil servant involved, then confidently promised tests would be available at pharmacies in as little as two weeks. “As simple as a pregnancy test,” gushed Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “It has the potential to be a total game changer.”

There was one problem, however. The tests did not work.

 

White House adviser to 60 Minutes: Show me your pandemic story

Failure: Debunking Trump's Dangerous New Attack On W.H.O During Pandemic | MSNBC

A Crime Against Humanity.’ Why Trump’s WHO Funding Freeze Benefits Nobody

https://time.com/5821122/who-funding-trump-covid19-coronavirus-china/

Public health experts have savaged President Donald Trump’s decision to cut U.S. funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which he says failed in its “basic duty” during the coronavirus pandemic by promoting “disinformation” from China.

 

The move represents another stunning turnaround for Trump, who in late February praised the WHO for “working hard and very smart,” before souring on the world body in recent days as the U.S. death toll soared. Still, it remains in line with his longstanding distrust of multilateral institutions more generally.

Critics have accused the President of attempting to shift blame away from his own torpid response to the pandemic. The WHO declared a public health emergency on Jan. 30, after which Trump continued to speak at rallies and belittle COVID-19 as “the flu.”

Critics agree the WHO’s response suffered missteps at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak. There was a focus on government information rather than non-official sources, such as whistleblowers like Dr. Li Wenliang. Officials could have investigated how many healthcare workers had become infected, which was clear evidence of human-to-human transmission before official confirmation came Jan. 23. It advised nations not to close borders.

Trump threatens to invoke never-used authority

Ultra-Orthodox Enclave in Israel Opens to Outsiders to Fight a Virus

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/world/middleeast/virus-israel-Orthodox-Bnei-Brak.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

When an insular religious community became an epicenter for the coronavirus, its leaders did the unthinkable, calling on the military to help turn things around.

Forbes Magazine: Israel the safest country from coronavirus

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278720

A study published in Forbes Magazine presents a comprehensive analysis examining the steps taken in various countries around the world as part of the fight against the spread of the Corona virus.

In the study, 60 countries are ranked according to different factors, including safety, risk level, treatment efficacy, and government support for people affected by the economic impact of the virus.

According to Forbes, Israel is the safest country in the world against the virus. In second place are Germany, South Korea and Australia. China is in fifth place.

In the risk index, Italy was ranked as the most dangerous, followed by the US, UK, Spain and France.

Pelosi vows to challenge Trump's 'dangerous, illegal' move to freeze WHO funding

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-vows-to-challenge-trumps-dangerous-illegal-move-to-freeze-who-funding

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted President Trump’s decision to freeze funding for the World Health Organization, vowing Wednesday to “swiftly” challenge the action amid the coronavirus crisis.