The only place where Israelis are gathering to party: Virus quarantine hotels

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-only-place-where-israelis-are-gathering-to-party-virus-quarantine-hotels/

With country locked down, social media footage shows patients making the most of their situation, dismissing criticism: ‘Being sad will not help’

Funeral of hardline rabbi’s wife obeys virus rules despite prediction of crowds

https://www.timesofisrael.com/funeral-of-hardline-rabbis-wife-obeys-virus-rules-despite-prediction-of-crowds/

Police said to reach agreement with leaders of Jerusalem Faction, whose members days ago defied orders, that burial would adhere to directives preventing large gatherings

 

Trump says he wouldn't have acted differently on coronavirus without impeachment

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/490503-trump-says-he-wouldnt-have-acted-differently-on-coronavirus-without

 

President Trump said Tuesday that he would not have acted differently or more quickly in addressing the coronavirus if he weren’t impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

“I don’t think I would have done any better if I had not been impeached,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room Tuesday evening. “I don’t think I would have acted any differently, or I don’t think I would have acted any faster.”

Trump was asked whether impeachment diverted his or his team’s attention from the coronavirus, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier Tuesday blamed Democrats for distracting the federal government from the outbreak because of the push to impeach the president.

 

https://time.com/5813628/china-coronavirus-statistics-wuhan/

If you believe the Chinese authorities, the country’s battle against the novel coronavirus is all but won. But that claim is clouded by a fog of skewed data, political imperatives—and unreported cases and possibly deaths.

 

Mikvah-peeping Rabbi Barry Freundel set to be released early from prison

https://www.jta.org/quick-reads

 Rabbi Barry Freundel, a once-prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C., who was convicted for secretly videotaping women in his synagogue’s mikvah, is scheduled to be released early from prison.

First, however, an assistant U.S. attorney is asking his victims whether they object to Freundel getting his freedom before his scheduled release on April 15 because the coronavirus is accelerating the release of prisoners.

That's extraordinary.' Cooper reacts to what Trump told governors

Acosta to Trump: This may be an uncomfortable question ...

הגרי"ג אדלשטיין: תפילה במניין - זה חטא; בפסח - שבו לבד

https://www.kikar.co.il/353926.html

לאור המצב הקשה בהתפשטות נגיף ה'קורונה', ראש הישיבה הגאון רבי גרשון אדלשטיין, נשא הערב (שלישי) משא מיוחד בו הזהיר מפני תפילה במניין; באשר לליל הסדר - אסר לארח ולהתארח (חרדים)

 

Inside Trump's Coronavirus Theatrics on War Powers, Ventilators and GM

https://time.com/5813277/trump-emergency-powers-gm-coronavirus-theatrics/

But if Trump’s Friday performance conveyed urgency and action, four days later, neither is anywhere in evidence. Despite the tough talk and the invocation of presidential powers, Trump and his team by midday on Tuesday had yet to formally file a single order for a GM-made ventilator. While negotiations were ongoing, they had set no mandatory timeline for delivery of the machines, or even suggested a voluntary one. And they had not informed GM of what prices the federal government will pay for the machines under Trump’s executive order. For its part, GM has continued following the plan to produce ventilators that it had discussed with the White House for weeks prior to Trump’s order, a plan that was already well underway when he issued it, according to documents reviewed by TIME.

Whatever the logic behind Trump’s public statements about GM and his use of emergency powers, the company maintains that Trump’s tough talk resulted in no change from the Mar. 23 plan they presented to his government. After his Mar. 27 statements, on Sunday, Trump was asked at the White House how negotiations GM were going since he invoked DPA two days earlier. Although nothing had changed, he responded that the automaker was now doing a “fantastic job.”

 

Reporting from coronavirus-stricken Crown Heights

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278093

Crown Heights resident David Cromby says that almost every home has someone infected and tells of special Torah scroll being written.

 

Why Is Germany's Coronavirus Death Rate So Low?

https://time.com/5812555/germany-coronavirus-deaths/

According to experts, Germany’s case fatality rate is so low due to its widespread testing. “In some countries only very symptomatic cases are tested (e.g. in Italy) and in others a broader testing strategy is done (e.g. in Germany),” writes Dr. Dietrich Rothenbacher, the director of the Institute for Epidemiology at Ulm University in Germany, in an email to TIME. That means that while Germany is currently the country with the fifth-most infections in the world, chances are that it has fewer unreported cases than many other countries, where testing is harder to come by.

 

McConnell: Impeachment trial 'diverted' attention from coronavirus crisis in China

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/31/politics/mcconnell-impeachment-coronavirus/index.html

 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested on Tuesday that the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump distracted the US government from the growing coronavirus crisis in China.

In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, McConnell said that the crisis "came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything, every day was all about impeachment."

 

Why is the Health Ministry preventing 20,000 daily coronavirus tests?

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Why-is-the-Health-Ministry-preventing-20000-daily-coronavirus-checks-623058

It’s been three weeks since news broke that the Weizmann Institute can conduct so many COVID-19 checks – so why isn’t it? "This can be the game changer Israel needs to combat the virus."

History's verdict on Trump will be devastating

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/opinions/history-verdict-on-trump-devastating-dantonio
/index.html

After a lifetime devoted to avoiding responsibility and accountability -- for his lies, his deceptions, his hype, and his cruelty -- President Donald Trump has met his match in the pandemic of 2020. His bluff and bluster are powerless as thousands of Americans die and the blame falls, in part, on his failure to heed the warnings and execute a robust national response. This occurred even though a pandemic playbook had been left behind by the Obama administration. Early in the crisis, Trump said "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming from China. It's going to be just fine." Weeks were wasted and now the price of this fiasco will likely be a loss of life far greater than 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina.