Anti-Semitism on the rise, Jews blamed for coronavirus

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/B1xuHBePU

In a document prepared by the ministry, malicious conspiracy theories, some contradictory, are being spread blaming Israel and Jews for the spread of the virus in order to thin out the world population and profit from a vaccination.

 

These posts are most common in the U.S., France, and Germany where anti-Semitism has been on the rise, but are seen in the Arab and Muslim world as well.

Jerusalem ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods to be locked down starting Sunday

https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-ultra-orthodox-neighborhoods-to-be-locked-down-starting-sunday/

The government approved locking down four of the capital’s seven zones delineated ahead of Passover: Zone 1, which covers northeast Jerusalem Zone 2, which covers northwest Jerusalem, Zone 3, which covers southwest Jerusalem, and Zone 5, which covers much of the city center.

Among the included neighborhoods: Har Nof, Mea Shearim, Geula, the Bukharim Quarter, Romema, Sanhedria, Neveh Yaakov, Ramat Shlomo and Makor Baruch.

 

Trump says he'll use 'facts and instincts' to guide decision on when country safe to reopen

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/11/trump-facts-and-instincts-decision-on-when-country-safe-to-reopen-180000

President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would use “facts and instincts” to make a decision on whether to recommend opening up areas of the country for working life to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a phone interview on “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on Fox News, the president said: “I think it's going to be the toughest decision I ever made and hopefully the most difficult I will ever have to make. I hope I'm going to make the right decision. I will be basing it on a lot of very smart people, a lot of professionals, doctors and business leaders. There are a lot of things that go into a decision like that. And it's going to be based on a lot of facts and instincts."

 

Trump administration requires insurers to provide free antibody tests

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/11/trump-administration-requires-insurers-to-provide-free-antibody-tests-180009

The Trump administration said late Saturday it will require health insurers to provide free antibody tests that could provide better insight into the scale of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak.

Health experts agree that widespread antibody testing, which can detect who has developed immunity against the virus, is essential for being able to ease social distancing measures and allow healthy people to return to work.

 

How Coronavirus Fears Have Amplified a Baseless But Dangerous 5G Conspiracy Theory

https://time.com/5818574/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-inaccurate/

The unfounded conspiracy theories reportedly began when a Belgian doctor speculated to a national newspaper about 5G masts in Wuhan, China, where the new coronavirus originated. Despite the article being removed after a few hours because the comments were baseless, the narrative was picked up by conspiratorial Internet personalities and has spread across the Internet as the coronavirus fans anxieties around the world. (Contrary to the conspiracy theories, which say 5G’s high-frequency waves are harmful, the scientific community agrees they are beneath the wavelength that can damage human cells.)

Governors Plead for Help as Further Coronavirus Aid Faces a Partisan Split in Congress

https://time.com/5819576/coronavirus-aid-talks-congress/

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said without federal intervention, states will be forced to confront “serious reductions in service … hampering public health, the economic recovery, and — in turn — our collective effort to get people back to work.”

 

Ex-Ambassador, Washington Gov. Says Trump Campaign 'Fanning Hatred' With New Ad

https://time.com/5819459/trump-campaign-biden-china-racist/

  Former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke is denouncing President Donald Trump for a new campaign ad that seems to falsely imply Locke was a Chinese official.

Trump’s Republican reelection campaign released an ad Thursday that accused former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, of being too cozy with China. It featured an image of Biden and Locke on a stage with U.S. and Chinese flags in the background.

 

Health Minister Litzman: Stop singling out haredim for coronavirus

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Coronavirus-Jerusalems-restricted-zones-announced-take-effect-Sunday-624371

 The special ministerial committee on coronavirus has approved creating “restricted zones” in Jerusalem beginning at noon on Sunday until Wednesday.

The people in these areas cannot leave unless they are going to work, getting essential medical treatment, attending the funeral of a nuclear family member or transferring their children to an ex-spouse.

 In addition, they can attend legal proceedings or access other essential services with approval.

 Among the areas that will now be restricted: Har Nof, Ramot, Romema, Neve Yaakov, Mea Shearim and Geula.

Watch: Priestly blessing at Western Wall

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278568

Traditional priestly blessing during Pesach takes place in a limited format in accordance with instructions. US ambassador participating.

In India, Coronavirus Fans Religious Hatred

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/world/asia/india-coronavirus-muslims-bigotry.html

In a global pandemic, there is always the hunt for blame. President Trump has done it, insisting for a time on calling the coronavirus a “Chinese virus.’’ All over the world people are pointing fingers, driven by their fears and anxieties to go after The Other.

He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html

An examination reveals the president was warned about the potential for a pandemic but that internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response.

His was hardly a lone voice. Throughout January, as Mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action.

President Trump is wrong in so many ways about hydroxychloroquine studies. Here are the facts

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/10/health/trump-wrong-about-hydroxychloroquine/index.html

 There are several treatments being studied to prevent or treat coronavirus, but President Trump has been a cheerleader for one in particular: hydroxychloroquine, a drug currently used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Over the past month, he's made many optimistic statements about hydroxychloroquine. CNN has fact-checked the president multiple times -- such as here, here, and here -- and found that he's being unrealistically enthusiastic.

 

Trump asked what metrics he's using. See his response.

'Liar': Trump Fact-Checked For Dangerous Coronavirus Claims | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC

Trump Spent Years Disparaging the Administrative State. Then Coronavirus Hit

https://time.com/5817899/trump-administrative-state-coronavirus/

The efficiency of a small government has always been a dream in some corners of the Republican Party. As the anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist famously put it in a 2001, ‘I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.’

Bill Barr Accuses Media of 'Jihad' to Discredit Hydroxychloroquine After Trump Touts Drug as COVID-19 Treatment

https://www.newsweek.com/bill-barr-hydroxychloroquine-fox-news-ingraham-1497021

Attorney General William Barr has condemned the media for what he says are partisan attacks on President Donald Trump for touting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible weapon against the novel coronavirus.

 

Nationwide lockdown eased, Bnei Brak restrictions relaxed amid cautious optimism

https://www.timesofisrael.com/nationwide-lockdown-eased-bnei-brak-restrictions-relaxed-amid-cautious-optimism/

Partial lockdown remains in place, with people only allowed to leave home for work or other essentials; Health Ministry tells Israelis to continue keeping social distancing rules

 

Trump Says Widespread Coronavirus Testing 'Would Never Happen' and Isn't Needed To Reopen Country

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-widespread-coronavirus-testing-would-never-happen-isnt-needed-reopen-country-1497210

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.

What Went Wrong in the Wisconsin Election, and What We Can Learn From It Before November

https://time.com/5818773/wisconsin-coronavirus-elections/

Watching it unfold, it was impossible not to wonder: Is this what we’re all in for in November? Both national parties treated the Wisconsin situation as a test case for their arguments about how voting should take place during the coronavirus pandemic — and how that might benefit them as they look ahead to this fall’s high-stakes presidential election. The factors that created the mess—bitter partisanship, a dysfunctional and poorly funded patchwork of different election systems and the win-at-all-costs ethos of Trumpism, all overlaid with an unprecedented public-health emergency of unknown duration—are all national in scope. “Wisconsin’s in-person vote, held in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, is unconscionable, and portends major problems for the November election should the pandemic recur in the fall,” says Adam Hilton, a political scientist at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

 

‘Silent spreaders’: Almost a third of infected kids under 9 are asymptomatic

https://www.timesofisrael.com/silent-spreaders-almost-a-third-of-infected-kids-under-9-are-asymptomatic/

In Israel, highest number of cases seen in the 20-29 age group; overwhelming number of seriously ill are over 60