Fact check: Trump makes false claims about governors not wanting tests, and repeats errors about Pelosi and Michelle Obama

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/april-22-wednesday-coronavirus-briefing-fact-check/index.html

 President Donald Trump made yet another false claim about coronavirus testing on Wednesday, wrongly saying at a White House briefing that the US is conducting more tests than any governor probably even wants. In fact, numerous governors, including Republicans, have said that more testing is necessary.

Trump also continued to embellish about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's February 24 visit to San Francisco's Chinatown, inaccurately saying that she had held a Chinatown "rally." He continued to insist that his travel restrictions on China were a "ban," though they contained significant exemptions. And he threw in an old false claim about Michelle Obama for good measure.

Fox News Poll: Biden tops Trump in Michigan, where Gov. Whitmer is more popular than president

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-biden-tops-trump-in-michigan-where-gov-whitmer-is-more-popular-than-president

Majorities of Michigan voters are concerned about coronavirus, think President Trump was too slow reacting to it, and favor waiting to reopen the economy. That contributes to Joe Biden leading the presidential race in a Fox News Poll of Michigan registered voters released Wednesday.

Biden’s 8-point advantage over Trump, 49-41 percent, is slightly larger than the poll’s margin of sampling error.  However, both candidates remain below 50 percent and 10 percent of voters are still up for grabs.

 

Trump says he 'strongly' disagreed with move to reopen Georgia -- contradicting source who said he agreed with it

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/trump-pence-georgia-governor-brian-kemp/index.html

 (CNN)President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday night and expressed support and praise for the Republican's move to reopen businesses in his state starting Friday, a source familiar with the call said. Trump later said the opposite -- that he told Kemp he disagreed "strongly" with the decision.

But the President said during Wednesday's news conference that he told Kemp he disagreed "strongly" with the governor's decision to reopen some businesses in his state.

What the author of 'The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History' can teach us about coronavirus

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/27/politics/interview-john-barry-great-influenza/index.html

No. 1, authorities need to tell the truth, even when it's uncomfortable -- especially when it's uncomfortable. This is important for two reasons. First, it lessens fear. People are always more afraid of the unknown. When people don't think they're getting a straight message they feel uncertain. In a horror movie, it's always scariest before the monster appears. Once the fear becomes concrete we can deal with it. We can deal with reality. Second, if you want people to comply with your recommendations -- and compliance is crucial to success -- they have to believe you and trust you. If they doubt you they will ignore you. In Singapore, the Prime Minister told blunt truths at the beginning, ended panic buying and, more importantly, it's one reason Singapore has gotten way ahead of the virus.

 

Cabinet set to further ease COVID-19 restrictions amid rising public frustration

https://www.timesofisrael.com/cabinet-to-meet-on-easing-further-restrictions-amid-rising-public-anger/

Reopened IKEA draws crowds, lottery booths given permission to resume activities; with still-shuttered businesses fuming, cabinet to rethink on Thursday

Trump Spreads Coronavirus Misinformation As U.S. Death Toll Tops 46,000 | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Wisconsin Voters Reject Trump’s Pick for State Supreme Court in Election Marred by Coronavirus

https://time.com/5820383/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-coronavirus/

 A liberal challenger on Monday ousted a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice endorsed by President Donald Trump, overcoming a successful push by Republicans to forge ahead with last week’s election even as numerous other states postponed theirs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the absentee-ballot-fueled victory by liberal Supreme Court candidate Jill Karofsky was a huge win for Democrats. It reduced conservative control of the court to 4-3, giving liberals a chance to take control in 2023.

Her win will also certainly be seen as a bellwether in battleground Wisconsin ahead of the November presidential election. Trump barely carried the state four years ago, and both parties see it as critical this year.

Senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis split on response to coronavirus epidemic

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/senior-ultra-orthodox-rabbis-split-on-response-to-coronavirus-epidemic-625504

Letter sent by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the most senior rabbi of the haredi, non-hassidic world for publication in Yated Neeman newspaper stopped by second most senior leader Rabbi Gershon Edelstein.

  In a highly embarrassing incident for the rabbinic leadership of the ultra-Orthodox (haredi), non-hassidic community, the Yated Neeman newspaper decided not to print a letter by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky calling for ultra-Orthodox schools to reopen, despite the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, following the intervention of his fellow leader Rabbi Gershon Edelstein.

Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

Williamsburg Satmar yeshivas operating secret schools in apartments and synagogues

https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/444376/williamsburg-yeshivas-secret-schools-apartments-synagogues-coronavirus/

 Orthodox yeshivas for boys in Williamsburg are running underground schools in closed synagogues and apartment buildings despite social distancing requirements imposed by the city and state to try to slow the spread of coronavirus, a parent whose child attended one of the secret schools told the Forward.

 

Who’s Behind the ‘Reopen’ Protests?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/opinion/coronavirus-protests-astroturf.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

America is now facing three calamities: a deadly contagion, a capricious president and a well-funded right-wing infrastructure willing to devalue human life in pursuit of its political agenda. Some very rich men and women are making this medical disaster worse through their reckless bellows, inflaming people to demand that states open now no matter how many lives that costs.

What 5 Coronavirus Models Say the Next Month Will Look Like

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/22/upshot/coronavirus-models.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

In the last few weeks, we’ve all become a little more familiar with epidemiological models. These calculations, which make estimates about how many people are likely to get sick, need a hospital bed or die from coronavirus, are guiding public policy — and our expectations about what the future holds.

But if you look at the models, they don’t really agree.

 

He was on a ventilator, fighting for his life. A stranger sent reinforcements

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/opinions/coronavirus-plasma-donor/index.html

He received the plasma transfusion on the night of April 8. Grasping for anything that might help, doctors also gave him various drugs with long and complicated names: hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, tocilizumab. After getting a little worse, he began to get better. The toxins in his liver decreased. He began to need less oxygen. On Easter Sunday, April 12, the doctors brought him out of his coma to see if his body was strong enough to function on its own. Stacie and the kids got to see him on FaceTime. He was still groggy and delirious. One by one, they told him who they were.

 

Trump disregards science as chaos overtakes coronavirus response

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/23/politics/donald-trump-science-coronavirus/index.html

Alarming new signs are emerging that the Trump administration is shunting science aside in the battle against coronavirus.

In Wednesday's most stunning development, a top administration official working on a vaccine claimed he was ousted after resisting efforts to push unproven drugs promoted by President Donald Trump and his conservative media cheerleaders as "game changer" treatments.

That news was followed by a bewilderingly inconsistent White House briefing. Conflicting messages on when to reboot the economy, the need for testing and the possibility of a resurgence of the virus combined with Trump's effort to suppress facts that jar with his insistence that the end of a nightmare likely to last many more months is near.

In another bizarre twist, Trump produced Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to walk back his remarks that the coronavirus challenge could be more difficult in the fall.