THREE YEARS AGO

According to article by Raw Story, three years ago the NSC gave Trump a 69 page pandemic outline, and he ignored it.

2017  “ Beth Cameron, the former senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council. When she left her position in 2017, her team was still intact, but the office was dissolved a year later in a move that “mystified” her. So was this just another redundant bureaucracy that we could afford to 86? Apparently not. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Cameron clearly detailed what we lost by making government small enough to drown in a petri dish:

In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time. Yes, we have capable and committed global and national disease-prevention and management organizations, as well as state and local health departments, all working overtime now. But even in prepared cities like Seattle, health systems are struggling to test patients and keep pace with growing caseloads. The specter of rapid community transmission and exponential growth is real and daunting. The job of a White House pandemics office would have been to get ahead: to accelerate the response, empower experts, anticipate failures, and act quickly and transparently to solve problems.

And here’s what her former team would have worked on, had they been allowed to keep their jobs:

A directorate within the White House would have been responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple federal agencies to make sure the government was backstopping testing capacity, devising approaches to manufacture and avoid shortages of personal protective equipment, strengthening U.S. lab capacity to process covid-19 tests, and expanding the health-care workforce.  

The office would galvanize resources to coordinate a robust and seamless domestic and global response. It would identify needs among state and local officials, and advise and facilitate regular, focused communication from federal health and scientific experts to provide states and the public with fact-based tools to minimize the virus’s spread. The White House is uniquely positioned to take into account broader U.S. and global security considerations associated with health emergencies, including their impact on deployed citizens, troops and regional economies, as well as peace and stability. A White House office would have been able to elevate urgent issues fast, so they didn’t linger or devolve to inaction, as with coronavirus testing in the United States.”  ⁶⁷    

The Pandemic team leaves their positions.

While officials in charge of the U.S. response to pandemics did leave in 2018, it’s unclear if they were ‘fired.’

May 2018  According to Politifact,” in May 2018, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, the senior director of global health and biodefense on the National Security Council, left the administration. He was in charge of the U.S. response to pandemics.

After Ziemer’s departure, the global health team was reorganized as part of an effort by then-National Security Adviser John Bolton. Meanwhile, Tom Bossert, a homeland security adviser who recommended strong defenses against disease, left shortly after Bolton arrived.” ⁶⁸ 

The team was disbanded.

Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?

Dec 31, 2019   WHO identified a virus with pneumonia like symptoms in China

“On December 31, 2019, China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in people associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, Hubei Province.”¹  

CHINA BURIES THE TRUTH

Jan 4, 2020 In a article by Daily Mail,  Jemma Carr For Mailonline, wrote a very detailed outlined of how China did it’s best to keep the information from public. Now whistle blowers Ai fen is missing! A MUST READ! 89

Jan 7, 2020  Coronvirus – COVID-19  For detailed information regarding the 2019-20 pandemic, and general information:  ²  

Jan 14, 2020

Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China🇨🇳. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020

This seems to go against new information emerging. Where original ‘whistleblower’ Ai Fen recognized the disease and tried to warn her fellow workers. She is now missing! Is she in hiding, or is the government responsible for her sudden disappearance? This video is dated April 4, 2020. 86 This article dated Jan 4, 2020 88

Jan 19, 2020  “The first reported case of COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus in America. “On January 19, 2020, a 35-year-old man presented to an urgent care clinic in Snohomish County, Washington, with a 4-day history of cough and subjective fever. On checking into the clinic, the patient put on a mask in the waiting room. After waiting approximately 20 minutes, he was taken into an examination room and underwent evaluation by a provider. He disclosed that he had returned to Washington State on January 15 after traveling to visit family in Wuhan, China. The patient stated that he had seen a health alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the novel coronavirus outbreak in China and, because of his symptoms and recent travel, decided to see a health care provider.”- New England Journal of Medicine ¹

Jan 20, 2020

BREAKING: WHO Director-General @DrTedros will convene an Emergency Committee on the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) under the International Health Regulations.
The Committee will meet on Wednesday, 22 January 2020. pic.twitter.com/w3w7ZuoTeG

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 20, 2020

Jan 21, 2020

WHO situation report on novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV)- 21 January 2020 https://t.co/LYUB7llmpt

(data from 20 January 2020) pic.twitter.com/aSEopilKpA

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 21, 2020

Jan 24, 2020 Centre for Health Protection of the Hong Kong – CHP Study concludes that “Our findings are consistent with person-to-person transmission of this novel coronavirus in hospital and family settings, and the reports of infected travellers in other geographical regions.” 87

Jan 24, 2020  Senate Health Committee classified briefing ³

Jan 29, 2020  WHPB – Coronaviras Task Force created ⁴

-Announcement of the Coronavirus Task Force led by the former lobbyist and executive Alex Azar who now holds the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services. “The Task Force will lead the Administration’s efforts to monitor, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus, while ensuring that the American people have the most accurate and up-to-date health and travel information.” ⁴

The increased number of new #coronavirus in 🇨🇳 & internationally is concerning. @DrTedros decided to reconvene the Emergency Committee to advise him whether the outbreak represents Public Health Emergency of International Concern & to seek their advice on how to keep the 🌍 safe. pic.twitter.com/m3nxsJdqgw

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 29, 2020

Jan 30 , 2020 – WHO Director-General’s statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus

“There are now 98 cases in 18 countries outside China, including 8 cases of human-to-human transmission in four countries: Germany, Japan, Viet Nam and the United States of America.

So far we have not seen any deaths outside China, for which we must all be grateful. Although these numbers are still relatively small compared to the number of cases in China, we must all act together now to limit further spread.

The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan, or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan.

We don’t know what sort of damage this virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system.

We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility.

For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus.”

“First, there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. WHO doesn’t recommend limiting trade and movement.”

“the only way we will defeat this outbreak is for all countries to work together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together.”

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern

Jan 31, 2020  First WHPB (White House Press Briefing) – Excerpts from: First official Coronavirus Task Force briefing  ⁵

 DR. REDFIELD: Confirmed six cases of this novel virus in the US. “In addition, there are currently 191 individuals that are under investigation. I want to emphasize that this is a significant global situation, and it continues to evolve.  But I also want to emphasize again that the risk at this time to the American public is low.”

DR. FAUCI: The issue now with this is that there’s a lot of unknowns. As you can see just from the media, the number of cases have steeply inclined each and every day.  You know that, in the beginning, we were not sure if there were asymptomatic infection, which would make it a much broader outbreak than what we’re seeing.  Now we know for sure that there are.

It was not clear whether an asymptomatic person could transmit it to someone while they were asymptomatic.  Now we know from a recent report from Germany that that is absolutely the case.

SECRETARY AZAR: Following the World Health Organization’s decision to declare the 2019 novel coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, I have today declared that the coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the United States.

• In accordance with the declaration, beginning at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time; Sunday, February the 2nd, the United States government will implement temporary measures to increase our abilities to detect and contain the coronavirus proactively and aggressively.  Any U.S. citizen returning to the United States who has been in Hubei Province in the previous 14 days will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine to ensure they are they are provided proper medical care and health screening.
• To be clear, this applies only to U.S. citizens who have been in Hubei Province in the past 14 days prior to their attempted entry into the United States.
• Any U.S. citizen returning to the United States who has been in the rest of Mainland China within the previous 14 days will undergo proactive entry health screening at a select number of ports of entry and up to 14 days of monitored self-quarantine to ensure they’ve not contracted the virus and do not pose a public health risk.
• Additionally, the President has signed a presidential proclamation, using his authority pursuant to Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, temporarily suspending the entry into the United States of foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the 2019 novel coronavirus.
• As a result, foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States for this time.
• Once again, these actions will become effective at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time; Sunday, February 2nd.  These prudent, targeted, and temporary actions will decrease the pressure on public health officials screening incoming travelers, expedite the processing of U.S. citizens and permanent residents returning from China, and ensure resources are focused on the health and safety of the American people.

ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY CUCCINELLI: “engaged in implementing the medical strategy you heard described here, including Customs and Border Protection, which stands at our land ports, seaports, and airports — and I’ll come back to the airports in a moment — particularly the Office of Field Operations personnel who you see when you come back into the country from your travels.  They’re the first line of defense when you land and come to the country.”

• FEMA continues to prepare and support HHS preparations themselves.  And then the United States Coast Guard, of course, commands the ports of the United States and deals with incoming shipping, which is obviously slower than the airplanes but coming nonetheless, and we are prepared to deal with each of those.
• The President’s proclamation will have Customs and Border Protection ensuring that United States citizens, legal permanent residents, and their immediate families continue to enter the United States, though they — those coming from Hubei Province, as you heard from the Secretary, will be subject to quarantine and the others from China to screening.
• We will be implementing a funneling effort at the airports.  This is done under the authority of the Customs and Border Protection, and it will include seven airports.  So starting five o’clock on Sunday, Eastern Time, incoming flights from China will be funneled through seven airports.  Those airports are JFK, Chicago’s O’Hare, in San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Honolulu, and LAX.
• Additionally engaged is TSA — the security and the engagement with the airlines.  Our chief medical officer in the department is in CWMD and they’re — we were providing medical support at the airports.
• We’ll continue to support the medical efforts across the country both at our ports — our land, sea, and air — as well as with personnel standing up some of the resiliency measures that HHS has been working on for some time.

QUESTION FROM REPORTER: What is your message to Americans who are watching this on the news, who are seeing this, who are feeling really alarmed by the steps that this administration is taking and by the spread of coronavirus in general?  They hear you say the risk is low, but then they see this action being taken, and I think some people might be freaked out by that.

SECRETARY AZAR:  I hope not.  I hope that people will see that their government is taking responsible steps to protect them.  These are — these are preventive steps.  The risk is low in the United States.  The risk is low of transmissibility, the risk of contracting the disease is low, but our job is to keep that risk low, as much as we can, by taking appropriate preventative steps. So that’s — that’s the approach we’re taking.

DR. FAUCI:  There’s one other aspect of this that I think is important.  Very recently, there was a case of a woman who was in China, and came to Germany, and had an interaction — professional interaction — with a professional partner.

She had no symptoms at the time.  She went back to China and got sick.  This individual, with whom she had an interaction, contracted the coronavirus at a time that she had no symptoms.  He then transmitted it to two of his colleagues, so they now have four cases.  One of the problems with when the virus is transmitted in an asymptomatic way and has its implications — it puts a terrible burden on the screening process.  How do you screen somebody?

QUESTION FROM REPORTER:     “you referenced airlines earlier.  Can you or your colleague from the Department of Transportation give us an update on the administration’s thinking about a travel ban on airlines, in general, being prohibitive for flying to and from China?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY SZABAT:  There is no travel ban — Joel Szabat, Assistant Secretary of Department of Transportation.  I think many of you who’ve been following this are aware: All of the three U.S. carriers who’ve flying between the U.S. and China have announced that they are taking down all of their passenger flights, and they announced that before any action by the administration.

QUESTION FROM REPORTER:       Are you considering more drastic action beyond the voluntary measures that the airlines have taken so far?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY SZABAT:  As Secretary Azar mentioned earlier, this is an evolving situation — but, at the moment, no.

QUESTION FROM REPORTER:          Dr. Fauci, how confident are you in the accuracy of these tests?  If somebody is testing negative and then they later test positive, can you have confidence, if you’re testing negative for something, that you don’t have it?

DR. FAUCI:  So, you mean — I think the question you ask is really one of the fundamental bases of why this decision was made.  If we had an absolutely accurate test that was very sensitive and very specific, then we could just test people and say, “Okay, we’re good to go.”

I want to get back to that broad concept that I mentioned when I made my brief introduction about the unknowns.  We don’t know the accuracy of this test.  We haven’t done enough — people who came in with negative, then all sudden they were positive.  You could have virus in your nasal secretions or you couldn’t and still be infected.  I mean, it isn’t like it’s a horrible test, but it is not a test that’s absolute.

FEB 1, 2020    No specific/individual press briefings (WHPB) regarding Coronavirus in ‘Healthcare’ between Feb 1-25 that I could locate. Though mention may have taken place in unrelated briefings. That’s 24 days America was left in the dark by the White House.

Trump stops travel from China

FEB 2, 2020  U.S. shuttered its border to travelers from China  ⁶

Administration officials declined an offer of early congressional funding assistance

FEB 5, 2020     “Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, says that Trump administration officials declined an offer of early congressional funding assistance that he and other senators made on Feb. 5 during a meeting to discuss the coronavirus.

The officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, said they “didn’t need emergency funding, that they would be able to handle it within existing appropriations,”

Murphy tweeted: “Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren’t taking this seriously enough. Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.”

“Murphy told Yahoo News that the funding he and other congressional leaders wanted to allocate nearly two months ago would have paid for essential preventative measures, including hiring local screening and testing staff, researching a vaccine and treatments and the stockpiling of needed medical supplies.”⁷⁰

FEB 6, 2020 Chinese Whistle blower Doctor, dies of COVID-19

“Dr Li Wenliang, who was hailed a hero for raising the alarm about the coronavirus in the early days of the outbreak, has died of the infection.

His death was confirmed by the Wuhan hospital where he worked and was being treated, following conflicting reports about his condition on state media.

Dr Li, 34, tried to send a message to fellow medics about the outbreak at the end of December. Three days later police paid him a visit and told him to stop. He returned to work and caught the virus from a patient. He had been in hospital for at least three weeks.

On 30 December he sent a message to fellow doctors in a chat group warning them about the outbreak and advising they wear protective clothing to avoid infection.

What Dr Li didn’t know then was that the disease that had been discovered was an entirely new coronavirus.

Four days later he was summoned to the Public Security Bureau where he was told to sign a letter. In the letter he was accused of “making false comments” that had “severely disturbed the social order”.

“We solemnly warn you: If you keep being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal activity, you will be brought to justice – is that understood?” Underneath in Dr Li’s handwriting is written: “Yes, I do.”

He was one of eight people who police said were being investigated for “spreading rumours”.

At the end of January, Dr Li published a copy of the letter on Weibo and explained what had happened. In the meantime, local authorities had apologised to him but that apology came too late.

For the first few weeks of January officials in Wuhan were insisting that only those who came into contact with infected animals could catch the virus. No guidance was issued to protect doctors.

But just a week after his visit from the police, Dr Li was treating a woman with glaucoma. He didn’t know that she had been infected with the new coronavirus.

On 30 January he posted again: “Today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed.” By Stephanie Hegarty – BBC 85

FEB 7, 2020   Burr/ Alexander op-ed for Fox news

“On Feb. 7, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) who is Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the co-author of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act, PAHPA and Sen. Alexander shared an op-ed with Fox News :Coronavirus prevention steps the U.S. government is taking to protect you ⁷

Our Representatives on the ‘inside’

FEB 13, 2020  Insider trading in the Senate, Isn’t that illegal? ^{8 15}

According to financial disclosure forms, Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) each sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks within days of the Senate holding a classified briefing on Jan. 24 with Trump administration officials on the threat of the coronavirus outbreak. ⁸

While chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr was getting daily briefings on the Coronavirus since January 24, and was publically reassuring the rest of America that everything was going to be fine, he quietly sold between $628,000 and 1.7 million worth of stock he had in the tourism industry, in 33 separate transactions in one day, right before the market crashed.  According to his spokesperson Caitlin Carroll “Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” ⁹  

Though the dates of these ‘disclosures’ aren’t exactly known as they have 45 day window to file it, it is clear he had knowledge before the rest of America, and used that for his own personal agenda. In a rare event, Tucker Carlson of Fox News calls for Burr to resign and face charges. ¹⁰

Also Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler “Loeffler, who sits on the Senate committee with oversight of the health care industry, unloaded between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000 in stocks jointly owned with her husband, the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, from late-January to mid-February. The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hosted a coronavirus briefing, with top administration officials, for the entire membership of the Senate on the same day that Loeffler’s portfolio began these trades, The Daily Beast reported.” “Loeffler said in a pair tweets Friday that she doesn’t control her and her husband’s financial assets and was informed of the sales on Feb. 16.

“This is a ridiculous and baseless attack. I do not make investment decisions for my portfolio. Investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement,” Loeffler tweeted.^{8 9 11 12}

What we know is three senators involved in the classified briefing on January 24 have used what appears to be insider knowledge, not available to the rest of us, to make decisions benefiting their financial portfolios. A move that would be in violation of a law put forth in 2012 called the STOCK Act which states: ( S. 2038 ) “prohibits insider trading by members of Congress and requires that certain investment transactions—such as those involving the trade of stocks, bonds and commodities futures—be reported to the secretary of the Senate or the clerk of the House of Representatives”. ^{13 14}

Two other senators Diane Feinstein (D), and Jim Inhofe, (R) also sold off stock prior to the market crash.

Diane Feinstien also claims innocence. “One the longest-tenured Senate Democrats, sold at least $500,000 in shares of Allogene Therapeutics, a California biotechnology company, on Jan. 31 and at least $1 million in Allogene stock on Feb. 18, according to Senate records. A spokesman for Feinstein told The New York Times that she had nothing to do with the decisions to sell her stocks.

“All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust,” Tom Mentzer said in a statement. “She has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”- the Hill

Inhofe was not at the Jan 24 classified meeting  ^{8 9} 

Inhofe added that he does not “have any involvement in my investment decisions” and instructed his financial adviser in December 2018 to begin selling all of his stock holdings two months after he was elected chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“I instructed my financial advisor to move me out of all stocks and into mutual funds to avoid any appearance of controversy. My advisor has been doing so faithfully since that time and I am not aware of or consulted about any transactions,” Inhofe said.

Inhofe’s financial disclosures show a steady stream of stock sales throughout 2019 and into early 2020. The senator also said he asked his financial adviser in December 2018 to reverse a purchase of stock in Raytheon, a U.S. defense contractor, that would have raised questions about conflicts of interest.” ⁸

“Burr was one of just three U.S. senators to vote against the 2012 measure, known as the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act. He derided the law as “ludicrous”.  ^{13 14 15}  

And there’s more…

3/21  New information has come emerged since the start of this writing. According to Politico “Rep. Susan Davis, a California Democrat, sold shares in Alaska Air and Royal Caribbean cruise lines on Feb. 11. A senior aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell made a mid-January purchase of Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company that had four days earlier announced it would begin developing a coronavirus vaccine. And an aide to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sold off stock in companies including Delta Airlines in late January and later bought stock in Clorox, Inc., which makes bleach and sanitary wipes.”

This article is loaded with what appears to be inside actions by our representatives, both Democrats and Republicans alike, and their aides. Just read the whole article and see for yourself, it’s maddening!  https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/coronavirus-trading-house-senate-140260  ⁵⁶

They all deny any wrongdoing. Whether any of them have violated the Stock Act at this time is unknown. An investigation should take place on all that were involved in suspicious trading to verify if any broke the law. And any who did need to be brought to justice!

FEB 24, 2020    Stock market’s crash began Feb. 24. ⁸

America – a month in the dark

FEB 25, 2020    No specific/individual press briefings regarding Coronavirus between Feb 1-25 that I could locate in healthcare section. Though mention of it may have taken place in unrelated briefings.

 FEB 26, 2020   Presidential News Conference on the Coronavirus Outbreak ¹⁶

FEB 26, 2020   (issued on feb 27) WHPB general coverage / mention two and a half billion to help ¹⁷ 

FEB 27, 2020  WHPB Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury added to the Coronavirus Task Force ¹⁸

FEB 27, 2020   Ambassador Debbie Birx to Serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator ¹⁹

white house knew how deadly virus was

FEB 27, 2020    Audio of Sen. Burr in Private meeting ²⁰

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, had meeting with private the Tar Heel Circle, a group that represents NC businesses and warned them of the upcoming crisis. According to a recording by a concerned constituent in the meeting who taped it.   “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history,” he said, according to a secret recording of the remarks obtained by NPR. “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.” ²⁰

“Thirteen days before the State Department began to warn against travel to Europe, and 15 days before the Trump administration banned European travelers, Burr warned those in the room to reconsider.” – NPR  ²⁰

The Spanish Flu, or 1918 Pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic.^[3] Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a quarter of the world’s population at the time.^[1] The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million^[4] to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.

FEB 27, 2020   Trump tells everyone that this virus is just going to disappear  ^{21 22}

FEB 28, 2020   During a Feb. 28, 2020, campaign rally in South Carolina, President Donald Trump likened the Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying “this is their new hoax.” During the speech he also seemed to downplay the severity of the outbreak, comparing it to the common flu. ²³   

Video from the excerpts from the Telegraph: ²¹ 

Full version of Charlotte rally from Global News: ²²

FEB 29, 2020    First death in Washington State from Coronavirus  ²⁴

FEB 29, 2020   WHPB – Excerpts from the White House update regarding Coronavirus  ²⁵

THE PRESIDENT:  At this moment, we have 22 patients in the United States currently that have coronavirus.  Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight.  She was a wonderful woman — a medically high-risk patient in her late fifties.  Four others are very ill.  Thankfully, 15 are either recovered fully or they’re well on their way to recovery.  And in all cases, they’ve been let go in their home.

Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.  And we think that will be a statement that we can make with great surety now that we’ve gotten familiar with this problem.  They should be able to recover should they contract the virus.  So, healthy people, if you’re healthy, you will probably go through a process and you’ll be fine.

Since the early stages of the foreign outbreak, my administration has taken the most aggressive action in modern history to confront the spread of this disease.  We moved very early.  That was one of the decisions we made that really turned out to be a lifesaver, in a sense.  A big lifesaver.

I’ll be meeting with the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, actually.  They’ll be coming to the White House, and we’re talking about a vaccine and developing, very quickly

Tremendous amounts of supplies are already on hand.  We have 43 million masks, which is far more than anyone would have assumed we could have had so quickly, and a lot more are coming.

But we’re doing really well.  Very, very professionally handled.  Our country is prepared for any circumstance.  We hope it’s not going to be a major circumstance; it’ll be a smaller circumstance.  But whatever the circumstance is, we’re prepared.

And I’d like to just ask and caution that the media — we would respectfully ask the media and politicians and everybody else involved not do anything to incite panic because there’s no reason to panic at all.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: First, the President authorized action today to add additional travel restrictions on Iran.  We will be using Section 212(f), banning travel from Iran.  Iran is already under a travel ban, but we are expanding existing travel restrictions to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days.

In addition to moving Iran, we are going to increase to the highest level of advisory — which is level four — advising Americans do not travel to specific regions in Italy and South Korea.

And as we work with members of Congress — I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Republican and Democrat leadership in the Congress — we’ll be working very closely on a supplemental funding bill to make sure that not only do all these agencies have the resources that they require, but we’ll also make sure that state and local health officials have the resources and the reimbursement to take such actions that are necessary to protect the health of the American people.

The President mentioned masks.  This morning, we talked a great deal about additional medical supplies.  Let me be very clear — and I’m sure the physicians who are up here will reflect this as well: The average American does not need to go out and buy a mask.

SECRETARY AZAR: From day one, this is what we predicted, this is what we expected.  The risk to any average American is low, from the novel coronavirus.  The risk remains low.  Thanks to the unprecedented actions President Trump has taken and the actions he’s announcing today, that risk remains low.

But this can change rapidly.  We have always said, from the first moment that we have spoken about this, that we would see more cases.  We are seeing more cases.  We will see more cases.

But it’s important to remember: For the vast majority of individuals who contract the novel coronavirus, they will experience mild to moderate symptoms, and their treatment will be to remain at home, treating their symptoms the way they would a severe cold or the flu.

For some individuals, a smaller percentage, especially those who may be medically fragile, they will require medical attention, including possibly hospitalization.

DR. FAUCI: “about what is evolving here.  You’ve heard of the terminology, “community spread.”  Well, community spread is when you have infection in the community in which you don’t have a direct link to a known index case.  That really challenges us with something that we need to do and that we do very well.”

DR. REDFIELD:   Currently, as said, there’s 22 cases in the United States.  And these initial cases were really linked to travel to China and their contacts.  Recently, as was stated, we’ve confirmed new cases with no link to travel history or contacts.

That as we stand here today, the risk of the American public remains low.  As was said, we should anticipate more cases, but again, the current risk to the American public remains low.

QUESTION FROM REPORTER:      Mr. President, if I could just ask you: You said the other day, in the Cabinet Room with African American leaders, you’ve got to get away from politics.  You were down in Charleston last night, using the word “hoax” when talking about Democrats.  Somebody now is dead from this.  Do you regret that kind of talk?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no.  “Hoax” referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody, because we’ve done such a good job.  The hoax is on them, not — I’m not talking about what’s happening here; I’m talking what they’re doing.  That’s the hoax.  That’s just a continuation of the hoax, whether it’s the impeachment hoax or the “Russia, Russia, Russia” hoax.  This is what I’m talking about.  Certainly not referring to this.  How could anybody refer to this?  This is very serious stuff.

QUESTION FROM REPORTER:    And, sir, if I could follow up, how should Americans prepare for this virus?  Should they go on with their daily lives?  Change their routine?  What should they do?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I hope they don’t change their routine.  But maybe, Anthony, I’ll let you — I’ll let you answer that.  Or Bob?  Do you want to answer that?  Please.

DR. REDFIELD:  Sure, Mr. President.  Thank you.  I think it’s really important that — as I said, the risk at this time is low.  The American public needs to go on with their normal lives.  Okay?

We’re continuing to aggressively investigate these new community links.  We’re going to continue to be transparent in relating that to the American public.  But at this stage, again, the risk is low.  We need to go on with our normal lives.

To read the full version : https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference-2/ ²⁵

MARCH  4, 2020    During an audio interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, trump says “we have hundreds of thousands of people just sitting around or even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better”.

This clearly goes against the advice of the CDC. ²⁶  While clearly many of us have been working since the onset of this virus that started over a month ago, we did so as we weren’t aware at how contagious this virus is. Our government was aware.  We listened to the few early reports, and the the administration repeatedly downplaying the seriousness of this virus which will ultimately have deadly consequences for all of America.

Huffington Post excerpt  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMdBTgC0yWw ²⁷

Full interview Fox news at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqjrlKfW93I ²⁸

MARCH 7, 2020   Trump tours CDC in Atlanta ³⁰

 After a tour of the CDC in  Atlanta, Trump said “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is.” And: “Anybody right now and yesterday — anybody that needs a test gets a test. We — they’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful. Anybody that needs a test gets a test.”  

“As doctors and health officials around the country were reporting a shortage of coronavirus tests”, Trump said, “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is.” ^{30 31}

DR. MONROE:  And then, in relatively short order, as the information coming out of China indicated that this was more serious than was originally thought — originally seven cases — we stood up our incident management system here at CDC so that we would have all the right components together — the epidemiology, the laboratory, the communications, the policy folks.

And then once it became clear that it was even more serious, that’s when we started to work with our colleagues at FDA to say, “We need to make this test available to the larger public health laboratory community.”

And so, worked with FDA to get —

THE PRESIDENT:  So tell them about how you’ve done with the tests (inaudible) over 4 million.

DR. MONROE:  — to get what we call “emergency use authorization” so that we could distribute the test to our — originally to our public health laboratory counterparts.

And now, working with the commercial manufacturers, we’re in position to scale up that production beyond what we can do with our own facility here, so that there’s the capacity to test more and more Americans.  And we are — as we work today to qualify more of those materials to go out.

And it’s important to note that at no time during this response has CDC ever denied a request that came from a public health official, either state or local, to test a patient.  So all the patients who needed to be tested, in the opinion of the public health officials, have been tested.

THE PRESIDENT:  They have plenty of materials is what you’re saying.

DR. MONROE:  And, yeah, all of our state labs now have the ability to — to test for this virus —

THE PRESIDENT:  And they have had.

According to CNN – “In reality, Americans needed authorization from a doctor to get tested — and even many people who did have a doctor’s order could not get access.

This was Trump deceiving the country about one of the most critical problems of the crisis” said CNN. ³¹

MARCH 6, 2020     Politico aired a story “Trump administration’s decision to forgo a World Health Organization test” . ³² According to the WHO, to their knowledge the US did not turn away tests. “To our knowledge, no discussions occurred between WHO and CDC (or other USG agencies) about WHO providing COVID-19 tests to the US,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told us in an emailed statement. “This is consistent with experience since the US does not ordinarily rely on WHO for reagents or diagnostic tests because of sufficient domestic capacity.”

Usually those tests are requested by poor nations, but the US could have requested them and they would have received them free of charge, as all countries would. For an unknown reason, Trump wanted the US to make the tests themselves, and claimed the WHO tests were ‘bad’, when that was not the case. This could have caused delay in Americas testing.³³

MARCH 9, 2020   Princess Cruise line docks in Oakland with multiple people affected by the virus. ³⁴

MARCH 9, 2020   Presidential News Conference on the Coronavirus Outbreak ³⁵

Mar 12, 2020      President Trump Remarks from the Oval Office / restrictions to Europe ³⁶  

https://www.c-span.org/video/?469747-1/president-trump-announces-vice-president-pence-charge-coronavirus-response

Mar 14, 2020 Former head of NSC pandemic office, Beth Cameron, says response has been “slow and inadequate”⁶⁹

Mar 15, 2020     Biden makes misleading claims regarding test kits during debate ³⁷

Mar 15, 2020     WHPB – general briefing regarding virus ³⁸

PRESIDENT: I would like to say that people shouldn’t go out and buy.  We’re going to all be great.  We’re going to be so good.  – But you don’t have to buy so much.  Take it easy.  Just relax.  People are going in and they’re buying more.  There’s no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  “more than 2,900 cases of coronavirus in 49 states across the country”

And based on the unprecedented speed of the FDA, which last week approved high-throughput coronavirus testings for Roche and Thermo Fisher, we will now have access in the days ahead to more than 2,000 labs across the country that have the equipment today to process coronavirus tests much more rapidly and a much higher volume for the American people.

With regard to testing: As we expand testing, we’re so pleased that Congress joined with our administration to make sure that cost is never going to be a barrier to anyone getting a coronavirus test.

As you recall, several weeks ago, the President directed a change in our Medicare and Medicaid programs to ensure the coronavirus testing was included.  Health insurers were brought in; they all agreed to waive co-pays.  But because of the good bipartisan work done in the House of Representatives, now all coronavirus testing is free, and it’s free for every American, including uninsured Americans.

ADMIRAL GIROIR:   So what we’ve really designed in how we’re working with the states: We have contacted all 50 states through the FEMA system — every single region, every single state — to understand where they are.

As the Vice President said, some states are rolling out some of their own community-based testing.  They need to be augmented.  We believe we’ve created a model, based on the Public Health and the FEMA system, that is optimized, that can be used for drive-through or potentially walk-through.  Each of these pod-based units, we believe, can screen 2,000 to 4,000 individuals a day for testing, with all the appropriate personal protective gear, all the appropriate backend and linkage to the public health system, including testing.

We know that we have the logistics to do that.  We know we have the materials to do that.  And again, this is federally supported state-led efforts.  Many states need the full meal deal.  They want dozens of Public Health Service officers to work in protective gear to actually test.  They need supplies, like protective gear; they need swabs; they need the logistical supports.  Other states only need a fraction of that.  They may have all the personnel, but they really need the knowhow, the template, and some of the gear that we provide.

We are going to start implementing this system, this week, in a number of states, primarily those that are the hardest hit right now or are on the rise and the CDC advises us that that’s when they need the testing.

I want to emphasize, again, that we’re focusing on two very important groups — and you’ll hear this said three or four different ways — and the groups that really can be the most impacted or impactful in our outbreak.

Number one is healthcare workers and first responders.  This is very important for two reasons.  Number one, we have to take care of the healthcare workers and responders, because when America needs them, they need to be available and healthy to provide the care that we all deserve.  But it’s also important that if they feel they have a risk of having contacted [sic] coronavirus, that we test them so they cannot spread that, for example, in long-term care facilities where the elderly are.

And the second group would be the elderly.  And we are classifying that, according to risk, is those 65 years of age or older who have a respiratory symptom and a fever of 99.6.  That’s a lower number than you’ve seen before because those who are older do not spike high fevers, like children do — 104, 105.  So you set the bar just a little bit lower.

We do that because we know that they’re at high risk of bad consequences.  And if they test positive, they could engage with their practitioner, telehealth provider, or get in the system to make sure they have just an outstanding outcome.

So that is really where we are.  We’ve made really unprecedented progress.  You will see these sites rolling out progressively over the week.  This is not make-believe.  This is not fantasy.  We’ve developed the model.  We’ve talked to the states.  We’re focusing in on specific locations now.  We will start shipping gear, stuff, tomorrow.  We will start deploying officers tomorrow and Tuesday.  And we’ll begin seeing these sites, in addition to the ones that are springing up now, implemented during this week.

We will have the capability of testing tens of thousands of additional people through these sites every week, in addition to all the capability that’s now going to be distributed in the 2,000 laboratories and the major central, core laboratories.

march 17, 2020 “The Obama administration walked incoming Trump administration officials through a hypothetical scenario in which a pandemic worse than the 1918 Spanish flu shut down cities like Seoul and London in early 2017, Politico reported.” 81 83

“Thirty Trump officials attended the exercise (Cabinet and senior White House staff),” Lu added in a tweet on Monday. “But the vast majority of these officials are no longer in government

“When you’re dealing with a crisis like #COVID19, stable and experienced leadership matters.” – The Hill 81

For a list of administration staff who attended briefing.

March 20, 2020 “I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese [sic] virus should we need to invoke in in a worst case scenario in the future. Hopefully there will be no need…”

On Tuesday, Trump told governors on a conference that state and local governments should find their own equipment. “Respirators, ventilators, of the equipment – try getting it yourselves.”  On Thursday, he doubled down, saying, the Federal Government “is not a shipping clerk,” and that Governors should fend for themselves.

Meanwhile, health care workers are facing this crisis heroically, even if our president won’t. In New York, Boston and Seattle, nurses and doctors have set up their own makeshift assembly lines to create protective kits with donated sports goggles, bandannas and parts purchased at Home Depot.”

“This already is a worst case scenario – and it’s not in the future, but now. Indeed, it’s been a worst case scenario for weeks. Rather than predicting the virus would miraculously disappear, Trump should have been preparing infrastructure to save lives, and ordered American companies to step up manufacturing and distributing life-saving equipment weeks ago. It can’t wait another day!” 80 –Miles Mogulescu

MARCH 20, 2020   press briefing ⁵⁵  

• temporarily waived all interest on federally held student loans
• moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15
• invoked the Defense Production Act.
• We enacted legislation guaranteeing paid sick leave for workers at no cost to employers.  And I think it’s very important.  So they get paid sick leave at no cost to employers.
• the United States and Canada jointly agreed to restrict all non-essential traffic across our border.  This decision goes into effect tonight at midnight.  The restrictions will be reviewed after 30 days, and they exclude traffic and movement across the border for work or other essential reasons.
• the United States and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across our shared border.  Both our countries know the importance of working together to limit the spread of the virus to ensure that commerce that supports our economy continues to keep flowing. 
• State Department issued a Level 4 global travel advisory.  This means that all international travel from U.S. citizens should be avoided.  In countries where commercial departure options remain available, U.S. citizens who reside in the United States should arrange for immediate return to the United States unless they’re prepared to remain abroad for an extended time.  If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may well be severely disrupted.
• Trump states: I am fine with restricting buybacks.  In fact, I would — I would demand that there be no stock buybacks.  I don’t want them taking hundreds of millions of dollars and buying back their stock, because that does nothing.

MARCH 20, 2020   GOP puts forth a stimulus package and dems block it ³⁹   

According to a bill released on Thursday, Republicans are talking about prioritizing money for “taxpayers” (by which they mean only income tax, not things like sales tax that all Americans pay). Under this plan, Americans who make less than $75,000 would get up to $1,200, while poor families who pay less in taxes would get $600, according to Business Insider. It’s also been reported that GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Mark Meadows, the soon-to-be White House chief of staff, were trying to persuade Trump to reject these cash payments altogether.

In fact, there are a bunch of ideas in this bill that would do nothing to help struggling Americans:

• The bill waives nutrition requirements for meals for senior citizens, a population more likely to get sick and end up needing care.
• The bill offers a pathetic $10 million for minority-owned businesses, which Business Insider’s small-business reporter Dominick Reuter calculated could round out to about $2 a business.
• And, of course, in Senate Republicans’ bill, big corporations get a huge tax cut. They would pay far less tax on their foreign entities. Making them bring cash home from abroad was one of the selling points of the 2017 GOP tax law. Corporate lobbyists have been working against it ever since. Now, in the middle of a crisis, they got it.³⁹

MARCH 20, 2020 HOW DO I GET TESTED

On March 18, Congress attempted to address some of problems associated with testing by passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. But there are a number of ways the bill fails to protect people. It offers limited provisions on paid sick leave and unemployment insurance, but it does not address the cost of actually being treated for the virus. And while it supposedly made getting tested for the coronavirus free, it probably won’t always work out that way. – Time.com

MARCH 22, 2020    Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 ⁴⁰  

MARCH 22, 2020     Trump Approves California Disaster Declaration ⁴¹

MARCH 22, 2020     Trump Approves Washington Disaster Declaration ⁴²

MARCH 23, 2020    estimates for the current spread  ⁴³

MARCH 23, 2020    WHPB – Introduction of HPCC ⁴⁴

Launch of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium. ⁴⁵  To provide COVID-19 researchers worldwide with access to the world’s most powerful high performance computing resources that can significantly advance the pace of scientific discovery in the fight to stop the virus.

MARCH 23, 2020     16,514 worldwide deaths / 553 in US ⁴⁶   

MARCH 23, 2020    tracking current bills in government ⁴⁷    

MARCH 23, 2020    Reports indicate virus is still alive after 17 days on clean cruise ship ^{48 49}

MARCH 24, 2020 18,804 worldwide deaths / 696 in US ⁴⁶

Mar 25, 2020  Stimulus package is agreed upon, we await details⁵⁸  

Mar 25, 2020  Trumps discusses easing quarantines before Easter on Fox ^{59 60}

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.

“Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full?” Trump said in a subsequent interview. “You’ll have packed churches all over our country.” ⁵⁹    

Mar 25, 2020   64

Mar 25, 2020  Trumps discusses easing quarantines before Easter on Fox ^{59 60}

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.

“Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full?” Trump said in a subsequent interview. “You’ll have packed churches all over our country.” ⁵⁹  

What’s happening in congress as America is quarantined

Mar 25, 2020   https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6074?fbclid=IwAR0he2Lq8-BEaUZqQxjl31lVHH-CumU4mWJLQaKSzF2qKgKayc3BUvbDURE

How are other countries looking out for their citizens

Tracking Economic Relief Plans Around the World during the Coronavirus Outbreak

Widespread testing not available

Mar 26, 2020   While I was doing research the other day for my recent article on the coronavirus timeline of events https://jenniferrobin.gallery/timeline-for-coronavirus/, I was wondering what the local procedures would be for those who don’t have a doctor, or insurance. The majority of people are out of work, and have depleted their last paycheck already with another one nowhere in sight. I called the health department $ and was told they don’t do any testing at all. They said to call your medical provider $$. What if you don’t have insurance $$$ or a doctor $$? They said to call urgent care. I called urgent care $$$$ and they said they were only testing those with fevers. I’ve heard on here locally that even if you get tests, result aren’t in even two weeks after your test. Many I know are still awaiting results. We are at 4 months in as the virus landed on American shores Dec 31 and continues to spread and America ‘still’ isn’t prepared for this pandemic!

USA takes the lead in Cases

Mar 27, 2020    ⁶³ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/27/coronavirus-latest-news/

The Washington Post is providing access for free so that readers have updates to important information about the coronavirus. For more free stories, sign up for our daily Coronavirus Updates newsletter.

APRIL 4, 2020 “Kushner, a real estate executive with no public health expertise, generally works behind scenes at the White House. So, critics have been curious about his role in the administration’s efforts to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

He has emerged with a central role working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee the distribution of vital medical supplies to hospital and health care providers.

On Thursday, he explained that Trump and Vice President Pence came to him looking for new ideas and “outside of the box” thinking.

But his lack of experience has drawn scrutiny, especially when he referred to the national stockpile of medical supplies as “our stockpile.”

“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.” – NPR 75