Trump's 'Chinese Virus' Tweet Adds Fuel to Fire With Beijing - Bloomberg

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1. Trump's 'Chinese Virus' Tweet Adds Fuel to Fire With Beijing  Bloomberg
2. Pompeo condemns China’s ‘efforts to shift’ coronavirus blame on US in call with communist party official  Fox News
3. Fact check: Coronavirus originated in China, not elsewhere, researchers and studies say  USA TODAY
4. What can America learn from China's draconian response to coronavirus?  New York Daily News
5. Trump tweets about coronavirus using term 'Chinese Virus'  NBCNews.com
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-03-17 08:36:22Z
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Macron Declares France ‘at War’ With Virus, as E.U. Proposes 30-Day Travel Ban - The New York Times

BRUSSELS — Adopting martial language, President Emmanuel Macron ordered the French to stay at home for at least the next 15 days, as France put in place some of the most severe measures in Europe to try to curb the raging coronavirus.

The aggressive move by France came as other countries in the region introduced measures that their leaders described as unprecedented in postwar Europe, and as the European Union proposed a 30-day shutdown of all nonessential travel into the bloc from other countries.

The movement of French citizens will be tightly restricted, starting from midday on Tuesday and lasting through at least the end of the month, with people expected to stay home, leaving only for essential activities like food shopping. Anyone violating the order faces punishment.

“We are at war,’’ Mr. Macron said in an address to the nation Monday night. “The enemy is invisible and it requires our general mobilization.”

The French army will deploy to transport the sick to hospitals, and a military hospital with 30 intensive care beds will be set up in the eastern region of Alsace, where one of the largest infection clusters has erupted.

Mr. Macron was responding to severe warnings from doctors about an increasingly dire situation. Jérôme Salomon, a top official at France’s health ministry, told France Inter radio on Monday that the situation in France was “deteriorating very quickly.”

“We are seeing that the number of cases is doubling every three days,” Mr. Salomon said. “There are hundreds of serious cases this morning in France’s intensive care units,” he said, adding that authorities were worried that the speed of the epidemic could provoke a “saturation of the French hospital system, which we absolutely want to avoid.”

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new raft of measures to minimize social contact: Religious services will be banned, and bars, clubs, discothèques and brothels shut. Restaurants will be allowed to open but only until 6 p.m., with wide spacing among diners, and hotels are being asked not to accept tourists. Schools across Germany were preparing for a prolonged shutdown.

Even if some criticized Germany’s response as slow, Ms. Merkel said that the measures were wide-reaching and an infringement on personal freedoms implemented only reluctantly. “In the 70-year history of the German Federal Republic, we have never had to do what we must do now,” the chancellor said.

Get an informed guide to the global outbreak with our daily coronavirus newsletter.

The number of infections in Germany continued to climb rapidly, reaching 6,400 by Monday, but the fatality rate remains notably low: Only 16 people have died of the virus so far.

The proposed travel ban into the European Union, which could be extended beyond 30 days, was vital to keep the internal borders of the bloc — and the so-called Schengen free-travel zone — as open as possible to promote European solidarity and to help the Continent’s economy, which appears to be heading into a recession, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“The less travel, the more we can contain the virus,” Ms. von der Leyen said, after a discussion on Monday with Group of 7 leaders, including President Trump, in which they agreed to coordinate research into the new disease and their social and economic responses to it.

The travel ban must be approved by the 27 member states, but Ms. von der Leyen said that there was strong support for the proposal, which will be decided on by the leaders of the bloc on Tuesday in a teleconference.

The proposal is an effort by Brussels to unify border practices after numerous member states have unilaterally shut themselves off to try to avoid further infection from travelers from where the infection rages, like Italy.

Spain, also with high rates of infection, announced on Monday that it would shut its land borders at midnight to foreigners. In emergencies, member states are allowed to introduce border controls.

By late Monday, Spain had about 9,200 cases and 330 dead, which is the worst toll in Europe after Italy. Half of the Spanish cases are in the Madrid region.

Austria, which has banned citizens from numerous European countries from entering, has taken one of the toughest stances in Europe, banning gatherings of more than five people and imposing steep fines for those disobeying a far-reaching curfew.

France had already closed schools, cafes, restaurants and nonfood shops, as well as Paris parks. But the French government was taken aback by the casualness with which the French, and particularly Parisians, greeted the earlier restrictions on Sunday. The parks were full and there were crowds along the embankments and at the outdoor markets and pushing into bakeries and small food shops.

“There was something shocking about it,” Hervé Berville, a legislator who is close to Mr. Macron, said in a telephone interview Monday. “The French are not respecting the security warnings,” he said. “People are not following social distancing.” He said that it was “shocking’’ that people were ignoring health professionals and “the advice coming from the highest levels of government.’’

So Mr. Macron tried to convey the urgency of the need to follow the order to stay home — or else. “Any violation of these rules will be penalized,’’ he said in Monday’s speech. The French Interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, said those caught outside without a valid reason would be fined.

But in addition to his stern warning to stay inside, Mr. Macron also promised support for the French economy and French wage-earners, saying utility bills and rent would be “suspended” for struggling small businesses. So would his vaunted economic reforms. And he promised: “No business will be allowed to fail.’’

Given the movement restrictions, he also announced that a second round of local elections, scheduled for March 22, would be postponed.

“I know what I am asking of you is unprecedented but circumstances demand it,” Mr. Macron said.

Italy, Europe’s hardest hit country, on Monday adopted emergency economic measures worth 25 billion euros, or about $28 billion, to help protect the economy, as the number of cases jumped by 2,470 to 27,980 and deaths increased by 349, to 2,158.

In announcing the measures, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that no Italian “should feel abandoned” during this crisis, and that the measures “were concrete evidence of the presence of the state.”

Funds were being made available to postpone mortgage, loan and tax payments, and to help economic sectors hardest hit by the outbreak. Professionals, the self-employed and freelancers would receive financial support, “to safeguard the period of inactivity,” said Labor Minister Nunzia Catalfo, and quarantining will qualify as sick leave.

Mr. Conte said the measures amounted to an “Italian model” to “confront this economic and social emergency,” and he called on the European Union to follow. “Italy is a promoter of a message to all the European institutions,” he said.

The European Union has been criticized for moving slowly to address the crisis, but health has always been a matter for member states, not for Brussels. The proposed 30-day travel ban was done in part to protect internal trade and travel, including the smoother movement of medical supplies.

Ms. von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she understands “that member states do everything to protect their people, but we can’t hamper our single market’’ for goods and people, she said. “We need a good functioning single market.’’

The Commission also proposed special “fast-track” traffic lanes to speed needed medical supplies from one country to another.

She explained that the proposed travel ban from third countries would allow exemptions “for E.U. citizens coming back home, health care workers, doctors and nurses.” British citizens will be treated the same as other bloc citizens until the end of 2020.

The Commission would like to get other European countries in the Schengen free-travel zone who are not members of the European Union to agree to the travel ban, including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The hope is that other European countries outside Schengen, plus Ireland and Britain, which are outside Schengen but have a common travel area, will also join.

A Commission statement made clear that “a temporary travel restriction could only be effective if decided and implemented by Schengen states for all external borders at the same time and in a uniform manner.”

Some 10 of the 26 countries that make up the passport-free Schengen Area, which allows for largely free movement across mainland Europe, have reintroduced border controls, a spokesman for the European Commission said.

Britain, which had been taking a much less stringent approach to closures than the rest of Europe, announced moves on Monday putting it more in line with the rest of the Continent. The government is now urging people to stop going to pubs, restaurants and the theater, and is instituting strict quarantine procedures for the sick and their family.

“I can’t remember anything like it in my lifetime,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a Monday news briefing. “I don’t think there’s been anything like it in peacetime.”

Reporting was contributed by Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Monika Pronczuk in Brussels, Adam Nossiter in Paris, Mark Landler in London, Katrin Bennhold and Melissa Eddy in Berlin, Raphael Minder in Madrid, Elian Peltier in Barcelona, and Elisabetta Povoledo in Rome.

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2020-03-17 07:48:14Z
52780660679440

Macron Declares France ‘at War’ With Virus, as E.U. Proposes 30-Day Travel Ban - The New York Times

BRUSSELS — Adopting martial language, President Emmanuel Macron ordered the French to stay at home for at least the next 15 days, as France put in place some of the most severe measures in Europe to try to curb the raging coronavirus.

The aggressive move by France came as other countries in the region introduced measures that their leaders described as unprecedented in postwar Europe, and as the European Union proposed a 30-day shutdown of all nonessential travel into the bloc from other countries.

The movement of French citizens will be tightly restricted, starting from midday on Tuesday and lasting through at least the end of the month, with people expected to stay home, leaving only for essential activities like food shopping. Anyone violating the order faces punishment.

“We are at war,’’ Mr. Macron said in an address to the nation Monday night. “The enemy is invisible and it requires our general mobilization.”

The French army will deploy to transport the sick to hospitals, and a military hospital with 30 intensive care beds will be set up in the eastern region of Alsace, where one of the largest infection clusters has erupted.

Mr. Macron was responding to severe warnings from doctors about an increasingly dire situation. Jérôme Salomon, a top official at France’s health ministry, told France Inter radio on Monday that the situation in France was “deteriorating very quickly.”

“We are seeing that the number of cases is doubling every three days,” Mr. Salomon said. “There are hundreds of serious cases this morning in France’s intensive care units,” he said, adding that authorities were worried that the speed of the epidemic could provoke a “saturation of the French hospital system, which we absolutely want to avoid.”

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new raft of measures to minimize social contact: Religious services will be banned, and bars, clubs, discothèques and brothels shut. Restaurants will be allowed to open but only until 6 p.m., with wide spacing among diners, and hotels are being asked not to accept tourists. Schools across Germany were preparing for a prolonged shutdown.

Even if some criticized Germany’s response as slow, Ms. Merkel said that the measures were wide-reaching and an infringement on personal freedoms implemented only reluctantly. “In the 70-year history of the German Federal Republic, we have never had to do what we must do now,” the chancellor said.

Get an informed guide to the global outbreak with our daily coronavirus newsletter.

The number of infections in Germany continued to climb rapidly, reaching 6,400 by Monday, but the fatality rate remains notably low: Only 16 people have died of the virus so far.

The proposed travel ban into the European Union, which could be extended beyond 30 days, was vital to keep the internal borders of the bloc — and the so-called Schengen free-travel zone — as open as possible to promote European solidarity and to help the Continent’s economy, which appears to be heading into a recession, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“The less travel, the more we can contain the virus,” Ms. von der Leyen said, after a discussion on Monday with Group of 7 leaders, including President Trump, in which they agreed to coordinate research into the new disease and their social and economic responses to it.

The travel ban must be approved by the 27 member states, but Ms. von der Leyen said that there was strong support for the proposal, which will be decided on by the leaders of the bloc on Tuesday in a teleconference.

The proposal is an effort by Brussels to unify border practices after numerous member states have unilaterally shut themselves off to try to avoid further infection from travelers from where the infection rages, like Italy.

Spain, also with high rates of infection, announced on Monday that it would shut its land borders at midnight to foreigners. In emergencies, member states are allowed to introduce border controls.

By late Monday, Spain had about 9,200 cases and 330 dead, which is the worst toll in Europe after Italy. Half of the Spanish cases are in the Madrid region

Austria, which has banned citizens from numerous European countries from entering, has taken one of the toughest stances in Europe, banning gatherings of more than five people and imposing steep fines for those disobeying a far-reaching curfew.

France had already closed schools, cafes, restaurants and nonfood shops, as well as Paris parks. But the French government was taken aback by the casualness with which the French, and particularly Parisians, greeted the earlier restrictions on Sunday. The parks were full and there were crowds along the embankments and at the outdoor markets and pushing into bakeries and small food shops.

“There was something shocking about it,” Hervé Berville, a legislator who is close to Mr. Macron, said in a telephone interview Monday. “The French are not respecting the security warnings,” he said. “People are not following social distancing.” He said that it was “shocking’’ that people were ignoring health professionals and “the advice coming from the highest levels of government.’’

So Mr. Macron tried to convey the urgency of the need to follow the order to stay home — or else. “Any violation of these rules will be penalized,’’ he said in Monday’s speech. The French Interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, said those caught outside without a valid reason would be fined.

But in addition to his stern warning to stay inside, Mr. Macron also promised support for the French economy and French wage-earners, saying utility bills and rent would be “suspended” for struggling small businesses. So would his vaunted economic reforms. And he promised: “No business will be allowed to fail.’’

Given the movement restrictions, he also announced that a second round of local elections, scheduled for March 22, would be postponed.

“I know what I am asking of you is unprecedented but circumstances demand it,” Mr. Macron said.

Italy, Europe’s hardest hit country, on Monday adopted emergency economic measures worth 25 billion euros, or about $28 billion, to help protect the economy, as the number of cases jumped by 2,470 to 27,980 and deaths increased by 349, to 2,158.

In announcing the measures, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that no Italian “should feel abandoned,” during this crisis, and that the measures “were concrete evidence of the presence of the state.”

Funds were being made available to postpone mortgage, loan and tax payments, and to help economic sectors hardest hit by the outbreak. Professionals, the self-employed and freelancers would receive financial support, “to safeguard the period of inactivity,” said Labor Minister Nunzia Catalfo, and quarantining will qualify as sick leave.

Mr. Conte said the measures amounted to an “Italian model” to “confront this economic and social emergency,” and he called on the European Union to follow. “Italy is a promoter of a message to all the European institutions,” he said.

The European Union has been criticized for moving slowly to address the crisis, but health has always been a matter for member states, not for Brussels. The proposed 30-day travel ban was done in part to protect internal trade and travel, including the smoother movement of medical supplies.

Ms. von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she understands “that member states do everything to protect their people, but we can’t hamper our single market’’ for goods and people, she said. “We need a good functioning single market.’’

The Commission also proposed special “fast-track” traffic lanes to speed needed medical supplies from one country to another.

She explained that the proposed travel ban from third countries would allow exemptions “for E.U. citizens coming back home, health care workers, doctors and nurses.” British citizens will be treated the same as other bloc citizens until the end of 2020.

The Commission would like to get other European countries in the Schengen free-travel zone who are not members of the European Union to agree to the travel ban, including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The hope is that other European countries outside Schengen, plus Ireland and Britain, which are outside Schengen but have a common travel area, will also join.

A Commission statement made clear that “a temporary travel restriction could only be effective if decided and implemented by Schengen states for all external borders at the same time and in a uniform manner.”

Some 10 of the 26 countries that make up the passport-free Schengen Area, which allows for largely free movement across mainland Europe, have reintroduced border controls, a spokesman for the European Commission said.

Britain, which had been taking a much less stringent approach to closures than the rest of Europe, announced moves on Monday putting it more in line with the rest of the Continent. The government is now urging people to stop going to pubs, restaurants and the theater, and is instituting strict quarantine procedures for the sick and their family.

“I can’t remember anything like it in my lifetime,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a Monday news briefing. “I don’t think there’s been anything like it in peacetime.”

Reporting was contributed by Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Monika Pronczuk in Brussels, Adam Nossiter in Paris, Mark Landler in London, Katrin Bennhold and Melissa Eddy in Berlin, Raphael Minder in Madrid, Elian Peltier in Barcelona, and Elisabetta Povoledo in Rome.

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2020-03-17 07:27:00Z
52780660679440

Spain goes into lockdown as first lady tests positive for coronavirus - CNN

The Spanish capital, like the rest of the country, is now on partial lockdown in an attempt to stem the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe after Italy.

Spain's recorded cases of the virus surged by 1,400 overnight, to a total of 9,190, with 309 deaths, its Health Ministry said. Meanwhile Italy has over 24,000 cases and more than 1,800 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The country's land borders were closed Monday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced. The closure does not include Spanish nationals and residents, workers required to cross the border, and the transport of goods.

Some 47 million Spanish residents have been banned from leaving their homes -- with the exception of those going to work, buying food, going to a hospital, or supporting an elderly person or child in their care.

Priests in the deeply Catholic country are celebrating Mass alone, with services shown only on TV or via social media. Restaurants and bars have been closed. And cultural sites like the Prado Museum and Royal Palace in Madrid are also shut, as part of the tough measures announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday.

The same day, the government announced that the prime minister's wife, Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez, had tested positive for the virus. The couple are both "well" and following preventative measures at their official residence, La Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the statement added.

Spain's 15-day state of emergency comes after school closures were announced last week.

Tougher measures are expected to follow after the health ministry identified a 25% daily increase in the number of cases, its emergencies coordinator, Fernando Simon, said Monday.

Metro falls silent but commuter trains packed

Around half of the cases reported in the country so far have been in Madrid, where the region's president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, has also tested positive for the virus, officials said.

Streets and metro stations in the capital remain all but empty. Madrid's Metro posted CCTV images of deserted platforms Monday morning, adding that it had seen 75% fewer commuters than during rush hour last week.

It was a different story on the trains however, which passengers from out of town rely on to get into the city. At the central Atocha train station, commuters lined the platform and many told CNN that safe distances were not being maintained on board.

"It's shameful," passenger Librada Aguilera told CNN. "There are fewer trains which means they are very full. I had to travel with people all around me, very close."

"What is the point of me being at home all weekend if I am going to have to travel like this today?" she asked, adding that a "safe distance" was not being implemented.

"I can't work from home, so I don't have another option but to travel like this," she said.

Elsewhere in the city, some supermarkets were going to extremes to stop customers standing too close to one another, by taping markings on the ground.

Supermarkets were largely empty on Monday, with cashiers changing their gloves and disinfecting conveyor belts after every every customer, CNN reporters found.

"Most Spaniards are compliant" with the restrictions, one police officer patrolling the streets of Madrid told CNN. "Though they are taking far too much time to walk the dog or shop for food," he said, adding that this was "a trick" to stay outside for longer.

To get people off the streets, police can issue fines starting at $100. But the officer admitted that "fines won't solve this."

"We all have to do this in solidarity, knowing that everyone is staying at home," he said.

Some hotels have offered up their beds to help ease the strain on hospitals. On Monday, the country's Parachute Brigade delivered 45 hotel beds in army trucks to Alcalá de Henares in Madrid.

Elsewhere, high-profile budget airlines Ryanair and Easyjet announced on Sunday they would be canceling and reducing flights to and from Spain.

The previous day, at least five Jet2 flights from the United Kingdom to Malaga and Alicante in Spain turned around in mid-air over coronavirus fears.

CNN's Scott McLean and Mia Alberti contributed to this report.

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2020-03-16 17:24:30Z
52780662167210

Spain goes into lockdown as first lady tests positive for coronavirus - CNN

The Spanish capital, like the rest of the country, is now on partial lockdown in an attempt to stem the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe after Italy.

Spain's recorded cases of the virus surged by 1,400 overnight, to a total of 9,190, with 309 deaths, its Health Ministry said. Meanwhile Italy has over 24,000 cases and more than 1,800 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The country's land borders were closed Monday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced. The closure does not include Spanish nationals and residents, workers required to cross the border, and the transport of goods.

Some 47 million Spanish residents have been banned from leaving their homes -- with the exception of those going to work, buying food, going to a hospital, or supporting an elderly person or child in their care.

Priests in the deeply Catholic country are celebrating Mass alone, with services shown only on TV or via social media. Restaurants and bars have been closed. And cultural sites like the Prado Museum and Royal Palace in Madrid are also shut, as part of the tough measures announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday.

The same day, the government announced that the prime minister's wife, Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez, had tested positive for the virus. The couple are both "well" and following preventative measures at their official residence, La Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the statement added.

Spain's 15-day state of emergency comes after school closures were announced last week.

Tougher measures are expected to follow after the health ministry identified a 25% daily increase in the number of cases, its emergencies coordinator, Fernando Simon, said Monday.

Metro falls silent but commuter trains packed

Around half of the cases reported in the country so far have been in Madrid, where the region's president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, has also tested positive for the virus, officials said.

Streets and metro stations in the capital remain all but empty. Madrid's Metro posted CCTV images of deserted platforms Monday morning, adding that it had seen 75% fewer commuters than during rush hour last week.

It was a different story on the trains however, which passengers from out of town rely on to get into the city. At the central Atocha train station, commuters lined the platform and many told CNN that safe distances were not being maintained on board.

"It's shameful," passenger Librada Aguilera told CNN. "There are fewer trains which means they are very full. I had to travel with people all around me, very close."

"What is the point of me being at home all weekend if I am going to have to travel like this today?" she asked, adding that a "safe distance" was not being implemented.

"I can't work from home, so I don't have another option but to travel like this," she said.

Elsewhere in the city, some supermarkets were going to extremes to stop customers standing too close to one another, by taping markings on the ground.

Supermarkets were largely empty on Monday, with cashiers changing their gloves and disinfecting conveyor belts after every every customer, CNN reporters found.

"Most Spaniards are compliant" with the restrictions, one police officer patrolling the streets of Madrid told CNN. "Though they are taking far too much time to walk the dog or shop for food," he said, adding that this was "a trick" to stay outside for longer.

To get people off the streets, police can issue fines starting at $100. But the officer admitted that "fines won't solve this."

"We all have to do this in solidarity, knowing that everyone is staying at home," he said.

Some hotels have offered up their beds to help ease the strain on hospitals. On Monday, the country's Parachute Brigade delivered 45 hotel beds in army trucks to Alcalá de Henares in Madrid.

Elsewhere, high-profile budget airlines Ryanair and Easyjet announced on Sunday they would be canceling and reducing flights to and from Spain.

The previous day, at least five Jet2 flights from the United Kingdom to Malaga and Alicante in Spain turned around in mid-air over coronavirus fears.

CNN's Scott McLean and Mia Alberti contributed to this report.

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2020-03-16 17:06:35Z
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Life In Rome Under Coronavirus Lockdown - NPR

Enlarge this image

In normal times the pubs and cafes of Piazza Trilussa are the heart of Roman nightlife. Now all is shuttered; the rental bike stand is full and the only sound is the waterfall in the fountain. Sylvia Poggioli/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Sylvia Poggioli/NPR

It has been less than a week since, along with 60 million Italians, I was put under a government-ordered quarantine to try to curb the spread of Italy's coronavirus outbreak, the worst outside Asia. The new slogan is #iostoacasa — I'm staying home.

Overnight, life across the country has been turned upside down. Even for someone who has reported from war zones and experienced three months of NATO bombing in the Balkans, it's unnerving. I'm constantly wary. Of what? Who knows. Something is lurking around me and I don't know what it is. I wash my hands constantly — but I haven't been out all day and haven't seen anyone.

Rome at noon:riverside thruway Lungotevere dei Tebaldi, normally a chaotic, screeching rumble of cars, buses and motorcycles. Only sound today was early sign of Spring, a few chirping birds pic.twitter.com/CyhHYu9qzM

— Sylvia Poggioli (@spoggioli1) March 12, 2020

Life in Italy's COVID-19 red zone is like being suspended between the Dark Ages and a sci-fi future.

Here in Rome, all of a sudden the city's usual chaotic, horn-honking soundtrack has been transformed. With hardly any traffic, you can actually hear the squeak of rusty door hinges. The chirping of birds, an early sign of spring, is almost too loud.

#italylockdown Ponte Sisto 9:30AM melancholy interludes at each end of bridge #coronavirusitalia scenes from Red Zone pic.twitter.com/UaT0iqdxdy

— Sylvia Poggioli (@spoggioli1) March 15, 2020

The lockdown measures are strictly enforced. All restaurants, cafes, pubs, retail stores, cinemas, theaters, museums — you name it — are shut down until at least March 25.

The only exceptions are grocery stores, pharmacies and newsstands. The government wants to ensure all citizens have access to information, and many older Italians still prefer newsprint to small screens.

With Roman Catholic Mass banned, the bells of the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere chimed for 10 minutes Saturday at 8 p.m., in a sign of solidarity and prayer for all suffering from the coronavirus. Sylvia Poggioli/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Sylvia Poggioli/NPR

Everyone who ventures out has to carry a police form, downloadable from the Ministry of Interior website, in which you have to "self-certify" why you are out. The only purposes allowed are shopping for food and medicines, health reasons, emergencies, work or returning home. Violators face three months in jail or a fine of about $230.

I live in Trastevere, in the heart of old Rome, not far from Piazza Trilussa. The square is known for its lively nightlife, and it's usually full of people 24/7.

Not anymore. Every single storefront is shuttered. The bike rental stand is full. The only sound is the waterfall in the large fountain that dominates the square.

There is some human activity nearby, in the Frutteria Er Cimotto, a high-end fresh produce shop. As I walk in, Federico Seracchiani is bagging artichokes for a lone customer. I ask him what it feels like here now.

"This neighborhood was always packed with young people, now nobody! It's totally surreal, feels like another world," he says. "The lockdown was the only solution, even if it is drastic. I think it'll work. At least I hope so."

In fact, some polls have indicated that more than 60% of Italians approve of the government lockdown decision.

As I continue to meander through my neighborhood, it seems the only inhabitants these days, along with birds, are cats and ghosts. Walking on these centuries-old cobblestones, it's hard not to think they've seen this before. It was here, along the Tiber River, that a plague broke out in 1656 that claimed more than 14,000 lives.

In normal times, visitors to Rome tell me how struck they are by the near absence of police and the abundance of priests. Suddenly, the priests have disappeared and cops are everywhere — roaming streets, making random checks that people are carrying their "self-certification" form.

I'm prepared. If I'm stopped by police, I'll tell them I'm a reporter and I'm out to report. As it happened, at noon Friday, the only person I ran into was another journalist, Marina Garbesi.

What's scary about the virus, she told me, is the enemy is invisible.

"It's like a shark swimming very far below the surface, very dangerous. We should keep this metaphor in mind," she said.

I asked her how Italians are handling the quarantine.

"Italians do not respect rules. That's not a stereotype, it's the truth," she replied. "But they know how to handle situations of great danger because they have a sense of community — even in big cities, people help each other out."

Those who need spiritual help, though, are out of luck. Roman Catholic Masses are suspended, as are weddings and funerals. But lo, this is the era of the blessed cellphone — some priests are celebrating Mass on WhatsApp.

And some of Rome's churches are still sending out messages the old way. At 8 p.m. Saturday, the bells of all the churches in Trastevere rang out for 10 minutes in a sign of closeness, solidarity and prayer for all those suffering from the consequences of the virus.

To record those bells, I had to venture out in the dark. I wondered: Should a cop stop me, would the Roman officer consider recording church bells a legitimate form of work? I doubt it.

But I went into the unknown anyway. The only sounds of the night were ambulance sirens in the distance, and all that moved were police cars with flashing blue lights.

My street is poorly lit, which for once served my purpose. I encountered no one as I moved furtively along the walls and in the shadows to Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, were I hid in an alley behind a potted plant until 8 p.m. When I returned home, I had one of the best church bell recordings I've ever made. But I also felt as if I had violated what truly feels like a wartime curfew.

While churchgoers may be consoled with the chiming of bells, more secular Italians have found a different way to exorcise the coronavirus demon. Many homes display banners with pictures of rainbows and the words of another new slogan, andrà tutto bene — everything will be OK.

And there's been an eruption of musical flash mobs from windows and balconies, as neighbors join in song — the national anthem, pop, opera and tarantellas.

Even if homebound, Italians are reacting — at least so far — with a characteristic sense of humor, brio and musical flair.

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2020-03-16 16:26:42Z
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Amid coronavirus fears, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu sees an opening - CNN

Netanyahu has called for a national emergency government, consisting of all of the parties in the Knesset -- except the Arab parties -- to deal with the impact of the coronavirus. "In light of the world and national crisis, we have to unite our strength and form a strong and stable government that can pass a budget and take tough decisions," he said in a statement Sunday.

But he never included the Joint List of Arab parties, accusing them repeatedly of supporting terror in keeping up with his campaign strategy of attacking the political factions that represent some 20% of the country's population.

He suffered a significant political setback on Sunday evening, when Israel's President announced that Netanyahu's main opponent, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, had received enough support from lawmakers to get first crack at forming a new government. But Netanyahu continues to insist it is he, and not his inexperienced rival, who should be leading the country through the crisis.

Netanyahu's supporters see him as uniquely qualified to lead the country in this time of need. The longest serving prime minister in Israel's history has guided the country through several wars, dealt with dozens of world leaders, and largely become the face of Israel. To them, the coronavirus is one more challenge Netanyahu is sure to overcome.

His critics see things differently. They believe he is using a national emergency for his own political ends. Having failed to secure a governing majority after three straight elections, Netanyahu is now trying to leverage the coronavirus to post facto build a government, they argue.

Emergency government calls

On Sunday morning, citing the pandemic, Netanyahu suggested the formation of an immediate emergency government for six months, or a unity government which he would lead for two years, after which rival Benny Gantz would take over as Prime Minister.

Ben Caspit, author of The Netanyahu Years and a frequent critic of the Prime Minister, viewed Netanyahu's calls for unity with utmost skepticism. "It's impossible to disconnect his call for an 'emergency government' or a 'unity government' from the fact that he failed once again to muster a majority in the Knesset," wrote Caspit in Sunday's Ma'ariv newspaper. "This situation is without precedent: a prime minister who has thrice been unsuccessful in his bid to get reelected, who last received the public's confidence back in 2015, but who refuses to hand over the reins and who has been exploiting a national crisis to retain his grip on power."

There was no mention in Netanyahu's statements of his upcoming criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud and breach of trust, a crucial sticking point since Gantz and his Blue and White party have refused to serve under a Prime Minister who has been indicted.

Originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, the trial has now been delayed for more than two months after the Justice Minister, considered one of those closest to Netanyahu, declared a 24-hour "state of emergency" in the court system to deal with the spread of coronavirus. Within hours, the three judges appointed to preside over the Prime Minister's case had moved to postpone the trial opening until May 24th.

The coronavirus had done what Netanyahu's high-powered legal team could not -- delay the start of the trial and give him more time to lead the country.

Netanyahu's former Defense Minister, Moshe Ya'alon, who is now one of the top members of Gantz's Blue and White, tweeted on Saturday: "Anyone who criticized us when we warned of the dangers of Israel becoming like Erdogan's Turkey should think carefully about the cynical exploitation of the coronavirus crisis, for personal political needs, by a defendant facing trial."

There is no doubt that Israel is in a state of emergency because of the coronavirus, that will affect the economy, the military, the government, and the people. On the face of it, a unity government made up of the biggest parties might well offer the sort of strong and stable option that mainstream Israel is looking for in these trying times. Much less certain is how to get there.

Over the weekend, Gantz and Netanyahu were still trading barbs. On Sunday evening, Netanyahu accused Blue and White of "lying to its voters" because of its willingness to form a government with the support of the Arab parties. Last week, he tweeted that such a government would be a "disaster for Israel."

Gantz was just as acerbic. "Netanyahu, let's not manipulate the public," he said on Twitter. "If you're interested in unity, why postpone your trial at 1 a.m. and send an 'emergency unity' outline to the press, rather than sending your negotiating team to a meeting. As opposed to you, I will continue to support every appropriate governmental measure, leaving political considerations aside. When you get serious, we can talk."

In 2008, as corruption investigations were closing in on then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Netanyahu said, "A prime minister steeped up to his neck in investigations doesn't have a moral or public mandate to make such fateful decisions regarding the state of Israel." Then the leader of the opposition, Netanyahu called on Olmert to resign, which he did a short time later.

Netanyahu now finds himself staring down his own words, as his critics call on him to heed his past advice.

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2020-03-16 15:45:00Z
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