Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban is ruling by decree indefinitely amid coronavirus - CNBC

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (C) votes with other representatives about the government's bill on the protection against the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the plenary session of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary on March 30, 2020.

ZOLTAN MATHE

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been granted the right to rule by decree for an indefinite period of time, and these new sweeping powers are raising concerns in Europe.

The Hungarian parliament approved a bill Monday that allows Orban to rule the country by decree, meaning that he does not need to consult with other lawmakers to make decisions. The legislation, which came into force Tuesday, has been justified as an emergency response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the bill criminalizes any attempts to stop the Hungarian government fighting the outbreak, including the spreading of false information, which could be punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years.

"The Hungarian government's primary concern during the coronavirus pandemic is the protection of human lives," a spokesperson for the Hungarian government told CNBC via email Tuesday.

However, the bill has sparked criticism elsewhere in Europe.

"Covid-19 requires adequate responses. But they must not endanger rule of law, disempower democratic institutions or put fundamental rights at risk. We need to overcome this together, not rule through decrees," Michael Roth, Germany's minister for European affairs, said Monday.

Orban has been in the spotlight over recent years for his government's increasing oversight of the judiciary, media and foreign universities.

The enabling act … shows that PM Orban is using every opportunity to gain excessive, unchecked power and to rule by decree.

David Vig

Director at Amnesty International in Hungary

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, opened proceedings against Hungary in 2018 for threatening the region's democratic values. However, the process has stalled, with the European Commission seeking an agreement with Budapest, rather than imposing fines or other sanctions on the country.

The European Commission was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC Tuesday. 

Orban is "using the pandemic as an excuse to cement his power," Lydia Gall, eastern Europe and Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CNBC Tuesday over the phone. "It is a pretext for the government…to do whatever they want."

A worker disinfects the area in an underpass in Budapest early morning on March 31, 2020, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

GERGELY BESENYEI

 The emergency bill also allows Orban to prevent public demonstrations and mitigate criticism by political opponents and the media. He will be the one to decide when the current emergency state is over.

"The enabling act … shows that PM Orban is using every opportunity to gain excessive, unchecked power and to rule by decree," David Vig, director at Amnesty International in Hungary, told CNBC Tuesday. He said that subsequent decrees should be watched for potential human rights violations.

The spokesperson for the Hungarian government added: "False claims of a power grab in Hungary are just that. Such insinuations are not only incorrect but defamatory, and impede the government's efforts in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus."

Duration a 'more concerning issue' 

Orban has been Hungary's prime minister since 2010. His party was suspended from the conservative political group in the European Parliament, the EU's only elected chamber, about a year ago, for concerns over his actions against an independent judiciary and the media.

Technically, Hungary's new law could be withdrawn by parliament and the Constitutional Court also has the power to assess the government's decrees. However, Orban's political party has two thirds of the chamber and the Court has many members loyal to the government.

"These institutions do not serve as credible checks on the government's actions," Andrius Tursa, central and eastern Europe advisor at the research firm Teneo, said in a note Monday.

He added that "the duration of the state of emergency, during which the executive holds special powers, is a more concerning issue," and that "Orban could keep the state of emergency in place for much longer than needed to handle the Covid-19 outbreak." 

Hungary has reported 492 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15 deaths as of Monday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The figures are much lower than those from the worst-hit countries in Europe, namely Italy, Spain and France.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tLzIwMjAvMDMvMzEvY29yb25hdmlydXMtaW4taHVuZ2FyeS12aWt0b3Itb3JiYW4tcnVsZXMtYnktZGVjcmVlLWluZGVmaW5pdGVseS5odG1s0gFpaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25iYy5jb20vYW1wLzIwMjAvMDMvMzEvY29yb25hdmlydXMtaW4taHVuZ2FyeS12aWt0b3Itb3JiYW4tcnVsZXMtYnktZGVjcmVlLWluZGVmaW5pdGVseS5odG1s?oc=5

2020-03-31 11:24:46Z
52780695727276

Post-Soviet strongmen prescribe vodka, hockey and folk medicine against coronavirus - CNN

Take, for instance, Belarus, a small country sandwiched between Russia and European Union member Poland: President Alexander Lukashenko has shrugged off concerns about Covid-19, telling his people that hockey, vodka, and banya -- a traditional sauna -- are the best cures.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million people for more than a quarter of a century, has imposed few restrictions to prevent coronavirus from spreading further.

Restaurants, parks and bars remain open. Mass sporting events go on as scheduled and attract hundreds of spectators, in defiance of the World Health Organization's social distancing recommendations. The Belarussian Premier League is now the only soccer competition on the continent.

And Lukashenko himself hasn't limited public appearances, opting to play in a hockey match on Saturday.

"It's better to die standing than to live on your knees," he said, rinkside in full hockey gear, in an interview with state television. "This is a fridge, this is healthy, there is nothing better than sport, especially ice which is the real anti-viral medicine."

Belarus has officially reported 94 cases of coronavirus -- and no deaths -- but Lukashenko's critics have cast doubt on those statistics, warning that authorities there could be downplaying the numbers as the country gears up for a presidential election later this year.

Lukashenko has made his own recommendations to combat the virus, suggesting that Belarusians should drink vodka to "poison the virus," or attend a banya.

"I once mentioned that people need to go to banya to fight different viruses, this one included, since Covid-19 doesn't like high temperatures and dies at +60 C, as the experts informed me," Lukashenko said, adding that if you don't have hand sanitizer, drink vodka.

"When you get out of sauna you shouldn't just wash your hands — down a shot of vodka," he said. "I don't drink myself, and I don't advocate for it, but I'll be okay with, it's tolerable at least until Victory Day on May 9."

There is no clear evidence to indicate that the coronavirus can be controlled by high temperatures, experts say.

Business as usual

Belarus has yet to close its borders -- its response so far has been limited to a two-week quarantine order for all those arriving in the country. But all of its neighbors — Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia -- have shut theirs.

Work hasn't stopped either, as Lukashenko is concerned at how the coronavirus response is hurting the global economy. He says he found inspiration in US President Donald Trump's suggestion that the cure for Covid-19 should not be worse than the virus itself.

"I liked his recent statements very much," Lukashenko said of Trump, during a visit to a plaster plant last week, according to an official transcript. "He said, 'If we do not immediately return to enterprises and start working, then much more Americans will die from unemployment than from coronavirus.' Now you understand why I didn't close the factories."

In post-Soviet Central Asia, some local strongmen have also taken the path of coronavirus denial.

In Tajikistan, a remote nation bordering Afghanistan, President Emomali Rahmon has continued a schedule of public appearances and plans to convene parliament in mid-April.

Last week, Rahmon -- who is referred to in government news releases as the "Founder of Peace and National Unity and Leader of the Nation" — paid visits to cities taking part in a nationwide beautification project, the Republic Flower Contest, and handed out gifts to orphans.

"This humane initiative of the Head of State caused great joy," the government news release stated.

Rahmon also went ahead with massive celebrations for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, taking part in festivities at the central stadium in the city of Khujand on March 22. The government news release featured crowds of spectators in national dress watching a colorful, choreographed spectacle and a speech by the leader.

Iran, by contrast, curtailed Persian New Year celebration plans, banning non-essential travel and closing shops, in the wake of a large Covid-19 outbreak.

That's not to say that Tajikistan takes coronavirus completely lightly. Tajikistan has no officially recorded cases of coronavirus, but it closed to international flights on March 19 -- cutting off an economic lifeline for a country that is heavily dependent on remittances from migrant labor. And Rahmon most recently conferred with the president of neighboring Kyrgyzstan on measures to contain the virus.

Turkmenistan, another former Soviet republic, has taken a decidedly different approach. The isolated republic is ruled by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has built a formidable personality cult and has promoted folk medicine in his writings, which are mandatory reading for public officials.

A March 13 readout of a cabinet meeting made no mention of the novel coronavirus or Covid-19, but did include a lengthy discourse on the benefits of burning yuzarlik (Peganum harmala), a folk remedy, to prevent infectious diseases.

"The first volume of the head of state's book, Medicinal Plants of Turkmenistan, describes methods for the preparation and use of harmala concoctions," the readout states. "Our ancestors kept it in houses in the form of bundles of their branches. At times, people fumigated their home with them. They thus carried out the prevention of infectious diseases."

As other world leaders grapple with how to handle the coronavirus pandemic -- in some cases from within self-isolation — Berdymukhamedov continues to devote time to of his primary passions: Horseback riding. On Sunday, Turkmenistan's state news agency reported that the president spent the day at the Akhal-Teke equestrian complex, where he went riding and started work on a new book.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiUmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMy8zMC9ldXJvcGUvc292aWV0LXN0cm9uZ21lbi1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1pbnRsL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAVZodHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDIwLzAzLzMwL2V1cm9wZS9zb3ZpZXQtc3Ryb25nbWVuLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWludGwvaW5kZXguaHRtbA?oc=5

2020-03-31 10:54:54Z
52780700217279

Belarusian leader bucks coronavirus 'psychosis,' plays hockey - NBC News

MOSCOW — While officials from Montreal to Moscow have placed populations under some form of lockdown designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, one man continues to hold firm to the notion that the rest of the world has lost its mind: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees!” Lukashenko told a Belarusian television reporter Saturday when asked whether or not the coronavirus could stop him from hitting the rink for a propaganda-filled hockey game.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko plays in a hockey game in Minsk on Saturday.Andrey Pokumeiko / BelTA / via Reuters

“Me? Why? I don’t understand. There is no virus here,” Lukashenko said, gesturing around the arena. “This is a refrigerator, it is the best thing for your health. Sport, especially on ice, is better than any antiviral medication, it is the real thing.”

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

Lukashenko, one of the longest-serving leaders in the former Soviet Union, has been in power for over 25 years. His tenure has seen brutal crackdowns on dissent.

Both Lukashenko and his nation, Belarus, have played second fiddle to their much larger, and much more powerful neighbor: Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The two nations have a loosely controlled internal border and shared customs space — undermining his claims to sovereignty.

Lukashenko for weeks now has downplayed the threat of COVID-19. Instead of preparing his nation for the worst, he has routinely and openly questioned the world’s response to the virus, using the word “psychosis” to describe the global response several times since early March.

Meanwhile, he has made a point of keeping factories, stores, cultural and sporting events open. The Belarusian Health Ministry has reported just 152 cases of the coronavirus. Neighboring Russia reported 1,836 as of Monday.

Two weeks ago, he insisted that Belarus has survived worse than the novel pandemic hitting the world. Saunas, vodka and tending to the fields were the best remedy for those who fear the spread of the virus, he said.

“The tractor will heal everyone,” he said, “the fields heal everyone.”

March 30, 202000:50

Lukashenko’s folk remedies for COVID-19 fall well in line with assurances issued by other post-Soviet leaders. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president of Turkmenistan, consulted his own writings on his nation’s plant life and declared a cure to be found in a local herb.

In his own way, Russian President Putin has also downplayed the threat of the virus — insisting for weeks that the situation was well under control. But Putin began an about-face last week in a national address asking Russians to stay home.

Lukashenko seems to have been unfazed by Putin’s admission that the situation is more serious than it first appeared.

“This psychosis has crippled national economies almost everywhere in the world,” Lukashenko said while touring a factory Friday. “Even the Russian Federation that is similar to us has started closing businesses.”

Matthew Bodner

Matthew Bodner is a Moscow-based producer and reporter for NBC News.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5iY25ld3MuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvYmVsYXJ1c2lhbi1sZWFkZXItYnVja3MtY29yb25hdmlydXMtcHN5Y2hvc2lzLXBsYXlzLWhvY2tleS1uMTE3MjA0MdIBLGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5iY25ld3MuY29tL25ld3MvYW1wL25jbmExMTcyMDQx?oc=5

2020-03-31 09:09:07Z
52780700217279

Hungary's Viktor Orban gets sweeping powers under 'coronavirus bill' - The - The Washington Post

Zoltan Balogh AP Two members of the military police patrol the streets in Budapest on Monday, as part of a lockdown imposed by the government due to the coronavirus.

BERLIN — The Hungarian parliament on Monday handed the country’s populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, the power to govern unchallenged for as long as he sees fit, a move rights groups said effectively suspends democracy in the European Union member state in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus.

The “coronavirus bill,” which allows Orban to rule by decree and bypass the national assembly, passed by 137 to 53 votes despite opposition efforts to attach an expiration date on the state of emergency. The law also punishes those who “distort” or publish “false” information on the outbreak with five years in jail.

The government has said that the emergency powers are necessary to fight the outbreak, but political analysts say they have questions about whether Orban will relinquish them when the health crisis subsides. Hungary has 447 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“He is using this crisis to further increase his power,” said András Bíró-Nagy, the director of the Budapest-based Policy Solutions think tank. “The Hungarian prime minister enjoys the situation where he can act as a captain in a crisis. I don’t see him giving up these powers again easily.”

He pointed to the fact that Orban, leader of the right-wing anti-immigration Fidesz party, still holds emergency powers introduced in 2016 to deal with the migrant crisis.

Orban does not stand alone in being accused of a coronavirus power grab amid concerns that leaders with authoritarian tendencies could exploit the current crisis.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of carrying out what critics have dubbed a “coronavirus coup” to remain leader and delay his impending court proceedings. Security agencies have also been ordered to track users’ data without their consent.

Zoltan Mathe

AP

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban replies to faction leader of the oppositional Jobbik party Peter Jakab during a question-and-answer session of the Parliament as it approved legislation that extends a state of emergency and gives the government extraordinary powers to enact measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, failed to convince lawmakers to give him the authority to take over private businesses earlier this month. But even the emergency powers he has been granted have raised concerns given his past record of flouting the rule of law.

While expansive emergency measures in countries such as Britain, France and Italy may have an end date before they must gain parliamentary approval for extensions, the lifting of checks and balances on democracies needs to be closely monitored, rights activists say.

“In states of emergency, there may be a need to temporarily derogate from certain rights and procedures but any such measures need to be temporary, proportionate and absolutely necessary from a public health perspective,” said Lydia Gall, an Eastern Europe researcher with Human Rights Watch.

“Vaguely formulated provisions, as can be seen in the state-of-emergency legislation adopted, do not fulfill those criteria and certainly not when they are set for an indefinite period of time,” she added.

The vote by Hungary’s parliament effectively leaves the Orban administration free to pass any type of decree it sees fit, she said. “We will have to wait and see how the government will use this unlimited power.”

There are fears that it will be used to further curb independent voices and a free press, she said. Hungary has made several arrests in recent weeks of people accused of spreading “fake news” over the number of coronavirus cases in the country, even though many believe the real number of infections is higher.

While the Orban-controlled government says the constitutional court can still act as a check, observers point out that it has been stacked with Orban loyalists.

“In practice, everybody in Hungary knows the constitutional court is never going to go against Orban,” Bíró-Nagy said.

The European Union has already launched punitive measures against Orban’s government.

The bloc said that Orban’s attacks on the media, the judiciary and the rights of minorities pose a “systematic threat” to its core values.

But so far, it has not managed to shift Hungary’s course, and analysts say the 27-member bloc will now be distracted with the broader issues of dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

Reactions were muted on Monday.

Didier Reynders, the European Union commissioner for justice, said that the organization evaluates emergency measures taken by member states in relation to fundamental rights.

“This is particularly the case for the law passed today in Hungary concerning the state of emergency and new criminal penalties for the dissemination of false information,” he tweeted.

Others, including former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, called for decisive action.

“I have been dreaming of a ‘United States of Europe’ for years,” he wrote on Twitter. “Precisely for this reason, I have the right, and the duty, to say that after what Orban has done today, the European Union MUST act and make him change his mind. Or, simply, expel Hungary from the Union.”

László György Lukács, a right-wing parliamentarian with the Jobbik party, told the pro-government news site Hungary Today that he believed in tough measures to fight the virus but “Orbán must not use the epidemic to build a kingdom.”

Michael Birnbaum in Brussels and Steve Hendrix in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Read more

Coronavirus isolation brings new hardships for the world’s poor

Coronavirus triggers an ‘existential’ moment crisis for Europe

The new autocrats

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMimAFodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vd29ybGQvaHVuZ2FyaWFuLXBhcmxpYW1lbnQtaGFuZHMtb3JiYW4tcG93ZXItdG8tcnVsZS11bmNoZWNrZWQvMjAyMC8wMy8zMC9jYzUxMzVmNi03MjkzLTExZWEtYWQ5Yi0yNTRlYzk5OTkzYmNfc3RvcnkuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5

2020-03-31 08:23:15Z
52780695727276

New York greets hospital ship with cheers; California cases soar - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed past 3,000 on Monday, the deadliest day yet in the country’s mounting crisis, while New York cheered the arrival of a gleaming 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship as a sign of hope in the city’s desperate fight.

In a grim new milestones marking the spread of the virus, total deaths across the United States hit 3,017, including at least 540 on Monday, and the reported cases climbed to more than 163,000, according to a Reuters tally.

People in New York and New Jersey lined both sides of the Hudson River to cheer the U.S Navy ship Comfort, a converted oil tanker painted white with giant red crosses, as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty accompanied by support ships and helicopters.

The Comfort will treat non-coronavirus patients, including those who require surgery and critical care, in an effort to free up other resources to fight the virus, the Navy said.

“It’s a wartime atmosphere and we all have to pull together,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was among the dignitaries to greet the ship’s arrival at the Midtown Manhattan pier.

Hospitals in the New York City area have been overrun with patients suffering from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus. Officials have appealed for volunteer healthcare workers.

“We can’t take care of you if we can’t take care of ourselves,” said Krystal Horchuck, a nurse with Virtua Memorial Hospital in New Jersey. “I think a lot of us have accepted the fact that we are probably going to get this. It’s just that we want to survive. We’re all being exposed to it at some point.”

The United States has the most confirmed cases in the world, a number that is likely to soar when tests for the virus become more widespread.(Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T)

President Donald Trump told a White House briefing that more than 1 million Americans had been tested for coronavirus - less than 3% of the population. While the United States has ramped up testing after a series of setbacks, it still lags countries like Italy and South Korea on a per capita basis.

In California, another hard-hit state, Governor Gavin Newsom said the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations had nearly doubled over the past four days and the number of ICU patients had tripled. Officials there also appealed for medical volunteers.

CENTRAL PARK HOSPITALS

To ease the pressure in New York, construction of a 68-bed field hospital began on Sunday in Manhattan’s Central Park. The white tents being set up evoked a wartime feel in an island of green typically used by New Yorkers to exercise, picnic and enjoy the first signs of spring.

The makeshift facility, provided by the Mount Sinai Health System and non-profit organization Samaritan’s Purse, is expected to begin accepting patients on Tuesday, de Blasio said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of the most prominent public figures of the coronavirus crisis, told a news conference the state might have to step in to close playgrounds in the country’s most populous city in order to enforce social distancing and slow the spread of the virus.

Cuomo and de Blasio are among a growing chorus of officials who have voiced frustration at Trump’s handling of the crisis and a shortage of ventilators and personal protective equipment.

“I am not engaging the president in politics,” Cuomo, a Democrat, said of Trump, a Republican. “My only goal is to engage the president in partnership.”

Medical students and physician assistants from Touro University Nevada wait to screen people in a temporary parking lot shelter at Cashman Center, with spaces marked for social distancing to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a Michigan plant in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then manufacture 30,000 a month.

Officials in states hard hit by the pandemic have pleaded with the Trump administration and manufacturers to speed up production of ventilators to cope with a surge in patients struggling to breathe. On Friday, Trump said he would invoke powers under the Defense Production Act to direct manufacturers to produce ventilators.

CHILLING NUMBERS

U.S. health officials are urging Americans to follow stay-at-home orders until the end of April to contain the spread of the virus, which originated in China and has infected about three-quarters of a million people around the world.

“If we do things together well - almost perfectly - we could get in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 fatalities,” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC’s “Today” show.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing that he expected a coronavirus outbreak in the fall, as well, but he said the nation would be better prepared to respond.

Authorities in New Orleans were setting up a field hospital at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center - the same site where thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees gathered in 2005 - to handle an expected overflow of patients.

Dr. Thomas Krajewski, an emergency room doctor at St. Barnard Parish hospital in New Orleans, said he had watched patients be admitted to the hospital and seem ready to get better only to get worse.

“Many of them have passed away already in a way that ... it’s not normal,” he said. “It’s not something that any of us had prepared to do. And we’re kind of writing the book as we go.”

Slideshow (30 Images)

The governors of Maryland, Virginia and Arizona issued “stay-at-home” orders as cases rose in those states, as did Washington, D.C.

At the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, 12 prisoners were hospitalized and several required ventilators, while 77 more showing symptoms were isolated at the facility, officials said.

Renowned country and folk singer John Prine was among the latest celebrities - including several members of Congress - to come down with the virus. Prine was in stable condition on Monday after being hospitalized with symptoms of the illness, his wife said on Twitter. Prine, a 73-year-old cancer survivor, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

(This story refiles to add dropped word “care” in the 7th paragraph)

Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Daniel Trotta in Milan, Barbara Goldberg and Stephanie Kelly in New York and Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao and John Whitesides; Editing by Howard Goller, Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5yZXV0ZXJzLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlL3VzLWhlYWx0aC1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy11c2EvbmV3LXlvcmstbWF5b3ItcGxlYWRzLWZvci1oZWxwLWFzLXUtcy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy10b2xsLW1vdW50cy1pZFVTS0JOMjFIMUxY0gE0aHR0cHM6Ly9tb2JpbGUucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9hbXAvaWRVU0tCTjIxSDFMWA?oc=5

2020-03-31 08:36:22Z
52780691269924

New York greets hospital ship with cheers; California cases soar - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York welcomed the arrival of a gleaming 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship on Monday as a beacon of hope for the city’s desperate fight against the coronavirus pandemic, while the national death toll climbed past 3,000 on the country’s most deadly day.

People gathered on the New York and New Jersey sides of the Hudson River to cheer the U.S Navy ship Comfort, a converted oil tanker painted white with giant red crosses, as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty accompanied by support ships and helicopters.

The Comfort will treat non-coronavirus patients, including those who require surgery and critical care, the Navy said.

“It’s a wartime atmosphere and we all have to pull together,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was among the dignitaries to greet the ship’s arrival at the Midtown Manhattan pier. Hospitals in the city have been overrun with patients suffering from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

The United States had its highest daily death toll on Monday with more than 500 new deaths, bringing the total to 3,001 killed and more than 160,000 reported cases, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States has the most confirmed cases in the world, a number that is likely to soar when tests for the virus become more widespread.(Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T)

U.S. President Donald Trump told a White House briefing more than 1 million Americans had been tested for coronavirus - less than 3% of the population. While the United States has ramped up testing after a series of setbacks, it still lags countries like Italy and South Korea on a per capita basis.

In California, another hard-hit state, Governor Gavin Newsom said the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations had nearly doubled over the past four days and the number of ICU patients had tripled.

CENTRAL PARK FIELD HOSPITALS

To ease the pressure in New York, construction of a 68-bed field hospital began on Sunday in Central Park, and the white tents being set up evoked a wartime feel in an island of green typically used by New Yorkers to exercise, picnic and enjoy the first signs of spring.

The makeshift facility, provided by the Mount Sinai Health System and non-profit organization Samaritan’s Purse, is expected to begin accepting patients on Tuesday, de Blasio said.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of the most prominent public figures of the coronavirus crisis, told a news conference the state might have to step in to close playgrounds in the country’s most populous city.

Cuomo and de Blasio are among a growing chorus of officials who have voiced frustration at Trump’s handling of the crisis and a shortage of ventilators and personal protective equipment.

“I am not engaging the president in politics,” Cuomo, a Democrat, said of Trump, a Republican. “My only goal is to engage the president in partnership.”

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at Michigan plant in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then manufacture 30,000 a month.

Officials in states hard hit by the pandemic have pleaded with the Trump administration and manufacturers to speed up production of ventilators to cope with a surge in patients struggling to breathe. On Friday, Trump said he would invoke powers under the Defense Production Act to direct manufacturers to produce ventilators.

The USNS Comfort passes Manhattan as it enters New York Harbor during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

CHILLING NUMBERS

U.S. health officials are urging Americans to follow stay-at-home orders and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, which originated in China and has infected about three-quarters of a million people around the world.

“If we do things together well - almost perfectly - we could get in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 fatalities,” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC’s “Today” show.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. health official, cited those figures on Sunday as a possible outcome, but Birx’s assessment appeared to suggest the figures could be a floor rather than a ceiling.

The virus has spread from its original epicenters in Washington state, New York and California.

Authorities in New Orleans were setting up a field hospital at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center - the same site where thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees gathered in 2005 - to handle the expected overflow of patients.

The governors of Maryland, Virginia and Arizona issued “stay-at-home” orders as cases rose in those states, as did Washington, D.C.

At the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, 12 prisoners were hospitalized and several required ventilators, while 77 more showing symptoms were isolated at the facility, officials said.

Renowned country and folk singer John Prine was among the latest celebrities - including several members of Congress - to come down with the virus. Prine was in stable condition on Monday after being hospitalized with symptoms of the illness, his wife said on Twitter. Prine, a 73-year-old cancer survivor, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Slideshow (19 Images)

Trump initially played down the risk to Americans, drawing criticism from health officials and political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden, front-runner in the Democratic race to challenge Trump in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“We allowed the seeds to be planted. And now there is nothing to do but wait for the bloom. A lot of these deaths are already percolating,” said Dana Miller, 61, of Belmont, Massachusetts, a retired U.S. government health policy official.

Trump on Sunday abandoned a hotly criticized plan to get the economy up and running by mid-April, extending his original 15-day nationwide stay-at-home order for another 30 days, a step that many Americans accepted with resignation.

“I’m sad to be locked inside, but I think it’s for the best,” said Mia Siracusa, 24, a data manager ordered to work out of her apartment in Brooklyn, whose live-in boyfriend is from Italy and whose mother is a New York City hospital nurse.

Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Daniel Trotta in Milan, Barbara Goldberg and Stephanie Kelly in New York and Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao and John Whitesides; Editing by Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5yZXV0ZXJzLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlL3VzLWhlYWx0aC1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy11c2EvbmV3LXlvcmstbWF5b3ItcGxlYWRzLWZvci1oZWxwLWFzLXUtcy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy10b2xsLW1vdW50cy1pZFVTS0JOMjFIMUxY0gE0aHR0cHM6Ly9tb2JpbGUucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9hbXAvaWRVU0tCTjIxSDFMWA?oc=5

2020-03-31 08:01:23Z
52780691269924

New York greets hospital ship with cheers; California cases soar - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York welcomed the arrival of a gleaming 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship on Monday as a beacon of hope for the city’s desperate fight against the coronavirus pandemic, while the national death toll climbed past 3,000 on the country’s most deadly day.

People gathered on the New York and New Jersey sides of the Hudson River to cheer the U.S Navy ship Comfort, a converted oil tanker painted white with giant red crosses, as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty accompanied by support ships and helicopters.

The Comfort will treat non-coronavirus patients, including those who require surgery and critical care, the Navy said.

“It’s a wartime atmosphere and we all have to pull together,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was among the dignitaries to greet the ship’s arrival at the Midtown Manhattan pier. Hospitals in the city have been overrun with patients suffering from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

The United States had its highest daily death toll on Monday with more than 500 new deaths, bringing the total to 3,001 killed and more than 160,000 reported cases, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States has the most confirmed cases in the world, a number that is likely to soar when tests for the virus become more widespread.(Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T)

U.S. President Donald Trump told a White House briefing more than 1 million Americans had been tested for coronavirus - less than 3% of the population. While the United States has ramped up testing after a series of setbacks, it still lags countries like Italy and South Korea on a per capita basis.

In California, another hard-hit state, Governor Gavin Newsom said the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations had nearly doubled over the past four days and the number of ICU patients had tripled.

CENTRAL PARK FIELD HOSPITALS

To ease the pressure in New York, construction of a 68-bed field hospital began on Sunday in Central Park, and the white tents being set up evoked a wartime feel in an island of green typically used by New Yorkers to exercise, picnic and enjoy the first signs of spring.

The makeshift facility, provided by the Mount Sinai Health System and non-profit organization Samaritan’s Purse, is expected to begin accepting patients on Tuesday, de Blasio said.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of the most prominent public figures of the coronavirus crisis, told a news conference the state might have to step in to close playgrounds in the country’s most populous city.

Cuomo and de Blasio are among a growing chorus of officials who have voiced frustration at Trump’s handling of the crisis and a shortage of ventilators and personal protective equipment.

“I am not engaging the president in politics,” Cuomo, a Democrat, said of Trump, a Republican. “My only goal is to engage the president in partnership.”

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at Michigan plant in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then manufacture 30,000 a month.

Officials in states hard hit by the pandemic have pleaded with the Trump administration and manufacturers to speed up production of ventilators to cope with a surge in patients struggling to breathe. On Friday, Trump said he would invoke powers under the Defense Production Act to direct manufacturers to produce ventilators.

The USNS Comfort passes Manhattan as it enters New York Harbor during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

CHILLING NUMBERS

U.S. health officials are urging Americans to follow stay-at-home orders and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, which originated in China and has infected about three-quarters of a million people around the world.

“If we do things together well - almost perfectly - we could get in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 fatalities,” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC’s “Today” show.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. health official, cited those figures on Sunday as a possible outcome, but Birx’s assessment appeared to suggest the figures could be a floor rather than a ceiling.

The virus has spread from its original epicenters in Washington state, New York and California.

Authorities in New Orleans were setting up a field hospital at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center - the same site where thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees gathered in 2005 - to handle the expected overflow of patients.

The governors of Maryland, Virginia and Arizona issued “stay-at-home” orders as cases rose in those states, as did Washington, D.C.

At the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, 12 prisoners were hospitalized and several required ventilators, while 77 more showing symptoms were isolated at the facility, officials said.

Renowned country and folk singer John Prine was among the latest celebrities - including several members of Congress - to come down with the virus. Prine was in stable condition on Monday after being hospitalized with symptoms of the illness, his wife said on Twitter. Prine, a 73-year-old cancer survivor, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Slideshow (19 Images)

Trump initially played down the risk to Americans, drawing criticism from health officials and political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden, front-runner in the Democratic race to challenge Trump in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“We allowed the seeds to be planted. And now there is nothing to do but wait for the bloom. A lot of these deaths are already percolating,” said Dana Miller, 61, of Belmont, Massachusetts, a retired U.S. government health policy official.

Trump on Sunday abandoned a hotly criticized plan to get the economy up and running by mid-April, extending his original 15-day nationwide stay-at-home order for another 30 days, a step that many Americans accepted with resignation.

“I’m sad to be locked inside, but I think it’s for the best,” said Mia Siracusa, 24, a data manager ordered to work out of her apartment in Brooklyn, whose live-in boyfriend is from Italy and whose mother is a New York City hospital nurse.

Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Daniel Trotta in Milan, Barbara Goldberg and Stephanie Kelly in New York and Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao and John Whitesides; Editing by Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5yZXV0ZXJzLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlL3VzLWhlYWx0aC1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy11c2EvbmV3LXlvcmstbWF5b3ItcGxlYWRzLWZvci1oZWxwLWFzLXUtcy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy10b2xsLW1vdW50cy1pZFVTS0JOMjFIMUxY0gE0aHR0cHM6Ly9tb2JpbGUucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9hbXAvaWRVU0tCTjIxSDFMWA?oc=5

2020-03-31 07:37:21Z
52780691269924