Mannen som hevder han ble sparket fordi president Trump og kompani ikke likte det han hadde å fortelle om trusselen koronaviruset representerer hvis man ikke tar den på dypeste alvor, basert på vitenskap. I dag skal doktor Bright vitne i Kongressen. Ikke akkurat lystig lesning, for det er et dystert bilde doktor Bright tegner av hva som kan bli konsekvensene av Trump-administrasjonens (manglende) håndtering av koronaviruspandemien for det amerikanske samfunnet...høyst respekterte doktor Fauci har forøvrig uttalt at han er sikker på at koronaviruset dukker opp igjen neste høst/vinter


CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

US immunologist warns of ‘darkest winter’ if virus rebounds

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar | May 14, 2020 at 6:22 AM CDT - Updated May 14 at 6:27 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus, says a government whistleblower who alleges he was ousted from his job after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic.

Immunologist Dr. Rick Bright makes his sobering prediction in testimony prepared for his appearance Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Aspects of his complaint about early administration handling of the crisis are expected to be backed up by testimony from an executive of a company that manufactures, respirator masks.

A federal watchdog agency has found "reasonable grounds" that Bright was removed from his post as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority after sounding the alarm at the Department of Health and Human Services. Bright alleged he became a target of criticism when he urged early efforts to invest in vaccine development and stock up on supplies.

"Our window of opportunity is closing," Bright says in his prepared testimony posted on the House committee website. "If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities."

Bright's testimony follows this week's warning by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictions could "turn back the clock," seeding more suffering and death and complicating efforts to get the economy rolling again.

President Donald Trump has dismissed Bright as "a disgruntled guy," and some of the president's political allies have urged that Fauci be fired, although that seems unlikely.

More than 83,000 people have died in the U.S., representing more than one-fourth of global deaths and the world's highest toll. On the planet more than 4.3 million have been infected and about 295,000 have died.

https://www.kltv.com/2020/05/14/us-immunologist-warns-darkest-winter-if-virus-rebounds/

Doktor Bright har nå vitnet i Kongressen og serverte sterk kost! Er det noen som helst grunn til å tro mer på president Trump som nå legger press på alle i alle retninger om å åpne samfunnet når det gjelder dette, enn på doktor Bright og doktor Fauci? Dette oppleves nesten som om vi alle nå er i ferd med å bli vitner til en varslet katastrofe... Skremmende!


Capitol Report

Vaccine expert Bright warns coronavirus ‘window of opportunity’ closing as Trump calls for ousting him from government

Published: May 14, 2020 at 11:23 a.m. ET
By Robert Schroeder

Trump calls Bright a ‘disgruntled employee’

Vaccine expert Rick Bright told lawmakers that the U.S. faces its “darkest winter in modern history” without a stronger response to the coronavirus pandemic, testifying to a House committee as President Donald Trump called publicly for his ouster from the government.

Bright in his testimony warns “we must not rush blindly, or act too quickly, in returning to our daily lives” and told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing: “our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.” He said that response must include a national testing strategy.

Bright has alleged he was reassigned from his role as Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority director because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug favored by Trump as a prospective coronavirus treatment but which is unproven as a remedy for COVID-19.

In a tweet, Trump called Bright a “disgruntled employee” who “should no longer be working for our government!”

Trump has been anxious for businesses and schools to reopen from lockdowns put in place to stop the spread of the virus. Bright, however, says in his testimony that ignoring science would increase risks of worsening the spread of the virus in the coming months.

Bright told lawmakers that even if a coronavirus vaccine is developed, the U.S. isn’t yet ready to distribute one in a “fair and equitable” way.

Bright’s testimony follows this week’s warning by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictions could “turn back the clock.”

In a May 5 complaint, Bright said he wants to be reinstated as BARDA director.

Caitlin Oakley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told MarketWatch in an email on Wednesday: “This is a personnel matter that is currently under review. However, HHS strongly disagrees with the allegations and characterizations in the complaint from Dr. Bright.” HHS oversees BARDA.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.52% dropped by more than 300 points early Thursday, but recovered more than 260 points in the late morning. Stocks had fallen as Trump ratcheted up fresh pressure on China and the government reported that another 3 million jobless claims were filed in the latest week.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/vaccine-expert-bright-warns-coronavirus-window-of-opportunity-closing-as-trump-calls-for-ousting-him-from-government-2020-05-14?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts

Går trått overalt, Kina (som var håpet fordi man har bedre kontroll på koronasmitte) intet unntak.


China's economic activity showed some signs of improvement in April as the world's second-largest economy began returning to work, though rising joblessness continued to weigh heavily on consumer spending. Retail sales fell 7.5% in April, according to data reported Friday, slightly worse than consensus forecasts. Urban unemployment rose. The bright spot lay in industrial production's recovery last month, as it rose 3.9% to beat expectations.

The Chinese data shows that "you can send people back to work, but you can't make it mandatory for people to go out and buy stuff. The consumer psyche has been dented," said Peter Schaffrik, a global macro strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "It'll be much more cautious and more difficult to reopen metropolitan areas that drive a good part of GDP such as Paris and London."

Overall output levels haven't returned to normal yet, a Chinese official said, warning that a combination of global recession and domestic joblessness would pose "unprecedented" challenges for the economy. The continued headwinds could strengthen Beijing's resolve to forge ahead with more stimulus measures at the country's main legislative meeting, set to begin May 22.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended the day largely flat, while the Hong Kong benchmark ticked down a little over 0.1%.

"What we saw today tells us the economic recovery [in China] may take longer than expected," said Ken Wong, equity portfolio specialist at Eastspring Investments. "The market has not fully priced in what may happen with a much deeper trade war as tension rises between the world's two superpowers."

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202005155005/us-futures-waver-as-china-signals-slow-recovery


Hvis områder i USA nå går på baksmell når det gjelder koronasmitte, kan vel stemningen virkelig bli gloomy så det rekker....?


Live Updates

Live updates: CDC offers few guidelines for reopening safely as U.S. death toll surpasses 85,000

With many Americans anxious about safely resuming their lives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued six pages of recommendations to guide schools, businesses and others into the next phase of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The scant guidelines came after many states had already begun to lift restrictions on their own and were far less detailed than draft recommendations the agency sent to the White House for review.

Meanwhile, as the confirmed U.S. death toll surpassed 85,000 on Thursday, vaccine expert Rick Bright warned Congress that the nation faces the “darkest winter in modern history” if the government does not develop a more coordinated coronavirus response.

Here are some significant developments:

Democrats are gearing up to push a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the House on Friday. The legislation, which would boost funding for state and local governments as well as the U.S. Postal Service, faces road blocks in the Senate, and President Trump has threatened a veto.

For some states, including New York and Oregon, Friday will mark the start of a piecemeal approach to reopening as restrictions remain in some areas while being eased in counties with smaller populations and few coronavirus infections.

The Food and Drug Administration warned of inaccuracies in the rapid Abbott coronavirus test hailed by Trump and used by the White House.

Nearly 3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing the total number of jobless claims in the past eight weeks to a staggering 36.5 million.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) stepped down as Intelligence Committee chairman after federal agents seized his cellphone for an ongoing investigation into whether he deliberately dumped stocks before the pandemic rocked global markets.

Trump announced a plan to reconfigure the chronically undersupplied national stockpile of emergency gear as two witnesses said in congressional testimony that lives were lost because front-line workers lacked protective equipment.

Fortsetter i neste innlegg...

1:15 p.m.

Well-known medical journal suggests change is needed in the White House

President Trump is under fire from the Lancet, among the world’s oldest and best-known medical journals, which accuses him in a new editorial of injecting partisan politics into his response to the coronavirus pandemic and suggests that a change is in order in the White House.

“Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics,” the editorial says.

The publication, which has offices in London, New York and Beijing, criticizes the Trump administration’s “inconsistent and incoherent national response” to the coronavirus outbreak and accuses it of relegating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to only a “nominal” role in the U.S. response.

“The Administration is obsessed with magic bullets — vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear,” the editorial says. “But only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/15/coronavirus-update-us/

Føderal myndigheter i USA prøver desperat å holde liv i bløffen om at en vaksine mot COVID-19 er nært forestående. Børsene skal holdes oppe må vite fordi man tror det er resepten for å få gjenvalgt presidenten.

Som allerede påpekt i trådstart med dokumentasjon er sentralbanksjefens håp om 'a quick V shaped recovery' ikke lenger til stede, I dag kommer det nøkterne alvorsord fra europeiske ledere.


POLITICS

European leaders warn a vaccine won’t come soon enough — or perhaps ever

PUBLISHED SUN, MAY 17 202010:11 AM EDTUPDATED SUN, MAY 17 202010:40 AM EDT

KEY POINTS

In separate, stark warnings, two major European leaders have bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by the development of a vaccine.

The comments by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as nations around the world and U.S. states are both struggling with restarting economies.

In separate, stark warnings, two major European leaders have bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by the development of a vaccine.

The comments by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as nations around the world and U.S. states are both struggling with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic. With 36 million newly unemployed in the U.S. alone, economic pressures are building even as authorities acknowledge that reopening risks off new waves of infections and deaths.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/17/european-leaders-are-blunt-a-vaccine-wont-come-soon-enough.html