Saturday, May 16th, 2020

New coronavirus vaccine official is ‘confident’ vaccine possible within 2020 President Trump on Friday appointed pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline’s former chair Moncef Slaoui and Army Gen. Gustave Perna to lead the administration’s development of a coronavirus vaccine. The officials, who will lead the effort called Operation Warp Speed, will seek to develop a vaccine within 12 to 18 months, which some officials say is an overly optimistic timeline, though others say it could be possible if efforts go smoothly. Slaoui said he’s “confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020.” Trump said the federal government will provide additional funding to help “accelerate” the development and manufacturing of a vaccine. The White House also added five new members to its coronavirus task force. Source: ABC News

 

Michigan passes 50,000 cases of COVID-19. As of this date, this state has 50,079 reported cases, causing 4,825 deaths. The city of Detroit, which has 10,230 reported positive tests, accounts for more than 20% of the state’s cases, and 1,240 deaths, 25% of the state’s total. (MLive.com)

United States President Donald Trump announces the officials for Operation Warp Speed in an effort to develop a vaccine by the end of 2020. (Politico)

American retail chain J. C. Penney files for chapter 11 bankruptcy.(USA Today)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo extends the stay-at-home order for New York until June 13. (Business Insider)

The Dubai Road Transport Authority announces that the elevators on the Dubai Metro will be restricted to two people at a time. (Gulf News)

The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 300,000 worldwide. (TimesnowNews)

Nelson Teich resigns as Brazil’s Minister of Health less than a month into office amid disagreements with President Jair Bolsonaro over the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (BBC)

DOJ, state AGs reportedly planning to target Google in major antitrust cases The Justice Department and the attorneys general of several states are expected to bring antitrust suits against Google focusing intensely on the company’s ad business, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The DOJ case could reportedly be brought as soon as this summer, while the state attorneys general are expected to file a case closer to the fall. It’s unclear whether states will file separate complaints or join the federal case. Google’s ad business has long been a source of criticism. CNBC noted in late 2019 that the tech giant was on track to surpass 20 percent of U.S. ad spending both online and offline by the end of the year. The Journal says the potential lawsuits could “rank among the most significant antitrust cases in U.S. history.” Source: The Wall Street Journal

Biden lays out path to ‘318 electoral votes’ Former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign laid out what it sees as a “clear” path to winning 318 electoral votes in this year’s presidential election in a Friday call with reporters. Biden’s camp is convinced it can win back states that went for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but flipped to Trump in 2016, including Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In addition, it’s considering the red states Arizona, Georgia, and Texas as flippable, with Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon saying she’s “bullish about Arizona” in particular. Biden’s strategy for winning those states relies on young, black, and Latino voters; suburban, college-educated voters; and disaffected Trump voters; though his campaign has struggled to bring in Latino voters so far. Source: The Daily Beast

 

Friday, May 15th, 2020

Gunmen opened fire against two social workers delivering aid for people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Van Province, Turkey, killing them at the scene. (Xinhua)

Save the Children reports a surge in deaths of people with coronavirus-like symptoms in Aden, with at least 380 in the last week. Officially, Yemen has only reported 13 COVID-19 deaths. (BBC)

The U.S. Senate unanimously passes a bill placing visa and property sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. (Al Jazeera)

Burundi expels the country’s top World Health Organization representative and three other experts coordinating the COVID-19 response. The government says they are persona non grata and must leave Burundi. They accused them of “interfering with the government response to the pandemic”. (Al Jazeera)

The United States Navy’s Naval Safety Center discloses “hazard reports” of Navy pilot encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena, including an incident in March 2014, in which a fighter jet pilot encountered an “unknown aircraft”, which was “approximately the size of a suitcase, and silver in colour.” (Sky News)

 

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Friday, Mar 15th, 2020

New York City goes 58 consecutive days without a fatal pedestrian traffic collision, the most since tracking began in 1983. (ABC News)

CDC publishes pared-down COVID-19 reopening guidance  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published six one-page “decision tool” documents Thursday afternoon for schools, camps, restaurants, bars, workspaces, mass transit systems, and childcare facilities to use when deciding whether or how to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the only publicly released remnants of what was originally about 57 pages of detailed guidance from CDC scientists, whittled down to 17 pages, then shelved by the White House on April 30. The published decision trees were edited by White House officials in the Office of Management and Budget, typically to add more wiggle room. The CDC originally also made a document for churches and other religious facilities, but they took it out after objections from White House officials. Source: The Associated Press

The New York Stock Exchange is expected to partially reopen following Memorial Day. (Forbes)

Governor Phil Murphy announces that their beaches will reopen for Memorial Day, but with restrictions. (Politico)

China marks a month without announcing new deaths. (ABC News)

Ex-vaccine chief says administration ignored warnings about coronavirus Dr. Rick Bright, the federal official who was allegedly ousted while leading coronavirus vaccine development, warned Congress on Thursday that the United States lacked an effective plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and that top officials have disregarded science-based concerns regarding medical material shortages and potentially harmful treatment options. Bright filed a whistleblower complaint regarding his removal. Bright said a 12-18 month timeline for a vaccine, as the federal government has been planning, may be too optimistic. He said the timeframe fit “if everything goes perfectly,” but “we’ve never seen everything go perfectly. … I think it’s going to take longer than that to do so.” Fox News host Bret Baier said Bright’s allegations that the Trump administration ignored warnings from experts was “politically damaging” for President Trump. Source: The New York Times

Burr steps down as Intel Committee chair after reported FBI search Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has stepped down as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Thursday. Burr has been under scrutiny since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic after it was revealed he sold a hefty percentage of his stock portfolio while receiving closed-door briefings on the impending health crisis. He’s now under an FBI investigation for possible insider trading. Burr privately warned donors about upcoming adverse economic effects of the epidemic back in February, even though he downplayed the virus’ severity publicly. He sold between $628,000 and $1.72 million in stocks on Feb. 13, while getting private briefings from health officials. The FBI reportedly served Burr a search warrant and seized his cell phone on Wednesday. Source: The Washington Post

Additional 3 million jobless claims bring 8-week total past 36 million The number of Americans who have filed initial unemployment claims during the coronavirus crisis has now reached more than 36 million. The Labor Department on Thursday said another 2.98 million Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, which brings the eight-week total to about 36.5 million. Thursday’s number was worse than the 2.7 million economists were expecting. The peak for weekly jobless claims during the Great Recession was 665,000. The April jobs report released last week showed the unemployment rate soared to 14.7 percent, the worst since the Great Depression, with 20.5 million jobs lost. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also revealed Wednesday that among Americans who were working in February, almost 40 percent in households making less than $40,000 a year lost a job in March.  Source: CNBC

Equinor, a multinational oil company two-thirds owned by the government of Norway, rejected a group of environmental and climate change-related resolutions at its shareholders meeting. One of these called on Equinor to stop oil exploration in ecologically sensitive areas. (Reuters)

 

Thursday,  May 14th, 2020

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announces that the stay-at-home order will be lifted on May 15, except for Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. Groups of over ten will remain forbidden. (The Hill)

Poland extends its ban on foreigners entering the country until June 12 due to COVID-19. (Reuters)

Due to a spike in cases, the government announces a total lockdown in Santiago. (The New York Times)

 

The End

Thursday,  May 14th, 2020

Poland extends its ban on foreigners entering the country until June 12 due to COVID-19. (Reuters)

Due to a spike in cases, the government announces a total lockdown in Santiago. (The New York Times)

New York City goes 58 consecutive days without a fatal pedestrian traffic collision, the most since tracking began in 1983. (ABC News)

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announces that the stay-at-home order will be lifted on May 15, except for Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. Groups of over ten will remain forbidden. (The Hill)

Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down governor’s stay-at-home order The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday evening struck down the stay-at-home order implemented by Gov. Tony Evers (D) to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. GOP lawmakers filed the suit, claiming that Evers’ administration overstepped its authority when it extended the order to May 26. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled the order was “unenforceable” and “unlawful.” The court is controlled by conservatives, but one did side with the court’s two liberal justices to dissent. Now Evers, who has allowed the lifting of some restrictions, and the Republican-controlled state Legislature must work together to form a reopening plan. As of Wednesday, there are 10,902 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, with 421 deaths. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ousted official to warn of risk of ‘unprecedented illness and fatalities’ Dr. Rick Bright, the federal official who was allegedly ousted while leading coronavirus vaccine development, reportedly plans to warn Congress that the United States is on the precipice of the “darkest winter in modern history.” Bright, who filed a whistleblower complaint regarding his removal, will testify before Congress on Thursday. “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,” his statement reads. Bright warns of the dangers of states reopening too soon. The Office of Special Council has found “reasonable grounds” to believe Bright’s ouster was retaliatory. A spokesperson for HHS says the department “strongly disagrees” with his allegations. Source: CNN

Fed chair describes economic downturn ‘without modern precedent’ Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said “the reversal of economic fortune” brought on by the coronavirus pandemic over the last two months in the United States “has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words.” In the same address, Powell said the Fed is releasing a survey Thursday which found that among people who were working in February, nearly 40 percent of those in households making less than $40,000 per year lost a job in March. All told, Powell said, “the scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent, significantly worse than any recession since World War II.” He also warned that the pandemic could leave lasting economic damage. Source: Federal Reserve

The End