Free Republic

A high-stakes debate is playing out among key figures in President Trump’s orbit over how quickly to loosen restrictions meant to combat the coronavirus. A number of people around Trump have pushed for prioritizing the economy and sending people back to work as quickly as possible, particularly in less afflicted areas. But Trump’s own public health officials and some of his allies on Capitol Hill have warned against risking higher infection rates and deaths for the sake of boosting the economy in the short term. Sources close to the Trump administration described a “split” in the larger Trump World where...

Spanish soldiers deployed to help fight the new coronavirus outbreak have found elderly patients abandoned, and sometimes dead, at retirement homes, as an ice rink inside a Madrid shopping mall was turned into a temporary morgue to cope with a surge in cases. The army has been charged with helping to disinfect retirement homes in Spain, one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. Dozens of deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded at facilities across the country. "We are going to be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences," Defence Minister...

A New York City emergency room doctor -- who survived the Ebola virus five years ago -- says the city's hospitals being all but overrun by the rush of COVID-19 cases. Craig Spencer is director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian / Columbia University Medical Center... "Finally home after 13 hours in the ER. Today >90% of my patients were confirmed or likely #COVID19. Many really sick, some in their 30s like me. The sirens on otherwise empty NYC streets are unending & haunting. I’m tired. But really honored to be back in the ER in the...

Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made the case that the proposed Wuhan coronavirus relief package that's currently floating in Congress shows why progressive ideas and the progressive movement are achievable. "It's actually a fascinating progressive moment because what it's shown is that all of these issues have never been about how are you going to pay for it. It's never been about whether we have the capacity to do these things or if the logistics have worked out," AOC explained in a video for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. "All of these excuses that we have been given as...

Dr. Anthony Fauci's interview with Science magazine began on an inauspicious note. Asked how he's doing right now, Fauci said he was "exhausted" but "good." "I mean, I'm not, to my knowledge, coronavirus-infected," he said, before adding with a laugh: "To my knowledge, I haven't been fired." What followed were several exchanges that should help people take stock of President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus. Repeatedly, Fauci tacitly and even openly admitted that comments made by the commander in chief are not true and are not in line with what the nation's leading infectious disease expert is advising. The...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth . . . Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should...

House Republicans on Monday night offered a detailed critique of what they called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “socialist wish list” in House Democrats’ $2.5 trillion proposal for responding to the coronavirus outbreak. “Speaker Pelosi unveiled legislation aimed at exploiting the COVID-19 public health crisis by attempting to force the inclusion of a socialist wish list of policies that have nothing to do with the public health and economic emergency,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican. After poring over the 1,400-page proposal, Mr. Scalise offered his characterization of Republicans’ objections to the following items: Under the heading of “Union...

In preparation for treating coronavirus patients, the Health Ministry has canceled all but urgent scheduled health procedures from the beginning of the week. Exceptions were made for procedures such as oncology treatments and operations, urgent vascular surgery, dialysis, catheterization and medical imaging. In vitro fertility treatments are also continuing, especially for women who have already started them. But termination of pregnancy does not appear on the list of exceptions the ministry issued to hospitals. Currently about 60 percent of abortions are carried out in hospitals and 40 percent are done in private surgical clinics. In a letter to the Heath...

Groups representing 30,000 physicians signed a letter called for the suspension of abortions in order to preserve medical resources critical to fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The letter was published on Monday as officials reported greater numbers of those infected and the stock market continued to tank. The letter was signed by five groups representing "physicians who practice according to the Hippocratic Oath," including: * The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) * The American College of Pediatricians * Christian Medical & Dental Associations * The Catholic Medical Association * The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons

Madonna is facing backlash online after she posted a video to Instagram calling the coronavirus "the great equalizer," while sitting in a bathtub filled with rose petals and surrounded by candles. The clip garnered criticism from some, who accused her of being "out of touch." "That's the thing about COVID-19," Madonna said in the video posted Sunday. "It doesn't care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell." "It's the great equalizer and what's terrible about it is...

Abortion remains an issue of significance across the country even as the coronavirus spreads. As the crisis unfolds, policymakers must ensure that life-affirming policies that protect innocent, unborn life remain an integral part of our nation’s response, both legislatively and administratively. An initial draft of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which President Donald Trump recently signed into law, did not contain language applying Hyde Amendment protections to new funding. Congress and the White House worked to ensure that the final version of the bill maintained this important protection, which generally prohibits federal funding from providing for elective abortions. Get...

2019-2020 U.S. Flu Season: Preliminary Burden Estimates     CDC estimates* that, from October 1, 2019, through March 14, 2020, there have been: 38,000,000 – 54,000,000 flu illnesses 17,000,000 – 25,000,000 flu medical visits 390,000 – 710,000 flu hospitalizations 23,000 – 59,000 flu deaths *  

At least three coronavirus deaths and seven other cases in residents have been identified at Atria Willow Wood, a statement from the facility said Sunday. Test results were still pending for five other residents as of Sunday night, according to the statement. Governor DeSantis said during a press conference last week that the facility did not screen staff, cooks and construction workers prior to letting them enter, exposing hundreds of residents to the deadly virus...DeSantis said that a Department of Health investigation revealed that the incidents were "avoidable," and added that some people at the facility were "coughing up a...

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome cor- onavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV) poses a serious threat to global public health and local economies. As of March 3, 2020, over 80,000 cases have been confirmed in China, including 2946 deaths as well as over 10,566 confirmed cases in 72 other countries. Such huge num- bers of infected and dead people call for an urgent demand of effective, available, and affordable drugs to control and diminish the epidemic. We have recently reported that two drugs, remdesivir (GS-5734) and chloroquine (CQ) phosphate, efficiently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in...

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CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza was widely mocked on social media on Monday while attempting to mock President Trump for his vocal stance on borders amid the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump has long supported strengthening the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico, but as the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, there has been a renewed call to increase border security to crack down on the transmission of the virus on top of the travel ban he had set against China as well as the majority of Europe. On Monday morning, Trump touted his support for strong borders on social media.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was slammed on social media for falsely claiming that "no doctors" were present at Monday's White House press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak. Scarborough was among many media personalities on Twitter who quickly noticed that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a prominent figure in the White House's coronavirus task force, was missing from the briefing. The liberal TV personality quickly concluded that the briefing wasn't necessary. "There is no public benefit to this briefing. The networks should all cut away," Scarborough tweeted. "Bland pronouncements, the repeating of catch phrases daily, bad medical advice. No science, no doctors, no...

CNN anchor Don Lemon claimed on Monday night that it's "not my intention to say bad things" about President Trump, despite being known as one of the most outspoken anti-Trump journalists. During his nightly handoff with CNN colleague Chris Cuomo, Lemon complained about the daily White House press briefings on the coronavirus and noted the absence of prominent task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci. And while trashing the president, Lemon praised Cuomo's brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "Here's the thing... as I'm watching, I kept saying 'Why are we even listening to the president?' But he's the president and...

No doubt noticed by the Fed and likely among the reasons for their emergency action this morning, Annaly Capital (NYSE:NLY) attempted to unload more than $400M of MBS this weekend to meet margin calls, reports Bloomberg. Apparently there were a number of mREITs (and other leveraged MBS players) doing the same, but Annaly is the sector giant. According to the story, Annaly was able to sell about $100M in non-agency MBS. Shares were off 10.55% in the regular session today; they're up 5.25% after hours.

House Democrats are being criticized on Monday for allotting expenses in their proposal of an emergency stimulus bill that has nothing to do with the coronavirus outbreak, including $35 million meant for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Following the Senate Democrats derailing the pursuit of a bipartisan-drafted stimulus bill, the House led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., offered their own version of a bill meant to save the economy as the pandemic has pummelled the stock market. However, buried inside the over 1,100-page emergency proposal is money meant to upkeep a popular destination at the country's...