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A solution to the COVID-19 epidemic is in sight. It is the combo used by South Korea, where people are back at work, to successfully stem its COVID-19 outbreak. It has three parts: (1) greatly expanded testing of those who could be infected and (2) effective treatment of the virus with a hydroxychloroquine-zinc cocktail, combined with (3) the product of American ingenuity: rapid development of vaccines. While these solutions might be thwarted by bureaucracy, progress is happening rapidly, and there are reasons why our collective Groundhog Day of staying at home every day while the economy falters and body counts...

Meet Betty Boop, a kitten with deformed limbs, but not a deformed spirit. She runs and plays like any other healthy kitten. Video, 5 minutes, 47 seconds.

... As more data comes in from China and Italy, as well as Washington state and New York, more cardiac experts are coming to believe the COVID-19 virus can infect the heart muscle. An initial study found cardiac damage in as many as 1 in 5 patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress. That could change the way doctors and hospitals need to think about patients, particularly in the early stages of illness. It also could open up a second front in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, with a...

History has a way of repeating itself. In difficult times, American history lets us know that we’re not alone in having to contend with wars, disasters, and pandemics. Past generations found a way through even the most difficult of times. In fact, being only forced to stay home in relative luxury, my complaints seem hollow compared to what our ancestors faced. In rereading the memoir of my wife’s grandmother, Audrey Jacobi, I found an unexpected gift. Audrey’s father was a splicer for Bell Telephone at the time of the Spanish Flu. Because the phone company would send him wherever his...

WASHINGTON - Health care was already a vulnerability for President Donald Trump before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now his lack of a plan to fix the system is coming under a new microscope as the crisis costs many Americans their coverage and overwhelms providers. The clarity in Trump's health care vision begins and ends with repealing the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, also known as Obamacare. His budget proposals would strip away funding for the law, and he has endorsed a lawsuit to wipe it off the books. But the president hasn't thrown his weight behind a replacement bill or...

One of the first casualties in the rhetorical war over COVID-19 was our Constitutionally-given right to question the “End of the World” computer model projections, the professors and “experts” creating and pushing those models, and their track records with such models from the past. Myself and a number of others have been lit-up – or censored -- by some on the left for daring to simply question the accuracy of computer models which have upended civilization and given birth to draconian measures and rule. Draconian measures and rule which did slam down like an iron curtain. Just two weeks after...

In a powerful monologue questioning the wisdom of these draconian, economy-killing shutdowns, Fox News host Tucker Carlson noted the tendency of our “opinion making class” to portray those who express concern about the U.S. economy as being guilty of a “kind of moral crime.” “Our leaders still seem far more afraid of a virus that probably kills fewer than 1 percent of those infected than the prospect of a third of all Americans losing their jobs,” Carlson said Thursday night. “We don’t judge anyone for that … Still, this is a moment, it will pass. A year from now, what...

Link only - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/04/coronavirus-stimulus-outdated-technology-could-delay-checks-experts-say/5112012002/

Mr Trump called India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, a day after the country banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, which it manufactures in large quantities. The two leaders are on friendly terms, and Mr Trump recently made a high-profile trip to India. But is India really in a position to help the US? And does hydroxychloroquine even work against the coronavirus? What is hydroxychloroquine? Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to Chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs. But the drug - which can also treat auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - has also attracted attention over...

The problem with people referring to this bizarre pandemic life limbo as “the new normal” is that there are people out there, both in and out of positions of responsibility, who are digging this opportunity to boss us around. And it is troubling to see that there are a number of prominent folks who are in no hurry to curtail their ability to boss us around. We need to note carefully who these people are and ensure that they never get a chance to control anything again. You are starting to see more of that as this drags out. You...

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WASHINGTON (AP) — After the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment. A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers.

China has tried to restore its image after lying to the world about the seriousness of its coronavirus outbreak, but its attempts at humanitarianism have turned out to be as slippery as its wet markets. After COVID-19 made its way to Italy, decimating the country’s significant elderly population, China told the world it would donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help Italy stop its spread. Reports later indicated that China had actually sold, not donated, the PPE to Italy. A senior Trump administration official tells The Spectator that it is much worse than that: China forced Italy to buy back...

In the summer of 2005, President George W. Bush was on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he began flipping through an advance reading copy of a new book about the 1918 flu pandemic. He couldn't put it down. When he returned to Washington, he called his top homeland security adviser into the Oval Office and gave her the galley of historian John M. Barry's "The Great Influenza," which told the chilling tale of the mysterious plague that "would kill more people than the outbreak of any other disease in human history." "You've got to read this," Fran...

Unbelievable. Just saw a local report. Began with out of context and unbalanced info on that hydroxo-whatever drug. Just an attempt to bash Trump. Then a praise of CUOMO because the curve may be flattening in New York.

Please FReep Mail me regarding the ping list for these reports. Thanks. COVID-19 Update As of 04/05/2020 23:17 PDST (taken at 23:59) Good morning everyone. Thank you for dropping in to check out this Update. Links to other resources: Near the bottom of this post. Commentary3: Interesting Tid-bits (hopefully) Waking Up Daily to the Same Pandemic There is a certain Groundhog Day (the movie) feel to the situation we are in as this pandemic has it's way in our nation. We experience the bad news one day, go to sleep, and then wake up seemingly starting it all over again,...

Well, it’s, what is this? Day 6 of Q&A? We have pretty well covered “masks”, every one is an expert on epidemiology. Are there any questions left?

Police in Texas announced on Sunday they are looking for a woman who claimed on Snapchat to have tested positive for COVID-19 and was "willfully spreading it." Police identified the woman as Lorraine Maradiaga, 18. She stands to be charged with terroristic threat, Texas Penal Code 22.07, they said. "We have no confirmation Maradiaga is actually a threat to public health," the department announced on Facebook Sunday night. "We are, however, taking her social media actions very seriously."

Health professionals say the majority of Luzerne county's coronavirus cases are in the Hazleton area and the numbers are growing quickly. The mayor of Hazleton will enact a curfew for residents on Saturday at 8PM along with other rules that will be enforced by police. Luzerne County has asked the governor to send in the National Guard...there are many factors that led to Hazleton being a hot spot for COVID-19... ...Hazleton is really going to be ground zero for this... Rep. Toohil says there are many factors that may have led to this including commuters to New York and New...

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