US ducks doomsday as coronavirus projections miss mark . . . New York, which just weeks ago was pleading with the feds to help it find 40,000 ventilators to handle a projected flood of critically ill COVID-19 patients, now says things are going so well it’s shipping hundreds of ventilators to other states. Hospital beds nationwide were projected to top out at nearly 225,000 on their peak day amid the coronavirus crisis. Instead, they peaked at less than a third of that. Beds in intensive care units are also far less in demand than prognosticators had warned. Washington Times

 

Vitamin D deficiency may increase odds of dying from virus . . . Black Americans are dying of Covid-19 at a higher rate than whites. Socioeconomic factors such as gaps in access to health care no doubt play a role. But another possible factor has been largely overlooked: vitamin D deficiency that weakens the immune system.

Researchers last week released the first data supporting this link. They found that the nations with the highest mortality rates—Italy, Spain and France—also had the lowest average vitamin D levels among countries affected by the pandemic. Wall Street Journal 

 

Beef shortage possible . . . The coronavirus has sickened workers and forced slowdowns and closures of some of the country’s biggest meat processing plants, reducing production by as much as 25 percent, industry officials say, and sparking fears of a further round of hoarding. Before the coronavirus hit, about 660,000 beef cattle were being processed each week at plants across the United States. This week there probably will be around 500,000 head processed at U.S. plants still in operation. That’s 25 percent less beef being produced. Washington Post

 

Most cases aboard aircraft carrier symptom-free, a frightening fact . . . Roughly 60 percent of the over 600 sailors who tested positive so far have not shown symptoms of COVID-19, the potentially lethal respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, the Navy says. The service did not speculate about how many might later develop symptoms or remain asymptomatic. “With regard to COVID-19, we’re learning that stealth in the form of asymptomatic transmission is this adversary’s secret power,” said Rear Admiral Bruce Gillingham, surgeon general of the Navy. Reuters

 

Dogs may be able to sniff out the the disease . . . Dogs might join the good fight to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in humans–especially for those who are symptom free, according to a team of researchers. Due to the urgent need of coronavirus testing, preparations to intensively train dogs to detect asymptomatic carries of the virus have started and could be ready in six weeks, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “It’s very early stages,” says James Logan, head of LSHTM’s Department of Disease Control. New York Post

 

Holocaust survivor dies of coronavirus . . . A New Jersey grandmother who survived the Holocaust has died from coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Thursday. Margit Feldman, who was born in Hungary, endured Auchwitz, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1947, was 90 years old. "May her memory be a blessing to her family and to us all," Murphy said at his daily press conference. Feldman was born in 1929 in Hungary. She and her family were deported and imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Her parents were killed there, but Feldman survived both that camp and several others until the British liberated Bergen-Belsen nearly 75 years ago to the day, at the end of World War II. After she braved those horrors, Feldman moved to the U.S., met her husband, Harvey and settled in New Jersey. The couple celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary last December. NY Daily News

 

Two thirds of Americans think Trump was too slow on the virus . . .  A new poll shows that the majority of Americans believe that President Donald Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the threat of the coronavirusoutbreak in the U.S. The poll from Pew Research Center was released on Thursday, and surveyed surveyed 4,917 adults in the U.S. in April, with weighted responses to reflect national demographics. Asked whether Trump was 'quick' or 'too slow' in leading the pandemic response, 65 percent responded 'too slow.'  

Asked about the problems America faces in the pandemic, 73 percent said that they believed the worst is yet to come. Daily Mail

 

Trump Schedule || Friday, April 17, 2020

 

Lawmakers weigh "payback" against China for coronavirus . . . 

Fox News Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday that lawmakers from both parties are conferring about "possible payback" against China for actions  Beijing took or failed to take in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. "You're already seeing bills about pulling back manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry," Baier continued. "That could be expanded to other aspects. There would be an effort to make China feel some pain for their actions, whatever it turns out to be." Fox News

 

GOP mocks "Nancy Antoinette" for showing off high-end freezer stocked with ice cream . . . Republicans are mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “Nancy Antoinette” for appearing on a late-night TV show in front of her $20,000-plus refrigerator/freezer stocked with upscale ice cream while allowing an emergency fund for distressed small businesses to run out of money. “The Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money this morning because Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, blocked the necessary $250 billion replenishment for the program that Congressional Republicans tried to deliver,” the Republican National Committee said in an email. “Now ‘Nancy Antoinette’ has to explain to America why she chose to show off her luxury refrigerators and $13-dollar a pint ice cream collection from her chateau in San Francisco instead of funding the Paycheck Protection Program which has saved millions of jobs all across the country.” Washington Times

 

 

Chick Todd Warns Dems stalling relief could backfire . . . 

MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd offered a warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. that their strategy in delaying coronavirus relief for struggling Americans may backfire on Democrats. Republican lawmakers slammed Democrats for stalling the passing of further financial assistance for small businesses as the federal government hit the $349 billion lending limit on the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program on Thursday. Todd told Hugh Hewitt's radio program that while Democrats are "genuine" in what they're advocating for in the spending bills, the perception of them being responsible for delaying much-needed relief for millions of people may be the unintended result of their strategy. Fox New

 

 

 

China adds 1,300 to Wuhan death toll . . . Nearly 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, or half the total, were not counted in death tolls because of lapses, state media said on Friday, but Beijing dismissed claims that there had been any kind of cover-up. The central city where the outbreak emerged late last year added 1,290 more fatalities to the 2,579 previously counted as of Thursday, reflecting incorrect reporting, delays and omissions, according to a local government task force in charge of controlling the coronavirus. Reflecting the additional deaths in Wuhan, China revised its national death toll later on Friday up to 4,632. The revision follows widespread speculation that Wuhan’s death toll was significantly higher than reported. Reuters

Super-charged stocks race toward second weekly gain . . . World stock markets made a super-charged sprint towards a second straight week of gains on Friday after President Donald Trump laid out plans to gradually reopen the coronavirus-hit U.S. economy following similar moves elsewhere. The bulls were back in business. Additional reports that patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms had responded positively to a drug made by U.S. company Gilead Sciences had helped Tokyo and Seoul surge 3% as Asia took a widely-expected slump in Chinese GDP data in its stride. Europe's main markets and Wall Street futures made 3% gains in early European trading too, putting the pan-regional STOXX 600 up almost 8% in the last two weeks and MSCI's 49-country world index. Reuters

 

Massachusetts man tried to blow up Jewish nursing home . . . A Massachusetts man tried to blow up a Jewish nursing home with a five-gallon gas canister stuffed with a Christian pamphlet, federal prosecutors allege. John Michael Rathbun, 36, was arrested Wednesday on attempted arson charges in connection with a homemade incendiary device found outside Ruth’s House, a Jewish-sponsored assisted living facility for people of all faiths in Longmeadow, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced. New York Post

 

Land O' Lakes drops "racist" Native American image . . . Land O’ Lakes has an updated look for 2020. The farmer-owned dairy cooperative, which produces butter, cheese and other milk products, has dropped the Native American maiden image from its packaging, opting instead for just a landscape. The logo, which has been the company’s label for nearly 100 years since it was founded in Minnesota in 1921, has been called “racist” and criticized for its use of the “butter maiden.” Fox News

Wild boars terrorizing Haifa . . . While coronavirus closures are coaxing wildlife into the abandoned streets of many a metropolis, in one Israeli city the four-legged interlopers are assertive and, well, quite boorish. Wild boars, some as bulky as Rottweilers and traveling in family packs, have been trotting through Haifa in increasing numbers. Their once-nocturnal visitations now take place throughout the day, as they root through refuse, spook domestic pets and even block roads. The visitation, since nationwide lockdowns came into effect this month, has revived debate among residents of the hilly port city as to policy regarding the pests. “We are scared to go out, even to throw out the garbage. I don’t which way the boars will come,” Meirav Litani, a music instructor, said as a boar loomed in the distance. Reuters