Government Response to Coronavirus 2: It's Not A Hoax

[clueliss]

Kansas City is going to stay at home status starting Tuesday.  Both sides of the state line.  3 counties are involved.  

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Amen:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Why would anyone do what fuckabee suggests about anything?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

x1000000

 

[Ozlsn]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

It is really, really past time someone on the WH staff took his phone off him.

[GreyhoundFan]

From conservative columnist Max Boot: "This wouldn’t have happened if Hillary Clinton had won'

Spoiler

The coronavirus is the most foreseeable disaster in history — and so is President Trump’s inability to rise to the occasion.

There were scattered warnings before Pearl Harbor and 9/11 of what was to come. But nothing like this. My Post colleagues report that throughout January and February, the U.S. intelligence community was warning Trump that the pandemic was going to hit America. “The system was blinking red,” one official said.

But Trump wasn’t paying attention. “It will all work out well,” he blithely tweeted on Jan. 24 while credulously thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for “working very hard to contain the Coronavirus.” (A British study suggests China could have eliminated 95 percent of its cases if it had acted three weeks earlier, when a doctor first called attention to the epidemic in Wuhan.)

Because of Trump’s negligence, the United States lost two months of response time — precious days that should have been used to test the population, produce more N95 masks and ventilators, and build new hospital beds. This past week, the Pentagon finally announced that a Navy hospital ship would be heading to New York — but it will take at least two weeks to get ready. Why wasn’t the deployment order given sooner? Even now, with the crisis upon us, Trump hesitates to use his full authority to order wartime production of ventilators needed to keep thousands of patients alive.

Utterly lacking in empathy, Trump is incapable of rallying a shell-shocked nation. When asked on Friday, “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?,” Trump launched into a tirade against the reporter who asked the question. Like the snake-oil salesman that he is, his version of reassurance is to tout miracle cures that have not been verified by medical science.

I weep in anger and frustration imagining what might have been if Hillary Clinton — a sane, sensible adult — had won. We couldn’t have avoided the coronavirus, but we could have ameliorated its effects. We could be South Korea (102 deaths) rather than Italy (4,825 deaths and counting).

It was precisely because we were afraid of how Trump would mishandle his weighty responsibilities that some “Never Trump” conservatives supported Clinton in 2016. On May 8, 2016, I wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “There has never been a major party nominee in U.S. history as unqualified for the presidency. The risk of Trump winning, however remote, represents the biggest national security threat that the United States faces today.”

I do not cite my earlier article — one of dozens I wrote in 2015 and 2016 warning in ever-more-urgent tones of the danger of electing Trump — as a way of patting myself on the back for prescience. It took no foresight to predict that Trump would be a catastrophe in a crisis. It was close to the conventional wisdom. Yet nearly 63 million voters chose to disregard such warnings.

There were many reasons Trump won. Ironically, one of the most oft-cited was the desire to blow everything up, because Trump voters were convinced that things couldn’t get any worse than they were in 2016. As they shelter in their homes and the economy grinds to a halt, I wonder if perhaps they now realize how good they had it under President Barack Obama?

For the past three years, Trump supporters have scoffed at critics, claiming we are out-of-touch, pointy-headed, coastal elitists too focused on Trump’s unconventional way of speaking while ignoring his historic policy achievements — meaning an expanding economy that he inherited from Obama. Perhaps they would like to rethink that argument now that the stock market has given up all of the gains it made under Trump and the unemployment numbers are heading for Great Depression levels?

One of the biggest, if unstated, reasons so many voters opted for Trump is simply because he is an entertaining showman. His unscripted rallies were so mesmerizing that he earned billions of dollars in free airtime. The underlying assumption was that the federal government is so unimportant that it could be handed over safely to a reality TV star who revels in “unpresidented” behavior.

This was the result of post-Cold War, post-9/11 complacency, with voters imagining that they could take peace and prosperity for granted. If the coronavirus should teach us anything, it is that governing is a deadly serious business. Electing a grown-up isn’t a luxury; it’s a matter of life and death. The price of “owning the libs” turns out to be far higher than even most Trump critics could have imagined.

I knew he would be a bad president — but even I didn’t expect him to be Herbert Hoover-level bad. In a way, you almost can’t blame Trump for his epic incompetence: He is who he is. He didn’t deceive anyone. I blame the voters who elected him — and the senators who refused to impeach him. They should have known better. Because they didn’t, we will all pay a fearful price.

 

[47of74]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

From conservative columnist Max Boot: "This wouldn’t have happened if Hillary Clinton had won'

  Hide contents

The coronavirus is the most foreseeable disaster in history — and so is President Trump’s inability to rise to the occasion.

There were scattered warnings before Pearl Harbor and 9/11 of what was to come. But nothing like this. My Post colleagues report that throughout January and February, the U.S. intelligence community was warning Trump that the pandemic was going to hit America. “The system was blinking red,” one official said.

But Trump wasn’t paying attention. “It will all work out well,” he blithely tweeted on Jan. 24 while credulously thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for “working very hard to contain the Coronavirus.” (A British study suggests China could have eliminated 95 percent of its cases if it had acted three weeks earlier, when a doctor first called attention to the epidemic in Wuhan.)

Because of Trump’s negligence, the United States lost two months of response time — precious days that should have been used to test the population, produce more N95 masks and ventilators, and build new hospital beds. This past week, the Pentagon finally announced that a Navy hospital ship would be heading to New York — but it will take at least two weeks to get ready. Why wasn’t the deployment order given sooner? Even now, with the crisis upon us, Trump hesitates to use his full authority to order wartime production of ventilators needed to keep thousands of patients alive.

Utterly lacking in empathy, Trump is incapable of rallying a shell-shocked nation. When asked on Friday, “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?,” Trump launched into a tirade against the reporter who asked the question. Like the snake-oil salesman that he is, his version of reassurance is to tout miracle cures that have not been verified by medical science.

I weep in anger and frustration imagining what might have been if Hillary Clinton — a sane, sensible adult — had won. We couldn’t have avoided the coronavirus, but we could have ameliorated its effects. We could be South Korea (102 deaths) rather than Italy (4,825 deaths and counting).

It was precisely because we were afraid of how Trump would mishandle his weighty responsibilities that some “Never Trump” conservatives supported Clinton in 2016. On May 8, 2016, I wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “There has never been a major party nominee in U.S. history as unqualified for the presidency. The risk of Trump winning, however remote, represents the biggest national security threat that the United States faces today.”

I do not cite my earlier article — one of dozens I wrote in 2015 and 2016 warning in ever-more-urgent tones of the danger of electing Trump — as a way of patting myself on the back for prescience. It took no foresight to predict that Trump would be a catastrophe in a crisis. It was close to the conventional wisdom. Yet nearly 63 million voters chose to disregard such warnings.

There were many reasons Trump won. Ironically, one of the most oft-cited was the desire to blow everything up, because Trump voters were convinced that things couldn’t get any worse than they were in 2016. As they shelter in their homes and the economy grinds to a halt, I wonder if perhaps they now realize how good they had it under President Barack Obama?

For the past three years, Trump supporters have scoffed at critics, claiming we are out-of-touch, pointy-headed, coastal elitists too focused on Trump’s unconventional way of speaking while ignoring his historic policy achievements — meaning an expanding economy that he inherited from Obama. Perhaps they would like to rethink that argument now that the stock market has given up all of the gains it made under Trump and the unemployment numbers are heading for Great Depression levels?

One of the biggest, if unstated, reasons so many voters opted for Trump is simply because he is an entertaining showman. His unscripted rallies were so mesmerizing that he earned billions of dollars in free airtime. The underlying assumption was that the federal government is so unimportant that it could be handed over safely to a reality TV star who revels in “unpresidented” behavior.

This was the result of post-Cold War, post-9/11 complacency, with voters imagining that they could take peace and prosperity for granted. If the coronavirus should teach us anything, it is that governing is a deadly serious business. Electing a grown-up isn’t a luxury; it’s a matter of life and death. The price of “owning the libs” turns out to be far higher than even most Trump critics could have imagined.

I knew he would be a bad president — but even I didn’t expect him to be Herbert Hoover-level bad. In a way, you almost can’t blame Trump for his epic incompetence: He is who he is. He didn’t deceive anyone. I blame the voters who elected him — and the senators who refused to impeach him. They should have known better. Because they didn’t, we will all pay a fearful price.

 

That's insulting to Herbet Hoover to compare him to fuck face.  Hoover was not a good President but he was no where near the giant orange fuckstick of destruction's level of incompetence. 

[47of74]

She's looking at you Fuck Face

 

[Ozlsn]

So the Victorian and NSW state premiers have announced all non-essential services will shut in the next 48 hours. In Victoria that includes schools. I am working from home tomorrow anyway but will need to confirm what happens past that. I have an interview Tues - again, no idea whether we go remote or what. It's all very fluid right now.

Oh and South Australia has closed its borders for all but essential travel, and Western Australia is about to do the same. 

So in summary we have four states with closed/closing borders (the other two are Tasmania and the Northern Territory), two states with openish borders but going into lockdown, and I have no idea what Queensland and the ACT are doing.

Oh and multiple cruise ships docking. With luck they'll actually quarantine properly this  time. 

ETA: ACT is joining with NSW and Vic in shutting down over the next 48 hours. That's a relief. Now to see what QLD does.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Ozlsn

[Smee]

Came to update on Australia but Ozsln beat me to it. We’re at 1315 cases now, which is a jump of more than 250 since yesterday. Finally the states have realised that ScoMo isn’t going to do what’s necessary, and are making the decisions with or without his support.

[fraurosena]

Today's not-America update:

• There were 800 deaths in one day in Italy; the Italian government has put the country in complete lockdown (perhaps @Italiangirl and @laPapessaGiovanna can tell us more)
• The Tokyo Olympics Committee is now seriously considering the postponement or cancellation of the Olympics.
• A conference hall in Madrid has been turned into a meta hospital with 1300 beds and 96 ICU beds. The first 200 patients will be expected there today. If necessary other conference halls will be transformed into hospitals as well.
• China says there have been no new cases in Hubei for four consecutive days.
• 1.3 billion people in India must stay inside for 14 hours between 07.00 and 21.00 on Sunday in a bid to halt the spread of the virus. (I'm seriously wtf-fing about this weird measure. What good will this really do if it's only for 14 hours?); a number of states have gone into lockdown and starting next week India will ban all international passenger flights.
• Boris Johnson has said Britain is only two or three weeks behind Italy in the severity of the spread of the virus. The UK has more than 5000 cases and so fare 233 patients have died. 
• North Korea has been offered American aid by Trump. Apparently Trump sent Kim Jong Un a letter saying he is impressed by the dictator's efforts to protect his people from the virus. (Another serious wtf here -- I'm going to try and find American reports about this later)
• The Slovenian government has mandated that every person that goes out in public must wear a face mask.
• Belgium has 3401 cases; 75 patients have died. There are 1380 hospitalized cases, 290 of which are in the ICU.
• Since Friday, Germany has 1948 new cases, bringing their total up to 18.610 cases; 55 patients have died. Merkel is considering a total lockdown.

On a personal note:

This morning all our telephones beeped sharply with a national alert. I thought we were getting messaged that we were in a total lockdown, but it was 'only' a reiteration of the message that we need to keep 1.5 meters distance and to stay at home as much as possible. A lot of people were ignoring these measures yesterday, going on day trips to parks and beaches where many people congregated together. They simply don't get the seriousness of the situation... 

There are now 5 confirmed cases in my town, 3 where my parents live, and 8 in my eldest son's town. 

[Italiangirl]

@fraurosena ah, I wish I could explain what has changed her from yesterday but I'm still trying to understand the difference since theoretically, we were already in a lockdown mode and only the essential was suppose to be open... I suspect that this has more to do with the usual idiots that were still going around without reason (in my city the police stop a person who writes he was going out looking for drugs...) and pressure from the Governator of Lombardia and Veneto the two worst-hit region lately on the chart i have seen it seems that the new cases are slowing down, i will try to post the chart after the post so that you could see what it is the situation...

The only big change we know for sure for now on a national level is that the supermarket will have to reduce a bit their opening time Mon-Sat 7.30-20 Sunday 8.30-15 unless there is some specific request from the region,

Yesterday it was decide that doctor and emergency stuff can have the priority in every moment, meaning they will skip the line and can shop without waiting eve if there is already someone inside the supermarkets because often they have found empty ora almost empty shop when they ended their shift and have had to wait to enter like everybody else, they will have to prove their being emergency stuff and will have to shop alone (no kids or other family members) but this could help them relive a bit of stress.

Now all med students that have finish their study could start to work without having to wait to take an exam who give them the abilitation (like the bar for lawyer i think?) it not exactly what many was hoping, but it will be i hope a little help, many was hoping to have more spots in the specializations since now the number are so low, and the time so long (immunology will take another 4 years after the often 6 of general medicine), i have hear doctor who fear this will be too much for the newly meds, they (the expert doc) lack time and resource to teach them how to act with patients and fear the students could be more a weight than a help.

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

30 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

There were 800 deaths in one day in Italy; the Italian government has put the country in complete lockdown (perhaps @Italiangirl and @laPapessaGiovanna can tell us more

Well, until now factories and activities not directly in contact with the general public that could implement safety measures were still open, now they'll have to close. Only exceptions are those manufacturing things that are deemed essential. Not much else has changed. Shops selling essential goods are still open and you can go out from home only for work related reasons (that you have to demonstrate) and buy necessary things or going to the bank/post office/public offices (the few still open). Insurances offices, transports for necessary things will keep working, of course working from home Is still permitted and actively encouraged. You can still walk the dog or jog a bit, but only near your home.

What isn't yet clear is what exactly will be deemed necessary and essential.

[WiseGirl]

Watched Sunday Today (U.S. news show) and I wish I caught the name if the doctor who specializes in pandemic diseases but she raked the U.S. government over the coals for how inept this government response has been, basically she noted she has worked in third world countries with less resources and better responses than this government.  She also said the time for 45 to invoke the Defense Production Act is now. When it was his turn to talk Chuck Todd also roasted 45. Really this government's response and preparation has been awful.

Edited March 22, 2020 by WiseGirl
editing

[fraurosena]

35 minutes ago, Italiangirl said:

The only big change we know for sure for now on a national level is that the supermarket will have to reduce a bit their opening time Mon-Sat 7.30-20 Sunday 8.30-15 unless there is some specific request from the region,

I fail to see the logic how this would help. Either more people will come to the shops in this smaller timeframe, so contamination is more likely, or less people can go in to buy goods -- so what happens then to those that can't get the groceries they need? 

37 minutes ago, Italiangirl said:

Now all med students that have finish their study could start to work without having to wait to take an exam who give them the abilitation

This is also an issue in my country. Med students who have passed all their exams but have not been officially registered as practicing doctors aren't allowed to work, so now there are calls to either speed up the registration process or simply let them work without it. I don't know how it is for Italian med students, but here they have to have had years of experience in the field as part of their education, so they won't be overwhelmed by inexperience as a doctor per se -- of course the pandemic itself is overwhelming to all doctors, regardless of experience.

[SassyPants]

2 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

Watched Sunday Today (U.S. news show) and I wish I caught the name if the doctor who specializes in pandemic diseases but she raked the government over the goals for how inept our government response has been, basically she noted she has worked in third world countries with less resources and better responses than out government.  When it was his turn to talk Chuck Todd also roasted 45. Really the response and preparation has been awful by my government. 

I am currently quarantined in So America. I can attest to this, as I am seeing and living it first hand. The US government has prompted my husband to arrange travel back to the US, and at this point, we can NOT see how that would be beneficial either to us, or to the process of containing the spread of this organism. 

[fraurosena]

Here's the story on Trump's letter to Kim Jong Un that I mentioned in my post above:

President Trump offers cooperation in fighting virus pandemic in personal letter to Kim Jong Un

Quote

President Donald Trump sent a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking to maintain good relations and offering cooperation in fighting the viral pandemic, Kim's sister said Sunday.

The latest correspondence came as Kim observed the firing of tactical guided weapons over the weekend, drawing criticism from South Korea, as the nuclear talks remain deadlocked.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim's sister and senior ruling party official, Kim Yo Jong, praised Trump for sending the letter at a time when "big difficulties and challenges lie ahead in the way of developing ties" between the countries.

In the letter, she said Trump explained his plan to "propel the relations between the two countries ... and expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work" in an apparent reference to the global coronavirus outbreak. She said her brother expressed his gratitude for Trump's letter.

North Korea has repeatedly said there hasn't been a single case of the coronavirus on its soil. Some foreign experts question that claim and say an outbreak in the North could cause a humanitarian disaster because of its poor medical infrastructure. Last month, the State Department expressed concerns about North Korea's vulnerability to a potential coronavirus outbreak and said it was ready to support efforts by aid organizations to contain the spread of the illness in the North.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

Kim Yo Jong said Trump's letter is "a good example showing the special and firm personal relations" between the North Korean and U.S. leaders. But she said it's not a good idea to "make hasty conclusion or be optimistic about" the prospect for bilateral relations.

"In my personal opinion, I think that the bilateral relations and dialogue for them would be thinkable only when the equilibrium is kept dynamically and morally and justice ensured between the two countries," she said. "Even at this moment we are working hard to develop and defend ourselves on our own under the cruel environment which the U.S. is keen to 'provide.'"

Earlier, Trump sent birthday greetings to Kim Jong Un, who was believed to have turned 36 on Jan. 8. Senior North Korean official Kim Kye Gwan said at the time that the birthday messages won't lead his country to return to talks unless the U.S. accepts its demands.

Kim and Trump have met three times and exchanged letters and envoys on many occasions since 2018, when they launched talks on the fate of Kim's advancing nuclear arsenal. The two leaders have avoided harsh language against each other and Trump once said he and Kim "fell in love."

But their diplomacy has largely come to a standstill since the breakdown of their second summit in Vietnam in February 2019, when Trump rejected Kim's demands for broad sanctions relief in return for a partial disarmament step.

Kim pressed Trump to come up with new proposals to salvage the negotiations by the end of last year. Kim later vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent, unveil "a new strategic weapon" and warned he would no longer be bound by a major weapons test moratorium.

In recent weeks, North Korea has fired a slew of artillery and other rockets into the sea in what experts say is an attempt to improve its military capabilities. The weapons were all short range and did not pose a direct threat to the U.S. mainland. A resumption of long-range missile or nuclear weapons tests by Kim would likely completely scuttle diplomacy with Trump, experts say.

KCNA said Kim watched the test firing of tactical guided weapons on Saturday with Kim Yo Jong and other top officials. South Korea's military called the demonstration "very inappropriate" at a time when the world is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea's military said Saturday it detected two presumed short-range ballistic missiles that flew from a site in western North Korea across the country and landed in the waters off the east coast. The weapons flew 410 kilometers (255 miles), according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

[SassyPants]

7 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Here's the story on Trump's letter to Kim Jong Un that I mentioned in my post above:

President Trump offers cooperation in fighting virus pandemic in personal letter to Kim Jong Un

 

Next we’ll hear that Trump is also working with Putin. Idiots that play together...

[fraurosena]

 

[Exchange Atheist]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Since Friday, Germany has 1948 new cases, bringing their total up to 18.610 cases; 55 patients have died. Merkel is considering a total lockdown.

Those numbers are a bit behind (the RKI has some problems with verification). According to Johns Hopkins, were up to 22.214 infections and 84 deaths yesterday. 

My state in Germany has issued a pseudo lockdown (they’re using a different word but it is effectively a lockdown). I was woken up yesterday by a truck driving through the streets and blaring "stay inside" messages. Very dystopian. 

[elliha]

We have just over 1900 cases and 21 dead here in Sweden. We have 29 known cases in my region and one person in intensive care and I think 5 people admitted to hospital. Buses will now only allow entry through the middle door and you can no longer buy tickets on the bus, only prepaid tickets. Social distancing on the bus is encouraged but since most people hate to sit next to someone I think we don't really mind that. I will likely go to work tomorrow so I will go on the bus for the first time for around a week. i didn't go Friday due to PMS, not the coronavirus. Hopefully I am over the peak of that tomorrow but today it has messed with my axiety levels quite a lot. 

Stockholm is getting more affected and they announced that they are cancelling any care that can be postponed to handle the corona patients. Two military hospitals are being prepared as are more rooms in the regular hospitals. So far they do not report a crisis but they do still have problems with materials which I think most of Europe sadly has. 

Some of the ski resorts have cancelled afterski but me and many others want them either closed or a ban on long distance travel (or both). To be able to keep the numbers low we must try to not mix people from different places of Sweden too much. One of the skiing regions are already reporting a lot more cases which is believed to be connected to Stockholmers travelling there. This is extremely concerning. 

Tonight at around 9 the prime minister is going to address the nation in a speech which is very rare here in Sweden so we will see what will be said then and on Monday. They have already hinted that more restrictions may follow soon so we will see what happens. 

Since things are crap I will finish with some good news: The elephant given to the Swedish king from the former Thai king had a calf by an elephant given to the Danish queen. The birth went well and the calf and mother is doing well. There is a cute little clip here: https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/kunglig-elefantfodsel-pa-kolmarden/

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Nothing like using a pandemic to trample on women's rights: "Ohio clinics ordered to halt abortions deemed ‘nonessential’ amid coronavirus response"

Spoiler

Ohio’s attorney general has ordered clinics to halt many abortions under a new statewide measure to conserve health-care resources amid the coronavirus pandemic, going against the urgings of many medical professionals.

Officials in Washington state and Massachusetts have clarified that similar orders pausing elective surgeries do not apply to abortions, and several national medical associations earlier this week advised against canceling or delaying the procedures — a key part of “comprehensive health care,” they said — because of the coronavirus outbreak. But Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) on Friday and Saturday ordered several facilities, about which he said the Health Department has received complaints, to stop their “nonessential” abortions.

As clinics say they’ll proceed undeterred, the fight over what constitutes essential care in Ohio could be the first of many as more states heed the U.S. government’s calls for hospitals to suspend unneeded operations and as doctors and nurses warn they’re running out of masks, gowns and drugs.

Advocates see the latest limits on abortions as part of a long-standing political agenda, pointing to conservative Ohio lawmakers’ past efforts to restrict abortions amid a wave of red-state legislation repeatedly blocked by the courts. A federal judge last summer halted Ohio’s “heartbeat” bill banning abortion after detection of the fetal pulse typically found about six weeks into pregnancy.

“People should not push ideological agendas that interfere with the doctor-patient relationship. Period,” Kellie Copeland, executive director of the advocacy organization NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, told The Washington Post on Saturday. “But especially not right now, not during a pandemic.”

People choose to end pregnancies for a host of reasons, including financial strain, health problems and an inability to work, Copeland said. She warned that blocking many abortions as “nonessential” or “elective” surgeries just as the coronavirus upends lives could have long-lasting consequences.

“I just think that’s reckless, to put care even further away from people,” she said.

In letters to clinics, Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Fulkerson framed the crackdown as a necessary measure amid a public health crisis that’s drawn dire warnings from Ohio leaders. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has led the way with dramatic policies — shutdowns of schools, restaurants, bars and more — to curb the virus that has now infected hundreds and killed three people in the state. Officials around the country fear the pandemic will become far deadlier if strained systems grow overwhelmed.

“This is an unprecedented time in the state’s history, and everyone must do their part to help stop the spread of this disease,” Fulkerson wrote, warning that the department of health will “take all appropriate measures” if providers don’t fall in line.

A spokeswoman for Yost, Bethany McCorkle, declined to comment on criticisms of the stance toward abortions and said that letters have been sent only to facilities that the health department received complaints about. On Saturday, the attorney general’s office also wrote to a urology organization warning them to stop performing elective surgeries, McCorkle said.

She said all of the letters were issued to comply with the state health department’s March 17 order to cancel all “nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures” that use personal protective equipment. The order, which took effect Wednesday, is meant “to preserve PPE for health care providers who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic that is spreading in our state and also to preserve critical hospital capacity and resources,” Fulkerson wrote.

The Ohio health department did not immediately respond to an inquiry. Its March 17 order outlines criteria for determining essential procedures, including “threat to the patient’s life,” “threat of permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system” and “risk of rapidly worsening to severe symptoms” if a surgery is not performed.

The attorney general’s office issued orders on abortions to three facilities as of Saturday afternoon: Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio’s Cincinnati surgery center and Women’s Med Center in Dayton on Friday and Preterm in Cleveland on Saturday. The letters, first reported by the Columbus Dispatch, tell clinics to “immediately stop” surgical abortions that “can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient.”

Planned Parenthood leaders in Ohio echoed national medical groups in a statement Saturday, calling abortion “an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure.” Iris E. Harvey and Kersha Deibel, who lead Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, respectively, said the latter group’s attorney has assured the attorney general it is “complying” with the order halting nonessential surgeries.

“Under that order, Planned Parenthood can still continue providing essential procedures, including surgical abortion,” wrote Harvey and Deibel, emphasizing that their “doors remain open for this care” and that they are working to “conserve needed resources.”

Preterm executive director Chrisse France also said in a statement that her facility is “continuing to provide the full range of abortion care services because it is an essential procedure,” while also asserting that Preterm is in “full compliance” with the health department’s order.

“During a public health crisis like this, policymakers’ number one priority should be making sure everyone can get the health care they need safely, not actively working to deny our neighbors timely and vital health care services — including and especially abortion care,” France wrote.

McCorkle did not immediately say whether the attorney general or other officials are planning to take further action against Planned Parenthood or other providers. The antiabortion group Ohio Right to Life on Friday posted a letter to a regional Planned Parenthood saying that it was flouting the new rules and that its continued abortions endangered Ohioans.

The Washington Post was unable to reach staff at Women’s Med Center.

An earlier joint statement from eight groups, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, argued that abortion is “a time-sensitive service for which a delay of several weeks, or in some cases days, may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.”

“The consequences of being unable to obtain an abortion profoundly impact a person’s life, health, and well-being,” the organizations wrote.

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

54 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

I fail to see the logic how this would help. Either more people will come to the shops in this smaller timeframe, so contamination is more likely, or less people can go in to buy goods -- so what happens then to those that can't get the groceries they need? 

Restrictions apply only on Saturdays and sundays. People who aren't working can pick whatever other day of the week. People who are still working have ample time during the weekend. Or they can choose delivery. Another helpful thing would be if people stopped going to the shop every time they are out of something. Shopping once a week or even less often can and should be done. This doesn't mean that people need to hoard things, it just means that they can plan. In this way there's less people around at any given time and there are less chances to spread the virus.

Btw my region closed supermarkets on sundays because it had become the excuse for family outings. There are all the other days of the week to buy things and if you run out of butter for one day you can skip using it.

[clueliss]

Wuhan May be new case fee, but Beijing is another story,  flights to Beijing are being diverted to other cities 

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-22-20/h_dd45739bfc6409f3dd834a561ab8dcbd

[Italiangirl]

@fraurosena there have been many cases in witch people have gone to the shops with family members or a couple of time a day, since going out for shop was one of the few things still permitted many use it as an excuse to go out and see different people than family or neighbours, chatting with strangers or the workers at the shops since here people usually go to the same shop every day or so and find the same workers...plus at east for my region is just a reduction of at max an hour less at night, the most part of the supermarket close around 8 max 8,30pm there are a few who close at 9 pm but is not so common. I don't think it will change much during the week the change will be on sundays, but as @laPapessaGiovanna said there is plenty of time to shop during the week and you don't need to buy everything every day. I hope that this will not cause another hording but fear that many hoarders start to panic when they see their supplies go down...like they have buyed 6 pack of flour last week now they are down to 4 and start feeling anxiety and panic cause what if i want to do a cake? or if use more flour this week? and if don't find it anymore tomorrow? i have to have 6 pack even if i have never cook anything before