Trump news: President says coronavirus hospitals 'a beautiful thing' and asks 'genius' drug companies to help Boris Johnson in ICU
US death toll climbs past 10,000 as White House spars pushes controverisla drug without clinical evidence of its efficacy against virus
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Donald Trump has said he hopes the US is “starting to see light at the end of the tunnel” while New York, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported a potential "plateau" of cases, as a grim streak of hundreds of deaths appears to have levelled rather than continue to spike.
On Monday, the number of Covid-19-related deaths in the US eclipsed 10,500, including the nation's youngest victim, a one-day-old newborn in Louisiana.
The president optimistic comments came in stark contrast to those of US surgeon general Jerome Adams, who warned Americans to brace for levels of tragedy similar to the September 11 attacks and the bombing of Pearl Harbour in the week ahead, as states continue mitigation efforts and prepare for several more weeks of quarantine and stay-at-home measures.
In a press conference attacking his predecessor Barack Obama, Democrats, reporters and a US Navy captain who alerted officials to a potential coronavirus outbreak on his ship before he was fired for doing so, the president dismissed an inspector general report that outlined the shortages of critically needed medical supplies in US hospitals.
The president also said he has considered "getting involved" with Captain Brett Crozier's case, and said that the captain's emailed letter "shows weakness."
The president said: "We don't want to have letter-writing campaigns where the fake news finds a letter [and] gets a leak. We don't want that."
Mr Trump continued to push for a controversial malaria drug that officials in his own administration have warned is not clinically proven to safely combat the virus. Despite warnings from Dr Anthony Fauci and the federal Food and Drug Administration, the president and his chief trade adviser Peter Navarro have insisted on administering the drug.
Mr Navarro has reportedly clashed with Dr Fauci about the drug's efficacy, though he told CNN he's qualified to measure the drug's effectiveness, despite not having a medical background.
On Monday, Dr Fauci was hesitant to say that mitigation efforts are showing signs of working across the US, but early results in hard-hit areas like New York are starting to show decreasing numbers of hospitalisations requiring ventilator support. He said: "You never want to think about declaring victory prematurely."
He said that health officials may be "overshooting" the models using initial data that showed as many as 200,000 deaths.
Meanwhile, a Democratic primary election in Wisconsin scheduled for 7 April cannot be postponed despite pleas from lawmakers and a last-minute push from the state's governor, which was overruled by the state's Supreme Court. The decision sends the election into chaos, with a drastic shortage of poll workers and an electorate that has been ordered to stay home under threat of the virus.
Ballots include thousands of local races in addition to a crucial race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders for the party's nomination to face the president in November.
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Top health official warns against going to grocery store 'every day'
Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, said on Monday that people should avoid running daily errands even if they live in regions of the US that have not yet seen a major outbreak of the novel virus.
“You really need to keep your contact with others and surfaces to a minimal,” the assistant health secretary, who serves on the White House coronavirus response task force, told NBC’s Today Show. “If you need to get groceries, do it, but don’t go every day to the grocery store like many people do, do it as infrequently as possible."
Chris Riotta reports:
Coronavirus: New York faces ‘gruesome reality’ of burying dead in city parks
A member of New York's City Council said the city could consider "temporary interment" of coronavirus victims in the city's parks.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said those plans are not in place. The city was “not at the point that we’re going to go into that.”
Oliver O'Connell reports:
Jared Kushner attacked as 'alt-right Pinocchio'
The president's son-in-law has been running his own team of coronavirus responders and would send ideas to the White House task force that distracted the members more than they helped, according to reports.
US death toll hits 10,000
The death toll in the United States from the global coronavirus pandemic officially passed 10,000 on Monday, according to the latest data, with more than 337,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases having been reported across the country.
Chris Riotta reports:
Ohio state legislator: Trump should be tried for ‘crimes against humanity’
Ohio lawmaker Tavia Galonski says she is referring Donald Trump to The Hague for crimes against humanity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: “I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one.”
Health Department report finds hospitals 'throwing best practices out the window'
An inspector general report from inside Donald Trump's Department of Health and Human Services details "severe shortages" of coronavirus tests as well as critically needed and medically necessary supplies for health workers across the US.
The report is a stark contrast to the president's repeated claims about his administration's response and accusations that state's should be more responsible with the supplies they have.
One hospital administrator reported that “we are all competing for the same items and there are only so many people on the other end of the supply chain.” Another administrator reported being concerned about poor quality products despite high-prices and “…wonder[ing] if you get what you paid for.”
Another said: “We are throwing all of our PPE best practices out the window."
'I'm a social scientist': Trump's trade adviser claims he's qualified to refute Anthony Fauci's coronavirus advice
Donald Trump's chief trade adviser claims he is qualified to measure the effectiveness of an anti-malarial drug against the novel coronavirus because he is a "social scientist" despite not having a degree in medicine.
Peter Navarro told CNN on Monday that he understands "how to read statistical studies, whether it's in medicine, the law, economics or whatever".
He has a master's degree in public administration and a PhD in economics. He does not have a background in public health or medicine.
New York 'plateauing at very high level' with death toll that is now hovering near 600 daily
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested that the state could reach a "plateau" of new cases and hospitalisations as the latest projections show that the state's need for thousands of hospitals beds for coronavirus patients is much lower than anticipated.
There were nearly 600 deaths reported on Monday, the second-highest single-day death toll thus fat, but the governor says the outbreak is beginning to slow in the epicentre of the US outbreak.
With the grim statistics showing more than 1,500 people dying within the last few days, the daily number of deaths has hovered near 600, while the number of new hospitalisations has slowed to single-digit percentages.
The figures could show that the virus is reaching an "apex," Governor Cuomo said on Monday, but one that is still nearly overwhelming the state's hospitals.
He said: “If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a very high level and there is tremendous stress on the health care system."
Nearly 4,800 people in the state have died.
35 million Americans could be left without health insurance as former Fed chair warns 'depression levels' of unemployment
As many as 35 million Americans could lose their health insurance following unprecedented unemployment claims and business closures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which already has cut thousands of workers from their health plans tied to their employers.
The latest projection from Health Management Associates shows the number of uninsured people in the US, including workers and their families who rely on employer-backed plans, could skyrocket.
On Monday, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen called the economic toll a "huge, unprecedented, devastating hit" as the nation's unemployment rate reaches "depression levels".
She told CNBC that unemployment may be as high as 21 per cent as the nation's Covid-19 death toll surpassed 10,000.
Report: India halts drug exports after Trump's push for hydroxychloroquine sparks global stockpiling
India has banned exports of all forms of a controversial drug that Donald Trump has pushed as coronavirus treatment, which could alter the nation's stockpiling, according to reports.
Nearly half of the US supply of the drug came from Indian manufacturers last year, according to Bloomberg. The president's push for the anti-malarial medicine hydroxychloroquinehas prompted global stockpiling efforts.
The president said the federal government has procured 29 million doses of the drug while American drug manufacturers have revved up production.
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