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Tuesday AM ~ TheFrontPageCover

Posted by Rudy Tirre on March 10, 2020 at 7:39am
TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
National COVID-19 Need to Know — Update
Mark Alexander   
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Dr. Fauci -vs- Chris Wallace 
Discussing Coronavirus
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, debates the preferred doomsday narrative advanced by Chris Wallace... The DC media bubble is full-on to stir purposeful panic. Mr. Wallace stayed at a Holiday Inn last night and now joins hundreds of pundits in proclaiming himself as a media expert in virology, viral contagion spread and best practices for global COVID-19 containment. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also ran into more media pundits turned virology experts on both CBS, Margaret Brennan, and CNN, Jake Tapper.
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Ted Cruz among lawmakers staying at home 
after interactions with coronavirus patient at CPAC
By Bradford Betz
{ foxnews.com } ~ Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued a statement Sunday revealing that he had interacted with an attendee at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) who had tested positive for the coronavirus... and as a result, he'll stay at home until two weeks have passed since the encounter. Shortly afterward, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., announced he and three additional staffers were “under self-quarantine” after “sustained contact” with a virus patient. Officials with the American Conservative Union (ACU), which hosted CPAC, said Saturday the attendee had been exposed before the conference, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed his case. Cruz said his interaction with that individual “consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.” “I’m not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low,” Cruz said. He added that he did not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine because testing was not effective before symptoms manifest. “The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission,” Cruz said. The senator said he has decided to remain at his home in Texas until 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction because of how frequently he interacts with his constituents and “to give everyone peace of mind.” “Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science. We need to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to combat this outbreak—including  the $8.3 billion in emergency funding we provided last week—and I encourage everyone to follow the recommendations of the CDC and other health professionals in protecting their own health and welfare, as well as the health and welfare of those around them,” Cruz said...
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Iran’s regime pushes antisemitic 
conspiracies about coronavirus
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
{ jpost.com } ~ Iran’s Press TV, which represents the regime’s English-language propaganda, has been pushing antisemitic conspiracies about the coronavirus to distract from the mullah regime’s mishandling of the pandemic... On Sunday, Iran’s Health Ministry reported 49 new coronavirus deaths, the highest single-day toll of those killed by COVID-19 in the country since mid-February. As of press time, Tehran has acknowledged 194 Iranians have died from the fast-spreading disease. But observers believe the true number may be far higher. Over the last several days, Iran has pushed several reports claiming that “Zionists” were behind the coronavirus. Press TV also quoted the same website that was at the center of an antisemitic article from 2017 that claimed “America’s Jews are driving America’s wars.” On March 5, Press TV claimed that “Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran.” Although the report claimed to reference a foreign “academic,” it fits the pattern of Iran using foreign experts to give the regime’s own views a patina of authority. The agenda of Tehran has been three-fold since the coronavirus outbreak began to affect Iran in mid-February. Iran initially denied that there was a virus outbreak so that it could increase voter turnout for the February 21 election. In late February, it turned out that some of Iran’s leading politicians and key insiders were infected because the virus had spread from the holy city of Qom to Tehran. To make up for the initial cover-up, the regime shifted its narrative to blaming US sanctions for its inability to control the virus. Already regime leaders were beginning to compare the virus to sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had first downplayed the virus, claiming that like sanctions, it looked worse than it was. Then on March 7, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif argued that the sanctions had “drained Iran’s resources needed in the fight against” the virus. He called it “medical terrorism.” However, the IRGC had other ideas. Its leader, Hossein Salami, began telling people the virus was “biological warfare” derived from the US. “We are now dealing with a biological war,” he said on March 5. He argued it “may be the product of American biological warfare.”...  https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Irans-regime-pushes-antisemitic-conspiracies-about-coronavirus-620212?utm_source=Middle+East+Forum&utm_campaign=df9ed73c6a-MEF_Frantzman_2020_03_09_05_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_086cfd423c-df9ed73c6a-33703665&goal=0_086cfd423c-df9ed73c6a-33703665&mc_cid=df9ed73c6a&mc_eid=f33b9e6c12   
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Dow plunges as much as 2,000 points, oil crashes 
as price war erupts and coronavirus spreads
By Jonathan Garbe
{ foxbusiness.com } ~ U.S. equity markets were sharply lower Monday morning after an oil price war broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the new coronavirus showed signs of spreading... The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by as many as 2,046 points, or 7.9 percent, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were lower by 7.4 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. Trading, which was already halted for 15 minutes, will see another stoppage if the S&P 500 trades down 13 percent. The steep slide has caused the New York Federal Reserve to increase its daily cash injections into the banking system to $150 billion from $100 billion.The stock-market selloff comes after a production dispute between OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia, and Russia sent West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, plunging by as much as 33.8 percent, the most since the outbreak of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, to a low of $27.34 a barrel in overnight trading. After a small rebound, WTI was trading down 21.4 percent at $32.42 a barrel. Oil majors, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP, were sharply lower, as were service providers Haliburton and Schlumberger. Elsewhere, travel-related names remained under pressure after Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned Americans with underlying conditions not to take long plane trips or cruises due to the new coronavirus outbreak. Some drugmakers working on treatments for COVID-19, including Inovio Pharmaceuticals and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals were sharply higher.U.S. Treasurys were the beneficiary of the flight to safety with heavy buying pushing longer-dated yields lower by more than 30 basis points. Overnight, the benchmark 10-year yield fell to a record low of 0.38 percent before bouncing to 0.433 percent. Likewise, the 30-year yield plunged below 1 percent for the first time ever, and was down 36.8 basis points at 0.854 percent on Monday morning...   https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-markets-march-9-2020  
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Oil Prices Collapse as Russia 
Targets Frackers, $20 Barrel Possible
By Solange Reyner  
{ newsmax.com } ~ Russian President Vladimir Putin is targeting the U.S. oil industry by refusing to reduce oil output against the wishes of OPEC leaders as economic anxiety rises amid a global coronavirus outbreak... reports Bloomberg. "The Kremlin has decided to sacrifice OPEC+ to stop U.S. shale producers and punish the U.S. for messing with Nord Stream 2," said Alexander Dynkin, president of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow, a state-run think tank. "Of course, to upset Saudi Arabia could be a risky thing, but this is Russia’s strategy at the moment – flexible geometry of interests." Oil prices plunged 30 percent in early trading Sunday after OPEC’s failure to strike a deal with its allies regarding production cuts, with some oil experts predicting $20 oil barrels in 2020. "Huge geopolitical implications. Timely stimulus for net consumers. Catastrophic for failed/failing petro-kleptocracies Iraq, Iran, etc - may prove existential 1-2 punch when paired with COVID19," Ali Khedery, formerly Exxon’s senior Middle East adviser and now CEO of U.S.-based strategy firm Dragoman Ventures, wrote Sunday on Twitter.  The refusal by Russia to cut oil production was done to protect the Kremlin, George Friedman, chairman of Geopolitical Futures, told Newsweek. "The Saudi recommendation for cutting production in order to increase prices is something Russia could do only if prices rapidly increase," Friedman said. "But given the downward pressure from the coronavirus, I think the Russians calculated that cutting prices wouldn't stabilize them and refused the Saudi request. It was not intended to hurt the U.S. but to try to protect the Russian economy." Oil prices continued plunging Sunday amid worries the dispute will lead a virus-weakened economy to be awash in an oversupply of crude. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $9.55, or 21.1%, to $35.72 per barrel, as of 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday after earlier touching its lowest price since early 2016. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $8.60 to $32.68. The dramatic losses follow a 10.1% drop for U.S. oil on Friday, which was its biggest loss in more than five years. Prices were  falling amid worries that producers won't cut supplies enough to match falling demand. The new coronavirus has hit travel and threatens to slow economies worldwide.
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Greek Troops Open Fire on Refugees While 
Vigilantes Attack Aid Workers and the Media
By RICK MORAN
{ pjmedia.com } ~ The situation in the no-mans-land between Turkey and Greece is becoming increasingly more violent and desperate for the refugees... Reporters on a tour heard gunshots despite the Greek government denying the use of anything except tear gas to stop the refugees. For over an hour, the sound of people trying to direct each other in multiple languages through farms, woodlands, and across riverbanks was punctuated by shots. First it sounded like single rifle blasts, then came bursts of three, and then longer, heavier automatic fire. However, when Papastathis appeared on Wednesday afternoon to direct us to the new location, he denied absolutely that we had heard what we heard. “Only tear gas is being fired,” he insisted to a group of a dozen journalists on the tracks. Turkey accused Greece of killing a Syrian man and wounding five other people. The next day footage of Greek soldiers apparently firing in the direction of migrants on the border surfaced online. And more signs of the Greeks using live fire on migrants and asylum seekers could be found at a makeshift camp for people waiting to cross the Evros River near the Turkish city of Edirne. Greece is becoming more and more desperate to stop what has to be considered a Turkish-inspired invasion of its territory. And since the government has been ineffective, armed private citizens have taken matters into their own hands. The BBC has encountered members of self-styled militias who carry out night-time armed patrols in Greek border towns looking for migrants...
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National COVID-19 Need to Know — Update
Mark Alexander  What follows are a couple of snapshots regarding the COVID-19 viral outbreak this week.

First, some reliable medical perspective…

I have several longtime and trusted friends whom I have consulted over the years on potential epidemic issues. They are career disease specialists and former military physicians who understand the government response context, and who have now been in private practice for decades. Collectively, they agree on the following assessment at this point.

The key issues are that COVID-19 is contagious prior to symptoms, the incubation period appears to be longer, and we don’t yet have effective antiviral therapy or a vaccine — hopefully coming soon. These are the obvious reasons why the non-medical impact will be significant, and why it is going to be more difficult to contain.

They note further that mortality rates with past flu epidemics have varied widely, especially with regard to age groups, so it’s difficult to compare overall mortality statistics. We don’t yet have a firm understanding of the mortality implications although it could be as high as 3.4%. For numerous reasons, COVID-19 is not as bad as the 1918 influenza epidemic or, more recently, the SARS outbreak. But it will likely be worse than H1N1 in older adults but not kids.

They note we don’t know the extent of the disease spread because, until the last 10 days, testing protocols have delayed our active surveillance of the spread. Like all virulent seasonal flu outbreaks, it will spread nationwide — and likely already has. The daily “dramatic spread” media reports are because we are only now testing for it. Whether this will cost more lives than the worst year on record in the last decade (63,000 U.S. deaths)? It may.

Second, President Donald Trump canceled his visit to the CDC today after signing the $8.3 billion congressional spending bill.

An unfortunate un-presidential “stream of consciousness” yesterday provided yet another opening for Democrats to politicize the outbreak and condemn Trump. In an interview, Trump stated, “I think the 3.4% [death rate] is a false number. Now, this is just my hunch… If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better and then…”

NO! The hard and fast rule in our Patriot Post publishing house is — and should be in any business — if you are sick, STAY HOME.

Mike Pence is handling this well — the president needs to stop talking “hunches” and stop repeating that there are just a few deaths and serious illnesses. The fact is, like most flu outbreaks, there are potentially going to be thousands of deaths and millions of infections. As I noted last week in our “Coronavirus Reality Check,” the current U.S. flu season has already resulted in 29 MILLION diagnosed cases, 280 THOUSAND hospitalizations, and more than 16 THOUSAND deaths. COVID-19 is going to result in many more infections and deaths than it has so far.

For disgraceful Democrat Party leaders to use deaths and illnesses as political fodder should be met with condemnation from ALL quarters.

Third, in a very uniformed analysis in the otherwise-reliable Washington Examiner, Adam Smith Institute Fellow Tim Worstall chastised Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) for his condemnation of Amazon for allowing “price gouging,” rapid price increases of products (10X and more) on the basis of the current pandemic fear. According to Worstall, “The high prices will make sure that those who really want and need the supplies are the ones who get them.”

It is truly mind-numbing, Beltway-detached logic to suggest that $399 for a couple bottles of Purell hand sanitizer ensures that an elderly person with limited income and at greatest risk of death will have access to it.

For the record, 34 states have laws against price gouging in emergencies, and the Supreme Court has rightly upheld those laws once emergencies have been declared. Currently, Washington, California, Maryland, and Florida have declared states of emergency related to coronavirus.

What Worstall should have pointed out is the irony that Demos are complaining about price gouging at the same time they and their Leftmedia outlets are fomenting the panic.

Finally, visit our comprehensive COVID-19 contagion resource and response page, “The Flu and You,” to stat informed in what will likely be a bad flu year.   

~The Patriot Post

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