Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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President Donald Trump tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician said Saturday evening after the president held a press briefing on the administration's latest moves to combat the outbreak.

The president consented to a test Friday night, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley said in a statement, and he remains symptom-free one week after dining with a Brazilian government delegation, some of whose members have tested positive for the illness, at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The statement did not say if Trump will be re-tested.

Trump said that he has been tested for coronavirus after being questioned about it during a Rose Garden address on Friday.

“I also took the test last night," Trump said during the White House briefing. "And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, 'Did I take the test?

The White House is expanding its travel ban to passengers from the United Kingdom and Ireland in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., a further expansion of restrictions on air travel that haven’t been seen since Sept. 11, 2001.

The administration had previously banned foreign nationals from flying into the United States from the 26 countries in the Schengen Area free movement zone, but not the U.K. and Ireland, despite the existence of the coronavirus in those countries.

The move is sure to push airlines further into crisis after they have been struggling financially for weeks amid a steep slump in passenger demand. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said economic aid could soon be coming for airlines and cruise lines after Congress passed two pieces of coronavirus relief legislation that didn’t include provisions for those industries.

"We have a lot more we need to do with Congress, and the speaker and I have acknowledged that we will be working starting immediately,” Mnuchin said. “The airlines industry in particular, no different than after 9/11, has a very unique circumstances — the cruise industry, the hotel industry. I would say we’ve got a lot more work to do.”

Airlines are already struggling with massive losses, with some carriers having more canceled flights than new bookings for April and May. Delta Air Lines announced Friday that it is slashing 40 percent of its flight capacity, a massive cut.

The reduction in flights is the steepest in Delta's history, including the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

And then other people, fuelled by rational levels of panic, ( triggered by the significantly higher than usual death rates predicted ), simply copy them, blindly. I'm not saying that people's behaviour/decisions when panicked are rational ... except in so far as they swiftly follow the herd/group, which in the wild is often very sensible.

Lemmings have become the subject of a widely popular misconception that they are driven to commit mass suicide when they migrate by jumping off cliffs. It is not a deliberate mass suicide where the animal voluntarily chooses to die, but rather a result of their migratory behavior.

Norwegian lemmings are not stupid. They are masterful burrowers and, like other rodents, score highly when it comes to reproduction. When the population becomes too dense, lemmings will seek pastures new - but they do not commit suicide and they do not explode.

Obviously it's for a household filled to the brim with those with irritable bowel syndrome. The war against explosive diarrhea must be won at all costs. Trolley loads of toilet paper are a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Obviously it's for a household filled to the brim with those with irritable bowel syndrome. The war against explosive diarrhea must be won at all costs. Trolley loads of toilet paper are a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Spain was officially locked down Saturday as more than 6,000 people in the country have tested positive for COVID-19 and around 200 have died.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the lockdown, effective immediately and the second of its kind in Europe after Italy’s, at a press conference Saturday night.

But that’s not Sanchez’s only concern. Multiple Spanish media outlets reported that his wife, Begoña Gomez, is one of those confirmed cases, having tested positive for the coronavirus earlier in the day.

The drastic new measures order Spaniards to remain in their houses for the next 15 days, with exceptions only for buying food or medicine, going to work, hospitals or banks, or helping care for young or elderly people, The Associated Press reported.

All schools and universities have been closed, along with all businesses deemed “non-essential,” according to the AP. Religious services and other gatherings have also been stopped.

Sanchez made the announcement after a marathon cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours.

Earlier Saturday, multiple flights bound for Spain from Britain turned around in midair.

The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum and the Moulin Rouge cabaret have closed their doors — and the rest of France is expected to do the same starting Sunday.

France is imposing a shutdown of all restaurants, cafes, theaters and nonessential shops, and encouraging its citizens to stay home as much as possible, in an attempt to stop the rapid spread of the new coronavirus. It has banned all gatherings of more than 100 people, ordered all schools closed and asked companies to allow workers to stay home.

France has reported nearly 4,500 infections and 91 deaths — half of whom were people under 50 — since the virus was detected in the country Feb. 28.

Nevertheless, nationwide municipal elections will be held on Sunday. Special measures to keep people at a safe distance and to sanitize surfaces were ordered, and voters were advised to bring their own pen to sign the voting register.

The Health Ministry send out a message overnight Saturday clarifying a raft of new regulations announced hours earlier by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to combat the spread of the coronavirus, including banning gatherings of more than ten people.

The message emphasized that all educational institutions would be shut down starting Sunday, regardless of the number of children per classroom, among them daycare centers — including home daycares — special education, youth movements and after-school programs.

It also said that, save for supermarkets and pharmacies, all malls would be closed. Restaurants and hotel dining rooms will also be shuttered — aside from those that provide takeout — along with bars, pubs and dance clubs.

The Health Ministry said gyms, pools, water and amusement parks, zoos and petting zoos, bathhouses and ritual baths for men, beauty and massage salons, event and conference venues, public boats and cable cars, and heritage sites would have to close as well.

It highlighted that the ban against congregating in groups larger than 10 extended to gatherings for religious activities — the minimum number of men for an Orthodox prayer quorum, or “minyan,” is 10 — and mandated that people participating in such activities maintain a distance of at least two meters from one another.

The directives also included a limit on visiting nursing homes for more than one person at a time — and preferably limited to a regular caregiver.

It said that, “for now,” people will still be allowed to go to work — though workplaces were encouraged to continue to prepare to facilitate work from home — but must maintain a distance of two meters from one another.

The Health Ministry also said Israelis should refrain from traveling in a car in groups larger than two and recommended that people refrain as much as possible from using public transportation.

The Jerusalem municipality said in a Hebrew statement Saturday night that it would adhere to the new regulations, noting that public libraries would remain open for lending only, while limiting the number of people allowed to enter to ten at a time. It confirmed that all restaurants and entertainment venues would be closed, save for kitchens that offered takeout services, which would be limited to ten workers. It also said its own workers would begin to work from home, other than filed workers who will continue as usual.

The city of Tel Aviv put out a similar statement confirming that all public activities would be shut down, including in gyms, community centers and on the beaches, where there would be no lifeguard services. It added, however, that municipal workers would continue to provide sanitation and security services, while limiting enforcement of bylaws to severe cases.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at his Jerusalem office on March 14, 2020 (GALI TIBBON / POOL / AFP)

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and government officials announced the shutdown of all leisure businesses and activities throughout the country, with the premier pressing upon the public the need to “adopt a new way of life” for the coming weeks and possibly months as the country deals with the new coronavirus — and particularly underlining a guiding principle of individuals maintaining a distance of at least two meters from others at all times.

Sunday morning will see public life further diminished, with the closure of all cafes, restaurants, hotels, malls, movie theaters, gyms, event halls and the like. It was implied, though not specifically stated, that all nonessential shops would close. But Netanyahu stressed that supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and other essential service providers would continue to function.

“This is a battle for public health,” Netanyahu said at a press conference from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. “We are at war with an invisible enemy…We are adjusting as things develop. The situation is dynamic.” But, he said, “we can beat it.”

Comparing the situation several times to a state of war, the premier said it was imperative for Israelis to change gears and “adopt a new way of life” for the near future, noting that many Israelis appeared not to be heeding officials’ calls to avoid physical contact and displays of affection, but stressing that this was crucial for the nation to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The two most important issues, he said, were “personal hygiene” and keeping distance from each other. “A distance of two meters. This will protect us. It is very hard [but] it will help us stop infection.”

He stressed that authorities “will continue to ensure crucial services to the market. First and foremost on food — because there was a rush on supermarkets. We have more than enough stocks…including for Passover. There is no justification for [panic].”

Over the weekend Israelis flooded supermarkets to stock up amid fears the country could enter a lockdown and goods could run out — though officials repeatedly assured the public that there was no such danger.

Notably — raising major privacy concerns and prompting accusations of mass surveillance — Netanyahu also said the government would move to use invasive digital monitoring measures to track the movements of sick individuals, which had previously been employed against terrorism.

The number of Israelis diagnosed with coronavirus rose to 195 Saturday evening. The Health Ministry said two of the sick remained in serious condition, with 11 in moderate condition and the rest suffering a light illness only. Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Israelis were in home quarantines for fear of exposure to the virus, including nearly 1,000 doctors, more than 600 nurses, 170 paramedics, and 80 pharmacists, according to Health Ministry figures. Health officials have conducted over 6,800 coronavirus tests nationwide so far, according to the ministry.

To curb the spread of the virus in the country, all Israelis returning from overseas are required to quarantine at home for 14 days. Non-Israeli nationals were barred from entering the country as of March 12, unless they can demonstrate an ability to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Don't forget its veterinary properties!

Found this website from Spain with instructions for a simple homemade mask:
https://www.elespanol.com/como/hacer-propia-mascarilla-casera-paso/474203402_0.html

Look at the first 30 seconds of this video:

You know why it happens this way? Masks.

European people prefer to die than wearing masks.