Author: CensorBiz

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new coronavirus guidelines for Americans lays out what people should and should not do for the next 15 days, giving strong encouragement to the public to stop most social activities to halt the spread of the pandemic.  Announcing the new guidelines from his coronavirus task force, the president Monday said people should avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people and should avoid eating in restaurants, taking shopping trips and all discretionary travel. In states where there is community transmission of the virus, the guidelines advise governors to close areas where people congregate, including restaurants, gyms and other venues.   “With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly,” Trump told reporters at the White House Monday.   The measures urge people to work or be schooled from home whenever possible and to not visit nursing homes or long-term care facilities unless it is to provide critical assistance. Governors are encouraged to close schools in areas where there is evidence of community transmission of the virus.  Vice President Mike Pence speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House, March 16, 2020, in Washington.Those who are instructed to maintain a normal work schedule are employees who work in critical industries, which include health care services, the pharmaceutical industry and food services. The guidelines say such workers “have a special responsibility” to keep showing up to work, unless they are sick.   Anyone who is sick must stay home from work and contact their medical provider, according to the guidelines. Parents who have children who are sick must not send them to school, and if any household member is sick, all family members are instructed to stay home.   The measures call for all older people, as well as all people with a serious underlying health condition, to stay home and away from all other people. Such health conditions include those that weaken the lungs or heart or impair the immune system.   The advice tells those who are young and healthy that they are still at risk and that their activities can increase the risk for others. “It is critical that you do your part to slow the spread of the coronavirus,” the guidelines advise young people. In terms of hygiene, the guidelines call on people to wash their hands after touching any frequently used surface or item, to avoid touching the face, to sneeze and cough into a tissue or the elbow, and to frequently disinfect surfaces.  The United States has recorded about 3,800 infections of coronavirus and at least 70 deaths. 
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The White House is recommending people in the United States avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people for at least the next 15 days.Commenting on the new guidance from his administration’s coronavirus task force, President Donald Trump said Americans should school at home, avoid traveling, and not patronize bars and restaurants.”As we combat the virus, each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus,” said the president, leading a nearly one-hour long briefing for reporters.He denied a nationwide curfew is under consideration.Asked how long the virus crisis would last, Trump predicted it would be until July or August or possibly longer.”It could be right in that period of time where … it washes through,” Trump said.Reporters raise their hands to ask President Donald Trump questions during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House, March 16, 2020.As normal life in the United States quickly came to a halt with mandated closures of businesses beginning in many states, stock prices on Wall Street plunged Monday.  Despite an extraordinary move taken by the Federal Reserve a day earlier to boost investor confidence, the Dow Jones Industrial on Monday dived 3,000 points to close 13 percent lower — the worst trading day since the start of the coronavirus crisis. “The market will be very strong as soon as we get rid of the virus,” Trump replied when told of the closing numbers while he was still at the briefing room lectern.The Fed, which is America’s central bank, on Sunday made an emergency cut to interest rates, bringing them to near zero, amid deep concern that the coronavirus pandemic will hit corporate revenue globally. Despite the move, Asia markets fell sharply in Monday trading, a harbinger of what would happen hours later on Wall Street.  Both Trump and the White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, acknowledged on Monday the country could be headed into a recession.”No question about it, we are going to be challenged. I’m not going to label it one thing or another,” Kudlow responded to a question from VOA.A Red Robin reastaurant in Tigard, Ore., has closed some tables in order to maintain “social distancing” between diners per CDC guidelines, March 15, 2020.Kudlow added that while first quarter statistics will be fine, the second quarter “could be a very difficult quarter.” To help mitigate the impact to the domestic economy, Kudlow revealed the administration is considering offering companies 100 percent expensing to move their factories back from China.”It’ll help everybody in America,” said Kudlow, who explained Trump has not yet signed off on the proposal.Trump later in the day also said the government is looking at bailing out domestic airlines suffering severe turbulence from the loss of passengers due to the pandemic.”We’re going to back the airlines 100 percent. It’s not their fault,” he told reporters.Trump on Monday spoke with other G-7 leaders to coordinate action in response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.”It was a very good discussion,” said Trump, describing great camaraderie among the leaders, although he gave no specifics on the outcome.After the G-7 call, Trump held a similar call with state governors on the same topic.  The president acknowledged he told the governors that if they are able to acquire needed ventilators and respirators for their hospitals quicker than they can get them from the federal government, they should do that.Staff of “Food and Friends,” a food distribution service for people with life-challenging illnesses, practice social distancing as they listen to District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speak in Washington, March 16, 2020.The United States has more than 4,100 coronavirus cases in all but one of the 50 states.    There are 69 deaths reported from the disease in the country.      The Senate, controlled by the president’s Republican Party, this week is considering a coronavirus relief package.The legislation, as approved by the Democrat-controlled House, ensures individuals would have access to free coronavirus testing, ensure displaced workers get paid leave and other benefits.Trump suggested the bill might be made “even better” by Senate Republicans to include sick leave for a larger group of workers. 
 
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Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva has been formally charged with justifying terrorism in a case that has drawn criticism from rights and media watchdogs.Prokopyeva, a freelance contributor for RFE/RL’s Russian Service, said on March 16 she had been handed the indictment document at the prosecutor’s office in Pskov.She denies the charge, which stem from comments made during a 2018 Ekho Moskvy broadcast.If found guilty, the journalist faces seven years in prison.RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned Prokopyeva’s indictment, saying that “the charges lack any merit, and have been brought instead in a cynical effort to silence an independent journalist.””Independent journalists in Russia should be respected for their critical role in providing people with important news and information about issues they are facing, and not treated as criminals for doing their jobs,” Fly added. 
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At least 30 countries across Africa have now reported cases of coronavirus, including four that reported their first instances Monday – Benin, Liberia, Somalia and Tanzania. Speaking to reporters Monday, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said the coronavirus patient is a 46-year-old Tanzanian woman who arrived in Arusha from Belgium on the afternoon of March 14. Mwalimu said the passenger arrived through Kilimanjaro Airport and was checked by the health officials but was not found to have a fever. Later, she started feeling unwell while in a hotel and went to the Mount Meru regional hospital, where a sample was taken to the public health laboratory in Dar es Salaam for an investigation.Mwalimu said the laboratory results have confirmed the person has COVID-19. The minister said the patient is in good condition and officials are tracing those with whom she came into contact after her arrival. Authorities announced other steps to halt the spread of the virus. President John Magufuli postponed the Uhuru torch ceremony, an annual event that involves relaying a torch across the country.  The government advised all citizens to postpone nonessential travel to countries with reported COVID-19 cases.  And officials advised public places such as schools, hotels, churches and mosques to install hand sanitizers.  
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In Joe Biden’s pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination, he’s run repeatedly into a wall in the West, where Bernie Sanders’ strength among Latinos propelled his campaign even as he struggled with other groups. Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona and Florida offer Biden a chance to show he can make up ground with Latinos, a crucial group of voters he’ll need in his corner to defeat President Donald Trump.  Biden is playing catch-up when it comes to engaging Latino voters and is weighed down by anger over the high rate of deportations during the Obama administration, which left scars for many immigrants and their families.  “We need more. And we need commitments as we move into the general,” said Regina Romero, a Democrat who recently took office as Tucson’s first Latina mayor. Biden can win over reluctant Latinos with a bold and progressive stance on immigration, she said.  “I hope that he doesn’t eat up the lie that he has to be more conservative on the immigration issue,” said Romero, who hasn’t endorsed Biden or Sanders since her favored candidate, Elizabeth Warren, dropped out. “We shouldn’t be afraid of an issue that is so important for Latino voters, water it down and not have policies that Latinos can get excited about.” Arizona and Florida are both likely to be battlegrounds in November. In Arizona, 1 in 3 residents is Latino; in Florida, it’s 1 in 4.  Adriana Romero chants during the Bernie 2020 March to Early Vote at Florida International University to on March 11, 2020, in Miami.Sanders’ strength with Latinos helped him to an overwhelming victory in the Nevada caucuses and contributed to his Super Tuesday wins in California and Colorado on a night when Biden built a formidable lead in delegates. But Biden’s success is a recent phenomenon. His slow start amid a crowded Democratic field left him with a shoestring budget and virtually no campaign infrastructure beyond the early states, which limited his ability to reach out to Latinos on the ground or air Spanish-language television ads. That’s changed now that his burst of success since South Carolina made him the overwhelming favorite for the nomination and helped his fundraising.  “He definitely needs to work it, and he needs to up his game and engage with Latino voters,” said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS, the Latino advocacy group formerly known as National Council of La Raza. Tuesday could make for “a big reset” for Biden, she said. Biden has had to answer for the big spike in deportations during Barack Obama’s presidency, when Biden served as vice president.  Early in his administration, Obama aggressively increased efforts to deport immigrants living in the country illegally. He’d hoped to convince members of Congress and the public that he was serious about border security in order to secure a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would extend legal status to millions of people living in the U.S. without authorization. The reform bill never passed, but the deportations disrupted families, drove fear in immigrant communities and left deep wounds.  Any Democrat’s immigration policies would be superior to Trump’s, but that won’t be enough to excite Latinos, said Tomás Robles, co-director of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, a Latino organizing group that has endorsed Sanders.  “You cannot depend on people’s hatred or fear of Trump to inspire them to turn out in droves for Vice President Biden,” Robles said. “Bernie has worked hard to motivate Latinos as a base. But the entire establishment part has failed at doing the same.” Lucha’s other co-director, Alejandra Gomez, said Biden could make big strides by choosing a progressive running mate. The Obama administration deported more than 3 million people during his eight-year tenure, especially in the early years before Obama gave up on Congress and changed course, using executive orders to extend temporary legal protections to young immigrants and their parents through programs known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA. “We took far too long to get it right,” Biden said in an interview last month with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, for the first time characterizing the administration’s actions as a misstep. The former vice president later added: “I think it was a big mistake. Took too long to get it right.” Biden and his allies focus on the later years of the Obama administration.  U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who represents largely Latino areas of Phoenix and endorsed Biden this month, predicted that Latino voters will come around. But he said Biden could help himself by talking up his own progressive proposals, such as a $15 minimum wage and a public option for health insurance. He should also talk about the Obama health care law that extended coverage to millions of Americans, including a disproportionate number of Latinos, Gallego said.  While Arizona Latinos are frustrated with the Obama-era deportations, Gallego said, they also remember that the administration sued to block the state’s anti-illegal immigration bill known as SB1070, sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling and enacted DACA.  “Even those voters who aren’t supporting Vice President Biden right now, I think they still have positive feelings toward him and at the end of the day will be very supportive in the general,” Gallego said.  Biden’s defenders also point to Sanders’ work to help kill a 2007 immigration bill, which Sanders warned would drive down wages.  “No one’s perfect, but let’s not forget that he made a fatal mistake by doing that,” Gallego said.  Latinos in the West, where Sanders has done so well, are mainly of Mexican and Central American descent. It’s a different story in Florida, where Cubans and Puerto Ricans predominate, making the state a potential bright spot for Biden. Sanders’ self-identity as a democratic socialist and his recent defense of certain aspects of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s regime are a liability with Cuban voters.  “Miami is a melting pot for people from all over,” said José Javier Rodríguez, a Democratic state senator from Miami who was an early Biden supporter. “Biden’s appeal hits a cross-section in ways that Sen. Sanders does not.” Biden’s campaign is upping its Latino organizing in Arizona through its “Todos con Biden” or “Everyone with Biden” program, including Spanish-language phone banks and door-to-door outreach. In Florida, Biden’s Spanish-language ads use a Cuban narrator in Miami, a Puerto Rican in Orlando and a Mexican in Fort Myers to reflect the backgrounds of Latinos in each area. Biden will need that outreach in a matchup against Trump. In Arizona, the growth of Latinos combined with Trump’s weaknesses in the suburbs have turned a solidly red state into a battleground. And for the president, there’s virtually no path to reelection without winning Florida and its trove of electoral votes.  Sanders put to rest the old adage that Latinos don’t vote, said Chuck Rocha, a senior strategist for Sanders.  The Latino vote, he said, “is no longer the sleeping giant. It just needed a little attention and a little love and it will show up.”   
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Millions of Americans began their work week holed up at home Monday against the coronavirus outside their doors, as the escalating outbreak shifted the nation’s daily routines in ways never before seen in U.S. history.As wide swaths of the economy began shuddering to a halt, the financial markets opened with stocks dropping on Wall Street by nearly 10 percent, triggering an automatic 15-minute halt to trading. That came despite emergency Federal Reserve action late Sunday that cut the key interest rate to near zero.The best-case scenario for many investors now is that the economic shock will be steep but short, with growth recovering later this year as stores and businesses open back up. Pessimists, though, are preparing for a longer haul.The U.S. surgeon general, meanwhile, said the number of coronavirus cases in the United States has reached the level that disease-battered Italy recorded two weeks ago — a signal that infections are expected to rise in America.“We are at a critical inflection point in this country, people,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told Fox News. “When you look at the projections, there’s every chance that we could be Italy.”Two weeks ago, there were 1,700 cases of coronavirus in Italy and the country had reported 34 deaths. Now, Italy is reporting an estimated 25,000 cases and more than 1,800 people have died.The U.S. has recorded about 3,800 infections and at least 65 deaths, two-thirds of them in hard-hit Washington state.The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the virus was set to receive an experimental dose at a research institute in Washington state. Public officials cautioned, however, that it will still take from a year to 18 months to fully test and approve any potential vaccineThe wheels of justice slowed too, as the U.S. Supreme Court put oral arguments on hold, including fights over subpoenas for President Donald Trump’s financial records.Over the weekend, governors and mayors closed restaurants, bars, and schools as the nation sank deeper into crisis.. Travelers returning home from abroad were stuck in line for hours at major airports for screenings, crammed into just the kind of crowded spaces that public health officials have urged people to avoid.Around the country, people rushed to make arrangements to work from home or tried to figure out how to entertain themselves now that nearly all social gatherings have been banned, canceled or strongly discouraged. Some people planned to binge-watch TV, catch up on chores such as cleaning out the basement, exercise at home instead of the gym, do more cooking or read more.“We’re catching up on our reading. I just started `Love in the Time of Cholera.′ It seemed appropriate,” said Beverly Pfeiffer in Silver Spring, Maryland, of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic.Trump sought to calm a jittery nation by declaring the government has “tremendous control” over the situation and urging people to stop the panic-buying of grocery staples that has depleted store shelves nationwide. Gun stores started seeing a similar run on weapons and ammunition as the fear intensified.As Americans struggled with changing their daily habits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a dramatic recommendation: Because large events can fuel the spread of the disease, it said gatherings of 50 people or more should be canceled or postponed throughout the country for the next eight weeks. It added that, at any event, people should take proper precautions, including handwashing and keeping one’s distance.But in a sign of the difficulty of striking the right balance, the CDC statement also said the recommendation does not apply to “the day-to-day operation of organizations such as schools, institutes of higher learning, or businesses.”Even before the warning, parts of the country already look like ghost towns, and others are about to follow as theme parks closed, beaches shooed away spring breakers and states and large cities ordered bars and restaurants shuttered.“The time for persuasion and public appeals is over,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “This is not a joke. No one is immune to this.”New York City said eateries could only accept takeout and delivery orders. Mayor Bill de Blasio also ordered nightclubs, movie theaters and other entertainment venues closed.“These places are part of the heart and soul of our city. They are part of what it means to be a New Yorker,” he said in a statement Sunday night. “But our city is facing an unprecedented threat, and we must respond with a wartime mentality.”His decision came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious-disease expert, said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed to prevent the virus’s spread.“I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on combating the spread of coronavirus. He heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.There was no indication Trump is considering such a move.The worldwide outbreak has sickened nearly 170,000 people and left more than 6,500 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day.
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Experts say the Coronavirus got its start through animal to human transmission at a live wildlife market in Wuhan, China. In the months since, the deadly virus has rapidly spread throughout the world and the outbreak has been declared a pandemic. The crisis has prompted the Chinese government to impose a ban on consumption and trade of illegal wildlife.  But as VOA’s Julie Taboh reports, not all at-risk countries are following their example.
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A young Botswana boxer has defied the odds in a male dominated sport, to become the country’s first ever female Olympian in the sport. Twenty-three year-old Sadie Kenosi recently became the first boxer in the world to book her spot in July’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. From Gaborone, Botswana, Mqondisi Dube reports.
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The last two major U.S. Democratic presidential candidates – former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – clashed Sunday night in a spirited debate on a range of issues as they made their best case to be the party’s nominee to face Republican President Donald Trump in November’s national election.The two candidates attacked Trump repeatedly, with Biden calling him “an existential threat to the country,” while Sanders declared that Trump is a “pathological liar” overseeing a “corrupt administration.”Both assailed Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., with Sanders accusing him of “undermining scientists” and Biden faulting the administration for refusing in the early stages of the crisis to import test kits from other countries when the U.S. had the opportunity to do so.President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Sunday, March 15, 2020, in Washington.“This is like we are being attacked,” Biden said. “In a war, you do whatever is required to do to take care of your people. Everything you would need to take care of this crisis would be free. It would be paid for by the U.S. taxpayers.”Biden said he would call in the military to cope with the crisis while Sanders skirted the issue. Instead, Sanders complained about Trump undermining the government’s response by contradicting what government experts and scientists have recommended.“What we have to do is shut this president up,” he said.The two also virtually agreed on naming a woman to be their vice presidential running mate. Biden said he definitely would pick a woman and Sanders said “in all likelihood” he would, provided he could find someone who agrees with his progressive policies.But the two Democrats quarreled with each other on how best to take on Trump, the New York real estate mogul and first-time politician who won an upset victory in 2016 to become the country’s 45th president.Biden and Sanders often argued over the minutiae of legislation in the U.S. Congress when both were senators and later when Biden served two terms as vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2009-2017.Sanders called for a political revolution to take on special interests that control health care and energy production in the U.S. Biden promoted less dramatic changes, but ones that also would move American policies significantly to the left philosophically from the Trump administration.Sanders argued that his plan for a government takeover of health care in the U.S. – he calls it Medicare for All – was a moral imperative so that “everyone will get the care they need.” Biden said his plans for more measured improvements on top of the health care plan adopted under Obama – popularly known as Obamacare – would help more Americans at less cost.“People are looking for results, not a revolution,” Biden said. “What people want is hope and they need it now, not four years from now.”Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020.Biden at one point cut off Sanders, saying: “With all due respect to Medicare for All, you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there.” Biden was referring to the coronavirus crisis in Italy that is among the worst in Europe. “It has nothing to do with Medicare for All — that would not solve the problem at all. We can take care of that right now by making sure that no one has to pay for treatment period because of the crisis,” he said.On another issue, Sanders attacked Biden’s support for the 2008 bailout of floundering Wall Street financial giants as the recession worsened more than a decade ago. Biden retorted, “It kept us from going into a depression.”Sanders also criticized Biden’s support of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Biden now admits was a mistake.Sanders claimed Biden supported cuts in the country’s cherished Social Security payments to older Americans.“No, I did not,” Biden responded sharply.Sunday’s debate had been scheduled before a live audience, just as with a string of previous Democratic encounters. But the spread of the deadly coronavirus forced the two longtime politicians into CNN’s Washington studio for their two-hour debate and there was no audience, in an effort to limit the possibility of exposing even more people to the virus.Biden in the leadAt the moment, Biden holds a clear edge in the delegate count in the race for the Democratic nomination. The two squared off in what could turn out to be the last debate before the party’s national nominating convention in July.After a stumbling start in the first three presidential nominating contests in February, Biden has won 16 of the last 21 state elections and is heavily favored in the next four on Tuesday. They are scattered across the U.S., in Florida in the South, Ohio and Illinois in the Midwest, and Arizona in the Southwest. Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020.Biden needs a majority of at least 1,991 delegates at the convention and currently leads Sanders, 809-666. Projections at the fivethirtyeight.com political forecasting site say Biden is likely to add another 200 delegates to that margin in Tuesday’s voting.The earlier debates have had at least six candidates on stage, often leading to a verbal free-for-all with candidates talking over each other and leaving television viewers at a loss to understand any single individual.Even with the debate stage narrowed to two candidates, Biden and Sanders frequently interrupted each other.All of the other Democratic candidates who have dropped out of the presidential race have endorsed Biden as they exited, with the exception of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has yet to endorse either Biden or Sanders.But with Biden now projected to win the party nomination in his third run for the presidency over three decades, Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, has sought to make the case that he is best-suited to take on Trump, who at 73 is younger than either Biden, 77, or Sanders, 78.Biden, known widely for verbal gaffes, in recent campaign appearances mixed up what day the last primary elections were occurring and also was unable to recall key words from the country’s Declaration of Independence that many school-age children could recite.In recent campaign appearances, the normally verbose Biden has read his speeches off a teleprompter and the addresses have been noticeably shorter to minimize the chance for more verbal missteps.That, of course, wasn’t possible with Sunday night’s give-and-take with Sanders and Biden standing two meters apart behind podiums. Biden seemed self-assured throughout the debate and assertive in his exchanges with Sanders.But both said they would support and campaign for the other against Trump, no matter which of them wins the Democratic nomination. 
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Haiti will close its border with the Dominican Republic as of midnight on Monday, Prime Minister Jouthe Joseph announced Sunday.   Joseph said an exception is being made for merchandise, which will still be allowed across the border after screening.  He said Dominican officials will test those aboard the vehicles prior to entering Haiti, and Haitian health officials will also test them upon entry.   
 
The move aims to keep the coronavirus, which has sickened 11 people in the neighboring Dominican Republic, out.  So far Haiti has no confirmed cases of the deadly disease. The country’s first suspected case, an unidentified foreign woman who had traveled to one of the countries where the coronavirus has spread, tested negative for the disease.  “We are asking people to take this pandemic very seriously,” Joseph said. “We are asking for the cooperation of all Haitian citizens as well as foreigners living in Haiti.” The prime minister announced that Haiti is also suspending all flights from Europe and Latin America. Flights from the United States are under evaluation, he said.  
 
“We are evaluating fights between Port-au-Prince and New York, Port-au-Prince and Miami, Cape Haitian and Miami, Cape Haitian and Fort Lauderdale,” he said. “We have an agreement with American air transportation officials that all passengers boarding planes for Haiti must be screened for coronavirus.” 
 
He said Public Health officials at the nation’s two international airports – in Port-au-Prince and Cape Haitian  – are already screening passengers for the virus upon arrival. Quarantine facilities have also been set up for passengers who exhibit flu-like symptoms. They will be required to fill out a special form, regarding the disease.  
 
“If you are asked to undergo testing or if you are ordered to be quarantined, we urge you to cooperate.  Don’t be angry, this is being done to protect our country,” he said. 
 
Joseph appealed to avoid traveling outside of the country, unless it’s an emergency. 
 
“We urge all Haitians to avoid all non-essential travel. Do not travel to any foreign country unless it’s urgent that you do so,” Joseph said.  According to the prime minister, the extra measures to reinforce the country’s land and maritime borders and its airports have been successful in keeping the pandemic out so far.    In addition to new restrictions affecting civilian travel, the prime minister said the government has cancelled all official travel.  Joseph said any official who wants to travel abroad must first get approval from either President Jovenel Moise, the prime minister or the foreign minister.  
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Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders sought in Sunday’s Democratic debate to cast themselves as best-positioned to lead the nation through a global pandemic, with Biden pledging to deploy the military to help with recovery efforts and Sanders using the crisis to pitch his long-sought overhaul of the country’s health care system.The fast-moving coronavirus dominated the first one-on-one faceoff of the 2020 campaign, reflecting the way the crisis has upended American life by closing schools, disrupting travel and raising questions about President Donald Trump’s ability to lead the nation through turbulent times.“This is bigger than any one of us — this calls for a national rallying for one another,” Biden said.Biden’s and Sanders’ prescriptions for addressing the public health and economic crisis highlighted the ideological divide between the two men vying for the Democratic nomination. Biden, a centrist who helped implement the 2009 bailout of the financial industry, warned that another government-backed economic rescue plan may be needed in the coming months, while the liberal Sanders suggested a tax on the wealthiest Americans.The stakes and the standings in the race for the Democratic nomination have shifted dramatically since Biden and Sanders last debated less than three weeks ago. After a sluggish start to the primary season, Biden has surged to the front of the field, drawing overwhelming support from black voters and consolidating the backing of several rivals who have dropped out of the race.Biden appeared determined to keep his focus on the general election, making direct overtures to Sanders’ supporters and committing for the first time to selecting a woman as his running mate if he becomes the Democratic nominee. After Biden’s announcement, Sanders said he would “in all likelihood” do the same.Sanders has struggled to broaden his coalition beyond young people and liberals, and his path to the nomination is rapidly shrinking. Still, he appeared determined to draw sharp contrasts with Biden throughout, challenging the former vice president to disavow a super PAC backing his candidacy and casting Biden as inconsistent during his career on his support for the financial industry and women’s health issues.The Vermont senator also repeatedly pushed questions regarding the coronavirus toward a now-familiar debate between him and Biden over health care. Sanders argued that the troublesome shortages in coronavirus tests and anxiety over the preparedness of the nation’s health care system to deal with an impending increase in patients highlight why the U.S. should move to the government-run, “Medicare For All” system he has long championed.“One of the reasons that we are unprepared, and have been unprepared, is we don’t have a system. We’ve got thousands of private insurance plans,” said Sanders, who backs a sweeping government-run health insurance program. “That is not a system that is prepared to provide health care to all people in a good year, without the epidemic.”Biden, who supports adding a public insurance option to the current system, argued that a pandemic was not a moment to attempt to push through an overhaul of the American health insurance system, a politically arduous endeavor.“This is a crisis,” Biden said. “We’re at war with a virus. It has nothing to do with copays or anything.”As the debate opened, Biden and Sanders skipped a handshake, greeting each other instead with an elbow bump. They took their positions at podiums spaced 6 feet apart in keeping with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus. They addressed the nation, and each other, from a television studio in Washington without an in-person audience.The pandemic has upended the campaign for days, prompting Biden and Sanders to cancel rallies and instead hold virtual events with voters around the country. Their campaign staffs are also working remotely, and the candidates — both in their late 70s — said they were taking personal precautions to guard against a virus that is a greater risk to the elderly.“I’m using a lot of soap and hand sanitizer,” Sanders said.For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. There are more than 167,000 cases confirmed worldwide.
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Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.There was no comment immediately available from the U.S. embassy in Berlin when contacted by Reuters over the report.“The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,” a Health Ministry spokeswoman said, confirming a quote in the newspaper.“In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac,” she added.Welt am Sonntag also quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, “but only for the United States.”CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: “The company rejects current rumors of an acquisition”.The firm said it was in contact with many organizations and authorities worldwide, but would not comment on speculation and rejected “allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology.”A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin “has a great interest” in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.She cited Germany’s foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries “if national or European security interests are at stake”.EXPERIMENTAL VACCINEFlorian von der Muelbe, CureVac’s chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also a senior German lawmaker tweeted: “The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits.”CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.Drugs based on mRNA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.In the case of vaccines, the mRNA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
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Government and hospital leaders are increasingly sounding the alarm about the hospital system in the U.S. and its readiness to absorb waves of patients in the worst-case scenario involving the new coronavirus outbreak.Authorities nationwide already are taking major steps to expand capacity with each passing day, building tents and outfitting unused spaces to house patients. They are also urging people to postpone elective surgeries, dental work and even veterinarian care. New York’s governor called for using military bases or college dorms as makeshift care centers.Among the biggest concerns is whether there will be enough beds, equipment and staff to handle several large outbreaks simultaneously in multiple cities.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health’s infectious diseases chief, said it’s critical that steps be taken now to prevent the virus from spreading quickly.“The job is to put a full-court press on not allowing the worst-case scenario to occur,” said Fauci, who appeared Sunday on several network news shows.While he does not expect massive outbreaks in the U.S. like those in Italy, he said there is the possibility if it reaches that point that an overwhelming influx of patients could lead to a lack of supplies, including ventilators.“And that’s when you’re going to have to make some very tough decisions,” Fauci said.In Washington state, which leads the nation in the number of positive COVID-19 cases with more than 600 illnesses and 40 deaths, the increase in people visiting clinics with respiratory symptoms is straining the state’s supply of personal protective gear worn by health care workers.The federal government has sent the state tens of thousands of respirators, gowns, gloves and other protective gear for health care providers. But those shipments aren’t enough, said Clark Halvorson, Assistant Secretary of Health for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.The disease has infected over 156,000 people worldwide, and more than 5,800 people have died so far.Most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms. Yet there’s a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems.The nation’s hospitals collectively have about a million beds, with 100,000 for critical care patients, but often those beds for the sickest patients are mostly filled, Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”“If we do have multiple epidemics in multiple large U.S. cities, the system will become overwhelmed,” he said.New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has suggested mobilizing the Army Corps of Engineers to turn facilities such as military bases or college dorms into temporary medical centers.“States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough,” Cuomo wrote in an opinion piece published Sunday in The New York Times.Officials in the Seattle area have been setting up temporary housing — and even bought a motel and leased another — to add space for patients who might be homeless or whose living conditions might not allow for self-isolation, such as students in college dorms. King County also is setting up modular housing and is using the arrivals hall at a county-owned airport as a shelter to reduce overcrowding — and meet social-distancing requirements — in existing homeless shelters.Hospital executives say they’re always planning for disasters and have been concentrating on coronavirus preparations for the past two months.“If you go past our emergency department now, you’ll see tents erected in the parking lot that allow us to increase emergency department capacity,” Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”The system’s network of clinics throughout Los Angeles and Southern California have additional capacity and doctor’s are encouraging telemedicine, he said.Dr. Peter Slavin, the president of Massachusetts General Hospital, said the next two weeks will be critical as the medical community expects a dramatic increase in the number of cases.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended on Saturday that elective surgeries be postponed, including dental and veterinary procedures, so that health care workers won’t be stretched thin and surgical masks can be saved for health care workers dealing with the virus.ProMedica, which operates 13 hospitals in Ohio and Michigan, is ready to call in help from staffing agencies if needed and is looking at ways to provide child care for employees whose children are off school, said Deana Sievert, chief nursing . Doctors also have voluntarily canceled their vacations.The community “can flatten off the curve of this,” by avoiding large events, staying at home, washing their hands and practicing social distancing to help U.S. hospitals avoid an onslaught of cases, said Dr. Penny Wheeler, CEO of Minneapolis-based Allina Health, which has 12 hospitals and more than 90 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin.Allina also has been canceling conferences, meetings and anything else that does not directly impact patient care.
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Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz will be given the first opportunity to form a new government, Israel’s president said Sunday.Gantz, the leader of Israel’s Blue and White party, received 61 votes in the Knesset, mandating that President Reuven Rivlin allow Gantz to appoint a speaker from his party and begin pushing legislation.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party received the most votes in the early March elections – the third set of elections over the course of one year – but failed to receive the support of enough allies in parliament to give his party control.Gantz will now have a month to form a coalition in the Knesset. The decision comes as Netanyahu is due to face trial for corruption charges. But the prime minister has enacted emergency measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus – one of which is closing down the courts that would hear his trial.In recent days, Netanyahu has called on Gantz to form an emergency or alliance government as the country battles the coronavirus outbreak. But Gantz refused.Netanyahu’s proposal included a measure that would allow him to remain prime minister for two more years.During the election process, Gantz proposed measures that would make it illegal for a prime minister to continue to serve while under indictment.  Analysts say it will not be easy to pass that law quickly and it is not likely to affect the prime minister now. 
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As the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates return to the debate stage, their party, the stakes, and the world look much different than in their last meeting less than three weeks ago.The fast-moving coronavirus was something of an afterthought in that debate; now the escalating crisis is likely to dominate Sunday’s contest. Rising infections in the United States and around the world have prompted a dramatic slowdown of global travel, upended financial markets, and raised questions about President Donald Trump’s ability to lead the nation through a prolonged period of uncertainty.Just two Democrats — former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — remain to make the case that they are best-positioned to challenge Trump in November. Five other candidates who joined them on stage in the Feb. 25 debate in South Carolina have dropped out, with many rallying behind Biden’s surging candidacy.For both Biden and Sanders, the debate is a moment to display their leadership skills in front of what could be one of the largest audiences of the primary. They’ll aim to draw a contrast with Trump, but also with each other, arguing that they have the right experience, temperament and policy prescriptions to lead the nation through a crisis.“Moments like these don’t come around often in campaigns and this is a perfect opportunity to show millions that you have what it takes,” said Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary and campaign adviser to President Barack Obama. “They must show voters they are the answer to what is missing right now by being calm, honest, ready to lead and empathetic.”The coronavirus crisis rapidly upended plans for Sunday’s debate. First, the Democratic National Committee announced that it would hold the contest without a live audience. Then the debate was moved from a large venue in Arizona, one of the states holding a primary Tuesday, to a television studio in Washington because of concerns about cross-country travel. One of the moderators had to withdraw because of potential exposure to a person who tested positive for coronavirus.It is Biden who will step on stage as the front-runner, a distinction that seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago. After disappointing showings in the early contests, Biden roared back with a commanding victory in South Carolina and has continued to rack up wins across the country, winning broad and diverse coalitions of voters. Moderate Democratic leaders, including former rivals Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, have rallied behind his candidacy and voters have done the same.Advisers say Biden will aim in Sunday’s debate to show voters who backed Sanders or other liberal candidates that they have a home in his campaign. In one overture to liberals, Biden announced his support for a bankruptcy plan championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ended her campaign earlier this month and has yet to endorse.In a virtual town hall on Friday, Biden said his support for Warren’s proposal, which aims to simplify the bankruptcy process, is “one of the things that I think Bernie and I will agree on.”Biden holds a solid lead over Sanders in the all-important delegate race, and a strong showing in Tuesday’s primary contests could effectively guarantee his nomination. Four big states will be up for grabs: Illinois, Ohio, Arizona and Florida, a perennial general election battleground where Biden appears to have an edge over Sanders.After a strong start, the race has moved rapidly away from Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist with a loyal following among young voters and liberals. But he’s failed to expand his appeal, particularly among black voters, and his calls for a sweeping political and economic revolution have also fallen flat with suburban voters.Sanders is facing some pressure from within the Democratic Party to step aside and allow Biden take Trump on one-on-one. Several Democratic groups that were waiting to endorse until after the primary have consolidated around Biden, including super PAC Priorities USA.Sanders’ advisers say he is a realist about his current standing and the difficulty of the path ahead. Yet the senator is pledging to grill Biden in Sunday’s debate on his plans for tackling college debt, for his past support of the Iraq war and for his backing of multilateral trade agreements.“I’m going to ask Joe Biden, I mean Joe is part of the establishment for a very long time, ‘Joe, what role have you played in trying to make sure that we end this massive level of income and wealth inequality where three people own more wealth than the bottom half of America?” Sanders said Saturday during an online “fireside chat” with supporters.Yet it’s unclear if the issues Sanders is aiming to highlight will resonate with voters at a time when much of the nation’s focus has shifted to the growing toll of the coronavirus and put a spotlight on the need for presidential leadership. Schools and businesses across the country are closed, and many hospitals and clinics are struggling to obtain tests for the coronavirus.For Biden, the outbreak of a global pandemic has been a moment to bolster the central argument of his candidacy: that his eight years as vice president give him the experience, as well as the relationships in Washington and around the world, that are needed in the Oval Office during turbulent times.With campaign rallies halted because of warnings against large gatherings, Biden delivered a speech in front of reporters and advisers on his proposal for combating coronavirus, including guaranteeing free testing. Sanders’ later announced his own speech, which focused largely on advocating for his call to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system and replace it with a Medicare for All program.After Sunday’s debate, it’s unclear where the candidates and the campaign go from here. Neither Biden or Sanders has announced any public rallies for next week or given any indication of when they may be able to appear in person for voters again.
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Democratic presidential hopefuls, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden,  are still slated to participate in a debate Sunday night, though the location and parameters have changed drastically in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.The debate was originally planned, as most presidential debates have been, to take place in front of a live audience. The debate was going to be held in Phoenix, Arizona ahead of Arizona’s presidential primary on Tuesday.Due to concerns of spreading the COVID-19 virus, organizers first cancelled the studio audience for the debate, and then decided to hold it in a TV studio in Washington, D.C. to limit travel for all those involved.Following months of debates with full stages, when the democratic field saw as many as twenty presidential hopefuls, Sunday’s debate will feature the only two remaining candidates – Biden and Sanders.The debate will be aired by CNN and moderated by two of its commentators. Univision’s Jorge Ramos was also scheduled to moderate, but has cancelled after revealing a potential secondary exposure to the coronavirus.Just ahead of Super Tuesday, a number of Democratic candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.Senator Sanders, who has fared poorer than expected in recent primaries, announced last week that he would continue his campaign. Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, said he looks forward to debating Biden, now in his third run for the presidency over three decades, one-on-one on Sunday night.
Sanders laid out a string of questions he plans to ask Biden about income inequality among Americans, climate change, free college tuition and why he opposes Sanders’s plan for a government-controlled health care system in the U.S., among other issues.
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The Vatican has taken an unprecedented decision due to the coronavirus outbreak. All Holy Week services with Pope Francis will be held without a congregation, including Easter Sunday mass.It will be a very different Holy Week for the faithful this year, particularly for those in Rome. No one will be allowed to attend any of the services due to the coronavirus outbreak. The large crowds in Saint Peter’s Square will not be possible this year.A note on the web site of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household that appeared late Saturday said the faithful will be able to follow the events as they are streamed on the internet or carried on television, but no one will be able to actively participate.  Holy Week is normally one of the busiest times of the year for Pope Francis, with tens of thousands of people arriving from all over the world to join in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.  FILE – Few tourists walk in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, March 6, 2020.It is still unclear how the services will be held by the pope, or where exactly, as the Vatican is still to provide further details. Holy Week services begin on Palm Sunday, which marks Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Other important services include Holy Thursday Mass when the oils are blessed. Normally on that day Pope Francis washes the feet of prisoners but this is unlikely to happen this year.The Lord’s Passion service is normally held in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday followed by the Way of the Cross around Rome’s ancient Colosseum. This too is likely to be canceled or will take place without public participation. Pope Francis will still be giving his twice-yearly Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter Sunday.Italian authorities locked down the entire country last Monday as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to soar. There are currently more than 21,000 positive cases in the country and the death toll has reached 1441. Churches in Rome have been reopened but all masses are canceled to avoid people gathering in one place.   
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