President Trump Declares National Emergency Over Coronavirus
[guest post by Dana]
As you know, President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus today. Here are the highlights:
*FEMA will be able to access billions of dollars, which will in turn, help quicken the response to the virus at state and county levels.
*Interest on federal student loans will be waived until further notice.
*Trump said administration is working to “dramatically” increase the availability of testing across the country.
*Trump explained that they have formed a “new partnership with the private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus. “We want people to take a test quickly if they need. But we don’t want people to take the test if we feel they shouldn’t be doing it.”
*Trump said the declaration would allow “HHS Secretary Alexander Azar to waive “provisions of applicable laws and regulations” to give medical professionals and hospitals the “flexibility” to care for all patients.”
*Trump said that “Azar will have the ability to enable “telehealth” for remote doctor visits and hospital check-ins, and the ability to waive hospital stay limits, as well as obtain additional office and hospital space.:
*Trump said they have “partnered with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-through tests available in “critical locations” identified by public health professionals. Google is working on getting a website up and running to implement the drive-through testing.
And because he can’t resist, and because he believes himself second to none, Trump also took a swipe at Obama:
Trump was asked about the H1N1 pandemic–which former President Barack Obama declared a national emergency over in 2009.
“It was nothing like this and they actually lost approximately 14,000 people,” Trump said, slamming the Obama administration for thinking about testing “far too late.”
“We’ve done it very early and we’ve also kept a lot of people out,” Trump said.
In response to a question, reminding Trump that the past administration had tested “1 million people,” he replied: “They had a very big failure with swine flu. Very big failure.”
[Ed. I’ll have a post up in a little while about how President Trump is still refusing to be tested for the coronavirus, in spite of having been in direct contact with now-infected individuals. It deserves its own post...]
UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Ragspierre, we now know that, contrary to what Trump said…:
Google is not working with the US government in building a nationwide website to help people determine whether and how to get a novel coronavirus test, despite what President Donald Trump said in the course of issuing an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, a much smaller trial website made by another division of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is going up. It will only be able to direct people to testing facilities in the Bay Area.
More than an hour after Trump’s press conference, a Google communications Twitter account passed along the following statement from Verily, which is a different company inside the Alphabet corporate umbrella…
Carolyn Wang, communications lead for Verily, told The Verge that the “triage website” was initially only going to be made available to health care workers instead of the general public. Now that it has been announced the way it was, however, anybody will be able to visit it, she said. But the tool will only be able to direct people to “pilot sites” for testing in the Bay Area, though Wang says Verily hopes to expand it beyond California “over time.”
SMDH. He continues to show a remarkable inability to be truthful and accurate.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (4fb37f) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:32 pmI’m sure the President will be privately tested. It makes no sense doing so privately which could cause further panic.
How about we reclaim our pharmaceutical production rather than be at the mercy of China?
https://archive.fo/hKdsm
NJRob (da8d2b) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:44 pmFort Derrick has a lot to answer for.
Make America Ordered Again (23f793) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:46 pm*Detrick
Make America Ordered Again (23f793) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:46 pm1) That would make us all poorer.
2) There is no cure.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:46 pmDana, apparently at his presser in response to a reporter’s question he indicated he is ‘planning’ to get tested– given the increasing evidence of people who’ve been around him at evets contracting the bug- “when they can work it out” but his answer was fairly vague. Wonder if getting tested and revealing the results would open him up to being pressured to reveal more medical information– we still have no idea why he made that mysterious medical visit a while back.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:47 pmDCSCA, let’s save comments about that for the actual post, if you don’t mind. Otherwise I will have done it in vain…
Dana (4fb37f) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:50 pmThis is so day-late-dollar-short-eight-weeks-behind-the-curve-anti-metric-system-increasingly-out-Of-step-w/t-modern-world-typical-USA these days.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:52 pm@7. ‘Kay. Good luck w/it– he was all over the lot in that presser, too.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:53 pmFort Detrick has a lot to answer for.
To the conspiracy nutters united, maybe.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:53 pmMr Trump should totally not get tested after being exposed. He’s too valuable to everyone to waste good golfing time by taking such a meaningless test. He’s really too good for the test anyway and it probably wouldn’t work on someone as great as he is anyway.
He should wait until he has a temperature of AT LEAST 106 before considering it.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 3:59 pmAs long as our humor holds up we’ll be OK.
https://www.libertariancountry.com/products/dont-cough-on-me-shirt?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzafKrsmY6AIVQ8XACh1o5gWeEAEYASAAEgKGXvD_BwE&variant=29047633117207
harkin (b64479) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:15 pm_
“It was nothing like this and they actually lost approximately 14,000 people,” Trump said, slamming the Obama administration for thinking about testing “far too late.”
I wonder if he realizes how transcendingly stupid, dishonest and inept that makes him look to most Americans?
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:19 pmHe stands in the caboose, raises his binoculars to look at the town he just passed through, and cries, “Forward!”
John B Boddie (286277) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:35 pm“It was nothing like this and they actually lost approximately 14,000 people,” Trump said, slamming the Obama administration for thinking about testing “far too late.”
Trump should get on his knees and pray that only 14,000 deaths come from this.
norcal (a5428a) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:38 pmThat was not Mr. President Donald Trump you saw. It was a staged Democrat Media Hoax with a crisis actor made up to look like Mr. President Donald Trump.
nk (1d9030) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:41 pmTrump says he has learned a lot about coronavirus testing in the past two weeks, and his top advisor said Trump realized Tuesday that the current approach isn’t working. I have no experts on staff telling me about coronavirus (the disease or testing) and I knew that 2 weeks ago.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:41 pmThe only one He could pray to is Himself, no?
Dave (1bb933) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:41 pmA vaccine was ready for the swine flu about eight months after it was declared a pandemic, which stopped it completely. Obama had nothing to do with that, nor will Trump if the same happens.
Who here remembers being tested for the swine flu?
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:46 pmLarge Texas cities have or are getting drive-thru coronavirus testing for healthcare workers who are sick. The State did this (and the first unit deployed was apparently because of the Mayor and the City of San Antonio — kudos to them), not the feds, and there is no reason private industry can’t help, too.
In my town, there are doctors and labs but the bottleneck is getting the nasal swab done for the test. No one wants to be responsible for setting up a dedicated, staffed hazmat facility where ill people can go.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:49 pmI remember getting screened, Munroe, but I had a classmate that got swine flu vaccine so everyone was looked at.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 4:51 pmI was not tested for the swine flu nor do I know anyone who was. Nor do I remember hearing about how to get screened if I felt the need for it.
Munroe (79457a) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:04 pmI should have said got paralyzed from the vaccine, not just got the vaccine. I don’t remember anyone getting the actual virus.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:06 pmA vaccine was ready for the swine flu about eight months after it was declared a pandemic…
Link, please.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:06 pmhttps://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2020/03/contra-trump-google-not-building-nationwide-coronavirus-screening-website/
Ruh-roow…
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:15 pmTrump: “I don’t take responsibility at all” for the failure in widespread testing
Well, you could knock me over with a feather.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:18 pmThis is interesting correspondence from Bergamo, Italy:
Dana (4fb37f) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:19 pmHow much testing was there in 1976? I recall rapid strep tests in the late 1980’s with my first kid, but I don’t recall rapid flu tests then.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:20 pmThanks for that, Ragspierre, I’m going to add it to the post.
Dana (4fb37f) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:21 pm“Link, please.”
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:06 pm
Straight from Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_the_United_States?wprov=sfti1
Munroe (79457a) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:24 pmSaying it nicely:
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:30 pmcorrespondence from Bergamo, Italy:
PS. Cari amici, we also heard that there was a war going on in Syria, and to be on the safe side, we surrendered.
nk (1d9030) — 3/13/2020 @ 5:40 pmStraight from Wikipedia.
Well, I skimmed your wikiwork, and didn’t find what you said. Not saying I couldn’t miss it…
Seems swine flu was around a long time before being declared a pandemic.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:08 pmThanks for that, Ragspierre, I’m going to add it to the post.
Thank you, ma’am.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:11 pm“Well, I skimmed your wikiwork, and didn’t find what you said. Not saying I couldn’t miss it…”
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:08 pm
April 2009 to December 2009 is eight months. It couldn’t be clearer.
For CV, at the same rate I guess we should expect a vaccine by October. If not, it’s Trump’s fault.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:33 pmThe initial cases were in April, the vaccine started being given in October.
Kishnevi (98ea1b) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:48 pmSorry, hit the wrong button…
Kishnevi (98ea1b) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:50 pmInitial US cases were late March/early April, WHO had already declared a pandemic by then. The vaccine was available 7 months later.
Oh, come on. Google is Alphabet and Alphabet is Google for all intents and purposes. Not knowing the lines of control to one of whose-ever MANY MANY subsidiaries and internal groups isn’t “lying” — it’s not giving a damn. And a damn isn’t worth giving.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:54 pmSeveral vaccines are in development and will be ready soon. The delay isn’t as much from making vaccines as it is in testing them in clinical trials. Eight months wasn’t long enough to do both in 1976, which may be why Dr Fauci said a vaccine is a year or more away now.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/13/2020 @ 6:56 pmIs the Bay Area the U.S., Kevin?
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:01 pmTrump should get on his knees and pray that only 14,000 deaths come from this.
Florida, alone, will have more.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:03 pmFor CV, at the same rate I guess we should expect a vaccine by October. If not, it’s Trump’s fault.
OK. If you insist…
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:04 pmhttps://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/398887965302091776
It’s interesting how much Trump hated Obama. Literally everything was Obama’s responsibility when Trump was on the sidelines. This tweet is very amusing in light of Trump’s ‘nothing is my fault guys’ approach to this crisis.
Dustin (9c58b3) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:06 pmThere are a finite number of drs, nurses, medical staff and they are getting the virus. They have also been working nonstop, non-stop for days and days. What happens when the drs, nurses and medical staff are simply not able to care for the patients, when they are not there?
And this is why I say now, let us plan. We will need 5 million volunteers to provide basic care for a lot of people. We will need beds in every gymnasium, church auditorium, union hall — basically any large enclosed space. And people to take care of the patients there.
It won’t happen, of course. We are too self-involved. We as a nation have not been called to sacrifice, to something greater than ourselves, in three generations, maybe four. And so we run down to the grocery, or to the Walmart, and empty the shelves so we can hole up for two weeks. And maybe this is a good idea for us — and it WILL lessen the contagion — but we will wonder (as the writer in that piece does) why “they” aren’t handling this better.
There is no “they.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:11 pmAnd, we reflect Trump in our selfishness and self-centeredness. It is no mystery why he leads us, he IS us. For him to call us to sacrifice wouldn’t pass the laugh test.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:14 pmSo, in a way, our failure to get up off our butts and help our neighbor will be Trump’s fault too.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:16 pmI agree with Kevin that now is the time to think about who is going to be providing care. It wouldn’t be too hard to create some screening/online training for basic care of coronavirus patients for pop up hospitals. A whole lot of veterans have limited medical training up to IVs.
Dustin (9c58b3) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:17 pmAnd this is why I say now, let us plan.
The UK NHS does– a ‘Dad’s Army’ of retired physicians and medical staff. If the term escapes you- Google it. Was a great show.
Once again, America’s healthcare system is weeks behind– and behind the curve.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:18 pmIs the Bay Area the U.S., Kevin
This is closer to mistaking Cupertino and Sunnyvale.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:18 pmOnce again, America’s healthcare system is weeks behind– and behind the curve.
We generally can’t, given state licensing rules. Retired people often retire to a different state, and even if they stay in the same state they let the license lapse given all the “continuing ed” requirements to stay current.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:20 pmReally this whole Alphabet/Google thing is gotcha journalism at it’s worst and is beneath this blog.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:22 pmI laughed at DCSCA’s report on his local store’s empty shelves. Then I went down to mine, and not only were cleaning products and TP gone, but most of the canned goods. Though why anyone would buy (or eat) canned string beans or spinach is beyond me.
Clearly everyone is headed to the family bunker and devil take the hindmost.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:25 pm@52. The tip-off outside the store was every shopping cart had been taken and in use– in the middle of a Friday afternoon. That just never happens on a weekday.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:30 pm@50. See– behind the curve.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/13/2020 @ 7:40 pmReally this whole Alphabet/Google thing is gotcha journalism at it’s worst and is beneath this blog.
So, to your mind it is too hard for Duh Donald or his staff to know the RIGHT name of the RIGHT company that he’s flacking as a private sector partner?
Wow. Talking about “beneath”.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/13/2020 @ 8:02 pmSo, been reading other items on this thing. Here is a great article on Italy’s experience — what they did and what they didn’t do and where they are now: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/suddenly-the-er-is-collapsing-a-doctors-stark-warning-from-italys-coronavirus-epicentre
The number one thing is to slow the spread. It may get everyone eventually, but if it gets everyone right away, the medical system will crater. Which is what is happening in Italy, and why they opted for their Hail-Mary lockdown. They should have started far earlier, but they thought it was “just the flu.”
Will the US suffer this same disaster?
Maybe I’m wrong about volunteers and sacrifice. Maybe we don’t need volunteers, we need to isolate ourselves, each and every one. Maybe the hoarders on on the right track. But people need to work — most are not far from being broke — and someone will go to work sick and that will be the end of isolation.
I am not happy with any of this.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 8:05 pmSo, to your mind it is too hard for Duh Donald or his staff to know the RIGHT name of the RIGHT company that he’s flacking as a private sector partner?
A difference that makes no difference IS no difference. Your criticism is right up there with correcting spelling on Twitter.
Your thought process seems to be:
1. Trump is a dolt and I hate him.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/13/2020 @ 8:08 pm2. Trump was inaccurate.
3. LIAR !! LIAR!! STOP THE PRESSES!!!
Your thought process seems to be…
Thread-jack with my stream of conscious, even if it means insulting Patterico and company.
Like I said, it is pure condescension on the part of T-rump AND his staff to:
1. name the wrong company you are bragging about being a “partner”
2. announce they are doing something they are NOT (US v Bay Area)
And you equate that with spelling on twatter. No wonder we have Duh Donald in his present iteration. We’ve been dumbed down.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/14/2020 @ 5:39 amYou will be needing to retract your update, Dana
https://twitter.com/Google_Comms/status/1238989156610707456
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/15/2020 @ 5:56 amGoogle’s tweets:
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/15/2020 @ 5:59 amRagspiere managed to track down anti-Trump misinformation. How shocking.
Make America Ordered Again (23f793) — 3/15/2020 @ 7:51 amWhat kind of dolts can’t seem to put things in chronological order?
Oh, T-rump sucking dolts!
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/15/2020 @ 9:28 amWith regard to isolation: Because the number of cases can be expected to go up with time, today could be a better day to up and about than any day in the next several weeks or months.
Sammy Finkelman (e4c3a1) — 3/15/2020 @ 9:55 amShould it be a crime to break quarantine if you have tested positive?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/15/2020 @ 10:16 amYes, with specific penalties.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/15/2020 @ 10:21 amIt is now.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-confirms-it-is-now-building-a-nationwide-coronavirus-info-site/355162
Unfactual information from the mouth of Donald Trump that came true.
There was nothing preposterous about this, except getting all that work done by Sunday night.
Donald Trump wasn’t the only person who thought this was going to happen. Debbie Birx thought so too:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference-3
Writing the screening questionnaire, which could be re-written every two or three days, should take no more time tan it takes to write the questionnaire that’s the bottleneck; then all you need is to integrate with some GS map software and a database that lists test sites and locations – maybe you could jump to a separate web site setup by the testing people. The only trouble was there were no such testing locations except one or two in New York State, one by New Rochelle. A caveat would be that the test had to be ordered by a doctor, but you could make that a second part of the questionnaire, or it would tell you you should get a doctor or medical care center to order one. (That’s whee the result would go) or, alternatively, you probably don’t need one. And perhaps a site was limiting itself to people from certain location.
But this really would be no trouble at all.
Some White House staffer was responsible for the mistake apparently.
Sammy Finkelman (e4c3a1) — 3/16/2020 @ 11:27 am