From TPM Reader AO …
Long-time reader in Seattle (via Boston). I think our local & state officials are doing a good job here. King County public health clearly has good people and the communication has been clear and on-point. I actually feel in good hands given the government, scientific & medical community’s expertise here. The Gates foundation’s home testing program should start next week & that will be a major step forward, but we are already so far behind, and we had such clear advanced warning & did nothing.
The Bernie Sanders campaign sent out a notification a short time ago that it is canceling tonight’s election night rally over concerns about COVID-19.
Out of concern for public health and safety, we are canceling tonight’s rally in Cleveland. We are heeding the public warnings from Ohio state officials, who have communicated concern about holding large, indoor events during the coronavirus outbreak. Sen. Sanders would like to express his regret to the thousands of Ohioans who had planned to attend the event tonight.
All future Bernie 2020 events will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Late Update: The Biden event has also been canceled.
Exclusive new reporting from TPM on how the Trump administration’s slow-footed response to COVID-19 is hampering the public health efforts in Washington state (and presumably other states, too). Instead of clearing the way for a more robust state-level response, President Trump is calling Washington’s governor a “snake.”
I mentioned yesterday that the numbers of new cases in South Korea had been declining for several days in a row. They went down again today.
Today is the last day TPM’s offices will be open for the foreseeable future. The entire staff, including the editorial, tech and business teams, will begin working remotely tomorrow.
I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m closely following the press conferences by the Governor and Mayor of New York State and City. Overall I’ve been impressed by their decisions and communication with the public. I watch both as a journalist and as a resident and parent in this city. In addition to all the wonderful emails you’re already sending, I would encourage you to let us know how the crisis is being managed by local officials in your cities, counties and states. What are the decisions, what is your sense of the public response in your community. Also let us know how clearly local officials are communicating what’s happening, how they’re reacting to those events and why.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has announced a “containment zone” in New Rochelle, New York, a suburb of New York City. He is also deploying the state National Guard. It’s not quite as dramatic as the wording suggests. They are creating a one mile radius around the synagogue which is the epicenter of the outbreak. Within that area they’re closing schools and banning large public gatherings. The National Guard will be deployed for cleaning and to ensure the delivery of food and necessities to people in quarantine. Most infections in New York state are in this single community.
As we make our way into this period of crisis, I’ve endeavored to speak and write very deliberately and as precisely as I can. That’s good practice generally. But words, emphasis and precision are more consequential now than usual. When I got TPM Reader JT’s fascinating follow up to my Korea post from yesterday, I realized I had not been as precise as I’d intended. South Korea is very different from the U.S., culturally, economically, geographically. No approach from there is going to be easily adaptable to the U.S. I thought I’d been clear on that but I think not enough. My point was that it is a model that lacks a lot of approaches in China which seem like simple nonstarters in the U.S., for cultural, constitutional and a host of other reasons.
Voters in five states will head to the polls today to choose between the two candidates still hacking it out for the Democratic nomination.
A quick reminder. On March 6th we announced we’re moving everything we publish about the COVID-19 crisis in front of our Prime paywall. We plan to do this as long as the period of acute crisis lasts. As I explained here in more detail, this leaves us a bit exposed as a company since our paywall is our main tool for sustaining and growing our membership numbers. So if you’ve considered joining and have the means to do so now would be a great time!