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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
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.
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.
We’ve so much more news than just primaries at the moment. But tonight there are primaries too. We will be bringing you live election results from every state and our staff live blog right here.
It certainly looks like Joe Biden is having a very strong night. It’s hard to conceive of just how stark a comeback or reversal this is, hard to remember when in recent American electoral history there’s been anything like it. Biden spent most of February in complete free fall, not just losing but an epic collapse. Two weeks later it looks like he’s on the verge of putting together a prohibitive lead that simply won’t be possible for Sanders to overcome. The dynamics were pretty clearly in place before the Coronavirus took over the national conversation. But it’s hard not to think a national climate of fear and risk aversion is helping solidify or accelerate the trend in Biden’s favor.