Italy Opens Churches To The Public After Clash With Government On Protocols

Posted on by David Taintor

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Italy and the Vatican opened a new phase in the virus crisis Monday, with churches resuming public Masses after a sharp confrontation between the Italian church and state over limits on worshipping in the era of COVID-19.

Guards in hazmat suits took the temperature of the faithful entering St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Francis celebrated an early morning Mass for a handful of people in a side chapel to commemorate the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II.

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China Will Give $2 Billion To Respond To Global Coronavirus Crisis

Posted on by David Taintor

GENEVA (AP) — China will provide $2 billion over two years to fight the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout from it, President Xi Jinping said Monday, rallying around the World Health Organization even as the United States has slashed funding for the U.N. health agency and sought to undermine its credibility.

The European Union’s 27-member bloc and other countries, meanwhile, called for an independent evaluation of WHO’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic “to review experience gained and lessons learned.”

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WHO Chief Pledges Probe Of Agency’s Coronavirus Response

Posted on by David Taintor

GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization says he will begin an independent evaluation of the U.N. health agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “at the earliest appropriate moment.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the pledge Monday after an independent oversight advisory body published its first interim report about the U.N. health agency’s response to COVID-19 from January to April.

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Reports: Fired IG Probing Pompeo Allegedly Ordering Aide To Walk Dog, Run Other Personal Errands

Posted on by Cristina Cabrera

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo privately called for now-former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick’s ouster while the watchdog was in the middle of investigating Pompeo’s potential misuse of an office staffer, according to multiple reports.

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Trump Takes Aim At Sen. Collins While Ranting About ‘Whistleblower Racket’

Posted on by Cristina Cabrera

President Donald Trump singled out Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) while throwing a fit via Twitter on Sunday night after CBS aired a “60 Minutes” interview with Health and Human Services whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright.

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The Mueller Interference Everyone Feared Has Happened — Just Two Years Late

Posted on by Tierney Sneed

At his January 2019 confirmation hearing, Bill Barr vowed to let to special counsel Robert Mueller “complete” his work. But in retrospect, Barr’s promise was dangerously limited. It turned out that it didn’t foreclose him from meddling in the cases that Mueller passed back to the Justice Department after the special counsel stepped down.

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Powell: Recovery May Begin By Summer, Will Likely Be Slow

Posted on by Nicole LaFond

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed optimism Sunday that the U.S. economy can begin to recover from a devastating recession in the second half of the year, assuming the coronavirus doesn’t erupt in a second wave. But he suggested that a full recovery won’t likely be possible before the arrival of a vaccine.

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WH Adviser Navarro Throws CDC Under The Bus On COVID Response

Posted on by David Taintor

WASHINGTON — One of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers is criticizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s early response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying it “let the country down” after initial delays with testing.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro declined to say when asked Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Trump had confidence in the CDC to lead the U.S. pandemic response, saying that was a question for the president.

But Navarro says the CDC “set us back” in the early weeks of the outbreak.

CDC struggled to develop its own diagnostic test for the coronavirus in January, later discovering problems in its kits sent to state and county public health labs in early February.

It took the CDC more than two weeks to come up with a fix, leading to delays in diagnoses as the virus rapidly spread.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday said he disagreed the CDC had let the nation down. He told CBS’ “Face the Nation”: “I believe the CDC serves an important public health role.”

European Leaders Tell Citizens To Steel Themselves For Life Without COVID Vaccine

Posted on by David Taintor

SOAVE, Italy (AP) — In separate, stark warnings, two major European leaders have bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by the development of a vaccine.

The comments by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as nations around the world and U.S. states are both struggling with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic. With 36 million newly unemployed in the U.S. alone, economic pressures are building even as authorities acknowledge that reopening risks off new waves of infections and deaths.

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‘COVID Toes’ Emerge As New Rare Sign Of Virus Infection

Posted on by David Taintor

Skin doctors suddenly are looking at a lot of toes — whether by emailed picture or video visit — as concern grows that for some people, a sign of COVID-19 may pop up in an unusual spot.

Boston dermatologist Esther Freeman expected to see skin complaints as the pandemic unfolded — various kinds of rashes occur when people get very ill from other viruses.

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