Category: Corona Virus

Winfrey kept a sense of humor as she revealed on Instagram that Graham is actually self-quarantined in their guest house in Santa Barbara, California. She joined Oprah Magazine's digital director Arianna Davis to talk about how she's getting through her days.

"He's at the guest house, because you all know I had pneumonia late last year," Winfrey explained. "I had just gotten off of antibiotics last week, because I had a bronchial infection."

Graham had been traveling for a speaking engagement and arrived home off a flight, so the couple is being extra cautious.

"Stedman did not arrive from Chicago until Thursday, he had been speaking in St. Louis. He'd been on planes," Winfrey said, adding, "Stedman is like, 'What's the procedure for coming home?' The procedure is, you ain't coming and sleeping in my bed."

Winfrey continued: "Literally, he goes, 'I'm not?' And I go,'Have you not been paying attention to the news?' Social distancing does not mean you go and sleep in the same bed with the person when you just got off American Airlines."

She even showed Graham hanging out in the window of the guest house, where he said, "The meals are dropped off at the door."

"It's not too bad," he laughed.

Besides delivering meals to Graham, Winfrey said she's perfectly content in her own company.

"I'm never bored, because I always have myself," she said. "I never feel alone, have never felt alone, because I just love being with myself."

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Oprah Winfrey shares how she's trying to stay safe during the coronavirus outbreak - CNN

Read: How you should get food during the pandemic

The primary concern for shoppers is other people, not food. Though shoppers might worry about infecting themselves by handling the same apple or Cheerios box as someone else, health experts say transmission through food or its wrapping is largely avoidable. Research suggests that the virus can exist on cardboard food packaging for a day, and on plastic for several days, but it becomes less infectious over these periods. My recommendation is just to wash your hands after you handle external packaging, Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University, says. High-touch objects such as shopping-cart handles are a bigger concern, but many stores have provided sanitizing wipes for those.

Coughing humans, meanwhile, can be harder to escape. This is a manageable risk for shoppers who can go to the store at odd hours and use the self-checkout. But at a high risk of infection are the cashiers themselves, who stand just a few feet from hundreds of customers a day. They might pick up the virus through food and money the customer touches. And if the customer coughs or sneezes near an employee while in line, the likelihood of transmitting the virus through respiratory droplets is also high, says Brandon Brown, a professor at UC Riverside who has studied infectious diseases.

In this way, the pandemic has put grocery-store stockers and cashiers in an impossible situation. The country cant simply shut down grocery stores. Along with pharmacies, theyre an important lifeline for homebound Americans. But even essential shopping can endanger low-paid workers who are not trained in pandemic preparedness and have little choice but to show up for work.

Read: Exclusive: Amazon confirms first known coronavirus case in an American warehouse

To try to mitigate this threat, workers at various grocery stores have asked for face masks, says Hilary Thesmar of the Food Industry Association, or FMI, a trade group of grocery stores. FMI requested masks for workers from the federal government, she says, but it hasnt been able to procure them, because theres a national shortage and the priority is health-care workers. Marc Perrone, the president of the UFCW, says the union is pushing for the government to consider grocery-store workers on par with first responders, which might give them access to masks and gloves.

Even then, wearing masks and gloves might violate a stores rules. A Trader Joes employee in New York, who requested anonymity, said workers at their store have been told they are not allowed to wear gloves at the registers. They dont want to alter the appearance of normalcy, the worker told me through a Twitter account associated with a Trader Joes workers collective. (A spokesperson for Trader Joes denied this, saying in an email, While the CDC does not recommend use of gloves in a retail setting, our Crew Members may choose to wear them.)

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Grocery Stores Are the Coronavirus Tipping Point - The Atlantic

Dr. Tom Frieden, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warns of 'catastrophic scenes' in New York. USA TODAY

The United States'response to the COVID-19 pandemic is haphazard, uncoordinated and sorely missing the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that agency's former director told USA TODAY on Tuesday.

And the "extraordinary" absence of the nation's lead public health agency at the forefront of the coronavirus fightmakesTom Frieden feel "less safe."

Now president of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives, Frieden advises other nations on how toorganize against epidemics. He said global best practice is to designateone incident manager reporting to ahealth department official who then communicates to the head of state.

Same virus, different approach:These 5 maps show how states differ on protecting Americans against coronavirus

That's not how it's working in the U.S.

Weve heard that FEMAs in charge. Weve heard that the vice presidents in charge. Weve heard that (U.S. Ambassador-at-Large) Dr. (Deborah) Birx is the coordinator. Weve heard that (Health and Human Services Secretary Alex)Azar is in charge of the task force. Whos on first here? Frieden told USA TODAYs Editorial Board on a video call.

Former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden(Photo: Jasper Colt)

The one agency that definitely isnt in charge is the CDC, which Frieden directed from 2009 to 2017.

It's a stark reversal fromthe past, when the CDC not only took the lead in the U.S. but globally against the threat of infectious disease. From the SARS epidemic in 2002, to the 2009 H1N1 flu, the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and through the 2015Zika virus outbreak, the CDCheld frequent and sometimes daily briefings as the coordination center for the U.S. government and beyond.

This time, however, the agency that has led every major epidemic response in the nation for the past seven decades is just not there, Frieden said. Its 700 professionals specifically focused on infectious and lung disease appear sidelined.

Fighting an epidemic without CDC involved at the decision table and at the podium is like fighting with one hand tied behind your back, he said.

A visual guide: What does the coronavirus do to your body?

In previous outbreaks, the CDC had often daily calls with reporters.This time, the CDC has had multiple news conferences canceled because if the White House is having a press conference, they cant have one, Frieden said. The last one archived on the CDCs media page is from March 9.

Asked about Frieden's comments, the CDC responded that it is still actively engaged in the country's COVID-19 response and working with the entirety of the federal government.

Robert Redfield, the current director of the CDC, is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force buthas rarely appeared in its almost daily video briefings.

In a wide-ranging conversation with the editorial board, Frieden also said testing for the coronavirus is being mismanaged.

The drive to get everyone everywhere tested for COVID-19 is simply wrong from a public health perspective, he said.In areas with many cases, no one other than people who need to be hospitalized for the illness caused by the virus should be tested.

Theres every reason to not get tested, he said. "If youve got mild symptoms, stay home!" Trying to get tested just meansusing up protective equipment, staff time and scarce test kits and might infect others.

Is it alive?A coronavirus pandemic is sweeping the world, but what exactly is a virus?

If youre positive, its not going to make any difference. Youre going to be told to stay home unless youre having trouble breathing. Then you need to go to the hospital."

In places with relatively few COVID-19 cases, however, testing makes sense, Frieden said. In these areaspublic health officials can track contacts, call for self-isolation and slow the spread of the disease.

He also disagreed with the focus of the Trump administration's task force on "high-throughput" testing. Quick-turnaround is whats needed, Frieden said.

That may sound like a technical difference but its a big difference, he said.

High-throughput testing requires using centralized labs and can take between a day to four days to get results. Thats useless to front-line medical professionals seeing large numbers of people in emergency rooms, he said. They need to know within an hour whether someone has coronavirus and should be admitted and put into quarantine.

And that's going to be increasingly important if, as Frieden predicted, a big wave of infections comes crashing down on the United States.

The severely ill patients today were infected 10 to 12 days ago. It takes about 10 days to get sick and 5 fivedays to get very sick, he said. There will be an exponential increase in cases."

That worries the 35-year public health veteran. The decentralization of the U.S. health system only works if there is clear guidance from the top, Frieden said.

We can expect innovation and proactive action from states and local areas," he said. "But we really need to have clear guidance and coordination at the federal level."

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The US is confronting coronavirus without the CDC. It's 'like fighting with one hand tied behind your back,' ex-director says. - USA TODAY

The coronavirus established itself early on in Italy where reported deaths are now in excess of those recorded in China.

But is the crisis witnessed in Italy about to play out in the UK? And when are lockdowns and other interventions likely to start to make a difference?

Though there are some similarities the picture is complex

The death toll in Britain is roughly two weeks behind that of Italy, according to researchers who have analysed the data.

In week 10 of this year, ending 6 March, Italy announced 176 new Covid-19 deaths, comparable to the 166 deaths the UK reported in week 12.

If the spread of the pandemic in the UK tracks Italys closely, the domestic death toll could soon rise sharply.

Italian authorities recorded 1,066 new Covid-19 deaths in week 11, the equivalent of this week in the UKs outbreak.

It looks as though we are two weeks behind Italy in number of Covid-19 deaths, said Prof Sheila Bird, formerly of the MRCs Biostatistics Unit at Cambridge University.

But all this means is that we have comparable population sizes and had a comparable number of deaths in week 12 as Italy had in week 10. We may be on a less steep trajectory than Italy, but its too early to know yet.

On Monday, a new analysis of data from both countries showed that deaths may indeed be rising marginally more slowly in Britain than they did in Italy. Prof David Spiegelhalter, at Cambridge Universitys Statistical Laboratory, looked at the numbers of deaths reported in the 14 days since the fifth fatality in each country. The figures suggest that UK Covid-19 deaths have risen on average about 30% per day, versus 37% during the equivalent period of Italys epidemic.

Spiegelhalter stressed that the outlook was all very uncertain at the moment not least because the two populations and their nations responses to the outbreak differ so much. There was some reason for hope, he said of the UK situation, although we will must be ready for having hundreds of deaths a day.

The same analysis hints that Italy may be approaching a peak in its epidemic, but the answer will only be clear if the country continues to report falling numbers of new deaths over the coming days and weeks.

The UKs peak may not be so severe if the UKs response to the outbreak has been effective, Spiegelhalter said, but the answer to that is not yet clear.

Compared with Britain, Italy had less time to prepare, the virus may have been circulating more widely before it was detected, and the country has more older people who are more tightly connected to family and friends.

However, comparisons present problems, as its not possible to truly compare like-with-like.

One factor that will have a substantial impact on deaths is the capacity for hospitals to care for the most seriously ill patients, and this differs markedly from country to country. When you hit the capacity of intensive care beds then you might get an additional shift up which could reset the rate of increase thereafter, said Bird.

One reason for Italys high death rate could be the countrys demographics 23% of its population are aged 65 and over. The UK is younger on average with 18% of its population in this age category. Covid-19 is more dangerous for older people.

Testing and the number of confirmed cases is also an issue.

Differences in testing policy, for example, will account for some of the variations in mortality rates as testing more patients will increase the number of confirmed cases, and is likely to reduce the overall mortality rate. Data on patient characteristics such as age and underlying health conditions is another factor we dont know about.

Germany, where 21% of the population are over 65, appears to have one of the worlds lowest death rates. The country has reported just 94 deaths from 24,873 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The reasons for this are not yet clear, but they could include differences in data gathering or its high testing rate.

As Adam Kucharski, who is modelling the outbreak at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, points out, deaths reported today do not reflect the state of the epidemic at the moment.

Those who die are typically infected about four weeks earlier. Strictly speaking we should say something like: transmission in the UK four weeks ago was where Italy was about six weeks ago, he said.

For the same reason, the impact of the cascade of lockdowns across Italy, and ever more stringent restrictions on movement brought in across the UK, will take time to show up in the daily death tolls. A wave of Italians fled to the countrys south when news leaked on 8 March that the government intended to quarantine 16 million people in the high-risk north. If those people carried the infection with them, the deaths that result are not likely to show up until at least the start of next week.

In the UK, where pubs, clubs, restaurants and theatres shuttered only days ago, and school closures began this week, any resulting impact on deaths will not be apparent until mid-April soonest. Its quite likely to be at least three weeks before we see a slow down in the deaths. And they will potentially still be increasing. It depends how much social distancing weve managed to achieve, said Bird.

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Coronavirus: how do Italy and the UK compare? - The Guardian

Famous people are used to hearing the echo of applause and crowds of compliments everywhere they go. When they are suddenly confined to their homes, surreal things start to happen.

Maybe thats one good thing to come from this unprecedented time: that we have the pleasure and sometimes the intense displeasure of watching celebrities squint intensely at their phone screens, looking for connection, looking for transcendence, looking for someone to request that they sing an unplugged version of their 1997 hit single Angels.

Here are some celebrities who are regularly posting delightful videos to keep us company.

For some days now, Robbie Williams has been livestreaming himself on Instagram and taking song requests from his followers. He calls it Corona-oke. He has sung his own songs, and also Elvis Presley songs and Oasis songs. Sometimes he refuses to sing certain things he didnt sing My Way by Frank Sinatra because it starts with the line, And now, the end is near.

I dont want to sing that! Robbie said, and sang Three Little Birds by Bob Marley instead. As with all Instagram live stories, you cant watch them after 24 hours but some lovely people on Twitter have recorded the best bits and shared.

Subscribe to Robbie Williams on Instagram.

About five days ago, Australian singer Tina Arena started doing Instagram Live videos from her home. In these videos she refers to herself as QuarenTina Arena. She urges the government to protect the arts. She calls Johnny Young from Young Talent Time to see what he reckons about the coronavirus. Danni Minogue comments frequently. Its like Australias entire entertainment history in one feed.

Ill be back really, really soon with more stuff to talk about, Arena assured us a few days ago. So have an awesome, awesome day amongst this complete bullshit pandemonium that were all living how hilarious! But do take care.

Subscribe to Tina Arena on Instagram.

Actress Florence Pugh is very good on Instagram partly because its fun discovering that shes extremely English and just did very good accents in Little Women and Midsomma, and partly because her stories just involve her yelling quite simple recipes at you.

Despite her yelling, which just seems to be the natural tenor of her voice, there is something soothing about seeing Florence Pugh pottering around her huge kitchen, holding up bruised tomatoes and eating bits of sausages off a cutting board. I found this on the floor in a shop, she said yesterday, holding a butternut squash and justifying why shes about to clean it. She even has a tab for Cooking in her profile.

Subscribe to Florence Pugh on Instagram.

New Zealand actor Sam Neill has always been very active on social media, but has used this crisis as an opportunity to post more content (content often meaning pictures of his pigs). He also posts lots of videos, sometimes talking about wine as if you have just run into a particularly chatty stranger at a vineyard, or reading a bedtime story (for instance, Hairy MacLary and Friends).

A couple of days ago he read out some poems about love to make us feel OK about social distancing. Each to their own!

Subscribe to Sam Neill on Twitter and on Instagram.

Like many musicians, Ben Gibbard has been streaming live concerts to make us all feel better about staying inside. The irony is that the music Gibbard makes as a solo artist, and in his bands Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service tends to be quite glum. The thought is still nice.

Gibbard has done eight of these hour-ish-long streams, some of which are fundraisers for various causes. He plays Death Cab and Postal Service songs, but also covers other artists in videos that are then available to watch on YouTube, with the originals compiled into a Spotify playlist. The other day he covered the song Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers, in which she says of her ex-partner Ryan Adams: Why do you sing with an English accent? I guess its too late to change that now which is funny because sometimes Gibbard also sounds like he has an English accent. But hes from Washington! Crazy stuff.

Subscribe to Ben Gibbard on YouTube.

This week actor Richard E Grant started uploading daily videos of himself reading select quotes from his 1987 film debut, the British classic Withnail and I. In almost all of the videos he appears to either be sitting under a curtain or beneath the striped canopy of a four-poster bed.

In many of the videos he starts laughing about how funny Withnail and I is. Where did he come up with these lines! he says, of the films writer and director Bruce Robinson.

Subscribe to Richard E. Grant on Instagram and Twitter.

If you dont already follow model, TV personality and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen on Instagram, youre missing out. Teigen is a regular poster, usually uploading stories about her cute kids, cooking tips or videos making fun of her husband John Legend (who hosted his own Instagram Live concert, which Teigen made fun of).

This time of quarantine, though, has brought out some truly fantastic and deranged content. First, Teigen was so bored that she asked people to take photos of their pantries so she could create custom recipes using the ingredients she could spot.

Then she offered to bake banana bread for anyone who had romaine lettuce in her area (This trade will be made six feet apart, she warned.) Someone called Chris had romaine lettuce! The trade was arranged. The cake looked good.

Follow Chrissy Teigan on Instagram and Twitter.

Pop star Charli XCX has been uploading self-isolating livestreams on Instagram, in which she invites her famous friends to do digital activities with her and lets us watch.

The first episode was an emo chat with Christine from Christine and the Queens, in which the two musicians discovered creativity, and Charli wore a ski mask. Then Charli and Diplo did an at-home workout routine together. A couple of days ago she streamed an art class with musician Clairo.

Shes also just going slightly mad.

Follow Charli XCX on Instagram.

Madonna has been posting Quarantine Diaries from her home, which are puzzling to say the least. On the first day (18 March) she posted a black-and-white, film noir-esque video of herself typing on a typewriter while jazzy music plays in the background. She says that she is quarantined out of honour and respect for Covid-19, which is a spicy way to put it.

Subsequent videos involve her singing a version of her hit Vogue that is about eating fried fish, and sitting in a bathtub full of flower petals discussing how Covid-19 doesnt care about how rich you are. Its certainly compelling.

Follow Madonna on Instagram and Twitter

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Coronavirus cabin fever: the best celebrities to follow, from Robbie Williams to Florence Pugh - The Guardian

The Covid-19 pandemic became very real in the Pacific islands this week, as the region recorded its first death and the total number of confirmed cases climbed to 57, as of Tuesday afternoon.

Though the number of cases is relatively small, fear and misinformation surrounding the virus is widespread, so starting today, each Wednesday the Guardian will be publishing a round-up of coronavirus news from the region.

Strains on public infrastructure and equipment are already appearing. Vanuatu has only two respirators, and other countries are similarly ill-equipped. Many countries are reliant on having to send samples overseas for testing.

Economic prospects for the region, which is heavily dependent on tourism, are dire. Calls for an international bail-out are already circulating in policy circles.

Guam is the first Pacific island nation to report a death due to Covid-19. A 68 year-old woman died on Saturday and had significant underlying health issues. The territory now has 29 confirmed cases.

French Polynesia is one of the worst-affected Pacific states, with 18 confirmed cases. Half were discovered in people recently returned from France, only one has been hospitalised so far, the others remain in isolation.

New Caledonia now has seven confirmed cases. Radio Rhythme Bleu reports that a crowd of about 60 people attacked the territorys only international airport to protest against continuing air service.

Papua New Guinea announced its first confirmed case on 20 March. The person was flown to Australia on Sunday and the government is attempting to track down everyone who may have come into contact with him.

Fiji has four confirmed cases, three of which are from the same family: a man, his mother and his one-year-old nephew. Both the 47-year-old woman and the baby appear to have contracted the virus from the 27-year-old man, who is a flight attendant. Fiji Times reports theyre stable. A fourth case was announced Tuesday. He was identified as a 28 year-old man who traveled from Sydney to Suva last Sunday.

The island of Aneityum in Vanuatu is in lockdown following reports that passengers or crew from the cruise ship Voyager of the Seas may have interacted with locals during an overnight visit on 11-12 March. On Tuesday the New South Wales government said seven people onboard the ship, which disembarked in Sydney on 18 March, were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Samoa reports that six test results for Covid-19 had come back negative. Seven further samples have been sent to New Zealand for laboratory testing, and results are pending for these cases.

Solomon Islands had three suspected cases, but all tested negative. Meanwhile the countrys central bank has revised its growth prediction for the economy to 2% in 2020 with the governor flagging the possibility of a recession

Papua New Guinea: A two-week state of emergency began on Tuesday, with measures including stopping all domestic flights; no movement from one province to another for a 14-day period except for approved cargo, medicine and security personnel; the bringing froward of school holidays to start on Monday 23 March; all non-essential workers to stay at home; and for all people who arrived in Papua New Guinea from 7 March to report in to a government hotline. The Australian government has provided an additionaln US$500,000 (PGK1.7m) to assist with preparations for dealing with the impacts of Covid-19.

Fiji: The city of Lautoka, where the first three cases were detected, is in lockdown with road blocks and patrols. The military has been called up to assist with perimeter security. The government is urgently seeking 82 passengers on three flights, whom they believe may have been in contact with the confirmed cases. The prime minister has urged people to avoid non-essential travel within Fiji.

Solomon Islands: the country announced a 90-day ban on arrivals of cruise ships and yachts on 20 March and has reduced international flights. All international travellers are required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.

Vanuatu: State-owned carrier Air Vanuatu has suspended all international flight operations. Inbound travel on other carriers is restricted to citizens, residents, diplomatic corps and humanitarian workers responding to the Covid-19 crisis.

Samoa: A state of emergency has been declared and borders are closed. Public gatherings are restricted to no more than five people. Failure to comply may lead to a fine of up to US$3,400 or a period of imprisonment of two years.

Tonga: A state of emergency has been declared. Borders are now closed. Nightclubs and bars will be closed from 25 March and gatherings of more than 20 are prohibited.

In Samoa a young woman who had been tested for Covid-19 endured harassment after her name was published in the media and the prime minister revealed the name of her village in a radio show. It was later confirmed that the womans test has come back negative.

This will be a test of our character, our inventiveness, leadership and compassion ... It is an uncharted territory and we may end up asking the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank for a rescue package. I hope we do not reach this stage because the pill could be bitter.

- Odo Tevi, former Vanuatu ambassador to the United Nations.

Resorts have emptied of tourists, and some countries have found their spacious and secluded grounds useful quarantine sites. One young mother stuck in Noumea with two children said shed never stayed in such posh digs in her life.

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Coronavirus in the Pacific: weekly briefing - The Guardian

This was incredible kindness, and, for me, incredible luck. If not for them, I would be at work right now, getting ready to clean down deli slicers, change my gloves and hope desperately for my own safety, and the safety of my spouse, friends, family, co-workers and customers.

Now I sit at home and think the same things, knowing Ive more or less certainly been exposed. I feel guilty but at least slightly safer, while my brave co-workers (most of whom have no other choice) carry on without me. I start work again the week of March 31, assuming I feel safe enough to do so. Im trying to take things a day at a time.

The human beings who are helping you at supermarkets, at gas stations, at whatever stores are still open are people too. We are exhausted. We have already been working for so long, for so little, afraid or not allowed to take sick days, afraid or not able to afford a vacation.

Service workers have families and friends we are concerned about. We are scared for ourselves and for each other. We are here, working, while you enjoy what may be the last good days for a long while, because the crisis is almost certainly going to get a lot worse.

A good day for me, before the virus, was one where no one screamed at me over rotisserie chicken, or when a salad they were under no obligation to buy didnt suit their tastes. A bad day was one where customers screamed at me more than once.

Now, as things get harder as our collective stress level rises I beg you to show kindness to service workers. I beg you not to take out your fear, frustration and despair on the courageous people who show up every day to help you. All of them would surely love to be at home but most cannot, despite their years of hard work, afford to step away for even a moment.

Dont let the weight of your grief and anger fall on the shoulders of service workers. They are already carrying enough.

Dylan Morrison (@dylan_thyme), the author of Juniper Lane, is a food service worker at a supermarket in Cleveland.

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Coronavirus Advice from a Grocery Store Worker - The New York Times

Vehicle owners will be granted a 6-month exemption from MOT testing, enabling them to continue to travel to work where this absolutely cannot be done from home, or shop for necessities.

All cars, vans and motorcycles which usually would require an MOT test will be exempted from needing a test from 30 March 2020. Vehicles must be kept in a roadworthy condition, and garages will remain open for essential repair work. Drivers can be prosecuted if driving unsafe vehicles.

Read advice on keeping a vehicle in a good condition.

People should stay at home and avoid travel. The only reasons people should leave their homes is set out in the government guidance.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

We must ensure those on the frontline of helping the nation combat COVID-19 are able to do so.

Allowing this temporary exemption from vehicle testing will enable vital services such as deliveries to continue, frontline workers to get to work, and people to get essential food and medicine.

Safety is key, which is why garages will remain open for essential repair work.

Legislation will be introduced on March 30 and will come into immediate effect for 12 months, following a short consultation with key organisations. Drivers will still need to get their vehicle tested until the new regulations come into place, if they need to use it.

If you cant get an MoT thats due because youre in self-isolation, the Department for Transport is working with insurers and the police to ensurepeople will not be negatively affected as a result ofthings that are out of their control.

Practical driving tests and annual testing for lorries, buses and coaches have been suspended for up to 3 months.

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Vehicle owners to be granted MOT exemption in battle against coronavirus - GOV.UK

Its a dynamic, the president warned during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, governors must be aware of.

Its a two-way street, Trump said during a Tuesday interview on Fox News. They have to treat us well, also. They cant say, Oh, gee, we should get this, we should get that.

Unable to hear the roaring cheers at his campaign rallies due to coronavirus cancellations, the president has turned to his daily press briefings to get national attention and hear congratulatory remarks, sometimes at the expense of delivering accurate statements about the disease. The president is hyper aware of TV ratings, which are compiled weekly for him in the White House, and viewership of the briefings during the daytime hours have seen a notable spike as Americans anxiously watch from home.

Administration officials say its an opportunity for experts from the task force to answer questions, but it also gives the president a national platform to assure the public and offer himself a pat on the back.

Many doctors, Ive read many, many doctors, cant believe the great job that Ive done, Trump said, without offering specifics, even as health professionals have publicly warned of severe equipment shortages.

Europe was just designated as the hotspot right now, and we closed that border a while ago. So that was lucky or through talent or through luck. Call it whatever you want, Trump said, referring to his decision to cut off most travel from Europe and China to the United States.

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How to update the country on coronavirus: Thank Trump first - POLITICO

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WHO: US could be the next epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic - The Hill