Trump calls coronavirus ‘the new hoax’ as he repeats lies about spread within the U.S.

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Mark Sumner

On Friday night, Donald Trump called the coronavirus epidemic a “hoax” by Democrats who “failed” to bring him down over his collusion with Russia, or the extortion of Ukraine that led to his impeachment. After weeks of downplaying the threat, of ignoring the spread around the world, and of demonstrating that his concerns begin and end with the stock market, Trump has moved on to the next stage of how he is handling the COVID-19 issue — affixing the blame.

On a rally stage in South Carolina, Trump took his statement that he could kill Americans and get away with it out of the realm of theory and put it into practice. The people that he murdered might not be dead yet, but his words on that stage have killed them as certainly as if he lined them up on Fifth Avenue and opened fire.

Trump has criminally underplayed the importance of emergency preparations of all kinds. His gutted White House has disposed of epidemiologists and emergency response specialists from the National Security Council, CDC, and elsewhere — for reasons that don’t seem to be much more defined than Trump’s lifelong hatred of having people around who know that what is doing is foolish.

During his positively incoherent press event on Thursday, Trump already knew that there were sixty cases of coronavirus within the United States. More importantly, he knew that the CDC had just identified the first case of “community spread” in the country — a case that didn’t come in from overseas, and wasn’t obviously tied to someone who had caught it outside the country. Before his speech in South Carolina, three more cases had been identified, including another case of community spread. However, Trump insisted on telling his rally audience that there were still only “fifteen cases in this huge country.”

Trump took credit for this “pretty amazing” imaginary victory, claiming it was because he “moved early.” But it’s clear that Trump wants to declare the win … won. And everything that happens from now on can’t be blamed on him.

Trump: “Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that … coronavirus. We did one of the great jobs, you say, ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ They say, ‘Oh, not good. Not good.’ They have no clue. They don’t have any clue. … They tried to beat you on ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ that didn’t work out to well. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried over and over. They been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax.”

The worst thing with Trump’s statement isn’t that it once again treats an infectious disease as a political talking point. It’s not that he’s failing to warn his listeners of the genuine threat they and their families will be facing. It’s not even that he’s dodging the blame for a response that has already proven inadequate.

The worst thing is that Trump never has a worst thing. There is always more ahead. Because when confronted, he won’t admit a mistake, or apologize, or even try to sidestep. He will double down.

And where he’s going can already be seen in the way that this story is being handled by right-wing media and by politicians who are racing to get ahead of the issue … the Republican way.

The Corona virus was man-made. Bill Gates is one of the financiers of the Wujan lab where it was being developed. I wouldnÃ¢Â�Â�t put it past them and by Ã¢Â�Â�themÃ¢Â�Â� I mean everyone from Adam Schiff to George Soros, Hillary Clinton and the Pope. #DeepStateCabal #KAG2020 @CIA https://t.co/NYHkEp5UHH
— JoanneWrightForCongress (@JWrightforCA34) February 24, 2020

Joanne Wright is an actual Republican candidate for Congress in the 34th California district currently held by Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez. Gomez won his last race with 72% of the vote … over a Green Party candidate, as Republicans didn’t even field a challenger. Wright doesn’t actually represent a threat to take away a seat in the House.

But she represents a threat all right. Her version of the coronavirus situation, with conspiracy theory ladled on top of conspiracy theory, with a heaping helping of both antisemitism and anti-Catholicism is exactly how this story is circulating in right wing channels. That may seem like the batsh#t fringe of the party. But at this point, the Trumpist party is all fringe.

Trump is already stepping onto this ground with his claim that the coronavirus is a Democratic hoax. With the stock market already in free-fall, and the disease beginning to spread across the nation in earnest, there is no place he will not go. Or at least … no place except responsible behavior and good management.

Trump in South Carolina saying Coronavirus is the "new hoax" to defeat him after impeachment "failed." pic.twitter.com/pwibjsnCT2
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) February 29, 2020

The Coronavirus: Is it Time to Panic?

Posted on January 31, 2020 by LifeZette

By LifeZette Staff | January 31, 2020

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably read all the front-page headlines about a deadly outbreak that started in China and has been working it’s way into other areas of the world despite great efforts to contain it.

In fact, last Thursday the World Health Organization declared it a “global health emergency,” and at the press of a button, it seems, has started quite the world-wide panic…

But what are the facts? Should you be concerned, and just how deadly is this new virus?
Well, as it turns out this new apocalyptic contagion is about as dangerous as the common flu.

Dr. Trish Perl, chief of infections diseases and geographic medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center says, “So far the mortality rate for the virus is about the same as a bad year of the flu.”

So basically it’s just a different strain of the common flu?
Yeah, pretty much!

According to the CDC, the worst symptoms associated with the virus include Fever, Cough, and possible Shortness of breath. Other symptoms that could arise are runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, and maybe a general feeling of being unwell.

What you won’t hear from the news, or many official health sources, is information about how long the symptoms last. I find that rather interesting because the coronavirus does not kill the vast majority of the people it infects.

Telling people that the virus is similar to the common flu and will most likely put you in bed for a week and then you’ll be fine, could calm the panic that they’ve started and that might be a little too anti-climatic for them.

If you read closely you’ll see first world countries are at little risk. World health officials have noted several times that the highest risks were for countries with less sophisticated health care systems.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization commented at a recent press conference, “Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”

I don’t mean to take anyone’s health issues lightly, especially something like a virus that has taken human lives, but I also think it’s important to understand the reality of the situation. And the fact is, if you are healthy and have a normal functioning immune system there is no need for panic.

The coronavirus has claimed about 140 lives at the time of this writing. A life is a life, and I send my prayers and condolences to their loved ones.

What should you be worried about?
Even though 140 lives lost is a tragedy, it’s important for us to keep a perspective and understanding of what the most dangerous health risks are and what we should be doing to avoid them. …If you live in an industrialized country like America, chronic disease is the real epidemic!

This year alone worldwide, heart disease will claim 17.9 million lives, cancer 9.6 million lives, and diabetes 2.2 million lives. Those are scary numbers!

The epidemic of chronic disease is nowhere near being contained. Currently 1.9 BILLION adults are overweight or obese. These people are at great risk for developing heart disease, cancer and diabetes if they don’t already have it.

I don’t mean to frighten you, but the most dangerous diseases are already here in this country. They are not spread by air-borne transmission, but by sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

Dr. Tabor Smith, DC is the Executive Producer of A Better Way, the Feature-length documentary film. You can learn more about this film at www.abetterwayfilm.com

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus a Global Health Emergency

Posted on January 30, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 30, 2020

As the first case of person to person transmission of the coronavirus has been reported in the U.S., the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday labeled the virus a global health emergency.

WHO stated the main reason for their announcement was the spread of the disease to countries outside of China.

Russia has shut down its long border with China and international flights continue to avoid the country.

Inside China millions are quarantined and whole regions are under strict restrictions regarding public transportation and meetings.

As rumors fly that the virus is a Chinese biowarfare weapon gone awry, nations all over the Earth are taking stringent measures to guard their populations against the deadly strain.

The coronavirus has killed 170 people in China as of Thursday and has infected 7,711, the Chinese government reports. The number of cases in the last 24 hours has grown by over 20% and climbing.

16 countries are known to be affected, with 6 cases now in the U.S. Common symptoms of the virus first appear as the flu but then increase in respiratory severity until hospitalization is warranted.

Information though is limited at best because the Chinese are not allowing any foreign medical personnel into China to research and combat the disease.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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