Coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump

This 9 February 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Trump Spends the Weekends Golfing While U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Grows

In US news and current events today, President Trump spent his weekend golding as the coronavirus surged in the U.S.

Over the weekend of March 7th, the U.S. death toll hit 22 while Trump visited Mar-a-Lago. Trump previously attacked Obama for golfing during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

This was Trump’s 249th visit to a golf club since taking office as President of the United States. Trump’s golf outings have cost taxpayers about $133,000,000. The White House says Trump’s golfing is presidential work.

OVAL OFFICE DEBACLE OVER EUROPE ‘TRAVEL BAN’ In a strange oval office speech Wednesday night, President Donald Trump addressed the coronavirus pandemic by focusing on banning travel from Europe. He later had to clarify that the ban exempts Americans, permanent residents and their families. He also confusingly said the ban would apply to trade, but tweeted later that it only affected “people.” He said nothing about the lack of available testing across the country, and ignored many crucial aspects of the public health crisis. [HuffPost]

NBA SUSPENDS SEASON AFTER PLAYER TESTS POSITIVE The NBA announced it is suspending the 2019-2020 basketball season after a player tested positive for COVID-19. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the league said in a statement. [HuffPost]

U.S. CORONAVIRUS CASES PASS 1,200 The novel coronavirus has infected more than 124,500 people and killed over 4,600 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which has officially declared the virus a pandemic. The U.S. has over 1,200 cases. Greece has reported its first coronavirus death, and Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, have been diagnosed with coronavirus and are being treated in Australia’s Queensland state. [CNN]

EXPERT CHECKS PEOPLE WHO COMPARE VIRUS TO FLU The nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is setting people straight for suggesting COVID-19 is less lethal than the seasonal flu. “The mortality for seasonal flu is 0.1 [percent],” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “The mortality for this is about 2, 2½ percent. It’s probably lower than that, it’s probably closer to 1. But even if it’s 1, it’s 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu. You’ve got to make sure that people understand that.” [HuffPost]

What WHO calling the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic means. The organization is asking countries to double down on containment and mitigation efforts: here.

Democrats hoping to pass an emergency paid sick leave bill to deal with fallout from the coronavirus were stymied by Senate Republicans. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tried to speed the measure for a vote on the Senate floor through a procedural maneuver, but an objection from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) prevented the bill from bypassing the Republican-controlled health committee. [HuffPost]