Construction of US-Mexico border wall proceeds despite coronavirus pandemic

Nina Lakhani, The Guardian•March 22, 2020
 

Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

The Trump administration is ramping up construction of its multibillion-dollar southern border wall, despite the rapidly escalating coronavirus epidemic which threatens to kill thousands of Americans and plunge the country into economic recession.

Earlier this week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced plans to erect more than 150 miles of the 30ft border wall in Arizona, New Mexico and California – in addition to ongoing construction work at at least 15 sites across those states and Texas.

The announcement came shortly after Donald Trump declared a national emergency, amid mounting criticism about his handling of the coronavirus epidemic which looks likely to cost billions – if not trillions of dollars to tackle.

By Friday 19,500 cases and 260 deaths had been confirmed in the US, and tens of thousands of sacked workers had applied for unemployment benefits, as large swaths of the country implemented lockdowns in efforts to slow the spread.
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As medical experts and local officials implore Americans to stay at home and observe social distancing, construction crews at multiple sites continue to work, sleep and eat in close quarters.

“Wall construction has not been affected,” said a CBP spokesman.

Building work continues in many parts of the country, but for the wall, skilled welders, engineers and contractors commute from states as far flung as Montana, Maine, Wyoming, Texas, North Dakota and Kentucky. Along the border, they work together, car-pool, stay at local hotels and motels, and eat together at restaurants over several consecutive days, before traveling back to their families.

On Friday, work continued in the San Bernardino Valley in south-east Arizona where a national wildlife refuge is located and several endangered species are threatened by the project.

“There is no sign of construction slowing down, hundreds of construction workers from all over the country and Mexico continue working on the wall, commuting back and forth on weekends, staying in hotels and eating at restaurants in our communities, before returning home and potentially transferring Covid-19. This is a public health hazard and it needs to be stopped,” said Myles Traphagen, ecologist with Wildlands Network, who has written to the congressional appropriations committee urging construction be suspended during the pandemic.

The army corp of engineers did not respond to questions about whether mitigation and prevention measures had been implemented.

Trump promised to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the 2,000-mile southern border (and make Mexico pay for it) as part of a presidential campaign permeated by anti-immigration sentiments.

Since then, the Trump administration has pledged to erect or replace 450 to 500 miles of the wall by the end of 2020, at a cost of almost $18.5bn. The vast majority of the money was diverted from the US Department of Defense, specifically from counter-drug operations and military infrastructure projects, after Trump declared a national emergency, widely seen as spurious, in February 2019 to fund the wall.

The latest planned additions to the piecemeal wall construction come after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees CBP, waived a series of federal laws to speed up construction.

In order to erect the 30ft-high steel barrier as fast as possible, the Guardian has received reports of workers being paid above average rates to work through the night.

“The DHS is throwing billions at a monument out in the desert that will have little practical effect on migration or drug trafficking, when there’s a very real threat that needs all of our attention and resources right now,” said Adam Isacson, director of the defence oversight program at the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola). “This gives the impression that our government is on autopilot, throwing up big pharaonic, politicized projects, when right now we should be putting everything into rapid response.”

There are widespread shortages in testing kits and essential protective equipment like masks, gowns and gloves, while medical experts warn of insufficient ventilators and hospital beds to cope with the inevitable surge in sick patients.

On Friday, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced that the Mexico-US border would be close to all non-essential travel.

“It’s callous, dangerous and unacceptable for border wall construction to continue,” said Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Every government resource should be dedicated to saving lives and tackling this existential threat, rather than pulling out all the stops to make good on an election promise.”

Trump's coronavirus eviction freeze won't keep a roof over our heads, advocates say

Tim Fitzsimons, NBC News•March 21, 2020

Housing advocates say President Donald Trump's freeze on foreclosures and evictions by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the end of April falls woefully short of providing real help.

"Far more is needed to protect the people who are at greatest risk of eviction and homelessness, which are America's lowest-income renters, who were already struggling to pay the rent and make ends meet — even before coronavirus came to our country," said Diane Yentel, the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Yentel said that the NLIHC is advocating for a national moratorium on all evictions and all foreclosures for the duration of the crisis, as well as increased federal funding for rent freezes and homeless services providers.

The administration's freeze, announced last week, applies to those with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which backs up affordable home loans. The Federal Housing Finance Agency also said it had ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to suspend all foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days.

The action came as many Democrats in Congress had been pressing the administration to temporarily halt evictions and foreclosures on housing owned or insured by government-backed companies.

The Trump administration said the freeze would help keep people in their homes.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said the moratorium would "provide homeowners with some peace of mind during these trying times."

Carson added that the move will "allow households who have an FHA-insured mortgage to meet the challenges of COVID-19 without fear of losing their homes, and help steady market concerns."

But Michael McKee, treasurer of Tenants PAC, a renter advocacy organization, applauded the HUD effort but said the coronavirus outbreak is going to be a "big problem" for renters.

"It's perfectly appropriate to relieve landlords of their obligation to pay their mortgages in this crisis," McKee told NBC News, but he added that relief for tenants also is needed.




"A lot of renters who are losing their source of income aren't going to be able to pay the rent," he said. "We do not want to come out of this crisis having had extremely low-income people just build up debt that they can't pay off in the form of back rent."

The foreclosure and eviction freeze applies to over 8 million federally-backed mortgages. Pew estimated in 2017 that there are roughly 43 million rental households in the U.S.

A document posted on the HUD website by says that regarding rental assistance for tenants, multi-family housing owners are encouraged "to work with impacted residents and families to adjust rent payments, enter into forbearance agreements, and lessen the impact on affected residents."

Meanwhile, NLIHC is backing increasing local and state efforts to provide rent relief for Americans impacted by coronavirus.

"What we most need is a uniform policy that gives some level of certainty to all of us that we won't lose our homes in the midst of a public health emergency, especially at a time when our collective health depends on our ability to be at home," Yentel said.

"Small landlords can't continue to operate and maintain their properties without the income that they get from rent each month," Yentel continued. "We don't want to end this crisis with having saddled more low income people with debt or having lost some of the very little affordable housing stock we have today."

She added, "Rental assistance is going to be critical to pair with eviction moratoriums to prevent them from happening."

'Unrecognizable': Experts warn of historic collapse in economic activity

Sam Ro Managing Editor, Yahoo Finance•March 22, 2020

'We are in a global recession': Mohamed El-Erian
because the Dow [INAUDIBLE] trading higher right now,
As the coronavirus continues to spread, there is no question the U.S. economy is taking a major hit.

Economists at Goldman Sachs warn GDP will collapse at a 24% rate, a far cry from the “4, 5, and even 6%” growth scenario presented by President Trump just over two years ago.

“We are in a global recession,” Allianz’s Mohamed El-Erian said on Yahoo Finance’s On The Move. “We're in a global recession because of what economic sudden stops do.”

See Also: What is a recession? Here are the basics

Economic contractions often happen gradually, not suddenly, giving policymakers and business leaders some time to adjust so that growth may resume. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has forced economic activity to grind to a halt (i.e. sudden stop) as social distancing has effectively shutdown the massive global discretionary services industry, while also disrupting the massive global manufactured goods supply chain.

Confirmed coronavirus cases continue to rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

“[Sudden stops] are normally experienced by fragile states or by a community hit by a natural disaster, where everything comes to a stop,” El-Erian added. “They've never been felt at a level of a country as systemically important as China or the U.S., or Europe. And they've certainly never been felt at the level of global economy. So this is unprecedented.”

Because of the unprecedented nature and scale of what the world is facing, economists have struggled to model how badly things are getting.

“There is no blueprint for the current shock, and uncertainty about the extent of contagion and the economic consequences is overwhelming,” Credit Suisse economist James Sweeney said.

A woman walks wearing a mask to protect herself from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in front of a closed theater in Koreatown, Los Angeles, on March 21, 2020 (Photo: APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

Last Monday, however, Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Ian Shepherdson made a splash by taking a “guess.”

“We now guesstimate that second quarter GDP will drop at a 10% annualized rate, after a 2% fall in Q1,” Shepherdson said. “We are pencilling in a 20% plunge in discretionary consumers' spending in the second quarter, enough alone to subtract some eight percentage points from GDP growth.“

The calculus involved in making such forecasts is further complicated by the fact the policy response (both monetary and fiscal) continues to be a work in progress. And so the form, timing and ultimate impact of the response remains impossible to know. Though, most agree that the response will fuel a surge in activity once health officials tell us the coronavirus is under control.

Confirmed coronavirus cases continue to rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

Shepherdson’s note was followed by a slew of incredibly grim forecasts for the second quarter, coming from economists forced to use unconventional methods. Those economists were also encourage by the prospect of stimulus. All warned clients that every estimate came with a huge margin of error.

Below is a sampling of what was published last week. (Quarterly percentage figures reflect quarter-on-quarter annualized growth rates):

Goldman Sachs — “Historic”: -6% in Q1, -24% in Q2, +12% in Q3, +10% in Q4; full-year growth at -3.8%

“Over the last few days social distancing measures have shut down normal life in much of the US,” Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote on Friday. “News reports point to a sudden surge in layoffs and a collapse in spending, both historic in size and speed, as well as shutdowns of many schools, stores, offices, manufacturing plants, and construction sites.”

Credit Suisse — “Unrecognizable”: -1.5% in Q1, -12% in Q2; full-year growth at -0.9%

“Economic data in the near future will be not just bad, but unrecognizable,” Credit Suisse economists led by James Sweeney said on Friday. “Anomalies will be ubiquitous and old statistical relationships within economic data or between market and macro data might not always hold... There is no blueprint for the current shock, and uncertainty about the extent of contagion and the economic consequences is overwhelming.”

UBS — “Impossible”: -2.1% in Q1, -9.5% in Q2; +2.1% in Q3, +6.7% in Q4; full-year growth at -0.9%

“To say that uncertainty about the forecast is elevated would be an acute understatement,” UBS economists led by Seth Carpenter said on Thursday. “And the same uncertainty applies when forecasting every other economy in the world. Consequently, the path of future global trade is near impossible to predict.”

People walk down a nearly empty Bourbon Street, usually bustling with tourists and revelers, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Thursday, March 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Barclays — “Deeper disruptive effects”: -0.5% in Q1, -7.0% in Q2; +0.0% in Q3, +2.5% in Q4; full-year growth at -0.6%


“With timely evidence from the usual economic data releases still in short supply, we take an unusually strong signal from available survey indicators, as well as some unconventional indicators that do not usually feature in our forecast apparatus,” Barclays economists led by Michael Gapen said on Thursday. “This [base case] scenario continues to assume that ‘hotspots’ eventually occur in states that encompass 60% of overall US activity, but with deeper disruptive effects than we projected previously... Given the depth of the disruptions, fiscal and monetary policy measures would be less effective at containing second-round fallout through various channels (such as credit, uncertainty, and confidence) than before.“

Bank of America — “Large uncertainty”: +0.5% in Q1, -12.0% in Q2; +3.0% in Q3, +4.0% in Q4; full-year growth at -0.8%


“We believe that the US economy has fallen into recession, joining the rest of the world, and it is a deep plunge,” Bank of America economists led by Michelle Meyer wrote on Thursday. “Jobs will be lost, wealth will be destroyed and confidence depressed. The salvation will come if there is a targeted and aggressive policy response to offset the loss of economic activity and ensure a sound financial system... There is a large uncertainty band around the forecasts.”

JPMorgan — “Pervasive ‘Knightian uncertainty’”: -4.0% in Q1, -14.0% in Q2; +8.0% in Q3, +4.0% in Q4; full-year growth at -1.5%


“In economic parlance, the current environment is one of pervasive ‘Knightian uncertainty’ — that is, an unknown for which we cannot even quantify the odds of various outcomes,” JPMorgan economists led by Michael Feroli wrote on Wednesday. “While that description clearly applies to the present situation, the very process of producing a forecast still possesses some value, as it can highlight the key assumptions needed to break past this uncertainty“

Deutsche Bank — “Truly unprecedented”: +0.6% in Q1, -12.9% in Q2

“We cannot stress enough the degree of uncertainty surrounding these projections,” Deutsche Bank economists led by Peter Hooper said. “These are truly unprecedented events with no adequate historical example with which to precisely anchor our forecast. The evolution of the virus is also highly uncertain.“

The first official estimate of Q2 GDP is scheduled to be published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on July 30.

WHAT IS A RECESSION AND DEPRESSION

Trump uses China as a foil when talking coronavirus, distancing himself from criticism

Courtney Subramanian Nicholas Wu David Jackson USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has doubled down on referring to the coronavirus pandemic as the "Chinese virus" as he tries to distance himself from criticism over how his administration is handling the response to the global pandemic that has shuttered public life across the U.S., roiled stock markets and left more than 200 people dead in the U.S.

The president again defended his use of the term Wednesday despite mounting criticism among Asian-American advocates, health experts and Democratic lawmakers who warn referring to the virus by a location-specific name stigmatizes certain ethnic groups.

"It's not racist at all, no," Trump told reporters at a coronavirus task force news conference Wednesday when asked about his preferred label. "It comes from China. I want to be accurate." He said he was not concerned about Chinese Americans' concerns about racism, either.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also used the phrase, describing it at multiple press conferences as a "Chinese" virus and a "Wuhan" virus after the city in China where researchers say coronavirus originated.

But race and global health experts argue describing COVID-19 as a "Chinese" virus exacerbates xenophobia amid the rapidly unfolding outbreak while Chinese officials remain rankled by Trump's repeated use of the phrase. Washington and Beijing have blamed one another for mishandling the spread of coronavirus as each country grapples with the pandemic's widening fallout that has battered the world's two largest economies.

Trump and several of his congressional allies continue to use that language to paint the coronavirus crisis as a foreign threat, according to Gordon H. Chang, a professor of history at Stanford University.

"It's an effective political way to rally people, deflect the attention away from his administration's response to this crisis, find a scapegoat and continue this hostility of blaming climate change, trade wars and now disease on China," he said. "These are not words that are just plucked out of the blue but they're part of a pattern that's been going on for a long time to vilify China."

The president has used the words "Chinese virus" in spoken remarks four times since Sunday, often mentioning the term in his opening comments at daily White House press conferences. He also has tweeted about the term six times this week.

“The world is paying a very big price for what they did,” Trump told reporters Thursday as he again accused Chinese officials of withholding information about the virus.


The president likes the term so much he marked up the prepared text he read from at the start of Thursday's coronavirus briefing - striking out the word "corona" and writing in "Chinese," according to a photo by Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford.

"It calls up this cultural idea about race as biological," said MarYam Hamedani, managing director at SPARQ (Social Psychological Answers to Real-World Questions), a Stanford University center focused on social problems. "This kind of language really incites the idea of racial difference and that there's something fundamentally different and essential between us, and that Asians, by their race, are more likely to have or carry or be associated with the virus."

She said her center has been tracking an uptick in bias discrimination, micro-aggressions and even direct assaults against Asian Americans as the virus spreads across the U.S. Last week a national coalition of Asian organizations penned a letter to Congress about an alarming uptick in incidents targeting Asian Americans in the wake of coronavirus.

When pressed about it earlier this week, Trump told reporters Tuesday he decided to describe it as a "Chinese virus" to dispute a disinformation campaign circulated by some Beijing officials that the American military brought the virus to Wuhan.

Fact check: Coronavirus originated in China, not elsewhere, researchers and studies say

The World Health Organization has urged people to be careful with language used to describe COVID-19, insisting that it not be referred to as the "Chinese" or "Wuhan" virus. Any mention of location could lead to discrimination or stigmatization, the group warns.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has also rejected use of the term, noting last month that "ethnicity is not what causes the novel coronavirus" while Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Robert Redfield told lawmakers last week it was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate" to refer to it as a "Chinese virus." The Trump campaign channeled the president's war of words with Beijing this week, sending out an email to supporters claiming America is "under attack" by China.

From 'great' to 'blindsided': How Trump changed his coronavirus message amid fear, confusion in the White House

Noting attempts by officials in China to blame the United States for the virus, the Trump campaign email also accused former Vice President Joe Biden of "siding with the Chinese and attacking the presidential candidate China fears most: Donald Trump."

The email, designed to mobilize Trump backers, listed a number of comments the former vice president has said about China over the years, and claimed he "has repeatedly downplayed the threat posed by China and defended the regime."

Biden has criticized both China and Trump administration policy toward the country, particularly the tariffs he has imposed during his trade war with the Chinese. He also called on Trump to pressure the Chinese into disclosing more information on the origin of the coronavirus.

T.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, said Trump is projecting his own faults onto others, noting that U.S. tariffs on China and other countries have increased the costs of medical supplies among other items.

"They are trying to attack Vice President Biden on an issue that President Trump has badly mishandled," Ducklo said.

Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said the campaign was just trying to deal with "misinformation" about the presidential response to the virus.

"The President’s campaign will fight the misinformation and set the record straight while the President does his job and protects the interests of this country," Murtaugh said in a statement.

Fred Guttenberg, a Biden supporter and gun control advocate who lost his daughter in the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, tweeted that it looks like Trump "is using coronavirus to campaign, saying America is under attack from the Chinese and saying Biden is with China."

The president's comments are a marked departure from the praise he offered Chinese President Xi Jinping just two months ago as he sought to downplay concerns of a looming pandemic.

"China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency," Trump tweeted on Jan. 24. "It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"

The shift in rhetoric, some Democratic lawmakers say, is an attempt to distract voters from Trump's slow response to the coronavirus.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, slammed Trump's use of "Chinese virus."

"No matter how much he calls it the 'Chinese virus,' no matter how many hate crimes he incites, Donald Trump cannot hide from his own failure to address this crisis from the beginning," Chu wrote in a tweet.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said while it was a "big step forward for the country" Wednesday when a "very sober and serious" Trump addressed the urgency around COVID-19, it was disappointing "to see him be so stubborn about defending his use of the word, Chinese virus, the term Chinese virus."

But the president's labeling of coronavirus as a "Chinese virus," implies that it's associated with a sick culture, said Chang, the history professor.

"This virus came from a place. To call it a Chinese virus is to call it Chinese food and associate it with a culture and a society," Chang said, noting that AIDS wasn't referred to as "American AIDS."

"These diseases know no boundaries, they don't carry passports, they're not citizens and they don't speak a certain language."

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema calls Rand Paul's behavior prior to receiving coronavirus results 'irresponsible'

Catherine Garcia, The Week•March 22, 2020

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Sunday tweeted that she has "never commented about a fellow senator's choices/actions," but Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) recent behavior has forced her to speak out.

On Sunday, Paul's office announced that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Not long after, CNN's Seung Min Kim reported that two people briefed on the matter told her that during the Senate Republican lunch on Sunday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) shared with colleagues "that Rand was at the gym this morning ... and that he was swimming in the pool."

Paul's office tweeted in response that "Paul left the Senate IMMEDIATELY upon learning of his diagnosis. He had zero contact with anyone and went into quarantine." His office did not address Paul visiting the Senate gym and pool before receiving the results of his test, which is what outraged Sinema. "This, America, is absolutely irresponsible," she said. "You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others and likely increases the spread of the virus."

Sen. Rand Paul, Who Opposed Coronavirus Relief Bill, Tests Positive
Emma Tucker,The Daily Beast•March 22, 2020

Sarah Silbiger/Getty

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who was the only senator to oppose a coronavirus relief package last month, announced Sunday that he has tested positive for the virus.

“He is feeling fine and is in quarantine,” an announcement on his Twitter said. “He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events.”

It added, “He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends and will continue to work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time.”

In addition to being the only senator to vote against an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus package, Paul also was one of the eight senators who voted against paid sick leave in a stimulus bill that passed with an overwhelming 90-8 vote last week.

“I think that the paid sick leave is an incentive for businesses to actually let go employees and will make unemployment worse,” Paul, a physician who has a Kentucky-issued medical license, explained to Newsweek.

CNN reported that Paul closed his Capitol Hill offices over a week ago and urged employees to work from home due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. Two people who attended the annual Speed Art Museum ball in Kentucky with the senator on March 7 later tested positive for the virus, according to the Courier-Journal.

But despite reportedly being tested roughly a week ago, Paul continued to interact with colleagues and even worked out at the Senate gym—and was swimming in the pool—on Sunday morning, shortly before he received his positive test results, Politico reported.

Paul is the first senator to test positive for the novel coronavirus. Two other members of Congress, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Ben McAdams (D-UT), have also gone public with positive test results.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is particularly dangerous for people with lung problems. In August 2019, Paul had part of his lung removed after an altercation with his neighbor Rene Boucher. The two had a long-running dispute over lawn care.

Second Member of Congress Tests Positive for COVID-19

On March 2, Paul appeared on Fox News and downplayed the global threat of the coronavirus.
“While it is worldwide, I think there is room for optimism that this thing may plateau out in a few weeks and not be as bad it as it may have been portrayed,” he said to host Neil Cavuto. “We’ve seen pockets of this around the world and even in Italy and Iran where we have it, but none of it is approaching what started in China.”

When asked about institutions taking larger measures to limit the spread of the virus, Paul was resistant to the idea. “I think closing down the Smithsonians would be way too premature and I wouldn’t advise something like that.”

And when Cavuto asked Paul about making personal adjustments to avoid infection, the Senator was particularly defiant. “I mean, I fly all the time and I’m not cutting back on my flying... I was on a plane today,” he said. “I could be wrong and this could be really bad in two or three weeks or a month, but I’m hoping it’s not going to be. I’m not ready to buy all the toilet paper at Target.”

The senator’s father, Dr. Ron Paul, a physician and a former Republican congressman from Texas, published an essay called “The Coronavirus Hoax” last week for the New River Valley News, a local outlet based in Virginia.

“People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus ‘pandemic’ could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit—financially or politically—from the ensuing panic,” the elder Paul wrote.
As of Sunday afternoon, there are 30,000 COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and nearly 400 people have died.

Rand Paul's coronavirus infection sends shockwaves through Senate during major stimulus debate

William Cummings,USA TODAY•March 22, 2020


Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus and is being quarantined, his office announced Sunday.

The diagnosis comes as the Senate prepares to move forward on a massive coronavirus stimulus aid package aimed at alleviating the economic impact of the outbreak. Several Republican lawmakers announced on Sunday they would self-quarantine as a result of Paul's diagnosis.

Sergio Gor, Paul's deputy chief of staff, said the senator "decided to get tested after attending an event where two individuals subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, even though he wasn't aware of any direct contact with either one of them."

Gor said Paul is in a higher risk category after having part of his lung removed last year after it was damaged in a 2017 assault by his neighbor.

Paul's diagnosis also raised questions about his behavior after he continued to attend events and use shared facilities as he awaited the test results.

Several news outlets reported, for example, that Paul was using the Senategym and pool as recently as Sunday morning, the same day he announced he had tested positive. Several lawmakers also reported having lunch recently with Paul.

Those actions drew sharp criticism from at least one fellow senator.

More: New ad from conservative group targets Trump on coronavirus messaging

More: Trump uses China as a foil when talking coronavirus, distancing himself from criticism

"This, America, is absolutely irresponsible," tweeted Sen. Kristen Synema, D-Ariz. "You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus."

The news of Paul's diagnosis came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., moved forward with the stimulus package, which is expected to approach $2 trillion. Earlier Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared she would not support the bill as written, and vowed House Democrats would move forward with their own legislation.

But McConnell said he would still hold a cloture vote on Sunday. If approved, that vote would limit debate on the measure to 30 hours ahead of a final vote, which McConnell hopes will take place Monday.

In response to Paul's diagnosis, Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney of Utah announced they would undergo self-quarantines. The loss of their votes – in addition to those of Republicans Sens. Rick Scott and Cory Garner, who were already under self-quarantine – could threaten the measure's passage.

Paul was not the first member of Congress to test positive for the virus. Last week, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Ben McAdams, D-Utah, announced they had tested positive.

Paul was on Capitol Hill several days last week. The statement from his office did not say when Paul tested positive, nor when he might have contracted the illness.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Sunday that lawmakers are speaking with a doctor to determine what steps they should take after Paul's diagnosis.

"We just learned our colleague, Rand Paul, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Our thoughts and prayers are with him for a speedy recovery," Thune said on the Senate floor. "We will consult with the attending physician here at the Capitol about appropriate measures for those of us who have been in contact with the senator."

Thune said Paul's infection "is the kind of situation that Americans across the country are dealing with right now. And it underscores the importance of acting immediately to deliver more relief for the American people."

More: Coronavirus relief deal agreed by Pelosi, Trump overwhelmingly passes House as president declares national emergency

Romney, R-Utah., confirmed he and other lawmakers attended a lunch with Paul on Friday and that they were consulting with doctors before he announced later Sunday that he would self-quarantine.

"He's compromised given health conditions he's had in the past, and so we'll be praying for him and thinking about him," Romney told reporters regarding Paul's positive test result. "Of course, all the senators are going to seek medical advice as to what action we should take to make sure that we don't in any way spread this virus ourselves."

Soon after Romney announced his decision to isolate himself.

"Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with CDC guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor," Romney's office said in a statement.

It said that Romney would undergo a test himself, although he currently has no symptoms.

Lee went into self-quarantine soon after Paul’s disclosure, on the advice of Congress’ attending physician. Lee reportedly also had lunch with Paul on Friday.

Lee said he has no symptoms and the physician said he did not need to be tested.

"However, given the timing, proximity, and duration of my exposure to Sen. Paul, he directed me to self-quarantine for 14 days," Lee said in a statement Sunday. "That means no traveling or voting."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19: Rand Paul's diagnosis sends shockwaves through Senate

Ohio's attorney general demanded abortion clinics stop providing surgical abortions, calling them 'non-essential and elective' amid coronavirus crisis

Connor Perrett BUSINESS INSIDER

© Megan Jelinger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ohio's attorney general, Dave Yost, demanded all abortion clinics in the state stop performing abortions to comply with a state order against elective medical procedures.
Ohio, which has had some of the most aggressive coronavirus-prevention efforts, is also known for some of the most aggressive attempts nationwide to limit access to abortion.
"If you or your facility do not immediately stop performing non-essential or elective surgical abortions in compliance with the (health director's) order, the Department of Health will take all appropriate measures," Yost wrote in a letter to two abortion clinics.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio said it would keep its doors open and continue offering surgical abortions despite Yost's order.

Two of Ohio's abortion clinics received a letter from the attorney general, Dave Yost, on Friday demanding they stop providing surgical abortions amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Yost's order stemmed from an Ohio policy prohibiting elective surgeries as the state attempts to preserve medical equipment.


"You and your facility are ordered to immediately stop performing non-essential and elective surgical abortions. Non-essential surgical abortions are those that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient," Yost's letter said, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

It continued: "If you or your facility do not immediately stop performing non-essential or elective surgical abortions in compliance with the (health director's) order, the Department of Health will take all appropriate measures."

Ohio has been one of several states nationwide that have attempted to enact restrictions on access to abortion in the state.

Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, signed a law last year passed by the state's GOP-controlled legislature that prohibited abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat was detected - about six weeks into a pregnancy and just about two weeks after a missed menstrual cycle. A federal judge placed a temporary ban on the law in October 2019.

© Mary F. Calvert For The Washington Post via Getty Images

In a statement on Saturday, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio said it would keep its doors open and continue offering surgical abortions despite Yost's order, arguing that surgical abortions are essential services.

"Under that order, Planned Parenthood can still continue providing essential procedures, including surgical abortion, and our health centers continue to offer other health care services that our patients depend on. Our doors remain open for this care," Iris E. Harvey and Kersha Deibel, presidents and CEOs of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, said in a statement.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland in a statement accused state leaders of using the coronavirus pandemic to further their political platform.

"People decide to end their pregnancies for a complex constellation of reasons that include the impact of pregnancy and birth on their health, ability to work, and strained economic circumstances," Copeland said. "These are conditions that do not go away-and are likely heightened-in pandemic conditions. Denying or delaying abortion care places an immediate burden on patients, their families, and the health system, and can have profound and lasting consequences."

In a joint statement, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, the American Gynecological & Obstetrical Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society of Family Planning, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said they did not support COVID-19 prevention efforts "that cancel or delay abortion procedures."

At a press conference Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence urged people to cancel elective medical procedures, even visits to the dentist, in order to preserve medical equipment among fears of national shortages. Some hospitals in the US have already reported re-using surgical masks amid shortages.

Although Yost's letters went only to a clinic in Dayton and another in Cincinnati after his office received complaints about those facilities, a Yost spokesperson told The Columbus Dispatch the mandate applied to all abortion clinics in the state.

Ohio leaders, and in particular its governor, have been lauded over its aggressive steps to combat coronavirus, including schools and a host of businesses including bars, restaurants, nail salons, barbershops, and tattoo parlors.

Mystery Warren super PAC funder revealed

By Alex Thompson POLITICO

The vast majority of the super PAC millions backing Elizabeth Warren in the final days of her presidential campaign came from one person: Karla Jurvetson, a wealthy doctor based in the Bay Area who donated a massive $14.6 million to the main group that supported Warren.

© Scott Eisen/Getty Images Former Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.

In the last weeks of Warren’s struggling presidential bid, a super PAC called Persist PAC hastily formed and then swooped into Nevada, South Carolina and Super Tuesday states to run over $14 million in ads trying to resuscitate Warren’s campaign. Warren was in trouble after third and fourth place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Jurvetson is one of the biggest donors in the Democratic Party and has spoken openly about what she feels is her obligation to support female candidates. "I feel like it’s our moral duty, if we’re not going to run ourselves, to support the women who are brave enough to put their name on the ballot,” she told the Mercury News in 2018. Jurvetson also hosted a fundraising luncheon for Warren in 2018 — before the Massachusetts senator disavowed in-person fundraising events altogether during her presidential run.
Through a spokesperson, Jurvetson declined to comment on her involvement in Persist PAC, which only collected a half-million dollars from other sources in February, according to a new campaign finance filing. Warren did not respond to a request for comment.

After spending much of her campaign denouncing the corrupting influence of big money, Warren tried to justify the existence of the super PAC rather than demand that it take its ads off the air. Persist PAC was the biggest-spending outside group airing TV ads on Super Tuesday.

“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in,” Warren said in Nevada, before she placed fourth in the caucuses there. “It can't be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t.”

Warren’s message was noticeably different than just a few months earlier in the campaign, when a group affiliated with Jurvetson took out an ad in the Des Moines Register in Iowa. Warren spokesperson Chris Hayden told POLITICO in November that that the “campaign was not aware of this and asks that those involved immediately stop purchasing advertisements of any kind.”

Donald Trump laments that it cost him billions of dollars to become president as he again refuses to rule out taking bail out money for his business and attacks reporter for 'nasty question'

Asked if he'll take bailout money for his own properties, Trump says 'let's just see what happens'

THE DAILY MAIL

Donald Trump on Sunday lamented that becoming president had cost him billions of dollars after refusing to rule out taking bail out money for his business in the wake of the coronavirus for a second day running.

The president said that it 'cost me billions of dollars to be president of the United States'. He also said wife Melania had never heard him booed before he ran for office.

Trump's comments came during his daily coronavirus briefing.

He had earlier attacked the reporter who asked if he had sold off any of his stock for his 'nasty question' during the Sunday evening press conference into the worldwide pandemic.

Trump said: 'That's a nasty question. It's a nasty question but I guess it deserved to be asked. I don't have stock. I own things.

'Look at my legal costs. It cost me billions of dollars to be president, and I'm so happy I did it. Because who cares?'

Four senators dumped millions of dollars worth of stock while Capitol Hill was being briefed on the threat of coronavirus but before the markets tanked as infections soared, disclosure records have revealed.

Republicans Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler and James Inhofe and Democrat Dianne Feinstein collectively offloaded up to $11million in stock between late January and early February, according to reports.

Discussing his own wealth Trump said Sunday: 'When I ran I said "this is going to cost me a fortune". I am being sued by people I never even heard of. I think it is very hard for rich people to run for office.'

And when probed for the second day running in whether he would accept government help for his business Trump said 'nobody said thank you very much' when he forgo his presidential salary.

He added: 'But I guarantee if I took it, you would go after me, you in particular would go after me like crazy.'

 

© Provided by Daily Mail President Donald Trump, flanked by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, speaks during a news conference, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Washington D.C. on Sunday

Trump on Saturday said he will not rule out accepting government assistance for his Trump Organization after the company closed Mar-a-Lago, fired staff, and even shut down the bars at its Washington D.C. luxury hotel in the wake of the coronavirus.

'I don't know. I mean, I just don't know what the government assistance would be for what I have. I have hotels. Everybody knew I had hotels when I got elected. They knew I was a successful person when I got elected so it's one of those things,' he said Saturday at his daily coronavirus briefing.

The administration is working on a financial rescue package for workers and businesses affected by the disease.

'Is it hurting me? Yeah, it's hurting Hilton, it's hurting all the great hotel chains all over the world. It's hurting everybody,' the president said of the economic fallout of the coronavirus. 'Very few businesses that are doing well.'

But, he added, the closures were a good thing as more than 22,000 people in the United States have been affected and almost 300 people have died.

'I think it's a good thing. You don't want people getting together hotels and clubs and everything, you get together. We want to beat this deal. I have many of them, hotels, clubs, things like that where people get together. I would think it would be a good practice to close them up,' Trump said.

The president said he also didn't give his sons - Don Jr. and Eric - who took over running the company after he was elected - any advance warning about restrictions coming to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

'I didn't speak to anybody,' he said. 'I speak to my sons. They basically follow the rules. When they say close them down in New York, we close them down or wherever they may be having them.'

Several states where the Trump Organization has properties have closed bars, restaurants, gyms, clubs and other areas where large numbers of people gather to help contain the spread.

'Various facilities are temporarily closed given local, state and federal mandates. We anxiously await the day when this pandemic is over and our world-class facilities can reopen,' a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told DailyMail.com.

© Provided by Daily Mail Mar-a-Lago became Ground Zero for the coronavirus after a Brazilian official who dined there tested positive for the disease

© Provided by Daily Mail Bars in The Trump International Hotel Washington D.C. closed because of the mayor's call to close them in order to help stop the spread of the coronavirus

The White House is pushing for a $1 trillion package that would include $200 billion for the airlines and other critical industries directly affected by the coronavirus, such as the hospitality industry. Hotels and restaurants have been hit hard by the pandemic as people are staying home.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a close Trump ally who has dined at Mar-a-Lago, on Friday issued an executive order that all restaurants and gyms in the state must close. Restaurants are allowed to do take-out orders.

Earlier this week he closed bars and nightclubs to slow down the spread of the disease during Spring Break's high peak season.

But the order also affected Trump's Winter White House in Palm Beach, which became Ground Zero for the administration and the virus after a Brazilian official who attended a dinner there March 8 tested positive for the disease.

That had a cascade effect as the president was at the dinner along with several members of his administration and the first family. President Trump has tested negative for the disease.

But the club was closed Monday for a deep cleaning. Other guests from the March 8 event had to be tested for the virus. At least three cases have been tied to attendees there.

Normally, the president would spend weekends at Mar-a-Lago this time of year, where he would enjoy dinner with his fellow club members and spending time at his Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.

Additionally, earlier this week, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered all restaurants, bars, and clubs to close to help contain the pandemic.

That order closed the restaurant and bar at the Trump International Hotel Washington D.C., which sets just blocks from the White House.

The hotel is a popular watering hole for Republicans. Members of the Trump family have been seen in its bars and restaurants when they are in town. And the president sometimes dines there.

'As an organization we are following federal, state and local direction and guidance very carefully,' Eric Trump, who took over leading the company after his father's election, told The New York Times.



a car parked on a city street: The Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York has fired 40 members of its staff as it struggles ahead of a'significant shortfall in revenues'1/2 SLIDES © Provided by Daily Mail

The Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York has fired 40 members of its staff as it struggles ahead of a'significant shortfall in revenues'
Click to expand

The Trump Organization cut staff - 40 from its New York hotel and 95 per cent from its Washington location - along with closing golf courses in Los Angeles and the Miami area, the paper reported.

In a letter to owners of units in the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York on Thursday and obtained by The Times, general manager Matthew Vandegrift warned of a 'significant shortfall in revenues.'

'While we recognize that hope is not a strategy, I can assure you we are thoroughly analyzing expenses,' Vandegrift wrote. 'Strategies have been deployed to mitigate the expected financial losses as a result of COVID-19.'

Several business have had to take lay off staff after being closed to help stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.

The Trump Organization owns more than a dozen golf clubs and at least partially owns or operates hotels in Chicago, Hawaii, Las Vegas, New York, Vancouver and Washington D.C., as well as Ireland and Scotland.

The president's Bedminster New Jersey golf club, where he often spends summer weekends, is open for play although the club told members no caddies or other services were available.

At Trump's National Doral Miami club, the golf course is closed but the pool remains open.

Donald Trump pledges to send in the national guard into Washington, California and New York as the hardest hit states are declared disaster zones

Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to send in the national guard into Washington, California and New York, as the hardest hit states were declared disaster zones.

The disaster declaration will provide federal assistance for both emergency protective measures and crisis counseling in Washington, the White House said.

Trump said Sunday: 'And through (Federal Emergency Management Agency), the federal government will be funding 100 per cent of the cost of deploying national guard units to carry out approved missions to stop the virus while those governors remain in command.

'We'll be following them and we hope they can do the job and I think they will. I spoke with all three of the governors today, just a little while ago and they're very happy with what we're going to be doing.'

© Provided by Daily Mail President Donald Trump gestures during a news conference on Sunday

Washington gov. Jay Inslee said the federal declaration was appreciated but added it was a 'first step' that doesn't go far enough. Health officials there reported at least 95 coronavirus deaths in Washington state and nearly 2,000 confirmed cases Sunday.

In a statement Inslee said 'today's declaration does not unlock many forms of federal assistance we have requested to help workers and families who are badly hurting.

'We will continue working with our federal partners to deliver the full suite of disaster assistance that is sorely needed in our state, such as expanded unemployment benefits for workers who lose their paychecks as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.'

Trump also said Sunday he'd ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ship mobile hospital centers to the hard-hit states of Washington, California and New York amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The president said FEMA will also provide thousands of hospital beds to New York, Califnoria and Washington plus dozens of medical stations which will be with the states in 48 hours.

Two naval hospitals - one the east and west coast - will also be used.

Trump said Sunday: 'I'm a wartime president. This is a war — a different kind of war than we've ever had.'

He added: 'We're sort of a backup for states.'

© Provided by Daily Mail New York City Grand Central Station pictured Sunday amid the coronavirus outbreak

© Provided by Daily Mail A man wearing a face mask walks across the street in San Francisco on Friday, a day after California's Governor Gavin Newsom implemented a statewide 'stay at home order' directing the state's nearly 40 million residents to stay in their homes for the foreseeable future

California gov. Gavin Newsom has earlier written to Trump asking that the state be declared a 'major disaster'.

He said: 'Unfortunately, California has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

'Besides California being home to nearly 40 million people, which itself poses significant logistical issues few other states face, California partnered with the federal government in several extremely complex and challenging repatriation missions, which strained California's resources and impacted California's healthcare delivery system.'

There were more than 33,000 cases across the U.S. and more than 400 deaths. New York state accounted for 117 deaths, mostly in New York City.

On Sunday, New York passed Washington state, the initial epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, in the number of fatal cases.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said earlier: 'I think the federal government should order factories to manufacture masks, gowns, ventilators, the essential medical equipment that is going to make the difference between life and death.'

Cuomo has told hospitals to figure out ways to increase their current beds by at least 50% because predictions from health officials are that COVID-19 cases needing advanced medical care will top 100,000 in New York state in the next month or so. Such a deluge could overwhelm hospitals in a city that has about 53,000 beds.

Hospitals started to feel the crush Sunday, creating emergency room overflows and dedicating COVID-19 wings, with officials in Brooklyn saying a number were becoming overwhelmed.

Health care workers said they were being asked to reuse and ration disposable masks and gloves.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death. The vast majority of people recover.

Washington also announced that all state campgrounds would be closed until April 30.

© Provided by Daily Mail A worker at Life Care Center in Kirkland wears a mask as she leaves the facility Friday evening. The nursing home has been at the center of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Washington

Olympic swimmer opens up on coronavirus battle: ‘The worst virus I have ever endured’

With the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for this July, pressure from around the sports world has been focused on the IOC to postpone the Games given the risks athletes and visitors would face with the global coronavirus pandemic.

© Provided by For The Win USA TODAY

We're already seeing athletes struggle with the virus.

South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for the 100-meter breaststroke. He's a world-class athlete and is just 31 years old, but he's been struggling with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

In a Sunday Twitter thread, van der Burgh discussed his multi-week battle with the coronavirus, calling it "by far the worst virus" he had ever faced and urged the public to take preventive measures seriously.

2/ I have been struggling with Covid-19 for 14 days today. By far the worst virus I have ever endured despite being a healthy individual with strong lungs(no smoking/sport), living a healthy lifestyle and being young (least at risk demographic)
- Cameron van der Burgh (@Cameronvdburgh) March 22, 2020

4/ The loss in body conditioning has been immense and can only feel for the athletes that contract Covid-19 as they will suffer a great loss of current conditioning through the last training cycle. Infection closer to competition being the worst.
- Cameron van der Burgh (@Cameronvdburgh) March 22, 2020

6/ Please, look after yourself everyone! Health comes first - COVID-19 is no joke!
- Cameron van der Burgh (@Cameronvdburgh) March 22, 2020

According to van der Burgh, his symptoms have improved - and he no longer has a fever - but he raised issues that the IOC need to consider, especially when it comes to athletes preparing for the Olympics.

In a letter released on Sunday, the IOC set a deadline of four weeks to come to a decision on postponing the Tokyo Games. The IOC has, however, ruled out the possibility of cancelling the Olympics.