Germany is facing a “very serious” rise in COVID19 cases, the head of Robert Koch Institute said.Lothar Wieler said that it was because of private gatherings. Germany is facing a “very serious” rise in coronavirus cases, the head of Robert Koch Institute said on October 22. Addressing media reporters from Berlin, Lothar Wieler asserted that it was because of “private gatherings”, especially amongst the youth, that had led to the dramatic rise in the COVID-19 cases. However, touting a solution for the same he went on to reckon that “systematic compliance with restrictive measures” could help better the situation. Germany which was one of the initial countries to curb the spread coronavirus pandemic is currently witnessing a surge in cases. The EU nation on October 22, reported another high with over 11,287 new infections. As per statistics, Thursday’s caseload exceeds the previous record of 7,830 recorded on October 16 and a marks a steep jump from 7,595 cases reported on October 21. With the latest rise, the nationwide total now stands at 3,97,922 reported COVID-19 cases and 9,913 deaths, the latest tally of John Hopkins University revealed. In the city of Essen, the public assembly has been limited to 25, from the earlier 50, mandating the face-masks at all times in public buildings. Whereas, Berlin and Cologne a nightly curfew have been imposed following the surge. Last week, an aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly said that with hard months to come and a stricter clampdown, people will have to stop the travel and partying, where infection chains spread mostly. Chancellor’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told public broadcaster ARD that the country had plans to cap the total number of people allowed in public premises, much like England, unfortunately, imposing sweeping measures to curb transmission rate as country battles the second wave. According to the sources of the local broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Germany’s western city of Essen exceeded far beyond the nation’s key coronavirus threshold, with Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart reporting daily alarming spikes in infections that prompted authorities to tighten measures.
Senate GOP fails to pass $500B relief bill
Unemployment benefits for millions of unemployed Americans ran out in August.
As expected, the Senate GOP didn’t get the votes they needed to pass their “skinny” coronavirus relief bill, which failed 52-47 on Thursday. The legislation needed 60 votes to pass. All Democrats voted against the bill, and Republican Sen. Rand Paul also opposed it. House leadership and the White House had been debating for weeks over the next round of coronavirus relief aid, without reaching any agreement. Democratic lawmakers in the House approved a $3 trillion coronavirus relief proposal back in May that, if it had passed, would have continued enhanced unemployment benefits for millions of Americans before they ran out in August. Since then, the GOP proposed its own relief package with far fewer benefits Although the White House called for it, the proposal did not include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks for individuals and notably excludes funding for state and local governments that could face widespread layoffs. It also slims down the amount of enhanced unemployment money from $600 to $300 per week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the proposal didn’t do nearly enough for Americans. “Republicans may call their proposal ‘skinny,’ but it would be more appropriate to call it ‘emaciated,’” Schumer wrote in a letter to colleagues in early September. The GOP plan also includes a few proposals that Democrats say are simply a no-go, including liability protections for businesses and a tax credit aimed at assisting students attend private schools. Although the proposal was designed to get as many Republican senators on board as possible, it was not expected to pass. The legislation needed the support of 60 senators, and with Democrats and one Republican opposed, that was not going to happen. Not to mention the proposal was so pared down that very few Democrats were likely to support it. “The truth is, if you wanted to draft a bill that was certain to fail, McConnell’s proposal is it. One of the most cynical moves I’ve ever seen in the midst of a huge crisis,” Schumer said at a press conference on Wednesday. Despite this failure Congress must pass some funding this month to avoid another government shutdown. Funding for agencies across the branches of government need money at the end of September when the fiscal year ends. There have been talks of stop-gap measures that would extend government spending, at current levels, at least through the election.
Radio Free Wall Street
Two Devils – The Plague And The Elections
Time to update you on both of these monsters.
McConnell urges WH not to pass aid before election
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell revealed his concerns in a warning manner for the White House not to proceed with a big stimulus deal prior to the election, according to the Washington Post’s report released on Tuesday. The senator questioned the good faith of the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, concerning her negotiation with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, suggesting that any reached deal could disrupt the Senate’s plans to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court next week. The market had reacted positively to Pelosi’s and McConnell’s revelation that both Republicans and Democrats have teamed up to work out the differences and deliver additional stimulus before November 3.
McConnell: Senate would consider larger relief bill
Pelosi: We are starting to write stimulus bill
United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed on Tuesday the Democrats and the GOP have joined efforts to write the relief bill in order to pass it in the Congress before the presidential elections.
Pelosi expressed her optimism about reaching a bipartisan agreement, but noted there are still sticking points that would have to be resolved before the bill is approved. State and local funding and liability overhaul remain topics of the discussions.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchina and Pelosi are expected to speak in the evening, after which it will be found out if the two sides have reached the common ground on the relief.
The Dow Jones extended gains on Tuesday as the United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said stimulus deal is possible by day’s end. Also, US President Donald Trump stated that he is willing to go over $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus.
The Dow Jones was up by 276 points at 12:43 pm ET or 0.98%. The Nasdaq 100 climbed by 0.92%, and the S&P 500 traded 1.06% in the green.
Cruz ‘very skeptical’ about reaching deal on aid bill
Republican senator Ted Cruz claimed on Tuesday he is “very skeptical” about reaching an agreement between the Republicans and Democrats on the country’s next coronavirus stimulus bill.
Previously, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asserted that a $500 billion aid bill proposal made by the Republicans “remains unacceptable” and “totally inadequate” as “the crisis has gotten even worse” since they unveiled it.
According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, the US Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week.
Vitamin D and COVID-19 Trial (VIVID)
COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04536298
Brief Summary:
The Vitamin D and COVID-19 Trial (VIVID) is a nationwide randomized clinical trial in 2700 U.S. men and women to investigate whether taking a daily dietary supplement of vitamin D for 4 weeks reduces the risk of hospitalization and/or death in participants newly diagnosed with COVID-19, and reduces the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in their closest household contacts (as documented by seroconversion). Active Comparator: Vitamin D
Daily vitamin D3 (9600 IU/day on days 1 and 2; 3200 IU/day on days 3 through 28) A Cluster-Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Vitamin D3 Supplementation to Reduce Disease Severity in Persons With Newly Diagnosed COVID-19 Infection and to Prevent Infection in Household Members
Dietary Supplement: vitamin D
Vitamin D softgel capsules; each capsule contains
3200 IU of vitamin D3. Three capsules per day (9600 IU/day) will be taken on days 1 and 2, and one capsule per day (3200 IU/day) will be taken on days 3 through 28
- vitamin D3
- cholecalciferol
Sponsor:
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Collaborators:
Harvard Medical School
Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute
Fenway Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Tishcon Corporation
Takeda
Quest Diagnostics
Karolinska Institutet
Philanthropic donations
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Trump calls Dr Fauci ‘an IDIOT’ and says people are ‘tired of hearing about Covid’
The president made the comments during a call with his campaign staff on Monday morning that reporters got on.
“People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots…” Trump said, according to Politico.
Despite slamming the coronavirus expert, the president went on to say “Fauci is a nice guy” before saying “he’s been here for 500 years.” During the call, Trump also insisted that if he had listened to Fauci’s advice there would be “700,000, 800,000 deaths.” America has suffered at least 220,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Trump also called Fauci a “disaster,” who is a “bomb” when he goes on TV, but a “bigger bomb if you fire him.” “If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it. I couldn’t care less,” the president said following the heated comments. Shortly after the phone call, Trump took to Twitter to complain about the doctor. “Dr.Tony Fauci says we don’t allow him to do television, and yet I saw him last night on @60Minutes, and he seems to get more airtime than anybody since the late, great, Bob Hope. All I ask of Tony is that he make better decisions. He said “no masks & let China in”. Also, Bad arm! “…P.S. Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals’ Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing. Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!” The president and the doctor have appeared to be feuding in recent weeks since Trump was diagnosed with Covid. On Saturday, Fauci revealed that he was “absolutely not surprised” by the diagnosis. Fauci said “oh my goodness,” when he saw the lack of masks and social distancing during a “superspreader event” at the White House. At least ten people in Trump’s inner circle became infected with coronavirus following the event, which was held to officially nominate his Supreme Court pick Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The doctor called the event “a completely precarious situation” and said he was “worried” that the president would become sick after seeing the event. “Nothing good can come out of that,” Fauci said. “That’s got to be a problem — and then sure enough it turned out to be a super spreader event.” Now, 34 people in Trump’s orbit are known to have become infected since the event, according to a leaked FEMA tally.
The current Covid-19 virus is not the same one we saw in March: