Could the 2020 election be postponed? Only with great difficulty

Could the 2020 election be postponed? Only with great difficulty

Alexander Burns writes: The date of the general election is set by federal law and has been fixed since 1845. It would take a change in federal law to move that date. That would mean legislation enacted by Congress, signed by the president and subject to challenge in the courts. To call that unlikely would be an understatement. And even if all of that happened, there would not be much flexibility in choosing an alternate election date: The Constitution mandates…

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Singapore wins praise for its COVID-19 strategy, but the U.S. does not

Singapore wins praise for its COVID-19 strategy, but the U.S. does not

NPR reports: Hong Kong and Singapore were hit early with the coronavirus. But each now has fewer than 200 cases, while France, Germany and Spain, which were hit late, all have more than 10 times that number. Three weeks ago, Italy had only three cases. Now it has more than 10,000. These dramatic differences show that how governments respond to this virus matters, says Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s head of emergencies. “Hope is not a strategy,” says Ryan,…

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I ran the White House pandemic office that Trump closed

I ran the White House pandemic office that Trump closed

Beth Cameron writes: When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic. One year…

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Italy’s coronavirus nightmare offers a chilling preview of what’s coming

Italy’s coronavirus nightmare offers a chilling preview of what’s coming

Bloomberg reports: In Rome, the first signs of change came from overhead. Shortly before cocktail hour on Monday, the thrum-thrum-thrum of a helicopter could be heard above the winding lanes of the 2,000-year-old historic center. The police were keeping an eye on the Trastevere neighborhood, where smoke billowed from the windows of a jail as inmates rioted, protesting cramped conditions that put them at risk of coronavirus infection. About the same time, the stock market was opening in New York,…

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Coronavirus lockdown: In Italy, we live in silence and die in silence

Coronavirus lockdown: In Italy, we live in silence and die in silence

Monica Maggioni writes: Before the virus came, I was living in my usual, hectic way, going back and forth from Milan to Rome for work. As such, I turned a blind eye to the worrying news coming from China. Even the onset of contagion in the Codogno area near Milan was, to me, just another news story. So when the virus came close, I was surprised to discover that hard choices had to be made — and fast. The first:…

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An Italian financial crisis is certain – the big question is how contagious it is

An Italian financial crisis is certain – the big question is how contagious it is

Larry Elliott writes: The Italian government’s decision to suspend mortgage payments for its quarantined citizens is a drastic step in the battle to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus, but commensurate with the predicament the country finds itself in. Italy is the eurozone’s weak link. Even before the current lockdown it was facing a fourth recession in little more than a decade and there has been only minimal growth in living standards in two decades. Its manufacturing sector is dominated…

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Coronavirus: Can herd immunity really protect us?

Coronavirus: Can herd immunity really protect us?

By Jeremy Rossman, University of Kent The UK government recently enacted its second phase of response to the COVID-19 pandemic: “delay”. According to ITV journalist Robert Peston, the government’s strategy to minimise the impact of COVID-19 “is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need, and such that…

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The oil shock of 2020 appears to be here – and the pain could be wide and deep

The oil shock of 2020 appears to be here – and the pain could be wide and deep

Suffering from sanctions, Russia is trying produce more and gain market share. Yegor Aleyev via Getty Images By Scott L. Montgomery, University of Washington The world is again undergoing an oil shock. Prices, already on a downward trend, have collapsed 30% in less than a week, bringing the total fall to nearly 50% since highs in early January. Consumers, of course, can expect gasoline prices to go down, but the story is far more complicated than that. Having researched energy…

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Giraffes are in far greater danger than people might think

Giraffes are in far greater danger than people might think

Ed Yong writes: Until recently, giraffes have suffered from surprising scientific neglect. Few researchers have studied them in the wild, so even basic aspects of their lives remain mysterious. Perhaps that’s because giraffes live in what researchers suspect are protean societies lacking the cohesiveness of elephant herds or lion prides. Whatever the reason, one of the world’s most conspicuous creatures has somehow been overlooked. The same goes for its impending extinction. And without fanfare, many other major animal groups—insects, birds,…

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America shuts down

America shuts down

Politico reports: Financial markets are careening. Public tours of the very symbols of American political power — the White House, Capitol Hill and Supreme Court — are being put on hold while some congressional offices are shuttering altogether. Campaign rallies are being canceled. Professional sports leagues have suspended play. And Broadway is shutting down. Each day, more and more employees are working remotely at companies large and small. Even the White House is considering mass teleworking. Schools are being closed…

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‘This is preeminently the time to speak the truth’

‘This is preeminently the time to speak the truth’

Cass R. Sunstein writes: The coronavirus epidemic has produced several different kinds of crises. It is of course a public health crisis, first and foremost. But it’s also an economic crisis, an international-relations crisis and a crisis of public morale. Fear is widespread and mounting. The U.S. has not been here before, but it has been in the vicinity. In some ways, the closest analogy is to the Great Depression. There was no pandemic, of course, but the economic crisis…

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Trump’s coronavirus speech sparks ‘total chaos’ in his own administration

Trump’s coronavirus speech sparks ‘total chaos’ in his own administration

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address Wednesday evening was supposed to calm concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Instead, it sparked panic and confusion. Not just among the markets, U.S. travelers, and international leaders but within his own administration, as well. Two officials in the U.S. State Department told The Daily Beast that foreign service officers and diplomats were unprepared for the president’s announcement and spent the early hours of Thursday scrambling to figure out…

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Trump is ensuring the worst possible outcome for the coronavirus crisis

Trump is ensuring the worst possible outcome for the coronavirus crisis

David Frum writes: At every turn, President Trump’s policy regarding coronavirus has unfolded as if guided by one rule: How can I make this crisis worse? Presidents are not all-powerful, especially not in the case of pandemic disease. There are limits to what they can do, for good or ill. But within those limits, at every juncture, Trump’s actions have ensured the worst possible outcomes. The worst outcome for public health. The worst outcome for the American economy. The worst…

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Coronavirus infections frequently spread by people yet to show symptoms

Coronavirus infections frequently spread by people yet to show symptoms

The Guardian reports: Many coronavirus infections may be spread by people who have recently caught the virus and have not yet begun to show symptoms, scientists have found. An analysis of infections in Singapore and Tianjin in China revealed that two-thirds and three-quarters of people respectively appear to have caught it from others who were incubating the virus but still symptom-free. The finding has dismayed infectious disease researchers as it means that isolating people once they start to feel ill…

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Trump’s travel ban sidesteps his own European resorts

Trump’s travel ban sidesteps his own European resorts

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s new European travel restrictions have a convenient side effect: They exempt nations where three Trump-owned golf resorts are located. Trump is already under fire for visiting his properties in both countries as president, leading to U.S. taxpayer money being spent at his own firms. The president has been saddled with lawsuits and investigations throughout his term alleging that he’s violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause by accepting taxpayer money other than his salary. The U.S. government…

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As many as 10,000 in Britain may already have coronavirus, says prime minister

As many as 10,000 in Britain may already have coronavirus, says prime minister

The Guardian reports: Up to 10,000 people may already have coronavirus in Britain and many families should expect to lose loved ones before their time, Boris Johnson warned on Thursday as he set out measures less stringent than those taken by other countries. Medical, scientific and public health experts criticised the steps outlined to tackle what the prime minister described as the “worst public health crisis for a generation”, including ending school trips abroad, stopping older and vulnerable people taking…

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