President Trump tried to redeem himself when he held a press conference in the Rose Garden. After denying the COVID-19 pandemic was a big deal for weeks, the president decided the only way to stay in office was to act like he cared about the millions of people who will get this strain of the coronavirus before it disappears, according to the New York Times.
The president put an impressive group of retailers and big Pharma pros, as well as health officials, together to show he’s got his COVID-19-slaying team in place. Walmart and Target will set up drive-through test centers in store parking lots to try to catch up for the weeks lost when Trump put the hammer down on an aggressive testing approach, according to the Washington Post.
Allergy and infectious disease expert Dr. Tony Fauci stood with the group. Tony wants to stop the spike in cases he sees on the horizon. Mr. Trump said he’s not up for taking the test, even though he had close encounters with several COVID-19 infected people. He said he might take it, but not right now because he feels good. Fauci claims enough tests will hit doctors and clinics within the next two weeks.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook decided to close all Apple stores until March 27. The company took a revenue beating when Apple factories didn’t meet production numbers and when Chinese consumers stopped buying merchandise. China’s economy is in erosion mode, and it could be months before growth kicks into full-gear, according to MarketWatch.
Spain is now the epicenter for COVID-19. But France reported 800 cases in one day, and Italy still looks like a ghost state. France also reported French tech companies can use Huawei’s 5G infrastructure to build parts of its cellular network. France is the second major U.S. ally to defy Trump’s claim that Huawei spies for the Chinese government.
The UK gave Huawei part of its 5G cellular network build and Trump gave Boris Johnson a phone smackdown when he heard about it. Johnson canceled his White House meeting, but the president didn’t ban flights coming from the UK.
Johnson wants to take a different approach to stop the spread of this strain of the coronavirus. The U.K.’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance wants the Brits with a fever or a cough to self-isolate. He also thinks infecting 60% of the British population will develop what scientists call “herd immunity.” Herd immunity is when people’s immune systems build up enough antibodies to stop the virus before it does its dirty work.
Further Reading: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/herd-immunity-why-britain-wants-60-of-its-population-to-contract-covid-19-6315745/
Dil Bole Oberoi
