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Coronavirus outbreak
The 200,000 coronavirus deaths are an American tragedy of our own making
Andrew Gawthorpe
Coronavirus inflicts American deaths equivalent to a 9/11 every few days, but Trump and his allies seem blithely unconcerned More
Donald Trump attended one of his then daily White House coronavirus briefings on 17 April and in a moment of rare candor talked openly about his projections for the number of Americans who could die from the disease.“Right now, we’re heading at probably around 60, maybe 65,000,” he said, adding: “One is too many. I always say it: One is too many.”If one death from coronavirus is too many, then the president of the United States has a lot of explaining to do. His projection of a total 60,000 death toll was passed by 1 May, just two weeks after he made it.By the end of that month the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths was surpassed. Now less than four months later the toll has doubled again, the virus crossing the 200,000 point with breezy abandon. More
As the United States’ coronavirus death toll edged closer to 200,000, US president Donald Trump claimed falsely at a rally in Ohio that the country’s fatality rate was “among the lowest in the world” and that the virus has “virtually” no effect on young people.Speaking in the town of Swanton, Trump said: “It affects elderly people. Elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems that’s what it really affects, that’s it,” he claimed. “You know in some states, thousands of people – nobody young.”“Take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. But it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools.”Trump also claimed that the United States had “among the lowest case-fatality rates of any country in the world.” The US ranks 53rd highest out of 195 countries in the world with a case-fatality rate of 2.9%, according to Johns Hopkins University. It is the 11th worst on deaths per 100,000 people, at 60.98.At least 199,815 Americans are known to have died since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins, which relies on official government data. With the worst death toll in the world, the US accounts for one in five coronavirus-related fatalities worldwide. Just under one in every 1,600 Americans has died in the pandemic.In August, the World Health Organization warned that young people were becoming the primary drivers of the spread of coronavirus in many countries.Meanwhile, in Europe, stocks posted their worst fall in three months on Monday as fears of a second wave hit travel and leisure shares, while banks tumbled on reports of about $2tn-worth of potentially suspect transfers by leading lenders. Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will have to shut by 10pm from Thursday under new nationwide restrictions to halt an “exponential” rise in coronavirus cases.Boris Johnson is expected to make an address to the nation on Tuesday setting out the new measures. With cases doubling every week across the UK and a second wave expected to last up to six months, health officials are said to have advised the government over the weekend to “move hard and fast”. There could be up to 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day in Britain by the middle of October if the pandemic continues at its current pace, the country’s chief scientific adviser warned. Scotland is also expected to announce new restrictions on Tuesday.The Czech Republic prime minister, Andrej Babis, admitted on Monday that his government had made a mistake when it eased restrictions over the summer. “Even I got carried away by the coming summer and the general mood. That was a mistake I don’t want to make again,” the billionaire populist said in a televised speech.After fending off much of the pandemic earlier in the year with timely steps, including mandatory face masks outdoors, the government lifted most measures before the summer holidays.The Czech Republic registered a record high of 3,130 coronavirus cases on Thursday last week, almost matching the total for the whole of March, although testing capacity was low at the start of the pandemic.In other developments:There are 31.2m coronavirus cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins, and 963,068 people have died over the course of the pandemic so far.
New Zealand recorded no new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, as restrictions on much of the country were entirely removed, and measures imposed on Auckland, the largest city, were due to ease further. There was no recorded community spread of the virus in the rest of New Zealand, where the government has now lifted all physical distancing restrictions and limits on gatherings.
Mexico surpassed 700,000 confirmed cases on Monday after the health ministry reported 2,917 new confirmed cases in the Latin American country, bringing the total to 700,580 as well as a cumulative death toll of 73,697. More
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Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s ‘lies and incompetence’ since the start of the coronavirus pandemic had led to the ‘one of the greatest losses in American history’ as he spoke at an aluminum plant in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The Democratic presidential nominee noted the country was about to hit the ‘tragic milestone’ of recording 200,000 deaths from Covid-19, adding that number represented many ‘empty chairs’ for families who had lost loved ones to the virus
Trump says he wants supreme court seat filled ‘before the election’ – live
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Joe Biden
US politics
Coronavirus outbreak More
President hopes nominee will be confirmed by 3 November
Biden blames Covid death toll on Trump’s ‘lies and incompetence’
Whether vote will occur before election remains unclear
Ginsburg to lie in repose Wednesday and Thursday
Who is Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s likely court pick?
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Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer clash on supreme court nomination – video
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4.30pm EDT16:30
Today so far
4.13pm EDT16:13
Trump says he wants supreme court confirmation to happen before election
3.43pm EDT15:43
Biden blames coronavirus death toll on Trump’s ‘lies and incompetence’
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Senate will vote on Trump pick ‘this year’, McConnell says
3.25pm EDT15:25
McConnell promises a vote on Trump’s supreme court nominee
2.45pm EDT14:45
McConnell signals Republicans will oppose stopgap funding bill
1.51pm EDT13:51
CDC removes information on airborne transmission of coronavirus
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5.39pm EDT17:39
A preemptive state of emergency has been declared ahead of an announcement regarding the Breonna Taylor case
The police in Louisville, Kentucky have declared a state of emergency for the department ahead of an announcement from the state’s attorney general in the Breonna Taylor case regarding police who fatally shot a 26-year-old black woman in her sleep during a drug-related raid.
Many have said the declaration seems to anticipate violent protests, suggesting an unfavorable ruling for those seeking justice in the case. Officials have also closed two federal buildings in anticipation of the announcement and the police force has prohibited officers from taking time off work.
The family of Taylor has also received a settlement from the city of $12m in a civil suit stemming from the incident, in which Taylor was mistaken for a suspect in a drug raid. The incident has called into question “no-knock” warrants, in which police enter a home without announcing or identifying themselves.
5.21pm EDT17:21
One more Senator comes out against a Trump supreme court nomination
US Senator Joe Manchin, the only Democrat who voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh despite party objections in 2018, said the vote on a new Supreme Court nominee should be delayed until after the November 2020 presidential election “for the sake of the integrity of our courts and legal system”.
“For Mitch McConnell and my Republican colleagues to rush through this process after refusing to even meet with Judge Merrick Garland in 2016 is hypocrisy in its highest form,” he said. “The US Supreme Court is the highest court int he land and it is ismply irresponsible to rush the adequate and proper vetting required of any new candidate for the bench.”
The reactions of Manchin and several Republican senators have been closely watched in recent days to see if a justice nominee from Donald Trump would have enough votes to be comfirmed before the 2020 elections. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine have said the next judge should be nominated by whomever is elected in November. Trump has said he intends to pick a woman for the seat and will announce the nomination this week. It is speculated that US circuit court judge Amy Boney Barrett, a fervently anti-abortion Catholic, is at the top of Trump’s list of nominees.
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4.57pm EDT16:57
Chuck Schumer honors the legacy of RBG in Senate speech
Chuck Schumer made remarks on the floor of the Senate on Monday honoring the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg days after her death.
Schumer noted that in Jewish tradition only the “most righteous” people die on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, calling Ginsburg “a woman of great righteousness and valor”.
“She might be the only justice to become a meme,” the New York senator said, citing the “Notorious RBG” meme, which likened the octogenarian judge to famous rapper Notorious BIG. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was, in fact, a rebellious force to be reckoned with.”
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Sen. Schumer honors RBG’s immense legacy: ‘She might be the only justice to become a meme’ pic.twitter.com/YtwSW1S3l9
September 21, 2020
Schumer outlined many of Ginsburg’s life accomplishments, including her making the court enforce the constitutional idea that people cannot be discriminated on the basis of sex. He said if Donald Trump is able to replace the late Supreme Court justice, reproductive rights, workers’ rights, and voting rights will be imperiled. He also said RBG’s dying wish was that a justice not be picked until after the 2020 elections.
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4.38pm EDT16:38
Hello! Kari Paul here in California taking over for the next few hours. Stay tuned for updates.
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Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague. Kari Paul, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Trump said he wants to have his supreme court nominee confirmed before election day, on November 3. In a floor speech this afternoon, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell signaled the vote would take place “this year,” but he did not specify whether it would happen before or after election day.
Trump said he would “probably” announce his nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, following ceremonies honoring the legacy of the late supreme court justice. The president said he has narrowed his list of potential nominees down to five candidates, all of whom are women.
Ginsburg will lie in repose at the supreme court on Wednesday and Thursday. House speaker Nancy Pelosi also announced Ginsburg will lie in state at the Capitol on Friday.
House Democrats released their stopgap government funding bill, which would keep the government open until December 11. But McConnell quickly signaled he would not support the bill because it does not include bailout funds for farmers, which Trump has demanded. The government is currently set to close on September 30 if a bill is not passed.
The CDC removed information on the potential airborne transmission of coronavirus from its website. The agency had posted an update on Friday to warn Americans that the virus can spread over a distance beyond six feet, particularly in poorly ventilated areas. The CDC removed the guidance today, claiming the update was posted in error. The news follows reports about Trump administration officials trying to interfere with CDC reports to paint a rosier picture about the pandemic.
Kari will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
4.24pm EDT16:24
Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, said the panel would move “expeditiously” to advance Trump’s supreme court nominee.
In a letter to the Democratic members of the committee, Graham said his view of the judicial confirmation process had changed after witnessing the treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault but was ultimately confirmed by the Senate.
“I therefore think it is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy,” Graham told his Democratic colleagues. “I am certain if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same.”
4.13pm EDT16:13
Trump says he wants supreme court confirmation to happen before election
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Ohio, Trump said that he hoped his supreme court nominee will be confirmed before election day, on November 3.
“I’d rather see it all take place before the election,” the president said.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said moments ago that a confirmation vote would occur “this year,” but he did not specify whether it would take place before or after election day.
Trump also confirmed the announcement of his nominee will likely come on Saturday, following this week’s ceremonies honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the supreme court and at the Capitol.
Echoing his previous comments to Fox News, the president said he was considering five women for the seat.
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4.03pm EDT16:03
Joe Biden has now concluded his speech at an aluminum plant in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The Democratic nominee criticized the president for previously suggesting the US coronavirus death toll would be much lower if Americans who died in blue states weren’t counted.
Biden promised to act as a unifying figure to help bring the country together during this time of national crisis.
The presidential candidate also took a moment to address those who voted for Trump in 2016, saying he knows they felt like they weren’t being heard by Democrats.
“It will change with me,” Biden said. “You will be seen, heard and respected by me.”
3.51pm EDT15:51
Joe Biden argued Trump had failed in his response to coronavirus because he “panicked” rather than confronting the crisis head-on.
“Trump panicked. The virus was too big for him,” Biden said in Wisconsin. “All his life Donald Trump has been bailed out of any problem he faced.”
The Democratic nominee dismissed the president’s claim that he downplayed the threat of the virus because he wanted to help Americans remain calm.
In reality, Biden said, Trump “just wasn’t up to” the challenge of handling the crisis.
3.43pm EDT15:43
Biden blames coronavirus death toll on Trump’s ‘lies and incompetence’
Joe Biden is delivering remarks on the country’s coronavirus death toll at an aluminum plant in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The Democratic nominee noted the country is about to hit the “tragic milestone” of recording 200,000 deaths from coronavirus.
Biden said that number represented many “empty chairs” for families who had lost loved ones to the virus.
The presidential candidate emphasized Americans could not allow themselves to become “numb” to the mounting death toll.
“We can’t let the numbers become statistics and background noise,” Biden said.
Biden specifically blamed Trump’s response to the pandemic for causing tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the country.
“Due to Donald Trump’s lies and incompetence over the last six months, we have seen one of the greatest losses in American history,” Biden said.
3.30pm EDT15:30
Senate will vote on Trump pick ‘this year’, McConnell says
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber would vote on Trump’s supreme court nomination “this year”.
But the Republican leader did not provide much clarity on whether the confirmation vote would occur before or after election day, on November 3.
Democrats have a chance to flip the Senate in November, but even if they do, that seems unlikely to change McConnell’s plans to move forward with a nomination.
Updated
at 3.36pm EDT More
The Succession creator, Jesse Armstrong, used his Emmy acceptance speech to attack Boris Johnson and Donald Trump for their “crummy” response to coronavirus, and also the media moguls who do so much to keep them in power.Armstrong’s HBO show, telling the story of a billionaire media tycoon and his dysfunctional, warring family, was one of the big winners at the ceremony on Sunday. It won seven awards, including outstanding drama, which Armstrong accepted from a hotel room in London.He said it was sad not to be able to share the success with colleagues in the US. “Being robbed of the opportunity to spend time with our peers, maybe I’d like to do a couple of un-thankyous,” he said.“Un-thankyou to the virus, for keeping us all apart this year. Un-thankyou to President Trump for his crummy and uncoordinated response. Un-thankyou to Boris Johnson and his government for doing the same in my country.“Un-thankyou to all the nationalist and quasi-nationalist governments in the world who are exactly the opposite of what we need right now. And un-thankyou to the media moguls who do so much to keep them in power. So un-thankyou!”Armstrong is one of Britain’s most celebrated comedy writers, having co-created Peep Show and Fresh Meat in the UK as well as having been on the writing team for The Thick of It.Succession’s seven wins came from 18 nominations and included the best actor award for Jeremy Strong, who plays the eldest son, Kendall Roy. His success meant that Brian Cox, who plays the patriarch and was nominated in the same category, missed out on a prize that bookmakers had made him odds-on to win.Cox was one of many British and Irish actors to miss out. Olivia Colman (The Crown) and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) were thwarted in their category when Zendaya made history by becoming the youngest person to win in the best actress drama lead category for Euphoria.Also missing out were Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), Harriet Walter (Succession), Jeremy Irons (Watchmen), Paul Mescal (Normal People), Andrew Scott (Black Mirror), Dev Patel (Modern Love) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge for her guest appearance on Saturday Night Live.Aside from Succession the big winners were HBO’s Watchmen, shown in the UK on Sky Atlantic, and the Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek, which, since it went on Netflix, has steadily and quietly become a huge feelgood hit. The sixth and final season of the show swept the board in the comedy categories, a feat not even achieved by shows such as Frasier and Modern Family.It won seven Emmys with acting wins for the show’s stars Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy. Appearing in the ceremony’s virtual backstage area Dan Levy, its co-creator and showrunner, discussed the possibility of Schitt’s Creek returning as a movie.“Here’s the thing – some people have been asking that,” he said. “If there is an idea that pops into my head and worthy of these wonderful people, it has to be really freaking good at this point.”Other winners included Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the Birmingham-born writer and comedian who started out on the UK standup circuit before achieving success in the US.RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has spawned a Bafta-nominated British version on the BBC, won the reality competition award.The virtual awards ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel – “welcome to the Pandemmys” – will go down as one of the oddest in the Emmys’ 72-year history with prizes delivered to winners, often in their homes, by people in hazmat tuxedos.The dress code was “come as you are”, with the suggested option of designer pyjamas. Hardly any of the stars went down that route, although Jane Lynch, in a very smart top, revealed she was also wearing sweatpants.A number of actors used the event to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement, including Regina King, who won the limited series lead actress award for Watchmen. She wore a T-shirt that honoured the police shooting victim Breonna Taylor and used her speech to remind people of the importance of voting.Later she explained why wearing the T-shirt was important. “The cops still haven’t been held accountable,” she said.“She represents just decades, hundreds of years of violence against Black bodies. Wearing Breonna’s likeness and representing her and her family and the stories that we were exploring, presenting and holding a mirror up to on Watchmen, it felt appropriate to represent with Breonna Taylor.” More
The Guardian US tech reporter Julia Carrie Wong discusses the rise of QAnon, a wide-ranging and baseless internet conspiracy theory that has been festering on the fringes of rightwing internet communities for years. In recent months its visibility has exploded amid the social unrest and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic
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The Guardian US tech reporter Julia Carrie Wong talks to Anushka Asthana about the rise of QAnon, an online conspiracy theory. QAnon followers believe that the world is run by a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats and Hollywood celebrities who are engaged in wide-scale child trafficking, paedophilia and cannibalism. Despite there being no evidence to support any of the claims, the visibility of the movement has surged. In recent weeks, Donald Trump has praised QAnon followers, a QAnon-backing candidate has all but assured her election to Congress in November, and the #SaveTheChildren hashtag campaign has introduced QAnon to millions of potential new recruits. Julia discusses why the conspiracy theory is gaining traction, not just in the US but around the world, including in the UK. More
As the US closed in on 200,000 deaths from Covid-19, Donald Trump’s health secretary and a key member of the White House coronavirus taskforce defended the administration’s handling of the pandemic and insisted the president and a senior public health aide were both correct when they made contradictory statements about the imminency of an effective vaccine.According to Johns Hopkins University, by Sunday morning 199,155 people had died of Covid-19 in the US, suggesting that at current death rates 200,000 would be reached later in the day or on Monday. Other counts put the death toll higher. Early in the pandemic, Trump said keeping deaths to 100,000 would represent “a very good job”.The president’s handling of the outbreak has been widely panned, not least after revelations by the reporter Bob Woodward that Trump admitted knowing the seriousness of the threat early on but said he had played it down.This week Trump also came under fire from a former member of his taskforce, Olivia Troye, who said: “If the president had taken this virus seriously … he would have slowed the virus spread. He would have saved lives.”On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, CDC director Robert Redfield told the Senate a vaccine would not be generally available until the middle of 2021, adding that if one were available before the end of this year, it would be limited to emergency personnel and vulnerable people.Trump said: “I think he made a mistake with that statement. When he said it, I believe he was confused. I’m just telling you we’re ready to go.”Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, assistant health secretary Adm Brett Giroir said Dr Redfield was “correct” but offered a less ringing endorsement for Trump, saying: “The president is correct in the segment that he spoke about.”Trump’s eagerness to promote a vaccine pairs with his refusal to enforce public health measures at campaign rallies as election day approaches. The president remains behind Joe Biden in national polls and in most key states. On Sunday an ABC/Ipsos poll found 69% of respondents did not trust Trump’s claims about a vaccine.Giroir was asked why Trump was “making promises about a vaccine that none of his experts agree with”.“I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding here,” he said. “And I think everybody is right but they’re talking about different aspects.“In front of the Senate, Dr Redfield and I both said that a vaccine that would be widely available in hundreds of millions of doses would not likely happen until May 2021. That is a fact.“President Trump said that [by] some projections, according to manufacturing if things go as planned, we could have as many as 100 million doses by the end of this year. That is correct.”Giroir added that if “early in November or December, if we have 5% or 10% of the population that we can vaccinate, we can get 80% or 90% of the benefit.“For example, if we could vaccinate workers in nursing homes, we could protect the elderly and the vulnerable from disease. That would make an enormous impact on mortality. If we could vaccinate our teachers, and those with pre-existing conditions, or those surrounding those people.”Redfield also told the Senate face masks were “more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine”, which would not always ensure immunity.Trump said Redfield “made a mistake” and added: “Masks have problems too … a lot of people did not like the concept of mask initially, Dr Fauci didn’t like it initially.”In fact Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said he advised against masks early in the pandemic in an attempt to stop stocks being depleted.On NBC’s Meet the Press, health secretary Alex Azar said: “I think the point the president was making is there’s not an equivalence between masks and vaccines.”Asked about reports that a US Postal Service plan to mail masks to all Americans early in the pandemic was scrapped for political reasons, he said it had not been pursued because the administration chose to distribute masks in other ways.Giroir was asked about the Trump campaign’s refusal to implement public health regulations at its rallies – other than insisting on masks for people seen behind the president on camera. Troye, formerly Vice-President Mike Pence’s national security adviser, said Trump made derogatory comments about such rally-goers, who he called “disgusting people”.“Biology is independent of politics,” Giroir insisted. “If you cannot physically distance, all the doctors, all the public health experts, all of us are really unanimous that it’s important to wear a mask.“When you cannot physically distance, avoid the indoor crowded spaces, wash your hands, combined with smart testing … that’s the way we reduce mortality, but we have to keep doing that. This will not be over until we get a vaccine that’s widely available.”Host Jake Tapper concluded with a remarkable appeal to Giroir, made in the knowledge that he would not comment but hoping his boss might be watching.“The most powerful person in this country is constantly undermining your message about mask wearing,” Tapper said of Trump. “You need to convince him to change that message because one of the reasons spread continues is because people are not respecting the words you are saying, words that I think are very important.“Thank you so much for being with us today.” More
