Today's COVID News: https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2020/06/22/day-1250/
[h=1]Day 1250: "Underwhelming."[/h]
- [h=3] Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”[/h]
- Global: Total confirmed cases: ~9,037,000; deaths: ~471,000; recoveries: ~4,394,000. (Johns Hopkins University)
- U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~2,306,000; deaths: ~121,000; recoveries: ~641,000.
- Trump claimed that he told “his people” to “slow the testing down” for the coronavirus, calling testing “a double-edged sword” because the “bad part” is the increase in recorded coronavirus cases. Speaking at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Trump remarked that “When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases, so I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’” (Washington Post / Axios / BuzzFeed News / Daily Beast)
- Trump, Pence, and administration officials all gave conflicting explanations as to what Trump meant when he said he instructed staff to slow down coronavirus testing. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed Trump had not “directed” a coronavirus testing slowdown and that his comment had been made “in jest.” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed that Trump’s comments were clearly “tongue in cheek” and a light moment. Pence, meanwhile, told governors that Trump’s testing comments at the rally were “a passing observation.” Trump, however, wouldn’t directly answer whether he had ordered slowing testing down, saying “If it did slow down, frankly, I think we’re way ahead of ourselves, if you want to know the truth.” Trump also declined to confirm that he was joking about his comment to slow down testing. (Politico / NBC News / Daily Beast / Bloomberg / USA Today / Axios)
- Trump referred to the coronavirus in racist terms, calling it both the “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu” during his rally in Tulsa. In March, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang, who is Chinese-American, said a White House official referred to the coronavirus as the “Kung Flu” to her face. And then in May, Trump told Jiang to “ask China” about his administration’s efforts to ramp up testing. (BuzzFeed News)
- The Trump administration has yet to distribute up to $14 billion in funding authorized by Congress for coronavirus testing and contact tracing. Top Democrats sent a letter to Heath and Human Services secretary Alex Azar demanding to know why the administration has “still failed” to distribute more than $8 billion of the $25 billion Congress set aside in April to expand testing and contact tracing. The letter calls on the White House to “immediately disburse the remainder of the $25 billion in funds to ramp up testing and contact tracing capacity,” including up to $2 billion meant to ensure testing is available to uninsured Americans. (NBC News)
- The White House stopped conducting mandatory temperature checks for staffers and visitors entering the grounds. Those who come in close contact with Trump and Pence, however, will still have their temperature checked and be questioned about symptoms. (NBC News)
- The World Health Organization said the record number of global coronavirus cases are not the result of more testing. On Sunday, the number of new cases reported to WHO jumped by more than 183,000, “easily” the most in a single day so far, WHO officials said. As of Sunday, the U.S.′ seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases increased more than 24% compared with a week ago, and cases are growing by 5% or more in 25 states across the U.S. (CNBC)
Two members of Trump’s campaign team who attended Saturday’s rally have tested positive for the coronavirus. In total, eight members of Trump’s team involved in the Tulsa rally have tested positive. Hours before Trump was expected to arrive in Oklahoma, six campaign staffers tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump was “
that before he even left DC, aides made public that six members of team in Tulsa tested positive for COVID-19.” (CNBC / CNN / Associated Press / NBC News)
Fox News poll/ 80% of voters have a favorable view of mask-wearers. Separately, 59% said presidential candidates holding large political events and rallies is a bad idea. (Fox News)