New York doctor at CPAC was coronavirus 'patient zero'

For days, questions have swirled about the identity of a CPAC attendee who tested positive for coronavirus and whose diagnosis prompted congressional quarantines. That person is 55-year-old Dr. Alan W. Berger Sr., a clinical instructor at the New York University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, multiple sources told the Washington Examiner. Ian Walters, communications director for the American Conservative Union, which hosted the event, told the Washington Examiner that the patient, whom the group has not publicly identified, was asymptomatic while at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which ran from Feb. 26 to 29 in National Harbor, Maryland. However, after later exhibiting symptoms and testing positive for COVID-19, the patient reached out to officials at the ACU on March 7 to warn that he may have transmitted the disease to others at the gathering.

With the news, concern quickly grew. The mystery was further compounded by a slow drip of high-profile Republican lawmakers who began to self-quarantine themselves after learning of potential contact with the then-asymptomatic conferencegoer. Those who came into contact with Berger were Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. All House members closed their offices, though Cruz's remained open and operational. None of them have experienced any symptoms of the respiratory illness. "The office is open, continuing operations, and taking all necessary precautions to ensure their own health and wellness, as well as the health and wellness of our family members, our constituents, our colleagues in Congress, and everyone around us," Cruz's office said in a statement, noting earlier that the senator "felt great." CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp said Saturday he also had an interaction with the infected attendee. Schlapp also shook hands with President Trump that same weekend.

Gaetz confirmed Berger's attendance at the event to the Washington Examiner. The congressman, a staunch Trump ally, traveled with the president aboard Air Force One from Orlando, Florida, to Washington, D.C., on Monday. The Florida Republican said that, after finding out about his possible exposure to the COVID-19 virus, he was put inside a “closed-up room” on the presidential jet. Gaetz responded to a text message from the Washington Examiner shortly after disembarking Air Force One. When asked if he “had contact” with Berger while at CPAC, Gaetz responded simply, “I did.” Gaetz had previously been spotted wearing a gas mask on Capitol Hill during a vote on an emergency spending bill to combat the flu-like virus. "Members of Congress are human petri dishes," the congressman told reporters. "We fly through the dirtiest airports. We touch everyone we meet." Gaetz said he tested negative for the illness on Tuesday.

Schlapp and his organization have been mum about the patient's identity. He told the Daily Caller in a recent interview that the ACU was "barred" from revealing information. “We don’t reveal his [information] to anyone. We talk to him and others to determine if there were interactions, then we call those who had the interaction,” Schlapp said. “If we released his name, which we are barred from, it would not help anyone." “Nobody at the conference is suffering because his information is being kept confidential," he continued to say to the outlet, which referred to the CPAC attendee as "patient zero."

Walters, the ACU communications director, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Schlapp's statement saying ACU was "barred" from revealing Berger's identity was not "an accurate characterization." Walters said the ACU did not want to reveal Berger's identity to anyone, as it was "following the lead" of the health departments in New Jersey and Maryland. Upon requests for comment, the Maryland Department of Health would not verify Berger's identity, citing privacy laws. Berger is currently hospitalized and recovering in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Health, where Berger is currently hospitalized, did not respond to requests for comment.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/new-york-doctor-at-cpac-was-coronavirus-patient-zero

>>8374341

Bernie Sanders not dropping out, spokeswoman says

March 10, 2020 11:16 PM

He may walk away from Tuesday with only a single win, or possibly none, yielding few delegates, but Bernie Sanders isn't dropping out yet. The press secretary for the Vermont senator's presidential campaign tweeted out that the public shouldn't expect any news about the Democratic primary ending any time soon.

"I, for one, am extremely excited about this debate all the moderates are panicking about," wrote Briahna Joy Gray, referencing the upcoming debate on Sunday in Phoenix. "The delegate count difference is only about 150 points out of 4051 total. America finally gets to see Biden defend his ideas, or lack there of, on Sunday."

Gray's tweets come as a surprise after Sanders's resounding loss in Michigan, a state he narrowly won against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. His victory there during the last primary cycle was thought to indicate his strength among white working-class voters in swing states. On Tuesday, CNN, the host of the debate, said the event would be held without a live audience. Since Sanders's poor performance on Super Tuesday, individuals close to the campaign have repeatedly said they believe Sunday's debate would change the trajectory of the race.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sanders-not-dropping-out-spokeswoman-says

Has this info been posted already..didn't see in Qresear.ch

See: >>8374594

Nearly 200 North Korean soldiers dead from coronavirus: Report

North Korea claims to be one of the only countries in Asia with no cases of the coronavirus, but a new report says almost 200 soldiers have died and thousands more are quarantined. About 180 North Korean soldiers have died as a result of the COVID-19 virus, according to South Korean news organization Daily NK. A source inside the North Korean military said an account regarding the impact from the virus on soldiers was sent to military leaders and reported the dozens of deaths and that about 3,700 soldiers were quarantined. The military source also said most of the soldiers who have died were stationed along the hermit nation’s border with China. Authorities have reportedly threatened to punish military officials who don’t properly follow disease control policy. Officers will “be held responsible for the deaths that have occurred in their units,” the source said.

Yonhap News Agency, another South Korean media outlet, reported Monday that 10,000 North Korean citizens were quarantined, but 4,000 have since been released. North Korean state media claimed Monday that the “infectious disease did not flow into our country yet,” according to Newsweek. North Korean media also said the threat the coronavirus could pose is “unpredictable” and that “work to completely lock down all routes through which the infectious disease can flow in — the border, sea, and air — should be continued with high intensity.” North Korea would be incredibly vulnerable to a widespread outbreak because of its poor infrastructure and healthcare capacity, according to experts. It neighbors China, which is where the COVID-19 outbreak began and where there have been more than 80,000 cases and at least 3,136 deaths.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nearly-200-north-korean-soldiers-dead-from-coronavirus-report

REPORT: DNC Asked Twitter To Label Trump Campaign’s Video ‘Manipulated Media’ On Behalf Of Biden Team

The Democratic Party reportedly asked Twitter to do something about an edited video the Trump reelection campaign produced of former Vice President Joe Biden. The Democratic National Committee flagged the video on behalf of the former vice president, whose campaign is using members of the press to act as fact-checkers, the report noted, citing a Biden adviser. The party’s move was part of its program to stop the spread of disinformation in 2020. “This is an example of our ongoing disinformation work, and the same thing that we do for every campaign,” a DNC official said, according to The Daily Beast. Officials “flag activity to each of the campaigns, and have set them up with tools to receive regular activity alerts themselves,” the official added. The Daily Beast did not explain why the official was made anonymous , and neither the DNC nor Biden’s campaign have responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Twitter declined comment.

The DNC was responding after White House social media director Dan Scavino shared version of the video on Twitter that showed Biden bumbling while articulating a point, telling an audience at a rally in Kansas City, Missouri Saturday: “Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump.” The full, unedited video shows the former vice president saying: “Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It’s gotta be a positive campaign.” Scavino maintained that the video was edited, “NOT manipulated.” President Donald Trump retweeted Scavino’s version.

Biden’s campaign said it is crowdsourcing and working with reporters on factchecking. “We and others took action on a fact-checking front in the press and in terms of directly appealing to Twitter,” a Biden campaign adviser said, according to The Daily Beast. The adviser added: “We lifted content online that showed it was false, from the media and generated by ourselves, in order to help achieve a drumbeat.”

The effort is a long-time in the making, some reports show. CNN reported in June, for instance, that the DNC is monitoring disinformation daily and is alerting big tech platforms about false information. Biden, for his part, has prodded the media into defending him in the past. His campaign tried to pressure Fox News and others in October 2019 to stop running a Trump ad addressing the former vice president’s role allegedly pressuring Ukraine to oust a prosecutor who at one time investigated a company tied to his son, Hunter Biden. He’s asked other outlets to do the same.

Trump’s campaign railed against Biden and Twitter after the social media giant labeled the edited video of the former vice president manipulated. “The Biden campaign is scared as hell that voters will see the flood of unedited and embarrassing verbal stumbles that will continue go viral if ‘Status Quo Joe’ is the nominee,” Trump campaign rapid response director Andrew Clark told Fox News on Monday. He added: “Twitter shouldn’t be an enforcement arm of Joe Biden’s campaign strategy, but if they choose to police every video clip they must hold his own campaign to the same standard.” The campaign has since asked Twitter to apply the same label to a tweet Biden shared March 3 before the policy against manipulated content went into place.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/10/joe-biden-donald-trump-twitter-video-misinformation/

>>8374925

Agreed, up until this they were reporting they didn't have any cases…so there's that!