European Bank Stocks Collapse to March 2009 & 1988 Levels

Over the past three weeks, stocks in Europe have plunged by 22.5%, their worst decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The sell-off has been across the board but the worst of it has been reserved for the banking sector, whose shares have been relentlessly crushed and re-crushed for 13 years.

On Monday, the Stoxx 600 Banks index, which covers major European banks, plunged 13%. Today, after a knee-jerk bounce-back that then fizzled, the index closed essentially flat, back where it had been in March 2009. It has collapsed in a nearly straight line by 32% since February 17, when this latest Coronavirus-triggered sell-off began, and by 49% since January 24, 2018:

But it’s even worse: The Stoxx 600 bank index has collapsed by 82% since its peak in May 2007, after having quadrupled over the preceding 12 years. It was the frenzied height of the euro bubble and the sky was supposedly the limit for Europe’s biggest banks. Things got so crazy that for a brief moment in 2008, before it all come tumbling down, the Royal Bank of Scotland, now bailed-out and majority state-owned, was the world’s biggest bank by assets.

Here’s how far the shares of Europe’s largest publicly traded banks by assets fell on Monday (and in parentheses: at today’s close, since February 17):

HSBC (UK): -4.82% (-17%)

BNP Paribas (France): -12% (-33%)

Credit Agricole (France): -16.9% (-42%)

Deutsche Bank (Germany): -13.6% (-38%)

Banco Santander (Spain): -12% (-30%)

Barclays (UK): -9.81% (-32%)

Société Générale (France): -17.65% (-41%)

Lloyds Bank (UK): -8% (-24%)

ING (Netherlands): -14% (-37%)

Today, banks in Northern Europe rebounded a tad from yesterday’s lows. But banks in Italy and Spain, having started the day in the green, closed with some big drops:

Unicredit (Italy): -3.6% (down 10% from intraday high)

Intesa (Italy): -2.5%

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Italy): -6.3%

Banco Sabadell (Spain): -7.1%

Santander (Spain): -1%

Banco Sabadell’s shares have collapsed to a record low of €0.55, down 50% so far this year. Many in the industry are now saying that it is toast and will probably be merged with Bankia, which itself has lost over 40% of its market cap so far this year, and is still mostly owned by the state, which had created Bankia by lumping a gaggle of failed banks into one big lump during the Spanish financial crisis, and then floated some of its shares in a misbegotten IPO.

Three of the biggest sell-offs over the past three weeks were endured by France’s three largest lenders: BNP Paribas (-33%), Credit Agricole (-42%), and Société Générale (-41%).

These declines in share prices, while impressive for both their speed and size, represent just one more leg down in the relentless sell-off that began in May 2007 and has dragged the Stoxx 600 82% lower, to just below where it was in January 1988.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/european-bank-stocks-collapse-to-march-2009-1988-levels/

Trump and Pence Posed With Bolsonaro Aide Who Tested Positive for Wuhan Coronavirus

President Trump posed for a photo with the press secretary for Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro this past weekend at Mar-a-Lago who has since tested positive for the novel Wuhan coronavirus.

Bolsonaro press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, in the photo above with Trump and Vice President Pence, posted video from the weekend visit showing he was again in close in proximity to Trump.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/trump-and-pence-posed-with-bolsonaro-aide-who-tested-positive-for-wuhan-coronavirus/

Demented War Criminal, quid pro quo, child-groping, hair-sniffing, gun-grabbing, pathological liar/plagiarist Biden + Sanders rolling over again = President Michelle Obama + VP Barak “The Savior” Obama (Deep State plan?)

77-year-old Joe Biden’s senility is being lampooned so effectively (here, here, here for just three examples) that he will be replaced by either Hillary Clinton (and here) or Michelle Obama.

I bet Obama because the Clintons have taken too much damage among awakening Americans, Michelle doesn’t have that baggage (although perhaps has a package), and Barak can claim his saving idea to “help the people” beside his spouse. This is why Obama and Clinton have not endorsed Joe Biden: they plan to endorse Michelle (Michael?).

That is the best Deep State plan I can imagine, unless something game-changes between now and the summer political conventions, such as mass arrests promised by Q (and here). I recommend this 26-minute video speculating US .01% arrests will happen under cover of quarantines.

The Obama “Hail Mary pass” will happen after Biden’s elder, Bernie Sanders, has his progressive policies destroyed by lying sacks of spin corporate media for:

Non-profit universal healthcare (as opposed to one-third of current costs going to so-called “health” so-called “care” companies who maximize profits by declining treatment, and from Big Pharma’s top ten companies whose profits exceed the next 490 of the Fortune 500). Sanders’ site accurately states savings of hundreds of billions/year, but he will not strongly state this game-changing truth from his history of rolling-over to Clinton in 2016 after Clinton stole the primaries (documentation below).

Opposition to lie-started and Orwellian-illegal Wars of Aggression, although Sanders pimps for lie-based illegal War of Aggression on Iran.

Video evidence Biden is bye-bye unelectable

Sanders is an actor to vent Americans’ frustrations, and has rolled-over on command of hidden .01% masters the same as he did in ’16 to endorse Hillary Clinton: a more ridiculous tragic-comic villain than Joe Biden (full 2016 “selection”/non-election documentation below).

I see this as certain because Sanders won’t fight for his policies nor Americans’ best interests to declare Biden mentally incapable as president (8-minute Jimmy Dore video of Sanders’ cowardice), or complicit in ongoing illegal and lie-started Wars of Aggression, or dozens of related crimes of an American illegal rogue state empire annually killing millions, harming billions, and looting trillions.

If any of the following video evidence applied to President Trump, corporate media would repeat it endlessly with demand for further impeachment or resignation because of dementia.

Want to view the overwhelming evidence of Biden’s mental incapacity? Go to Caitlin Johnstone’s article for literally 41 video clips; here’s an example of incoherent debate talk in 2 minutes:

https://carlbherman.blogspot.com/2020/03/demented-war-criminal-quid-pro-quo.html

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>>8390826

Israel engages in lie-started and illegal War of Aggression on Gaza; ironically the largest concentration camp in world history. This is also easy to verify.

Categories of crime include:

Wars of Aggression (the worst crime a nation can commit).

Likely treason for lying to US military, ordering unlawful attack and invasions of foreign lands, and causing thousands of US military deaths.

Crimes Against Humanity for ongoing intentional policy of poverty that’s killed over 400 million human beings just since 1995 (~75% children; more deaths than from all wars in Earth’s recorded history).

US military, law enforcement, and all with Oaths to support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, face an endgame choice:

Demand arrests, with those with lawful authority to enact it. An arrest is the lawful action to stop apparent crimes, with the most serious crimes documented here meaning the most serious need for arrests.

Watch the US escalate its rogue state crimes that annually kill millions, harm billions, and loot trillions.

In just 90 seconds, former US Marine Ken O’Keefe powerfully states how you may choose to voice “very obvious solutions”: arrest the criminal leaders (video starts at 20:51, then finishes this episode of Cross Talk):

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Lawsuit Filed Against State of CA for Temporarily Embezzling Estimated Tax Payments, Then Falsely Assessing Penalties for “Paying Late”

I have caught California’s Income Tax Collection Agency, The Franchise Tax Board, in two different racketeering schemes. I tried to get the illegal activity stopped by contacting legislators. I even made a speech to Legislators in both 2018 and 2019: vimeo.com/user93891576. The Legislators response was F*** you: gwsandiego.net/blog/?p=196. So now I have filed a lawsuit: gwsandiego.net/blog/?attachment_id=214

TLDR of the schemes:

The FTB is illegally putting estimated tax payments into a general slush fund instead of into your account. The money isn’t put into your account until you file your return for that year; basically, the State of CA is temporarily embezzling your money. If you file late, they harass you for payments that would not be owed/impose penalties that would not have been assessed had the money been applied to your account in accordance with the law.

The FTB “accidentally” misapplies money to previous years and sends you a refund, leaving the current year underfunded. Like the withholding scheme, if you file your returns late, penalties are falsely imposed. Where it gets suspicious is that it takes months to send the refunds. The refunds are difficult to identify – you just get a check in the mail from the State of CA with no letter. The refunds have interest added or are broken up into multiple years (issuing a separate check for each year), so you don’t immediately identify that this mystery money may be a refunded tax payment. The FTB has an unusually difficult time locating these particular “lost” payments, taking months or even years to locate. Once located, they will accept another payment from you and retroactively apply it to your account for the date that the original payment was made, thus correcting the underfunding problem. But it takes them months to apply the money. And the accounting ledgers tied to these “misapplied” payments are inaccurate, with missing line items and incorrect dates.

More details can be found on my website: gwsandiego.net/blog/

I have uploaded lots of evidence that I submitted to the court, including proof that the FTB overcharged me interest and that their accounting ledgers are inaccurate. The crazy thing is that I still have a ton more to upload! gwsandiego.net/blog/

Please spread the word. This is a non-partisan issue, so people on both sides should be open to hearing about it. Hopefully, exposing the corruption in the Democratic Party will help break California’s Democrat stronghold in November.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/lawsuit-filed-against-state-of-ca-for-temporarily-embezzling-estimated-tax-payments-then-falsely-assessing-penalties-for-paying-late/

Walls Made of Ancient Human Leg Bones Found Beneath Belgian Church

More than 100 billion people have died since the Homo sapiens lineage first appeared roughly 50,000 years ago. And with so many bodies to bury, civilizations have repeatedly run out of convenient places to put them.

But humans are a resourceful bunch. To make room for new graves, the residents of Ghent, Belgium, apparently dug up some old burial grounds and assembled the bones interred within into nine walls. As Alan Hope reports for the Brussels Times, archaeologists conducting excavations ahead of construction of a cathedral’s new visitor’s center have now unearthed the remnants of these ghastly architectural feats.

Discovered beneath Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, home of the famed Ghent Altarpiece, the newly discovered bone walls probably served a similar purpose to the catacombs of Paris, providing a second home for skeletal remains crowded out of old cemeteries.

So-called ossuaries aren’t uncommon, but typically, these chambers manifest in the form of loose pits filled with bones. The carefully constructed walls represent a first for Belgium, writes Janiek de Gryse, the archaeologist who led the excavation, in an email to Live Science’s Laura Geggel.

De Gryse adds, “We have never seen structures, like walls, which are intentionally built with human bones.”

Composed mostly of adult thigh and shin bones, the walls are also interspersed with partially shattered skulls. Though fully intact skeletons presumably served as the builders’ primary fodder, most small and fragile bones, such as ribs, vertebrae and anything that once belonged to a young child, didn’t make it into the final product—possibly because the builders couldn’t be troubled with collecting them. Also conspicuously absent are arm bones, which, all else equal, should have been sturdy enough to feature in the constructions.

https://governmentslaves.news/2020/03/12/walls-made-of-ancient-human-leg-bones-found-beneath-belgian-church/

House passes key surveillance bill with deadline looming

The House on Wednesday passed legislation to reauthorize a key intelligence surveillance bill after weeks of back-and-forth tussling between members in both parties.

The passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 278-136, comes the day after the House struck a bipartisan deal on the legislation and just before the bill is set to expire on Sunday.

Negotiators had worked for weeks, as both liberal Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed for additional privacy protections, putting them at odds with lawmakers who wanted a clean reauthorization of the FISA bill, which they believed would easily pass in the upper chamber.

Now the Senate will consider the bill, which extends three expiring provisions of the USA Freedom Act that touch on roving wiretaps, lone wolf surveillance and a controversial program that allows the U.S. government to request access to phone metadata.

The bill has the support of Attorney General William Barr, who encouraged members of both parties to vote yes on it on Wednesday.

“I have reviewed the House FISA bill and support its passage,” Barr said in a statement. “The bill contains an array of new requirements and compliance provisions that will protect against abuse and misuse in the future while ensuring that this critical tool is available when appropriate to protect the safety of the American people.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the top Republican on the panel, touted the bill Tuesday as a major accomplishment.

“Since we first circulated the original draft of this bill, we have heard from a wide range of stakeholders from the most progressive members of the Democratic caucus to the staunchest supporters of President Trump and they have convinced us to make additional changes to the bill,” Nadler said while presenting the bill before the House Rules Committee on Tuesday evening.

Both Nadler and Jordan described the amended bill as a step in the right direction, noting that there were more privacy protections they would like to make in the future.

“Contrary to a couple of hours ago, I actually agree with the Chairman. I think this bill doesn’t go far enough, but it does represent real reform,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) who spoke Tuesday before the Rules panel, after Nadler.

Jordan and many other Republicans have called for FISA reform after a Justice Department (DOJ) watchdog found 17 “significant errors or omissions” in the surveillance warrant applications for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, dating back to 2016. DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz has said his investigation did not find evidence to suggest political bias impacted the FBI’s decision to open the counterintelligence probe and concluded that the FBI had an “authorized purpose” for the inquiry.

Jordan dismissed the idea of a clean reauthorization bill, citing the Page wiretap and taking aim at the GOP leaders who supported the idea.

“I am [OK with the deal], but I'm like you, I wanted a lot more. But sometimes you got to step back. And look, what are we going to get with Democrats in control of the House?” asked Jordan during an interview with Ohio conservative talk radio host Bob Frantz on Wednesday.

But some of the fiercest critics of U.S. surveillance powers were not pleased by the text of the bill.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/487096-house-passes-key-surveillance-bill-with-deadline-looming

Defense Department Orders 60-Day Troop Travel Ban for Virus-Afflicted Countries

Less than an hour after President Donald Trump announced a 30-day suspension of travel from Europe to the U.S. in an address to the nation, the Defense Department released its own list of travel restrictions for troops, military families and DoD civilians.

The restrictions, which become effective on Friday, include a 60-day ban on travel to all countries designated as "Level 3 locations" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to the widespread and ongoing transmission of coronavirus. Those countries include China, where the virus originated, as well as Italy, Iran and South Korea.

"This restriction includes all forms of travel, including Permanent Change of Station, Temporary Duty, and government funded leave," the Defense Department announcement states. "The Level 3 countries are set by the CDC and may change. The DoD guidance will follow those changes. Service secretaries and commanders may issue waivers to this policy as they determine necessary to ensure mission readiness and address specific cases."

According to a Pentagon memo, military travelers are advised to plan trips with care, making sure they don't make stopovers in Level 3-designated locations.

"Authorized Departures are delayed until appropriate transportation and reception procedures are in place for their intended route of travel as prescribed in this memorandum," the memo states.

Also in place as of Friday is a 60-day prohibition on official travel to "Level 2 locations" for military families and civilian personnel. These locations, for which the CDC advises taking advanced precautions, include the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore and Bahrain. Bahrain, which houses the headquarters for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, is a hub for thousands of U.S. troops and DoD civilians.

The travel restrictions also entail a hiring freeze: for civilians awaiting hiring actions for jobs in Level 2 and 3 locations, those actions will be paused, as long as the jobs are designated non-essential and travel has not already begun.

The individual Defense Department components must also make determinations about whether travel plans to non-Level 3 locations are mission essential, and postpone them if they are not.

Exceptions to these restrictions are intended to be rare: waiver requests must prove extreme hardship, a mission-essential purpose, or necessity based on humanitarian reasons. And these requests can only be granted at the general or flag-officer level.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/11/defense-department-orders-60-day-troop-travel-ban-virus-afflicted-countries.html

US Congress votes to limit Trump's war powers against Iran

The resolution now goes to President Donald Trump, who has threatened to veto the measure.

Washington, DC - The United States House of Representatives approved on Wednesday a War Powers Resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's ability to wage war against Iran.

The passage of the resolution was yet another rebuke of the president over his decision to order the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January amid escalating tensions with Tehran.

The Senate voted 55 to 45 - with eight Republicans joining Democrats on February 13 - to approve the resolution. The House action sends the measure to Trump, who has threatened to veto it. A two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate would be needed to override a veto.

The measure requires that Trump get congressional approval before engaging in further military action against Iran.

"Congress should vote on articles of war before any further hostilities with Iran," Democratic Representative James McGovern said in House floor debate.

Trump ordered the attack that killed Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the airport in Baghdad on January 3. Conflict with Iran swiftly escalated into a standoff that many members of the US Congress feared would lead to outright war.

Iran responded to Soleimani's killing with attacks on two Iraqi bases housing US troops. More than 100 US troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.

"The Constitution gives Congress the authority and responsibility to declare war," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat.

Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the resolution directs the removal of US forces from hostilities against Iran that have not been authorised by Congress.

Shifting justifications

The resolution "fails to account for present reality," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It was drafted many weeks ago with the intent of preventing an escalation between the United States and Iran," the White House added.

"Despite the predictions of many people, however, no such escalation occurred," the White House said. "The United States is not currently engaged in any use of force against Iran, in part because of the sound policies and decisive, effective actions of this administration."

Tensions with Iran have escalated since Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran in May 2018. Since then, Trump has exerted a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, including economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and military threats.

"It is that regime that President Trump said so clearly that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon while we're on watch," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee last week.

Anti-war sentiment has been rising in Congress as US troops remain mired in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end "America's wars in the Middle East" and has sought to foster peace talks between the Taliban and the US-backed government in Afghanistan.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/house-poised-vote-limit-trump-war-powers-iran-200311185556377.html

PA: Israel’s racism is the main obstacle to peace

The Palestinian Authority condemned on Wednesday the culture of hate and racism within Israel, mainly among the right-wing parties, Al Sabeel newspaper has reported. Such racism in Israel, said the PA, is the “main obstacle” to peace.

“Racism and hate,” said the Foreign Ministry in Ramallah, “are reflected daily in the stances and remarks of right-wing officials in Israel and the practices of the Jewish settlers against the Palestinians.” The PA believes that this is a “real danger” and “threat” to stability and security in the region and, indeed, the world.

“It is a systematic attempt to undermine peace opportunities and human rights. When will the international community intervene in order to stop the dangerous Israeli hate and racism? Is not it seeing the settlers’ attacks on the Palestinians and their homes and lands?”

The PA also condemned the remarks of Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who described Palestinian members of the Knesset (parliament) as “terrorists in suits”, as well as the stated position of Orly Levy-Abekasis MK, who is adamant that she will not sit in a government that is supported by Palestinian MKs.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200312-pa-israels-racism-is-the-main-obstacle-to-peace/

Time to Pay Attention: Elite Reportedly Fleeing to Doomsday Bunkers Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

As coronavirus fears continue to peak and the serfs fight each other over pallets of toilet paper at Costco, the world’s elite aren’t taking any chances. According to a report out of the Guardian, this week, the super-rich are preparing to self-isolate in the face of an escalation in the coronavirus crisis. But their plans extend far beyond stocking up on hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

The world’s elite are hopping on their private jets and taking off to private bunkers across the world. As the Guardian reports:

Many are understood to be taking personal doctors or nurses on their flights to treat them and their families in the event that they become infected. The wealthy are also besieging doctors in private clinics in Harley Street, London, and across the world, demanding private coronavirus tests.

Doctors in London are reportedly being secretly contracted by concerned elite to get tested for coronavirus before they move to their bunkers. This testing is in spite of the fact that Britain’s NHS said it would only test people with a “high chance” of having the illness – meaning people who had had close contact with a confirmed case or who had recently gone to a high-risk country.

Mark Ali, chief executive and medical director of the Private Harley Street Clinic, said:

This has led to huge demand from very wealthy people asking if they can pay for private testing. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer testing, as the NHS has said all tests should be done centrally.

Although Ali claims the tests are not being done on random rich people who request it, a source told the Guardian that is not the case.

Also, chief executive of the private jet company, PrivateFly, said the elite are booking his services at a far higher rate as people flee high-risk countries.

“Many are from groups which include elderly passengers or those with health conditions that make them particularly concerned about exposure to crowds on airline flights. We’ve just flown a group back to London from the south of France, with an immunocompromised passenger on board,” he said.

Apparently, the elite are allowed to fly while the commoners are told they cannot. As TFTP reported on Monday, as coronavirus cases continued to rise in Italy, Italian officials began rolling out police state measures. If citizens attempt to flee the country to avoid such tyranny, they face jail. Anyone leaving the “containment regions” risks three months in prison, or a fine of up to 206 euros ($234), Luciana Lamorgese said on Monday.

On Wednesday, the US took similar measures, banning all flights to Europe.

Some elite may be a little late to the game, however, as the Guardian reports:

Robert Vicino, founder and chief executive of Vivos Group, a California-based company constructing underground shelters designed to withstand a range of natural disasters and catastrophes, said his firm had seen a surge in inquiries and sales since the crisis took hold.

Vivos has converted a a cold war bunker in Indiana into accommodation for 80 people, and is offering space in 575 concrete bunkers in an abandoned second world war ordnance depot in South Dakota.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/03/time-to-pay-attention-elite-reportedly-fleeing-to-doomsday-bunkers-amid-covid-19-outbreak.html

Report: British Govt Strategy For Coronavirus Is to Let It 'Pass Through The Entire Population' to 'Acquire Herd Immunity'

The British government is reportedly going to allow the coronavirus "to pass through the entire population" so that they "acquire herd immunity."

From ITV, "British government wants UK to acquire coronavirus 'herd immunity', writes Robert Peston":

The key phrase we all need to understand is “herd immunity” – which is what happens to a group of people or animals when they develop sufficient antibodies to be resistant to a disease.

The strategy of the British government in minimising 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 the health service is not overwhelmed and crushed by the sheer number of cases it has to treat at any one time.

The government’s experts – the chief medical officer and the chief scientific advisor – have made two big judgements.

First, as the World Health Organisation on Wednesday in effect conceded, that there is no way now of preventing the virus sweeping across Africa, Asia and the Americas – which in practice means that it will be an ever-present threat to the UK, unless and until a mass vaccine is available for use.

Studies are coming out suggesting heat and humidity suppress the virus, hence the lower rates in Africa (even though they're a major trading partner with China).

Second, the kind of coercive measures employed by China in Wuhan and Hubei have simply locked the virus behind the closed doors of people’s homes.

And just as soon as the constraints on freedom of movement are lifted there, the monstrous virus will rear its hideous face again.

That's another major assumption with no evidence yet to back it up.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61285

New York City Biological Outbreak Pandemic Plans Include Burying Bodies In Mass Graves

The coronavirus should be taken very seriously; at the same time, we shouldn’t give into fear. However, we need to still stay informed. Now it’s coming out that NYC has plans to deal with the outbreak by burying bodies in mass graves.

If the coronavirus outbreak were to get out of control in New York City, government officials apparently have a plan for how to deal with all the dead bodies.

The plan, developed by the chief medical examiner in 2008, would see refrigerated units placed outside hospitals to store the dead temporarily, and mass graves dug by Rikers Island prisoners. The bodies would then be buried in various locations, including Hart Island, an old prison site for confederate soldiers.

The plan was developed in 2008 by the city’s late chief medical examiner, Charles Hirsch, in response to concerns that Bird Flu would cause the next pandemic influenza. But, as Hirsch states in the report, the plan can be used to tackle “other biological outbreaks” that cause mass fatalities. In other words, the coronavirus.

The plan was developed for a pandemic that has a 2% mortality rate, the same approximate death rate as the coronavirus. The World Health Organization recently declared the coronavirus a “pandemic,” after kicking the can down the road for weeks.

WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold in two weeks. He said he was “deeply concerned” by “alarming levels of inaction.”

Tedros called on governments to change the course of the outbreak by taking “urgent and aggressive action.”

“Several countries have demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled,” he said.

The challenge for many countries who are now dealing with large clusters or community transmission is not whether they can do the same – it’s whether they will.

At the time of the initial plan, New York City had a population of 8.2 million, so it was estimated that the city would be dealing with more than 51,000 dead bodies. New York state is reporting 216 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 52 of those in New York City.

There are now more than 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection across the U.S., 38 people have died, with deaths in Washington (30), California (4), Florida (2), New Jersey (1) and South Dakota (1). So far, there have been no reported deaths in New York at the time of this report. Still, New York City has enacted at least one quarantine zone, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that he is sending National Guard troops into a New York City suburb to help tackle what is now believed to be the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus cases in New Rochelle, The Guardian reported.

U.S. health officials announced they would send out test kits for as many as 400,000 people by the end of last week, with additional tests being sent out in the coming weeks, Reuters reported.

COVID-19 has spread to all continents except Antarctica and over 100 countries, with an estimated official count of — 127,749 cases global, 4,717 deaths, and 68,305 recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins map at the time of this report.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days, a travel ban that oddly does not include Great Britain. Trump also said that health insurance companies would provide coverage for coronavirus treatments and waive any related co-payments, The New York Times reported.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/03/new-york-city-biological-outbreak-pandemic-plans-include-burying-bodies-in-mass-graves.html

109 Israelis diagnosed with coronavirus, schools to close

“Schools and kindergartens are incubators of infectious diseases."

The Education and Health ministries have decided to close down the Israeli education system through Passover, Israeli media reported Thursday. The decision comes as the coronavirus is spreading across Israel, with 109 patients currently diagnosed.

According to Channel 13, the decision has already been presented to the prime minister, who accepted it. A formal announcement is expected Thursday evening and will contain the details of the closure.

Earlier in the day, the Education Ministry held a preparatory meeting on the subject, in which they discussed the possibility of moving to distance-learning programs so that students could stay at home.

“There are more and more questions,” the ministry's director-general Shmuel Abuav said on Thursday. “As coronavirus turns into a mini-pandemic, it will require a lot of energy to disinfect schools and keep students, teachers and staff safe.” He said that schools are “non-sterile” and that the Health Ministry was pushing for school closure.

In addition, also on Thursday, the Teachers Union of Israel sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting that he close down Israel’s educational institutions and move students to distant learning.

“Israel is one of the most crowded countries in the world,” wrote chairwoman Yaffa Ben-David in a letter. She noted that Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Poland have all closed their schools, which has reduced the number of coronavirus cases in those countries.

“Schools and kindergartens are incubators of infectious diseases,” Ben-David wrote, “posing a serious and immediate danger to students, teachers and their family members – especially those with poor immune systems or pre-existing conditions.

“We will not be able to stop the spread of the virus across the country once it infects entire schools,” she continued.

Ben-David accused the Education Ministry of putting the economy over the health and well-being of teachers.

“I ask you to order the closure of all educational institutions in Israel,” Ben-David concluded.

Over the Purim holiday, the Jerusalem Municipality prepared for classes to resume by placing additional soap and antibacterial hand gel stations in local schools. They also scheduled educational sessions for students to learn better personal hygiene.

The Bedouin school system already on Thursday morning sent out a message informing its population that high school students would be studying from home via virtual learning sessions. The message said that students would gather at a regular time – like a regular class – each in front of a computer or smartphone. The students would be presented with the materials and be able to ask questions. Anyone who cannot afford the technology would be able to complete their coursework when the quarantine is lifted.

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Coronavirus-Teachers-Union-calls-on-Education-Ministry-to-shutter-schools-620688

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

GOD WINS