Australian politician who met Ivanka Trump, Attorney General William Barr infected with coronavirus

A senior cabinet member in Australia's government who said Friday he is infected with the new coronavirus was pictured last week standing next to Ivanka Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other White House officials.

Peter Dutton, who is Australia's minister for home affairs, released a statement saying he has been diagnosed with the virus – COVID-19 – and admitted to the hospital, where he is in isolation.

Dutton was in Washington for meetings connected to the so-called Five Eyes security pact, an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also appears in the March 6 photo.

Coronavirus sweeps country: Parents worry about vulnerable kids in school

Australia has more than 120 cases of COVID-19. Among them: The actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson. The Hollywood couple confirmed on Wednesday that they are in isolation in the country after testing positive for the disease. "We are taking it one-day-at-a-time," Hanks said in a tweet. He posted a picture of them on Thursday night.

Earlier, Brazil confirmed that a senior adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro who tested positive for the coronavirus was among a group of officials who met with President Donald Trump on March 7. Fabio Wajngarten is Bolsonaro's communications secretary.

Coronavirus updates: Testing is 'No. 1 issue' for US as death toll hits 40; Wall Street drop spooks world markets

He posted a photo of himself standing next to the U.S. president at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday. Trump has said he "isn't concerned" about getting tested.

It is not immediately clear where in Washington the photo was taken or if Dutton visited the White House. A growing number of lawmakers are in self-quarantine as a result of having had contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the virus.

It emerged late Thursday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. Canada's leader is self-isolating.

More and more countries around the world have announced school and university closures, bans on large gatherings and shuttered sports and cultural events as the pandemic increasingly interrupts daily life. Global stock markets remain volatile but the main benchmarks in the U.S. were higher and European gauges bounced after pledges from Germany and France to guarantee financial support for their economies. European Union officials have also signaled they are preparing plans for coordinated action.

Asked Friday in an MSNBC television interview whether Ivanka Trump's contact with Dutton meant that the president should be tested for the virus, Anthony Fauci, the country's top expert on infectious disease, said: "I leave that to the president."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/australian-politician-met-ivanka-trump-093537765.html

Australian politician who met Ivanka Trump, Attorney General William Barr infected with coronavirus

A senior cabinet member in Australia's government who said Friday he is infected with the new coronavirus was pictured last week standing next to Ivanka Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other White House officials.

Peter Dutton, who is Australia's minister for home affairs, released a statement saying he has been diagnosed with the virus – COVID-19 – and admitted to the hospital, where he is in isolation.

Dutton was in Washington for meetings connected to the so-called Five Eyes security pact, an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also appears in the March 6 photo.

Coronavirus sweeps country: Parents worry about vulnerable kids in school

Australia has more than 120 cases of COVID-19. Among them: The actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson. The Hollywood couple confirmed on Wednesday that they are in isolation in the country after testing positive for the disease. "We are taking it one-day-at-a-time," Hanks said in a tweet. He posted a picture of them on Thursday night.

Earlier, Brazil confirmed that a senior adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro who tested positive for the coronavirus was among a group of officials who met with President Donald Trump on March 7. Fabio Wajngarten is Bolsonaro's communications secretary.

Coronavirus updates: Testing is 'No. 1 issue' for US as death toll hits 40; Wall Street drop spooks world markets

He posted a photo of himself standing next to the U.S. president at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday. Trump has said he "isn't concerned" about getting tested.

It is not immediately clear where in Washington the photo was taken or if Dutton visited the White House. A growing number of lawmakers are in self-quarantine as a result of having had contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the virus.

It emerged late Thursday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. Canada's leader is self-isolating.

More and more countries around the world have announced school and university closures, bans on large gatherings and shuttered sports and cultural events as the pandemic increasingly interrupts daily life. Global stock markets remain volatile but the main benchmarks in the U.S. were higher and European gauges bounced after pledges from Germany and France to guarantee financial support for their economies. European Union officials have also signaled they are preparing plans for coordinated action.

Asked Friday in an MSNBC television interview whether Ivanka Trump's contact with Dutton meant that the president should be tested for the virus, Anthony Fauci, the country's top expert on infectious disease, said: "I leave that to the president."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/australian-politician-met-ivanka-trump-093537765.html

Satellite images show Iran has built mass graves amid coronavirus outbreak

Satellite images of mass graves in the city of Qom suggest Iran’s coronavirus epidemic is even more serious than the authorities are admitting.

The pictures, first published by the New York Times, show the excavation of a new section in a cemetery on the northern fringe of Iran’s holy city in late February, and two long trenches dug, of a total length of 100 yards, by the end of the month.

They confirm the worst fears about the extent of the epidemic and the government’s subsequent cover-up. On 24 February, at the time the trenches were being dug, a legislator from Qom, 75 miles (120 km) south of Tehran, accused the health ministry of lying about the scale of the outbreak, saying there had already been 50 deaths in the city, at a time when the ministry was claiming only 12 people had died from the virus nationwide.

The deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, held a press conference to “categorically deny” the allegations, but he was clearly sweating and coughing as he did so. The next day, Harirchi confirmed that he had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

Since then, members of Iranian parliament, the Majlis, a former diplomat and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have died. Another Khamenei adviser and one of the most powerful voices in Iranian foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati, was reported on Thursday to have been infected. The top ranks of Iran’s clerical leadership are particularly vulnerable because of their advanced age.

According to the latest health ministry figures, more than 10,000 Iranians have fallen ill from the virus and 429 have died.

Amir Afkhami, who has written a history of Iran’s experience of cholera epidemics, A Modern Contagion, said the mass graves add weight to suspicions the real mortality figures are much higher and are still being covered by the leadership.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they are now trying to create mass graves and trying to hide the actual extent of the impact of the disease,” Dr Afkhami, an associate professor at George Washington University, said.

He added that the close trading partnership between Iran and China, and the government’s fear of disrupting that partnership had contributed to the early and rapid spread of the disease.

“Because of China’s status as the country’s principal commercial partner, the Iranian government took inadequate cautionary measures to restrict and monitor travelers from China,” Dr Afkhami said. “Then, later on, Tehran’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to take robust measures such as social distancing and quarantine, particularly at the epicenter of the outbreak, helped spread the virus.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/satellite-images-show-iran-built-215209711.html

>>8400329

Makes more sense with his Bondi Beach coded tweet on March 7th.