Cuomo says New York will exhaust ventilator stockpile in six days

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday that the state will exhaust its stockpile of ventilators in six days, raising new concerns about whether the state has enough supplies to fight the coronavirus.

"At the current burn rate, we have about six days of ventilators in our stockpile," Cuomo said at a press briefing.

Cuomo said that shortage is "troubling" but noted that there are extraordinary measures the state can take to increase its supply.

Those include repurposing anesthesia machines as ventilators, splitting ventilators to use on two patients at once and moving ventilators from upstate hospitals down to New York City.

Cuomo has repeatedly called on the Trump administration for help, and the federal government has sent some ventilators, but Cuomo said he is acting as if the state is "on our own" and does not know if the federal government can send more.

President Trump has at times questioned whether New York really needs as many ventilators as the state says.

Officials in many states have said they wish the federal government would take more charge of the process of obtaining supplies so that states are not bidding against each other.

Cuomo said the federal government is "very aware of our situation" and that he spoke to Trump Thursday morning. If need be, he said, "I'll plead" with the federal government for more.

Trump tweeted criticism of New York's efforts to get supplies on Thursday, while at the same time praising Cuomo.

"Unlike other states, New York unfortunately got off to a late start," Trump tweeted. "You should have pushed harder. Stop complaining & find out where all of these supplies are going. Cuomo working hard!"

The governor said 2,200 ventilators remain in the state stockpile, but about 350 people come into hospitals every night needing a ventilator.

Cuomo noted that the extraordinary measures are available, but still noted the gravity of the situation, given how important ventilators are to allowing a seriously ill person to breathe and stay alive.

"If the person comes in and needs a ventilator and you don't have a ventilator, the person dies," Cuomo said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) has also warned his state could run out of ventilators as soon as this week, even with a shipment of 150 more from the federal government.

"The 150 will only get us a day or so, maybe two, before we exceed that capacity. Even with the 150 it's going to be around April 4 or 5," Edwards said Tuesday.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/490829-cuomo-says-new-york-will-exhaust-ventilator-stockpile-in-six-days

Coronavirus Hoarding: Feds Seize 192,000 N95 Respirator Masks, Other Equipment

In addition to the respirators, 130,000 pieces of other equipment were seized, including medical-grade gloves

Owners are to be compensated at pre-COVID-19 prices

Healthcare workers have reported critical shortages of personal protective equipment, some resorting to donning garbage bags in lieu of gowns

The departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced Thursday 192,000 N95 respirator masks have been confiscated in New York and New Jersey, and now are being distributed to hospital workers and others on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The enforcement action was the first announced by Justice’s COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force. HHS used its authority under the Defense Production Act to commandeer the supplies and said the owners would be compensated at pre-COVID-19 prices.

In addition to the N95 masks, investigators found 598,000 medical grade gloves and 130,000 surgical masks, procedure masks, N100 masks, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels, particulate filters, bottles of hand sanitizer and bottles of spray disinfectant. The raid was conducted Monday.

"If you are amassing critical medical equipment for the purpose of selling it at exorbitant prices, you can expect a knock at your door," Attorney General William P. Barr said in a press release. "The Department of Justice's COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force is working tirelessly around the clock with all our law enforcement partners to ensure that bad actors cannot illicitly profit from the COVID-19 pandemic facing our nation."

HHS Secretary Alex Azar noted healthcare workers are in desperate need of personal protective equipment as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases swell and the death toll climbs. There have been reports of nurses donning garbage bags in lieu of gowns amid PPE shortages.

White House DPA coordinator Peter Navarro said Thursday’s announcement represents only the first of such enforcement actions.

"Our FBI agents and other law enforcement agencies are tracking down every tip and lead they get, and are devoting massive federal resources to this effort,” he said. “All individuals and companies hoarding any of these critical supplies, or selling them at well above market prices, are hereby warned they should turn them over to local authorities or the federal government now or risk prompt seizure by the federal government."

overnors across the country have been pleading for more medical equipment. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, head of the National Governors Association, said states are flying blind. Governors said they are being pitted against each other on eBay and other marketplaces as they attempt to secure supplies.

The action came as the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. rose above 217,000 at noon EDT with 5,151 deaths, 1,374 in New York City.

https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-hoarding-feds-seize-192000-n95-respirator-masks-other-equipment-2951629

Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services Partner to Distribute More Than Half a Million Medical Supplies Confiscated from Price Gougers

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-and-department-health-and-human-services-partner-distribute-more-half

GE Aviation Lays Off 50% Of Engine Manufacturing Staff

Unlike Boeing, which offered all of its 160,000 employees "voluntary buyouts" just so it can still keep its bailout option alive which would certainly be snuffed if the company were to announce mass layoffs, General Electric has no such qualms and moments ago the company told CNBC that it is planning to furlough half of its aviation unit’s engine-manufacturing staff as the coronavirus roils the industry.

“Due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the commercial aviation industry, GE Aviation is implementing a temporary reduction in commercial engine assembly and some component manufacturing operations for up to four weeks,” a GE spokesperson said. “We appreciate the commitment of all our employees during this difficult time, and we regret having to take this action. We will continue to deliver for our customers and preserve our capability to respond when the industry recovers.”

The move will involve thousands of jobs in the key unit - which has seen a total collapse in demand as a result of the shuttering of virtually all flight - and last for four weeks.

The additional reductions come less than a month after the company said it would cut 10% of its aviation unit, affecting roughly 2,600 workers. But as the coronavirus’ devastating toll on travel demand has increased, airlines are parking hundreds of planes while deferring orders of new aircraft.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/ge-aviation-lays-50-engine-manufacturing-staff

Putin's second address to the nation on coronavirus pandemic

The president prolonged paid non-working days for Russians until April 30

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his second address to the nation on the coronavirus situation in the last eight days. The head of state’s speech is broadcast by Russian television.

The president declared that paid non-working days in Russia would be prolonged until April 30.

"We have not passed the peak of the epidemic in the world and in our country yet. Due to this, I have decided to prolong the non-working days until the end of the month, that is, until April 30." He stressed that workers would still be paid during the days-off.

Public agencies, pharmacies, groceries, essential good shops will continue working during the days-off, the president informed.

Vladimir Putin has thanked all those who observe coronavirus prevention recommendations, in particular medics. "I am certain that all citizens will join their voices to the deepest thanks to our medical workers," Putin stated in his televised message.

"I would like to sincerely thank all of you without an exception and to say ‘thank you’ to the volunteers and all people who have not stayed indifferent and realized their personal responsibility for the struggle against the epidemic and strictly follow the recommendations of the authorities and medical specialists, caring about their own health as well as that of their relatives and dear ones and the security of all those around," Putin said.

According to the president, Russian authorities managed to win time for preventive measures against the coronavirus. "The days-off declared nationwide, and also self-isolation envisaged for residents of many regions allowed us to win time for preventive measures, mobilize all the bodies of power and build up resources of the health care system in order to fight the epidemic maximally efficiently, banking both on our own experience and the best practices of other countries," Putin stressed.

Russia is managing to shield elderly people against the coronavirus and prevent the infection’s spread in educational institutions, the Russian leader said.

"I consider it principally important that we are generally managing so far to shield people of older generations against the serious threat and to prevent an outbreak of the epidemic in kindergartens, schools, higher education institutions and other educational establishments," Putin said.

Developments in Moscow

https://tass.com/society/1139349

>>8663424

other baker is a clown who hides truth

The Federal Reserve’s One Last Hail Mary

Over the last few weeks, the Federal Reserve has been in utter desperation mode to try to revive and keep the American economy on life support. What many in the mainstream media have failed to include in this recent coronavirus economic narrative is that the virus was just the pin of one the biggest bubbles ever created, which we call the central bank bubble revolving around U.S sovereign bonds.

Before we dive deep into this, let’s start with what the Fed has been doing to combat against the coronavirus and to keep markets alive for the time being. To begin, welcome back to the era of the printing press, but this time they have made it clear they will conduct “QE infinity” if this is a prolonged depression, which it will be.

For some prospective, previous QE programs were:

QE1: $1.7 Trillion

QE2: $600 Billion

QE3: $1.6 Trillion

With this latest being:

QE4:$1.6 Trillion

An overwhelming number in such a short period, making previous QE programs look like peanuts in comparison. In fact, the Fed printed roughly $970,000 every second last week to keep the market afloat. To validate that the Fed is artificially keeping the market alive, just look at this next chart:

http://www.goldtelegraph.com/the-federal-reserves-one-last-hail-mary/

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>>8663477

They are failing to comprehend a very important variable at this present moment. More and more supply chains are being absolutely eviscerated by the day. Meaning, fewer and fewer goods will be produced in the foreseeable future until this pandemic gets sorted out. But before that happens, there will be much more panic economically as critical necessities that we humans need is beginning to take a hit, which is food.

Food supply chains in developed economies are beginning to become strained, and countries are already starting to stockpile food instead of exporting it to prepare for this type of food shortage. Many countries are doing this, but the primary ones I will mention are Russia and Kazakhstan.

Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter and has recently proposed limiting grain shipments to protect its own food reserves. However, for now, things will flow as usual, but this shows governments are beginning to think about stockpiling necessities for their people vs. worrying about trade.

Kazakhstan, who is another major wheat exporter, has temporarily banned shipments of buckwheat, rye flour, sugar, carrots, and potatoes because the government is worried about domestic supply. Some major logistical bottlenecks are going on in the food supply chain that I don’t think many people will hear about until it’s a definite problem. But the supply chain destruction is one of the primary reasons why we will not have a deflationary episode like in the 1930s.

Next, on top of unprecedented quantitative easing coming from the Federal Reserve, there is a pipeline of liquidity in the form of an approved two trillion-dollar stimulus bill passed with many government officials calling for more. The American economy is currently being flooded with cash to keep things afloat.

The big story here, is looping back to the biggest bubble ever created which is the bond market and the question is, how will the Fed keep it from utterly collapsing?

The Fed has the following to worry about:

The $10 trillion corporate bond market

The $16 – 19 trillion commercial real estate market (which is shutdown)

The $23 trillion treasury market

The only way the Fed is going to deal with this is by printing endless amounts of money, which is going to debase the USD purchasing power in the coming years dramatically.

As more and more money is printed, one of the most important charts to pay attention to is this one:

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Russia, Saudis Deny Trump "Expectation" Of 10 Million bpd Oil Production Cut

(Update 1330ET): Well, it appears that we officially have no deal, because moments ago Russia's energy minister Novak made it clear that instead of cutting supply, Moscow will wait for demand to return:

RUSSIA'S NOVAK SAYS WE HOPE THAT GLOBAL OIL DEMAND WILL RISE IN A FEW MONTHS

Then Dow Jones made it clear that according to Saudi sources, Trump's tweet was nothing but baseless oil price manipulation:

SAUDI OFFICIAL SAY TRUMP'S TALK OF 10 MILLION BBL A DAY CUT OR ABOVE WAS AN EXAGGERATION

Finally, Moscow made it clear where to expect oil prices in the coming year:

RUSSIA IS SAID TO BASE REVISED 2020 BUDGET PLAN ON $20 OIL

Why oil is still up at this point is beyond us.

• • *

Update (1300ET): As Bloomberg adds despite the triumphant tone of Trump’s tweets, Saudi Arabia and Russia have yet to agree to the size of any production cut, according to an OPEC+ delegate familiar with the conversations. Any curbs will be conditional on every major oil producer also agreeing to reduce production, the person said, asking not to be named discussing diplomatic conversations.

Saudi Arabia wants countries that aren’t part of the OPEC+ alliance to join in any future pro-rationing. Although Riyadh hasn’t drawn up a formal list, in the past OPEC+ had invited big American oil producers, Brazil and Canada to its meetings. Both Canada and Brazil have previously declined. OPEC had also invited the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil industry in the state, to participate in its meetings.

That, however, is not in the cards because as Bloomberg also notes:

TRUMP NOT PLANNING TO ASK DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCERS FOR CUT: RTRS

Trump is scheduled to speak with the leaders of U.S. oil producers and refiners on Friday. One industry leader said the president may have been motivated to remark on the surplus oil production because the U.S. is literally running out of physical space to store crude.

“I think something like this was inevitable because there is nowhere to put the oil,” said Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and chief executive of drilling services company Canary Drilling Services. “I think this is out of necessity, not out of gamesmanship.”

• • *

Update (1125ET): Caught between a rock (not pissing off Trump), and a hard - or rather soft - place, (hoping to flood the world with millions of barrels in excess oil), moments ago Dow Jones reported that the Saudis are mulling a production cut to 9mmb/d but only if others join.

Again, this means Crown Prince MbS is only willing to go back to where the March Vienna OPEC summt was… just before Russia refused to cut by 500kb/d and all hell broke loose. In other words, this is not a negotiation, this is an offer to return to the bargaining table at the point where Russia balked.

SAUDIS MULL OIL-OUTPUT TO BELOW 9M B/D IF OTHERS JOIN: DJ

Oh, and there is another problem: even if Saudis cut from 12mmb/d to 9mmb/d and Russia cuts by 500k, that's 3.5mmb/d less in supply. Meanwhile, global demand is down by over 15mm barrels! In other words, the only way the oil market will rebalance is if both Saudi Arabia and Russia both stop pumping, even as shale continues to flood the world with US oil (because as Whiting showed yesterday, the company will continue business as usual even under Chapter 11).

In other news, nothing the Saudis do will reduce US output, which is precisely the problem.

In short, fade this rally.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/oil-spikes-after-reports-trump-expects-proiduction-cut-15mm-barrels

Pelosi Trying to Load Up Next Stimulus Bill With Goodies Unrelated to Virus Relief

Just last week, Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill to keep the economy going as the nation observes a "stay at home" policy. But Democrats are already licking their chops to take another stab at passing items on their wish list that are totally unrelated to stimulating the economy or bailing people out of a financial crisis.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not having any of it.

The Hill:

"She needs to stand down on the notion that we're going to go along with taking advantage of the crisis to do things that are unrelated to the crisis," McConnell told The Washington Post.

McConnell added that "what's really happening here is, she's looking for a way to jam us."

Pelosi's drive to remove the cap from deducting state and local taxes at $10,000 is getting under McConnell's skin.

House Democrats are still trying to use this crisis to push unrelated pet priorities.

Last week: Carbon regulations.

Now? A tax giveaway for wealthy people in blue states, panned by economists across the spectrum.

This is a crisis. Let's act like it. https://t.co/okeS98rSkc

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) April 1, 2020

Some of the ideas Pelosi floated, including a massive infrastructure plan and reversing the 2017 tax law's $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT), have been panned by McConnell.

Lawmakers in both parties and the administration have talked for years about doing a massive infrastructure package, and President Trump renewed his call for it this week.

But McConnell told The Post that the sticking point remained the same: How to pay for such a bill.

Trump wants an infrastructure bill that builds, well, infrastructure. Pelosi wants an infrastructure bill that grows the power of the unions. Neither one of them wants to pay for it, which may be a bigger problem this time around.

"There is a reality of how you pay for it. We just passed a $2 trillion bill, and it would take a lot of convincing to convince me that we should do transportation in a way that's not credibly paid for after what we just passed last week," he said.

It's not that there's a groundswell of opposition to the bill – or any stimulus, for that matter – because of its cost. We heard barely a peep from Republicans about how we're going to pay for the $2 trillion bill when we're already running a trillion-dollar budget deficit. But it's just possible that there is unease in the heartland over the cumulative cost of these bills and, with an election coming up, they may wish to pretend to be responsible legislators and question some of the expenditures.

But McConnell is trying to put a damper on Pelosi's enthusiasm by taking a "wait and see" approach.

The GOP leader hasn't ruled out a fourth bill, but he and several members of his caucus have signaled that they want to wait to see what impact the third bill has before deciding what additional legislation from Congress might be needed. The Senate is currently out of town until April 20.

You can bet before most of those individual stimulus checks arrive that Pelosi and the Democrats will be crying about doing something "for ordinary Americans" and pushing legislation that will have little to do with the economic emergency.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/pelosi-trying-to-load-up-next-stimulus-bill-with-goodies-unrelated-to-virus-relief/

COVID-19 Forces the World to Re-Think the Idea of ‘Monetary Value’

Western society has long been gripped by a deep seeded belief in money. Trillions of dollars of bank notes tied to ever-growing mountains of un-payable national debts has taken on a life of its own over the years. As the post-1971 years rolled by, society increasingly lost a sense that this human invention called “money” was created to serve humanity rather than rule it, and with that lost sense, money became an idol of worship.

Decades of this modern religion have resulted in an incredibly tragic situation: a disproportionate wealth distribution in the hands of the 0.1%, an over-bloated services/consumer driven economy, increased rates of poverty and despair internationally as well as a dismal loss of vital skills, and productive capacity once enjoyed by advanced industrial nations just four decades ago. Vital infrastructure built up during the 1930s-1960s has been permitted to decay through simple neglect while un-payable debts have reached record highs.

Then like a thief in the night, the illusion was ripped away.

The Confused Response to the Crisis

This ripping away took the form of an international pandemic which has resulted in western nations’ economies grinding to a halt with a new $2 Trillion government emergency spending bill unveiled on March 24. The Washington Post reports that this bill will authorize “hundreds of billions of dollars sent to Americans in the form of checks as a way to flood the country with money in an effort to blunt the dramatic pullback of spending that has resulted from the coronavirus outbreak.”

Governments across the Trans-Atlantic have also announced national interventions into banks and private industry in order to force production quotas of vital equipment like ventilators, masks and other medical necessities to meet the increased demand. Banks in Spain have been nationalized (albeit only “temporarily”) to force finance to act in accordance with the needs of society. In America, the Defense Authorization Act and broader War Powers Act passed by President Trump gives the executive broad powers to take over vital industries if needed in order to mobilize the nation to respond to the crisis.

This renewal of national sovereign powers breaks all of the monetary “laws of the neoliberal order” and with that defiance of globalization, a genuine positive potential for a paradigm shift is visible… but something vital is still missing.

https://theduran.com/covid-19-forces-the-world-to-re-think-the-idea-of-monetary-value/

>>8663574

FFS fight