Colorado Democrat believes Trump awarded ventilators

as political favor to vulnerable GOP senator

Updated 6:17 AM ET, Thu April 9, 2020

"(CNN)Rep. Diana DeGette, a veteran Democrat, said that President Donald Trump's announcement that he would send 100 ventilators to Colorado smacks of a political favor to vulnerable GOP Sen. Cory Gardner after the federal government had not fulfilled the delegation's request for the devices.

"I think this thing that happened with Sen. Gardner and President Trump is very disturbing," the Colorado Democrat told CNN Wednesday evening. "What is the process here?"

DeGette said that while she wants the state to get every ventilator it can – after initially requesting 10,000 – the process employed by the White House shows that the President appears to be doling out the ventilators to his allies at a time when the virus is affecting people of all political persuasions.

"It seems that way to me," DeGette said when asked if it appeared to be a political favor to Gardner. "I was totally outraged.""

moar:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/degette-gardner-trump-ventilators-favor/index.html

Volunteers at US Army base in South Korea churn out

hundreds of cloth masks for their community

By KIM GAMEL | STARS AND STRIPES

Published: April 9, 2020

"CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — As U.S. troops everywhere are increasingly required to wear masks to ward off coronavirus, a group of volunteers has begun churning out cloth coverings to make up for shortages nearly two months into the pandemic in South Korea.

The volunteers, including civilians, military spouses and even some soldiers, set up an assembly line operation at the arts and crafts center Tuesday on Camp Humphreys, which is the main Army garrison on the divided peninsula.

The morale, welfare and recreation division has provided more than 500 yards of fabric, thread, elastic and sewing machines, said Kelly Schmidt, one of the main organizers and the wife of Eighth Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Schmidt.

Inside, the cotton fabric allows breathability; outside, the mask is colored black to comply with military standards.

Other colors and patterns also are being used since masks will be provided to the entire community, including children and other family members.

“We’re also making to-go kits for people who are not comfortable in the group setting or want to stay home because they have little kids or are working,” Schmidt said. “Each kit will make 50 masks.”

The need for masks increased after Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Sunday that U.S. service members must wear something to cover the nose and mouth area when they’re unable to maintain six-foot social distancing standards.

The directive applies to all personnel including troops, dependents, civilian employees and contractors, Esper said as concern rose over a spike in coronavirus infections in the ranks."

moar:

https://www.stripes.com/news/volunteers-at-us-army-base-in-south-korea-churn-out-hundreds-of-cloth-masks-for-their-community-1.625413

NY now has more reported cases than any country

APRIL 8, 20200 3:25

April 9, 2020, 7:26 AM EDT

"The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York has reached 151,598, according to NBC News' tracking, outpacing any country except the United States as a whole.

Meanwhile, China's leader has warned the outbreak could rebound even after the official death toll in the country plummeted and the government loosened lockdowns imposed to contain the pandemic's spread.

The disease killed nearly 2,000 in the U.S. on Wednesday — the second record high in a row. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 430,993 in the U.S., and claimed 14,757 lives in total as of 2:34 a.m. ET. Globally, the number of people infected is set to surpass 1.5 million Thursday and see more than 90,000 killed, according to Johns Hopkins University."

moar:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/coronavirus-pandemic-ny-now-has-more-reported-cases-any-country-n1179836

anomaly detected