Corona in the US: White House employee infected - he works in Trump's close environment

Experts believe the number of new corona infections in the United States could increase dramatically. Now the White House has been hit. 

• Most corona deaths worldwide are registered in the United States.
• Now there is a new worrying forecast . 
• US President Donald Trump still has a risky plan.
  
• Our guide to pandemic reporting *, the basic facts about Sars-CoV-2 *, and the recommended corona protection measures *.

Update from May 7th, 6:37 pm: Also the White House in Washingto n DC . now reports a corona case. A member of the US military working in the office of the US president, was positive for the novel coronavirus tested. As a spokesman said, however, there is no danger for President Trump himself: "The President and the Vice President have since been negative for the virus and are still in good health"

The CNN TV station reported that it was a member of a military unit assigned to the White House that worked in the close vicinity of the President and his family.

Corona in the USA: Trump defends himself after visiting without a mask: "I was in the factory ..."

Update from May 7, 3:59 p.m .:  How is the coronavirus pandemic developing? A group of US researchers has been working on this question - and has developed three possible scenarios.

Update of May 7, 10:07 a.m .: According to a newspaper report, the Trump administration has sharply rejected criticism from Germany about stopping its payments to the World Health Organization (WHO) . "Our top priority is protecting life, non-publicity gestures and petty politics," according to the Süddeutscher Zeitung (SZ) in a letter from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to his German colleague Heiko Maas (SPD) .

What is needed is "functioning, reliable global institutions, and non-dysfunctional, inept bureaucracies that bow to the Chinese Communist Party at the cost of human lives," Pompeo wrote, the report said. At one point in the letter it said: "We are counting on you, Heiko, to lead this fight for freedom with us."

Corona in the US: Pompeo remains with WHO criticism

According to SZ, Maas had "emphatically" asked Pompeo in mid-April to "consider" the consequences of the payment freeze. Pompeo has now confirmed the US criticism of the WHO. At the same time, he emphasized that the United States continued to see "deeply committed" to international cooperation in the fight against the corona pandemic. In mid-April, US President Donald Trump justified stopping payments to the WHO with "mismanagement" and one-sidedness of the organization in favor of China .

Images of Trump without an anti-corona mask cause irritation

Meanwhile, there is some media criticism in the United States that Trump was  seen  without a mouth guard while visiting a respirator factory in Arizona  . It is a requirement for the employees there. In Germany, meanwhile, the Ministry of Health is criticized for delivering defective protective masks.

Trump denied the allegations on Wednesday, as reported by CNN , among others . According to CNN , he insisted that he wore a mask at the appointment, only "when the cameras were there" not. "I was wearing them backstage. But I was told in the factory that I wouldn't need a mask, so I didn't need it, ” CNN quotes the US president. 

According to CNN , Trump actually allowed the building to be viewed without this corona protection measure . Images circulating on Twitter are intended to show the incident:

"Live and Let Die" heard blaring through mask factory during Trump visit https://t.co/JGdh9olOp7 pic.twitter.com/9MmcPuqjVA

Corona in the USA: Trump makes U-turn - New plans for Corona task force

Update from May 7th, 7:36 am: The United States is currently hardest hit by the corona crisis. According to Johns Hopkins University indicators, with 1,228,603 infections reported, approximately one third of the 3,755,379 cases worldwide are still in the United States. US President Donald Trump has announced a success in the US coronavirus pandemic on Twitter. The United States is so well equipped with ventilators that it helps other countries that are "desperate". The US is also testing more "than all other countries combined," Trump said on Twitter. 

The Corona Task Force , which Trump now wants to hold on to, should focus on "security" and "open our country again," Trump writes via short message service. 

.... gloves, gowns etc. are now plentiful. The last four Governors teleconference calls have been conclusively strong. Because of this success, the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. We may add or subtract people ....

73,431 people in the United States have died as a result of coronavirus infection. 

Corona in the USA: Trump makes U-turn - New plans for Corona task force

Update Wednesday, May 6, 8:37 p.m .: U- turn in the US government's Corona course: President Donald Trump now wants to hold on to the White House task force on the Corona crisis - but in a modified form. Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the working group had done a “fantastic job” and would therefore continue to work indefinitely. In addition to vaccines and treatment options, the focus should be on safety and a return to normal operations in the country. Trump announced that there might be changes in the working group's membership. But he did not become more specific. 

The White House Corona Virus Task Force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a fantastic job of bringing together vastly highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future. Fans, which were few & in bad shape, are now being ....

Corona in the United States: task force is apparently not supposed to be disbanded - but possibly reassigned

US Vice President Mike Pence , who heads the group, had previously said that the resolution of the round was being considered . This could take place in late May or early June and is a sign of "enormous progress" in the fight against Corona. US President Trump, on the other hand, said during a visit to the state of Arizona that the working group should be replaced by a new team that focused on safely reopening the economy. However, he received criticism for this. In Trump's tweet, however, it remained open whether the change in the previous format practically amounts to creating a completely new team composition.

And there was also a change of direction in the state of New York : The actually canceled presidential primaries of the Democrats are supposed to take place there . On Tuesday, a federal court ordered the elections to be held. The reason: These are in the "public interest". New York's electoral authority canceled the June presidential election due to the corona pandemic. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang went to court against this decision and argued, among other things, that a rejection of the election violated democratic principles. 

Corona in the US: Trump advocates a rapid revival of the US economy 

Update Wednesday, May 6, 11:15 a.m .: US President Donald Trump has again pleaded for a rapid revival of his country's economy. "Everything is not yet perfect in the fight against the corona virus," Trump said on Tuesday when he visited a factory for respiratory masks in the US state of Arizona. "But we have to open our country and we have to open it soon." Trump has repeatedly expressed his impatience with the corona restrictions that have resulted in a substantial decline in economic activity. Half a year before the presidential election, he wants a return to normal as quickly as possible.

On ABC News, however, Trump admitted that reopening the economy could lead to loss of life . This is "possible," he said. In the United States, the decision about corona measures is largely in the hands of the states and counties. Some states have already started to relax restrictions .

United States Vice President: Government Examines Corona Working Group

Update, 8:04 pm:  According to Vice President Mike Pence, the US government is examining the dissolution of the high-ranking coronavirus working group in the White House. This could happen in late May or early June and is a sign of "enormous progress" in the fight against the novel corona virus, said Pence on Tuesday. If the group he led were dissolved, the authorities involved, including civil protection (Fema), would take the lead, said Pence. One of the purposes of the Corona Task Force was to mobilize the necessary government agencies and coordinate their actions.

New York governor criticizes state opening too quickly

Update, 04.20 pm: After the US forecasts in the Corona crisis, which had been significantly revised upwards, became known, New York governor Andrew Cuomo criticized the too rapid opening of states. “The more people in contact with other people, the higher the infection rate from the virus. The more people become infected, the more people die , ”Cuomo said at his daily press conference on Tuesday. This is the reason for the drastically higher forecasts. "If we open quickly, it has a price."

Previously, two new calculation models for the course of the pandemic in the US had become public, which assume a significant increase in deaths due to the opening up of some states. The IHME institute is now expecting the number of deaths to rise from around 69,000 at the end of the month to around 110,000. Only from the end of July should the number of victims stabilize at around 134,000. Just a few weeks ago, the university had assumed that a plateau would be reached in midsummer with around 90,000 deaths. Despite this looming escalation, US President Donald Trump, like some governors, is pressing for a quick reopening of the suffering economy.

The particularly hard hit US state of New York presented a plan for opening the economy and society in several phases on Monday . Initially, some shops and production facilities should be allowed to reopen under strict conditions, and construction work may also be resumed. Financial and insurance services and the rest of the shops will follow in phase two. After that, restaurants and hotels and, at the very end, places for art, entertainment and recreation as well as educational institutions should reopen.

Corona in the US: Trump presents risky plan - despite sinister prediction

Update, 4:30 p.m .: Despite some models that predict a worsening of the pandemic situation in the United States, the conditions in some states are loosened again - because the economy is also suffering massively. In  Florida, Utah, South Carolina and Texas, for example, the restaurants are allowed to reopen under certain conditions; among other things, they are only allowed to serve a quarter of the normal number of guests.

Ocean City, Maryland - a popular tourist destination in the United States during exit restrictions

© AFP / Samuel Corum

US President Donald Trump , who has been mostly in the White House since the pandemic broke out, wants to resume his travels across the country. Among other things, he plans to visit a factory in Arizona on Tuesday where respirators are made.

Corona in the USA: Experts counter crude Pompeo theory

Update, 2:11 pm: Western diplomats have classified the theory of the development of the corona virus in a laboratory as “ highly unlikely ”. A U.S. intelligence alliance with Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand contradicts Secretary of State Mike Pompeo . 

The weekend had spoken to the US broadcaster ABC of "significant evidence" for a laboratory accident.

Corona in the USA: health agency with sinister prediction

First report from May 5th, 12.06 : New York - The United States is by far the country most severely affected by the corona pandemic *. Could the number of deaths related to Sars-CoV-2 * increase to 3000 per day ? According to an internal forecast by the US health agency CDC,  yes. 

Corona in the US: Study reveals frightening numbers

She calculates that the number of new infections every day   could increase eight- fold by the beginning of June - to 200,000 . This is reported by both the New York Times  and the Washington Post .

The current figure of approximately 69,000 US corona deaths could double by that time. The prognosis is therefore darker than that of the Corona crisis team * created by President Donald Trump *. 

Corona virus in the US: Trump had predicted the number of victims - it has already been exceeded

The White House tried to put the CDC forecast into perspective. It was an "internal" document that was not coordinated with other authorities and was not submitted to the crisis team.

Only recently Trump had predicted a death toll of around 60,000 - which has now been significantly exceeded, as he had to admit a few days ago. The Washington Post now tweeted: "Trump repeatedly announces corona deaths that are then surpassed."

Trump keeps predicting coronavirus death tolls the US then surpasses pic.twitter.com/EIe47n4Uqi

Corona forecast for the United States: states too fast in easing

According to the reports, the CDC bases its forecast on the fact that some states and districts have not taken anti-corona measures quickly enough - or are now too fast with  corona loosening . 

Trump himself is pushing for the return to normality and the revival of the US economy * as quickly as possible in the 2020 election year. His government has presented a three-stage plan for this, but it is only a recommendation. The states handle these guidelines very differently.

Many people in the United States speculate about the death of a doctor and researcher: he was shot shortly before the breakthrough in research on coronavirus.

frs with AFP material

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

List of rubric lists: © AFP / SAUL LOEB