Data scientist refuses to censor Corona numbers - and is fired 

A Florida data scientist was removed from her post because she refused to censor data about Corona. 

• The United States is badly affected by the Corona crisis. 
• US President Donald Trump * threatens China to break ties
• Experts doubt Trump's vaccination program schedule

+++ 13.00 clock: Last Friday, the responsible creator of the Covid-19 dashboard for Florida was released, as "Florida Today" reports. The dashboard was a freely accessible tool for the media, researchers and the general public to get figures related to the corona crisis in the US state of Florida.

Corona scientist refuses to censor numbers

The dashboard was created by a team of data scientists from the Florida Health Department and led by Rebekah Jones. Now she announced that she and her team were no longer in control of the dashboard. This would prevent them from publishing numbers or correcting errors. “I don't trust the new team to have the same level of accessibility and transparency. Ultimately, my commitment to the tool is why I no longer manage it. ”  

It was "not voluntary" that she no longer held the post. She would have been instructed to censor some data, but refused to "censor the data manually to drive Florida reopening." 

Donald Trump takes malaria drug against Covid-19 

+++ 11.35 a.m .: Donald Trump is always good for a surprise. Up until now, people always thought that all of his recommendations in the Corona crisis were just empty talk, but no, sometimes they are probably meant very seriously.

In fact, Trump is now personally demonstrating how a brave American citizen should behave in times of crisis. He has actually been taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus prophylaxis for around a week and a half . He swallows a pill every day, he has just announced: “Because I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories. ”But with Trump you never know. Maybe he didn't quite tell the truth again.     

The US president says he has coordinated the drug with the White House doctor. He also takes zinc to strengthen his immune system against possible infection. Back in March, Donald Trump had repeatedly promoted hydroxychloroquine as a therapy for the disease Covid-19 . 

+++ 10.38 PM: The number of detected infections with the novel corona virus has exceeded the mark of 4.7 million cases worldwide. Of these, more than 1.5 million cases occur in the United States . Almost one in three confirmed infections has been registered, according to research by John Hopkins University in the United States . Nearly 90,000 people in the United States have already died from a Covid 19 infection . The most important focus of the United States remains the state of New York with over 355,000 confirmed infections and almost 28,168 deaths.

According to a study by the Reuters news agency, 13 of the 50 US states saw an increase in cases last week. In the administrative district around the capital Washington, the corona cases decreased by 32 percent. 

Corona crisis in the USA: Donald Trump provides ultimatum - WHO has 30 days

Update, May 19, 2020, 6:20 am:  In the dispute over the handling of the corona pandemic , US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently stop the payment of US contributions to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and to withdraw his country from the organization. 

Corona crisis in the USA - Donald Trump on WHO: "puppet of China"

Trump posted pictures of a letter to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday night (local time) on Twitter calling for "major substantial improvements" in the organization's work. If the WHO does not make such changes within the next 30 days, its government will permanently cease its contributions to the organization, the US president warned. In this case, his government would also "rethink" their membership of WHO. Trump the WHO as "China's puppet".

Corona crisis: USA accuses China and WHO of failure

+++ 20.46 PM : serious allegations from the United States . According to US Secretary of Health Alex Azar , the World Health Organization ( WHO ) failed to "get the information the world needed". The US Secretary of Health also raged in a video speech at the virtual annual meeting of the WHO member states : This " failure " in the corona crisis "cost many lives".

Again, allegations were made against China that "in an obvious attempt to cover up this outbreak" at least one member state "made fun of its transparency obligations - with enormous consequential costs for the whole world," said US Health Minister Azar.

The United States , and particularly President Donald Trump personally, has been making violent allegations against WHO and China for weeks . Trump accused the WHO of "mismanagement" in the corona crisis and stopped payments to the UN organization. Trump recently even threatened to break off relations with China .

+++ 3:45 p.m .: US President  Donald Trump once again blamed the previous government under Barack Obama for the catastrophic situation in which the United States finds itself in the middle of the  corona crisis  .

Corona crisis in the USA: According to Donald Trump, Barack Obama is to blame

Almost five percent of the world's population lives in the United States. However, the country accounts for around 30 percent of coronavirus- related deaths worldwide .

According to Donald Trump, his predecessor is to blame. Barack Obama  "left him little". But now the United States would test more than all other countries put together.

Wow! The Front Page @washingtonpost Headline reads, "A BOOST IN TESTS, BUT LACK OF TAKERS." We have done a great job on fans, testing, and everything else. Were left little by Obama. Over 11 million tests, and going up almost. More than all countries in the world, combined.

+++ 3 p.m .: The debate about the curfews in the United States continues unabated. Top experts like Anthony Fauci repeatedly warn against wanting to return to the old standard.

Virginia Beach: Many bathers despite the corona crisis in the USA

On the other hand, the question arises whether people who are indoctrinated by Donald Trump and his house broadcaster Fox News can still be scared with bans. In any case, the beautiful weather attracted many swimmers to the Virginia Beach coast at the weekend - even though the beach is still considered closed according to state guidelines.

But who cares? The beach was full, families were having a good time, the shops were crowded. Tents, parasols and beach blankets were set up near the water. It was probably a special kind of corona demonstration.   

Corona crisis: 90,000 deaths in the US - Trump's adviser blames "diverse population"

+++ 9:52 am: The United States remains the country hardest hit by the corona pandemic . Almost 90,000 people have died from Covid-19 disease. Over 1.5 million people have been shown to be infected with Sars-CoV-2 .

Corona crisis in the USA: Donald Trump is looking for a culprit

In the midst of the corona crisis , Donald Trump's government is desperately looking for a scapegoat that, if possible, does not come from its own ranks. So far, this included the Trump administration's enemy images, which had also been used before Corona:

• Barack Obama : Donald Trump had already worked on the ex-president regularly before the start of his 2016 election campaign. That hasn't changed since Trump took office, and Obama remains the guilty party even in the corona crisis.
• China : Like Obama, the People's Republic of China is a favorite enemy of Donald Trump . That the coronavirus his Urspsrung has allegedly on a cattle market in Wuhan and the authoritarian government of China hardly interested in transpareten Enlightenment, Trump plays in the cards.
• The opposition Democrats : Donald Trump's son Eric has recently accused the political opponent of staging a huge hoax. And his brother, Donald Trump Junior, blatantly accuses the Democratic candidate for the presidential election, Joe Biden, of pedophilia.

Corona pandemic: why the United States is particularly affected

But now there is a new explanation for the high death toll that the United States has to endure in the midst of the corona crisis . Health Minister Alex Azar told CNN: "Unfortunately, the US population is very diverse." 

Medical conditions that could have a dramatic impact on Covid 19 disease would be rampant among the US minorities . The "African American population is particularly at risk because there would be significant damage to health". Azar, however, refused to admit that, on average, the U.S. population would adopt a healthier lifestyle than people in other countries. However, the state of affairs is "an inheritance" that the Trump administration must now accept.

Corona crisis in the US: US economy could shrink by up to 30 percent

Update, 05.18.2020, 6.50 pm:  The US economy could in the current quarter due to the corona crisis shrink by up to 30 percent according to estimates of the Federal Reserve. It is quite possible that the gross domestic product will decrease by 20 to 30 percent, Fed Director Jerome Powell said in an interview with the television station CBS on Sunday evening (local time). 

+++ 21.05 PM:  It could take until the end of 2021 for the US economy to recover from the corona crisis . This is the assessment of the head of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell.

If there isn't a second wave, the US economy can recover in the second half of 2020, Powel told CBS. A vaccine may be necessary for complete recovery.

The US economy had recently suffered heavily from the corona pandemic. Share prices plummeted and unemployment rose to a record high. 

Obama: Corona crisis reveals ignorance of the government

Update, 05.17.2020, 7.50 pm:  The Corona crisis sets in the opinion of former US President Barack Obama disclosed the ignorance of government. The pandemic has shown more than anything else that those responsible don't always know what they're doing, Obama said in a graduate speech released on Saturday. "Many of them don't even pretend to be responsible." Obama's words have been viewed by some US media as a rare public criticism of government officials.

Trump comments on contributions to WHO

+++ 21.39 PM:  US President Donald Trump has not yet decided on the American contribution payments for the World Health Organization (WHO). Payments have been temporarily suspended, but for example, the United States could in future pay ten percent of its previous contributions to WHO, Trump announced on the short message service Twitter.

Trump stopped payments to WHO a month ago. He criticized the organization's approach to the corona pandemic and accused it of overly orienting itself to Chinese guidelines. The decision of the US president in the middle of the corona pandemic had caused international criticism.

Lou, this is just one of numerous concepts being considered under which we would pay 10% of what we have been paying over many years, matching much lower China payments. Have not made final decision. All funds are frozen. Thanks! https://t.co/xQUzHy4NDa

Operation Warp Speed ​​for Corona Vaccine

+++ 21.03 PM: Experts doubt the " Operation Warp Speed " presented by US President Donald Trump on Friday (May 15th, 2020) . Paul Offit, director of the vaccination center at the Philadelphia City Children's Hospital, told the Washington Post that the schedule was immature. It is still unclear which vaccines work and how exactly it is traceable who is immune.

The Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Peter Jay Hotez, said that with the current development, a vaccine is realistic in the second half of next year. Not as Trump promised by the end of 2020.

President Trump announced on Friday that the Warp Speed program would provide several hundred million vaccine doses by the end of the year. The name of the program goes back to the lightning-fast "warp speed" from the series of science fiction series "Star Trek".

US House of Representatives approves $ 3 trillion corona bailout package

Update, May 16, 2020, 9:20 a.m .:  The US House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, has approved a new $ 3 trillion corona aid package . On Friday, 208 deputies voted in Washington, compared to 199 in Washington. It is, however, unlikely that the Senate, which is controlled by the Republicans, will also approve the gigantic aid package.

Donald Trump is driving vaccine development

+++ 21.06 PM: US President Donald Trump is driving the development of a vaccine against the corona virus  in the United States and speaks of the greatest effort since World War II. "There has never been a vaccine project like this in history," Trump said in Washington on Friday. “Since the Second World War, nobody has seen anything like what we do in our country now. Incredible. ”It is a massive scientific and industrial effort. Work on a vaccine is running at "record-record-record speed".

LIVE: POTUS Delivers Remarks on Vaccine Development https://t.co/ktpk4urgB1

Trump's government has launched an operation called Operation Warp Speed ​​to advance the development of a coronavirus vaccine. The name goes back to the fictitious "warp drive" in the "Spaceship Enterprise" series, which can fly faster than the speed of light on television.

The US President said again that the goal is to develop a vaccine by the end of the year, maybe a little earlier or a little later. As soon as there is such a preparation, the military will also be involved in organizing the rapid distribution of the vaccine in the country. "We are preparing. It's risky, it's expensive, but we're going to save a lot of time. We'll save years if we do it right. ”

Operation Warp Speed ​​- Donald Trump Announces New Initiative to Find Corona Vaccine

+++ 6:00 p.m .: Donald Trump will announce this Friday who should lead the " Operation Warp Speed ". This is reported by the US news portal CNN. Trump will commission Moncef Slaoui, former CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and four-star General Gustave Perna to search for a vaccine in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Operation Warp Speed ​​is designed to accelerate the development and production of a vaccine against the coronavirus . According to Anthony Fauci, who is also expected at today's event, eight promising vaccines are in the test phase. Donald Trump was confident that a vaccine would be available later this year.

Donald Trump ally admits Obama’s plan has been ignored

+++ 14.05 PM: The easing in some US states has so far done little to nothing for the economy of the United States . Massive unemployment, which should be slowed down by the easing, continues to rise rapidly. In support of the states the Democrats in Congress want a Corona - aid package by bringing in the amount of 3 trillion. But White House spokesmen have already threatened to stop the package. They consider support for a "partisan and ideological wish list" for the Democrats. 

As a result of the pandemic , more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs in April alone. Infections continue to rise rapidly. Currently, more than 1.4 million people have been infected with the corona virus. At least 85,000 of them died as a result of Covid-19 .

Mitch McConnell admitted to ignoring Obama pandemic plan

+++ 11.13 p.m .: Mitch McConnell,  Republican Senate Leader and one of the closest allies of US President Donald Trump , has admitted that he ignored the Obama administration's pandemic contingency plan . McConnell had previously claimed that Obama's team had left no plan - a statement that Trump  repeated.

Mitch McConnell is backed into a corner and forced to admit he song about the Obama administration not leaving a pandemic plan, on Fox.pic.twitter.com/dQCNro43XS

In an interview with Fox News, McConnell now confessed that he had been wrong: "I made a very clear mistake in this regard." McConnell wanted to make sure the Trump administration did not follow the plan do not express. He did not know enough about the details and did not want to comment on it. 

Trump railed against Obama: predecessor to blame for the corona crisis

Update from Friday, May 15, 2020, 7:00 a.m .: Donald Trump does not miss any opportunity to criticize his political opponents in the corona crisis . The predecessor Barack Obama has recently become the target . It should be to blame for everything. So Obama did not leave a sensible pandemic plan , he, Trump, was completely on his own from the start.

This is pretty nonsense. The existing pandemic team has Trump himself fired , never perceived his disposal document for dealing with such a crisis properly. On 69 pages, step by step is listed what to do in a pandemic case - but Trump simply ignored it. He probably didn't like the shape, as he and his press officer were now trying to explain.

Trump and Kayleigh McEnany are now trying to dismiss the pandemic response plan Obama left for Trump as a mere "paper packet" that paled in comparison to Trump's (nonexistent) plan pic.twitter.com/lsQ8UJUqK7

Even so, Trump was now “determined that America would be fully prepared for any future outbreaks (of diseases) that we hope there will be none. The stock of masks is to be "dramatically" increased, as he announced during a performance in Allentown in the US state of Pennsylvania. A president will never inherit empty shelves or expired products, he promised. Another blow to Obama .

It wasn't until late April that Trump had accused his predecessor of leaving behind "bad, broken tests" - despite the fact that the corona virus first appeared in late 2019. 

Corona crisis in the USA: Donald Trump threatens China

+++ 20.45:  The Corona crisis is not good for the relationship between China and the United States . Now threatened US President Donald Trump even with a termination of relations with Beijing. Trump told Fox Business that he did not want to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping "right now" . Because he was "very disappointed" about China's attitude in the coronavirus pandemic . When asked about retaliatory measures by the United States, Trump said nothing concrete, but threatened: “There are many things we could do. We could break all relationships. "

In the run-up to this, Donald Trump repeatedly pushed hard against China . He accused Beijing of having withheld important information about the spread of the corona virus . China could also have stopped the virus, but that didn't happen, Trump said in an interview with Fox Business. The US government also accused China of using hackers to spy on research results on possible corona vaccines and Covid-19 drugs . The US President's new threats are likely to further worsen the relationship between the two countries.

Corona in the US: White House responds to allegations of coronavirus whistleblowers

+++ 6.44 p.m .:  While the hearing of the coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright is ongoing before the US Congress , the Trump administration has reacted and rejected some allegations. The press secretary of the White House  Kayleigh McEnany accused the whistleblower in the channel Fox News for not paying attention. The allegations that the government was not prepared would not be correct. The government had already prepared a document in the event of a crisis before the corona pandemic began. Protective equipment has also been provided, for example Donald Trump has ensured that there are more than three times as many respiratory masks available in the healthcare industry than in an average year.

This is countered by the statement by coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright,  who accuses the government that people have lost their lives because the government did not respond in time. Because there were not enough respirators , many hospital employees would work with masks that did not meet the necessary standards. According to the  whistleblower, it   was already clear in 2007 that in the event of a pandemic in the United States, there would not be enough respirators available.

Coronavirus whistleblowers: The Trump administration has failed in the corona crisis

Update from Thursday, May 14, 2020, 5:55 p.m .:  In a whistleblower hearing , Doctor Rick Bright testified before the US Congress on Thursday (May 14, 2020) . He was director of BARDA, an agency subordinate to the U.S. Department of Health, before being transferred to the United States National Health Institute (NIH).

As he underlined again at the Congress hearing, he was transferred because he refused to make a coronavirus drug available to the general public. Because the drug chloroquine had not yet been extensively tested in clinical studies. When used by the general public outside of emergency situations in hospitals, the risk for the patients was too high, according to the whistleblower. Because side effects and risks could not have been monitored, nor would it have been possible to help coronavirus patients with problems in good time. That was  irresponsible to Doctor Rick Bright . President Donald Trump in particular had campaigned for the widespread use of  chloroquine  at the time.

In addition, whistleblower Rick Bright warns that there has been no plan and that there is still no national strategy to combat the corona virus. There is also no designated authority. The Trump administration has failed to take the critical steps in time. As early as January it was foreseeable that there would be a shortage of protective equipment if one did not act immediately. Rick Bright  has repeatedly tried to raise awareness of this problem with superiors and at higher levels. But he was always put off. Also be enough financial resources into the research for coronavirus flowed what the development of a coronavirus vaccine had sustained slowed. US Congressmen are currently asking further questions to the coronavirus whistleblower .

Senior US official warns Congress and speaks of "darkest winter" in history

First message from Thursday, May 14, 2020, 2:40 p.m .: Washington - Despite urgent warnings by senior health officials, US President Donald Trump wants to push ahead with the reopening of schools and universities. The new school year should start as planned in autumn, especially since the coronavirus * according to Donald Trump has "very little effect" on younger people. "We have to open our schools," Trump said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday. "We have to open our country." He expressly contradicted expert assessments that warn of hasty steps.

United States: Donald Trump contradicts expert assessment of hasty steps in the corona crisis 

Senior officials, however, cautioned. "Without clear planning and implementation of the steps outlined by myself and other experts, 2020 will be the darkest winter in recent history," warned Rick Bright , former director of the Ministry of Health, BARDA, in a previously released statement for a committee of the House of Representatives. He should be heard in Parliament on Thursday. 

I don't know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him, but to me he is a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!

Bright sharply criticized Trump's corona policy . It is an "undeniable fact" that the coronavirus will reappear in autumn . With the simultaneous outbreak of the flu, this would be an "unprecedented burden" for the health system. The country was paralyzed because of Trump's misleading communication and a lack of a nationwide strategy. Scientific knowledge should define the strategy for the fight against the novel corona virus, "not politics and nepotism". 

Corona in the USA: Donald Trump discredits Rick Bright via Twitter

Donald Trump's reaction via Twitter * was not long in coming. "I don't know the so-called whisteblower Rick Bright, I never met him or heard from him. But for me he is an angry employee who was neither liked nor respected by people I spoke to. ”According to Trump, he should“ no longer work for our government ”. 

Bright said he was fired as director of the agency in April for refusing to support Trump's acclaimed treatments for Covid-19 lung disease that have not been scientifically proven. He was transferred to a position in the National Health Institute (NIH). Trump said he didn't know the officer at all.

Marvin Ziegele with dpa

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen editorial network

The United States was already deeply concerned, but Anthony Fauci says everything is fine between him and Donald Trump.

Rubric list image: © Douglas P. DeFelice / AFP