The Daily Moth 2-27-2020
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, February 27. Ready for news?
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Five killed in Milwaukee shooting
Five people were shot and killed by a gunman on Wednesday afternoon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Molson Coors Beverage Company.
Milwaukee Police announced yesterday that they received their first calls at 2:08 p.m. and upon arrival, they found six deceased adults which included the suspected gunman, who apparently shot and killed himself.
Police have not officially identified the gunman, only saying last night that he was a 51-year-old man from Milwaukee.
Several news outlets reported this afternoon that his name was Anthony Ferrill and worked as an electrician at Molson Coors for 17 years.
USA Today reported that an anonymous coworker said the suspected gunman believed he was being discriminated against because he was an African-American and that he frequently argued with at least one of the victims, who was also an electrician. The two would accuse each other of going into each other’s offices and stealing tools or tamper with their computer equipment.
Ferrill used to be in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1987 to 1991 and was honorably discharged.
A neighbor of Ferrill said he was interested in guns but would never imagine that he would do something like this. Another neighbor said she feels sadness for his wife and daughter, as well as for the families of the victims.
The CEO of Molson Coors said in an email to employees that “there are no words to express the deep sadness many of us are feeling right now.” The brewery will be closed this week.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said it is very tragic that there were five individuals that went to work thinking they would finish their day and return home to their families, but they never will.
Information has not yet come out on the identities of the victims. It is also not clear what motive the gunman had. That should come out eventually and I’ll share an update.
https://twitter.com/MilwaukeePolice/status/1232885377716887552/photo/1
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/26/acritical-incident-reported-molsoncoors-milwaukee-campus/4884534002/
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Recap of President Trump’s Press Conference on Coronavirus
On Wednesday afternoon, President Trump and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) gave a press conference on coronavirus.
President Trump said his administration did the right thing at the beginning by closing up our borders to flights coming in from certain areas. He said the risk to the American people is very low and that we have the greatest experts in the world right here.
Trump said they took in 15 Americans who were infected in Japan and that they are getting better in quarantine and that one is still in the hospital, one is in between hospital and home, eight are recovering at home, and five is fully recovered.
Trump said they have asked Congress for $2.5 billion but that Democrats want much more than that, and he would be okay with that and spend whatever is appropriate.
Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi and that he is working very, very hard, and that the situation in China is slowly getting better.
Trump said the [common] flu in our country kills at least 25,000 people a year and that he was shocked by those numbers. He asked if you got your flu shot?
Trump said we are rapidly developing a vaccine and that we are very, very ready if there is going to be a large outbreak. He said the U.S. is rated number one in the world for preparation for an epidemic.
Trump announced that Vice President Mike Pence would be in charge of the coronavirus response.
Pence said he has experience in leadership from when the first U.S. case of MERS emerged in Indiana in 2014 when he was the governor. He said he would bring together multiple federal agencies and continue to reach out to governors, state and local officials.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, said that other than the 15 cases of COVID-19, they have three cases of Americans who were repatriated from Wuhan and 42 cases among those repatriated from the Diamond Princess ship in Japan.
Azar said the degree of risk can change quickly and that we can expect to see more cases in the U.S. and that the American public, state and local governments, businesses, and other organizations should refresh themselves on how they would respond if the situation worsens.
An official from the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said we have experience in dealing with pandemics from the 2009 H1N1 virus. She said the coronavirus is a respiratory virus and is spread in a similar way to the common cold or to the flu — coughs and sneezes. She said to cover your cough, stay home when you’re sick, and wash your hands.
An official from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Tony Fauci, said they are working on several vaccine candidates and one prototype, but said it would take about a year to a year-and-a-half for the entire process, so the new vaccine would not be applicable to the [current] epidemic. He said they are developing several therapeutic (healing) drugs.
President Trump told reporters that Democrats and cable news channels were exaggerating the dangers of the virus.
So, that is a recap of Trump’s press conference from yesterday. I will give news updates on coronavirus in a separate video.
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-coronavirus-press-conference-transcript-trump-and-cdc-give-coronavirus-updates
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Coronavirus spreads to at least 47 countries
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has now spread to at least 47 countries. It is on every continent except for Antarctica.
Yesterday evening news broke that a person in California who did not knowingly interact with any other infected person and did not travel to any countries with coronavirus tested positive for coronavirus. The person was at a hospital in Northern California and was transferred to the University of California, Davis Medical Center last week in Sacramento with a ventilator.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said he may be the first person to be infected through community spread in the U.S. It is possible that the person was exposed to a returning traveler who was infected, but it is not known who it could be.
News reports say that doctors suspected that the California patient had the coronavirus, but he was not tested for several days because the CDC only allows testing for people who had traveled to China recently or had contact with someone who was infected. So there was a delay.
Now those who had contact with the patient are being monitored with some being told to go to isolation.
The Dow Jones continued its dive as investors show increasing fears of the impact on the economy. As you can see in this chart, there has been a steep dive since Friday. Global markets are also down, while the value of gold is rising.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) introduced a new bill in the Senate that would move funds from the U.S.-Mexico border wall to efforts to fight the coronavirus. She is estimating it would require $10 billion and said it was more important than the wall.
Brazil’s government announced yesterday that a 61-year-old Brazilian man who recently traveled to Italy tested positive for coronavirus. This is the first infected person in Latin America.
Pope Francis has some kind of illness — he was seen coughing and blowing his nose yesterday. It is not known what he has — but there are concerns because over 400 people in Italy tested positive for coronavirus. Most of the cases were in northern Italy, which is the same place where the 2019 Winter Deaflympics took place in December. At that time, the virus was starting to spread in Wuhan, China, so those of us who attended were not affected.
Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Romania, Pakistan, and Iraq recently reported their first cases of coronavirus.
Britain reported two new cases and now has 15 in total.
Japan announced that all schools would be closed through March in a bid to control the growing number of infected people in the country.
South Korea has almost 1,800 people who tested positive for coronavirus with 13 deaths. A U.S. service member in the country is among those infected. The U.S. has postponed joint military drills and said Americans should avoid traveling there.
Iran’s vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar tested positive for the virus and is now under quarantine. There is an epidemic in Iran that is affecting the Middle East. Iran has confirmed that there are 245 people infected with 26 deaths, but analysts say the number is likely to be much higher. Iran announced that Friday Prayers, a major religious ritual, would be cancelled, this first time in eight years.
Saudi Arabia said foreigners are banned from visiting two holy sites —Mecca and Medina. This will affect Muslims around the world who are planning pilgrimages.
China now has a total of more than 48,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 2,700 deaths. A study said that more than 80 percent of cases are not severe — they are mild cases where people make a full recovery. A Chinese government scientist predicted that the country would contain the outbreak by the end of April.
Australia has 22 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The World Health Organization said every country should expect the new coronavirus to cross its borders and be prepared. They said it is not the time to fear, but to calm down and take action and do the right things to fight this very dangerous coronavirus.
The CDC said on their website that the virus is spread mostly through person-to-person transmission when someone coughs or sneezes or leaves the virus on a surface or object. If the virus gets in someone else’s mouth, noses, or eyes, then they can become infected. The virus also can spread before people show symptoms, which is a new update from previous reports.
There is also a viral image of an infographic from the CDC from 2017 that explains which kinds of facial hair would not give a complete seal for a N95 respirator mask. If you have hair around the sides or on the chin, then it’s a red “X” because air particles can come in. Check out this image.
[Image]
Naturally, many were amused by the variety of beard names such as “Zorro, French Fork, or Mutton Chops.”
I never knew that my facial hair is called a “chin curtain.” It’s a X for me. The CDC is not recommending the public in the U.S. to wear masks, so we don’t need to worry about it yet, but it’s a nice guide.
So, that’s all the updates on coronavirus for now.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/world/coronavirus-news.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/world/coronavirus-news.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/coronavirus-outbreak-death-toll-infections-latest-news-updates-2020-02-27/
https://apnews.com/fd3d0d0120dd10f3d09bad78a4dd9539
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html
https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-27-20-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-latest-developments-8b8990c4-6762-494a-8ee0-5091746bda9b.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/24/808893094/coronavirus-has-pandemic-potential-but-isn-t-there-yet-who-says
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!