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National News – Biden Wins Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Idaho; Sanders Path To Nomination Narrows

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

It was another big Tuesday for Joe Biden last night as he pulled in the key state of Michigan with 125 delegates, while also winning in Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. 

His lead over Bernie Sanders was done with voters of African-Americans, suburbanites and older voters in Tuesday’s round of Democratic presidential nominating contests.

Bernie Sanders is now on the ropes.  Biden quickly sought to unite the party in his speech last night with this statement:

 “I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion,” Mr. Biden said in remarks at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. “We share a common goal and, together, we’ll defeat Donald Trump; we’ll defeat him together.”

Mr. Biden has presented himself as the Democrat best able to challenge President Trump in general election battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which was the first of those states to weigh in on the Democratic race. His win there, by one measure, is his most significant yet and could allow him to argue that he should be the party’s nominee.

Mr. Sanders returned to his home in Burlington, Vt., and did not speak publicly after the election results. A campaign aide said he intended to participate in Sunday’s debate, which will be held in Phoenix.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a top Sanders supporter, expressed disappointment as the election results streamed in. “There’s no sugar-coating it. Tonight’s a tough night. Tonight’s a tough night for the movement overall,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram.

Exit polls coming in with the results showed Mr. Biden winning handily among black and older voters and performing well with those who had at least a college degree. Mr. Biden was also prevailing in cities such as St. Louis, Kansas City and Detroit and in their surrounding suburban areas—including Oakland County, Mich., a key general election battleground.

Mr. Sanders maintained a substantial advantage over Mr. Biden among young voters, exit polls showed. The Vermont senator staked much of his campaign on motivating the young, and others disenchanted with current politics, to come to the polls.

The talk of the coronavirus from China across the world has now seeded the U.S. with over 1,000 cases, making it clear there are growin challenges facing authorities hoping to contain an epidemic rapidly spreading across the country.

The Trump administration would likely extend the April 15 tax-filing deadline, while Chicago canceled its popular St. Patrick’s Day parade and organizers postponed the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California for six months. New York is closing schools and limiting public gatherings in a three-square-mile containment area in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle. Italy imposed a nationwide quarantine.

On Capitol Hill, House Democrats plan to unveil details on legislative efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and assist individuals affected by the disease, lawmakers and aides said.

A framework of the legislation will be released some time today and a vote on the plan will happen on Thursday, before both chambers of Congress leave Washington for a scheduled weeklong break.

Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D., Mass.), whose office is working on the legislation, said the focus of the measure is on expanding testing for the virus, as well as extending unemployment insurance and paid sick leave to individuals who contract the virus or need to be quarantined. The legislation could be expansive because of the virus’ fast spread.

“We should not limit ourselves, given the potential consequence,” Mr. Neal told reporters on Tuesday. “This is an emergency.”

Still, should Democrats pass such a bill this week, it is likely to be more of a first bargaining point than a final bill. The legislation would also need to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and be signed by President Trump.

President Trump has floated a payroll tax cut, but lawmakers from both parties are cool to the idea and it isn’t likely to be included in Democrats’ legislation, Mr. Neal said. Republican senators were also lukewarm to the idea.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met on Tuesday and spoke by telephone on Wednesday to seek common ground on a second coronavirus bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said he expected to leave the negotiations to Mr. Mnuchin and Mrs. Pelosi. In the past, Mr. McConnell has waited to bring up spending legislation until Mr. Trump has committed to sign it.

Democrats and the administration agree on the need to expand paid sick leave, though they may disagree on the details. Larry Kudlow, the director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters Tuesday evening that the administration was also hoping to take action to assist workers who don’t have paid sick leave, though he said that could be done without Congress.

Why cancelling events is becoming the thing to do.
In their response to the coronavirus outbreak, public health experts and government officials have repeatedly referenced the importance of “flattening the curve.” But what does this mean? Covid-19 appears to be more infectious than the common flu and the cause of a higher rate of deaths. But these numbers aren’t set in stone, with the differing pattern of the virus’ spread in various countries showing that interventions can make a big difference.

… Without protective measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, there is likely to be a large spike in infections in a short period of time. A big goal of public health officials now is to avoid a huge peak in Covid-19 cases in favor of a slower growth that becomes a moderate plateau. Infections still occur, but over a longer period — and “flattening the curve” turns the steep mountain of cases into a more sedate small hill.

… This more gentle increase in cases gives health systems the time to adapt and absorb the new patients, ensure that the virus is not spread further and effectively treat the most vulnerable. Many of the measures we have seen around the world to restrict travel and large gatherings are aimed at ensuring coronavirus does not run riot.

Hand Washing Quiz:   By now the entire globe should know how to properly wash hands because of the Coronavirus. Please take our quiz to see if you’re informed.

• You should scrub your hands for no less than 60 seconds. (False. 20 seconds is the minimum.)

• Warm or hot water is better than cold for washing hands. (False. Cold, warm or hot is fine as long as you’re using soap.)

• Soap and water is the best way to get rid of more germs. (True. Even better than hand sanitizers.)

• It’s OK if you skip washing the backs of your hands. (False. Wash all of your hand.)

• You don’t need to buy antibacterial soap. (True. Regular soap works fine.)

Google is recommending that all of its tens of thousands of North American employees work from home, its latest move to try and protect its employees from the growing coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the search giant sent out a memo to its workforce informing that it was now changing its policies to recommend all workers who are able to work remotely do so until at least April 10. The majority of Google’s 100,000-plus employees are based in North America.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill must now deal not only with the threat of coronavirus to the American public, but also the risks they themselves face from the virus as it continues to spread.

The disease was a topic of discussion during a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic caucus on Tuesday morning with members receiving advice on how to interact with others as the virus spreads.

.. The attending physician asked members to stop touching during personal greetings, suggesting that members instead use the “live long and prosper sign,” a light-hearted reference to a salute and greeting accompanied by a hand gesture in the television series Star Trek.

While New York cancelled the Marathon scheduled for this Sunday, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston typically draws large crowds too, and today officials canceled the parade amid a growing national COVID-19 outbreak. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Tuesday:  “This decision is being made out of an abundance of caution to ensure that we are doing what is needed to keep the residents of Boston safe and healthy.”  The parade was scheduled for Sunday.

… This comes after Dublin, Ireland, canceled its St. Patrick’s Day parade. According to Fodor’s, the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world isn’t in Boston or Dublin. It’s in New York, and it’s still on as of Tuesday.

Walmart said Tuesday it is deploying an emergency employee leave program as the retailer confirms one of its store associates in Cynthiana, Kentucky, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The infected employee is a woman and Walmart said she is improving with medical care.

… Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with 1.5 million workers in the U.S. There are three major scenarios Walmart outlines for the new emergency leave policy to apply.

• The first allows employees to stay home if he or she is unable to work or feels “uncomfortable” at work, by waiving its attendance policy through the end of April. While the normal attendance policy will not be enforced in this circumstance, in order to have the leave paid, associates must use their regular paid time-off options.

• Second, if a store, club, office or distribution center fall under a mandated quarantine by either the government or Walmart, or if an individual employee has been told they need be quarantined, these employees will receive up to two weeks of pay and associated absences will not count against attendance.

• Third, if an individual associate becomes ill with a confirmed case of the coronavirus, the associate will receive two weeks pay. If the associate is unable to return to work after those two weeks, additional pay replacement may be available for up to 26 weeks for both full- and part-time hourly associates.

If you can’t stop touching your face amid coronavirus concerns, one Michigan pet supply company has a recommendation: the cone of shame.

Mike Palmer, owner of Premier Pet Supply, put on a recovery cone — typically used to keep dogs from scratching or biting injuries — in a company Facebook post. His public service announcement: Pet cones, available at his company’s eight locations, could help patrons follow the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus by not touching their face. • IMAGE

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