Monthly Archives: July 2020

Coronavirus in Yemen: Almost 100 health-care workers have died from Covid-19 – Middle East Eye

Posted on by

Almost 100 doctors and medical workers have died in Yemen after contracting coronavirus, one of the world's highest health-care staff death tolls, according to a new report analysing the outbreak in the war-ravaged country.

US-based charity MedGlobal, alongside Project Hope and the University of Illinois, reportedon Thursday that there were at least 1,610 confirmed cases and 446 deaths from Covid-19 in the southern Arabian peninsula country.

According to the Chicago-based charity, the mortality rate stoodat 27 percent, five times greater than the global average.

"In this uniquely dire context, when one medical professional dies, the effect is exponential and extends to their entire community," the charity said in the report.

The deaths of the 97 medical workers - which includeepidemiologists, medical directors, and midwives - has dealta devastating blow to a country plagued by five years of war and conflict.

With only half of the country's medical facilities functioning, and fewerthan 10 medics for every 10,000 people, Yemen was more than 50 percent belowthe basic health coverage benchmark outlined by the World Health Organisation, MedGlobal said.

Thousands of Yemeni Americans left stranded amid war and pandemic

"Covid-19 shook countries with advanced health systems and services. What will it do to a country like Yemen that has lived in the shadow of war for five years?," saidNahla Arishi, a Yemeni pediatrician in Aden.

According to the report, about 18 percent of the country's 33 districts have no doctors,with several people having died as they waited in hospital lobbies.

Earlier this month, a Yemeni doctor chronicled his experiencein The New Humanitarian, detailing how the virus had effected the southern port city of Aden.

"I never expected to see what is happening right now, here in Aden. The situation is insane. People are falling down, one by one, like dominoes," he said.

"People are still afraid, and they hate to hear the name of the virus. Even some medical staff wont say it in public, like it's cursed."

Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014 when the Houthis, a rebel group traditionally based in the north, took over the capital, Sanaa, and large parts of the country.

The conflict deepened in March 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in a bid to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The ongoing war has devastated the country, with about 80 percent of the population - 24 million people - requiring some form of humanitarian or protection assistance, according to UNOCHA.

Go here to read the rest:

Coronavirus in Yemen: Almost 100 health-care workers have died from Covid-19 - Middle East Eye

Waiver affecting advance health care directives set to expire – Morganton News Herald

Posted on by

RALEIGH A temporary waiver approved in May giving people additional flexibility in preparing living wills and health care powers of attorney is set to end on July 31.

These two directives have traditionally required notarization and the signatures of two witnesses. Senate Bill 704 was signed into law on May 4, giving people the additional flexibility of waiving the two witness signatures. Filers now have through July 31 to prepare their directives with only a notary acknowledgment.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall notes that advance directives are more important now than ever.

Weve long known how important it is for each of us to have directives such as living wills and health care powers of attorney, and the COVID pandemic has sadly made that need more urgent. If youre in a nursing home or being admitted to the hospital, its more difficult now for your loved ones to visit, making advance communication of your wishes vital.

Emergency video notarizations will be available to people preparing their advance directives until March 1, 2021.

The Secretary of States Office maintains a secure, online registry for advance health care directives. Directives filed on the registry are accessible 24-7 from any place with an internet connection. Only people who have your file number and password can access your directives, so its advisable to carry your registry card in your wallet and make copies for anyone that you want to have access to your directives in an emergency.

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

See more here:

Waiver affecting advance health care directives set to expire - Morganton News Herald

Adding COVID-19 to the informed consent process: A Q&A for health care providers – JD Supra

Posted on by

As states reopen and health care providers resume their pre-COVID-19 health care activities, there are many new questions. One of the questions on many health care providers minds is how to minimize their risk should a patient be exposed to COVID-19 while seeking medical care. While implementing effective infection prevention and control practices is the first line of defense for risk mitigation, health care providers should also consider supplementing their informed consent process to include information about COVID-19 risks. Below are some frequently asked questions related to updating the informed consent process.

Should patients be advised of risks related to COVID-19 before obtaining medical care?

While there may be few individuals in the United States today who are not aware of COVID-19, including a discussion of the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the informed consent process can serve the dual purpose of (1) ensuring patients understand these risks before they consent to receive care, and (2) mitigating the risk of liability to health care providers should a patient allege they were exposed to COVID-19 while seeking medical care from that health care provider.

Legally and ethically, health care providers have an obligation to obtain a patients informed consent before providing treatment. When informed consent is properly obtained, patients are provided with the information necessary to make informed decisions regarding care. Failure to obtain informed consent can result in liability for the provider.

The applicable statutes, regulations and case law related to informed consent vary by state and type of provider; however, the laws generally require the following:

If one or more of the identified risks occurs, a patients informed consent can serve as a defense for health care providers who face allegations that the occurrence resulted from the providers negligence. How courts evaluate claims involving lack of informed consent varies across jurisdictions, but courts generally require that a patient prove that he or she would not have consented to care or treatment if he or she had been informed of the risks.

With respect to COVID-19, including information about the risks of exposure to COVID-19 in the informed consent process can significantly reduce the risk that a patient will prevail in a claim that he or she contracted COVID-19 while obtaining health care services.

What should informed consent for COVID-19 include?

When updating an informed consent process to address COVID-19, health care providers should consider including the following information:

Should COVID-19 related risks be included in the informed consent in all health care settings?

Each provider must evaluate the need to include COVID-19 related risks on a case-by-case basis. Because of the nature of the virus, risk of COVID-19 exposure is relevant for most, if not all, in-person care settings. However, including information about COVID-19 in the informed consent process would be particularly important for elective procedures or care that could be provided through alternative means (e.g., virtual visits) where patients could reasonably and safely decide to avoid the risk of in-person care.

Should I include a waiver of liability?

Probably not. Waivers of liability are difficult to enforce and can raise ethical issues.

Dont I have immunity from liability from recent legislation?

In certain circumstances, yes. However, immunity protections are limited. Recent federal legislation related to provider immunity is generally limited to COVID-19 specific tests and treatment, or only available for a limited time. For example, the federal PREP Act protects licensed health care professionals who prescribe, administer or dispense covered countermeasures such as drugs and devices approved to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19. The PREP Act does not protect against allegations that a patient contracted COVID-19 while seeking non-COVID related medical care and offers no protection against willful misconduct.

At the state level, not all states have adopted immunity protections and among those states that have adopted protections, the scope varies.

Will informed consent protect me from gross negligence?

No. Informed consent may not help a provider who has been grossly negligent such as failing to take standard precautions to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 (which standard precautions are also likely to be required by other relevant governmental agencies and regulatory bodies).

View post:

Adding COVID-19 to the informed consent process: A Q&A for health care providers - JD Supra

Wilton gets windfall in healthcare savings – The Wilton Bulletin

Posted on by

Wiltons employee unions agreed to switch healthcare plans that will save the town more than a half-million dollars.

Wiltons employee unions agreed to switch healthcare plans that will save the town more than a half-million dollars.

Photo: Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

Wiltons employee unions agreed to switch healthcare plans that will save the town more than a half-million dollars.

Wiltons employee unions agreed to switch healthcare plans that will save the town more than a half-million dollars.

Wilton gets windfall in healthcare savings

WILTON The town is expecting to achieve big savings in healthcare costs, which could positively impact two budget lines that were reduced for the new fiscal year.

As of July 1, town employees transitioned from the towns self-insured plan with Anthem to the State Partnership Plan for employee health care.

The switch is expected to result in an approximate $600,000 in savings, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice told the Board of Selectmen at a meeting on July 21.

The state health plan covers police, fire, parks and grounds and administrative town union employees as well as non-union town employees.

The plan is a win-win for employees and the town. I want to thank our union leadership and membership, along with Wiltons director of human resources and administration. They all worked collaboratively and expeditiously to make this happen, Vanderslice said.

She told the board in April that Anthem was expected to go up 12.25 percent if the town stayed with its self-insured plan, so she worked with the town employee unions to transition to the state plan.

In anticipation of the switch, $300,000 of the $600,000 savings was already reflected in the FY2021 approved budget.

This assisted the Board of Selectmen in achieving a FY2021 budget which was 1.77 percent lower than our FY2020 budget, Vanderslice said.

She said the selectmen will discuss in August whether any of the additional savings should be used to reinstate some of the funding reductions to the FY2021 Wilton Library and Trackside grants.

pgay@wiltonbulletin.com

Read the original here:

Wilton gets windfall in healthcare savings - The Wilton Bulletin

Why More Than 40,000 People Tune Into This Maternity Healthcare App Each Month – Forbes

Posted on by

Alba Padro (left) and Maria Berruezo (right), co-founders of the maternity healthcare app, LactApp.

After witnessing a high demand for fertility and maternity guidance, two women developed an app that now boasts over 40,000 monthly users and responds to approximately 90,000 questions each week.

Created by two women in Spain, LactApp is changing the game in maternal healthcare by offering peri and post-natal information with the ease of a click and a swipe. Loaded with thousands of responses to common questions, profiles tailored to each baby, a plethora of breastfeeding techniques and more, the goal is to maximize knowledge and ensure safe and effective care for both mother and baby, according to its founders, Alba Padro and Maria Berruezo.

Alba and Maria met years ago at a local breastfeeding group after Maria, who had recently given birth, sought Albas expert help with breastfeeding. Alba, a certified lactation consultant, was popular among new mothers and for years had guided people in person and over the phonesometimes responding to 30 calls in one day. The two women formed a close bond and Maria found Albas knowledge invaluable.

It was then that she told her, Alba, I want to download your brain into my phone and put it in my pocket.

The women embarked on a mission to digitize Albas knowledge and spent over a year writing all the material. In 2016, after trial and error with program development, LactApp was born. A motherhood guide with tips and in-depth support for every stage from pre-pregnancy to post-partum, the app is available for download on iPhone and Android. The Apple watch version launches next week. Unlike a basic internet search, information and responses to inquiries are not general; theyre scientifically supported and tailored to each individual depending on the babys age, weight and health conditions. With most of its 40,000 users millennials, LactApps openness and quick delivery are shifting the discourse in maternal healthcare and what it means to take charge of ones body.

With a $70 billion per year formula industry, sometimes its hard for women to trust old-fashioned breastfeeding, Alba said. The industry and its advertising make women think that formula is superior to their own bodies. This hesitation is reflected in some womens questions, such as Can I even breastfeed? Nevertheless, LactApp is going strong. Alba explains this as the millennial model, where people find their own information before rushing to a doctor.

A mother may submit the question, Is my baby ready to eat solids? LactApp analyzes that particular babys profile and asks targeted questions before delivering a response. The app caters to mothers as well. Women frequently turn to LactApp to ask about fertility and bodily changes that occur during or after their pregnancies, such as, whether they can breastfeed while trying to get pregnant again, breast pain and infection, menstruation following birth and more. Its essentially a one-on-one consultation with a specialist without the hassle of in-person visits or long periods of uncertainty.

I wanted every woman in the world to have the same help I got, Maria said.

The company offers more than responding to written questions, they explained. The apps videos detail the proper way to breastfeed, and mothers can send their own videos to verify if theyre on the right track. The LactApp team may then advise to raise the babys head higher, or turn it more to the side, for instance.

What the mother wants, we help them reach [it], Maria said.

Word of mouth and social medianamely the 80,000 followers on LactApps official Instagram page has drawn users from around the world. In the early development stages, Alba and Maria contributed their own money and obtained a government loan. Last year they received $400,000 from investors along with three grants to further research breast diseases such as lactation mastitis. LactApp has been free for users, but the company is currently testing a monetization strategy that takes payments directly through the app. The dynamic pay model allows users to select an amount to pay if they are satisfied with the virtual service they received.

LactApp is available in English and Spanish and free to download worldwide. With its high participant rate, the company has maximized its resources by generating automatic responses for 95% of its inquiries. The other 5% still requires a LactApp specialist, often a nurse, midwife, doula, lactation specialist or other professional among their team of ten people to assess questions and respond.

It was originally intended for mothers but due to high demand from healthcare professionals, LactApp extended its reach by providing a separate category exclusively for healthcare workers. Today approximately 4,000 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives and lactation consultants utilize the app to obtain second opinions and gather other maternity tips to share with their patients.

The women wont stop there. Shortly after they launched LactApp, Alba published a book on breastfeeding. Last year the two opened their first clinic in Barcelona. With courses and support in nutrition, midwifery, psychology, pelvic floor exercises and lactation, it serves as a holistic womens center. The company is also affiliated with a university offering postgraduate education in healthcare. The 100-student diploma program in advanced lactation is designed for health professionals and directed by Alba and Maria. It quickly sold out last year and they plan to teach again in the upcoming semester, this time online.

Follow this link:

Why More Than 40,000 People Tune Into This Maternity Healthcare App Each Month - Forbes

CMS reports a slight increase in effectuated enrollment for early 2020 – Healthcare Finance News

Posted on by

About 10.7 million people had active policies under the federally-facilitated Health Insurance Exchange in early 2020, an increase from the year before.

On Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its Early 2020 Effectuated Enrollment Report, finding that the number of consumers who enrolled, paid and had coverage as of March 15, 2020, increased about 1% from 10.6 million during the same time last year.

This year, roughly 94% of consumers who made plan selections during open enrollment ended up paying their first month's premium.

The average monthly premium decreased from $594.17 in February 2019 to $576.16 in February 2020.

About 86% of this year's enrollees received an advance premium tax credit (APTC) to lower the cost of their premiums, a 1% decrease from last year.

With an APTC, the average monthly premium in 2020 was $491.53, compared to 2019, which saw average premiums with an APTC of $514.01.

Later this year, CMS plans to publish effectuated enrollment data for the first six months of 2020, which will include updated February 2020 enrollment data.

WHY THIS MATTERS

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was designed to make affordable health insurance available to more people, especially those who do not have access to affordable insurance through an employer and who do not qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program.

CMS confirmed that for the third year in a row, enrollment has remained steady. Enrollment for the rest of the year, however, may increase due to COVID-19 related unemployment.

An estimated 10 million people will likely lose their employer-sponsored health insurance as a result of pandemic-related job loss. Of those, projections show that 3.3 million will regain employer-sponsored insurance by being added to a family member's policy, 2.8 million people will enroll in Medicaid, and 600,000 consumers will enroll in the individual market, mainly via the ACA marketplace. Still, 3.5 million people will become uninsured.

THE LARGER TREND

Despite the steady enrollment in the federally-facilitated Health Insurance Exchange, the Trump administration has tried to dismantle the ACA.

In June, it filed a brief with the Supreme Court to invalidate the law, which would result in millions of Americans losing their healthcare coverage.

As an alternative, the Trump administration has pushed for the sale of short-term limited-duration insurance plans as a less expensive health plan. This month, an appeals court ruled that the sale of plans that don't comply with the ACA can continue because they are neither contrary to law nor arbitrary and capricious.

Twitter:@HackettMalloryEmail the writer:mhackett@himss.org

Read the original here:

CMS reports a slight increase in effectuated enrollment for early 2020 - Healthcare Finance News

CVS Health Encouraging Individuals to Prioritize Primary Health Care Needs – Pharmacy Times

Posted on by

Time for Care, a campaign reinforcing the importance of accessing primary health care, has been launched by CVS Health to remind Americans of the importance of prioritizing their health during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the company.

"While we remain focused on reducing the spread of COVID-19, we also need to make sure that we're encouraging people to get the care they need to avoid worse health outcomes in the future particularly people with chronic health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease," saidGarth Graham, MD, MPH, Vice President, Community Health and Chief Community Health Officer for CVS Health, in a prepared statement. "The Time for Care campaign drives that message home while reminding everyone of the precautions they can take to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

A national television ad was launched as a part of the Time for Care campaign, along with a microsite, digital content, and Aetna member program components that address concerns for people with chronic health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as specific health issues such as high-risk pregnancies due to preeclampsia.

The campaign was based off results of a national survey conducted by Aetna and Morning Consult among 4400 Americans to identify barriers to accessing care amid the pandemic. Some of the key highlights include:

See original here:

CVS Health Encouraging Individuals to Prioritize Primary Health Care Needs - Pharmacy Times

Minorities born in the 1980s at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 – WAVY.com

Posted on by

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the death rate for a Black American who is 55 years old is about the same as the death rate for a white person who is 65 years old. The death rate for 65-year-old African-American mirrors the rate for a 75-year-old white American.

The new information becomes more alarming when you examine the death rates for minorities who were born in the 1980s.

Middle-aged minorities are six times more likely to die from COVID-19. At age 44, minorities are eight times more likely to die from COVID-19, and at the age of 35, the death rate is 10 times higher.

For the past three decades, Norfolk-based Nurse Practitioner Olivia Newby has sounded the alarm about co-morbidity factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. She is particularly concerned about the health of Black women.

The National Institutes of Health indicates four out of five African-American women are obese, said Newby. WebMD describes obesity as a condition in which an adults Body Mass Index or BMI is 30 or more.

The Brookins report also says where minorities work, such as factories, warehouses, and shipyards where distancing is difficult can also play a role in infection rates. Where and how minorities live plays a role, said Newby.

[Researchers] are looking at the social economics. They are also looking at for a family to quarantine, to separate the type of housing where they live, said Newby.

Newby is calling on minorities to take action now to beat the COVID-19 odds and the next pandemic. That action involves exercise and adding more plants to a diet while reducing the consumption of meat.

Eat less food [like] animals that walk on the ground and eat foods that come from the ground, said Newby. She operates the Healthy Living Center near Norfolk State University where members of the community can learn more about nutrition and fitness to combat disease.

Contact the center at http://www.hlcnorfolk.com to learn more about the program.

Continued here:
Minorities born in the 1980s at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 - WAVY.com

Vegan Cheese Market expected size Witness a Sustainable Growth over COVID-19 2028 – Kentucky Journal 24

Posted on by

The worldwide market forvegan cheeseis anticipated to proceed with its sturdy development because of the developing trend of veganism, combined with the expanding customer awareness about the medical advantages related with cholesterol-free vegetarian cheese utilization. The worldwide market is anticipated to record a CAGR ofXX% amid the figured time frame 2018-2028, The market for vegan cheese is likely to proceed with its leading run as a requirement for plant-based products keeps on rising. Developing lactose intolerance predominance is turning into an imperative factor that is driving the development of this market.

Request for Report Sample:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12581

Veganism that was once considered as a fashion that will go by is beginning to run standard with millennial fuelling the trend. Developing concerns regarding animal welfare and expanded awareness with respect to the maintainability offered by the vegetarian food sector are the foremost aspects helping the advancement of veganism. Besides, expanding concerns about health problems relating to the utilization of dairy products is further impacting buyers to opt for vegetarian items. Vegan products endorsement and the presentation of various new chains by sports personalities and celebrities are further causing an expansion in the requirement for vegetarian products around the globe. To benefit from the developing need for vegan cheese, foremost fast food companies, for example, MacDonalds and Dominos have just begun serving vegan pizzas, burgers, and other vegan inexpensive food items. Further, an expanding number of retail and grocery stores are starting to sell distinctive assortments of vegan cheese.

Based on the product type, the worldwide market is segmented as mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, cheddar, and cream cheese. In terms of the product form, the worldwide market is segmented as shreds, wedges and blocks, and slices. By end-use industry, the worldwide market is segmented as food processing, foodservice, and household and retail. In terms of the source, the worldwide market is segmented as almond, coconut, cashew, soy, and other types such as pine nuts. By distribution channel, the worldwide market is segmented as indirect sales and direct sales.

Region-wise, North America will continue as at the dominant region in the worldwide market due to the accessibility of progressed making and manufacturing facilities in the region. The sales in this region will keep on proliferating due to the increasing need for good ready-to-eat snacks. Moreover, the sales are anticipated to expand by related lines in Western Europe & the region will gain a remarkable market share in the predictablefuture. A rise in disposable income, as well as increasing awareness concerning health, will guide the growth of the MEA and APEJ regional market for vegan cheese.

The foremost companies functioning in the worldwide market are Nush, Tesco Free From, Mad Millie, Go Veggie, UPrise Foods and other.

More Info of ImpactCovid19@https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/12581

Link:
Vegan Cheese Market expected size Witness a Sustainable Growth over COVID-19 2028 - Kentucky Journal 24

Donald Trump backtracks on the full reopening of US schools – Euronews

Posted on by

Donald Trump said schools in US coronavirus hotspots "may need to delay reopening for a few weeks" as he spoke at a White House press conference on Thursday, adding that the decision will fall on local governors.

The move marks a slight shift from his previous positions, as the US president claimed in recent weeks that it was safe to reopen schools and that students needed to return so their parents could go back to work - denouncing an attempt by the Democrats to block this for allegedly political reasons.

His push has at times put him at odds with his own health officials.

Earlier this month, he said school guidelines from the US health agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were too tough, prompting the agency to update its guidance on Thursday.

The CDC did not appear to remove any of its earlier suggestions, but its website emphasises the importance of reopening schools, echoing many of Trump's arguments.

"School closure disrupts the delivery of in-person instruction and critical services to children and families, which has negative individual and societal ramifications," it reads.

"The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children, at least in areas with low community transmission, and suggests that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus."

The updated guidance lays out a range of measures depending on the level of spread. If there's minimal or moderate spread, it recommends social distancing, masks and increased sanitation.

But in areas with substantive and uncontrolled spread, school closures should be an important consideration.

However, some of the nation's largest districts, like Los Angeles and San Diego, have already ruled out reopening schools, while New York City plans to offer a mix of online and in-person instruction.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said that students should be in the classroom every day if their families want and that any alternative fails students and taxpayers.

In many states, education leaders said the lack of funding to implement safety measures is preventing students from returning to school.

Trump on Thursday said he's asking Congress to provide some 90 billion in education funding as part of the next virus relief bill, with the aim to help schools reducing class sizes, hire teachers, rearrange spaces and provide masks.

Read the rest here:

Donald Trump backtracks on the full reopening of US schools - Euronews

Mary Trump’s book likely outsells ‘Art of the Deal’ in first week – Business Insider – Business Insider

Posted on by

During its first week, Mary Trump's tell-all book about her uncle, Donald Trump, has sold over 1.3 million copies across all formats, the publisher, Simon & Schuster, said a statement.

"Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" discusses the Trump family as a whole, with Mary Trump writing about how the president's childhood and parents led him to be the divisive leader he is today.

The book makes a number of shocking claims, including that Donald Trump cheated on his SAT by having someone else take the exam.

The book will be receiving a 17th printing because of high demand, bringing the total of hardcover copies to 1.35 million. The Los Angeles Times reported that the book set a first-day-sales record for Simon & Schuster.

This hardcover book has likely done better in hardcover sales than Donald Trump's most popular book "Trump: The Art of the Deal."

Trump has claimed that that book is "the best-selling business book of all time."

As of 2016, the book has sold 1.1 million copies since its release in 1987, CBS News reported, citing a source familiar with the book's sales.

Donald Trump's brother tried to ban the release of the book, arguing it was an "attempt to sensationalize and mischaracterize our family," a person familiar with the matter told The New York Times.

It's not uncommon for tell-all books about the Trump administration to have strong first-week sales.

"The Room Where It Happened" the memoir by former national-security adviser John Bolton sold 780,000 copies its first week in production.

See the rest here:

Mary Trump's book likely outsells 'Art of the Deal' in first week - Business Insider - Business Insider

These 5 words may cost Trump a second term – CNN

Posted on by

"I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."

Even at the time, those words were odd. Trump was casting himself as the only person in America -- a nation of 330 million people -- who could fix the problems with inequity? Who could bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots? Who could make the country more, well, equal?

Almost four years to the day since Trump made the "I alone can fix it" claim, it now appears more likely than not that those five words will be the lead of his political obituary.

See, the problem with very publicly claiming that you are the only person in the country who can fix the problems that face the country is that when problems arise in the country, people expect you to fix them. Because, well, you said you would. Literally.

Now, there's no way Trump -- or anyone else -- could have known that we would be dealing with a global pandemic the likes of which we haven't seen in more than a hundred years when he said what he said at the Republican National Convention in 2016.

But since at least January, it was clear that a) Covid-19 was dangerous and b) it was very likely to wind up in the US. Despite that reality, Trump spent much of the late winter and early spring downplaying the threat.

Trump's downplaying of the threat did not solve the problem. In fact, his resistance to wearing a mask and his pressure campaign on governors to reopen their states and, now, to reopen schools in the fall, have made things objectively worse.

Far from being the only one who can solve this biggest problem facing the country, Trump has proven to many people over these past few months that he was -- and is -- simply not the right person to lead America through this sort of crisis.

That realization might have doomed his reelection chances no matter what. But that Trump voluntarily put himself forward as fixer-in-chief makes his botched handling of the coronavirus crisis all the more stark, and all the more damaging to his chances of getting reelected in November.

Continued here:

These 5 words may cost Trump a second term - CNN

Donald Trump Explains Why No Medical Experts Are At Coronavirus Briefings: I Am Giving The Information To You – Deadline

Posted on by

Donald Trump again held a press briefing focused on the coronavirus crisis, and he again went solo: No Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House task force on the pandemic, and no medical experts.

Asked by CNNs Kaitlin Collins on Wednesday why they were not present, Trump said, They are briefing me. I am meeting them. I just spoke to Dr. [Anthony] Fauci. Dr. [Deborah] Birx is right outside. And they are giving me everything they know as of this point in time and I am giving the information to you, and it seems to be a very concise way of doing it. It seems to be working out very well.

Fauci is the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Birx is the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House task force.

Related StoryJoe Biden And Barack Obama Debut New Video Where They Chide Donald Trump For Taking 'No Responsibility'

On Tuesday, Trump held his first coronavirus briefing since April, acknowledging the rising number of cases around the country means that the pandemic may get worse before it gets better, while encouraging Americans to wear masks and socially distance. Like his briefing today, the president appeared alone at the lectern.

That is a contrast to the briefings last spring, when figures like Fauci and Birx, along with Pence and others, would give remarks and answer questions from reporters.

Trump said the medical experts are very much involved. The relationships are all very good.

There has been much attention to the friction between the White House and Fauci, who has become somewhat of a celebrity in his own right as a ubiquitous medical voice on the crisis. Peter Navarro, Trumps trade adviser, published an op-ed in USA Today discrediting Fauci, and the president told Fox News Chris Wallace that the infectious diseases doctor was a little bit of an alarmist.

Wednesdays briefing also was notable for its length 22 minutes, a contrast to some of the marathons from the spring, which stretched to more than two hours. The abbreviated format left little time for the president to get into tussles with reporters.

With Trumps poll numbers sagging, including on the question of how hes handling the coronavirus crisis, his return to the briefings is a way for him to garner the spotlight at a more opportune time: the early evening, just as broadcast and cable news networks are leading into their evening newscasts and signature nightly shows. Earlier this week, Trump boasted of getting record numbers watching.

The president also touted a new deal that the administration reached with Pfizer for the delivery of 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Although the vaccines have not been found safe an effective, the idea is to get production in place so that there can be a speedy deployment once that happens.

Trump also did have a chance to make one of his superlative declarations. A reporter had asked him about Joe Bidens comment from earlier in the day, in which he said that Trump was the first racist to get elected president.

After talking about employment, opportunity zones and criminal justice reform, Trump responded, Ive said this and I say it openly, and not a lot of people dispute it, I have done more for Black Americans that anybody with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.Nobody has even been close.

Read this article:

Donald Trump Explains Why No Medical Experts Are At Coronavirus Briefings: I Am Giving The Information To You - Deadline

Trump Cancels Republican Party Convention in Florida – Voice of America

Posted on by

WHITE HOUSE - Citing safety concerns, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he is pulling the plug on next months Republican Party convention in Jacksonville, Floridaa coronavirus hot spot.

Due to the flare-up in Florida it is not the right time to have a big convention, Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room on Thursday. I have to protect the American people. Thats what Ive always done. Thats what I always will do. Thats what Im about.

About 330 delegates will still meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the formal nomination of Trump as the Republican candidate for president.

Trump said it remains to be determined where he will make his acceptance speech which had been scheduled for Jacksonville on August 27 and that the other events will be replaced with tele-rallies.

Asked by a reporter what compelled him to totally cancel the Florida event, the president replied: I would just say safety. Just safety. I could see the media saying, Oh, this is very unsafe.

Trump said thousands of his supporters wanted to attend and were in the process of making travel arrangements.

About 10,000 people had been expected, which would have been a small fraction of the attendance at such a major political event in a normal year.

Planning for the event in Florida had been hampered by anemic fund-raising from prospective sponsors. Many potential attendees were worried about health risks, and local officials expressed concern to Trumps campaign about the difficulty of providing enough resources and personnel to safely host the event.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams posted a joint statement shortly after the presidents remarks.

We appreciate President Donald Trump considering our public health and safety concerns in making this incredibly difficult decision, Curry and Williams said in a joint statement after the White House announcement. As always, in Jacksonville, public safety is our number one priority. President Trump has once again reaffirmed his commitment to the safety of Jacksonville, Florida, and the people of the United States of America.

Florida on Thursday announced 173 additional COVID-19 fatalities, the most of any day throughout the coronavirus pandemic. More than 5,600 people have died in the state from COVID-19 and nearly 400,000 have been infected.

Across the United States, 4 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 144,000 have died the most reported by any country.

Coronavirus briefing

The surprise announcement of the conventions cancellation came at the start of the presidents coronavirus briefing, a gathering before the press he revived this week after a hiatus.

As has been the case this week, Trump did not share the podium with any members of the White House coronavirus task force, although Dr. Deborah Birx was seated on the side of the briefing room.

The president again blamed the outbreak of the virus on China, where the first cases were reported in late December of last year.

Its a different world and it will be for a little while, acknowledged Trump, who has been criticized for playing down for months the seriousness of the virus.

Trump emphasized that despite the concerns of educators and parents across the country, it is important for students to return to classroom education as soon as feasible.

Schools have to open safely. They have to open,"said the president, who noted that children are significantly less prone to get sick or die from COVID-19 than adults.

Most schools in the United States begin the academic year in late August or early September. Many are already delaying that timetable and choosing to hold some or all classes online amid the pandemic.

School districts located in coronavirus hot spots may need to delay reopening for a few weeks. Thats possible. Thatll be up to governors, said the president.

Read the original:

Trump Cancels Republican Party Convention in Florida - Voice of America

Ghislaine Maxwell hit reset button on Trump history with women – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

At President Trumps news conference Tuesday, which was supposed to be about COVID-19, he was asked an easy question. Not about the pandemic. Not about reopening schools. About Ghislaine Maxwell, alleged accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison by suicide one year ago, or so official reports say, before he could be tried on sex trafficking charges.

Maxwell was arrested this month and now sits in jail in Brooklyn, accused of helping Epstein recruit, groom and sexually abuse underage girls.

A reporter asked Trump whether Maxwell might implicate any of the famous men in Epsteins circle. Prince Andrew, say. Or Bill Clinton.

All Trump had to do was go boilerplate: These allegations against Maxwell are very serious, he could have said, and I hope justice is done. If that was too difficult, why not take a shot at Clinton, who traveled with Epstein and hosted Maxwell at his daughter Chelseas wedding.

But the president couldnt muster anything that suggested he disapproves of sexually abusing children. Instead, he sent his regards to Maxwell. Best wishes to Ghislaine, who has pleaded not guilty, as she stews in jail.

Trump, as he helpfully reminded the briefing room, was Epsteins and Maxwells neighbor in Palm Beach. After Epstein was first convicted, of soliciting a child for prostitution, the president claimed that their friendship had been over for years. But Trump once called Epstein a terrific guy, and as for Maxwell, I just wish her well, frankly, Trump said Tuesday.

I wish her well, he repeated.

Prosecutor Twitter started to pop off.

I can think of four times when Trump has publicly extended his best wishes to people charged with federal crimes by DOJ: Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and now Ghislaine Maxwell, tweeted former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig.

What do Stone (convicted felon), Flynn (pleaded guilty to a felony) and Manafort (convicted felon) have in common? Theyre all people Trump has had a powerful interest in silencing.

Trumps mob-style verbal thuggery with witnesses and rivals is well known. Remember what he said about Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine? Shes going to go through some things.

But he uses carrots, too. Blowing Maxwell figurative kisses, the Twitterverse suggested, could be a way to signal that he has her back.

As early as the 1980s, Trump and Epstein swam in the same social pool, as the Washington Post put it. Epstein long bragged that he introduced Trump to his current wife, Melania.

In 1992, the Epstein and Trump were the sole male guests at a Mar-a-Lago party with 28 young women who had been flown in for entertainment. Video from another 1992 Mar-a-Lago party surfaced last year showing the two men appraising NFL cheerleaders and Trump pawing at one. Epstein, Trump told New York magazine in 2002, likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.

Trump has never been implicated in Epsteins terrible history, detailed in Julie K. Browns omnibus expos last year in the Miami Herald. On Thursday, White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, was at pains to point out that the president was ahead of this, banning this man from his property long before this case was even being played out in a court of law.

And yet Trumps sympathy for Maxwell not only put the two men together again in peoples minds; it also hit the refresh button on the presidents five decades of leering, exploitative history with women.

You may think youve heard enough about Trumps genital-grabbing, but dont go numb.

One late-breaking charge came a year ago, when journalist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York City department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump denied knowing Carroll though a photo of the two together exists and went after her on Twitter. Carroll filed suit against him for defamation. She has asked Trump for a DNA sample to see if it matches substances on the dress she says she wore the day she encountered him at Bergdorf Goodman. His lawyers have sought to delay the proceedings.

Carrolls is just one of many womens stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment at Trumps hands. A group of beauty-pageant contestants say he barged into their dressing rooms while they were in various states of undress. Porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal say they had affairs with him, then got paid, one way or another, for their silence.

Trump denies it all, but there are those canceled checks Michael Cohen produced in court, and back in the day, Trump boasted to Howard Stern that he could sort of get away with the beauty-queen break-ins (and more) because he owned the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. On the infamous grab-them-by-the-genitals Access Hollywood tape, the man who is now president says, When youre a star, they let you do it.

For four years, Trump has hoped that with payoffs, aggressive attorneys and Twitter intimidation he can avoid real consequences for his history of adultery, ritual humiliation of women, harassment and sexual abuse.

But its all in plain sight.

@page88

The rest is here:

Ghislaine Maxwell hit reset button on Trump history with women - Los Angeles Times

Donald Trump is the reason COVID-19 is out of control – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

To the editor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) make the case that we need a commission to obtain answers as to how this COVID-19 crisis grew in our country and how we can better prepare for such a crisis in the future.

I contend that the answer was clear the moment Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016: By selecting Trump, the American people had chosen to turn the presidency into an on-the-job training position.

This serves to answer both how we stumbled into our current crisis and how to better prepare for future problems. The presidency requires, among other traits, emotional and intellectual intelligence; it also requires prior government service.

Our current president has none of these.

Gary Valdez, San Diego

..

To the editor: With deep appreciation for Feinstein and Schiff, I believe the last thing we need is another congressional commission with more hearings on COVID-19.

Such media blame games may help elected officials go on record with sound bites for their constituents, but the answer to how we bring the virus under control is obvious and immediate: Review every step of the Trump administrations response to our pandemic, and do the absolute opposite next time.

Loretta Redd, Santa Barbara

..

To the editor: I heartily agree with Feinstein and Schiff on the need for a thorough investigation into the governments handling of the coronavirus disaster. I also agree that the 9/11 Commission provides an excellent model for that investigation.

Careful deliberation is in order. Following the 9/11 attacks, Congress acted in haste and left us with some of the mechanisms now being used by the forces of reaction. Both the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and the odious Patriot Act were passed overwhelmingly by Congress in the time between the attacks in 2001 and when the 9/11 Commission issued its report.

These acts now give the Trump administration much of the legal cover and bureaucratic apparatus that it is using against free speech in Portland, Ore., and other places. Both Sen. Feinstein and Rep. Schiff voted for these measures. (Then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, in contrast, voted with the tiny, principled minority against both.)

I urge the authors to exert themselves to abolish the Department of Homeland Security, repeal the Patriot Act and reclaim the power of Congress under Article I of the Constitution.

Michael Deck, Altadena

Read more:

Donald Trump is the reason COVID-19 is out of control - Los Angeles Times

US scientists rebuke Trump over coronavirus response and other affronts – The Guardian

Posted on by

More than 1,200 members of the US National Academy of Sciences have rebuked Donald Trumps denigration of scientific expertise, an unusual move for a community which has historically avoided the political sphere.

The co-organizers of an open letter seeking to restore science-based policy in government say they have rapidly gained signatures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Scientists have watched the Trump administration downplay the crisis and ignore expert advice, including the need to wear masks and the dangers of using unproven drugs.

In the latest affront to the scientific world, the White House is reportedly seeking to block funding for testing and tracing, which scientists widely agree is critical to slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, Trump called the nations top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, a little bit of an alarmist.

The open letter began as a response to Trumps refusal to accept and act on warnings from climate scientists. In September 2016, 378 academy members wrote that withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement would have negative consequences for the worlds climate system and for US leadership and credibility.

In April 2018, more than 1,000 scientists signed a version of the letter which warned that Trumps dismissal of scientific evidence in policy formulation has affected wide areas of the social, biological, environmental and physical sciences.

The three organizers have since invited members who joined NAS in 2019 and 2020 to sign on to the letter. More than 62% did, bringing the total to 1,220 out of a membership of about 2,900. Some of the signatories work in government or have federal grants but felt compelled to add their names despite professional risks.

Benjamin Santer, a climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a co-organizer, said the administration has changedwhat it means to be a scientist in America.

We no longer have the luxury, in my opinion, of retreating to our offices and closing the door and hoping bad stuff will go away, he said. Thats a singularly poor survival strategy when youre facing a global pandemic or global climate change. Bad stuff isnt going to go away.

The academy which was formed during the civil war exists to provide independent, objective advice to the nation. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding research contributions. About 500 current and deceased members have won Nobel Prizes.

Charles Manski, the second co-organizer, an economist at Northwestern University, acknowledged that some might view the letter as political but said the scientists do not. They just want policy to be informed by the best possible information.

Its one thing for the political establishment not to respond very well to a crisis that happens around the world, Manski said. Its quite another thing to be actively denigrating the science and making things up routinely.

Trump has recently attacked guidelines for school reopening from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calling them expensive and impractical.

In response, four former directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, warning that public health experts face two opponents: Covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine their work.

These repeated efforts to subvert sound public health guidelines introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk, they said.

The Trump administration has ignored or silenced science so many times that the Union of Concerned Scientists maintains an archive of incidents. They range from contradicting hurricane forecasting to dismantling health protections at pork processing plants.

Ray Weymann, the third co-organizer of the open letter and a retired astronomer and astrophysicist, said frustration with the coronavirus response is just the latest reason scientists are signing.

Every single week practically you hear about scientists being dismissed or relocated and key positions not being filled, he said. Over the last two years this feeling just built up more and more and it was really highlighted by the pandemic.

See the original post:

US scientists rebuke Trump over coronavirus response and other affronts - The Guardian

Donald Trump’s assault on the WHO is deeply worrying for global health – The Guardian

Posted on by

The campaign by the Trump administration against the World Health Organization has often seemed faintly preposterous.

Over the months of the coronavirus pandemic its untruths and hyperbole have been dismissed by many as iterations of Trumpspeak, whose main purpose has been to distract from the USs catastrophic response to Covid-19, which has claimed almost 140,000 lives and devastated the economy.

In recent weeks, however, the actions of the Trump administration have moved from dodgy dossiers and fake claims to a far more sinister agenda, and one with real world consequences that may result in more lives lost, not least in the developing world.

After announcing the withdrawal of the US from the WHO, secretary of state Mike Pompeo has levelled an extraordinary series of accusations against the global health bodys head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, denouncing him to a private meeting of British MPs as essentially an agent of Beijing and suggesting the WHO was responsible for British deaths.

Coming hard on the heels of the Trump administrations successful pressure to push the Chinese firm Huawei out of this countrys 5G network, the suspicion must be that the US is now lobbying for support from the UK for its destructive line against the UN health body.

This matters for multiple reasons. The WHO bureaucratic, inefficient and slow-moving as it can be serves a fundamental purpose as the primary clearing house on health issues worldwide, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, acting as the first line of defence in serious disease outbreaks such as the current pandemic.

It works for global reproductive health and rights, for the eradication of preventable childhood diseases such as measles, and in the struggle against some of the worlds biggest killers, such as malaria, as well as in health education.

None of which you would recognise from Pompeos characterisation of the body as some kind of covert Chinese-influenced stooge.

Increasingly one is forced to wonder whether the animus aimed by Trump at the Ethiopian Tedros in keeping with the long history of attacks on Barack Obama is as much to do with the colour of his skin as his expertise.

On one level, the attacks reflect the denigration of science and expertise that has long been a hallmark of Trump and his senior officials, aimed too at public health experts like Anthony Fauci.

All of which has more significance coming from one of the worlds leading nations, setting a tone for populists elsewhere.

Perhaps that should not be surprising given Trumps own largely unthinking history on public health that has seen him swerve from an anti-vax position to his clumsy attempt to scoop up potential Covid-19 vaccines and treatments for US use.

On a more practical level, the US withdrawal from the UN body, as the largest donor, is already causing stresses within the organisation, forcing it to focus in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed over 620,000 lives globally on how it will operate within renewed budget constraints.

Also at risk is the future of the US scientists seconded to the WHO and collaborative work with US public health bodies like the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and others that have been asked to look at what programmes should continue.

Perhaps most serious of all is the continued and misguided assault on any notion of multilateral institutions and the rejection that there is any reciprocal benefit to wealthy nations from organisations whose substantial function is helping the worlds poorest.

But above all this is what American diplomacy looks like in the Trump era.

It is ugly, dishonest, bullying and cruel, a pathetic trade in self-serving tittle-tattle that damages not only public health around the world, but undermines Americas claim to global leadership.

Here is the original post:

Donald Trump's assault on the WHO is deeply worrying for global health - The Guardian

Trump’s pick to head Office of Personnel Management spread ‘satanic’ conspiracy theory, called Democrats party of ‘Islam’ and ‘gender-bending’ -…

Posted on by

The Trump administration announced this week the nomination of a former conservative commentator with a history of inflammatory and conspiratorial tweets to be the head of the Office of Personnel Management.

John Gibbs, the nominee, is currently the acting assistant secretary for community planning and development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he has worked for three years.

A CNN KFile review in 2018 of archived versions of Gibbs' Twitter feed showed he had spread a false conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign chairman took part in a satanic ritual. Gibbs also defended an anti-Semitic Twitter user who had been banned from the platform, and made derogatory comments about Islam and the Democratic Party.

Gibbs' Twitter feed has been set to private since 2017 and the few tweets archived and accessible to public view offer only a small glimpse of his activity on social media.

Gibbs is a former conservative commentator and software engineer who initially joined HUD as the director for the Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative. In August of 2017, he transitioned to the role of senior adviser, working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, and is now an acting assistant secretary.

OPM manages the government's workforce, serving as a human resources department for civilian employees.

Gibbs' nomination comes as the White House aggressively moves to install loyalists across the government in key positions.

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, defended Gibbs' nomination in an email to CNN.

"Instead of highlighting Mr. Gibbs' work to increase economic development programs for low-income people or his successful deployment for more than $9 billion in CARES Act funds to respond to COVID-19, the media would rather dwell on some nonsense from 2016," Deere wrote.

A spokesperson for the Democratic minority on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs said the past comments raised concerns.

"These reports raise serious concerns that should be discussed during the nomination process. Ranking Member Peters will thoroughly evaluate the record and qualifications of any nominee that comes before the committee," the spokesperson said, referring to Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat.

Aaron Jacobs, a spokesperson for Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, another Democrat on the committee, also raised concerns about Gibbs.

"Sen. Hassan has serious concerns about Mr. Gibbs's nomination to lead the Office of Personnel Management," Jacobs told CNN in an email.

On Twitter, Gibbs made multiple references to a conspiracy theory started by far-right bloggers that claimed Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta took part in a satanic ritual. The claim has repeatedly been debunked.

Tweets from Gibbs, archived on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, show him promoting the conspiracy four times between October 31 and November 5 of 2016, using the hashtag #SpiritCooking.

When radio host Wayne Dupree, who has spread Sandy Hook school shooting hoax stories, tweeted that Clinton was losing Black support because her campaign manager took part in "Satanic #SpiritCooking," Gibbs quote tweeted him, writing, "True, true, and true. #Trump #SpiritCooking #BlackLivesMatter."

In tweets from early 2016, Gibbs also blasted "cucks," a derogatory term used by the far right to insult establishment conservatives, and derided the Democratic Party for accepting Islam.

"#Twitter down big today because they banned Ricky? #FreeRicky," he wrote.

In a February 2016 tweet, Gibbs said the Democratic Party had become the party of "Islam, gender-bending, anti-police, 'u racist!' "

Link:

Trump's pick to head Office of Personnel Management spread 'satanic' conspiracy theory, called Democrats party of 'Islam' and 'gender-bending' -...

Ionescu excited to start season for Liberty . . . even in bubble – Newsday

Posted on by

There are moments, few and far between, when Sabrina Ionescu can forget just how weird the world has become.

She can forget that her friends and family will not be watching courtside Saturday when she makes her highly anticipated WNBA debut. She can forget that she is living and playing in a bubble in Bradenton, Florida, more than 1,000 miles from Brooklyn and Barclays Center, which was supposed to be her new home. She can forget almost everything but what it feels like to be with her teammates, have the ball in her hand and be doing what she has always dreamed of doing.

After two or three months of being on Zoom, just the fact that we cannot wear masks and practice and talk to each other is just great, the Liberty rookie told Newsday earlier this week. Just to have some sort of interaction makes you feel more alive.

Yes, even inside the bubble there are moments of pure joy. The biggest of those so far will be Saturday, when the WNBA tips off its COVID-19-shortened season with a game between the Liberty and Seattle Storm.

Ionescu, the college player of the year at Oregon and No. 1 overall draft pick, transcended the sports world when she spoke at Kobe and Gigi Bryants memorial service in February. If there was ever any doubt that the league expects her to be a star for years to come, it was dashed when they decided to feature the Liberty in the league-opening game.

Talk about being thrown into the line of fire. With seven rookies, the Liberty have been picked to finish last or near last in every preseason poll. Seattle, by contrast, is favored to win it all by many.

Ionescu, the point guard of the future will be facing one of the most decorated point guards of the present as 39-year-old Sue Bird of Syosset is returning after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Also back is Breanna Stewart, who was the leagues MVP in 2018 but missed all of last season after rupturing her Achilles.

By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.

Im just exited to be able to compete again Ionescu said when asked about the challenge of opening against Seattle. It feels like its been such a long time.

Ionescu hasnt played a basketball game since March 8, when she led Oregon to an 89-56 win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game. Four days later, the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the virus.

The Liberty made her their No. 1 pick in a virtual draft on April 17. Until the team reported to the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy on July 7, all of her contact with her teammates and coaches had been phone, texts and Zoom meetings.

So life in the bubble, limiting as it may be, has felt liberating by comparison.

When she isnt practicing or working out, she can hang by the hotel pool or have dinner with former Oregon teammate Ruthy Hebard, who was Chicagos No. 1 pick. The food has been surprisingly decent Chipotle is her favorite and she has entertained herself by getting into Tiktok.

Ionescu and veteran point guard Layshia Clarendon bicycle from their hotel to practice every day. The Liberty signed Clarendon early in their free agency period to be both Ionescus backup and mentor. Clarendon has no doubts that Ionescu can deal with the pressure that is being thrown at her.

She just makes people better around her, Clarendon said in a recent Zoom news conference, and thats really nice to have as a point guard playmaker. Myself, its great to have another point guard playmaker knowingI could be off the ball sometimes and she could bring it out, but we have multiple people who can play and lead in different positions.

It helps that Liberty coach Walt Hopkins runs an offense that is similar to the one the Ducks ran in Oregon. Hopkins said that you wouldnt know what kind of pressure is on Ionescu by the way she carries herself.

She goes about her business in a way that is pretty special for someone who is so highly touted, he said. She doesnt think about herself that way. She walks the walk . . .Theres enough pressure on her coming from the media and fans and social media that I dont want her to feel like we have extremely high expectations.

Its just, Go out and do what you have done your whole life.

Even if you have to do it in a near empty arena.

2019 record: 10-24 (11th overall, 5th in the East)

Whos new this season: Minnesota Lynx assistant coach Walt Hopkins was hired in January as the Libertys head coach, replacing Katie Smith. The Liberty have seven rookies on the roster. Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu (No. 1 overall pick), Connecticut forward/guard Megan Walker (No. 9 pick) and Louisville guard Jazmine Jones (No. 12 pick) were selected in the first round, and Louisville forward Kylee Shook (No. 13 pick) and Duke forward Leaonna Odom (No. 15 pick) were selected in the second round of Aprils WNBA Draft. The Liberty acquired Virginia guard/forward Jocelyn Willoughby (No. 10 pick) in a draft night deal with the Phoenix Mercury. Texas forward Joyner Holmes was taken with the No. 19 overall pick by the Seattle Storm in the draft, but was waived and signed by the Liberty last month. Veteran point guard Layshia Clarendon was signed during free agency in February. Clarendon has played for the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream and Connecticut Sun over her seven-year career, averaging 6.9 points and 2.8 assists in 198 career games, including 88 starts.

Whos not playing: Guard Asia Durr, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, announced earlier this month that she would not play this season after testing positive for the coronavirus in June. Sharpshooting Australian guard Rebecca Allen announced last month that she was opting out due to health concerns related to the uncertainty of the coronavirus. French guard Marine Johannes, Chinese center Han Xu and Australian forward Stephanie Talbot, acquired in a draft night deal with the Lynx, announced they would remain overseas and return for the 2021 season.

Offseason departures: Franchise star Tina Charles was traded to the Washington Mystics in a blockbuster three-team deal in April. North Babylons Bria Hartley signed with the Mercury in free agency. Reshanda Gray was waived and later signed with the Los Angeles Sparks. Tanisha Wright retired and is now an assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces. Brittany Boyd and Tayler Hill, who was acquired from the Dallas Wings in the Charles deal, were waived.

Mike Rose

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.

More:

Ionescu excited to start season for Liberty . . . even in bubble - Newsday