WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

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• Daily Damage Report.

• Global: Total confirmed cases ~2,035,000; Total deaths: ~133,300; Total recoveries: ~510,000. (Johns Hopkins University)

• U.S.: Total confirmed cases ~620,000; Total deaths: ~28,000; Total recoveries: ~51,000

• Markets: Dow ????; S&P 500 ????; Nasdaq ????

• Live Blogs: Washington Post / New York Times / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / The Guardian / CBS News / NBC News / ABC News / CNN

• ✏️ Harvard researchers: Social distancing may remain in place until 2022. Researchers said social distancing may have to be extended unless a vaccine becomes available or “critical care capacity is increased.” (Bloomberg / NBC News / CNN)

1/ Trump cutoff U.S. funding to the World Health Organization in response to the agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “We have not been treated properly,” Trump said, deflecting blame for his dismissal of the virus as a threat to Americans and the U.S. economy. The hold will remain for up to 90 days while the Trump administration conducts a funding review. Trump said the U.S. had “a duty to insist on full accountability,” accusing the WHO of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the crisis. Trump also said that “if we cannot trust them,” then the U.S. will be “forced to find other ways to work with other nations to achieve public health goals.” The U.S. is the largest donor to the WHO, and contributes between $400 million and $500 million a year to the organization, which has an annual budget of around $6 billion. (Washington Post / Politico /USA Today / Wall Street Journal / Axios /