WTF Just Happened Today

Thursday, April 30, 2020

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• ???? Daily Damage Report.

• ???? Global: Total confirmed cases ~3,272,000; Total deaths: ~233,000; Total recoveries: ~1,009,000. (Johns Hopkins University)

• ???????? U.S.: Total confirmed cases ~1,067,000; Total deaths: ~63,000; Total recoveries: ~126,000

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

• The White House social distancing guidelines will expire today. Trump, rejecting the idea of extended social distancing and mask-wearing as a “new normal” in America “with or without” a vaccine, said “I want to go back to where it was.” He continued: “Look, this thing will pass, and when it passes, that’ll be a great achievement,” despite no vaccine against the virus. “Again this is going away. This is going away. I think we’re gonna come up with vaccines and all, but this is going away. And when it’s gone, we’re going to be doing a lot of things.” (Associated Press)

• Trump will travel to Arizona next week – though it’s not clear for what purpose. He said he “hopes” to have rallies again before the November election, citing “a tremendous pent up demand.” Trump also said he was considering making a trip to Ohio. (ABC News)

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

• ???? Portrait of a president.

• Trump and Kushner engage in revisionist history in boasting of success over coronavirus. “We did all the right moves,” Trump said. “The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story,” said Kushner. (New York Times)

• Miscalculation at every level left the U.S. unequipped to fight the coronavirus. A shortfall in masks lays bare the blunders by hospitals, manufacturers, and the federal government. The Trump administration further weakened the safety net as it rejiggered the Health and Human Services Department’s main emergency-preparedness agency, prioritized other threats over pandemics, cut out groups such as one that focused on protective gear and removed a small planned budget to buy respirator masks for the national stockpile, according to former officials. (Wall Street Journal)

• A tale of two summers: White House diverges from health exper...

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