Category: HEALTH INSURANCE

‘Ability to help may reach limit’: Italian doctor says medics ‘exhausted’ helping isolated patients amid coronavirus pandemic

CAP

If the number of the infected keeps rising, patients with better chances of survival will have to be prioritized, an ER doctor at the epicenter of the Italian outbreak told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

In the city of Piacenza, in the heart of northern Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, overworked medical personnel are reaching their breaking point – and there seems to be no sign that the epidemic is letting up. With a population of just over 100,000, the city was placed on lockdown on Sunday, after suffering 50 deaths and more than 630 coronavirus diagnoses.

Visibly tired and with bags under his eyes, Davide Bastoni, who works in the emergency room of the Gugliermo Da Saliceto Hospital in Piacenza, told Ruptly that the battle against Covid-19 has been unceasing – and humbling.

“The night was very exhausting… This epidemic permits us to understand the fact that at the end of the day, we are all human beings, we are all the same, when facing these outbreaks or these viruses,” said Bastoni.

Dressed in a white smock and a hair net, the doctor confessed that protecting against the highly-contagious has separated patients from their caregivers.

“They are all patients who need human contact, who need some words of comfort, which is difficult to give them because we have the masks and all the protective devices,” the medical professional noted. He said that trying to make treatment more “humane” has forced clinicians to “reinvent” how they communicate with their patients.

There were more than three dozen patients with symptoms of the virus waiting to be screened and processed when the interview was recorded on Wednesday. But according to Bastoni, the epidemic is likely to get worse before it gets better.

The doctor urged his fellow Italians, especially young people, to take all possible measures to avoid contact with the virus.

ALSO ON RT.COMWATCH Italians line up in extended supermarket queues amid coronavirus lockdown (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

CAP

“It’s clear that if the community doesn’t follow the restrictions and the numbers [of the infected] continue to rise, at a certain point, our ability to help people will reach its limit,” Bastoni warned.

He expressed fear that it would soon become necessary to classify patients based on those who have a greater chance of surviving the illness.

“I really hope this doesn’t happen,” he said.

Italy remains Europe’s worst-hit country, with the number of confirmed cases reaching 12,462 on Wednesday and the death toll jumping by 196 to 827 in just 24 hours.

0

(MORE FROM CHICAGO) – Coronavirus downtown: COVID-19 case at Prudential Plaza; nearby buildings alert tenants, employees

CAP

By Ryan Ori – 3/11/2020

A worker in one of Chicago’s largest office complexes has tested positive for the new coronavirus, causing companies there and in nearby buildings to take measures to prevent the illness from spreading.

Tenants in Prudential Plaza and other buildings near Millennium Park have been told an employee at an unidentified company in the two-tower Prudential complex on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19. Since being diagnosed, the worker has not returned to the property, according to building owner Sterling Bay.

The illness, the first confirmed case involving a large Chicago office property, adds to the challenge of containing an outbreak in Chicago, where some schools have closed and major gatherings such as upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parades have been called off.

Employers are responding with a range of preventive measures, including at least one company that is asking anyone who has been in Prudential Plaza recently to consider working from home for the next two weeks.

“We understand the Prudential building is a common lunch spot for employees working in the area, so please be aware of the situation and avoid the building until it is cleared,” employees of Crain Communications were told in an email Wednesday.

The company, whose publications include Crain’s Chicago Business, has its offices in the office tower at 150 N. Michigan Ave., just across Michigan Avenue from Prudential Plaza.

“If you were in the Prudential building recently, please be aware of your own personal health and speak with your manager about working from home for the next 14 days until the incubation period has expired,” the Crain Communications email said. “If you do not show symptoms during that 14-day period we’ll be happy to have you back in the office.”

Other employers are taking steps such as allowing or encouraging people to work from home.

[The latest] Stocks tumble, putting Wall Street near a bear market, as coronavirus is declared a pandemic

A confirmed illness at Prudential Plaza is particularly troubling because of the property’s sheer size, at 2.3 million square feet, and its connection to other buildings via the Pedway. The underground walkway is used by thousands of office tenants connect to commuter trains, nearby lunch spots and other businesses.

The complex is along the north edge of Chicago’s biggest tourist destination, Millennium Park, meaning there is typically heavy foot traffic in the area.

 

“We take this situation extremely seriously,” Sterling Bay spokeswoman Julie Goudie said in an emailed statement. “As soon as we learned of the diagnosis, we immediately notified building tenants and advised anyone who feels ill to stay home and contact a health professional if they experience symptoms of COVID-19.

 

“We have been and will continue to aggressively clean One Two Pru in accordance with CDC and WHO protocol. The health and safety of our tenant community is our highest priority and we encourage all tenants to continue practicing good personal hygiene as we navigate this moment together.”

 

The Chicago Tribune is based in One Prudential Plaza, and employees are being given the option of working from home. In an email to employees Wednesday, Editor-in-Chief Colin McMahon told employees the newspaper “asked Prudential services to increase their cleaning regimen in and around our offices, and they have complied. We will continue to work closely with the building on precautions and next steps.”

 

[The latest] Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Goudie said Sterling Bay’s increased cleaning efforts included “the additional measure of an electrostatic sprayer application of a virus-killing cleaning product on common area touchpoints.”

 

Tenants in the neighboring Aon Center, Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper, were told the ill Prudential employee does not use the shuttle buses that run between those buildings and commuter train stations on the western edge of the Loop.

 

“For the past two weeks, the Aon/Prudential shuttle implemented additional disinfectant measures on each shuttle,” said the email sent to Aon Center tenants.

Shuttle buses continue to operate on schedule, according to the email.

 

In an email, BOMA/Chicago, an association of 240 Chicago buildings, said it was providing its members with updates and guidelines and defers “to our best-in-class building owners and managers to implement the proper cleaning protocols and procedures to help ensure the continued safety of their building tenants.”

 

[The latest] Officials bought a motel in Kent, Wash., to hold coronavirus patients; neighbors are enraged
0

Dr. Fauci Warns “Worst Is Yet To Come”: Coronavirus Is “10x More Lethal Than The Flu,” Could Infect “Millions” Of Americans

See the source image

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/11/2020 – 11:16

Summary:

  • First death in Indonesia

  • Washington State to ban events over 200

  • ‘Waffle House’ employee in Atlanta confirmed

  • Chicago cancels St. Paddy’s Day parade

  • NY sends in National Guard

  • IADB cancels meeting in Colombia as virus spreads across Latin America

  • Mnuchin says first part of virus stimulus plan will be ready in 2 days

  • Dr. Fauci warns virus 10x more deadly than flu and could infect millions if not handled early

  • FEMA evacuates Atlanta office over coronavirus scare

  • 3 Boeing workers test positie

  • Washington DC advises cancellation or postponement of all gatherings with more than 1,000 people

  • Harvard to prorate room and board for students

  • US cases surpass 1,000

  • UK Health Minister catches virus

  • Ireland, Bulgaria, Sweden report first deaths

  • UK total hits 456 following largest daily jump on record (83 new cases)

  • Global cases pass 120,000

  • South Korea reports new outbreak in call center

  • Japan reportedly planning to declare state of emergency

*  *  *

Update (1220ET): Three Boeing workers have tested positive for the virus, the company said. Though Boeing offered few details, we suspect the employees are probably based in Washington State, where Boeing builds its planes.

In Washington DC, authorities are recommending the cancellation or postponement of all “non-essential” gatherings over 1,000.

As students leave campuses around the country either heading back home or hunkering down finish their classes on line, Harvard just announced that it would “pro-rate” students’ room and board.

*  *  *

Update (1220ET): With the committee in charge of the Tokyo Olympic Games reportedly planning to suggest that the games be delayed, more images of the coronavirus fears’ impact on international travel are circulating online. Check out this.

*  *  *

Update (1200ET): The CDC has released its latest batch of “confirmed” US figures: 29 deaths, 987 cases and cases confirmed in 39 states as of 10 pm last night.

  • U.S. CDC – 39 STATES HAVE REPORTED CASES AS OF MARCH 10 AT 4 PM ET VS PREVIOUS REPORT OF 36 STATES

  • U.S. CDC – 29 TOTAL DEATHS DUE TO NEW CORONAVIRUS AS OF MARCH 10 AT 4 PM ET VS 25 DEATHS AS OF PREVIOUS REPORT

  • U.S. CDC REPORTS ITS COUNT OF 987 CASES OF NEW CORONAVIRUS AS OF MARCH 10 AT 4 PM ET, VS PREVIOUS REPORT OF 696 CASES

Around the world, the virus has produced many “isn’t it ironic?” moments, and we just got another in the US when FEMA announced that it would close its Atlanta office after an employee was exposed to the virus.

  • FEMA ATLANTA OFFICE CLOSED AFTER EMPLOYEE EXPOSED TO VIRUS

Over in the UK, a total of 456 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Wednesday, up from 373 at the same point on Tuesday, the Department of Health said. The jump of 83 new cases is the largest daily jump yet, following the previous ‘largest daily increase’ by only a few days.

Six have died in the UK and tested positive for the virus. Over in Ireland, authorities reported their first death on Wednesday. A 66-year-old Bulgarian woman also succumbed to the virus in the Balkan state, marking the first death there as well.

After the UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries tested positive for the virus, and started showing symptoms on Thursday, the same day she attended an event with the prime minister. Though the UK has elected to keep parliament open, Dorries and a Labour lawmaker who may have been exposed via a meeting with Dorries have decided to self-quarantine.

UK Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood stressed that “we are still in the containment phase” despite an increased number of Covid-19 cases.

She said: “We have identified the first case of community transmission in Scotland which is unrelated to contact or travel. This was identified through our enhanced surveillance scheme.

Sweden has reported its first death from the coronavirus today, with a hospital in Stockholm saying an elderly patient had died in intensive care. Belgium has reported its first three deaths, with 314 cases of coronavirus. Ivory Coast has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a 45-year-old Ivorian man who had recently travelled to Italy, the health ministry said in a statement. Denmark confirmed a batch of new cases, raising its total to 442.

While Washington State is apparently planning to ban all events with over 250 people, Washington DC has advised citizens to avoid such gatherings.

While

*  *  *

Update (1150ET): Rencap’s Charlie Robertson points out that it took 5 days since the first indication of human-to-human transmission happening at a wide scale in the US, and if our numbers track Germany’s, we should have 3,000 cases confirmed by Friday, and 6,000 by Monday.

Though that rate could double if many new clusters are discovered.

CAP

*  *  *

Update (1100ET): With another day of non-stop breaking news headlines about the outbreak as it spreads across the US, Europe and Latin America, we’ve been having troubled keeping up.

Switzerland reported 148 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, with 645 cases in total, 58 cases in Zürich and 78 cases in Geneva.

Indonesia, an Asian nation that didn’t report its first case until more than a month after the global outbreak began reported its first death linked to the virus on Wednesday as well.

National Guard troops have been deployed to a Health Department command post in New Rochelle. Chicago has followed San Francisco and cancelled its St. Patrick’s Day Parade. In NYC, schools will not close, but parent-teacher conferences will be held via phone.

An employee at a ‘Waffle House’ in Metro Atlanta (Cherokee County) has tested positive for the virus, raising fears about a mass outbreak in Georgia. The store has been closed and 12 employees are quarantining and will continue for a few more days.

CAP

The Inter-American Development Bank postponed its annual meeting in Colombia, which had been scheduled for next week, over coronavirus fears as the virus spreads across Latin America. The Washington-based bank, the top development institution dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the decision with Colombian President Ivan Duque on Tuesday evening.

With transports and financials leading equities lower on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who testified to Congress on Wednesday tried to offer some reassuring details about the White House plan, which remains very much in the ‘brainstorm’ phase. Still, Mnuchin insisted that Trump is standing by the payroll tax holiday to put more money in the hands of workers. The Treasury is also hoping to delay tax payments and leave $200 billion of “temporary liquidity” in the hands of Americans.

Mnuchin said the White House hopes to strike a deal on the first part of the virus stimulus plan within the next 48 hours. His testimony follows rumors about the administration offering a potential ‘bailout’ to the American shale energy industry. Other stimulus actions will take “a week or two” he added.

Importantly, the Treasury Secretary also insisted that no market interventions are being planned (so no PPT?).

In remarks on Tuesday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said that America had lost valuable time tracking the virus; some regions now can merely try to cope with its spread rather than stop it. And during testimony on Wednesday, Dr. Fauci said that when it comes to the outbreak in the US, “the worst is yet to come” because the virus is “10x more lethal than the seasonal flu”.

If the US doesn’t handle the virus outbreak correctly, “many, many millions of people” will get the virus, he said.

The global coronavirus outbreak has hit a new milestone: It surpassed 120,000 cases overnight. For anybody who’s still bothering to keep track, that’s 15x the number of cases from the SARS outbreak, which continued for nearly a year before it finally petered out.

In the US, the coronavirus outbreak has reached a grim new milestone. Thanks to the administration’s scramble to bring dozens of private and public labs on-line for testing across the country, the CDC has managed to confirm more than 1,000 cases of the virus. In the Westchester County town of New Rochelle, the epicenter of the outbreak in New York State, and the largest on the east coast, woke up to a 1-mile exclusion zone and national guard soldiers in the streets.

The town now looks like a “ghost town” according to several reports.

As the number of cases topped 1,000, the number of deaths has also climbed: Officially, there are 31 deaths and 1,039 confirmed cases, according to the Washington Post, which is significantly more than the number confirmed by Dr. Anthony Fauci during last night’s press conference.

Across the US, Washington State’s King County remains the epicenter of America’s worst outbreak, with 273 cases . New York is No. 2 with 176 (13 additional cases have just been announced). After hinting about ‘mandatory measures’ last night that set tongues wagging about the possibility of Italy-style travel restrictions, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is reportedly planning to announce a plan to…ban all events with more than 250 people, according to MyNorthwest.

At a press conference scheduled for Wednesday at 10:15 a.m., it is expected that Gov. Jay Inslee along with regional leaders and city mayors could announce a ban on large gatherings and events of 250 people or more in at least three counties. Any ban would affect upcoming sporting events in the area, including a home game for the XFL’s Seattle Dragons on Sunday.

Inslee has been hinting at this for the past week as a possible preemptive move to curb the spread of coronavirus. Over the weekend, he stated that his office was considering enacting “mandatory measures” in the days ahead.

Monday night on MSBNC, the Washington governor spoke to Rachel Maddow, admitting that soon, the state was “going to have to make some hard decisions.”

He further elaborated on that point during a Tuesday press conference, when he cited the need to “look forward ahead of the curve in Washington state.”

“We need to look at what is coming, not just what is here today,” he detailed, estimating that given limits on testing capacity, experts have told him there could be at least 1,000 untested coronavirus cases across the state.

So much for ‘hard decisions’….

This immense build up, only to announce restrictions that are only ‘slightly’ more comprehensive than the milquetoast event bans embraced by Germany, France, Switzerland and others, brings to mind a tweet we noticed earlier highlighting the sometimes unintended consequences that half-measures can create.

CAP

On the east coast, the State of New York is asking businesses to voluntarily consider having employees work two shifts as well as allowing telework, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in an interview with CNN, the network that employs his brother, where he has been making near-daily appearances in addition to his daily press conferences.

Gov. Inslee

“This is about reducing the density,” Cuomo said. “The spread is not going to stop on its own.”

He also announced 20 new cases of virus, bringing total in state to about 193, with most of the new cases diagnosed in New Rochelle, where the virus has clearly been circulating for weeks.

There have been reports that Democrats are pushing for a national emergency declaration which would trigger  tens of billions of dollars in funding from FEMA to help with the containment effort, and possibly to help grappled with the economic fallout from the outbreak.

Despite a few notable screwups lately (including a collapsed ad hoc quarantine that left roughly one dozen dead and many trapped in the rubble for days, Beijing continues to insist that it is winning the war against the virus, and while the true scope of China’s outbreak might never be known for sure (some have estimated 1 million cases throughout China), officials did report a slight rise in cases on Wednesday which they blamed on ‘imports from abroad.’

Officials reported 24 additional cases of coronavirus and 22 additional deaths on March 10, compared with 19 additional cases and 17 additional deaths on March 9, bringing the total number of cases in mainland China to 80,778 and death toll at 3,158. China’s Hubei province said it will mandate a return to work according to different levels of risk in an orderly manner, adding that key areas of the Wuhan economy will be allowed to return.

After 11 days of falling case numbers, South Korea reported 242 additional coronavirus cases early Wednesday, bringing its total to 7,555, and 6 additional deaths, increasing the death toll to 60, reversing a streak of declines that had convinced many that Korea’s outbreak had ended.

The South has made remarkable progress in fighting the outbreak, however, a new mass infection incident has popped up that is jeopardizing the government’s widely praised response. Earlier, South Korean authorities told Reuters that they had tested hundreds of staff at a Seoul call center where the disease broke out this week. 13 of the infected workers at the Seoul call center used public transportation to commute, leading to at least 90 other people who had close contact with them being infected. Of the 90 cases mentioned earlier, 62 were in Seoul, and all were located near a public transportation hub connecting Seoul with Incheon and other major cities, via which the virus spread.

The spread has even made it into the armed forces, raising new fears about an outbreak in tightly packed barracks

CAP

Elsewhere, Japan is reportedly planning to declare a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak after the number of domestic cases rose by the largest daily number yet, with 59 new cases bringing the total to 1,278, while the total death toll has climbed to 19 and there were 427 discharged from hospital on Tuesday.

Italy’s total coronavirus cases rose to 10,149, from 9172, and the death toll increased to 631 yesterday from 463 in its largest daily jump yet.

0

ISLAMIC SCHOLAR WHO SAID CORONAVIRUS WAS “ALLAH’S PUNISHMENT” GETS CORONAVIRUS

Islamic Scholar Who Said Coronavirus Was "Allah's Punishment" Gets Coronavirus

Instant karma.

  – MARCH 11, 2020

An Islamic scholar who said the coronavirus was “Allah’s punishment” for China’s treatment of Muslims now has coronavirus.

How ironic.

Back in February, Hadi Al-Modarresi, who is based in Iran, said that the coronavirus outbreak was “undoubtedly an act of Allah that is divine punishment against the Chinese for their treatment, mockery, and disrespect towards Muslims and Islam,” reported MEMRI-TV.

“It is obvious that the spread of this virus is an act of Allah. How do we know this? The spread of the coronavirus began in China, an ancient and vast country, the population of which makes up one seventh of humanity,” said Al-Modarresi.

“More than a billion people live in that country. The authorities in that country are tyrannical and they laid siege to more than a million Muslims and placed them under house arrest. The journalists in that country began to mock the niqab of Muslim women and they forced Muslim men to eat pork and drink wine. Allah sent a disease upon them and this disease laid siege to 40 million [Chinese people]. The same niqab that they mocked has been forced upon them, both men and women, by Allah, by means of the state authorities and officials,” he added.

It is now being reported that Al-Modarresi has contracted coronavirus, meaning that Allah must obviously be punishing him for wrongdoing.

The scholar tweeted to his almost 1 million followers with a prayer to Muhammad and the revelation that “The health of His Eminence is in a marked improvement.”

CAP

CAP

Twitter users reacted with little in the way of sympathy.

“Allah 0 – coronavirus 1,” remarked one.

“He shows a great capacity for convoluted reasoning. Of course it is all based on 7th century logic,” added another.

0

Twisted Strategy: CNN Fantasizes How Virus Can Help Dems Win 2020

https://www.mrctv.org/embed/548118

https://www.mrctv.org/videos/twisted-strategy-cnn-fantasizes-how-virus-can-help-dems-win-2020

https://www.mrctv.org/node/548118

Nicholas Fondacaro , 

‘When Joe Biden becomes President, there will be a return to moral normalcy and competance’

 

Steve Watson

While many leftists are accusing President Trump of politicising the coronavirus, CNN devoted a whole segment to daydreaming about how the potential pandemic could help Democrats win the election.

As part of its primary night broadcast Tuesday, CNN’s anchors and guests discussed how the panic over the spread of the virus will hinder Trump’s relection.

Democrat dropout Andrew Yang suggested there will be a growing “real hunger for” an administration like former President Obama’s among “many, many Americans if the coronavirus crisis continues to grow.”

Yang suggested that “when” Joe Biden becomes President, there would be “a return to moral normalcy, but it’s also going to begin to look like a return to competence because Trump and the Republicans have been running the government in sort of an anti-government frame, which is not what you want when you’re dealing with a health crisis.”

“And we all know when Joe becomes our president, he’s going to bring back many of the Obama alums who are really, really competent and technocratic,” Yang further claimed.

Anderson Cooper chimed in, suggesting “We’ve also never seen a situation like this, certainly in modern times, in terms of a potential pandemic influencing the next couple of months in a way that’s kind of hard to even imagine.”

“I mean, obviously there is the difference on health care between Sanders and Biden, but if — You know, if hospitals are overwhelmed, if, you know, the military is called in, if people are being triaged in school gymnasiums on respirators or whatever, however bad it may get..” Cooper continued.

“Nothing makes you appreciate a functional government like a global pandemic.” Yang interjected.

“There are very few people who have seen what happens when a society, you know, has the potential to really burst at the seams,” Cooper added.

This is how desperate Democrats have become. Acknowledging that the only way they can defeat Trump is if society completely collapses.

0

(FROM CHICAGO) – Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, synagogue in Lakeview closed after parent tests positive for coronavirus

CAP

By 

A Lakeview synagogue and attached day school will be closed Tuesday because a member of the synagogue who has children in the school has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, a rabbi with Anshe Emet said.

Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School and Anshe Emet Synagogue sent out email notices Monday to families who have kids in the primary school or who attend the synagogue. Rabbi Michael Siegel said a parent was tested Monday and later made Siegel aware the result was positive.

Siegel, along with Gary Weisserman, head of the school, said the decision to close the school and synagogue were made “out of an abundance of caution” while the children whose parent tested positive also are tested.

“Late this evening we received confirmation that the parent has tested positive for COVID-19. While the Department of Public Health advised that closure is not required, out of an abundance of caution we are canceling school (and all after-school activities) … while we continue to consult with public health officials,” Weisserman wrote in an email.

Siegel said the person who tested positive has not been on campus within the last month and is self-quarantined at home along with the entire family.

[The latest] ‘The hardest part is not knowing anything’: Gurnee, Glenview residents among those waiting to disembark coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise liner near Port of Oakland 

“To be very clear, no Bernard Zell student or staff member has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and based on conversations with medical experts, we believe the risk to our students and faculty is low. This individual’s spouse and children remain asymptomatic but will undergo testing first thing in the morning,” Weisserman said.

Since the school and synagogue share the same space, the building will be closed and office staff was told to stay home Tuesday. The building is to undergo a deep cleaning of all surfaces, officials said.

The announcement comes in the wake of other school closures.

Loyola Academy, a private Jesuit high school at 1100 Laramie Ave. in Wilmette, was closed Monday and Tuesday because a student at the school had contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. School officials said the day would be spent coordinating with public health officials and doing an “enhanced cleaning” of the school.

Classes were canceled at Vaughn Occupational High School for the week beginning Monday, March 9, after a Chicago woman in her 50s who works there as a special education classroom assistant tested positive for coronavirus, marking the sixth case in Illinois.

There have been 11 cases of coronavirus in Illinois as of Monday night. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide disaster proclamation, making Illinois the 14th state to declare an emergency in response to the outbreak of the respiratory virus. The proclamation will allow Illinois to tap additional state and federal resources to combat the spread of the new virus and better coordinate its response.

 

Check back for updates.

0

Pentagon Deploys Troops To California Border To Block Surge Of Possibly Infected Migrants

See the source image

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/09/2020 – 15:30

The Pentagon is sending 160 soldiers to California’s border with Mexico in order to assist border agents resist an anticipated surge in migrants if the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals strikes down Migrant Protection Protection Protocols (MPP), according to Breitbart.

Approximately 60,000 migrants have been returned to Mexico prior to their US asylum hearings through the MPP program, which is aimed at preventing migrants from obtaining work in the United States, according to the report.

Some of the 30,000 migrants waiting in Mexico rushed for the border February 28 when the court declared the MPP program to be illegal. The court then quickly put a stay on its decision to block the MPP until March 12, pending any Supreme Court intervention.

The California-based court also decided to allow the MPP program to operate in Texas.

Officials at the Department of Justice have asked the Supreme Court to extend the delay. –Breitbart

Trump administration officials added that the troops could help prevent the migration of people carrying diseases, such as coronavirus.

On Friday, the Washington Examiner reported that US border officials have blocked ‘hundreds’ of foreigners from entering the country at land ports of entry along both the Canadian and Mexico borders, according to a senior homeland security official.

“We’ve turned people away on both borders, hundreds of them. In total, during the course of the last month … we’re under 1,000, but you’re in the hundreds, to give you a ballpark sense,” said deputy secretary of DHS, Ken Cuccinelli.

Customs and Border Protection officials (CBP) say their duty is to “secure our nation’s borders, and measures such as the Crisis Response Force employment allow CBP to do just that.”

Based on the pending MPP decision, continued concerns of large groups attempting to forcibly enter through [Ports of Entry] PoEs, and Covid-19 containment and mitigation concerns, CBP has activated the Crisis Response Force.

The Crisis Response Force will provide military police support, engineering support, and aviation support to CBP. Approximately 160 active-duty personnel will reposition from their CRS standby location at Fort Polk, Louisiana, to the southwest border in support of CBP.

Approximately 80 personnel will be deployed to PoE in El Paso, Texas, and approximately 80 personnel will be supporting the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California.

The CRF will remain at or adjacent to the selected PoEs as the operational environment evolves.

If necessary. the CRF has the ability to lift-and-shift via air or ground from one PoE to another PoE to support CBP.

The employment of the CRF is one element of CBP’s larger, comprehensive border security efforts to help CBP ensure everyone’s safety and security, to include travelers, asylum seekers, business stakeholders, and our own employee.

This CRF effort should not be confused with a current and distinct Texas National Guard annual training status deployment that is being conducted as the port of entry in Brownsville, Texas. Texas National Guard routinely conducts training events with CBP components.

See the source image

CAP

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑