By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Donald J. Trump prepared the nation for a “two-prong” response to the coronavirus during his Monday press conference at the White House.
“As we continue measures for the health of our vulnerable populations,” said President Trump, “We need to open our country up for business. Economics is important. We can do two things at one time. Without jobs, people get tremendous anxiety and (go into) depression. Suicides go up. This is a balancing act. We have an incredible country and need to keep it that way.
“We need to give a stimulus (package) to our workers. This virus is not the workers fault. We need to take care of small businesses. They are the engines of our country. They have been badly hurt. Republicans and Democrats need to make a deal to help. We need to save companies that have been shattered. We need to work with the airlines and with the cruise lines. We had the number one economy in the world. We don’t want our (health) cure to be worse than the problem.
“We are seeing America at its best. We see Americans determination and grit. Most Americans are working to get this solved. It has been incredible. We see everyday heroes. I want to thank our health care workers, our delivery people, our truckers who keep the supply chain going.”
Others who shared at Monday’s White House briefing included:
- Attorney General William Barr: “We’re starting to see some potential hoarding and price gouging for Personal Protective Equipment (PSEs) and ventilators so we (Justice Department) are using the Defense Protection Act to prohibit (and prosecute through 93 designated prosecutors) hoarding of designated items and other medical resources such as surgical masks and the manipulation of the market.”
- Vice President Mike Pence: “We spoke today with the governors and they encouraged the House and Senate to move quickly in relationships to an emergency coronavirus relief bill for workers. Right now a family of four would receive $3,000 and would be provided unemployment insurance benefits. The Food and Drug Administration is working to remove testing regulations to get more testing kits. All state labs are now required by law to report all results to the Center for Disease Control.”
- Deborah Birx (White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator): “We have been following the mortality rate in Europe and no child under 15 has died. In China, the youngest age was 14. The mortality rate in the United States is less than one percent for those under 50 years of age. The mortality rate rises for older Americans, especially those with three or more pre-existing conditions. In the last seven days, we are now up to 250,000 tests. We are on the last week of our 15-day challenge. New York City is the hotspot of our nation.”
- Rear Admiral John Polowczyk was named by President Trump to leave the Joint Chiefs of Staff (where he served as a senor officer for military logistics) to run the efforts to build a supply chain of medical supplies (ventilators, respirators, and Personal Protective Equipment such as: gloves, gowns, N95 masks) working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(Editor’s Note: America is now on it’s ninth day of “15 Days to Slow The Spread” Campaign while California and Ventura County have been under “Stay Well at Home” emergency orders since Thursday, March 19th until at least Monday, April 20th. Meanwhile, President Trump in his two-hour Tuesday Fox News Channel virtual town hall said that he wants America open by Easter—Sunday, April 12: America is “not built to shut down. Our people are full of vim and vigor and energy. They don’t want to be locked in a house or an apartment or some space. We have to go back to work,” said President Trump.)
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Get CitizensJournal.us Headlines free SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing.
