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U.S. hospitals are warning that they are so strapped for cash that without some financial relief, they will be unable to meet their payrolls in a matter of weeks and some could be forced to close just as coronavirus cases are surging.

The American Hospital Association and three hospital chief executives spanning the country said in a conference call Saturday that a federal directive this week urging the cancellation of elective procedures — to conserve scarce resources for patients with covid19 — is halting the type of services that produce the most revenue.

And their ability to buy critically needed supplies — from protective gear to more hospital beds — is being stymied by the fact that private vendors are requiring hospitals to pay cash upon delivery, which they say they lack the money to do.

This stark portrait of the ground-level reality for hospitals, in communities where the pandemic has penetrated and those where it has not yet seriously struck, comes as hospitals and other cornerstones of the U.S. health-care system are pleading with Congress to provide large-scale financial relief.

President Donald Trump’s directive for governors to buy their own medical supplies to fight the coronavirus has run into a big problem -- the federal government.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told Trump during a video conference on Thursday that his state three times lost out to the federal government on purchases of critical supplies, creating an awkward moment during the made-for-TV event at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington.

The president replied he still wants governors to seek out their own medical equipment, like protective gear for doctors and nurses as well as respirators, but acknowledged the federal government has greater buying power than any state.

“Prices are always a component of that also. And maybe that’s why you lost to the feds, OK, that’s probably why,” Trump said.

When New Mexico’s governor raised similar concerns later in the call, Trump said he would ask FEMA to ensure there were no conflicts with purchases in the future.

Trump earlier Thursday repeated his belief that the onus should be on the states -- and not the federal government -- to obtain needed equipment to combat the pandemic, saying his administration is not a “shipping clerk” for the supplies that could potentially save lives.

Bryant Culpepper tells citizens that using a blow dryer to blow hot air in your nose will kill the coronavirus because he “saw it on OANN... the new Fox News.”

Culpepper is the Commissioner of Okeechobee County in Florida.

The Kentucky senator Rand Paul has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first case of the virus in the Senate and raising fears about its further transmission among Republicans at the Capitol.

Paul, an eye surgeon, went into quarantine on Sunday after learning the results. He said he had not had symptoms and was tested due to his extensive travel and events. He added he was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.

Paul was among eight Senate Republicans who voted against a House-passed bill last week that provided more than $100bn to boost coronavirus testing and guarantee paid sick leave for millions of workers. He also was the only Republican senator who opposed an earlier bill authorising $8.3bn for the initial response to coronavirus.

Nutso wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 3:30 pm Rand Paul becomes first senator to test positive for Covid-19

The Kentucky senator Rand Paul has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first case of the virus in the Senate and raising fears about its further transmission among Republicans at the Capitol.

Paul, an eye surgeon, went into quarantine on Sunday after learning the results. He said he had not had symptoms and was tested due to his extensive travel and events. He added he was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.

Paul was among eight Senate Republicans who voted against a House-passed bill last week that provided more than $100bn to boost coronavirus testing and guarantee paid sick leave for millions of workers. He also was the only Republican senator who opposed an earlier bill authorising $8.3bn for the initial response to coronavirus.

#Spain 38 days ago February 14, 2020 Director of the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Ministry of Health. said;
"In Spain we do not have COVID-19" and "the population must understand that there is no risk ..”

"No one reached out to me and said, as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if that's the exchange, I'm all in," Patrick said on air.

An Arizona man has died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate — believing it would protect him from becoming infected with the coronavirus. The man's wife also ingested the substance and is under critical care.

The toxic ingredient they consumed was not the medication form of chloroquine, used to treat malaria in humans. Instead, it was an ingredient listed on a parasite treatment for fish.

The man's wife told NBC News she'd watched televised briefings during which President Trump talked about the potential benefits of chloroquine. Even though no drugs are approved to prevent or treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, some early research suggests it may be useful as a therapy.

Dr. Daniel Brooks, medical director of Banner Poison and Drug Information Center, said in a statement: "Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so."

On Friday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control pleaded with its people not to engage in self-medication with chloroquine, as it "will cause harm and can lead to death." The country had reported at least two such poisonings.

A lot of virtue signaling going on here in the replies. Little do you realize that and endless quarantine will eliminate the opportunities of an entire generation.

00111010 01000100 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 2:44 am I’m reading through these and catching up on the posted pics of media shared images.... I’m dumbstruck at how stupid people are. From the spread of false information to the ingestion of potentially deadly fish products... how did people become so ignorant?

At least 23 people in Bolsonaro’s circle, including his U.S. ambassador, chief foreign policy adviser and communications chief, have contracted the novel virus, The Guardian reported.

All were members of a delegation that traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a dinner on March 7 – prompting fears President Trump or Vice President Mike Pence had been exposed to the virus.

Bolsonaro himself denied reports he tested positive for the coronavirus but has refused to publish his medical test results. He had rejected health official’s advice to self-quarantine after his trip to Florida – and instead shook hands and took selfies with a crowd of supporters.

At least 34 people have died from the coronavirus in Brazil out of the 1,965 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday afternoon.

In an interview Saturday, Bolsonaro slammed the governors of states including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo for ordering large-scale quarantines, saying the measures were irresponsible and fueled a “climate of terror,” The Guardian reported.

“It’s an excessive dose of medicine – and too much medicine becomes poison,” Bolsonaro said. “I’m the manager of the team and the team is playing very well.”

There was growing speculation on Tuesday that Bolsonaro himself may have been infected with coronavirus amid reports that a military hospital where Brazil’s president had been tested had withheld two names from a list of positive cases for reasons of “secrecy”.

Those reports had set off rumours that Bolsonaro would use his address to confirm a positive diagnosis. Instead he told citizens: “In my particular case, because of my background as an athlete, I wouldn’t need to worry if I was infected by the virus. I wouldn’t feel anything or at the very worst it would be like a little flu or a bit of a cold.”

"It's shown very encouraging -- very, very encouraging early results. And we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. And that's where the FDA has been so great. They -- they've gone through the approval process; it's been approved. And they did it -- they took it down from many, many months to immediate. So we're going to be able to make that drug available by prescription or states," Trump said.
He added: "Normally the FDA would take a long time to approve something like that, and it's -- it was approved very, very quickly and it's now approved, by prescription."
However, the FDA after the briefing issued a statement saying it had not approved the drug for use against Covid-19 and is still studying its effectiveness against the disease.