“WHO raises coronavirus threat assessment, now says virus poses a ‘very high’ risk at a global level”

“World Health Organization officials said Friday they are increasing the risk assessment of the coronavirus, which has spread to at least 49 countries in a matter of weeks, to “very high” across the world.

“‘We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said during a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva,” by by Berkeley Lovelace, Jr. and William Feuer, CNBC. Read more

“Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney suggests people ignore coronavirus news to calm markets”

• Editor’s note: Trump and his sycophants have lied so much, they are no longer credible and no one is listening to them. The markets are in a major decline again today! The markets and the virus are out of Trump’s control.

From CNBC:

• White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday suggested that Americans should ignore media reports about the coronavirus amid fears of the deadly disease spreading into the U.S.
• Mulvaney, who also heads the Office of Management and Budget, also said that there will “probably” be school closures and transportation issues due to the impact of the virus.
• Mulvaney claimed that the media has only started paying close attention to the coronavirus because “they think this is going to be what brings down” President Trump.

By Kevin Breuninger, CNBC. Read more

“Is the White House starting to censor public-health officials?”

“Muzzling experts before they can answer questions might save Team Trump some embarrassment, but it fixes the wrong problem.”

“The vice president’s first move appeared to be aimed at preventing the kind of contradictory statements from White House officials and top government health officials that have plagued the administration’s response…. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, one of the country’s leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, told associates that the White House had instructed him not to say anything else without clearance,” by Steve Benen, MSNBC. Read more