| Trump considers travel restrictions to California and Washington in attempt to stop coronavirus spread Posted: 12 Mar 2020 01:46 PM PDT  President Trump said Thursday that travel restrictions to California and Washington, two states hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, were possible "if an area gets too hot."
|
| Will coronavirus go away in the spring? Maybe — but it also might come back in fall. Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Flu viruses generally subside in warm weather, for reasons that aren't totally clear. Coronavirus may follow that pattern — or not.
|
| When will there be a coronavirus vaccine — and who will get it first? Posted: 14 Mar 2020 09:59 AM PDT  One of the central questions for resolving the COVID-19 crisis is how long it will take to develop a vaccine.
|
| Burial pits from Iran's coronavirus outbreak have grown so large you can see them from space Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:54 AM PDT  Along with China and Italy, Iran has been hit especially hard by coronavirus. Burial pits have grown so fast in Qom, Iran, they're visible from space,
|
| Chinese official suggests U.S. Army to blame for outbreak Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:50 AM PDT  "It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan," tweeted Zhao Lijian. "Be transparent! Make public your data! U.S. owe us an explanation!"
|
| Biden reveals coronavirus plan, calls Trump's handling a 'colossal' failure Posted: 12 Mar 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his campaign's plan to combat the coronavirus while slamming the Trump administration's handling of the spread of the outbreak during a speech Thursday afternoon.
|
| Coronavirus: Royal Caribbean pauses operations globally, major cruise lines suspend US ships Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:44 AM PDT  Royal Caribbean will suspend operations globally as of midnight Saturday amid the coronavirus pandemic. And it's not the only line taking action.
|
| Jeffrey Epstein: Lawyer who met with paedophile before his death doesn’t believe he died by suicide Posted: 13 Mar 2020 09:11 AM PDT  A lawyer who met with Jeffrey Epstein in the days before his death doesn't believe the convicted sex offender died by suicide.David Schoen, a Federal Criminal Defence and Civil Rights Lawyer told Fox Nation's Deep Dive on Thursday that when he met with Epstein, "he was upbeat and excited about going forward."
|
| Iran death toll from virus passes 600, Syria shuts schools Posted: 13 Mar 2020 11:53 PM PDT  Iran said Saturday the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611, as war-ravaged Syria announced a number of strict measures despite the government saying it has no confirmed cases. Iran is suffering from the worst outbreak in the Middle East, with 12,729 cases and even senior officials testing positive. It is a close ally of the Syrian government in the civil war, with military advisers as well as Shiite pilgrims frequently traveling between the two countries.
|
| President Trump says he'll 'most likely' get tested for coronavirus Posted: 13 Mar 2020 02:32 PM PDT  President Trump said Friday afternoon that he would "most likely" be tested "fairly soon" for the coronavirus, reversing course from his administration's dismissal of the need to do so earlier in the week.
|
| Life under lockdown in Italy: A look at what might be coming to the U.S. Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:46 AM PDT  An American living in Italy reports on what it is like during the country's stringent quarantine regulations.
|
| Air Force dismisses cadets due to 'inability' to carry out social distancing amid coronavirus pandemic Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:56 AM PDT  The Air Force Academy said the decision was made to allow its senior class of cadets to graduate on time.
|
| Pentagon halts all domestic travel for Department of Defense employees Posted: 13 Mar 2020 09:22 PM PDT  The directive applies to service members, Department of Defense civilians and their families assigned to Defense installations, facilities and surrounding areas.
|
| 22 Beautifully Designed Tea Shops From Around the World Posted: 13 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT |
| Philippine capital plans curfew as coronavirus deaths, infection tally spike Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:36 PM PDT  Manila announced nighttime curfews on Saturday and urged shopping malls to close for one month, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the Philippines reported its eighth death and the largest single-day increase in confirmed cases. The Philippines' health department on Saturday confirmed three new fatalities, including a patient in southern Philippines, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. It also reported 34 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 98.
|
| Fox News Host Shuts Down Guests for Politicizing Biden’s Coronavirus Speech Posted: 12 Mar 2020 11:32 AM PDT  If Fox News didn't want to have a "political" conversation about former Vice President Joe Biden's speech about the coronavirus response Thursday afternoon, they probably should not have invited two ideologically opposed pundits to debate it. After showing viewers Biden's address in full, Fox News host Harris Faulkner welcomed her "power panel" with a warning. "Politics aside, and we're going to have to do that with COVID-19, we just are," she began, "what would you say is the main takeaway from what the administration that Joe Biden says he would do?" Without missing a beat, conservative talk radio host Chris Plante started attacking Biden for what he called "throwing money at the problem," He called Biden's address an "extremely political speech, a very polarizing speech" before proceeding to criticize the Obama administration's response to the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. "And Joe Biden lecturing people about the use of the word China, the use of the word Wuhan is laughable also," he added. Trump Campaign Spox Grilled by Fox Host on Refusal to Cancel RalliesFrom there, Plante and his left-leaning counterpart Ethan Bearman started shouting over each other, accusing each other of telling lies and generally devolving into a typical cable news food fight argument. But this time was different. "Gentlemen, please!" Faulkner exclaimed. "You know what, I don't find this helpful right now," she said calmly and the two men continued to spiral out of control. "COVID-19 on the horizon, that's what we're focused on right now," Faulkner said. "And I want both of you to focus in." As they both chuckled uncomfortably, she continued, "I understand that politics are the game, but the bigger umbrella here is that people are watching for answers." Faulkner tried once more to give her guests a chance to discuss the differences in approach by Trump and Biden in a reasonable manner, saying that the American people will have to decide for themselves "what is best when they go to the polls in November." But they just couldn't do it. "I'm going to step in," she said. "I think you gentlemen got about equal time, we've had a lot of breaking news this hour so I've got to scoot." 'Pandumbic': 'Daily Show' Gives Trump the Disaster Movie TreatmentRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
|
| Lawyer: Man killed by officer was asleep when police fired Posted: 13 Mar 2020 12:49 PM PDT  A Maryland man who was shot and killed by a police officer was asleep in his bedroom when police opened fire from outside his house, an attorney for the 21-year-old man's family said Friday. The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release Friday that Duncan Socrates Lemp "confronted" police and was shot by one of the officers early Thursday. Rene Sandler, an attorney for Lemp's relatives, said an eyewitness gave a "completely contrary" account of the shooting.
|
| Delta slashes flight capacity by 40%, parks 300 planes in deepest cuts in company history Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:54 AM PDT  Delta's move follows similar actions by United last week as airlines grapple with a sharp drop off in travel demand.
|
| Coronavirus can live in your body for up to 37 days, study finds Posted: 13 Mar 2020 04:43 AM PDT  Some patients in the study received antiviral medications but the drugs did not appear to shorten the virus's lifespan.
|
| A third person who visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago club over the weekend has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:41 PM PDT  Brazil's Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Nestor Forster became the third person who visited Mar-a-Lago to test positive for the novel coronavirus.
|
| Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Pi Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:00 AM PDT |
| Law firm pushes state Supreme Court to overturn ruling that stopped the blockage of 200,000 voters in Wisconsin Posted: 12 Mar 2020 12:38 PM PDT  A conservative law firm in Wisconsin is pushing the state Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that stopped the purging of more than 200,000 people from the state's voter rolls.
|
| Three U.S. troops wounded in renewed rocket attacks on Iraq's Taji base Posted: 14 Mar 2020 01:49 AM PDT  BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three American troops and several Iraqi forces were wounded on Saturday in the second major rocket attack in the past week on an Iraqi base north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said, raising the stakes in an escalating cycle of attacks and reprisals. Iraq's Joint Operations Command said 33 Katyusha rockets were launched near a section of the Taji base which houses U.S.-led coalition troops. It said the military found seven rocket launchers and 24 unused rockets in the nearby Abu Izam area.
|
| Police: Gov. candidate in room where crystal meth was found Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:10 AM PDT  Former Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum is named in a police report Friday saying he was "inebriated" and initially unresponsive in a hotel room where authorities found baggies of suspected crystal methamphetamine. The Miami Beach police report says Gillum was allowed to leave the hotel for home after he was checked out medically. Gillum, 40, said in a statement that he was in Miami Beach for a wedding and did not use illegal drugs.
|
| Terrifying security camera footage shows Tennessee tornado's rampage through Nashville Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:17 AM PDT  A dramatic video captured by an MNPD camera shows a tornado ripping through a Germantown intersection in Nashville.
|
| I'm an epidemiologist. Here's what I told my friends about the coronavirus and COVID-19. Posted: 12 Mar 2020 11:23 AM PDT  Focus on slowing down the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus. Did I mention: Wash. Your. Hands. Then wash them again.
|
| Trump Says U.S. to Waive Interest on Student Debt in Virus Plan Posted: 13 Mar 2020 01:12 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government will waive interest on federal student loans as part of a broad response to the coronavirus emergency, President Donald Trump said Friday.Several days of turmoil on financial markets have pushed the White House to expand its response to the virus, which threatens to bring the U.S. and world economies to a halt. Trump also announced plans Friday to expand access to medical treatment and buy oil for strategic reserves.American students owe $1.6 trillion in student debt. The Treasury owns about three-quarters of those loans, and is the guarantor for most of the rest.In 2018, the government collected roughly $20 billion in interest charges as part of some $80 billion it received in overall repayments, according to a Moody's report last year.To contact the reporter on this story: Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Comcast, Charter, Verizon, and dozens of other internet and phone providers have signed an FCC pledge to 'keep Americans connected' even if they can't pay during disruptions caused by coronavirus Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:22 AM PDT  The pledge means that participating companies won't cut off your internet if you can't pay your bill, and late fees will be waived.
|
| Accused baby killer says police illegally lifted her DNA from her trash Posted: 14 Mar 2020 02:34 AM PDT  Theresa Bentaas is fighting a murder charge by saying police should not have taken DNA from her garbage without a warrant.
|
| Japan unveils its hypersonic weapons plans Posted: 13 Mar 2020 09:06 AM PDT  The government also provided more details regarding warhead payloads, with different warheads planned for both seaborne and land targets.
|
| U.S. sanctions 'severely hamper' Iran coronavirus fight - Rouhani Posted: 14 Mar 2020 04:08 AM PDT  President Hassan Rouhani said Iran's fight against the coronavirus was being "severely hampered" by U.S. sanctions, as state television reported that the death toll from the illness rose on Saturday to 611, up nearly 100 from a day earlier. State media said Rouhani wrote to a number of world leaders, without naming them. "In (a) letter to counterparts @HassanRouhani informs how efforts to fight #COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.
|
| Philippine capital to impose night-time curfew over virus Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:39 AM PDT  Manila will impose a night-time curfew in the city of 12 million, officials said Saturday, as the Philippines steps up efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. The measure takes effect Sunday along with President Rodrigo Duterte's order to seal off the capital from the rest of the country which has recorded 111 virus cases, including eight deaths. Mayors of Manila's 17 local government areas are also pushing for shopping malls -- a popular source of entertainment in the country -- to be temporarily shuttered.
|
| In California: Closed, canceled and possible state takeovers in a time of coronavirus Posted: 12 Mar 2020 06:15 PM PDT  Disneyland, March Madness, NHL, NBA: canceled. And Gov. Gavin Newsom follows up a public health directive that events over 250 people should be canceled or postponed with an executive order that allows the state to take over private assets for coronavirus treatment. But the Razzies must go on.
|
| How Britain’s Insanely Risky Coronavirus Experiment Will Affect the U.S. Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:23 AM PDT  LONDON—On Thursday, Boris Johnson delivered the most chilling warning from a British prime minister since Winston Churchill prepared the country for potential destruction during World War Two. "I must level with you," Johnson said, looking like a man who had just emerged from a doctor's office after receiving a terrible diagnosis. "Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time."His message was stark, and somehow seemed to hit even harder coming from a man who has built his political career on flippant clownery. The novel coronavirus can no longer be contained in the United Kingdom, he said, and all that can be done now is to mitigate the worst effects of it to give the doctors and nurses in the country's already creaking national health service a fighting chance to save as many lives as possible.But the strict containment measures now familiar around the planet—population lockdowns, prohibition of mass gatherings, and travel bans—were notable only by their absences. Johnson's government has diverged with the rest of the world and decided to take a much less draconian approach, and his scientific advisers have admitted the strategy could see as much as 60 percent of the population catch the coronavirus.In point of fact, Britain is effectively encouraging a potentially deadly virus to spread to the majority of the people who live here. Remember, the U.K. is one of the only European countries which is still allowed to send flights to the United States under President Donald Trump's travel ban.Europe Shocked by Trump's Travel Ban: 'He Needed a Scapegoat'The logic goes like this: if a large section of the population is exposed to the coronavirus now, it will likely help people develop a level of immunity, and then Britain will be in the best possible position to defend itself from a much worse outbreak of the virus in the future. The strategy reportedly has been shaped by the history of the deadly Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, which saw a second, much larger spike in deaths months after the first outbreak.Sir Patrick Vallance, England's chief scientific adviser, said the government was looking "to build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission." The strategy is based on science—but the entire British population is now effectively taking part in a mass untested experiment, and one which could result in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.Sixty percent of the British population is just under 40 million people. Even if Britain experiences a low mortality rate from the virus, that would lead to an expected 300,000 deaths. If the mortality rate is higher, such as in Italy, it's not unthinkable that the number of deaths rises over a million.While the strategy has its supporters in the scientific community, many have reacted with sheer horror. Anthony Costello, a pediatrician and former World Health Organization director, wrote that it's not even clear yet that catching the coronavirus will result in immunity. Costello urged the U.K. to change course, asking: "Is it ethical to adopt a policy that threatens immediate casualties on the basis of an uncertain future benefit?"Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the current director-general of the World Health Organization, has also urged countries to continue with containment measures. "The idea that countries should shift from containment to mitigation is wrong and dangerous," he said. "We urge all countries to take a comprehensive approach tailored to their circumstances—with containment as the central pillar."Other scientists have said Johnson appears to have missed the point when it comes to containment, saying that if the spread of the disease is delayed for enough time, an effective therapy or treatment could be developed and make the virus much easier to defeat, without risking as many lives.'I Could Easily Kill Them': Terrified Doctors Sound Alarm on CoronavirusJohnson's gamble also has been questioned by his political allies. Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary who remains a high-profile lawmaker in Johnson's own Conservative party, described the prime minister's approach as "surprising and concerning" and warned that it could lead to Britain's outbreak becoming worse than Italy's within a matter of weeks.And it's not just British lives at risk from the strategy. Flights from Britain are, mystifyingly, still free to cross the pond to the U.S. despite Trump's decision to ban journeys from the rest of Europe. Trump previously said he decided to exclude the U.K. because it was "doing a good job" on battling the virus, but admitted Friday that he now may have to add it to the list.Following days of criticism, Johnson has indicated that he may tweak his strategy. His government has banned hundreds of local elections and the London mayoral election for a year, and British media reported Friday night that mass gatherings could be banned from next weekend.But these tentative moves come as governments around the world declare emergencies, close borders, shut schools, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements, and carry out mass testing on their populations.Johnson has chosen a wildly different course from governments around the world. The question now is if his mass experiment will define his legacy as an ingenious pioneer, or as the mad professor who foolishly gambled with the lives of millions.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
|
| Germany has offered companies 'unlimited' loans to stop them from collapsing because of the coronavirus pandemic Posted: 13 Mar 2020 06:46 AM PDT  "There is no upper limit on the amount of loans that [we] can issue," German finance minister Olaf Scholz said.
|
| Canada faces 'danger' from China and Russia, intelligence chief warns Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:25 AM PDT  The warnings of foreign interference come as a similar report from the UK remains unpublished.
|
| CDC reports 1,678 coronavirus cases, death tally of 41 Posted: 13 Mar 2020 09:56 AM PDT  The agency said the cases had been reported by 46 states and the District of Columbia, up from its previous report of 42 states and the District of Columbia. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on March 12.
|
| He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:57 AM PDT  On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver SUV to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tennessee, they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from "little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods," his brother said. "The major metro areas were cleaned out."Matt Colvin stayed home near Chattanooga, preparing for pallets of even more wipes and sanitizer he had ordered, and starting to list them on Amazon. Colvin said he had posted 300 bottles of hand sanitizer and immediately sold them all for between $8 and $70 each, multiples higher than what he had bought them for. To him, "it was crazy money." To many others, it was profiteering from a pandemic.The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they'd lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.Now, while millions of people search in vain for hand sanitizer to protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus, Colvin is sitting on 17,700 bottles of the stuff with little idea where to sell them."It's been a huge amount of whiplash," he said. "From being in a situation where what I've got coming and going could potentially put my family in a really good place financially to 'What the heck am I going to do with all of this?'"Colvin is one of probably thousands of sellers who have amassed stockpiles of hand sanitizer and crucial respirator masks that many hospitals are now rationing, according to interviews with eight Amazon sellers and posts in private Facebook and Telegram groups from dozens more. Amazon said it had recently removed hundreds of thousands of listings and suspended thousands of sellers' accounts for price gouging related to the coronavirus.Amazon, eBay, Walmart and other online-commerce platforms are trying to stop their sellers from making excessive profits from a public health crisis. While the companies aimed to discourage people from hoarding such products and jacking up their prices, many sellers had already cleared out their local stores and started selling the goods online.Now both the physical and digital shelves are nearly empty.Mikeala Kozlowski, a nurse in Dudley, Massachusetts, has been searching for hand sanitizer since before she gave birth to her first child, Nora, on March 5. When she searched stores, which were sold out, she skipped getting gas to avoid handling the pump. And when she checked Amazon, she couldn't find it for less than $50."You're being selfish, hoarding resources for your own personal gain," she said of the sellers.Sites like Amazon and eBay have given rise to a growing industry of independent sellers who snatch up discounted or hard-to-find items in stores to post online and sell around the world.These sellers call it retail arbitrage, a 21st-century career that has adults buying up everything from limited-run cereals to Fingerling Monkeys, a once hot toy. The bargain hunters look for anything they can sell at a sharp markup. In recent weeks, they found perhaps their biggest opportunity: a pandemic.As they watched the list of Amazon's most popular searches crowd with terms like "Purell," "N95 mask" and "Clorox wipes," sellers said, they did what they had learned to do: Suck up supply and sell it for what the market would bear.Initially, the strategy worked. For several weeks, prices soared for some of the top results to searches for sanitizer, masks and wipes on Amazon, according to a New York Times analysis of historical prices from Jungle Scout, which tracks data for Amazon sellers. The data shows that both Amazon and third-party sellers like Colvin increased their prices, which then mostly dropped when Amazon took action against price gouging this month.At the high prices, people still bought the products en masse, and Amazon took a cut of roughly 15% and eBay roughly 10%, depending on the price and the seller.Then the companies, pressured by growing criticism from regulators and customers, cracked down. After the measures last week, Amazon went further Wednesday, restricting sales of any coronavirus-related products from certain sellers."Price gouging is a clear violation of our policies, unethical, and in some areas, illegal," Amazon said in a statement. "In addition to terminating these third party accounts, we welcome the opportunity to work directly with states attorneys general to prosecute bad actors."Colvin, 36, a former Air Force technical sergeant, said he started selling on Amazon in 2015, developing it into a six-figure career by selling Nike shoes and pet toys, and by following trends.In early February, as headlines announced the coronavirus' spread in China, Colvin spotted a chance to capitalize. A nearby liquidation firm was selling 2,000 "pandemic packs," leftovers from a defunct company. Each came with 50 face masks, four small bottles of hand sanitizer and a thermometer. The price was $5 a pack. Colvin haggled it to $3.50 and bought them all.He quickly sold all 2,000 of the 50-packs of masks on eBay, pricing them from $40 to $50 each, and sometimes higher. He declined to disclose his profit on the record but said it was substantial.The success stoked his appetite. When he saw the panicked public starting to pounce on sanitizer and wipes, he and his brother set out to stock up.Elsewhere, other Amazon sellers were doing the same.Chris Anderson, an Amazon seller in central Pennsylvania, said he and a friend had driven around Ohio, buying about 10,000 masks from stores. He used coupons to buy packs of 10 for around $15 each and resold them for $40 to $50. After Amazon's cut and other costs, he estimates, he made a $25,000 profit.Anderson is now holding 500 packs of antibacterial wipes after Amazon blocked him from selling them for $19 each, up from $16 weeks earlier. He bought the packs for $3 each.Eric, a truck driver from Ohio who spoke on condition that his surname not be published because he feared Amazon would retaliate, said he had also collected about 10,000 masks at stores. He bought each 10-pack for about $20 and sold most for roughly $80 each, although some he priced at $125."Even at $125 a box, they were selling almost instantly," he said. "It was mind-blowing as far as what you could charge."He estimates he made $35,000 to $40,000 in profit.Now he has 1,000 more masks on order, but he's not sure what to do with them. He said Amazon had been vague about what constituted price gouging, scaring away sellers who don't want to risk losing their ability to sell on its site.To regulators and many others, the sellers are sitting on a stockpile of medical supplies during a pandemic. The attorney general's offices in California, Washington and New York are all investigating price gouging related to the coronavirus. California's price-gouging law bars sellers from increasing prices by more than 10 percent after officials declare an emergency. New York's law prohibits sellers from charging an "unconscionably excessive price" during emergencies.An official at the Washington attorney general's office said the agency believed it could apply the state's consumer-protection law to sue platforms or sellers, even if they aren't in Washington, as long as they were trying to sell to Washington residents.Colvin does not believe he was price gouging. While he charged $20 on Amazon for two bottles of Purell that retail for $1 each, he said people forget that his price includes his labor, Amazon's fees and about $10 in shipping. (Alcohol-based sanitizer is pricey to ship because officials consider it a hazardous material.)Current price-gouging laws "are not built for today's day and age," Colvin said. "They're built for Billy Bob's gas station doubling the amount he charges for gas during a hurricane."He added, "Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn't mean it's not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door."But what about the morality of hoarding products that can prevent the spread of the virus, just to turn a profit?Colvin said he was simply fixing "inefficiencies in the marketplace." Some areas of the country need these products more than others, and he's helping send the supply toward the demand."There's a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now," he said. "The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Kentucky, doesn't have that."He thought about it more."I honestly feel like it's a public service," he added. "I'm being paid for my public service."As for his stockpile, Colvin said he would now probably try to sell it locally."If I can make a slight profit, that's fine," he said. "But I'm not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I'm selling for 20 times what they cost me."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
|
| California governor issues order allowing state to commandeer hotels if needed to treat coronavirus patients Posted: 12 Mar 2020 04:00 PM PDT  California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued an executive order on Thursday addressing the coronavirus pandemic, saying his goal is to "fully implement these procedures and protocols to slow down the spread, to get through a peak, and to get through the next few months, so we don't overwhelm our health care delivery system."His executive order allows the state to take over hotels and medical facilities if necessary to treat coronavirus patients, and also gives government officials the ability to hold private teleconferences without violating open meeting laws.In California, 198 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, Newsom said, a 10 percent increase from Wednesday. Earlier in the day, he called for the statewide cancellation of all gatherings of 250 or more people.More stories from theweek.com Trump just gave the worst speech of his presidency Why Trump fears Biden Trump says he doesn't 'take responsibility at all' for lack of coronavirus testing
|
| Virus cases ramping up in Africa, which is racing to prepare Posted: 13 Mar 2020 08:39 AM PDT  Cases of the new coronavirus are ramping up in Africa, with six new countries announcing confirmed infections in the past 24 hours. Across Africa, 18 of the continent's 54 countries have now registered COVID-19 cases. On Friday, Kenya, Guinea and Ethiopia reported their first cases, while Gabon and Ghana did so late Thursday.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment