It’s fascinating to observe all the beneficial “side effects” of the pandemic developing over time:
The coronavirus outbreak that has led to the quarantine of all of Italy has stopped the activity of migrant transport NGOs in the Mediterranean. Migrant transport NGOs have seen their ships remain in dock due to the spread of the coronavirus with the last activity taking place in late February when the NGO Sea Watch was able to land 194 migrants in the country.
Arrivals of migrants in their own boats from North Africa have also halted since February 28th, according to a report from Italian newspaper Il Giornale, which states that the last boat to depart from the area took place off the coast of Libya and was intercepted by the local coastguard.
The migrant transport NGOs, meanwhile, have written a letter to the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development expressing their concerns over the coronavirus outbreak and how they can continue to operate, likely fearing a collapse in donation money.
Thank you, Corona-chan!
UPDATE: Looks like a Storm warning….
President Donald Trump plans to declare a national emergency on Friday over the coronavirus outbreak, invoking the Stafford Act to open the door to more federal aid for states and municipalities, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The president said he will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. in Washington. Trump spoke Friday with Emmanuel Macron, the French president tweeted, about the pandemic, and agreed to organize a video conference with world leaders on Monday to coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments and work on how to respond to the economic fallout.
Trump is under increasing pressure to act as governors and mayors nationwide step up actions to mitigate the spread, closing schools and canceling public events.
This may answer the question “why isn’t Trump acting faster.” It’s a lot easier to act if people are putting pressure on you to do so. And it’s a lot harder for them to claim that your actions are too harsh if they begged you to take action.
But it shouldn’t end with a national emergency, as the next step will be a declaration of martial law as the Storm is unleashed. Note that European governments are already beginning to extend school and other closures to April 30th.
UPDATE: Ever wonder how long it would take to round up, process, and try 150,000 people? Apparently about two months.
White House coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday morning that the current state of crisis in the US would last for two months.