Questions tagged [covid-19]
Questions about political actions related to the outbreak of a novel coronavirus in 2019, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. For general public health policy questions, use [public-health]. For questions requiring medical answers, please ask on https://medicalsciences.stackexchange.com
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What is the difference between the CDC and the WHO as it pertains to the USA?
With regards to President Trump's defunding of the WHO, here's my question to get a bit more context: With respect to the stated objectives with regards to US national interests, what is the ...
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How were the UK's five lockdown tests drawn up?
In today's COVID-19 pandemic briefing, Business Secretary Alok Sharma described five tests which would inform the government's relaxation of the lockdown rules:
there are 5 tests that must be ...
CDJB♦
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What explains the record turnout in South Korea's elections, despite coronavirus fears?
On April 15th, South Korea held parliamentary elections, which resulted in a large victory for the incumbent President's Minjoo party. Fears of infection due to the COVID-19 pandemic have ...
CDJB♦
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Have any polls been conducted measuring support for the WHO?
In the past few weeks, we have seen some countries criticize the World Health Organization, particularly from Japan, and more recently the US President's withdrawal of WHO funding subject to a review.
...
CDJB♦
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Why are some Americans protesting COVID-19 restrictions? [closed]
I saw on the news some Michiganders are defying and protesting Protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Stay-At-Home Order. Social distancing against COVID19 appears self-explanatory to most Canadians (...
user6241
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What rate of decline in COVID cases is suggested by presidential guidelines?
So I was able to get the Guidelines for Opening America this afternoon, but was unable to watch the press briefing where they were discussed.
One of the key criteria for a state or region to met ...
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How does Australia's National Cabinet differ from COAG?
As a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia formed a National Cabinet on March 13th, consisting of the Prime Minister and the premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and ...
CDJB♦
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What's the earliest date on public record when the WHO requested to visit Wuhan to investigate COVID-19?
In the context of Trump's administration decision to suspend the funding of the WHO (pending a review), the BBC has this narrative:
"Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to ...
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Are the 2020 ESM "coronavirus" MoUs substantially the same as the 2012-2013 ESM MoUs?
It's been asserted (more specifically now) in an answer to another question here that the 2012 (actually Jan 2013) ESM MoUs are effectively the same as the 2020 ESM "coronavirus" MoUs.
Reasons I'm ...
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Significance of "meaningful steps towards fiscal union", in the context of Italy's rejection of part of covid aid/loan package? [duplicate]
If you read some of the news about Italy's turning down of some of the parts of the covid loan/rescue package, a number of sites have the same exact quote.
Analysts said the measures had helped ...
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If a country develops a COVID-19 vaccine, can they refuse to share it? [closed]
Per title. Say country X develops a vaccine, but don't want to share it with others. Possible reasons could be:
They can only make so much of that vaccine (perhaps because the raw materials required ...
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Why is Italy rejecting 39 billion euros of EU coronavirus aid?
According to tagesschau.de (original article in German, translation here), in response to the European Union's coronavirus aid package, Italy's government has made it clear that "[they] don't want ...
CDJB♦
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Why is there widespread support for suspending Freedom of Assembly during the pandemic, but not for suppressing privacy? [closed]
Pretty much every news outlet in the US these days supports the lockdowns despite them violating the First Amendment - from CNN to Fox News. Everyone seems to agree that lockdowns are inevitable, even ...
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Is the Trump administration taking action against Trump's forecasted suicides?
US President Donald Trump is quoted as follows:
“You’re going to have suicides by the thousands” Trump said at a Fox News town hall. “People get tremendous anxiety and depression, and you have ...
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Why are some countries continuing to tighten lockdown restrictions despite empty hospitals and decreasing coronavirus infections?
As an example, British Columbia decided to shutdown all national parks on April 8th. This might seem prudent if we were talking about Lombardy in March, but the actual numbers show that BC is actually ...
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What long-term options do politicians have for Covid-19 and what are their implications? [closed]
At the moment, basically every country seems to be busy avoiding catastrophe by a lock down. There is only little to no long-term exit strategy and for good reasons. However, the ultimate goal of ...
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How do the conservative media commentators skeptical of Covid-19 explain [away] the freezer truck rows in NYC?
It's been reported that a certain part of the conservative media in the US is highly skeptical of the Covid-19 death figures, suggesting they are probably overcounted e.g.
Fox News’s Brit Hume, who ...
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What is the difference between war powers and emergency powers?
What is the difference between war powers and emergency powers?
I have been hearing about both war powers and emergency powers in the context of COVID-19, but I have not been able to find a clear ...
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Rand Paul coronavirus vote record
I've seen mentioned in an article from March that:
Earlier this month, [Rand] Paul, a licensed physician, voted against a bipartisan $8 billion emergency coronavirus funding bill. He was the sole ...
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What countries have granted emergency powers as a result of Covid-19?
What countries have granted emergency powers as a result of COVID-19?
I have recently read the articles linked below regarding emergency powers granted as a result of Coronavirus, but I have been ...
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Are there any polls explicitly measuring "quarantine fatigue" in Western countries?
There are numerous articles talking about how people are tired of staying in lockdown:
As Greece enters its third week since restrictive measures were first
imposed to combat the spread of ...
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How has public opinion of the European Union changed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis?
The response of the EU to the COVID-19 pandemic has not exactly been unified. Despite finally reaching agreement on a €500bn rescue package on Thursday, this came after weeks of argument, particularly ...
CDJB♦
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How has India become the primary source for Hydroxychloroquine?
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, suddenly India seems to have become relied upon as the world's primary producer of the drug Hydroxychloroquine, promoted by Donald Trump as a potential means of ...
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What did the US CDC say about COVID-19 human-to-human transmission between Jan 14 and 21?
From (answers to) a related question, the WHO had mostly changed their public stance on the human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 after Jan 22, while giving mostly "negative signals" on this matter ...
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When did the WHO decide there was evidence of human-to-human transmission of Covid-19?
A January 14 WHO tweet that has been widely re-broadcast months later by the right-wing US press (e.g. NYPost, WashExam but not exclusively by them, e.g. Bloomberg opinion piece, Politico o.p.) said ...
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What are the implications of the Bank of England directly financing government spending?
HM Treasury has announced this morning (April 9th) that the UK has temporarily extended the Ways and Means facility (the government's overdraft with the BoE) in order to fund the fight against the ...
CDJB♦
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Have any governments proposed relaxing drug/vaccine development requirements for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Given that a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19 is the best way out of the current crisis, it seems logical that governments would take a "no holds barred" approach to making it happen as ...
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Why did the Senate use an existing bill that passed the House in July 2019 to create the CARES Act?
I was looking at H.R.748 - CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act on the Congress website. I was surprised to find that the bill originally passed the House on July 17, 2019. I ...
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What political and social factors underlie Sweden's controversial response to COVID-19?
Sweden has adopted a far less radical set of policies in reaction to COVID-19 than most other European states. Many other European states are in "lock-down", with severe restrictions on ...
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Is re-buying others states trade shipments illegal? [closed]
There were some cases (and that one, for example), when US put it hands over medicine masks packages.
But is it really illegal? At least, people who've done it do not rob it, they've payed with money....
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Have non-health government officials in Western countries (besides the US) publicly pushed for specific medications for Covid-19 contra PH officials?
There has been some level disagreement publicly aired in the US between Trump/Navarro and Fauci on the use of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19.
The president and his allies, however, have continued to ...
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Why didn't India stop incoming flights in early Feb 2020 to prevent COVID-19 infections?
Everyone agrees that COVID-19 did not originate in India and came from international travellers. Why didn't India ban incoming flights in early Feb 2020 till the virus problem is over ? Is there any ...
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Is there any G7 cooperative response for COVID-19?
G7 is a community of the largest economies in the world, according to Wikipedia. Recently, there was a foreign ministers meeting, and then a rather abstract statement after.
I expected some ...
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What exactly is a Covid-19 "red zone" in Italy, and how many people are in those?
According a BBC video of today,
Last week, the village of Nerola, was suddenly declared a red zone, after a dozens of coronavirus cases were discovered.
It’s been sealed off by the army, and everyone ...
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Are any countries besides China planning to use "Fangcang" hospitals to relocate those infected/suspected of Covid-19, but who have a mild illness?
Somewhat controversially, China has had temporarily relocated those infected with Covid-19 in the Wuhan area to so-called Fangcang hospitals, large communal areas transformed into make-shift hospitals....
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How did Boris Johnson chair the cabinet meetings while he has COVID-19?
I didn't follow the UK news closely, so please enlighten me on how cabinet meetings were conducted by Boris Johnson while he has COVID-19. All I've read on this is that:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson ...
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How overcrowded are NY parks? Have they been deemed dangerously so from a public health perspective during this Covid-19 outbreak? [closed]
According to a NY Post article, parks in New York have become so overcrowded during this Covid-19 outbreak (supposedly because residents can't find anywhere else to go, e.g. restaurants are closed), ...
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Is there data comparing between US regions the degree of social distancing as a function of the outbreak severity?
In Europe, such comparisons have been published based on data by Google, so I suspect it might available for the US too. E.g.
An analysis here of smartphone location data by the U.S. search engine ...
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How does Italy compare to NY in terms of COVID-19 testing, per capita?
It's been reported today (April 4) that
New York state has recorded 630 more coronavirus deaths, another daily record that takes its [death] toll to 3,565.
Most deaths have been in New York City. The ...
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Can an EU country government force its medical doctors work with SARS-CoV2 infected patients without the proper equipment?
Romania has virtually the worst public health system in EU and there is no surprise that it is far from being prepared for tackling the coronavirus infection.
On major issue is that corruption (e.g. ...
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Where exactly was this mask shipment intercepted (by the US), which a German official described as a "modern act of piracy"?
Somewhat hazy news on DW
Officials in Berlin on Friday accused the US of intercepting a shipment of 200,000 protective face masks en-route from a Chinese manufacturer to Germany.
Berlin Interior ...
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Why is the UK government advising, but not requesting to stay at home this weekend?
The background is obvious. I'm really curious about the wording. In particular, UK told that staying home this weekend is 'not a request'. To me, it sounds like loosening restriction, in an unofficial ...
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Has the CDC (already) published these mask recommendations that Trump has just revealed?
The BBC had this on their live feed:
0:34
BREAKING: Health officials advise masks, Trump won't wear one
President Donald Trump has announced the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now recommends that ...
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Why has COVID-19 affected less people in India than in the USA? [closed]
Both countries have declared a lockdown. So what went wrong in the USA?
Why has COVID-19 affected less people in India that in the USA?
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Why is the lack of seasonal agricultural workers considered a problem given the high unemployment rate in every Western country?
Currently farmers in Western countries are warning governments that without foreign workers their fields will be impossible to harvest:
“We are in need of a lot of foreign workers,” Eystein Ruud, a ...
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How are the job approval ratings of Governor Andrew Cuomo and mayor Bill de Blasio faring during the COVID-19 crisis?
There has been a question here about the job approval rating of Trump in this Covid-19 pandemic. (Slight increase.)
I wonder how the governor and mayor of US most affected US state & city, that ...
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Who was responsible for deciding the CDC would produce all COVID-19 tests instead of immediately opening up test production to the private sector?
FactCheck.org considers Trumps claim that he inherited a broken CDC system to be 'misleading', and has given a long description of why they made that ruling. It effectively boils down to the claim ...
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Does the signing statement made by President Trump nullify the oversight provisions of the CARES Act?
On March 27th, President Trump signed the COVID-19 stimulus bill, the CARES Act, into law. This came after days of debate, where Democratic lawmakers insisted on the inclusion of oversight measures ...
CDJB♦
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What are the benefits of the proposed Euro/Corona bonds over conventional government bonds?
This article describes the efforts of several European Union countries to agree to issue "corona bonds" or "Eurobonds", which are a joint EU mechanism to issue joint debt shared between different ...
CDJB♦
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What rationale could be given for the Hungarian coronavirus bill, apart from constructing a dictatorship?
It is widely considered that the passing of the corona virus bill in Hungary is a huge step towards dictatorship. (See, for example, here: https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-viktor-orban-rule-by-...
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