© AP/SalonRussian President Vladimir Putin • US President Donald Trump
Russia and China have sent various supplies, including medical equipment, to the United States to help battle the novel coronavirus disease, US President Donald Trump said during a daily White House briefing on Monday.
"China sent us some stuff, which was terrific. Russia sent us a very, very large planeload of things, medical equipment, which was very nice", the president said.
He did not, however, elaborate on the details of the deliveries.
Earlier during the briefing, Trump said that restrictions amid the virus outbreak in the US could be toughened,
but said he was not planning to impose a nationwide quarantine.
Comment: On the lockdowns, Trump
said, "The guidelines will be very much as they are, maybe even toughened up a little bit." Trump and Putin
spoke by phone about coronavirus, the world oil market, and "the possibilities of closer cooperation between the two countries" - the Kremlin called the call 'lengthy'. Pompeo and Lavrov also
spoke about coronavirus, "the international agenda, including strategic stability and the Syrian crisis settlement, as well as some aspects of bilateral relations."
In Russia,
St. Petersburg followed the herd, adopting strict measures and going into 'partial lockdown', like Moscow. The Russian parliament is following the global panic, clearing the path for a
state of emergency to be declared:
On Monday morning Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asked Russia's regional heads to consider introducing similar restrictions in the capital. Many areas of the country have since complied.
"A regime of isolation is introduced for all age groups, with the exception of cases when emergency care is needed, or where you need to go to the store for food, or to travel to work [...] and other really good reasons," Mishustin explained. "In the current situation, this will help to protect yourself and your loved-ones. I ask the leaders of Russia's Federal Subjects to pay attention to the experience of their colleagues and to work out the possibility of introducing such measures in their regions."
On Tuesday, Russia's parliament adopted a law to expand the powers of the government and its right to announce a state of emergency. If declared, this would give authorities the ability to establish mandatory rules of conduct for citizens. The relevant agencies say that it will increase the nation's ability to effectively fight the pandemic. However, speaking to radio station Echo of Moscow, political scientist Andrei Kolesnikov has warned that, while the legislation can be "explained by the needs of the moment," in the long term it will give the government "much more substantial capabilities to suppress human rights." He expressed a worry that, once the pandemic is controlled, this new law will be used to turn Russia into a police state.
That pretty much applies everywhere... There was some fear that Putin might have been infected after he
visited a Moscow doctor who later tested positive. The Kremlin
says Putin takes tests regularly and is fine.
The WHO is still
fear-mongering, saying the 'coronavirus crisis' in Asia is "far from over" and to brace for "large-scale community transmission". They're assuming there hasn't
already been large-scale transmission, which would imply that the mortality rate and percentage of severe cases is much lower than all the authorities have been telling us.
Comment: On the lockdowns, Trump said, "The guidelines will be very much as they are, maybe even toughened up a little bit." Trump and Putin spoke by phone about coronavirus, the world oil market, and "the possibilities of closer cooperation between the two countries" - the Kremlin called the call 'lengthy'. Pompeo and Lavrov also spoke about coronavirus, "the international agenda, including strategic stability and the Syrian crisis settlement, as well as some aspects of bilateral relations."
In Russia, St. Petersburg followed the herd, adopting strict measures and going into 'partial lockdown', like Moscow. The Russian parliament is following the global panic, clearing the path for a state of emergency to be declared: That pretty much applies everywhere... There was some fear that Putin might have been infected after he visited a Moscow doctor who later tested positive. The Kremlin says Putin takes tests regularly and is fine.
The WHO is still fear-mongering, saying the 'coronavirus crisis' in Asia is "far from over" and to brace for "large-scale community transmission". They're assuming there hasn't already been large-scale transmission, which would imply that the mortality rate and percentage of severe cases is much lower than all the authorities have been telling us.