The View from the Hermitage, Day 46

I check overnight news first thing in the morning as I brew or sip that first cup of coffee. Since it's between 5:00 and 6:00 am, I check the BBC and The Guardian before I check any US sites. After all, the business-hours day is underway across the pond while we're still waking up over here. Here's a look at the coronavirus-related stories there right now (I know that it is not right now first thing in the morning but my blog my rules).

It seems that Russia's Prime Minister, who is most definitely not Vladimir Putin believe it or not but someone named Mikhail Mishustin, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He's gone to hospital and suggested that his First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should take his place. Two days ago, Putin extended Russia's lockdown until May 11 and admitted that there is a shortage of PPE there. I wonder if Vladimir and He Who Shall Not Be Named have compared notes on the pandemic yet.

Over here but reported over there, He Who Shall Not Be Named has repeatedly insisted that the US has run more tests than all other countries combined. The BBC article disputes this, noting that the US total does not exceed the sum of the totals for Spain, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The US also lags in the number of tests per capita run. He Who Shall Not Be Named's claim was most likely made in the context of his America First efforts.

Much to the chagrin, well, maybe, of He Who Shall Not Be Named, an intelligence report has concluded that the novel coronavirus was not "manmade or genetically modified." Mother Nature can be a real bitch at times.

The media across the pond even report on events at the state level here, such as the report that Georgia's (the state here, not the country over there) count of coronavirus cases continues to rise. So much for the leveling and decreasing recommended before a state starts to reopen.

Finally, though it's not news in this household, the two doctors/scientists on the White House's coronavirus task force must walk a tightrope between the science and angering He Who Shall Not Be Named. Anthony Fauci has done that a bit more successfully than Deborah Birx in that he has not had to or just has not tried to stroke He Who Shall Not Be Named's ego while stating the science. I still remain in fear that Fauci will leave the task force of his own free will or not because I feel a whole lot more comfortable with him there.

So much for some of the news as reported somewhere other than here. I find it on a more stable, less bombastic foundation than reports on the same topic in the US media. That's probably due to the distance or less emotional involvement in what is being reported.