One woman told Alba that she does not believe coronavirus is real or that it was the reason two patients died in Washington.

“I don’t trust anything that Democrats do or say,” the woman said, rationalizing that coronavirus is simply a liberal-based hoax.

...

A second woman revealed she isn’t at all worried about the coronavirus because she is divinely protected.

“We’re under protection,” the woman told Alba reassuringly. “We’re under protection from Psalms 91 and God is out protector.”

Barbara Ferrer, director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said at a press conference with other county officials that leaders should expect more cases of #covid19 in the days ahead.

“If you’re sick with anything, we need people to stay home,” she said.

County officials stressed that they were acting out of “an abundance of caution” and not panic.

Appearing at a morning news conference attended by L.A. Department of Public Health officials, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and L.A. County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn, the officials said the declaration would allow greater coordination among various levels of government.

Kevin and Susan Bryant, 55 and 48, spent most of their lives in Texas, recently in retiree hot spot Austin. But “when Austin became a mini Silicon Valley, we were priced out,” Kevin, a now-retired history teacher and principal, tells MarketWatch.

...

To find the right spot, they toured Spain, rejecting Barcelona because it was too big; Tarragona because it was too far north (they wanted somewhere a little warmer); and Peñiscola, because, though they liked it, Susan jokes, “I could never tell my mother I lived in a town with that name.”

...

The cost: The Bryants say they live on Kevin’s pension from being a teacher, and say they “live very well on $2,000 per month.” They spend about $665 on rent (they live in a two-bedroom apartment near the beach with a shared pool), $82 on electricity, $33 on water, $33 on internet, $44 on phone, $90 on gym, $130 on health insurance, $490 on food each month, they tell MarketWatch.

...

Health care: The Bryants say they spend roughly $130 for both of them for private health insurance each month — and they’ve been very pleased with the quality of their care. “I go to the freaking doctor here. I grew up male in Texas — we don’t go to the doctor unless something is dangling off or broken,” he jokes. “Any time we need something now we go to see the doctor, we get in in a day or two,” he adds, noting that “our doctor is Dutch and speaks five languages — cool guy, too.” Some expats may be able to qualify for the free state health-care system in Spain (here are the guidelines); expats who don’t qualify for that — or who want to forgo the sometimes long waits that come with the public system — can buy private insurance to cover themselves. (You can read about the different health-care systems here).

Lawyers for the 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia claim their investigator interviewed Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 26, 2017, and Khashoggi sent a text to “senior Saudi officials that same day.”

Covered an emergency hearing on these new filings this morning for @CourthouseNews.

Lawyers for the 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia claim their investigator interviewed Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 26, 2017, and Khashoggi sent a text to “senior Saudi officials that same day.”

Covered an emergency hearing on these new filings this morning for @CourthouseNews.



An earlier version of this tweet had a typo on the date that has been corrected.

More on the filings and today’s hearing in a bit.
The legal team for the families made this disclosure in court filings about their allegations of witness intimidation.

Attorneys for Saudi Arabia categorically denied those allegations and the relevance to Jamal Khashoggi.

Judge Netburn requested more info.
In court today, attorney Andrew Maloney said their investigator Catherine Hunt, a former FBI agent, interviewed Khashoggi on Oct. 26, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

The legal team's five-page letter on these claims is here:
PEC-Khashoggi letter 3.2.2020
Source document contributed to DocumentCloud by Adam Klasfeld (Courthouse News).
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6793970-PEC-Khashoggi-letter-3-2-2020.html

Saudi Arabia's attorney Michael Kellogg "categorically" denied claims of witness intimidation or relevance of Khashoggi.

"It should be struck from the record," Kellogg requested to the judge, alleging the allegations were "put forward to seek a litigation advantage."
Maloney claimed that witnesses reported a direct threat and perceived threats.

Netburn ordered Maloney to file more info to her ex parte (i.e., judge's eyes only), for her to assess whether any action--such as a criminal referral--should be taken.

Next hearing: March 23.

The 2016 provision also requires that infection preventionists receive specialized training and that all long-term care facilities employ a specialist at least part time. The specialists are responsible for ensuring that nursing home staff properly clean their hands, disinfect surfaces and follow other protocols, helping to prevent both residents and health care providers from becoming infected.

The provision took effect last November despite the Trump administration’s objections, but the administration has continued working to reverse it.

In a plan unveiled last July, the Trump administration proposed eliminating the requirement that nursing homes employ infection specialists at least part time, citing the “excessive administrative burden” on long-term care facilities, as well as potential confusion about the definition of “part-time.” Instead, the administration proposed requiring only that infection preventionists spend “sufficient time at the facility.”

Life Care Center of Kirkland — the skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility linked to four coronavirus deaths in Washington — declined to specify whether it had an infection prevention specialist on staff. A spokeswoman for Life Care Center referred NBC News to a statement released Monday that said the facility was “following infection control recommendations, including proper hand-washing techniques and wearing masks, gowns and gloves when caring for any symptomatic patients.”

The Florida Department of Health announced on Tuesday that another person in Florida has tested 'presumptive positive' for the coronavirus. Two others have already been confirmed with the virus, otherwise known as COVID-19.

The new patient is the second in Hillsborough County where a woman is currently quarantined with the coronavirus.

...

Testing 'presumptive positive' means the patient has tested positive for COVID-19 through state laboratories. The Centers for Disease Control must then confirm the findings.


According to the Florida Department of Health website, there are now 16 pending testing results and 24 negative testing results. There are currently 247 people under public health monitoring.

Texas counties with largest minority population growth saw 2.5M new residents and 542 closures. Whiter areas had just 34. https://www.salon.com/2020/03/03/voter-suppression-plain-and-simple-texas-closed-hundreds-of-polling-sites-in-black-latino-areas/

Texas has shuttered more polling places than any other state since 2012 and most of the closures disproportionately hit black and Latino areas, according to a new analysis by The Guardian.

Texas has closed 750 polling locations since 2012, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, a civil rights group, reported last year. The state had one polling place for every 4,000 residents in 2012, but that number rose to 7,700 residents by 2018. The Guardian's analysis found that the overwhelming majority of closures came in areas that saw the largest increase in black and Latino residents.

The 50 counties that saw the highest growth in black and Latino population had 542 polling sites close between 2012 and 2018, while the 50 counties with the lowest black and Latino population growth saw just 34 closures. The closures came despite the population in the top 50 counties rising by 2.5 million while the 50 counties that had just 34 closures saw their population fall by 13,000.

"This is voter suppression — plain and simple," said the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.

The moves are likely to worsen Texas' already-low turnout rates, advocates warned, despite changing demographics and large growth in black and Latino areas.