3 Stories You Should Read 3/10/2020: Mark Meadows, Gates Foundation, Italy

March 10, 2020 Confluence

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In the category of: Lockdown

All of Italy is in lockdown as coronavirus cases rise

Italy has been put under a dramatic total lockdown, as the coronavirus spreads in the country. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he is extending restrictions already in place in the north.

“All the measure of the red zones are now extended to all of the national territory,” Conte said at a press conference on Monday evening as he also announced a ban on all public events.

The Prime Minister said the move was taken in order to protect the population, and especially the most fragile individuals. His announcement came at the end of a chaotic day that saw prison riots across the country.

The coordinator for intensive care in the crisis unit for the northern Lombardy region told CNN that Lombardy’s health care system was “one step from collapse” despite efforts to free up hospital beds.

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In the category of: Big bucks

Gates Foundation spearheads $125 million drive to develop a coronavirus drug

As part of a $100 million commitment to the global COVID-19 response, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Tuesday a collaboration to speed development of treatments for the new coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people worldwide — and killed nearly 4,000.

The Seattle-based foundation’s $50 million contribution will be combined with $50 million from Wellcome, a major British health philanthropy, and $25 million from Mastercard’s Impact Fund, a philanthropy focused on economic growth.

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In the category of: Personal time

Mark Meadows To Self-Quarantine After Potential Contact With Coronavirus Patient

The incoming White House chief of staff is the latest GOP lawmaker who may have had contact with an infected person.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the incoming White House chief of staff, said Monday he would self-quarantine after potentially coming into contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to media reports.

Meadows’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Meadows was told this weekend he “may have come in contact” with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, last month, The Washington Post reported. The lawmaker reportedly tested negative for the virus and has no symptoms, and his representative told the Post that he would remain in isolation until Wednesday.

Four other Republican lawmakers, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.). Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Doug Collins (Ga.), also attended CPAC and interacted with the infected person. Two of those, Gaetz and Collins, also interacted directly with the president, and Gaetz rode on Air Force One with Trump on Monday.

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