by PublicSource reporters
The number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania continues to increase by more than 1,000 a day, but the rate of growth has not been as steep as last week.
For more than a week, the state reported record increases each day, but the trend ended Sunday. On Monday, April 6, the state reported 1,470 new cases — 23 fewer than Sunday. The state also reported 12 new deaths Monday bringing the state’s total to 162.
Gov. Tom Wolf asked all Pennsylvania on Friday, April 3, to wear face masks when leaving home. Later on Friday, President Donald Trump shared new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending cloth masks in public for everyone.
The state and the CDC say surgical masks and N95 respirator masks should still be reserved for healthcare workers or patients in healthcare settings. Homemade masks, paper masks or even bandanas and scarves can be used by the general public in addition to social distancing. Cloth masks should be washed after each use. Wolf’s office has released resources instructing Pennsylvanians on how to make homemade masks.
Until recently, the public has generally been advised against wearing face masks by all authorities, particularly because of reported shortages for healthcare workers. Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine addressed this shift: “What’s changed is the views of the public health community, nationally and internationally, on the utility of the whole community using masks.”
“You’re doing sensationalism,” Trump charged. “And the same with NBC and Comcast. I don’t call it Comcast. I call it ‘Con-Cast.'”
“Let me just tell you something,” Trump added. “That’s really bad reporting. And you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism.”
He also attacked PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor, who pointed out that Trump had said he did not believe that governors actually need all the equipment they claimed they did to treat COVID-19 patients. Trump said, “I didn’t say that” even though he said it on Fox News.
When Alcindor pressed Trump at the March 29 briefing about his statement, Trump interrupted her several times and told her, “Be nice. Don’t be threatening.”
A couple of weeks ago, he also called Alcindor’s question “nasty” when she asked him about the closing of the pandemic response unit within the National Security Council in 2018.
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) are right to stand firmly against Trump’s “unacceptable treatment” of Alcindor.
“It is not the job of journalists to be ‘nice,’ but to hold public officials accountable, a role that cannot be understated when misinformation runs rampant at White House briefings on the deadly pandemic that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives.”
Trump has also threatened to withhold federal support from “the woman in Michigan” — referring to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat — and insulting her with a childish nickname on social media.
He has also had similar un-presidential exchanges with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Governors from both major parties are challenging the Trump administration’s assertion that the nation is well-stocked to test and care for coronavirus patients.
However, his worst exchanges appear to be reserved for women and African Americans, with African-American females and journalists getting the vilest treatment.
Trump must be rebuked for his behavior and held to account for his pettiness and partisanship and his failure to lead all Americans in this time of crisis.
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Pennsylvania reports 1,470 new COVID-19 cases, state deaths total 162
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