Update: What to know before today’s Coronavirus Task Force press briefing

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered his 40 million Californians to remain at home for the foreseeable future. His order forces retail stores across the state to close, as well as most corporate offices and any other non-essential businesses. Exceptions include banks, pharmacies, grocery stores and laundromats. Essential state and local law enforcement will also remain in operation. 

This order does not ban residents from leaving their homes, however. Officials encourage Californians to take walks and visit grocery stores but discourage any non-essential travel and activities.

It is still unclear how the state of California will enforce this order; but, the New York Times reports that Newsom will be “‘more aggressively’ policing xenophobic attacks against Asians.” 

How would the state government go about policing “xenophobic attacks?” That is still unclear as well. But, Newsom believes social pressure will be the driving factor in keeping Californians in line. 

Time will tell how this order will play out in the state of California, but it will undoubtedly reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

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The media is still critical of President Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the coronavirus. An article in the Washington Post asserts that Trump only began to call the coronavirus the “China Virus” as “…the spread of the disease slowed in Asia and as Europe became the new epicenter.”

But it is crucial to note that, at the same time that Europe became the “epicenter,” Chinese officials took to Twitter to blame the U.S. military as the original carriers of the virus. 

2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3

— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 12, 2020

“China Virus” is Trump’s way of placing the responsibility of this virus squarely on the shoulders of the Chinese government, whose lies allowed for the coronavirus to become a global pandemic. 

The National Security Council had this to say:

The Chinese Communist Party suppressed initial reports on the Chinese Virus and punished doctors and journalists, causing Chinese and international experts to miss critical opportunities to prevent a global pandemic.

https://t.co/wVfXAWSR7I

— NSC (@WHNSC) March 18, 2020

Hopefully, American journalists will become more critical of the Chinese government, as well as its propaganda, in the coming weeks.