SEATTLE RED

Be frank on what to expect

Apr 11, 2020, 9:35 AM

Health experts, press briefings, coronavirus...

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a White House press briefing. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

According to scientific experts, there’s good news and bad news on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The good news is that social distancing measures will succeed in “flattening the curve”, allowing a return to most aspects of normal life – probably some time this summer.

Passover in a pandemic

The bad news is that the coronavirus may come roaring back: based on the deadly pattern of the 1918 Spanish Flu, we’re likely to face another upsurge in deadly infections as summer turns to fall –an upsurge that would hit just weeks before the presidential election.

Public health officials will surely demand new school and business closures, but second-round restrictions might prove enormously unpopular—placing the president and other leaders in a perilous, painful position. The best way to avoid the dilemma is to be frank with the public about what lies ahead—making it clear that some relaxation over the summer won’t mean total, final victory over the pandemic.

FILE - Department of Elections workers sort mail-in ballots for the California primary election at ...

Associated Press

US appeals court upholds injunction that blocks Trump’s order to create a federal voter list

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that in nearly half of U.S. states halted President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list. The ruling Saturday by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected […]

24 minutes ago

The sun beams down on a lifeguard while she watches over a beach at Lake Harriet during an extreme ...

Associated Press

Sweltering heat wave grips central and southern US for a second straight day

Tens of millions of people are under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday as high temperatures and severe humidity grip large swaths of the country for a second straight day. Heat indices exceeding 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 Celsius) were forecast from Memphis to Montana to Las Vegas. […]

42 minutes ago

Associated Press

Federal officials investigate after a video appears to show a person kicking a California sea lion

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Federal wildlife authorities are investigating after a video appeared to show a person kicking a protected sea lion at a beach in California. A spokesperson for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries confirmed an ongoing investigation into the incident but declined to provide additional details Sunday. The video appears […]

1 hour ago

Two men wade in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz with vessels anchored in the background, off Ban...

Associated Press

US pauses attacks on Iran for a second straight day and Tehran pauses, too

CAIRO (AP) — The United States paused its attacks on Iran for a second straight day Sunday and Tehran said it had done so too, as efforts continued to bring the countries back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire. It was not clear why the U.S. has […]

2 hours ago

Laura Loomer speaks during her interview with The Associated Press, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July ...

Associated Press

Exclusive: In a Ukrainian bomb shelter, Laura Loomer explains shift on Russia’s war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Laura Loomer became infamous for spreading conspiracy theories online. Now, as she travels across Ukraine to see the damage inflicted by Russia in its yearslong war, she wants to admit that she fell for some falsehoods of her own. A close ally of President Donald Trump, Loomer has completely reversed her […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Cooling tower three with one and two in the background operate at the nuclear reactor facili...

Associated Press

As Trump boosts nuclear power, regulators seek to eliminate a longstanding radiation safety rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to eliminate a foundational safety principle that has for 50 years minimized the radiation people in the United States are exposed to and that has been adopted around the world. Currently, facilities such as nuclear plants, hospitals or academic institutions that use radioactive materials must ensure radiation exposures are […]

4 hours ago

Be frank on what to expect