Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily DebunkClaim: “So we have more cases than anybody, but we’re doing really well, and we also have a very low — relative to other countries — very low mortality rate. And there are reasons for that.”– President Trump, March 30, phone interview with “Fox & Friends.”Verdict: MisleadingRead the full story at: Associated Press Social Media Disinfo​
Screenshot of Turning Point USA meme on mask hoardingCirculating on social media: Memes falsely claiming that a health care workers’ union was “caught hiding 39 million N95 masks” and casting suspicion on the union’s motives.Verdict: FalseRead the full story: “Union’s Search for Face Masks Gets Twisted Online” — FactCheck.org Factual Reads on CoronavirusThe coronavirus is washing over the U.S. These factors will determine how bad it gets in each community
As the outbreak rolls across the country, residents are asking: Who will be hit next? And how fast and how hard?
— Stat, April 1Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019: a model-based analysis
Our estimated overall infection fatality ratio for China was 0·66% (0·39–1·33), with an increasing profile with age.
— The Lancet, April 30
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Національний банк України перерахував 42,7 мільярда гривень, увесь обсяг запланованого до перерахування прибутку за минулий рік до держбюджету України.

«Це на 2 мільярди гривень більше, ніж планувалося, відповідно до закону України «Про державний бюджет України на 2020 рік». Цьогоріч за узгодженням із Міністерством фінансів України було вирішено перерахувати до державного бюджету відразу всю суму прибутку Національного банку. У такий спосіб Національний банк допомагає уряду у нелегкій справі подолання епідемії в Україні. На державний бюджет зараз лягає значний фінансовий тягар боротьби з коронавірусом у країні та підтримки бізнесу і громадян, які найбільше потерпають від обмежувальних заходів», – йдеться у повідомленні регулятора у фейсбуці.

Рада Національного банку України 31 березня затвердила річну фінансову звітність НБУ і розподіл прибутку за минулий рік. Державний бюджет на 2020 рік передбачає перерахування НБУ у скарбницю не менш ніж 40,7 мільярдів гривень з прибутку за 2019 рік. Торік НБУ перерахував за попередній рік до держбюджету 64,9 мільярда гривень з прибутку.

Раніше сьогодні на засіданні уряду прем’єр-міністр Денис Шмигаль висловив сподівання, що Верховна Рада наступного тижня затвердить доопрацьований проєкт змін до державного бюджету на 2020 рік, назвавши його «оновленим бюджетом надзвичайної ситуації».

30 березня Верховна Рада відхилила запропоновані урядом зміни до кошторису на 2020 рік, відправивши документ на доопрацювання до повторного першого читання.
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Котирування нафти еталонного сорту Brent 1 квітня зросли після відкриття торгів до 26 доларів за барель. Це сталося насамперед із технічних причин – після експірації (завершення дії) травневих ф’ючерсних контрактів і переходу таких угод у наступний місяць.

Станом на 13:15 за Києвом ціна опустилася до 25 доларів 1 цента за барель, це на 10% вище за рівень закриття торгів 31 березня.

Президент США Дональд Трамп заявив 31 березня, що Росія та Саудівська Аравія обговорюють проведення переговорів про ціну нафти і що він розглядає можливість приєднатися до цього діалогу.

Суперечка між Саудівською Аравією та Росією щодо скорочення видобутку призвела до різкого зниження світових цін на нафту.

Минулого тижня США тиснули на Ер-Ріяд, щоб влада Саудівської Аравії відмовилася від рішення про збільшення видобутку та найбільшого демпінгу на ринку за два десятиліття. Ці дії були наслідком відмови Москви погодитися на скорочення виробництва на нараді ОПЕК+ на початку березня.

Трамп і російський президент Володимир Путін мали 30 березня телефонну розмову, в якій назвали нинішню ситуацію на світових нафтових ринках неприйнятною. Про це з посиланням на речника Кремля Дмитра Пєскова повідомляла агенція Reuters.

Для російської економіки нинішнє різке падіння цін на нафту є дуже чутливим, оскільки експорт нафти приносить Москві майже половину валютних надходжень. Для США останні події на ринку мають подвійний ефект: з одного боку, це негативно впливає на роботу американських нафтових компаній, з іншого – дає поштовх іншим галузям економіки, дозволяючи скоротити витрати на виробництво чи транспортування подукції.
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Buses and cars filled a Louisiana church parking lot for another service Tuesday evening as worshippers flocked to hear a Louisiana pastor who is facing misdemeanor charges for holding services despite a ban on gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.A few protesters turned out, too, including a man shouting through a bullhorn against those gathering at the Life Tabernacle Church in the city of Central, where pastor Tony Spell has been holding services. Another demonstrator held up a sign reading: “God don’t like stupid.”  Afterward, people began leaving the church, some chatting outside the front doors, and many appearing to not be adhering to social distancing recommendations to remain at least six feet (2 meters) apart. Hugs and handshakes were shared freely as people said their goodbyes and departed.
Hours earlier on Tuesday, Spell was issued a summons for holding services previously at the church in violation of the governor’s order banning gatherings.  “Come out, Tony. Come tell us why you’re endangering people’s lives,” the man with the bullhorn shouted Tuesday evening, directing his words at the pastor.  Flanked by some of his congregation, including children and older people, Spell emerged from the church later Tuesday night and said he is going to keep his church doors open. He said he doesn’t consider keeping his doors open any different than keeping the doors of Walmart open. Spell also compared going to church to going to the hospital, but for spiritual healing. “We are needy people. Our souls are lost,” he said. “We need help, and the church is the salvation center of the soul, the sanctuary where we come together and meet.”Around Louisiana, more than 5,200 people have confirmed virus infections, and 239 state residents have died, according to the Louisiana health department.The order from Gov. John Bel Edwards prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people, said East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore. Each violation carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine, Moore said.”The whole situation just puts everyone at risk,” Moore said. “We ask everyone to abide by the governor’s order.”The governor has urged church leaders instead to continue their services online or in smaller groups to lessen the risks.  Spell had previously confirmed he was facing misdemeanor charges. He said when reached by phone earlier that he was read his rights and fingerprinted — but the summons wasn’t deterring him. He said he would continue to defy the ban.”We’re still here and still assembling and having church,” Spell said. Asked why he was defying the governor’s orders, he said, “Because the Lord told us to.”  Asked whether he was concerned about the pandemic, Spell said: “I’m no more concerned than I would be going to Walmart or Home Depot.”Moore said earlier that additional charges could be issued if Spell continued to disobey Edwards’ ban on gatherings. He said the pastor wasn’t booked into jail earlier because parish officials are trying to lessen the jail population amid the risks of the highly contagious virus.Earlier, Central Assistant Police Chief Darren Sibley had said officers had no plans to try to stop Tuesday night’s prayer service. But he said they would “document everything and forward everything to the district attorney.””He is doing this for publicity,” Sibley said of Spell. “He is putting the citizens of the community at risk. And he is putting the people in his congregation at risk.”Edwards has issued a “stay at home” order that he said he will extend through the end of April to combat the spread of the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus, which is threatening to overwhelm hospitals with patients.For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia and be fatal.  Edwards said Tuesday that law enforcement authorities had been “extremely patient” with Spell and had “done everything that they could” to get him to comply with the governor’s order before issuing the summons.”I’m going to appeal to them one more time: Please stop what you’re doing,” Edwards said. “The overwhelming majority of our faith leaders have found other ways to engage with their parishioners.”
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U.S. federal agents seized a large cache of drugs from a long tunnel used by smugglers to move them across the U.S.-Mexico border.The 600-meter long tunnel, which ran under a series of warehouses from the northern Mexican border town of Tijuana to the southern California city of San Diego, was discovered on March 19 by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, a special unit made up of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies. Among the drugs stashed in the tunnel were nearly 600 kilograms of cocaine, 1,360 kilograms of marijuana, plus smaller amounts of methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl. The tunnel’s entrance was near a newly constructed segment of the border wall that President Donald Trump visited back in September that has become a hallmark of his hardline policy of keeping undocumented immigrants from entering the United States.Critics say the border wall will have no effect on the elaborately built tunnels commonly used by smugglers to sneak drugs into the U.S.No arrests were made in connection with last month’s discovery.A 1,300-meter long tunnel complete with an extensive rail cart system, electricity and ventilation was discovered in the same area back in January, which federal agents said was the longest underground tunnel ever found along the U.S.-Mexican border. 
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Кабінет міністрів схвалив постанову, якою визначається механізм проведення перерахунку пенсій, встановлення щомісячної компенсаційної виплати для пенсіонерів віком від 80 років та виплати одноразової грошової допомоги у сумі 1000 гривень.

Як повідомляє пресслужба Кабміну, таке рішення ухвалили на засіданні уряду 1 квітня.

За повідомленням, постанова про «Питання підвищення пенсійних виплат та надання соціальної підтримки окремим категоріям населення у 2020 році», зокрема, передбачає:

індексацію пенсій на 11%;
щомісячну виплату у розмірі 500 гривень пенсіонерам віком від 80 років, у яких розмір пенсійної виплати не перевищує 9205 гривень. При цьому встановлюється, що для вказаних пенсіонерів із страховим стажем 20 років для жінок та 25 років для чоловіків пенсійна виплата не може бути менша, ніж 2600 грн;
встановлення мінімальної пенсійної виплати на рівні 2100 грн особам, які мають тривалий страховий стаж (30 років для жінок та 35 років для чоловіків).

Крім того, за рішенням уряду, у квітні буде здійснена одноразова виплата грошової допомоги у сумі 1000 гривень окремим категоріям населення:

пенсіонерам, розмір пенсії яких з урахуванням передбачених законодавством надбавок, підвищень, додаткових пенсій, цільової грошової допомоги, сум індексації пенсії, щомісячної компенсації у разі втрати годувальника внаслідок Чорнобильської катастрофи та інших доплат до пенсій, встановлених законодавством, не перевищує 5000 гривень станом на 1 квітня 2020 року;
одержувачам державної соціальної допомоги особам з інвалідністю з дитинства та дітям з інвалідністю (крім осіб з інвалідністю з дитинства та дітей з інвалідністю, які одночасно з цією допомогою отримують пенсію у зв’язку з втратою годувальника або державну соціальну допомогу дитині померлого годувальника, передбачену законом України «Про державну соціальну допомогу особам, які не мають права на пенсію, та особам з інвалідністю»);
одержувачам державної соціальної допомоги особам, які не мають права на пенсію, та особам з інвалідністю;
одержувачам тимчасової державної соціальної допомоги непрацюючій особі, яка досягла загального пенсійного віку, але не набула права на пенсійну виплату.

Як написав у фейсбуці прем’єр-міністр Денис Шмигаль, урядові ініціативи потребують ухвалення змін до бюджету, які наразі Кабмін доопрацьовує разом із народними депутатами. 

На позачерговому засіданні 30 березня парламент не підтримав пропоновані урядом зміни до бюджету на 2020 рік. Прем’єр прогнозує, що їх ухвалять через тиждень.

 
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Thousands of South Korean workers on U.S. bases were placed on unpaid leave Wednesday, after the United States and South Korea failed to reach a deal on how to split the cost of the U.S. military presence here.  Through seven rounds of talks, South Korea has refused the Trump administration’s demand to massively increase its contribution toward the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. The latest cost-sharing deal expired at the end of the year, but the U.S. had been covering the salaries of Korean employees with funds that ran out this week.  Starting Wednesday, about 4,000 Korean civilian employees, who work in areas such as logistics and administration, will be indefinitely furloughed. The U.S. will temporarily cover the salaries of about 4,500 others whose duties are considered essential, U.S. officials said.  The cost-sharing dispute has caused unusual friction in the 70-year-old alliance that both sides regularly refer to as “ironclad.” The friction is especially ill-timed, coming as the U.S. military fights off the coronavirus and as North Korea test-fires a record number of short-range missiles. During a last-minute push to reach a deal, the head South Korean negotiator, Jeong Eun-bo, said the two sides had reached the “final stages for sealing a deal,” but called the furloughs “regrettable.”FILE – Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps travel during a military exercise as a part of the annual joint military training called Foal Eagle between South Korea and the U.S. in Pohang, South Korea, April 5, 2018.“This is an unfortunate day for us. It’s unthinkable. It’s heartbreaking. The partial furlough of [Korean National] employees is not what we envisioned or hoped what would happen,” said General Robert Abrams, the top U.S. commander in Korea. “The furlough is in no way a reflection of their performance, dedication or conduct, but rather due to a lack of a burden sharing agreement making programmed funds unavailable,” Abrams said.  U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded South Korea pay up to $5 billion to support the U.S. military presence — or about five times the amount Seoul paid in 2019. Local media reports suggest the U.S. had recently lowered its demand to $4 billion. Trump accuses South Korea of taking advantage of U.S. protection. He has at times hinted he would support pulling troops from South Korea. At other times, he denies a withdrawal has been discussed.  South Korean officials have rejected Trump’s cost-sharing demands as absurd, noting that any deal will have to be reasonable, since it will have to be ratified by South Korea’s parliament. The issue could become even more politically sensitive ahead of South Korea’s legislative election this month. South Korean officials have warned that the furloughs could impact military readiness.  Camp Humphreys, the main U.S. base in South Korea, is already in partial lockdown after more than a dozen service members, contractors, and other individuals related to the U.S. military in South Korea tested positive for the coronavirus. 
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Haji Mohammad Arshad has had a few rough years with his once lucrative poultry farms.  He started Wali poultry farms in 1982 with meager resources and the business thrived over the decades, making him millions. But the last year and a half have been challenging as overproduction has driven prices down as production costs remained high. For example, a carton of eggs in wholesale, containing 30 dozen eggs, cost him about $17 to produce but he could sell it for only around $11. Last year, he sold more than $2 million in property to keep his business afloat and pay his more than 800 employees, but he wondered how much longer he could continue. “I am more worried about them than I am for my own children, but what do I do?” Arshad asked. Also adding to costs has been Pakistan’s roller-coaster relationship with its western neighbor, Afghanistan. Frequent shutdowns of its land routes into the country in the last few years have led to major losses to an industry that has relied heavily on exports to Afghanistan.    Also contributing, the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee and import duties and taxes added by the government that caused the price of feed and medicines for his birds, imported from abroad, to rise by almost 50%. It was a tough environment for the poultry industry to survive, but as the industry started to stabilize after reducing its supply to match the demand, another crisis hit: the coronavirus pandemic. Coronavirus pandemicPakistan has been in an almost countrywide lockdown for a week with no clear end in sight. With marriage halls and restaurants shuttered and large gatherings banned, the demand for poultry dropped by 20-25%, according to Chaudhry Muhammad Fargham, the chairman of the northern region of Pakistan Poultry Association.    The uncertainty coupled with the lack of clear government policy, he said, was forcing farmers to sell their chickens at a reduced cost to try to limit their losses.  In addition, farmers were also uncertain about the continued supply of feed for their birds, causing many of them to suspend buying hatchlings. “Forget the sales, now our biggest concern is that the police are stopping the trucks carrying feed and harassing drivers. We’re afraid the birds might die of hunger,” Arshad said.   Most of the feed used in commercial farms in Pakistan comes from abroad and lands at the port in Karachi. From there, it is loaded into vehicles that carry it across the country.   Transportation of food-related goods was exempt from the lockdown. Hamad Azhar, the federal minister for economic affairs, said the government was working to solve the issues in the transportation of imported goods. However, lack of coordination between the federal and provincial authorities, as well as a lack of clear understanding by the law enforcement officials as to what items were exempt, was causing some issues in transportation. Hamad Azhar, the federal minister for economic affairs, said the government was working to resolve those issues. Two weeks ago, the Pakistan Poultry Association wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, requesting help for what it called the “survival of the poultry sector in Pakistan.” It was not clear what aid the government gave the sector in a recently announced coronavirus relief package of more than $7 billion, out of which around $600,000 were set aside for small and medium enterprises and the agriculture sector. 
 
Around 33% of Pakistan’s demand for meat is met through domestically produced poultry. Continued losses could lead to the country losing self-sufficiency, warned Maqsood Jafri, a veterinary consultant and himself a poultry farmer.    “If we fall below a certain threshold, we will start importing. It’ll become more expensive and our per capita consumption of nutrition, which is already low, will further decline,” he said. Pakistan is already suffering from a balance of payment crisis and the government is desperately trying to increase imports and curb exports. Importing poultry could be bad for both the country’s physical and economic health. 
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Національна валюта в останній день березня зазнала рекордного в 2020 році одноденного зміцнення щодо долара США. Національний банк України встановив на 1 квітня курс 27 гривень 63 копійки за долар, це одразу на 43 копійки менше за офіційний курс на 31 березня.

Ухвалення Верховною Радою України узгоджених із Міжнародним валютним фондом законів щодо ринку землі та банківської сфери посприяло посиленню гривні на українському міжбанківському валютному ринку.

На валютному ринку ажіотажного попиту не спостерігається, відзначає цього тижня Національний банк України.

 
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Vietnam is the latest country to go into a nationwide lockdown because of the coronavirus. The 15-day period starts Wednesday with officials telling people to avoid gathering in groups of three or more. At the start of the lockdown, there were 212 confirmed cases in Vietnam and no deaths and authorities want to keep it there. U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that he suspects the coronavirus will slow down or even disappear as warm weather sets in across much of the globe. While heat and humidity can affect the transmission of viruses, the World Health Organization said Tuesday there is no evidence it will slow down the new coronavirus and said it has no idea how long the pandemic will last.  Trump is finding little good news to report at his daily White House briefings. After saying on Sunday that he expects the outbreak to peak by Easter and “great things” will come by June 1, he said on Tuesday Americans will have a “hell of a bad two weeks” coming up. The White House projects as many as 240,000 Americans could die from coronavirus before the worst is over. The administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that the coronavirus can lead to severe complications in cigarette smokers and people suffering lung disease, heart disease, and diabetes. The centers said people with these conditions should be especially conscious about staying home.Vietnam has ordered a national lockdown, as well as moved to decrease public transit, Ho Chi Minh, March 31, 2020.But doctors in The Netherlands say a 101-year-old woman who has recovered from coronavirus has given them a “spark of hope.” The woman tested positive nearly two weeks ago, was isolated in a hospital near Rotterdam, and will soon return home.  Doctors in Italy, which has been Europe’s hot spot for the virus, say they believe the outbreak there has hit a “plateau” and we should start seeing a decline, if daily precautions continue. The chief of the Italian national institutes of health, Dr. Silvio Brusaferro, says it would be premature to lift the country’s three-week nationwide lockdown.   Workers in Jerusalem’s Old City sanitized the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, where the pious come to pray. The workers use gloves and wooden clamps to pull out the prayers written on slips of paper the worshippers left. Meanwhile, U.N. aid workers in Gaza started making house-to-house deliveries of food and other aid to poor Palestinians. They want to avoid large crowds at distribution centers to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.  About 70,000 packages are expected to be delivered. Only 10 cases have been confirmed in Gaza so far. One sign that life may be returning to normal in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began in December, is people flocking to the city’s noodle shops, where noodles covered with peanut sauce are as popular as pizza is in the U.S. and fish and chips in Britain. Social distancing is still required in Wuhan and the shops are open for carry out only, the long lines in front of the shops has spread optimism in the city which had been locked down and sealed off to contain the virus. The head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, said Tuesday the “most dangerous, most critical stage” of the outbreak looks as if it has passed. But he said lifting the quarantine on travelers and reopening schools will be done very slowly and carefully.  Meanwhile, goats have taken over the locked-down Welsh town of Llandudno. With no people on the streets to bother them or chase them away, mountain goats are wandering the streets, boldly helping themselves to the tasty leaves on the trees and bushes in people’s yards, and behaving as if they own the town. 
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The Afghan Taliban have launched a public awareness campaign about the new coronavirus in the areas under their control in the eastern province of Nangarhar. But locals want them to do more.
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The seafoam green rooms of the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince are predominantly empty this week, absent the doctors and nurses who refuse to work for fear of becoming infected with the coronavirus.Haiti has 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, spanning four departments, Public Health Minister Marie Greta Roy Clement told reporters Monday. More than 200 people are quarantined while they await test results, she said.Inside the state-run hospital, a handful of patients sit in plastic chairs waiting for their appointments with the few doctors on call.Joseph Lebien has been working at the state-run hospital in Port-au-Prince for 26 years. (Matiado Vilme/VOA Creole)Joseph Lebien, who has worked at the hospital for 26 years, heads the labor union for hospital employees.”We’re standing in the orthopedics waiting room,” he explained, showing a dilapidated room with old equipment in need of replacement and some benches. “Under normal circumstances — meaning before the coronavirus pandemic — you would have seen plenty of patients sitting on these benches. But due to the coronavirus, this place is empty.”Lebien said many of the patients in the orthopedic ward are children with injuries to a limb, but as soon as news arrived that the first two people had tested positive for the lethal virus, most of the medical staff fled.”The majority of doctors no longer come to work. They are asking the government to provide them with supplies and equipment necessary to protect themselves from the virus. So, this is where we stand,” he told VOA.A man sits on a bench in the orthopedics waiting room at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince. (Matiado Vilme/VOA Creole)Staff doctors and nurses who agreed to speak to VOA before the country’s first confirmed cases of coronavirus, admitted to being afraid.”We are already working under conditions that are not normal for most hospitals, and now it’s gotten worse,” nurse Marie Catherine said. “The Ministry of Public Health has never discussed with us its policy for what to do when we receive the first coronavirus case in Haiti.”The health minister disagreed, explaining that the government will equip designated hospitals with the necessary equipment. The hospital staff told VOA this week that they still do not have the necessary materials.’Under God’s mercy’In the orthopedics ward, patients who were scheduled to undergo surgery in a week or a month were sent home, Lebien said. Others chose to leave to avoid the possibility of infection.But some patients do not have the financial means to go home and are left to languish in their hospital beds. Nerciado Altidor was scheduled for foot surgery, which has been postponed indefinitely. He hobbled around on crutches inside the ward.Neciado Altidor, who is stuck at the hospital, hobbles around on crutches at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince. (Matiado Vilme/VOA Creole)”I’m miserable,” he said. “There are no doctors around. Nothing is functioning. The few of us who are here, it’s not by choice. There’s nothing here. I’ve been (in the hospital) for a year and four months.”Altidor told VOA that other patients had fled without being discharged.”They don’t want to die from this contagion,” he said. “There is no morale. We are under God’s mercy.”Request for supplies, staffGeneral Hospital plays a vital role in the community where it is located. Under normal circumstances, it is the go-to health care facility for people who can’t afford a private hospital.Although the health minister has said coronavirus patients would be treated only at designated hospitals around the country and that all medical staff would receive training on the pandemic, the staff remains unconvinced.Lebien is asking the government for medical supplies and equipment that would allow the hospital to treat infected patients without putting the staff at risk.”Patients should be able to be operated on. They should be able to be treated for what is ailing them. That’s our request,” he said.
 
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New York City’s mayor appealed to Washington on Tuesday to send him nearly 1,500 more medical personnel by Sunday, as coronavirus cases surpass 43,000 and more city landmarks are converted into field hospitals.  “This coming Sunday, April 5, is the demarcation line,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters. “This is the point at which we must be prepared for next week when we expect a huge increase in the number of cases.” He said he made the request last week to the White House and Pentagon to deploy 1,000 nurses, 150 doctors and 300 respiratory therapists from the military and its reserves. “We must have that additional personnel to be able to get through next week and the weeks right after that,” the mayor said. “I’m waiting for an answer from the White House. It is a reasonable request given that we are the nation’s largest city and we are the epicenter of this crisis.” Nearly 1,000 city residents have succumbed to the virus and thousands are currently hospitalized. The need for hospital beds and health care workers is expected to grow in early April when virus cases are projected to peak. Speaking at the home of the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament in the borough of Queens, de Blasio said the city is in a race against time to be ready. A woman watches as the Samaritan’s Purse crew and medical personnel work on preparing a 68 bed emergency field hospital specially equipped with a respiratory unit in New York’s Central Park, March 31, 2020.The tennis facility is currently being converted into a 350-bed field hospital. It will take non-intensive care unit coronavirus patients from nearby Elmhurst hospital, which has been on the front lines of the pandemic and has been overstretched by thousands of patients requiring care. The tennis center is one of several city landmarks that have been enlisted in the battle to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. A similar facility will be constructed at a Brooklyn cruise ship terminal. In Central Park, Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse is erecting a 14-tent, 68-bed respiratory care unit. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has built a 1,000-bed facility inside the city’s main convention center, and the U.S. Navy has moored a 1,000-bed hospital ship in the city’s harbor to care for non-coronavirus patients, freeing local hospital beds for those sickened by the respiratory virus. The city’s emergency system has been overwhelmed by the surge in calls for ambulances, and the mayor announced that the federal government is sending 250 ambulances as well as 500 paramedics to the city. Already 135 ambulances and 270 paramedics have arrived, and the rest are due in the coming days. A body wrapped in plastic that was unloaded from a refrigerated truck is handled by medical workers wearing personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, March 31, 2020.Statewide, more than 330 people have died from the virus since Monday, the highest single-day toll yet. New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo said his team is continuing its effort to purchase 30,000 ventilators — half of those would go to New York City. He said Tuesday that the state has ordered 17,000 ventilators from China at an approximate cost of about $425 million. Cuomo said delivery is slow due to the high demand and he hopes to receive at least 2,500 ventilators over the next two weeks. On a personal note, the governor said that his younger brother, CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, had tested positive for the coronavirus, but is doing well. “Everyone — everyone — is subject to this virus,” he said. “It is the great equalizer.”  
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Кабінет міністрів України призначив тимчасово виконувачем обов’язків голови держпідприємства НАЕК «Енергоатом» Петра Котіна, повідомляє сайт уряду.

«Покласти тимчасово, до призначення в установленому порядку президента державного підприємства «Національна атомна енергогенеруюча компанія «Енергоатом», виконання обов’язків президента зазначеного підприємства на генерального директора відокремленого підрозділу «Запорізька атомна електростанція» Котіна Петра Борисовича», – йдеться у рішенні.

У листопаді 2019 року Кабмін ухвалив рішення про звільнення Юрія Недашковського з посади президента НАЕК «Енергоатом» і призначив Павла Павлишина т.в.о. голови компанії.

«Енергоатом» – найбільший виробник електроенергії в Україні, компанія відповідає за безпеку експлуатації всіх АЕС країни.
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