Reason...

In Indonesia, thousands are believed to have died of the coronavirus. In nearby Malaysia, a strict lockdown has kept fatalities to about 100.

The coronavirus has touched almost every country on earth, but its impact has seemed capricious. Global metropolises like New York, Paris and London have been devastated, while teeming cities like Bangkok, Baghdad, New Delhi and Lagos have, so far, largely been spared.  

 The question of why the virus has overwhelmed some places and left others relatively untouched is a puzzle that has spawned numerous theories and speculations but no definitive answers.  

Doctors in Saudi Arabia are studying whether genetic differences may help explain varying levels of severity in Covid-19 cases among Saudi Arabs, while scientists in Brazil are looking into the relationship between genetics and Covid-19 complications. Teams in multiple countries are studying if common hypertension medications might worsen the disease’s severity and whether a particular tuberculosis vaccine might do the opposite.

Flee...

An optometrist who moved to New York City three years ago recently fled home to Tulsa, Oklahoma, because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to CNBC. 

“My neighbor died. Friends were seeing body bags from their windows, and you’re just in this survival mode. 

I just was terrified,” said Lindsey Marvel. While there is no hard data yet, both real estate agents and homebuilders are reporting that they are seeing new interest from buyers hoping to move out of urban centers to the suburbs or exurbs. Marvel, 38, moved to New York City three years ago because, she said, “I’m literally going big or going home.”

Dunno...

Tara...

Tara Reade, the former Biden staffer, described the allegation in an interview with podcast host Katie Halper on March 25. Reade said Biden pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers. When she pulled away, she says, he said he thought she “liked” him.

Reade told Business Insider that she filed the report because she had been harassed in the past and “wanted to make it clear that I would be willing to go under oath or cooperate with any law enforcement regarding it, because it did happen. Even if it was 26 years ago.” 

Silent...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., announces her opposition to Kavanaugh. “Supreme Court justices should not be an extension of the Republican Party," she says. "They must also have unquestionable character and integrity, and serious questions remain about Judge Kavanaugh.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calls for an FBI background investigation into the claims against Kavanaugh. "We need the FBI to step forward to ensure that the Senate and American public have complete information about this troubling alleged incident before a hearing is held.

CNN calls the Ford accusation a "watershed moment for the GOP."

The Huffington Post runs a story quoting Biden as saying, "Women’s Claims Of Sexual Assault Should Be Presumed To Be True." Biden remarks: "For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time. ... But nobody fails to understand that this is like jumping into a cauldron.”

Tara Reade, the former Biden staffer, described the allegation in an interview with podcast host Katie Halper on March 25. Reade said Biden pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers. When she pulled away, she says, he said he thought she “liked” him.
No Democrat is talking now.    

Anti-Bodies...

No evidence exists that people who have recovered from the coronavirus are protected from reinfection, even if they have antibodies, the World Health Organization said Saturday.

The warning from the U.N.’s health arm runs counter to what many survivors thought could be their ticket to freedom from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Preliminary antibody testing this week suggests one in every five New Yorkers have had the virus, according to a sample of 3,000.

The state’s health commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, said he hopes testing can help get people out of their homes.

Negative...

The bizarre movement in the market was exaggerated by a quirk in the way oil prices are set.

Traders pay varying prices depending on the grade of crude, where it comes from, and the date on which it is meant to be delivered. Normally these differences are small, and they go unnoticed outside of the energy market. But on Monday they were exacerbated by sharp swings in the price.

Benchmark US oil prices crashed into negative territory for the first time in history as the evaporation of demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic has left the world awash with oil and not enough storage capacity meaning producers are paying buyers to take it off their hands.

West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, lost more than 250 per cent to trade as low as -$40.32 a barrel in a day of chaos in oil markets. Traders capitulated in the face of limited access to storage capacity across the US, including the country’s main delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma.

Immunity...

There is “currently no evidence” that people who recover from coronavirus are protected from a second infection, the World Health Organization wrote in a scientific briefing.

Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an 'immunity passport' or 'risk-free certificate' that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection,” the WHO wrote.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”

The information was sure to be troubling as the world continued grappling with the outbreak, which as of early Sunday had sickened more than 2.9 million people and killed more than 203,000 across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Studies have shown that recovering coronavirus patients appear to have antibodies to the virus, indicating past infection, but some of those patients also show low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood, suggesting that cellular immunity – in the form of T-cells that eliminate infected cells – is also needed for recovery along with antibodies, the WHO said, according to the report.

Lock Down...

Dozens of protesters, some of whom were armed, gathered Thursday inside Michigan's Capitol building to voice their opposition to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order, with tensions high as lawmakers were poised to debate an extension of the declaration.

Holding American flags and handmade signs, the demonstrators in Lansing first congregated shoulder-to-shoulder outside before demanding to be let inside the building. Some chanted "Let us in," The Detroit News reported.

Similar gatherings have sprouted up across the country with participants denouncing stay-at-home orders in their respective states. Many activists have framed their discontent as a civil-rights issue.

The orders have mandated that people stay home and that businesses temporarily close, resulting in massive job losses and employee furloughs.

A rally on April 15 called "Operation Gridlock" drew thousands outside Michigan's Capitol, in addition to another gathering outside Whitmer's home.

Irrelevant...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are planning to introduce a bill to stop mergers of large companies during the coronavirus pandemic, the lawmakers said on Tuesday.

The "Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act" would ban large mergers until the Federal Trade Commission "determines that small businesses, workers, and consumers are no longer under severe financial distress," the lawmakers said in a statement. 

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips said M&A activity overall has "dramatically" decreased due to the coronavirus, and shutting down mergers entirely "doesn't make a lot of sense." Speaking on CNBC on Tuesday, he said there has been "absolutely no ramp down in enforcement," and that the agency is carefully monitoring mergers in the healthcare industry.