CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: March 20th

Glenn gives the latest coronavirus numbers, updating YOU on everything needed to know as Americans and officials monitor China's new COVID-19 virus:

Daily Stats as of 5:30 AM CT (from John's Hopkins)

  • Total Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 252,014 (up from 225,237 yesterday)
  • Total Confirmed Deaths Worldwide: 10,405 (up from 9,276 yesterday)
  • Total Confirmed Recovered Worldwide: 89,044 (up from 85,823 yesterday)
  • 182 Countries have confirmed cases (up from 176 yesterday), 4 more have suspected cases. Officially, only 13 countries on earth do not have at least 1 case of COVID-19.
  • 5% of Active Cases are considered serious (requiring hospitalization) steady from 5% yesterday but down from 19% just 3 weeks ago
  • US has 14,366 Confirmed Cases and 217 Deaths, up from 9,464 cases and 155 deaths yesterday
Governor of California Issues Shelter In Place Order for Entire Statehttps://www.npr.org/2020/03/20/818764136/california-issues-stay-at-home-order-as-coronavirus-infections-rise
  • Residents told to stay at home unless they need to leave to acquire food, medicine, medical care or for other emergencies.
  • Speaking at a late evening news conference in Sacramento, Newsom said his directive "goes into force and effect this evening and we are confident that the people of the state of California will abide by it, will do the right thing."
  • He said compliance would rely heavily on "social pressure," and not law enforcement.
  • No time-frame was given for how long the order would remain in place.
  • "We're going to keep the grocery stores open," he said. "We're going to make sure that you're getting critical medical supplies. You can still take your kids outside, practicing common sense and social distancing. You can still walk your dog."
  • Essential travel included trips to the grocery store, gas stations, farmers' markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants, banks and ATMs.
  • The directive also exempts critical infrastructure such as food and agriculture, healthcare, transportation, energy and financial services.
California Shelter In Place Comes After Governor Projected 50% of Population Would Get COVID-19 by Mayhttps://thehill.com/policy/defense/488547-california-projects-56-percent-of-the-population-will-be-infected-over-8-week
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an official letter to the Trump administration that 56 percent of the state's population — 25.5 million people — is projected to be infected with the coronavirus over an eight-week period, according to the Los Angeles Times who received a copy of the letter: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.18.20-Letter-USNS-Mercy-Hospital-Ship.pdf
  • In the letter, Newsom asked President Trump to deploy the USNS Mercy hospital ship to the port of Los Angeles until September of this year "to help decompress our current healthcare delivery system in the Los Angeles region in response to the COVID-19 outbreak."
  • A spokesperson for the governor's office stated: "Governor Newsom has been honest about the threat of the virus and its impact on the health and welfare of Californians. This projection shows why it's so critical that Californians take action to slow the spread of the disease – and those mitigation efforts aren't taken into account in those numbers. The state is deploying every resource at its disposal to meet this challenge, and we continue to ask for the federal government's assistance in this fight."
  • California has approximately 8,500 Intensive Care beds, and over 80% are already occupied, according to the LA Times.
  • COVID-19 Has a Serious Complication rate such that about 5-6% of patients require hospitalization, including about 4% who require Intensive care.
  • The average stay in Intensive Care due to COVID-19 is 20 days, according to the WHO.
  • If 25.5 Million people get COVID-19 over 8 weeks, and 4% require Intensive care, that is 1,147,500 people who require Intensive Care, lasting an average of 20 days each.
  • Yes: 8,500 beds exist, but over 1 Million beds may be needed over the next two months....Just in California.
In Related News, Marijuana Dispensaries Deemed Essential Under California Shelter In Place Orderhttps://nypost.com/2020/03/20/las-cannabis-dispensaries-deemed-essential-under-emergency-coronavirus-order/
  • The "safer at home" emergency order just announced by California requires all indoor malls, shopping centers, playgrounds and nonessential retail businesses to close effective midnight tonight.
  • LA County specifically set a date of April 19th, 2020, for all non-essential businesses to be closed.
  • However, allowed to operate — as long as they observe proper social-distancing guidelines and do not include more than 10 people in one place — are a list of essential services including city and county government services, grocery stores, hardware stores and, Marijuana Dispensaries.
  • Such stores are considered exempt due to being "medically necessary".
  • Also remaining open will be Liquor stores, officially deamed to be 'food or convenience store" businesses.
  • State Liquor stores in several other states, including Utah, New Hampshire and Deleware have already been closed.
Conspiracy Corner: CA Government Been Planning For COVID-19 Shutdown & Outbreak, Medical Emergency Since January...http://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/02/25/map-last-week-gov-newsom-made-286-sites-available-for-homelessness-solutions-heres-where-they-are/Turns Out Having Lots of TP Not a Bad Idea...Nearly Half of COVID-19 Victims Present With Digestive Issues & Diarrheahttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-digestive-symptoms-diarrhea-almost-half-of-patients/
  • Diarrhea and other digestive symptoms presenting in nearly half of coronavirus patients, Chinese researchers said in a new study.
  • Most patients with COVID-19 do have respiratory symptoms, but these findings from the early stages of the outbreak show that digestive problems are also prevalent in nearly half of patients with COVID-19.
  • "Clinicians must bear in mind that digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea, may be a presenting feature of COVID-19, and that the index of suspicion may need to be raised earlier in these cases rather than waiting for respiratory symptoms to emerge," wrote the investigators from the Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19 in early March.
  • The researchers analyzed data from 204 COVID-19 patients, average age of 55, who were admitted to three hospitals in the Hubei province between Jan. 18 and Feb. 28, 2020. The average time from symptom onset to hospital admission was 8.1 days.
  • However, the finding showed that patients with digestive symptoms had a longer time from symptom onset to hospital admission than patients without digestive symptoms, 9 days versus 7.3 days.
  • This suggests that patients with digestive symptoms sought care later because they didn't yet suspect they had COVID-19 due to a lack of respiratory symptoms, such as cough or shortness of breath, the researchers explained.
  • Patients with digestive symptoms had a variety of problems, including loss of appetite (nearly 84%), diarrhea (29%), vomiting (0.8%) and abdominal pain (0.4%).
  • As the severity of the disease increased, digestive symptoms became more serious, the researchers found.
  • Patients without digestive symptoms were more likely to be cured and discharged than those with digestive symptoms (60% versus 34%), according to the study published March 18 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
  • "In this study, COVID-19 patients with digestive symptoms have a worse clinical outcome and higher risk of [death] compared to those without digestive symptoms, emphasizing the importance of including symptoms like diarrhea to suspect COVID-19 early in the disease course before respiratory symptoms develop," Dr. Brennan Spiegel, journal co-editor-in-chief, said in a journal news release.
Trump Administration Makes Anti-Malaria Drug Available for COVID-19 Patientshttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-fda-experimental-drugs-coronavirus
  • President Trump announced Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration is making experimental drugs available as part of the ongoing effort to tackle the spread of COVID-19.
  • Trump announced at a White House press briefing that chloroquine, a drug designed for use in malaria, will be made available to administer to patients.
  • He said it was one of a number of antiviral therapies to limit the symptoms of the virus that the administration is trying to get to Americans as quickly as possible.
  • "I have directed the FDA to eliminate rules and bureaucracy so work can proceed rapidly, quickly and fast," Trump said. "We have to remove every barrier."
  • FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn explained during the press conference it would be allowed under what's known "compassionate use" -- where doctors can request to use the experimental drug and get permission from the FDA to give to patients.
  • Hahn also said he didn't want to give "false hope" but said he was hopeful about the treatments.
  • "Chloroquine is not a cure for Coronavirus, but may be effective at treating respiratory symptoms and helping more patients recover," he said in a statement.
SARS-CoV-2 More Infectious For Longer Period Than SARS-1https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3076022/coronavirus-infects-faster-and-lasts-longer-sars-raising-new
  • The virus causing COVID-19 infects faster and lasts longer than SARS, raising new containment challenges, Chinese studies suggest.
  • Researchers found that on average, infected people expel virus particles from their bodies for a relatively long period of 20 days, even before symptoms appear.
  • Such a long asymptomatic spread period may explain why the virus has spread so quickly in Italy, Spain and other areas.
  • Findings indicate longer quarantine periods may be needed for patients, according to researchers from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, who published in the medical journal Lancet.
  • The virus also remains persistent in the feces of children, suggesting it can be transmitted through a fecal-oral transmission route – meaning that contaminated feces from the infected child is somehow ingested by another person.
  • The study was issued by a team of Doctors which included China National Health Commission expert Dr. Cao Bin.
Walmart Giving Employees Cash Bonuses To Help Them Cope with COVID-19https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/walmart-giving-over-500-million-in-early-bonuses-to-employees-because-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak
  • In total Walmart is paying over $500 Million in early cash bonuses to employees this week.
  • Walmart announced it would be giving out nearly $550 million in early bonuses to its hourly employees amid the coronavirus outbreak.
  • "Walmart associates have gone above and beyond the call of duty in serving our customers during these unprecedented times," Walmart's CEO Doug McMillon told the Hill on Thursday. "We want to reward our associates for their hard work and recognize them for the work that is in front of us."
  • The company is giving full-time hourly employees a bonus of $300, while part-time workers will get $150. The store is also planning on moving up its quarterly bonuses to April for its associates.
  • The company also said it would be hiring another 150,000 people through May.
  • "Millions of Americans who are usually employed at this time are temporarily out of work, and at the same time we're currently seeing strong demand in our stores," McMillon said. "We're looking for people who see Walmart as a chance to earn some extra money and perform a vital service to their community."
Cities Urging People To NOT Flush Disinfecting Wipes Down Toilethttps://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/18/coronavirus-disinfecting-wipes-being-flushed-down-toilets-causing-major-pipe-problems/
  • First, Don't "Wipe" with Disinfecting Wipes. Clorox and Lysol type disinfectant wipes are meant for surfaces, not human bodies. Several children have been brought in with 'burns' from parents who are using Clorox wipes during diaper changes.
  • Second, cities are begging residents to NOT flush disinfectant wipes down toilets, they are NOT intended for sewers and do not break down in sewage systems.
  • A message on the City of San Francisco's public utility website read, "Please read the instructions on the package before flushing anything down the toilet. Use common sense. Don't be stupid."

Was this the most PATRIOTIC Super Bowl yet?

CHANDAN KHANNA / Contributor | Getty Images

The 2025 Super Bowl demonstrated Trump’s vision of a new America.

On Sunday, February 9th, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the biggest sporting event of the year. But this wasn't just a victory for Eagles fans. For those watching, it became apparent that American culture has changed, the zeitgeist has shifted, and America has become cool again. While remnants of woke culture lingered, they felt out of step next to the parade of American Flags and patriotic messaging that dominated the national event. The message was clear: America is back.

Everybody knows that the commercials are the best part of any Super Bowl, and last night's game was no exception. As Glenn has pointed out, while some of the ads still carried woke messages (like Nike's), many more captured the newly kindled patriotism felt nationwide. Here are four of the best commercials from last Sunday that make this the most patriotic Super Bowl yet:

1. Rocket: "Own the Dream"

This touching commercial by the financial services company, Rocket, states "Everyone deserves a shot at the American dream," while showing images of people returning home and building families. The ad included a cover of John Denver's iconic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and featured an in-stadium sing-along, live from the Super Bowl.

2. Secret Service: "A History of Protection"

Donald Trump made history by being the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, which required the efforts of hundreds of Secret Service agents to ensure his safety. The Secret Service boasted of this feat during their minute-long commercial, which lauded American values and achievements and featured iconic American imagery.

3. Brad Pitt: "Huddle Up"

The Super Bowl introduction celebrated snapshots of American achievement accompanied with a powerful commentary about unity narrated by Brad Pitt. The message is clear: Americans can achieve great things when we work together. The ad conjures up American ideals such as hard work, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, and teamwork.

4. Jeep: "Big Game"

Movie star Harrison Ford appeared in Jeep's Super Bowl commercial to promote freedom and to remind us that "freedom isn't free." Ford treks through the mountains while ruminating on what freedom means in America and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with it.

How Trump is WINNING at the Panama Canal

MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / Contributor | Getty Images

Despite the doubts of the nay-sayers, Trump's Panamanian plans have already borne fruit.

Shortly before his inauguration, President Trump drew national attention to the Panama Canal. He reminded Americans of just how important the canal is for the U.S. and highlighted the Chinese influence that has been slowly taking control of the vital passage ever since America handed it over to Panama.

President Trump was immediately mocked and ridiculed by the Left, who called him delusional and an imperialist. However, earlier this week, Trump's Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, made a trip to Panama and spoke with the Panamanian President, José Raúl Mulino, and Rubio made some serious headway. As Glenn has explained, Trump's boisterous talk is part of his strategy. Invading Panama was never the goal, just one of several options to get what America needed, and after Rubio's visit, it seems like America's needs will be met.

Here are the TOP THREE takeaways from Marco Rubio's visit to Panama:

1. Marco Rubio makes headway

MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / Contributor | Getty Images

On February 2nd, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha and President José Raúl Mulino where they discussed critical regional and global challenges, including the canal. Rubio drew attention to the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal in which the U.S. promised Panama ownership of the canal on the condition of its guaranteed neutrality. Rubio argued that China's growing influence qualified as a breach of the treaty and that it gives the U.S. the power to take necessary measures to rectify the faults, given Panama doesn't act. As of this week, reports say Panama agreed and promised to take immediate action to purge Chinese influence from canal operations.

2. Panama is ditching China's Belt Road

MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / Contributor | Getty Images

After his meeting with Rubio, Panamanian President Mulino agreed that Panama would step away from China's "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI). The BRI is a Chinese effort to establish China as the main economic power in developing nations across the world. In 2017, Panama signed on to this initiative, and China's influence in the small nation has exponentially grown. However, after Rubio's visit, President Mulino has not only stated that Panama will not renew its agreement with China, but moreover, the country will also look for ways to back out of the agreement early. This is a massive win for the Trump Administration and the American people.

3. The Chinese may lose their ports on the canal

MARTIN BERNETTI / Contributor | Getty Images

Shortly after Rubio left Panama City, two lawyers spearheaded the effort to kick out a Chinese company that controls two major ports on the Panama Canal. The Chinese company—CK Hutchison Holdings—has operated one port on both ends of the canal since 1997, which could potentially give China a massive degree of control over traffic. After analyzing the contract, the Panamanian lawyers argue that the contract is potentially in violation of the Panamanian constitution and should be revoked. It is unclear if the constitutional issues relate to the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal, but even on its own merit, this is a huge victory for America.

Top 15 jobs AI is TAKING OVER

CFOTO / Contributor, VCG / Contributor | Getty Images

The AI takeover has begun.

Last week, Glenn delved into the World Economic Forum's 2025 summit in Davos, where our malevolent overlords focused especially on AI and how it can replace millions of workers worldwide. We are at the precipice of a monumental change in how the world is run—WEF founder Klaus Schwab called it "The Fourth Industrial Revolution"—and in time, AI will augment every one of our lives.

Already, AI is taking jobs. Thousands, if not millions, of tasks are slowly being delegated to it. The affected fields are largely data entry, admin tasks, and clerical work, along with graphic design and some customer support roles. However, as AI becomes more sophisticated, the scope of its abilities will only grow. The WEF is all for it, and last month they released a shocking chart

that revealed what jobs were already feeling the pain. Check out the top 15 jobs that are already disappearing:

1. Postal service clerks

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

2. Bank tellers

JOHANNES EISELE / Staff | Getty Images

3. Data entry clerks

AFP / Staff | Getty Images

4. Cashiers and ticket clerks

Andreas Rentz / Staff | Getty Images

5. Administrative assistants and executive secretaries

6. Printing workers

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

7. Accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll clerks

8. Material-recording and stock-keeping clerks

9. Transportation attendants and conductors

10. Door-to-door salesmen

11. Graphic designers

12. Claims adjusters, examiners and investigators

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

13. Legal officials

14. Legal secretaries

15. Telemarketers

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

3 stories that prove USAID is a criminal organization

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has one mission—to eliminate government waste—and it's starting with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID is a federal agency that, on paper, is responsible for distributing foreign aid to conflict-ridden zones across the world. However, for years, Glenn has revealed that the USAID acts more like a second CIA, but without the regulation or oversight under the State Department. Elon Musk concurred, describing the federal agency as not merely "an apple with a worm in it" but rather "just a ball of worms."

Don't fall for the left's narrative calling USAID a "humanitarian" organization. Here are the top three stories that reveal just how corrupt the USAID really is:

1. USAID has funded terrorist organizations and Osama bin Laden

Ahmad Khateib / Stringer | Getty Images

In 2023, USAID provided "assistance" to nearly 130 countries, including Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria (which is currently run by a terrorist that received aid from the Obama-era CIA). Under Obama, USAID gave funds to an organization known as the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), which was known at the time to help finance Jihadist groups and had been labeled by the U.S. Treasury Department as a "terror-financing organization."

The ISRA also funded and gave shelter to the 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden—U.S. taxpayer dollars sent straight to the perpetrator of the deadliest terrorist attack in history and the most lethal attack on U.S. soil.

2. USAID "loses" funds that happen to end up in individuals' pockets

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

A recent investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) revealed that in 2016, Chemonics International colluded with a USAID subcontractor to massively overcharge a USAID project to pocket extra funds from the project's bottom line. Moreover, the USAID project used "self-reported" performance metrics, which made it impossible to verify the actual progress of the project and how the funds were being used.

Even the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic has USAID's sticky fingerprints all over it. In 2014, USAID provided $38 million to an EcoHealth Alliance project called "Predict-2." One of the subcontractors, Ben Hu, headed the Wuhan Institute of Virology's gain-of-function research and was one of the first three people infected with COVID-19 in late 2019. That means U.S. taxpayer dollars were likely used to fund the very research that gave rise to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. USAID operates as a second "CIA" with no accountability

Andrew Burton / Staff | Getty Images

The CIA isn't the only agency that meddles in the political inner workings of foreign powers. USAID has conducted similar operations since the 1950s. USAID notoriously sowed dissent in Cuba to grow U.S. influence, and they even taught South American police forces Nazi torture methods. In the late 1990s, 300,000 Peruvian women were forcibly sterilized in a "poverty reduction strategy" that received $35 million in funding from USAID.

More recently, USAID's foreign influence has grown significantly under former Obama adviser, Samantha Power, called USAID America's "soft power arsenal." Under her leadership, the organization meddled in the political affairs of several nations, including Ukraine, Ethiopia, and, Bolivia. Several domestic, left-leaning influence groups, such as the Tides Center, received several grants and aid.