lifesitenews--2020-03-24--Signs of hope as coronavirus panic sets in: Effective drugs, less bureaucracy

March 23 , 2020 ( American Thinker ) — Crises have a way of sorting out the good people , ideas , and institutions from the bad , and as the Wuhan virus spreads throughout the world , the sorting process is made easier .
The decision to close our borders to China , criticized by the WHO , the left , and media as “ racist , ” has proven to be essential , and the bien pensant governments around the world are now following suit , shutting down their borders to aid in containment .
For those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on our isolating ourselves for a while until we can contain it , Lauren Ancel Meyer , my young friend and a scientist , explains : The recent threats of SARS , swine flu , Ebola , and Zika have brought fame to an epidemiological statistic known as R .
It stands for the basic reproduction number and is intended to be an indicator of the contagiousness of infectious agents ( it is pronounced R-naught ) .
In short it tells us how many people each new case will infect during the early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ An outbreak is expected to continue if R has a value > 1 and to end if R is < 1 .
A lot of attention has been paid to recent estimates suggesting that covid-19 has a lower R than SARS , roughly two versus three .
Clearly , then , R is not the whole story .
It indicates whether one case will turn into two or three or four , but not how quickly or how silently that will come to pass .
The level of intervention required to curb an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factors : its R value , speed , and visibility in the community .
We should not be fooled by the relatively modest R of covid-19 as its speed and stealth make it all the more difficult to contain .
Even if each case infects only two others , the number of infections can skyrocket undetected in the absence of early and extensive control measures that limit person-to-person contact .
Our study highlights the elusiveness of covid-19 .
Keeping people apart is the only guaranteed way to block infections given the immense challenge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Whether the policy goal is to stop transmission , protect those at high risk , or “ flatten the curve ” to ensure that fewer people are sick at any one time , extreme social distancing strategies of the type we have been seeing are strongly recommended .
Speed of containment is of the essence , and the good news is that while the development of any vaccine against it requires more time , there are existing pharmaceuticals , some of which are readily available and not terribly expensive , that seem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hydroxychloroquine ( brand name Plaquinel ) and chloroquine .
Jeffrey Satinover reports that a “ French clinical study with 24 patients and excellent 5 day elimination of the virus used ” the more readily available Plaquinel .
It must be taken under medical oversight because of the risk of interactions and the long-term “ effects on the retina.
” Plaquinel is produced by Teva , an Israeli company which will donate six million tablets through wholesalers to hospitals around the country by the end of the month and more than 10 million tablets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some potential in treating the virus as well , and Bayer just donated three million tablets .
In Italy , remdesivir , a broad-spectrum antiviral drug produced by Gilead , proved effective .
That drug , however , is in limited supply , though Gilead is working “ to increase its stock a rapidly as possible.
” Favipiravir , a Japanese-produced drug , reportedly has proven effective in China .
There is certainly reason for optimism that with closed borders , self-isolation , and available drug treatments , we can stem the spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largely unaffected , but the big cities on the coasts are not .
My muse Iowahawk ( David Burge ) has a point : Living in small city apartments without much space to cook or store essentials , urban dwellers might stop looking down on their suburban and rural fellow citizens as restaurants near them are shuttered and grocery store visits restricted to a few customers at a time .
For many decades , big government proponents have worked and spent fortunes of tax revenues to wean Americans from their cars and onto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an “ obvious fact that crowded subways and buses are the worst thing in the face of a new , extremely contagious respiratory virus.
” The same can be said of the misguided ( indeed , in my view , idiotic ) war on plastic bags by blue-state and local politicians : Social distancing as enough medicines , respirators , and medical facilities are becoming available is made more tolerable because of the internet and the new ways it facilitates delivering services and goods to individual consumers .
An early adapter , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saving of time and effort .
These services now are proving invaluable in the time of social isolation .
They also are providing new jobs for those temporarily dislocated as their normal employment is shut down .
The internet has also made distance learning available , so learning can take place even with schools closed .
That may , however , be a mixed blessing , as this laugh-out-loud video from an Israeli mother of four kids reveals : Another example of independent entrepreneurial genius is the distilleries producing hand sanitizers to alleviate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , by the way , made worse by the actions of New York governor Cuomo ) .
Abbott Molecular finally got FDA permission to produce needed test kits and this week deployed 150,000 of them and expects to produce up to one million of them a week by month ’ s end .
In contrast to the private industries are government institutions , which on a national and international level are often so sclerotic that they prevent necessary rapid , effective responses .
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control comes to mind , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this occurred because , instead of concentrating on its core mission of fighting the spread of infectious disease , the CDC had expanded its mission into faddish stuff like racism and obesity .
The World Health Organization was even worse .
At a critical time , it was acting as a propaganda arm of the Chinese communists , praising the Chinese who obfuscated the news and lied about it .
China now claims it has no new domestic cases of the virus , to which Iowahawk responds , “ Looks like there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” And “ It ’ s really amazing how people who fancy themselves as exquisitely check-three-times skeptics are the first to sign up for the big multilevel marketing seminar at the Beijing Ramada Inn.
” As private industry steps up , the administration has scrapped a number of policies and regulations that slowed down aid .
Among them are these : finally , Medicare will pay for TeleMed so that the sick and elderly can get help from doctors by telephone instead of being forced to make trips to doctors ’ offices .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency supplies without the federal mandates for rests so they can move supplies more quickly to where they are needed .
A new appreciation is due not only to the first responders we always rely on , but also to the truckers , farmers , and grocery and warehouse stockers who are hard at work .
Of course , actions by some , notably Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the media , can only be explained , to paraphrase wretchardthecat , by raw fury , because “ they were wrong about a whole host @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them.
” Events still will .
Mayors who let thousands of homeless people tent out on their streets where they relieved themselves daily amid piles of rat-ridden heaps of trash and drug paraphernalia will learn some lessons about public health .
Nancy Pelosi , who for three and a half years accused the president of treason and exceeding his constitutional powers , now begs him to assume dictatorial powers .
The mainstream media are almost entirely discounted as a source of reliable news and are reduced to posing ignorantly framed gotcha questions at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ briefings .
The notion that cities like Baltimore , New York , Los Angeles , and San Francisco , whose leaders have undermined the rule of law and law enforcement , will suddenly be able to get the will and manpower to enforce lockdown of the residents defies all probability .
In the end , I expect and hope that the leadership of the adults in this administration will succeed in making this economic and social dislocation very short-lived and that the not well disguised hopes of the president 's opponents for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end up being no more than self-discrediting monkey business .
This article originally appeared at the American Thinker .
It is published here with the author ’ s permission .

March 23, 2020 (American Thinker) — Crises have a way of sorting out the good people, ideas, and institutions from the bad, and as the Wuhan virus spreads throughout the world, the sorting process is made easier. The decision to close our borders to China, criticized by the WHO, the left, and media as “racist,” has proven to be essential, and the bien pensant governments around the world are now following suit, shutting down their borders to aid in containment.
For those who wonder why this variety of flu depends on our isolating ourselves for a while until we can contain it, Lauren Ancel Meyer, my young friend and a scientist, explains:
The recent threats of SARS, swine flu, Ebola, and Zika have brought fame to an epidemiological statistic known as R 0 . It stands for the basic reproduction number and is intended to be an indicator of the contagiousness of infectious agents (it is pronounced R-naught). In short it tells us how many people each new case will infect during the early days of a pandemic on average. An outbreak is expected to continue if R 0 has a value >1 and to end if R 0 is <1. A lot of attention has been paid to recent estimates suggesting that covid-19 has a lower R 0 than SARS, roughly two versus three. Clearly, then, R 0 is not the whole story. It indicates whether one case will turn into two or three or four, but not how quickly or how silently that will come to pass. The level of intervention required to curb an outbreak very much depends on all three factors: its R 0 value, speed, and visibility in the community. We should not be fooled by the relatively modest R 0 of covid-19 as its speed and stealth make it all the more difficult to contain. Even if each case infects only two others, the number of infections can skyrocket undetected in the absence of early and extensive control measures that limit person-to-person contact. Our study highlights the elusiveness of covid-19. Keeping people apart is the only guaranteed way to block infections given the immense challenge of identifying contagious and soon-to-be contagious cases. Whether the policy goal is to stop transmission, protect those at high risk, or “flatten the curve” to ensure that fewer people are sick at any one time, extreme social distancing strategies of the type we have been seeing are strongly recommended.
Speed of containment is of the essence, and the good news is that while the development of any vaccine against it requires more time, there are existing pharmaceuticals, some of which are readily available and not terribly expensive, that seem to be efficacious.
Among these are hydroxychloroquine (brand name Plaquinel) and chloroquine. Jeffrey Satinover reports that a “French clinical study with 24 patients and excellent 5 day elimination of the virus used” the more readily available Plaquinel. It must be taken under medical oversight because of the risk of interactions and the long-term “effects on the retina.” Plaquinel is produced by Teva, an Israeli company which will donate six million tablets through wholesalers to hospitals around the country by the end of the month and more than 10 million tablets within a month. Resochin has shown some potential in treating the virus as well, and Bayer just donated three million tablets.
In Italy, remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug produced by Gilead, proved effective. That drug, however, is in limited supply, though Gilead is working “to increase its stock a rapidly as possible.” Favipiravir, a Japanese-produced drug, reportedly has proven effective in China. There is certainly reason for optimism that with closed borders, self-isolation, and available drug treatments, we can stem the spread of this virus.
Fly-over country seems largely unaffected, but the big cities on the coasts are not. My muse Iowahawk (David Burge) has a point:
@iowahawkblog BTW, great call on that 20-year campaign to promote high density urban living and public transportation, smart people.
Living in small city apartments without much space to cook or store essentials, urban dwellers might stop looking down on their suburban and rural fellow citizens as restaurants near them are shuttered and grocery store visits restricted to a few customers at a time.
For many decades, big government proponents have worked and spent fortunes of tax revenues to wean Americans from their cars and onto public transportation, and it is now an “obvious fact that crowded subways and buses are the worst thing in the face of a new, extremely contagious respiratory virus.”
The same can be said of the misguided (indeed, in my view, idiotic) war on plastic bags by blue-state and local politicians:
New York’s environmentalists have terrible timing. The statewide ban on single-use plastic bags took effect on March 1, the same day New York confirmed its first case of coronavirus. To protect the public, officials in the Empire State and elsewhere should immediately suspend their plastic bag bans. Much remains unknown about Covid-19, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it “may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.” Reusable shopping bags may harbor the virus and could facilitate its spread in grocery stores and pharmacies that remain open even as workplaces, schools and restaurants shutter. Yet in California, New York, Seattle and elsewhere, plastic bags are banned, and shoppers are urged to rely on reusable bags.
Social distancing as enough medicines, respirators, and medical facilities are becoming available is made more tolerable because of the internet and the new ways it facilitates delivering services and goods to individual consumers. An early adapter, I have found these to be an enormous saving of time and effort. These services now are proving invaluable in the time of social isolation. They also are providing new jobs for those temporarily dislocated as their normal employment is shut down.
The internet has also made distance learning available, so learning can take place even with schools closed. That may, however, be a mixed blessing, as this laugh-out-loud video from an Israeli mother of four kids reveals:
Another example of independent entrepreneurial genius is the distilleries producing hand sanitizers to alleviate the shortage of them (a shortage, by the way, made worse by the actions of New York governor Cuomo).
Abbott Molecular finally got FDA permission to produce needed test kits and this week deployed 150,000 of them and expects to produce up to one million of them a week by month’s end.
In contrast to the private industries are government institutions, which on a national and international level are often so sclerotic that they prevent necessary rapid, effective responses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control comes to mind, as Carl Quintanilla tweeted:
@carlquintanilla WSJ: “While the virus was quietly spreading within the U.S., the CDC had told state and local officials its ‘testing capacity is more than adequate to meet current testing demands,’ according to a Feb. 26 agency email viewed by The Wall Street Journal..” How Washington failed to build a robust coronavirus testing system Government decisions that limited testing for the pathogen blinded the U.S. to the outbreak’s scale, impeding the nation’s ability to fight it by isolating the sick and their contacts.
In part this occurred because, instead of concentrating on its core mission of fighting the spread of infectious disease, the CDC had expanded its mission into faddish stuff like racism and obesity.
The World Health Organization was even worse. At a critical time, it was acting as a propaganda arm of the Chinese communists, praising the Chinese who obfuscated the news and lied about it.
China now claims it has no new domestic cases of the virus, to which Iowahawk responds, “Looks like there is a worldwide shortage of grains of salt.” And “It’s really amazing how people who fancy themselves as exquisitely check-three-times skeptics are the first to sign up for the big multilevel marketing seminar at the Beijing Ramada Inn.”
As private industry steps up, the administration has scrapped a number of policies and regulations that slowed down aid. Among them are these: finally, Medicare will pay for TeleMed so that the sick and elderly can get help from doctors by telephone instead of being forced to make trips to doctors’ offices. Truckers were given an okay to move emergency supplies without the federal mandates for rests so they can move supplies more quickly to where they are needed.
A new appreciation is due not only to the first responders we always rely on, but also to the truckers, farmers, and grocery and warehouse stockers who are hard at work.
Another lesson of this ongoing crisis — in addition to the need for U.S. domestic production of some key medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, even greater skepticism about the veracity, competence, and agendas of media, and reexamination of the gospel of globalization and open borders — is greater appreciation of muscular labor and those who feed us, protect us, give us energy, and clean up after us, and who cannot afford to stay home, and whom America cannot afford that they might.
Of course, actions by some, notably Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the media, can only be explained, to paraphrase wretchardthecat, by raw fury, because “they were wrong about a whole host of things. Events made monkeys of them.” Events still will. Mayors who let thousands of homeless people tent out on their streets where they relieved themselves daily amid piles of rat-ridden heaps of trash and drug paraphernalia will learn some lessons about public health. Nancy Pelosi, who for three and a half years accused the president of treason and exceeding his constitutional powers, now begs him to assume dictatorial powers. The mainstream media are almost entirely discounted as a source of reliable news and are reduced to posing ignorantly framed gotcha questions at the conclusions of transparent first-class White House briefings. The notion that cities like Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, whose leaders have undermined the rule of law and law enforcement, will suddenly be able to get the will and manpower to enforce lockdown of the residents defies all probability.
In the end, I expect and hope that the leadership of the adults in this administration will succeed in making this economic and social dislocation very short-lived and that the not well disguised hopes of the president's opponents for a depression and a huge death toll will end up being no more than self-discrediting monkey business.
This article originally appeared at the American Thinker. It is published here with the author’s permission.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-23--Explaining why Italy has such a huge problem with coronavirus

March 23 , 2020 ( American Thinker ) — Watching cable news these days , it is difficult to know which is greater : the rise in Chinese Coronavirus cases worldwide or the panic and sense of doom for those unable to work , travel , or freely associate with others .
The media are in overdrive , under the journalistic principle of “ if it bleeds , it leads.
” Predictions of an exponential rise in illnesses and hospitalizations are a cable news staple this week , with many reports suggesting that America is just a few weeks behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USA Today warned , “ Too many coronavirus patients , too few ventilators : Outlook in US could get bad , quickly.
” Referring to Italy , the publication reports , “ Italy ’ s hospitals are choosing who gets lifesaving breathing machines and who does not.
” In other words , death panels and rationing .
This is what ’ s ahead for the U.S. , the media claim , even without Bernie Sanders ’ s “ Medicare-For-All ” scheme .
“ US hospitals are on the cusp of too many severely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beds and ventilators to keep those patients breathing , ” warns USA Today .
What is left out of the story is why Italy has so many cases of a Chinese virus .
If calling the virus “ Chinese Coronavirus ” or the “ Wuhan virus ” is deemed racist , despite a long tradition of naming infectious diseases based on their origin , we can call it the “ Belt and Road virus.
” A Chinese newspaper headline from last year makes the connection : “ Italy aims to develop closer trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Business ties between Italy and China provided not just a road , but a superhighway for the coronavirus to travel from Wuhan to Milan .
How ’ s that globalism working out ?
The world has luxury handbags and clothes with labels from Gucci and Prada , but Italy has Chinese workers manufacturing those items , and now a deadly virus .
Italy has a tight Chinese connection , and not the Bruce Lee movie variety of the same name .
From the South China Morning Post , “ [ t ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 years ago but numbers have swelled in the past decade , bringing the total population to about 300,000.
” A travel website shows nine inexpensive flight options between China and Italy .
A Chinese couple from Wuhan took advantage of these travel opportunities in mid-January , visiting Verona , Parma , and Rome before becoming febrile and quarantined in hospital , testing positive for the virus .
How many Italians did this couple encounter in restaurants and shops ?
The Wuhan virus was well known at the time , yet Italy was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as usual with China .
An Italian virologist observed , “ The Italian government lagged at first .
It was lazy in the beginning ... too much politics in Italy.
” A few weeks later , rather than social distancing , Italian officials recommended social intimacy .
The woke Florence mayor encouraged Italians to “ hug a Chinese.
” How did that work out ?
How many Italians died of the coronavirus due to political correctness ?
Mid-January brought the annual Wuhan Lunar New Year banquet .
How many Chinese nationals living in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friends and family , bringing the virus back to Italy when they returned ?
Italy is also an old country , at least in terms of percentage of the population older than age 65 .
Italy ranks number two in the world behind Japan , with 22.4 percent of their citizens age 65 or older , the high-risk population for coronavirus deaths .
While Italy now leads the world in coronavirus deaths , passing the country of origin China a few days ago , “ 99 % of those who died from virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg .
In other words , if it hadn ’ t been Wuhan coronavirus this month , it might have been pneumonia or heart failure next month .
Smoking is another Italian problem .
Twenty-eight percent of Italians smoke , lower than China at 48 percent , but higher than the U.S. at 20 percent .
Smoking is one more risk factor contributing to the high death rate in Italy .
Instead , the media blame the lack of ICU beds , not political correctness , woke Italian politicians , Italian demographics , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running roughshod through Italy .
Italy has a great health care system , we are told .
International living encourages would-be ex-pats , “ Italy ranks among the World Health Organization ’ s top 10 countries for quality health services ( by contrast , the U.S. only holds 37th place , despite being the highest spender ) .
” So why is Italy in such a medical crisis , leading the world in coronavirus deaths ?
Perhaps the U.S. health care system isn ’ t that bad , and we have more ventilators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care policy wonks know all about the “ Triple Aim ” and “ bending the cost curve ” but are probably are not versed in how many intensive care unit beds we have compared to other countries .
These critical care beds include ventilators , which approximate the number of beds .
A 2012 paper in Intensive Care Medicine looked at critical care beds per capita in Europe .
Germany led the way with 29 ICU beds per 100,000 population .
Italy had less than half that number at 13 beds .
Interestingly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanders ’ s ideal country , with only 7 beds per capita .
With our health care system barely keeping up with Cuba , according to health care policy expert Michael Moore , the U.S. should be pulling up the rear in this metric compared to the rest of Europe .
How does the U.S. compare ?
Another paper from 2015 answers that question .
In the U.S. , ICU beds per 100,000 population was significantly higher than for Italy .
For adults age 20 years and older , ICU beds range from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depending on location .
For the elderly , those 65 years and older , most vulnerable to the coronavirus , there are 171 to 210 ICU beds per 100,000 , 15 to 20 times the number in Italy .
While the numbers are clearly insufficient for Italy , they may be adequate for the U.S. , depending on the course of the virus over the next few weeks .
With President Trump instituting a travel ban from China in late January , criticized severely at the time , the number of infected Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compared to Italy , was blunted , and hopefully fewer Americans will require critical care .
Italy and much of the E.U.
, with no such travel restrictions until recently and much too late , are swamped with cases , overloading their lauded health care systems .
Despite fear-mongering predictions from cable news , I would wager that most 80-year-olds infected with Chinese Coronavirus would rather be in the United States than in Italy , despite the World Health Organization ’ s opinion on the two health care systems .
While things could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. doctors will have to rely on death panels to decide which patients receive an ICU bed and which are told to take two aspirin and call the undertaker in the morning .
America may be better equipped to withstand this viral pandemic than the mainstream media want to acknowledge .
For example , be wary of media-reported data .
Increasing the number of people tested in the U.S. will artificially raise the confirmed cases .
ABC News ran this headline : “ NIH director : Up to 70K coronavirus cases could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week.
” Yes , due to more people being tested , including many asymptomatic or recovered individuals testing positive .
But they conveniently bury an important caveat to their headline .
In the meantime , follow current hygiene precautions , and turn off cable news .
Be thankful that a fixer is in the White House rather than some political hack .
The storm will pass , and the country will recover and eventually be greater after going through all of this .
Brian C Joondeph , M.D .
is a Denver-based physician @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in American Thinker , the Daily Caller , Rasmussen Reports , and other publications .
Follow him on Facebook , , , and .
This article originally appeared at the American Thinker .
It is published here with the author ’ s permission .

What is left out of the story in the mainstream media is why Italy has so many cases of a Chinese virus.
March 23, 2020 (American Thinker) — Watching cable news these days, it is difficult to know which is greater: the rise in Chinese Coronavirus cases worldwide or the panic and sense of doom for those unable to work, travel, or freely associate with others.
The media are in overdrive, under the journalistic principle of “if it bleeds, it leads.” Predictions of an exponential rise in illnesses and hospitalizations are a cable news staple this week, with many reports suggesting that America is just a few weeks behind Italy.
Rather than offering calm, USA Today warned, “Too many coronavirus patients, too few ventilators: Outlook in US could get bad, quickly.”
Referring to Italy, the publication reports, “Italy’s hospitals are choosing who gets lifesaving breathing machines and who does not.” In other words, death panels and rationing.
This is what’s ahead for the U.S., the media claim, even without Bernie Sanders’s “Medicare-For-All” scheme. “US hospitals are on the cusp of too many severely ill patients without enough intensive care unit beds and ventilators to keep those patients breathing,” warns USA Today.
What is left out of the story is why Italy has so many cases of a Chinese virus. If calling the virus “Chinese Coronavirus” or the “Wuhan virus” is deemed racist, despite a long tradition of naming infectious diseases based on their origin, we can call it the “Belt and Road virus.”
YouTube screen grab.
A Chinese newspaper headline from last year makes the connection: “Italy aims to develop closer trade ties with China through Belt and Road.” Business ties between Italy and China provided not just a road, but a superhighway for the coronavirus to travel from Wuhan to Milan. How’s that globalism working out?
The world has luxury handbags and clothes with labels from Gucci and Prada, but Italy has Chinese workers manufacturing those items, and now a deadly virus.
Italy has a tight Chinese connection, and not the Bruce Lee movie variety of the same name. From the South China Morning Post, “[t]he Chinese began migrating to Italy about 30 years ago but numbers have swelled in the past decade, bringing the total population to about 300,000.” A travel website shows nine inexpensive flight options between China and Italy.
A Chinese couple from Wuhan took advantage of these travel opportunities in mid-January, visiting Verona, Parma, and Rome before becoming febrile and quarantined in hospital, testing positive for the virus. How many Italians did this couple encounter in restaurants and shops?
The Wuhan virus was well known at the time, yet Italy was unconcerned, with travel and commerce proceeding as usual with China. An Italian virologist observed, “The Italian government lagged at first. It was lazy in the beginning…too much politics in Italy.”
A few weeks later, rather than social distancing, Italian officials recommended social intimacy. The woke Florence mayor encouraged Italians to “hug a Chinese.” How did that work out? How many Italians died of the coronavirus due to political correctness?
Mid-January brought the annual Wuhan Lunar New Year banquet. How many Chinese nationals living in Italy traveled home to Wuhan to visit friends and family, bringing the virus back to Italy when they returned?
Italy is also an old country, at least in terms of percentage of the population older than age 65. Italy ranks number two in the world behind Japan, with 22.4 percent of their citizens age 65 or older, the high-risk population for coronavirus deaths.
While Italy now leads the world in coronavirus deaths, passing the country of origin China a few days ago, “99% of those who died from virus had other illnesses,” according to Bloomberg. In other words, if it hadn’t been Wuhan coronavirus this month, it might have been pneumonia or heart failure next month.
Smoking is another Italian problem. Twenty-eight percent of Italians smoke, lower than China at 48 percent, but higher than the U.S. at 20 percent. Smoking is one more risk factor contributing to the high death rate in Italy.
Instead, the media blame the lack of ICU beds, not political correctness, woke Italian politicians, Italian demographics, or China’s Belt and Road running roughshod through Italy.
Italy has a great health care system, we are told. International living encourages would-be ex-pats, “Italy ranks among the World Health Organization’s top 10 countries for quality health services (by contrast, the U.S. only holds 37th place, despite being the highest spender).”
So why is Italy in such a medical crisis, leading the world in coronavirus deaths? Perhaps the U.S. health care system isn’t that bad, and we have more ventilators than the hair-on-fire media claim.
Health care policy wonks know all about the “Triple Aim” and “bending the cost curve” but are probably are not versed in how many intensive care unit beds we have compared to other countries. These critical care beds include ventilators, which approximate the number of beds.
A 2012 paper in Intensive Care Medicine looked at critical care beds per capita in Europe. Germany led the way with 29 ICU beds per 100,000 population. Italy had less than half that number at 13 beds. Interestingly, farther down was Denmark, Bernie Sanders’s ideal country, with only 7 beds per capita.
With our health care system barely keeping up with Cuba, according to health care policy expert Michael Moore, the U.S. should be pulling up the rear in this metric compared to the rest of Europe. How does the U.S. compare?
Another paper from 2015 answers that question. In the U.S., ICU beds per 100,000 population was significantly higher than for Italy. For adults age 20 years and older, ICU beds range from 32 to 39 beds per 100,000, depending on location. For the elderly, those 65 years and older, most vulnerable to the coronavirus, there are 171 to 210 ICU beds per 100,000, 15 to 20 times the number in Italy.
While the numbers are clearly insufficient for Italy, they may be adequate for the U.S., depending on the course of the virus over the next few weeks. With President Trump instituting a travel ban from China in late January, criticized severely at the time, the number of infected Chinese bringing the virus to the U.S., compared to Italy, was blunted, and hopefully fewer Americans will require critical care.
Italy and much of the E.U., with no such travel restrictions until recently and much too late, are swamped with cases, overloading their lauded health care systems.
Despite fear-mongering predictions from cable news, I would wager that most 80-year-olds infected with Chinese Coronavirus would rather be in the United States than in Italy, despite the World Health Organization’s opinion on the two health care systems.
While things could change, it is not likely that U.S. doctors will have to rely on death panels to decide which patients receive an ICU bed and which are told to take two aspirin and call the undertaker in the morning.
America may be better equipped to withstand this viral pandemic than the mainstream media want to acknowledge. For example, be wary of media-reported data. Increasing the number of people tested in the U.S. will artificially raise the confirmed cases.
ABC News ran this headline: “NIH director: Up to 70K coronavirus cases could be confirmed in US by end of next week.” Yes, due to more people being tested, including many asymptomatic or recovered individuals testing positive.
But they conveniently bury an important caveat to their headline.
That doesn’t mean necessarily that the outbreak has exploded at an even more rapid rate. It just means we’re now able to find out who’s out there, who is infected, because testing is now going to be much more available across the country.
In the meantime, follow current hygiene precautions, and turn off cable news. Be thankful that a fixer is in the White House rather than some political hack. The storm will pass, and the country will recover and eventually be greater after going through all of this.
Brian C Joondeph, M.D. is a Denver-based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, the Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn , Twitter , and QuodVerum .
This article originally appeared at the American Thinker. It is published here with the author’s permission.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-23--Priest calls for spiritual adoption of victims dying alone from coronavirus

March 23 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Inspired by news that due to severe quarantine restrictions people succumbing to the coronavirus in Italy are dying separated from family and friends , a Catholic priest sent out an appeal to believers to daily “ spiritually place ourselves beside one of the poor unfortunate men and women who are dying alone in hospitals all over the world because of this virus.
” The families of the dying can ’ t say goodbye , hold their loved ones ’ hands , or pray with them because everyone is quarantined .
And so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and scared in their final hours .
More than 6,000 in Italy and more than 10,000 worldwide so far .
LifeSiteNews was forwarded a touching proposal conceived by Fr .
Philip Kemmy , a priest in Ireland who suggests that we each commit to praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet each day with a very specific intention in mind .
Earlier this evening I was reading a news report on the SkyNews website which , quoting a doctor in a hospital in Italy , had the headline : “ Everyone Dies Alone.
” It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report , describing how , because they have to be isolated , those suffering and slowly dying from Covid19 meet their end without the comfort and consolation of their relatives and loved ones .
The medical staff do what they can , but they are overwhelmed by the task that lies before them .
When I read that headline , immediately I was stirred to begin this little project .
Inspired by a scene in the Diary of St. Faustina , where she was spiritually transported by the Lord in order to pray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bedside of a dying man she did not know , I would like to suggest that we would each commit to praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet each day for the days ahead to spiritually place ourselves beside one of the poor unfortunate men and women who are dying alone in hospitals all over the world because of this virus , some of whom are perhaps not well prepared spiritually for their earthly end .
If families were to pray it then several dying persons would be spiritually adopted with the one prayer of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the dying , we will petition Jesus to enfold them in his Merciful Love in their final hours and grant them a strong experience of his consoling presence before they take their leave of this life .
This would be a great act of mercy and love for those who are victims of this virus and who are approaching their end .
Please consider taking part in this project .
There is no need to sign up to anything .
It is a simple movement which , please God , will bear enormous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pray .
I would appreciate it if you were to pass this on to others you know who might be willing to take up this spiritual work of mercy .
In the final weeks of Lent it would be a good spiritual practice to incorporate into our prayer routine .
Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary , Chapel at hospital in Lombardy , Italy , filled with coffins of coronavirus victims awaiting cremation Doctors and nurses hold back tears over anguish for their scared , lonely patients The Sky News report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reveals how the healthcare system in Italy has been stressed to the breaking point .
Overworked hospital staff are exhausted after working 12-hour days for many weeks .
“ Time and again doctors and nurses hold back tears as they describe the anguish they feel for their patients who are dreadfully scared and lonely in their last hours , ” according to Sky News .
“ The only care and kindness comes from the medical staff -- strangers who are trying , but often failing , to save them.
” Sky News Correspondent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was “ genuinely heartbreaking covering this story , ” recounted his experience visiting Cremona Hospital in Lombardy , Italy : We passed room after room full of coffins .
At the end of a corridor , he opened a door and gestured that we go inside what I could see was a church .
I did n't understand , but as we turned the corner we were confronted by more rows of coffins .
There are so many dead at the Cremona Hospital in Lombardy that they have to use the church to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and taken away to be cremated .
Their families have n't been able to pay their last respects or say goodbye .
They ca n't because they are in lockdown quarantine .
It 's a recurring theme now , everyone dies alone .
Read the full report and watch the video here .
At the hour of their death , I defend as my own glory every soul that will say this chaplet ; or when others say it for a dying person , the pardon is the same .
When this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a dying person , God ’ s anger is placated .
Unfathomable mercy envelops the soul , and the very depths of my tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful passion of my Son .
And Jesus said to St. Faustina : If you are unfamiliar with the Divine Mercy Chaplet , it is recited using a Rosary :

There's a movement to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the quarantined victims.
PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here.
March 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Inspired by news that due to severe quarantine restrictions people succumbing to the coronavirus in Italy are dying separated from family and friends, a Catholic priest sent out an appeal to believers to daily “spiritually place ourselves beside one of the poor unfortunate men and women who are dying alone in hospitals all over the world because of this virus.”
The families of the dying can’t say goodbye, hold their loved ones’ hands, or pray with them because everyone is quarantined. And so thousands are dying alone – utterly alone and scared in their final hours.
More than 6,000 in Italy and more than 10,000 worldwide so far.
LifeSiteNews was forwarded a touching proposal conceived by Fr. Philip Kemmy, a priest in Ireland who suggests that we each commit to praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet each day with a very specific intention in mind.
Fr. Kemmy explained:
Earlier this evening I was reading a news report on the SkyNews website which, quoting a doctor in a hospital in Italy, had the headline: “Everyone Dies Alone.” It was a very sobering and tragically sad report, describing how, because they have to be isolated, those suffering and slowly dying from Covid19 meet their end without the comfort and consolation of their relatives and loved ones. The medical staff do what they can, but they are overwhelmed by the task that lies before them. When I read that headline, immediately I was stirred to begin this little project. Inspired by a scene in the Diary of St. Faustina, where she was spiritually transported by the Lord in order to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at the bedside of a dying man she did not know, I would like to suggest that we would each commit to praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet each day for the days ahead to spiritually place ourselves beside one of the poor unfortunate men and women who are dying alone in hospitals all over the world because of this virus, some of whom are perhaps not well prepared spiritually for their earthly end. If families were to pray it then several dying persons would be spiritually adopted with the one prayer of the Chaplet. Praying the Chaplet for the dying, we will petition Jesus to enfold them in his Merciful Love in their final hours and grant them a strong experience of his consoling presence before they take their leave of this life. This would be a great act of mercy and love for those who are victims of this virus and who are approaching their end. Please consider taking part in this project. There is no need to sign up to anything. It is a simple movement which, please God, will bear enormous fruit for the souls for whom we pray. I would appreciate it if you were to pass this on to others you know who might be willing to take up this spiritual work of mercy. In the final weeks of Lent it would be a good spiritual practice to incorporate into our prayer routine. Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Fr. Philip
Doctors and nurses hold back tears over anguish for their scared, lonely patients
The Sky News report, “Everyone Dies Alone,” reveals how the healthcare system in Italy has been stressed to the breaking point. Overworked hospital staff are exhausted after working 12-hour days for many weeks.
“Time and again doctors and nurses hold back tears as they describe the anguish they feel for their patients who are dreadfully scared and lonely in their last hours,” according to Sky News. “The only care and kindness comes from the medical staff — strangers who are trying, but often failing, to save them.”
Sky News Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who confessed that it was “genuinely heartbreaking covering this story,” recounted his experience visiting Cremona Hospital in Lombardy, Italy:
We passed room after room full of coffins. At the end of a corridor, he opened a door and gestured that we go inside what I could see was a church. I didn't understand, but as we turned the corner we were confronted by more rows of coffins. There are so many dead at the Cremona Hospital in Lombardy that they have to use the church to store the bodies before they are picked up and taken away to be cremated. Their families haven't been able to pay their last respects or say goodbye. They can't because they are in lockdown quarantine. It's a recurring theme now, everyone dies alone.
Read the full report and watch the video here.
Unfathomable mercy envelops the soul
Fr. Kemmy recalled God’s words to St. Faustina:
At the hour of their death, I defend as my own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the pardon is the same. When this chaplet is said beside the bedside of a dying person, God’s anger is placated. Unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of my tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful passion of my Son.
And Jesus said to St. Faustina:
When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between my Father and the dying person, not as the just judge, but as the merciful Savior.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet
If you are unfamiliar with the Divine Mercy Chaplet, it is recited using a Rosary:
Opening Prayer: You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. Repeat 3 times: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! Pray: Our Father, Hail Mary and The Apostle's Creed For each of the five decades (On each “Our Father” bead of the rosary), pray: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Concluding prayer (Repeat 3 times): Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Closing Prayer Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-22--Join other Christians to pray together during the coronavirus crisis

March 21 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – As the coronavirus spreads and infection rates and death increase across the world , Christians must take on a leading role at this crucial time in human history .
Now is the time for all of us to fully engage in this spiritual battle , and to do so armed with our greatest weapon of all : prayer .
We turn to Almighty God in prayer and ask that He intervene to alleviate the suffering of the sick and stop the further spread of this deadly disease .
Sign this pledge right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Click here to commit to praying the Holy Rosary daily .
We must now unite in prayer and community , asking Jesus , as the Divine Healer , to intervene .
We must ask Him to comfort those in mourning ; to heal those afflicted by the coronavirus ; and to help those affected by the economic crisis .
Once you sign the pledge , we invite you to join our livestream of prayer , every day , for the duration of the coronavirus crisis , using our social media app , LifeSite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only will you be able to easily access the livestream , you ’ ll be able to communicate with like-minded individuals all over the world .
Community with other believers is vital all the time , but especially during this time of global calls for sheltering-in-place and military-enforced quarantine .
Starting this Sunday , at 12:00 p.m. EDT , the Holy Rosary will be recited together with an American priest who is currently in Italy , “ Ground Zero ” of the coronavirus epidemic .
And starting on , at 5:00 p.m. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will offer intercessory prayer and a brief study of the Scriptures .
Once you sign the petition , we ’ ll send you instructions directly to your inbox on how to tune in to our livestreams of the Holy Rosary and intercessory prayer on LifeSite Connect .
PLEASE WATCH this short video to get acquainted with LifeSite Connect today !

A call to join Christians around the world in prayer for the coronavirus crisis.
March 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – As the coronavirus spreads and infection rates and death increase across the world, Christians must take on a leading role at this crucial time in human history.
Now is the time for all of us to fully engage in this spiritual battle, and to do so armed with our greatest weapon of all: prayer.
We turn to Almighty God in prayer and ask that He intervene to alleviate the suffering of the sick and stop the further spread of this deadly disease.
Sign this pledge right now to join our prayer army.
Click here to commit to praying the Holy Rosary daily.
We must now unite in prayer and community, asking Jesus, as the Divine Healer, to intervene. We must ask Him to comfort those in mourning; to heal those afflicted by the coronavirus; and to help those affected by the economic crisis.
Once you sign the pledge, we invite you to join our livestream of prayer, every day, for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, using our social media app, LifeSite Connect.
By joining LifeSite Connect, not only will you be able to easily access the livestream, you’ll be able to communicate with like-minded individuals all over the world.
Community with other believers is vital all the time, but especially during this time of global calls for sheltering-in-place and military-enforced quarantine.
Starting this Sunday, at 12:00 p.m. EDT, the Holy Rosary will be recited together with an American priest who is currently in Italy, “Ground Zero” of the coronavirus epidemic.
And starting on Monday , at 5:00 p.m. EDT, pastors of various Christian denominations will offer intercessory prayer and a brief study of the Scriptures.
Once you sign the petition, we’ll send you instructions directly to your inbox on how to tune in to our livestreams of the Holy Rosary and intercessory prayer on LifeSite Connect.
PLEASE SIGN THIS URGENT PLEDGE, TODAY!
PLEASE WATCH this short video to get acquainted with LifeSite Connect today!
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lifesitenews--2020-03-22--Cdl. Burke issues new statement about combatting the coronavirus

March 21 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Earlier today , Cardinal Raymond Burke released a statement on the coronavirus .
In his lengthy remarks , His Excellency described the virus as “ insidious ” and advised persons to take precautions againt spreading and contracting it .
He also stated that it ’ s “ essential ” for Catholics “ at all times and above all in times of crisis , to have access to our churches and chapels , to the Sacraments , and to public devotions and prayers.
” “ In combatting the evil of the coronavirus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relationship with Christ through prayer and penance , and devotions and sacred worship , ” he stated .
“ We turn to Christ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm.
” Echoing the remarks of Archbishop Carlo Viganò , who has previously called for churches to remain open , Burke states that , “ we must be able to pray in our churches and chapels , receive the Sacraments , and engage in acts of public prayer and devotion , so that we know God ’ s closeness to us and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upon His help.
” “ Without the help of God , ” His Eminence contines , “ we are indeed lost.
” Burke also said that the spread of the coronavirus can not be understood apart from the world ’ s “ rebellious ” stance towards God .
Nor can it be viewed apart from the “ paganism ” that is being promoted from “ within the Church.
” “ [ A ] person of faith can not consider the present calamity in which we find ourselves without considering also how distant our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not only indifferent to His presence in our midst but openly rebellious toward Him and the good order with which He has created us and sustains us in being.
” “ We witness , too , even within the Church , a paganism which worships nature and the earth , ” he continued .
“ There are those within the Church who refer to the earth as our mother , as if we came from the earth , and the earth is our salvation .
But we come from the hand of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” For some time now , we have been in combat against the spread of the coronavirus , COVID-19 .
From all that we can tell – and one of the difficulties of the combat is that so much about the pestilence remains unclear – the battle will yet continue for some time .
The virus involved is particularly insidious , for it has a relatively long incubation period – some say 14 days and some say 20 days – and is highly contagious , much more highly contagious than other viruses we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ natural means to defend ourselves against the coronavirus is to avoid any close contact with others .
It is important , in fact , to keep always a distance – some say a yard ( meter ) and some say six-feet – away from each other , and , of course , to avoid group gatherings , that is gatherings in which a number of people are in close proximity of each other .
In addition , since the virus is transmitted by small droplets emitted when one sneezes or blows his or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wash our hands frequently with disinfectant soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds , and to use disinfectant handwash and handwipes .
It is equally important to disinfect tables , chairs , countertops , etc.
, on which these droplets may have landed and from which they are capable of transmitting the contagion for some time .
If we sneeze or blow our nose , we are counseled to use a paper facial tissue , to discard it immediately , and then to wash our hands .
Of course , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be quarantined , and those who are not feeling well , even if it has not been determined that they suffer from the coronavirus , should , out of charity toward others , remain at home , until they are feeling better .
Living in Italy , in which the spread of the coronavirus has been particularly deadly , especially for the elderly and for those who are already in a state of delicate health , I am edified by the great care which the Italians are taking to protect themselves and others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have already read , the healthcare system in Italy is severely tested in trying to provide necessary hospitalization and intensive-care treatment for the most vulnerable .
Please pray for the Italian people and especially for both those for whom the coronavirus can be fatal and those entrusted with their care .
Being a citizen of the United States , I have been following the situation of the spread of the coronavirus in my homeland and know that those living in the United States are becoming more and more concerned to stop its spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Italy be repeated at home .
The whole situation certainly disposes us to a profound sadness and also to fear .
No one wants to contract the illness connected with the virus or to have anyone else contract it .
We especially do not want our beloved elderly or others who are suffering in health to be put in danger of death through the spread of the virus .
To fight the spread of the virus , we are all on a kind of forced spiritual retreat , confined to quarters and unable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family and to friends .
For those in quarantine , the isolation is clearly even more severe , not being able to have contact with anyone , not even at a distance .
If the illness itself associated with the virus were not enough to worry us , we can not ignore the economic devastation which the spread of the virus has caused , with its grievous effects on individuals and families , and those who serve us in so many ways in our daily life .
Of course , our thoughts can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an even greater devastation of the population of our homelands and , indeed , of the world .
Certainly , we are right to learn about and employ all of the natural means to defend ourselves against the contagion .
It is a fundamental act of charity to use every prudent means to avoid contracting or spreading the coronavirus .
The natural means of preventing the spread of the virus must , however , respect what we need to live , for example , access to food , water and medicine .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposition of ever greater restrictions on the movement of individuals , provides that individuals can visit the supermarket and the pharmacy , with the observance of the precautions of social distancing and of use of disinfectants on the part of all involved .
In considering what is needed to live , we must not forget that our first consideration is our relationship with God .
We recall the words of Our Lord in the Gospel according to John : “ If a man loves me , he will keep my word , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we come to him and make our home with him ” ( 14 , 23 ) .
Christ is the Lord of nature and of history .
He is not distant and disinterested in us and the world .
He has promised us : “ I am with you always , to the close of the age ” ( Mt 28 , 20 ) .
In combatting the evil of the coronavirus , our most effective weapon is , therefore , our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance , and devotions and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm , and He never fails to respond with pure and selfless love .
That is why it is essential for us , at all times and above all in times of crisis , to have access to our churches and chapels , to the Sacraments , and to public devotions and prayers .
Just as we are able to purchase food and medicine , while taking care not to spread the coronavirus in the process , so also we must be able to pray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Sacraments , and engage in acts of public prayer and devotion , so that we know God ’ s closeness to us and remain close to Him , fittingly calling upon His help .
Without the help of God , we are indeed lost .
Historically , in times of pestilence , the faithful gathered in fervent prayer and took part in processions .
In fact , in the Roman Missal , promulgated by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1962 , there are special texts for the Holy Mass to be offered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mass for the Deliverance from Death in Time of Pestilence ( Missae Votivae ad Diversa , n. 23 ) .
Likewise , in the traditional Litany of the Saints , we pray : “ From plague , famine , and war , O Lord , deliver us.
” Oftentimes , when we find ourselves in great suffering and even facing death , we ask : “ Where is God ?
” But the real question is : “ Where are we ?
” In other words , God is assuredly with us to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the time of severe trial or death , but we are too often far from Him because of our failure to acknowledge our total dependence upon Him and , therefore , to pray daily to Him and to offer Him our worship .
In these days , I have heard from so many devout Catholics who are deeply saddened and discouraged not to be able to pray and worship in their churches and chapels .
They understand the need to observe social distance and to follow the other precautions , and they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can easily enough do in their places of worship .
But , often enough , they have to accept the profound suffering of having their churches and chapels closed , and of not having access to Confession and the Most Holy Eucharist .
In the same light , a person of faith can not consider the present calamity in which we find ourselves without considering also how distant our popular culture is from God .
It is not only indifferent to His presence in our midst but openly rebellious toward Him and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created us and sustains us in being .
We need only think of the commonplace violent attacks on human life , male and female , which God has made in His own image and likeness ( Gn 1 , 27 ) , attacks on the innocent and defenseless unborn , and on those who have the first title to our care , those who are heavily burdened with serious illness , advanced years , or special needs .
We are daily witnesses to the spread of violence in a culture which fails to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need only to think of the pervasive attack upon the integrity of human sexuality , of our identity as man or woman , with the pretense of defining for ourselves , often employing violent means , a sexual identity other than that given to us by God .
With ever greater concern , we witness the devastating effect on individuals and families of the so-called “ gender theory.
” We witness , too , even within the Church , a paganism which worships nature and the earth .
There are those within the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our mother , as if we came from the earth , and the earth is our salvation .
But we come from the hand of God , Creator of Heaven and Earth .
In God alone we find salvation .
We pray in the divinely-inspired words of the Psalmist : “ [ God ] alone is my rock and my salvation , my fortress ; I shall not be shaken ” ( Ps 62 [ 61 ] , 6 ) .
We see how the life of faith itself has become increasingly secularized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christ , God the Son Incarnate , King of Heaven and Earth .
We witness so many other evils which derive from idolatry , from the worship of ourselves and our world , instead of worshiping God , the source of all being .
We sadly see in ourselves the truth of Saint Paul ’ s inspired words regarding the “ ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth ” : “ they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever !
” ( Rom 1 , 18 .
25 ) .
Many with whom I am in communication , reflecting upon the present worldwide health crisis with all of its attendant effects , have expressed to me the hope that it will lead us – as individuals and families , and as a society – to reform our lives , to turn to God Who is surely near to us and Who is immeasurable and unceasing in His mercy and love towards us .
There is no question that great evils like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and of our actual sins .
God , in His justice , must repair the disorder which sin introduces into our lives and into our world .
In fact , He fulfills the demands of justice by His superabundant mercy .
God has not left us in the chaos and death , which sin introduces into the world , but has sent His only-begotten Son , Jesus Christ , to suffer , die , rise from the dead and ascend in glory to His right hand , in order to remain with us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inflaming us with His love .
In His justice , God recognizes our sins and the need of their reparation , while , in His mercy He showers upon us the grace to repent and make reparation .
The Prophet Jeremiah prayed : “ We recognize , O LORD , our wickedness , the guilt of our fathers ; that we have sinned against you , ” but he immediately continued his prayer : “ For your name ’ s sake spurn us not , disgrace not the throne of your glory ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ break it not ” ( Jer 14 , 20-21 ) .
God never turns His back on us ; He will never break His covenant of faithful and enduring love with us , even though we are so frequently indifferent , cold and unfaithful .
As the present suffering uncovers for us so much indifference , coldness and infidelity on our part , we are called to turn to God and to beg for His mercy .
We are confident that He will hear us and bless us with His gifts of mercy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our sufferings to the Passion and Death of Christ and thus , as Saint Paul says , “ complete what is lacking in Christ ’ s afflictions for the sake of his body , that is , the Church ” ( Col 1 , 24 ) .
Living in Christ , we know the truth of our Biblical prayer : “ The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD ; he is their refuge in the time of trouble ” ( Ps 37 [ 36 ] , 39 ) .
In Christ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the truth expressed in the prayer of the Psalmist : “ Mercy and truth have met together ; justice and peace have kissed ” ( Ps 85 [ 84 ] , 10 ) .
In our totally secularized culture , there is a tendency to view prayer , devotions and worship like any other activity , for example , going to the cinema or to a football game , which is not essential and therefore can be cancelled for the sake of taking every precaution to curb the spread of a deadly contagion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , above all , Confession and the Holy Mass , are essential for us to remain healthy and strong spiritually , and for us to seek God ’ s help in a time of great danger for all .
Therefore , we can not simply accept the determinations of secular governments , which would treat the worship of God in the same manner as going to a restaurant or to an athletic contest .
Otherwise , the people who already suffer so much from the results of the pestilence are deprived of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our midst to restore health and peace .
We bishops and priests need to explain publicly the necessity of Catholics to pray and worship in their churches and chapels , and to go in procession through the streets and ways , asking God ’ s blessing upon His people who suffer so intensely .
We need to insist that the regulations of the State , also for the good of the State , recognize the distinct importance of places of worship , especially in time of national and international crisis .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understood , above all , the importance of the faith , prayer and worship of the people to overcome a pestilence .
Even as we have found a way to provide for food and medicine and other necessities of life during a time of contagion , without irresponsibly risking the spread of the contagion , so , in a similar way , we can find a way to provide for the necessities of our spiritual life .
We can provide more opportunities for the Holy Mass and devotions at which a number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the spread of contagion .
Many of our churches and chapels are very large .
They permit a group of the faithful to gather for prayer and worship without violating the requirements of “ social distance.
” The confessional with the traditional screen is usually equipped with or , if not , can be easily equipped with a thin veil which can be treated with disinfectant , so that access to the Sacrament of Confession is possible without great difficulty and without danger of transmitting the virus .
If a church or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff to be able to disinfect regularly the pews and other surfaces , I have no doubt that the faithful , in gratitude for the gifts of the Holy Eucharist , Confession , and of public devotion , will gladly assist .
Even if , for whatever reason , we are unable to have access to our churches and chapels , we must remember that our homes are an extension of our parish , a little Church into which we bring Christ from our encounter with Him in the bigger Church .
Let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis , reflect the truth that Christ is the guest of every Christian home .
Let us turn to him through prayer , especially the Rosary , and other devotions .
If the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus , together with the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary , is not already enthroned in our home , now would be the time to do so .
The place of the image of the Sacred Heart is for us a little altar at home , at which we gather , conscious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts , and place our often poor and sinful hearts into His glorious pierced Heart – always open to receive us , to heal us of our sins , and to fill us with divine love .
If you desire to enthrone the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus , I commend to you the handbook , The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus , available through the Marian Catechist Apostolate .
It is also available in Polish and Slovak translations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Holy Mass and Holy Communion , I commend the devout practice of Spiritual Communion .
When we are rightly disposed to receive Holy Communion , that is , when we are in the state of grace , not conscious of any mortal sin which we have committed and for which we have not yet been forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance , and desire to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion but are unable to do so , we unite ourselves spiritually with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass , praying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Saint Alphonsus Liguori : “ Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally , come at least spiritually into my heart.
” Spiritual Communion is a beautiful expression of love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament .
It will not fail to bring to us abundant grace .
At the same time , when we are conscious of having committed a mortal sin and are unable to have access to the Sacrament of Penance or Confession , the Church invites us to make an act of perfect contrition , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which “ arises from a love by which God is loved above all else.
” .
An act of perfect contrition “ obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible ” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , no .
1452 ) .
An act of perfect contrition disposes our soul for Spiritual Communion .
In the end , faith and reason , as they always do , work together to provide for the just and right solution to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , inspired by faith , to find the correct manner in which to deal with a deadly pandemic .
That manner must give priority to prayer , devotion and worship , to the invocation of God ’ s mercy upon His people who suffer so much and are in danger of death .
Made in God ’ s own image and likeness , we enjoy the gifts of intellect and free will .
Using these God-given gifts , united to the also God-given gifts of Faith , Hope and Love , we will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of worldwide trial which is the cause of so much sadness and fear .
We can count upon the help and intercession of the great host of our heavenly friends , to whom we are intimately united in the Communion of Saints .
The Virgin Mother of God , the holy Archangels and Guardian Angels , Saint Joseph , True Spouse of the Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church , Saint Roch whom we invoke in times of epidemic , and the other saints and blessed to whom we regularly turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They guide us and constantly assure us that God will never fail to hear our prayer ; He will respond with His immeasurable and unceasing mercy and love .
Dear friends , I offer these few reflections to you , deeply conscious of how much you are suffering because of the pandemic coronavirus .
It is my hope that the reflections may be of help to you .
Above all , I hope that they will inspire you to turn to God in prayer and worship , each according to his or her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and peace .
With the reflections comes the assurance of my daily remembrance of your intentions in my prayer and penance , especially in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass .
I ask you please to remember me in your daily prayers .
I remain yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary , and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph ,

March 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Earlier today, Cardinal Raymond Burke released a statement on the coronavirus. In his lengthy remarks, His Excellency described the virus as “insidious” and advised persons to take precautions againt spreading and contracting it. He also stated that it’s “essential” for Catholics “at all times and above all in times of crisis, to have access to our churches and chapels, to the Sacraments, and to public devotions and prayers.”
“In combatting the evil of the coronavirus, our most effective weapon is…our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance, and devotions and sacred worship,” he stated. “We turn to Christ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm.”
Echoing the remarks of Archbishop Carlo Viganò, who has previously called for churches to remain open, Burke states that, “we must be able to pray in our churches and chapels, receive the Sacraments, and engage in acts of public prayer and devotion, so that we know God’s closeness to us and remain close to Him, fittingly calling upon His help.”
“Without the help of God,” His Eminence contines, “we are indeed lost.”
Burke also said that the spread of the coronavirus cannot be understood apart from the world’s “rebellious” stance towards God. Nor can it be viewed apart from the “paganism” that is being promoted from “within the Church.”
“[A] person of faith cannot consider the present calamity in which we find ourselves without considering also how distant our popular culture is from God. It is not only indifferent to His presence in our midst but openly rebellious toward Him and the good order with which He has created us and sustains us in being.”
“We witness, too, even within the Church, a paganism which worships nature and the earth,” he continued. “There are those within the Church who refer to the earth as our mother, as if we came from the earth, and the earth is our salvation. But we come from the hand of God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.”
Read the full statement below:
Dear Friends,
For some time now, we have been in combat against the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19. From all that we can tell – and one of the difficulties of the combat is that so much about the pestilence remains unclear – the battle will yet continue for some time. The virus involved is particularly insidious, for it has a relatively long incubation period – some say 14 days and some say 20 days – and is highly contagious, much more highly contagious than other viruses we have experienced.
One of the principal natural means to defend ourselves against the coronavirus is to avoid any close contact with others. It is important, in fact, to keep always a distance – some say a yard (meter) and some say six-feet – away from each other, and, of course, to avoid group gatherings, that is gatherings in which a number of people are in close proximity of each other. In addition, since the virus is transmitted by small droplets emitted when one sneezes or blows his or her nose, it is critical to wash our hands frequently with disinfectant soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds, and to use disinfectant handwash and handwipes. It is equally important to disinfect tables, chairs, countertops, etc., on which these droplets may have landed and from which they are capable of transmitting the contagion for some time. If we sneeze or blow our nose, we are counseled to use a paper facial tissue, to discard it immediately, and then to wash our hands. Of course, those who are diagnosed with the coronavirus must be quarantined, and those who are not feeling well, even if it has not been determined that they suffer from the coronavirus, should, out of charity toward others, remain at home, until they are feeling better.
Living in Italy, in which the spread of the coronavirus has been particularly deadly, especially for the elderly and for those who are already in a state of delicate health, I am edified by the great care which the Italians are taking to protect themselves and others from the contagion. As you may have already read, the healthcare system in Italy is severely tested in trying to provide necessary hospitalization and intensive-care treatment for the most vulnerable. Please pray for the Italian people and especially for both those for whom the coronavirus can be fatal and those entrusted with their care. Being a citizen of the United States, I have been following the situation of the spread of the coronavirus in my homeland and know that those living in the United States are becoming more and more concerned to stop its spread, lest a situation like that in Italy be repeated at home.
The whole situation certainly disposes us to a profound sadness and also to fear. No one wants to contract the illness connected with the virus or to have anyone else contract it. We especially do not want our beloved elderly or others who are suffering in health to be put in danger of death through the spread of the virus. To fight the spread of the virus, we are all on a kind of forced spiritual retreat, confined to quarters and unable to show usual signs of affection to family and to friends. For those in quarantine, the isolation is clearly even more severe, not being able to have contact with anyone, not even at a distance.
If the illness itself associated with the virus were not enough to worry us, we cannot ignore the economic devastation which the spread of the virus has caused, with its grievous effects on individuals and families, and those who serve us in so many ways in our daily life. Of course, our thoughts cannot help but include the possibility of an even greater devastation of the population of our homelands and, indeed, of the world.
Certainly, we are right to learn about and employ all of the natural means to defend ourselves against the contagion. It is a fundamental act of charity to use every prudent means to avoid contracting or spreading the coronavirus. The natural means of preventing the spread of the virus must, however, respect what we need to live, for example, access to food, water and medicine. The State, for instance, in its imposition of ever greater restrictions on the movement of individuals, provides that individuals can visit the supermarket and the pharmacy, with the observance of the precautions of social distancing and of use of disinfectants on the part of all involved.
In considering what is needed to live, we must not forget that our first consideration is our relationship with God. We recall the words of Our Lord in the Gospel according to John: “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we come to him and make our home with him” (14, 23). Christ is the Lord of nature and of history. He is not distant and disinterested in us and the world. He has promised us: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28, 20). In combatting the evil of the coronavirus, our most effective weapon is, therefore, our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance, and devotions and sacred worship. We turn to Christ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm, and He never fails to respond with pure and selfless love. That is why it is essential for us, at all times and above all in times of crisis, to have access to our churches and chapels, to the Sacraments, and to public devotions and prayers.
Just as we are able to purchase food and medicine, while taking care not to spread the coronavirus in the process, so also we must be able to pray in our churches and chapels, receive the Sacraments, and engage in acts of public prayer and devotion, so that we know God’s closeness to us and remain close to Him, fittingly calling upon His help. Without the help of God, we are indeed lost. Historically, in times of pestilence, the faithful gathered in fervent prayer and took part in processions. In fact, in the Roman Missal, promulgated by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1962, there are special texts for the Holy Mass to be offered in times of pestilence, the Votive Mass for the Deliverance from Death in Time of Pestilence (Missae Votivae ad Diversa, n. 23). Likewise, in the traditional Litany of the Saints, we pray: “From plague, famine, and war, O Lord, deliver us.”
Oftentimes, when we find ourselves in great suffering and even facing death, we ask: “Where is God?” But the real question is: “Where are we?” In other words, God is assuredly with us to help us and save us, especially at the time of severe trial or death, but we are too often far from Him because of our failure to acknowledge our total dependence upon Him and, therefore, to pray daily to Him and to offer Him our worship.
In these days, I have heard from so many devout Catholics who are deeply saddened and discouraged not to be able to pray and worship in their churches and chapels. They understand the need to observe social distance and to follow the other precautions, and they will follow these prudent practices, which they can easily enough do in their places of worship. But, often enough, they have to accept the profound suffering of having their churches and chapels closed, and of not having access to Confession and the Most Holy Eucharist.
In the same light, a person of faith cannot consider the present calamity in which we find ourselves without considering also how distant our popular culture is from God. It is not only indifferent to His presence in our midst but openly rebellious toward Him and the good order with which He has created us and sustains us in being. We need only think of the commonplace violent attacks on human life, male and female, which God has made in His own image and likeness (Gn 1, 27), attacks on the innocent and defenseless unborn, and on those who have the first title to our care, those who are heavily burdened with serious illness, advanced years, or special needs. We are daily witnesses to the spread of violence in a culture which fails to respect human life.
Likewise, we need only to think of the pervasive attack upon the integrity of human sexuality, of our identity as man or woman, with the pretense of defining for ourselves, often employing violent means, a sexual identity other than that given to us by God. With ever greater concern, we witness the devastating effect on individuals and families of the so-called “gender theory.”
We witness, too, even within the Church, a paganism which worships nature and the earth. There are those within the Church who refer to the earth as our mother, as if we came from the earth, and the earth is our salvation. But we come from the hand of God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. In God alone we find salvation. We pray in the divinely-inspired words of the Psalmist: “[God] alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken” (Ps 62 [61], 6). We see how the life of faith itself has become increasingly secularized and thus has compromised the Lordship of Christ, God the Son Incarnate, King of Heaven and Earth. We witness so many other evils which derive from idolatry, from the worship of ourselves and our world, instead of worshiping God, the source of all being. We sadly see in ourselves the truth of Saint Paul’s inspired words regarding the “ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth”: “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever!” (Rom 1, 18. 25).
Many with whom I am in communication, reflecting upon the present worldwide health crisis with all of its attendant effects, have expressed to me the hope that it will lead us – as individuals and families, and as a society – to reform our lives, to turn to God Who is surely near to us and Who is immeasurable and unceasing in His mercy and love towards us. There is no question that great evils like pestilence are an effect of original sin and of our actual sins. God, in His justice, must repair the disorder which sin introduces into our lives and into our world. In fact, He fulfills the demands of justice by His superabundant mercy.
God has not left us in the chaos and death, which sin introduces into the world, but has sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, die, rise from the dead and ascend in glory to His right hand, in order to remain with us always, purifying us of sin and inflaming us with His love. In His justice, God recognizes our sins and the need of their reparation, while, in His mercy He showers upon us the grace to repent and make reparation. The Prophet Jeremiah prayed: “We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our fathers; that we have sinned against you,” but he immediately continued his prayer: “For your name’s sake spurn us not, disgrace not the throne of your glory; remember your covenant with us, and break it not” (Jer 14, 20-21).
God never turns His back on us; He will never break His covenant of faithful and enduring love with us, even though we are so frequently indifferent, cold and unfaithful. As the present suffering uncovers for us so much indifference, coldness and infidelity on our part, we are called to turn to God and to beg for His mercy. We are confident that He will hear us and bless us with His gifts of mercy, forgiveness and peace. We join our sufferings to the Passion and Death of Christ and thus, as Saint Paul says, “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col 1, 24). Living in Christ, we know the truth of our Biblical prayer: “The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their refuge in the time of trouble” (Ps 37 [36], 39). In Christ, God has fully revealed to us the truth expressed in the prayer of the Psalmist: “Mercy and truth have met together; justice and peace have kissed” (Ps 85 [84], 10).
In our totally secularized culture, there is a tendency to view prayer, devotions and worship like any other activity, for example, going to the cinema or to a football game, which is not essential and therefore can be cancelled for the sake of taking every precaution to curb the spread of a deadly contagion. But prayer, devotions and worship, above all, Confession and the Holy Mass, are essential for us to remain healthy and strong spiritually, and for us to seek God’s help in a time of great danger for all. Therefore, we cannot simply accept the determinations of secular governments, which would treat the worship of God in the same manner as going to a restaurant or to an athletic contest. Otherwise, the people who already suffer so much from the results of the pestilence are deprived of those objective encounters with God Who is in our midst to restore health and peace.
We bishops and priests need to explain publicly the necessity of Catholics to pray and worship in their churches and chapels, and to go in procession through the streets and ways, asking God’s blessing upon His people who suffer so intensely. We need to insist that the regulations of the State, also for the good of the State, recognize the distinct importance of places of worship, especially in time of national and international crisis. In the past, in fact, governments have understood, above all, the importance of the faith, prayer and worship of the people to overcome a pestilence.
Even as we have found a way to provide for food and medicine and other necessities of life during a time of contagion, without irresponsibly risking the spread of the contagion, so, in a similar way, we can find a way to provide for the necessities of our spiritual life. We can provide more opportunities for the Holy Mass and devotions at which a number of faithful can participate without violating necessary precautions against the spread of contagion. Many of our churches and chapels are very large. They permit a group of the faithful to gather for prayer and worship without violating the requirements of “social distance.” The confessional with the traditional screen is usually equipped with or, if not, can be easily equipped with a thin veil which can be treated with disinfectant , so that access to the Sacrament of Confession is possible without great difficulty and without danger of transmitting the virus. If a church or chapel does not have a sufficiently large staff to be able to disinfect regularly the pews and other surfaces, I have no doubt that the faithful, in gratitude for the gifts of the Holy Eucharist, Confession, and of public devotion, will gladly assist.
Even if, for whatever reason, we are unable to have access to our churches and chapels, we must remember that our homes are an extension of our parish, a little Church into which we bring Christ from our encounter with Him in the bigger Church. Let our homes, during this time of crisis, reflect the truth that Christ is the guest of every Christian home. Let us turn to him through prayer, especially the Rosary, and other devotions. If the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, together with the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is not already enthroned in our home, now would be the time to do so. The place of the image of the Sacred Heart is for us a little altar at home, at which we gather, conscious of Christ’s dwelling with us through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts, and place our often poor and sinful hearts into His glorious pierced Heart – always open to receive us, to heal us of our sins, and to fill us with divine love. If you desire to enthrone the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I commend to you the handbook, The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, available through the Marian Catechist Apostolate. It is also available in Polish and Slovak translations.
For those who cannot have access to the Holy Mass and Holy Communion, I commend the devout practice of Spiritual Communion. When we are rightly disposed to receive Holy Communion, that is, when we are in the state of grace, not conscious of any mortal sin which we have committed and for which we have not yet been forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, and desire to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion but are unable to do so, we unite ourselves spiritually with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying to Our Eucharistic Lord in the words of Saint Alphonsus Liguori: “Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” Spiritual Communion is a beautiful expression of love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It will not fail to bring to us abundant grace.
At the same time, when we are conscious of having committed a mortal sin and are unable to have access to the Sacrament of Penance or Confession, the Church invites us to make an act of perfect contrition, that is, of sorrow for sin, which “arises from a love by which God is loved above all else.”. An act of perfect contrition “obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1452). An act of perfect contrition disposes our soul for Spiritual Communion.
In the end, faith and reason, as they always do, work together to provide for the just and right solution to a difficult challenge. We must use reason, inspired by faith, to find the correct manner in which to deal with a deadly pandemic. That manner must give priority to prayer, devotion and worship, to the invocation of God’s mercy upon His people who suffer so much and are in danger of death. Made in God’s own image and likeness, we enjoy the gifts of intellect and free will. Using these God-given gifts, united to the also God-given gifts of Faith, Hope and Love, we will find our way in the present time of worldwide trial which is the cause of so much sadness and fear.
We can count upon the help and intercession of the great host of our heavenly friends, to whom we are intimately united in the Communion of Saints. The Virgin Mother of God, the holy Archangels and Guardian Angels, Saint Joseph, True Spouse of the Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, Saint Roch whom we invoke in times of epidemic, and the other saints and blessed to whom we regularly turn in prayer are at our side. They guide us and constantly assure us that God will never fail to hear our prayer; He will respond with His immeasurable and unceasing mercy and love.
Dear friends, I offer these few reflections to you, deeply conscious of how much you are suffering because of the pandemic coronavirus. It is my hope that the reflections may be of help to you. Above all, I hope that they will inspire you to turn to God in prayer and worship, each according to his or her possibilities, and thus experience His healing and peace. With the reflections comes the assurance of my daily remembrance of your intentions in my prayer and penance, especially in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
I ask you please to remember me in your daily prayers.
I remain yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph,
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
21 March 2020
Feast of Saint Benedict, Abbot


lifesitenews--2020-03-24--40 Days for Life suspended for coronavirus, abortionists continue operating

March 24 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — The “ physical vigils ” of the 40 Days for Life campaign — the actual presence of pro-life individuals who pray outside abortion facilities in the days and weeks leading up to Easter — have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic .
Shawn Carney , president of 40 Days for Life , made the announcement via an online statement and on YouTube .
“ The regulations and the different changes and adjustments we kept having to make in different regions and countries throughout the world was just becoming unmanageable and out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made the decision that we are suspending the vigils , ” explained Carney .
“ It was very difficult to suspend the most vital part of a 40 Days for Life campaign for these remaining days , but we needed to do it , ” he said .
“ Now we shift to — ultimately — relying on the foundation of 40 Days for Life , which is prayer and fasting , ” added Carney .
As that shift is suddenly being engineered , Carney has initiated a daily video blog in order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the organization ’ s mission .
Carney said the response to the coronavirus pandemic by the abortion industry has been “ insane ” and that he has joined other national pro-life leaders in urging Health and Human Services ( HSS ) to close every abortion facility across the country because “ by definition , they are not essential medical providers.
” As states and municipalities enact measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 , more non-essential businesses will be instructed — or required — to close .
At the same time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 cases and increased strain on their staff , resources , and systems , and will likely begin indefinitely postponing non-essential or elective procedures .
During this public health crisis , pregnancy care , including abortion care , remains an essential health service .
The National Abortion Federation ( NAF ) calls on leaders to ensure that outpatient abortion clinics can remain open and urges hospitals to continue to provide abortion care .
“ Abortion businesses in Ohio even defied a state order to cancel non-essential surgeries , ” noted Carney in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nurses , supplies , equipment and facilities that could be used to save lives from Coronavirus are instead being used to end lives , $ 400 at a time , ” he said .
“ Meanwhile , women hospitalized during a botched abortion will compete with COVID-19 victims for a limited supply of hospital beds , ” warned Carney .
Rhonda Jones , a pro-life activist in Florida , was praying outside a local abortion facility on Tuesday when she heard the news that 40 Days of Life was suspending “ physical ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how sad it is that 40 Days for Life has been cut short , “ weeks before 40 days are over , ” but suggested hopefully that this new challenge could be turned into an opportunity where many more individuals could participate through prayer .

Leader Shawn Carney lamented that the various state regulations throughout the country had become impossible to manage.
PETITION: Urge state governors to stop abortions during coronavirus crisis Sign the petition here.
March 24, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The “physical vigils” of the 40 Days for Life campaign — the actual presence of pro-life individuals who pray outside abortion facilities in the days and weeks leading up to Easter — have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life, made the announcement via an online statement and on YouTube.
“The regulations and the different changes and adjustments we kept having to make in different regions and countries throughout the world was just becoming unmanageable and out of protection for our volunteers, I made the decision that we are suspending the vigils,” explained Carney.
“It was very difficult to suspend the most vital part of a 40 Days for Life campaign for these remaining days, but we needed to do it,” he said.
“Now we shift to — ultimately — relying on the foundation of 40 Days for Life, which is prayer and fasting,” added Carney.
As that shift is suddenly being engineered, Carney has initiated a daily video blog in order to remain in contact with those committed to the organization’s mission.
“Insanity” of abortion industry during coronavirus pandemic
Carney said the response to the coronavirus pandemic by the abortion industry has been “insane” and that he has joined other national pro-life leaders in urging Health and Human Services (HSS) to close every abortion facility across the country because “by definition, they are not essential medical providers.”
The Abortion Federation recently issued a statement claiming otherwise:
As states and municipalities enact measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, more non-essential businesses will be instructed — or required — to close. At the same time, hospitals are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 cases and increased strain on their staff, resources, and systems, and will likely begin indefinitely postponing non-essential or elective procedures. During this public health crisis, pregnancy care, including abortion care, remains an essential health service. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) calls on leaders to ensure that outpatient abortion clinics can remain open and urges hospitals to continue to provide abortion care.
“Abortion businesses in Ohio even defied a state order to cancel non-essential surgeries,” noted Carney in a statement.
“That means doctors, nurses, supplies, equipment and facilities that could be used to save lives from Coronavirus are instead being used to end lives, $400 at a time,” he said.
“Meanwhile, women hospitalized during a botched abortion will compete with COVID-19 victims for a limited supply of hospital beds,” warned Carney.
Rhonda Jones, a pro-life activist in Florida, was praying outside a local abortion facility on Tuesday when she heard the news that 40 Days of Life was suspending “physical” vigils.
Jones spoke to LifeSiteNews about how sad it is that 40 Days for Life has been cut short, “weeks before 40 days are over,” but suggested hopefully that this new challenge could be turned into an opportunity where many more individuals could participate through prayer.
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