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COVID-19 Blog: April 1 news, commentary

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the smartest guy in the world that you’d never heard of until a couple of weeks ago, dismissed the sensational headlines that dominated the interwebs on Tuesday to the effect that “pathogen-bearing droplets of all sizes can travel 23 to 27 feet,” rendering physical-distancing guideline recommendations useless, basically dooming us all.

“I’m sorry, but I was disturbed by that report because that’s misleading,” said Fauci, who noted that it would take a “very, very robust, vigorous, achoo sneeze” for droplets to even come close to traveling such a distance.

But, you know, headlines, clicks, et cetera.

***

CNN’s Jim Acosta, not that long ago basically banned from the White House, was front and center at the president’s Tuesday press conference, and was called on several times, and didn’t shrink in his tough line of questioning.

Credit to both Acosta and Trump on that.

Acosta on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” afterward: “I have to tell you, Anderson, I’ve never seen President Trump like this. I know people might say, well, you know, I can’t ever trust him. He’s a phony and so on. People may say that. Anderson, have to tell you sitting in that room, that close to him, I’ve never seen President Trump like this. I think, to some extent, he is scared right now, Anderson, and we could all feel that in the room.”

I wasn’t in the room, but I was watching live, and for what it’s worth, I’d agree with Acosta that it was a very different Donald Trump last night, but I wouldn’t agree that the president seemed scared.

I am not inclined to give President Trump credit for basically anything. But based on my experience interviewing governors, senators, other politicians over the last 25 years, I like to think I can judge when a person seems to be somewhat versed on the topic being talked about, and I felt that as I watched last night.

And I hadn’t really felt that way about Trump and COVID-19 until last night.

By and large, he was in command when asked questions about testing, federal and state response, and economic impact.

I didn’t hear scared. I heard a man who has largely floated through life being the overgrown rich kid who never was told “no” actually applying himself for once.

It’s grading on the curve, but he’s the president right now, so we need him to start getting this right.

And based on last night’s presser, he might be trending in that direction.

Sports

Wimbledon has cancelled its 2020 event due to COVID-19, but dive deep into the story, past the headline, and it’s not as grim as it seems.

The tennis tournament plays in late June into July each year in the UK. Not the best time given current modeling.

And the climate in the UK isn’t conducive to pushing back to late July or into August.

The U.S. Open is sticking to its schedule to begin on Aug. 24, and the French Open, usually held in May, has announced a Sept. 20-Oct. 4 tournament run.

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The eyes of NBA fans are on the Chinese Basketball Association, which had been on track for an April 15 return after officials had shut down league play in January due to COVID-19.

Now word is that the CBA is delaying its return into May.

What happens from there will be worth watching.

Curation and commentary by Chris Graham

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