Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday Capitol View.
Joe Biden says President Donald Trump has "surrendered" to the coronavirus. "Remember when he exhorted the nation to sacrifice together in the face of this ... 'invisible enemy'? What happened? Now it's almost July, and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered," Biden said in prepared remarks, as NPR reports. "American people [didn't] make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so they could just waste their time ... They didn't make these sacrifices so you could ignore the science and turn responsible steps like wearing masks into a political statement. And they certainly didn't do it, Mr. President, so you could wash your hands and walk away from this responsibility."
One of the best experts we have says the U.S. could wind up seeing 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day. More via NPR: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, told members of Congress on Tuesday that although he can't predict the ultimate number of infections and deaths related to the coronavirus, 'it's going to be very disturbing. ... When you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they're doing well, they are vulnerable . ... We can't just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk. We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around.'"
Minnesota's Oromo community is mourning the death of an activist killed in Ethiopia. Via Sahan Journal: "Minnesota’s Oromo community is mourning Hachalu Hundessa and demanding justice for the musician and activist who was shot and killed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday night. He was 34. Two hundred protesters gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, calling for justice for Hundessa. 'I can’t express in words how much he meant to my generation ,' said Dahir Wako, who helped lead the protest in St. Paul. 'He is our icon. He is a father figure.'"
The European Union will begin barring U.S. travelers today. Via NPR: "EU ambassadors endorsed a list of 15 travel partners on Tuesday, including South Korea, Japan and China – countries that were hit early by the pandemic but have been able to bring the coronavirus under control. The U.S. was seen as a longshot to make the travel list , which requires that only those countries with epidemiological situations — taking into account both the infection rate and current trends — that are equal to or better than the EU's can send tourists and other nonessential visitors to the open-border region."
