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Members of President Donald Trump’s economic team convene Friday on Capitol Hill to launch negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the biggest effort yet to shore up households and the U.S. economy as the pandemic and its nationwide shutdown hurtles the country toward a likely recession. (Taylor and Mascaro, 3/20)

The plan Mr. McConnell introduced calls for taxpayers to receive up to $1,200, with married couples eligible to receive as much as $2,400 with an additional $500 for every child. Those payments will scale down for individuals who make more than $75,000 and couples that make more than $150,000. Individuals who make more than $99,000 and households that earn more than $198,000 won’t be eligible for direct assistance. Under the proposal, the government will provide $50 billion in loan guarantees for passenger air carriers, $8 billion for cargo air carriers and $150 billion for other large businesses, and the proposal authorizes the government to take equity stakes in them. The proposal also includes $300 billion for loan guarantees for small businesses. (Duehren, Hughes and Wise, 3/19)

The proposal is different from one pitched on Thursday by Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, who said the administration wanted to send two waves of $1,000 checks to every American, one in April and one in May should the crisis persist. The Senate bill also includes a raft of temporary changes to the tax code that would reduce the tax liability of large corporations, many of them overriding provisions in the 2017 tax overhaul that were meant to raise revenue to offset corporate rate cuts. (Cochrane, Tankersley and Rappeport, 3/19)

The Senate Republican plan curtails how much small businesses would have to pay employees who were forced to stay home because of the virus, revising a paid leave measure enacted just this week. The Senate plan would cap the amount an employer has to pay at $200 a day. The measure drew swift condemnation from Democrats, who have argued for substantial immediate relief for people who have had to miss work because of illness, to care for a family member or to follow public health guidelines intended to stop the spread of Covid-19. (Sullivan, 3/19)

As businesses clamor for liquidity amid mounting layoffs and decreased demand for services, the Senate bill would free up cash through a host of tax relief provisions. Social Security taxes would be on pause for employers for the rest of the year, but they would have to pay back that money in 2021 and 2022. Employers could apply recent operating losses to previous tax years, get quicker refunds and deduct more from the interest paid on their debt. (Emma and Scholtes, 3/19)

Payments on federal student loans would be delayed for up to six months without additional interest accruing on their balances under a coronavirus economic rescue plan proposed by Senate Republicans on Thursday. The bill, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, orders the Education Department (ED) to delay payments on federal student loans for three months. The bill also gives the Secretary of Education the ability to extend the payment suspension period for another three months. (Lane, 3/19)

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of the president’s, was among several GOP senators voicing concern or outright opposition Thursday to the idea of direct payments, even as McConnell unveiled the trillion-dollar stimulus plan that would be the starting point for negotiations with Democrats. McConnell called for those talks to start Friday, and senators said the situation was so dire that they should not recess until they have reached a deal to pass it. (Stein, DeBonis, Werner and Kane, 3/19)

Just two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on the Senate floor haranguing his Democratic counterpart, Chuck Schumer, over the New York senator’s allegedly “threatening” comments toward two Supreme Court justices. Just before that, McConnell and Schumer were locked in a month-long bitter struggle over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. But as the United States confronts potentially devastating economic consequences from the coronavirus pandemic, the Senate leaders face a stiff challenge on whether they can come together to quickly finalize a massive economic stimulus package. Their ability to reach a bipartisan agreement will shape the crisis’ fallout for millions of Americans. (Levine, Desiderio and Bresnahan, 3/19)

As forecasts darken with estimates for huge spikes in unemployment and sharp drops in economic growth, economists and Wall Street analysts are warning that even the huge stimulus package now under consideration on Capitol Hill may only make a small dent. Some suggest the number needs to be at least $2 trillion or perhaps far more. “They should be doing much more than they are thinking about and doing it much quicker, at least $2 trillion with the promise of more to come,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “We have whole industries like the restaurant industry that have been obliterated already. Jobless claims next week could be two or three million.” (White, 3/20)

Senate Republicans raced this week to introduce a trillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package. Lobbyists for industries left reeling by the pandemic were hustling just as hard to shape it. The bill’s unveiling on Thursday capped an extraordinary week on K Street in which trade group after trade group asked Congress for sums that would have been unfathomable just a few weeks ago: $1.4 trillion to shore up the manufacturing sector, $4 billion for museums, $100 billion for doctors, nurses and hospitals. (Meyer, 3/20)

Hospitals bracing for a flood of coronavirus cases are demanding a federal bailout. They want $100 billion in the next relief package along with targeted changes to tax laws they say are needed to free up the money before the first surge of cases sweeps in. (Luthi, Roubein and Goldberg, 3/19)

Even if they shouldn’t, people may think twice about seeking testing or treatment for the coronavirus if they are worried about getting large medical bills, even when they have health insurance. “The problem is we have reams and reams of evidence that if people know they face hundreds or thousands of dollars in bills, they’ll hesitate, they’ll wait and see,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University. (Abelson, 3/19)

Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $582,029 and $1.56 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 29 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story. (Faturechi and Willis, 3/19)

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned a small group of well-connected constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained by NPR. The remarks from U.S. Sen. Richard Burr were more stark than any he had delivered in more public forums. On Feb. 27, when the United States had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, President Trump was tamping down fears and suggesting that the virus could be seasonal. (Mak, 3/19)

“His message has always been, and continues to be, that we must be prepared to protect American lives in the event of a pandemic or bio-attack,” Caitlin Carroll, a spokeswoman for Mr. Burr, said in a statement. “Since early February, whether in constituent meetings or open hearings, he has worked to educate the public about the tools and resources our government has to confront the spread of coronavirus.” In a series of posts on Twitter, Mr. Burr accused NPR of twisting his comments into a “tabloid-style hit piece.” He argued that the report made him look duplicitous for sharing information at a publicly advertised event that was consistent with the message members of the Trump administration were then trying to promulgate. He did not address his stock sales. (Lipton and Fandos, 3/19)

There is no indication that Burr had any inside information as he sold the stocks and issued the private warnings. The intelligence panel did not have any briefings on the pandemic the week when most of the stocks were sold, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person declined to be identified to discuss confidential committee activity. (Jalonick, 3/20)

Critics of Burr, including the North Carolina Democratic Party, were quick to point out that the senator’s comments came on the same day that Trump publicly predicted that the coronavirus would “like a miracle” one day disappear. “Burr chairs the Senate Intel Comm so of course he knew how bad it could get,” Joyce Vance, a University of Alabama law professor and former federal prosecutor, said in a tweet. “The same day Trump said it would go away when the weather warmed up, almost 3 weeks ago, Burr was warning a wealthy slice of constituents, but not the rest of the country.” (Wagner, 3/19)

A second Republican senator, Georgia’s Kelly Loeffler, also sold large amounts of stock in late January and early February, when U.S. markets were hitting all-time highs. Both Burr and Loeffler have received non-public information about the global spread of coronavirus from Executive Branch officials, who have been briefing senators regularly since at least January. (Wilkie, 3/20)

Numbers released on Thursday by the Labor Department — as well as a preliminary analysis of even more recent data — provide the first hard confirmation that the new coronavirus is bringing the United States economy to a shuddering halt. The government reported that the number of initial unemployment claims rose to 281,000 last week, a sharp rise from 211,000 the previous week. This rise in initial claims of 70,000 is larger than any week-to-week movement that occurred during (or since) the 2008 financial crisis. But even these numbers understate the economy’s free fall, as they reflect the state of the economy last week. Based on preliminary news reports this week from 15 states, it’s already clear that initial claims will skyrocket next week, most likely to levels never seen before. (Bui and Wolfers, 3/19)

Economists said their own tracking of data from individual states suggests claims could shoot up to at least 1.5 million this week. Data for the week ending March 21 will be published next Thursday. “State filings offices for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut report claims filings this week are running six to 14 times higher than the same week last year,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York. (Mutikani, 3/19)

The Trump administration asked states to abstain from releasing unemployment-claims figures prior to the publication of a national compilation of weekly U.S. jobless claims, according to a state labor department official. The official cited an email sent on Wednesday from Gay Gilbert, an administrator at the U.S. Labor Department. The message, sent as states across the nation started reporting surges in claims tied to the coronavirus pandemic, said jobless claims are closely watched by policy makers and financial markets during a time of fast-changing economic conditions. (Chaney, 3/19)

The best place to get a job right now might be the unemployment office. In Washington State, where the coronavirus outbreak found its first foothold in the United States, officials are trying to fill multiple positions processing jobless claims. ... It’s only the start of what will be a hiring boom by these government offices, which have been running on skeleton crews after years of historically low unemployment. Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Nebraska have also posted openings. Texas said it was trying to add people, too. (Hsu and Siegel Bernard, 3/19)

As Americans turn to unemployment insurance, some are finding they do not qualify. Or if they do, the average payment of $385 a week is modest. In some states, there is a week-long waiting period before the first payment arrives. “Workers expect unemployment insurance to be there for them in a downturn. A bunch of workers are about to find out that it’s not,” said Martha Gimbel, a labor economist at Schmidt Futures who was formerly at Indeed.com. “This is a real-life nightmare. Every hole we allowed to grow in our social safety net is hitting us all at once.” (Long and Bhattarai, 3/19)

The U.S. and global economies have come to a shuddering stop, unleashing a wave of layoffs that is much larger and moving much faster than job losses in previous downturns. They are swamping state unemployment benefits systems and leaving many Americans still working anxious about whether they will be next. (Rugaber, 3/19)

We’ve all seen the unsettling images of what happens when the economy goes haywire. Bread lines, farmers abandoning the Dust Bowl, drivers queued up to fill their gas tanks, houses with foreclosure notices pounded into their front lawns. Add to that a rush-hour view of a Los Angeles freeway, typically jammed with commuters, but now more like a Sunday morning due to a virus that has wrecked the once-booming U.S economy just two months after the first confirmed domestic case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. (Darmiento, 3/19)

With her six hungry children in the car, Summer Mossbarger was one of the first in line for lunch at the drive-through. Not at a fast-food restaurant, but outside Alton Elementary School. Alton was closed — all the public schools in Brenham, a rural Texas town of 17,000 about 90 miles east of Austin, have shut for the coronavirus — but one vital piece of the school day lived on: free lunch. Ms. Mossbarger rolled down the window of her used, 15-year-old S.U.V. as school employees handed her six Styrofoam containers. (Fernandez, 3/20)

A type of private insurance used by wealthy business owners to cover unlikely risks that has been challenged by the Internal Revenue Service is proving to be beneficial as the coronavirus pandemic shuts down local economies. The structure, known as a small captive insurance, allows business owners to self-insure against unlikely but costly risks. Because captive insurance has also created incentives for tax avoidance, the I.R.S. has put it on its “dirty dozen” list of the most abusive tax practices since 2014. (Sullivan, 3/20)

Servers and kitchen staff, many of whom have been let go with little or no notice, are now trying to figure out how to pay the rent. Some already had a side hustle, or more than one, to help pay bills that bartending and waiting tables couldn’t pay. Now, they’re looking into unemployment benefits, asking parents or relatives for help, searching for temporary gigs — almost anything will do. Some hope for aid from the relief fund set up by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington or the “D.C. Virtual Tip Jar,” an online database that allows people to send tips to staff at various restaurants. Gratuities were a main part of a daily wage, and they were getting scarce before the shutdowns began. (Kunkle, 3/19)

Despite suffering from bronchitis at the beginning of the semester, Valeria Pappas-Brown, 48, soldiered on to teach biology classes at the Community College of Baltimore County. The part-time instructor suspects that trudging from one class to another — instead of resting — prolonged her illness. But she could not afford to miss class. “Because of the pay, because of the sick leave — I just don’t have enough accrued — I can’t take any time off,” Pappas-Brown said. (Douglas-Gabriel, 3/17)

Kaiser Health News: Gig Economy Workers Hurt By Coronavirus Eye New Federal Funds For Relief

Being your own boss can mean missing out on benefits that many employees get on the job: paid leave when you’re sick or caring for a family member. That is scheduled to change under an emergency law enacted Wednesday that would provide financial relief for a broad swath of people affected by the novel coronavirus, including people who are self-employed. And a few states already offer paid leave programs that can help consultants, gig workers and other self-employed people in times like these. But they won’t provide immediate help for those who haven’t yet signed up. (Andrews, 3/19)

As the coronavirus pandemic destabilizes an already fragile gig economy in the U.S., rideshare drivers say the "misclassification" of workers as contractors instead of employees is helping to contribute to a "public health disaster." "When there is a pandemic illness that nobody should be exposed to that's where you see the cracks," Nicole Moore, a Lyft driver labor organizer in Los Angeles said of the rideshare industry. (Thorbecke, 3/20)

Homeowners who have lost income or their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak are getting some relief. Depending on their situation, they should be eligible to have their mortgage payments reduced or suspended for up to 12 months. Federal regulators, through the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are ordering lenders to offer homeowners flexibility. The move covers about half of all home loans in the U.S. — those guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie. But regulators expect that the entire mortgage industry will quickly adopt a similar policy. (Arnold, 3/19)

When hospitals need to prep a room for the next coronavirus test, when jetliners discharge their passengers at the gate, when suburbanites start to take sanitary precautions more seriously, the call goes out: Send in the cleaners. These largely unsung workers are often the first line of defense against the global COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning and disinfecting homes, offices, medical facilities and public spaces where the novel coronavirus could spread. But the people doing all this cleaning earn low wages, frequently lack sick leave and paid days off, and can be fired with no warning. (Anderson, Olson and Chan, 3/19)

The coronavirus is exposing potential flaws in America’s financial regulatory system, a decade after a massive overhaul was designed to prevent the next crisis. While U.S. banks have much stronger balance sheets than they did during the 2008 financial crisis, some of the reforms in the so-called Dodd-Frank law passed in 2010 did not anticipate that a devastating pandemic would virtually shut down the global economy. (Warmbrodt, 3/20)

For many Americans right now, the scale of the coronavirus crisis calls to mind 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis—events that reshaped society in lasting ways, from how we travel and buy homes, to the level of security and surveillance we’re accustomed to, and even to the language we use. Politico Magazine surveyed more than thirty smart, macro thinkers this week, and they have some news for you: Buckle in. This could be bigger. (3/19)

Big-box retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Thursday it would hire more than 150,000 hourly workers in the United States, citing a jump in shoppers due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rival Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) made a similar move earlier this week, announcing it would hire 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the United States as the virus outbreak boosts online orders. Walmart also said it plans to pay a special cash bonus of $300 to full-time hourly workers and $150 to part-time associates. The company will accelerate the next scheduled quarterly bonus, it said. (3/19)

At Walmart the bulk of the new workers will staff distribution centers and online fulfillment centers, not make up for store workers who aren’t coming to work, Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Walmart, said Thursday on a call with reporters. “It’s not so much about filling a gap, but there is just so much demand,” he said. Walmart officials said Thursday they had reached out to industry groups representing hotels and restaurants, offering to hire staff who have recently lost their jobs. Walmart is also speeding its hiring process to 24 hours, down from what is usually a two-week application process. (Nassauer, 3/19)

McMillion added: “Millions of Americans who are usually employed at this time are temporarily out of work, and at the same time we’re currently seeing strong demand in our stores." “We’re looking for people who see Walmart as a chance to earn some extra money and perform a vital service to their community," he continued. (Johnson, 3/19)

President Donald Trump focused attention on possible treatments for the new coronavirus on Thursday, citing potential use of a drug long used to treat malaria and some other approaches still in testing. At a White House news conference, Trump and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn cited the malaria drug chloroquine, along with remdesivir, an experimental antiviral from Gilead Sciences, and possibly using plasma from survivors of COVID-19, the disease the new virus causes. Those treatments are among several being tested that might ease symptoms but do not stop the virus from spreading. (Marchione, 3/19)

President Trump said Thursday he is directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite testing and possible broader use of some investigational medicines to help treat patients diagnosed amid the pandemic of the new coronavirus disease. ... Mr. Trump specifically mentioned two drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, that have long been used for malaria but aren’t approved for the coronavirus, as well as an antiviral drug, remdesivir, that is currently being tested in clinical research on Covid-19, the coronavirus disease. (Burton, Restuccia and Hopkins, 3/19)

Trials on potential coronavirus therapies are already in the works, and it was unclear how Trump’s call for faster experimental testing process could further expedite an effective treatment. “It could be a game changer or maybe not,” Trump told reporters. (3/19)

But FDA Commissioner Steve Hahn, MD, struck a more cautious tone during the press conference. He said he did not know how effective the treatment would be, and urged caution when looking at therapeutics for the novel coronavirus. "Let me make one thing clear. The FDA's responsibility to the American people is to ensure that products are safe and effective," said Hahn. Of using  hydroxychloroquine, Hahn said, "We want to do that in the setting of a clinical trial, a large, pragmatic clinical trial to actually gather that information." (Soucheray, 3/19)

The malaria drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, are among the remedies that have been tried in several countries as the virus has spread around the world, killing at least 9,800. Doctors in China, South Korea and France have reported that the treatments seem to help. But those efforts have not involved the kind of large, carefully controlled studies that would provide the global medical community the proof that these drugs work on a significant scale. (Grady and Thomas, 3/19)

What do malaria and COVID-19 have in common? On the surface, not much. But according to early research, an old malaria drug called chloroquine might also work for the new coronavirus. Could a decades-old malaria drug work to treat COVID-19? Elon Musk seems to think so, recently tweeting that it "might be worth considering chloroquine" for COVID-19. Although data are spare, studies so far seem to back up the billionaire entrepreneur’s suggestion. (Baldwin, 3/19)

President Donald Trump said he will "slash red tape like nobody has even done it before" in a bid to get unapproved coronavirus treatments to patients faster and identify effective drugs. The president said Thursday he directed the Food and Drug Administration to "eliminate out-of-date rules and bureaucracy so this can go forward fast" — but he did not offer any details. Instead, Trump and top health officials highlighted steps the government has taken in recent weeks to launch clinical trials of potential coronavirus treatments. (Owermohle, 3/19)

For about 20 minutes on Thursday, President Trump undermined six decades of dogma on the development of safe and effective drugs. Trump, addressing a nation under shelter and quarantine from the coronavirus pandemic, said a new drug for Covid-19, yet to be proved safe and effective, was now “approved or very close to approved.” Another, also not approved for coronavirus, would be “available almost immediately,” in part because using it is “not going to kill anybody.” (Florko and Garde, 3/19)

The only US drugmaker that makes a potential treatment for the coronavirus that was touted by President Donald Trump raised the price by almost 100 per cent in January, as the virus caused havoc across China. Rising Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey based company, increased the price of chloroquine — an antimalarial, which is one of the drugs that is being tested against Covid-19 — on January 23, according to data from research firm Elsevier. The drug price rose 97.86 per cent to $7.66 per 250mg pill and $19.88 per 500mg pill. (Kuchler, 3/19)

In the past two weeks, Rising Pharmaceuticals slashed the price in half as interest in the drug — normally used as an antimalarial — erupted. “Once this whole issue started to explode with regard to the pandemic, we implemented a price decrease to effectively revert back to 2015 pricing across all customers,” Ira Baeringer, the company’s chief operating officer, said in an interview. (Facher, 3/19)

Chloroquine, a drug President  Donald Trump has announced is being fast-tracked for clinical testing as a treatment for COVID-19, can have deadly side effects — particularly if accidentally ingested by children. Lana and Steve Ervin know how lethal chloroquine can be. They lost a 2-year-old daughter to the drug 37 years ago. Lana said she believes Ashley ingested just one pill. (Ellis, 3/20)

While there are no medications currently approved to treat people with the novel coronavirus, there are several therapies being investigated as potential life-saving options. Remdesivir is one of the most promising, with President Donald Trump touting the drug during a press conference Thursday. (Nunneley and Salzman, 3/19)

A global arms race for a coronavirus vaccine is underway. In the three months since the virus began its deadly spread, China, Europe and the United States have all set off at a sprint to become the first to produce a vaccine. But while there is cooperation on many levels — including among companies that are ordinarily fierce competitors — hanging over the effort is the shadow of a nationalistic approach that could give the winner the chance to favor its own population and potentially gain the upper hand in dealing with the economic and geostrategic fallout from the crisis. (Sanger, Kirkpatrick, Wee and Bennhold, 3/19)

In the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic. Some are taking a cue from older antivirals. Some are tapping tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine. (Garde, 3/19)

President Donald Trump on Thursday put the onus on governors to obtain the critical equipment their states need to fight the coronavirus pandemic, telling reporters that the federal government is “not a shipping clerk” for the potentially life-saving supplies. Appearing at the daily press briefing of the White House coronavirus task force, the president defended his decision to invoke the Defense Production Act — which would allow the administration to direct U.S. industry to ramp up production of emergency medical provisions — without actually triggering the statute. (Forgey, 3/19)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued guidance telling health care workers that if no masks are available, they could turn to “homemade” options “(e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort.” But Trump insisted against the evidence Thursday that there are more than enough supplies available to meet needs. And he said that it was up to states to obtain them. While willing to “help out wherever we can,” he said “governors are supposed to be doing a lot of this work.” “The federal government’s not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping,” Trump said. “You know, we’re not a shipping clerk.” (3/20)

Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that new legislation will allow tens of millions more protective masks to reach U.S. healthcare workers each month, beginning immediately, but it was still unclear whether total production will be enough to meet demand. New legislation signed Wednesday provides manufacturers of N95 face masks protection against lawsuits when selling certain masks to healthcare workers, Pence said. That will free producers including 3M and Honeywell to sell tens of millions more masks per month to hospitals, Pence said, helping alleviate alarming shortages that have surfaced in recent weeks amid the coronavirus crisis. (Whalen, 3/19)

When asked when the masks would be ready, Pence said, "3M is increasing their output to 420 million a year. At production in January, they made 35 million per month at that facility." "And we are prioritizing the distribution of those, but the other thing -- and we'll emphasize this with governors this afternoon -- is we are working with governors to make sure that health care providers, the hospitals, and the clinics in their state are placing orders now that this tremendous increase in supply, particularly with industrial masks, is now available," he added. (Tatum, 3/19)

Two U.S. automakers could soon reopen their idled factories and call back workers to manufacture what America desperately needs now: lifesaving ventilator machines. As the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases continues to increase exponentially around the globe, U.S. hospitals and elected officials are warning government officials that these machines are in short supply. (Korn, 3/19)

It's not clear how long it would take for the car companies to reinvent themselves as massive medical suppliers, but Ford and General Motors have been in discussions with the White House about the possibility. The United Kingdom has also asked automakers and other manufacturers to help meet the need for essential medical equipment. (Domonoske, 3/19)

GE Healthcare said it has increased its manufacturing capacity of ventilators, which it makes in Madison, and other equipment in response to the coronavirus crisis.A potential shortage of ventilators for patients with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, is one of the most serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care system.An estimated 5% of COVID-19 patients become seriously ill and about half of them require ventilators. (Boulton, 3/19)

Frustration is mounting at President Trump's reluctance to use emergency war powers to accelerate the production of medical supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Less than three months into the pandemic, hospitals, health workers and state and local officials have said they are quickly running out of personal protective equipment like masks, gowns and gloves that are crucial to keeping doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic safe. (Weixel, 3/19)

Medical leaders in Washington State, which has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the country, have quietly begun preparing a bleak triage strategy to determine which patients may have to be denied complete medical care in the event that the health system becomes overwhelmed by the coronavirus in the coming weeks. Fearing a critical shortage of supplies, including the ventilators needed to help the most seriously ill patients breathe, state officials and hospital leaders held a conference call on Wednesday night to discuss the plans, according to several people involved in the talks. The triage document, still under consideration, will assess factors such as age, health and likelihood of survival in determining who will get access to full care and who will merely be provided comfort care, with the expectation that they will die. (Weise and Baker, 3/20)

Three patients — a 16-year-old boy with diabetes, a 25-year-old mother and a 75-year-old grandfather — are crammed into a hospital triage tent and struggling to breathe. Only one ventilator is left. Who gets it? This is the kind of wrenching ethical dilemma that critical-care doctors, nurses and medical officials across the United States are bracing for as cases of coronavirus surge and hospitals become overwhelmed. (Jarvie, 3/19)

Doctors told ABC News they are suddenly confronting some very tough decisions -- having to decide whether to proceed or postpone prostate surgeries, colonoscopies, skin cancer removals and a range of other procedures that could mean life or death for their patients, but could also create stress on hospitals bracing for a deluge. "It's hard to know exactly what an elective visit is," said Dr. Noah Lindenberg, an oncologist in Marlton, New Jersey. (Alesse, Dukakis, Tatum and Mosk, 3/20)

One of the nation's largest cruise operators is offering up its ships as part of the effort to quell the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump said Thursday. Carnival said it will offer select ships for use in response to the crisis. The company explained in a Thursday news release the ships would not be used for treating those with coronavirus or who are under quarantine. Rather, they are being made available for patients being treated for normal hospital stays – those recovering from surgeries or alike. (Woodyard and Hines, 3/19)

Providers such as Cancer Treatment Centers of America say they're able to lessen the burden during the coronavirus pandemic. Amid concerns that hospitals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic will be overwhelmed, specialty hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and other health care settings may be enlisted to take on patients who aren't infected. (Asplund, 3/19)

A number of not-for-profit health systems have postponed sizable new bond issuances given the significant uncertainty COVID-19 has thrown into the municipal bond market.It's not just healthcare—the trend is happening across the municipal market. Volatility has prompted interest rates to skyrocket and has made pricing bond offerings extremely difficult. Billions in new issuances have been put on hold since last week. (Bannow, 3/19)

Not-for-profit hospitals will feel the financial impact of the COVID-19 long after the pandemic subsides, according to a new report. A myriad of short- and long-term factors will buffet hospitals as they scramble to deal with a surge of patients infected with COVID-19, Moody's Investors Service analysts project as they adjust not-for-profits' outlook from stable to negative. (Kacik, 3/19)

The Open Cities Community Health Center in St. Paul, Minn., is considering shutting its doors, because of a dwindling supply of face masks. Doctors at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis have been forced to perform invasive procedures with loose fitting surgical masks rather than the tight respirator masks recommended by health agencies. At one Los Angeles emergency room, doctors examining a suspected coronavirus patient were given a box of expired masks. When they tried to secure them to their faces, the elastic bands snapped. (Jacobs, Richtel and Baker, 3/19)

An intensive-care nurse in Illinois was told to make a single-use mask last for five days. An emergency room doctor in California said her colleagues had started storing dirty masks in plastic containers to use again later with different patients. A pediatrician in Washington State, trying to make her small stock last, has been spraying each mask with alcohol after use, until it breaks down. (Padilla, 3/19)

Emergency room physician John Gavin can’t identify the exact patient from whom he contracted the coronavirus, but he’s confident he picked up the illness working one of his 12-hour shifts in Amite, Louisiana’s small, rural emergency room. “There were just so many people who had so many vague symptoms that any of them could have been that person,” he said. “We see a lot of viral-type illnesses.” But Gavin, 69, is certain that before his coronavirus diagnosis on March 9, officials at Hood Memorial Hospital, where he works, hadn’t made any specific changes to protocols or procedures to protect doctors and nurses from contracting the disease. (Sanders, Miller, Churchill and Armstrong, 3/19)

Doctors in Seattle have been reduced to making their own face masks out of sheets of plastic, after a global shortage of medical protective gear has hit Washington state, an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Ahead of an anticipated shortage of medical supplies, hospital staff met in a conference room south of Seattle to make homemade masks for the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the frontline of tackling the coronavirus outbreak. (Bloom, 3/19)

One Seattle-area hospital system has set up its own makeshift assembly line — using parts purchased from Home Depot and craft stores — to create protective face shields for workers. Boston nurses are gathering racquetball glasses to use in place of safety goggles. In New York, a dialysis center is preparing to use bandannas in place of masks as protection against the novel coronavirus. Just 11 weeks into a pandemic crisis expected to last months, the nightmare of medical equipment shortages is no longer theoretical. Health-care workers, already uneasy about their risk of infection amid reports of colleagues getting sick and new data showing even relatively young people may become seriously ill, are frustrated and fearful. (Eunjung Cha, Miller, Rowland and Sun, 3/19)

Doctors reusing masks between patients. Nurses going to work, even if they've been exposed to the novel coronavirus, to meet demand. And if their supplies run out -- staff having to replace face masks with bandanas or scarves. That is what hospitals in the United States, facing a surge of coronavirus patients, could look like as the pandemic worsens, according to contingency plans released by US health officials. (Azad and Nedelman, 3/19)

Kaiser Health News: Mask Shortage Straps Pharmacists Who Need Them To Keep Medicines Pure

Pharmacy staff who prepare IV drugs inside hospitals are the latest health care workers decrying a shortage of masks as they scramble to prepare medications for patients with everything from cancer to COVID-19. The staffers wear surgical masks while preparing liquid medications injected into patients’ veins to avoid breathing any droplets of saliva into the formulas, a crucial step in ensuring the medication remains sterile. (Jewett and Lupkin, 3/20)

The number of patients possibly infected with coronavirus continues to rise in Massachusetts hospitals, while staff agonize over a more immediate crisis: a lack of protective gear to keep them safe from this highly contagious disease. In a matter of days, hospital workers have gone from worrying about shortages to rationing, and fearing that they actually could run out of supplies. (McCluskey and Kowalczyk, 3/19)

Four trade groups that represent biotechs, medical device firms, and hospitals in Massachusetts have requested that members donate emergency supplies - everything from face masks to diagnostic equipment — to help the state fight COVID-19. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to do everything we can to address the COVID-19 pandemic and aid the first responders and healthcare providers who are putting their health on the line every day to help patients,” said a letter to members of the trade groups late Wednesday. (Saltzman, 3/19)

The Department of Veterans Affairs is bracing for a potential surge of 1 million veterans infected by coronavirus and at the same time is preparing for the possibility it may have to absorb overflow civilian patients if private hospitals are overrun by the pandemic. Based on a “worst case” scenario that up to 1 in 5 of its mostly elderly population of veterans will need coronavirus care, the government-run hospital system is seeking $16.6 billion in emergency money, according to a VA document submitted to Congress and obtained by The Associated Press. (Yen, 3/19)

In an interview with NPR News, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie said the VA stands ready to back up the nation's health care system, but has not yet been asked to deploy resources by the Department of Health and Human Services. "We have been preparing for what has been coming for a while now," Wilkie said. "In war and in case of natural disaster or an epidemic, we are the surge force." (Lawrence, 3/19)

The VA is "preparing for a national call on this matter," Wilkie said in a telephone interview, likening the personnel to military reservists who can be called up by the president at any time. "They know that they can be deployed anywhere in the country. Just like the reserves, their physicals are up to date, their shots are up to date. That prepares them to launch when called upon." Asked if he has any timeline on when they might be needed, Wilkie said, "we haven't come to that point yet." But he said the agency is gaming out where they might be most needed. For example, "city X has this happen, what is the request from the governor, and how do you respond to that governor's request that comes through," Wilkie said. (Bender, 3/19)

Tens of thousands of guardsmen could be called up to help state efforts to combat the coronavirus in the coming weeks and months, the head of the National Guard Bureau said. "This could quickly blossom," Gen. Joseph Lengyel told Pentagon reporters Thursday. At the moment, just over 2,000 members of the National Guard are assisting governors in 27 states, doing things such as helping with testing and transportation. Lengyel said that number could double by this weekend. (Bowman and Kennedy, 3/19)

The Pentagon and the White House, in the weeks leading up to the president’s national emergency declaration on Friday, quarreled over the response to the coronavirus outbreak that was sweeping the country. Defense Department leaders urged measures such as restricting troop travel in order to contain the virus. But other administration officials pushed back, arguing against any “rash” steps that could have political ramifications and economic impact, defense officials told POLITICO. (Seligman, 3/19)

The outbreak of the respiratory virus began in China and was quickly spread around the world by air travelers, who ran high fevers. In the United States, it was first detected in Chicago, and 47 days later, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. By then it was too late: 110 million Americans were expected to become ill, leading to 7.7 million hospitalized and 586,000 dead. That scenario, code-named “Crimson Contagion” and imagining an influenza pandemic, was simulated by the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services in a series of exercises that ran from last January to August. The simulation’s sobering results — contained in a draft report dated October 2019 that has not previously been reported — drove home just how underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed. (Sanger, Lipton, Sullivan and Crowley, 3/19)

“The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to prepare for future pandemics like covid-19. Donald Trump eliminated it — and now we’re paying the price.” — Former vice president Joe Biden, in a tweet, March 19, 2019. Several readers have written The Fact Checker, saying they were confused by dueling opinion articles that appeared in The Washington Post concerning the National Security Council office highlighted in Biden’s tweet. (Kessler and Kelly, 2/20)

Vice President Mike Pence is in charge of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus. But so is Deborah Birx, the physician and diplomat who the Trump administration brought on as its response “coordinator.” Then there’s health secretary Alex Azar, the chair of the Trump administration’s Coronavirus Task Force. And of course, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to whom they all seem to defer. (Facher, 3/20)

They meet in the windowless Situation Room, every day but Sunday, drawing an overflow crowd. Fueled by coffee, donuts and data, members of the White House coronavirus task force fill the secure basement conference room to parse new disease patterns as they weigh next steps in the fight against a virus that has dramatically altered American lives. (Colvin and Miller, 3/20)

After being sidelined for much of the Trump administration, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has suddenly emerged as a key player in its messaging about the coronavirus outbreak, often echoing the president’s arguments and winning his favor. Now a regular on Fox News and other programs, Adams routinely flanks President Donald Trump at news briefings and has amplified the White House’s line as it shifted from reassuring to more severe. (Diamond, 3/20)

The U.S. surgeon general caught the eye of Donald Trump in a tried-and-true way: praising the 45th president on television. (Madhani and Davies, 3/19)

As the United States enters a critical phase in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears to be on the sidelines, with its messages increasingly disrupted or overtaken by the White House. Neither CDC Director Robert Redfield nor Anne Schuchat — the principal deputy director who has played key roles in the agency’s emergency responses stretching back two decades, including the 2009 influenza pandemic — have appeared on the podium during White House briefings by the coronavirus task force for more than a week. (Sun, 3/19)

President Donald Trump, facing a growing sense of fear amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, last week activated the nation’s leading disaster-relief authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. During a White House briefing on Wednesday, he said that FEMA had been mobilized and is working at its highest levels. FEMA officials, since the weekend, have refused to provide a single concrete example of what the agency is doing or has done – beyond planning – to begin to help the nation’s public health system deal with the viral emergency. (Folmer and Margolin, 3/19)

President Trump took direct aim at China on Thursday for allowing the spread of the coronavirus that has sickened Americans, shut down much of daily life and pushed the U.S. economy toward recession, while deflecting criticism that his administration was caught flat-footed by the outbreak. The president dug in on his use of the term “Chinese virus” to describe the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, late last year and did not rule out directing economic retaliation toward Beijing. (Gearan, 3/19)

In the unorthodox presidency of Donald J. Trump, one of the more unorthodox mainstays has been his reliance upon notes he has apparently jotted down for himself with a Sharpie. The boldface writings have regularly been captured by photographers and have come to define several key moments in his tenure. (3/19)

As U.S. authorities scrambled to ramp up the nation’s capacity to test for coronavirus last week, at least 100 executives and other New Yorkers of means had easy access to testing, according to two sources familiar with the activities of a little-known medical service catering to the affluent. (Irrera and Qing, 3/20)

Actors, politicians and athletes have had quick and easy access to coronavirus tests while other Americans — including front-line health-care workers and those with obvious signs of infection — have been out of luck. The nationwide shortage of coronavirus testing kits has amplified inequities in a health-care system in which some merely call a concierge physician while others hope for attention in crowded emergency rooms. (Eilperin and Golliver, 3/19)

While average Americans fret on social media about empty toilet paper aisles, author Nelson Schwartz says the wealthy are installing hospital-grade filtration systems and building safe rooms. The coronavirus has exposed the vast inequalities in our health care system: Rich Americans from movie stars to Instagram influencers are getting access to COVID-19 tests before many sick people showing relevant symptoms. (Young and Hagan, 3/19)

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart says that he has tested positive for coronavirus. "I was tested five days ago and the results came back tonight, which were positive," Smart wrote on Twitter on Thursday. He says he's been self-quarantined since the test. "I've had no symptoms and I feel great," Smart wrote in another tweet. "But the younger generation in our country MUST self distance. This is not a joke. Not doing so is selfish. Together we can beat this, but we must beat it together by being apart for a short while." (Martin, 3/20)

Feeling sick on Friday, Rachael Willingham went to the doctor, who gave her an order for the new coronavirus test and sent her to a mobile clinic the Colorado health department had set up. When she arrived at 9:45 a.m., a half-dozen police officers were blocking the entrance. She returned to the clinic that afternoon, but was told testing was over for the day. Ms. Willingham called a number for the state health department and was told to come back Saturday at noon. She did, only to find testing had been moved to the Denver Coliseum. When she got to the stadium, she waited in a line of hundreds of cars for almost two hours, only to be turned away again with no explanation. (Frosch, Lovett and Paul, 3/19)

A U.S. senator from Washington, the state hardest hit by the spreading coronavirus pandemic, on Thursday requested an investigation into the federal government’s failure to deliver badly needed tests that detect the new virus, according to the lawmaker. “I am still hearing from people that they go to their health-care provider and they say, `Gosh, we don’t have any test kits available,’ ” said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in an interview Thursday. (Weaver, 3/19)

The Infectious Diseases Society of America on Thursday created a four-tier system to determine whether patients should be tested for coronavirus. Under the recommendations, critically ill patients with unexplained symptoms, immunicompromised patients with COVID-19 symptoms and those vital to the response to the pandemic should be tested for the virus first. Long-term care patients are in the second tier along with non-ICU patients. (3/19)

Scientists around the world were waiting at their computers in early January when China released the coronavirus genetic code, the blueprint for creating tests and vaccines. Within days, labs from Hong Kong to Berlin had designed tests and shared their research with others. Within about two weeks, Australia had its own tests, and even citizens in the most far-flung regions of the country could be tested. Laboratories in Singapore and South Korea ramped up test kit production and ordered extra supplies. That quick work allowed them to test hundreds of thousands of people, isolate the sick and — so far, at least — contain the spread of the disease. (Apuzzo and Gebrekidan, 3/20)

The opening of Massachusetts’ first high capacity, drive-through testing facility on Thursday represented a significant and hopeful step in a state response that has been criticized as sluggish and insufficient. The CVS parking lot will be the first mass testing site in a state that had its first confirmed cases of the coronavirus 48 days ago. (Lazar and Ryan, 3/19)

Governor Charlie Baker pledged Thursday morning that Massachusetts would soon see an “enormous increase” in testing for coronavirus as he acknowledged that the state’s capacity to screen people remained far below what was needed to blunt the local impact of the pandemic. (Finucane, Andersen and Ryann, 3/19)

Gov. Charlie Baker toured a new COVID-19 testing site Thursday at Quest Diagnostics in Marlborough, promising that Massachusetts will be able to do 3,500 tests a day by early next week. Quest started COVID-19 testing at the facility today. (Becker, 3/19)

Two drive-through coronavirus testing sites will open to health care workers and first responders on Friday in New Orleans, one of the first cities to set up such sites as part of a pilot program with the federal government. Those seeking to be tested at the sites will have to show proof they are a member of the group being tested and have symptoms of the disease, which has been spreading rapidly in New Orleans, according to a press release from city government. (Adelson, 3/19)

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the day-to-day operations of the criminal justice system, raising significant questions about what incarceration and access to justice looks like as the virus reaches all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Everybody, from judges to defendants, now confronts a stark reality. Jury trials have been suspended in more than two dozen states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as in dozens more localities. Courthouses have either been restricted from the public or completely shut down. Judges, forced to ensure that the justice system does not grind to a screeching halt, have prioritized more urgent cases, with some holding hearings via video or telephone. (Phillips, 3/19)

Orange County’s first attempt to hold court hearings after a brief closure due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus descended into “complete chaos” Thursday, with packed courtrooms seeming to fly in the face of recent guidance offered by health officials, some of the county’s top legal officials said. On Monday, the Orange County Superior Court system announced the closure of all courthouses until March 27, with exceptions for emergency matters. (Queally, 3/19)

State judges in New York are using video to preside remotely over arraignments of criminal defendants. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has suspended prosecution of some low-level crimes. The mayor’s office has asked the courts to release some older defendants from the Rikers Island jail, where most of the city’s 5,400 inmates are housed closely together, guarded by thousands of corrections officers. Coronavirus has utterly disrupted the criminal justice system, leaving crowded courts, prisons and jails especially susceptible to the outbreak. (Feuer, Hong, Weiser and Ransom, 3/20)

As much of the nation adjusts this week to sudden and indefinite home confinement, prison and jail wardens across the U.S. are scrambling to forestall an outbreak of COVID-19 inside a crowded U.S. correctional facility. With the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world, the U.S. faces unique challenges among its roughly 2.3 million inmates as the coronavirus surges silently through all 50 states. (Francescani and Barr, 3/19)

They live in overcrowded facilities, sometimes jammed into tiny spaces in groups of three. Sanitary conditions can be an afterthought. Social distancing is rarely an option. For the nearly 2.3 million people held in prisons and jails nationwide and the guards who work inside, a scramble is underway to prevent the coronavirus from seeping within. In letters to the U.S. Department of Justice and local leaders, the ACLU has called for the immediate release of inmates whose sentences would be completed within the next two years and who fall within a category deemed as particularly vulnerable: over the age 65 or having an underlying condition. (Lee, 3/19)

You wouldn’t know it from the bare grocery store shelves across the country, but America has plenty of food. The challenge is getting it from the farm to your table. Companies that supply meat, vegetables and other staples are struggling to redirect the nation’s sprawling food supply chain to meet a surge in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurant closures and shoppers’ rush to stock their pantries are forcing the agriculture industry to boost production, hire new employees and set up “war rooms” to keep grocery stores stocked. (Bunge and Newman, 3/19)

Acknowledging that older adults and persons with underlying health conditions are more susceptible to COVID-19, a growing number of stores are dedicating time or opening earlier for senior shoppers and other at-risk groups. Because of panic shopping, which has left store shelves empty, at-risk groups including seniors have had difficulty getting supplies. (Tyko, 3/19)

Special hours for seniors to shop are just one of the ways grocery stores across the U.S. are adjusting their operations during the coronavirus pandemic. Supermarkets are restricting their opening hours to give workers time for cleaning and restocking. They're also limiting how many items people are allowed to buy. And they're adding special designated hours when only seniors and others most vulnerable to the coronavirus are invited to shop. (Selyukh, 3/19)

Walmart, the largest retailer in America, is shortening its hours even further as the coronavirus pandemic -- and demand for necessities -- escalates. Beginning Thursday, many of Walmart's 4,700 US stores will be open from 7 am to 8:30 pm until further notice. It's the second adjustment the retailer made to its hours within a week. Many Walmarts are typically open 24 hours, but some stores that previously opened after 7 am will maintain their regular hours. (Valinsky, 3/19)

One store advertised hand sanitizer at $60 a bottle. Another was accused of hawking it at $1 a squirt. Chain stores offered $26 thermometers and face masks at the “everyday low price” of $39.95 a pair, while a convenience store touted toilet paper at $10 a roll next to a sign reading: “This is not a joke.” Across a country where lines are long, some shelves are empty and patience is thin, authorities are receiving a surge of reports about merchants trying to cash in on the coronavirus crisis with outrageous prices, phony cures and other scams. An Associated Press survey of attorneys general or consumer protection agencies nationwide found reports already exceeded 5,000, with hundreds more arriving daily. (Dunklin and Pritchard, 3/19)

Chen Wei’s wife begged him to stop making restaurant deliveries because she feared he might contract the coronavirus from a customer. Lee Mengba, another delivery worker, wondered if the hand that reached out for the bag of medication from behind an apartment door on a recent run belonged to a quarantined patient. Adolfo Garcia tries to deliver pizza “in four seconds,” sometimes leaving boxes near the elevator on the first floor of apartment buildings for customers to grab. (de Freytas-Tamura and Singer, 3/19)

When about two dozen Amazon.com Inc. delivery drivers reported for their shifts Tuesday morning on California’s Central Coast, their manager passed around a sleeve of disinfecting wipes. He said they could each take only one to clean their vans before starting their routes, according to three people present. (Soper and Day, 3/19)

Some tourists or American citizens without long-term living arrangements or support networks abroad have been trying to get back to the United States, but have found that difficult because of border closings or flight cancellations and other transportation shutdowns. For example, American students trapped in Peru because of new travel restrictions imposed by the government there have been pleading with American officials to get them back to the United States. President Trump, asked during a briefing on Thursday about Americans stranded abroad and trying to re-enter the United States, said that the administration was working with the military to get some of them home. (Wong, 3/19)

Particularly large numbers of American travelers have been stranded in Morocco, Peru, Honduras and Tunisia, where some have complained that U.S. embassies have not provided adequate help in getting them home. The pandemic has forced governments around the world to try to arrange alternative routes for citizens to return home for vacations or work trips. The U.S. advisory warns that Americans should “have a travel plan that does not rely on the U.S. government for assistance.” (Hudson, 3/19)

“The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19,” it said in the new advice. “In countries where commercial departure options remain available, U.S. citizens who live in the United States should arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period. U.S. citizens who live abroad should avoid all international travel.” Until the upgrade, the department’s advice to U.S. citizens was to “reconsider” all international travel under what is known as a “level three” alert. The global “level four” warning was unprecedented as such alerts are generally reserved for specific countries embroiled in conflict, natural disasters or where Americans face specific risks. (Lee, 3/19)

The department on Thursday issued a Level 4 advisory for travel abroad – "do not travel" – only four days after it issued a Level 3 advisory that urged Americans to "reconsider travel." (Tate and Shesgreen, 3/19)

The U.S. has arranged chartered flights to evacuate Americans out of Morocco, according to an alert sent by the embassy and obtained by ABC News. Hundreds of Americans have been stuck in the North Africa country for days after the government announced Sunday it would shut down all travel in and out to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus -- one of many governments to do so on short notice, leaving Americans stranded and urging local U.S. embassies for help. (Finnegan, 3/20)

In an unprecedented global health advisory, the department issued its highest-level alert, usually reserved for war zones or hot spots like Syria, North Korea or Somalia. (Finnegan, 3/19)

The White House, under the guise of its coronavirus response, is quietly advancing policies that President Trump has long advocated, from tougher border controls to an assault on organized labor to the stonewalling of congressional oversight. And across the government, departments have been citing the “whole of government” response to the pandemic as they push through the same policies they sought before the crisis. Just this week during a coronavirus briefing, Mr. Trump said his administration would use authority granted to the surgeon general to immediately turn away those who crossed the border illegally. (Kanno-Youngs and Karni, 3/20)

There are nearly 40,000 people in ICE custody across the United States. And there's a big question looming as the novel coronavirus spreads. What will happen if there's an outbreak inside one of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention facilities, which have long faced criticism for how they handle even routine medical care? (Shoichet, 3/19)

A medical staff member at a private detention center in New Jersey has tested positive for COVID-19, an official with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), told The Hill. The agency oversees the relocation and housing of unaccompanied immigrant children. (Moreno, 3/19)

As a pediatric intensive care physician, I like to think I have an unusually strong stomach for heart-wrenching scenarios. While they impact me deeply, I am not easily rattled. But COVID-19 has rattled me. Everyone I run into is experiencing extreme anxiety over the uncertainty of what lies ahead. How many people will get sick? Will our local hospital run out of ventilators? Will my parents die? Will I die? (Peeler, 3/20)

The United States and Mexico are working on plans to halt much of cross-border travel without disrupting trade during the coronavirus outbreak, officials said. Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday he proposed steps to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that “won’t paralyze economic activity and keep the border open to commerce and work.” He promised details on Friday. (Spagat, 3/20)

[O]n Wednesday, at a time when major coronavirus mitigation decisions are being made with mind-numbing speed by governments worldwide, US President Donald Trump tweeted that "we will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic. Trade will not be affected." (Michael Bociurkiw, 3/19)

America’s most populous state is ordering its residents to stay indoors. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Thursday ordered Californians — all 40 million of them — to stay in their houses as much as possible in the coming weeks as the state confronts the escalating coronavirus outbreak. The order represents the most drastic measure any governor has taken to control the virus, and a decision that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, which has far more cases than California, has resisted taking. (Arango and Cowan, 3/19)

The move, the most sweeping by any state so far, was an exclamation point at the end of a week of increasingly aggressive moves meant to keep the virus in check by forcing people to stay away from each other as often as possible. “I can assure you home isolation is not my preferred choice, I know it’s not yours, but it’s a necessary one,” Newsom said at an evening news conference streamed on social media. (Ronayne and Thompson, 3/20)

The mandatory order allows Californians to continue to visit gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, takeout and delivery restaurants, banks and laundromats. People can leave their homes to care for a relative or a friend or seek healthcare services. It exempts workers in 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors, including food and agriculture, healthcare, transportation, energy, financial services, emergency response and others. (Luna, 3/19)

In a letter to President Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he estimated 56% of the state’s population, or 25.5 million people, would be infected over an eight-week period. Mr. Newsom sent the letter—asking that a naval hospital ship be deployed to Los Angeles to increase health-care capacity—before the lockdown order. In calling for people to stay home, Mr. Newsom asked the state’s residents to “bend the curve together.” Nearly half of residents in America’s most populous state had already been given stay-at-home orders from local cities and counties, including Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. (Calfas, Stancati and Yap, 3/19)

He had also floated that figure a day earlier in describing California's efforts to get homeless people into shelters that include trailers and hotels mobilized by the state. If a 56 percent infection rate were to hit California's current homeless population, that would amount to some 60,000 homeless people. California has so far confirmed 675 positive test results and is bracing for an expected spike in new infections. In addition to asking Trump for use of the naval ship, Newsom wrote to congressional leadership seeking federal assistance to help health care systems manage a "coming surge of patients" and blunt the economic fallout. (White, 3/19)

Under the order, essential services such as groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores and delivery restaurants will remain open. So will banks, local government offices that provide services and law enforcement agencies. Nonessential services such as dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms and convention centers will shut down, the governor said. (Karimi and Moon, 3/20)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a letter to the Trump administration that 56 percent of the state’s population — 25.5 million people — is projected to be infected with the coronavirus over an eight-week period. In the letter, Newsom asked President Trump to deploy the USNS Mercy hospital ship to the port of Los Angeles until September of this year “to help decompress our current healthcare delivery system in the Los Angeles region in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.” (Moreno, 3/19)

Newsom said his ‘stay at home’ order was essential as modelling showed 56% of California’s 40 million people would contract the virus in the next eight weeks, and require nearly 20,000 more hospital beds than the state could provide. “We are confident the people of California will abide by it, they will meet this moment,” Newsom, a first-term Democrat told a news briefing from the state capital in Sacramento. (Whitcomb and Shepardson, 3/19)

The order is similar to the shelter-in-place rules that Bay Area residents have been living under since Monday, allowing people to visit the grocery store, seek medical care, walk outside and exercise if they maintain social distance from others. It will force countless businesses in the state deemed nonessential to close their doors temporarily. (Koseff and Allday, 3/19)

In the working-class city of Pico Rivera, Melanie Santos, 26, made ends meet as a substitute math teacher for $120 a day and had an occasional gig dishing food-truck chicken wings. Thirty-seven miles away, in a leafy Pacific Palisades enclave, Louise Sandy, 52, ran a one-woman business baking custom-designed cakes for birthdays and baby showers that sell for as much as $800 each. (Roosevelt and Khouri, 3/19)

A 34-year-old man who tested positive for the coronavirus infection after visiting Disney World and traveling through Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month died Thursday at a hospital in Pasadena, according to medical and government sources. (Branson-Potts and Winton, 3/19)

San Francisco’s top officials took to a makeshift stage inside the Moscone Center Thursday to reiterate what they’ve told the public every day since the order to shelter in place was handed down this week: “Stay home.”City officials reported 70 coronavirus cases Thursday in San Francisco, up from 51 on Wednesday, a 37% increase. (Fracassa, 3/19)

A nationwide shortage of protective equipment that prompted hospital workers in Seattle to craft their own masks out of supplies bought at Home Depot is also forcing health care workers in the Bay Area to take drastic measures and prepare for the worst, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow. Doctors and nurses in Bay Area hospitals are rationing and repeatedly reusing the most-protective masks, known as N-95s, sharing goggles and, in some cases, settling for less protective gear when dealing with patients being treated for coronavirus symptoms. (Fimrite, Cassidy and Gafni, 3/19)

Before President Donald Trump stepped into the White House briefing room to provide an update on the coronavirus, an opening act was broadcast across cable news of another chief executive calmly reciting statistics and safety tips. For the second straight day, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s matter-of-fact and slightly scolding demeanor from an epicenter of the pandemic was a stark contrast Thursday to the often haphazard and hyperbolic messages coming from Trump. (Lemire, 3/20)

Mayor Bill de Blasio made an urgent plea for military aid to combat the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases in New York City surged to 3,615 on Thursday and the city increasingly becomes the epicenter of the crisis in the U.S. The city's death toll from the virus has risen to 22, doubling in the past day. The total number of cases nearly doubled as well, for the second straight day. De Blasio called the numbers “nothing short of staggering" and pressed President Donald Trump to mobilize the military to deliver crucial supplies — which the city could run out of in two to three weeks — and provide medical care. (Durkin, 3/19)

It began last week when an Emergency Medical Services worker contracted the coronavirus from his girlfriend. Three days later, more than 20 of these workers, who form part of the New York City Fire Department, were in isolation for potential exposure to the virus, either through their colleagues, patients or off-duty contacts. By Wednesday morning, three Fire Department employees had tested positive. Now, more than 150 members of the department are in quarantine, including dozens of E.M.S. workers, according to union and department officials. (Watkins, 3/20)

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people, shutting schools, prohibiting visitors to nursing homes and retirement communities and limiting bars and restaurants to take-out through April 3 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. He also recommended that non-essential state employees telework. The virus's quick spread is sparking a dramatic response from Republican state leaders, who until now had been letting local officials issue guidance on closures. (Rayasam, 3/19)

Georgia’s entire legislative branch was urged to self-isolate after a state senator revealed he tested positive for coronavirus, two days after he showed up for a special session vote with symptoms of the disease while he was waiting for the results. The development sparked outrage from some of his colleagues, a reprimand from Gov. Brian Kemp and new scrutiny over recent decisions by legislative leaders that could have prolonged the exposure to hundreds of people at the Capitol. (Bluestein and Prabhu, 3/19)

In December she pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to falsifying the annual report behind a $40,000 National Science Foundation grant and then lying about it to investigators.Her predicament appears to stem from taking shortcuts while filling out the report — shortcuts she’s now paying a severe price for. Georgia Tech suspended her almost a year ago from a professorship she has held since 1999. (Rankin, 3/19)

Hundreds of low-wage workers at Philadelphia International Airport are losing their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the labor unions that represents them.32BJ SEIU, which represents 1,400 subcontracted workers such as wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, and cabin cleaners, estimates that 600 to 1,000 of its members will be laid off between now and Monday. That could be anywhere between 50% and 80% of its membership at the airport. (Reyes and Dunn, 3/19)

Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced that all but “life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania must shut down immediately as the state braces for exponential increases in the number of people sickened by the novel coronavirus.Unlike earlier in the week — when Wolf urged nonessential businesses such as salons, gyms, theaters, and entertainment venues to voluntarily close — the latest order came with a stern warning: those out of compliance as of Saturday could face strict penalties. (Couloumbis, 3/19)

Two key facts we keep hearing about coronavirus: First, it doesn’t have as much of an effect on children, who are often symptomless or show milder signs of illness, like a cold. The second is that the disease has a brutal effect on senior citizens. According to a February report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control, COVID-19 has a death rate of 3.6% for those 60-69 years old, 8% for those 70-79 years old, and at least 14.8% for those 80 years or older. (O'Callaghan, 3/19)

Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville has confirmed "less than 20 employees" have tested positive for COVID-19."We believe none have become infected through patient contact and all are in quarantine at home," said CEO Dr. Jeff Balser in a video posted Thursday. All are in self isolation, a spokesperson said. (3/19)

Since the first cases of coronavirus surfaced on March 10, she has ordered schools, restaurants, bars, gyms and many other businesses closed; banned large gatherings, first of more than 250 people, then reduced that number to 50; made price gouging a crime, and set aside some of the regulations that make it harder for health care providers to get needed equipment. (Gray, 3/19)

Detroit this week opened a 124-room building to house Detroit’s homeless amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.In addition, officials plan to deploy health care professionals onto city streets to seek out homeless individuals who don’t make it into a shelter. (Moran, 3/19)

Maryland is escalating social-distancing measures after the state’s first covid-19-related death and the first report of a child testing positive. Scores of D.C. emergency personnel are under quarantine, with three firefighters confirmed to be infected. Virginia is easing access to health care during the pandemic and giving residents until June to pay taxes. (Nirappil, Cox, Schneider and Olivo, 3/19)

As the novel coronavirus spreads through the U.S. during presidential primaries, election and government officials are scrambling to figure out how to allow voters to cast their ballots safely ― or postpone primaries altogether. Managing in-person voting during an unprecedented pandemic has forced authorities to overcome new virus-related hurdles: providing sufficient cleaning supplies to polling places, moving polling places out of nursing homes and ensuring there are enough poll workers. There’s also a huge open question: If the virus continues to infect large numbers of people, how can the general election take place safely this fall? (Glickhouse, 3/19)

This summer's Republican and Democratic conventions are still on, and organizers have no plans to change them at this point, despite fears of prolonged closings and disruptions to American life due to the novel coronavirus, officials from both parties said. (Montanaro, 3/19)

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown America’s electoral system into shock, prompting officials in six states so far to move presidential primaries as the federal government urges people not to gather in large groups. Connecticut became the latest state to push back its vote on Thursday, and even more states are considering delays. Meanwhile, election officials are also gaming out the changes they can make to voting systems to allow Americans to participate in elections while keeping themselves safe and preventing the spread of the virus. (Montellaro, 3/20)

Costs for the federal government to make it safe for voters to participate in the general election could add up to $2 billion, should the coronavirus still be a concern in November, a new study by an independent think tank shows. The study, which was conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice, outlines several sweeping nationwide changes to the current voting system such as universal mail-in voting, easier online voter registration and more. (Johnson, 3/19)

Coronavirus is starting to drain money from the expensive world of political campaigning. Campaigns across the country have canceled face-to-face fundraisers for the foreseeable future and are scrambling to figure out how to raise enough money to stay solvent. Big donors' stock portfolios are tanking. And small-dollar, online contributors — who have never been more important to campaigns — are facing sudden financial uncertainty and the real possibility of unemployment. (Severns and Arkin, 3/20)

In the crucial days after the D.C.-area event in late February, public health officials decided to monitor only an infected man’s family members, leaving conference organizers to take it upon themselves to identify and notify close to 100 attendees — including members of Congress — with whom he had particularly close contact. (Davis and Cox, 3/19)

In the three weeks since his blowout win in the South Carolina primary, Joe Biden has emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting. But, amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, put the emphasis on waiting. Biden holds an essentially insurmountable delegate lead over his last remaining rival, Bernie Sanders, yet the Vermont senator remains in the race. (Barrow, Jaffe and Weissert, 3/20)

A new study reports that people who became sick from the coronavirus in the Chinese city where the outbreak began likely had a lower death rate than previously thought. The study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Medicine, calculated that people with coronavirus symptoms in Wuhan, China, had a 1.4 percent likelihood of dying. Some previous estimates have ranged from 2 percent to 3.4 percent. (Belluck, 3/19)

The rate cited in the study is also lower than a crude calculation of the global death rate, which has ranged between approximately 2% and 4%. That calculation is based on the number of confirmed cases and deaths world-wide, which change daily. Yet it is still deadlier than seasonal flu, which has a mortality rate of about 0.1%. The true mortality rate for Covid-19 still remains to be seen.A true death rate for a virus is important for public-health officials trying to slow and contain it, as well as for medical professionals who are caring for patients. High death rates also provoke public fear. (McKay, 3/19)

With Europe and the United States locked in deadly battle with the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, a number of countries that were hit early by the virus are doing a far better job of beating it back. China, which is now diagnosing more cases in returning travelers than in people infected at home, reported no new domestically acquired cases on Wednesday, for the first time in more than two months. South Korea, which had an explosive outbreak that began in February, is aggressively battering down its epidemic curve. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have together reported only about 600 cases. (Branswell, 3/20)

With over 200,000 coronavirus cases worldwide and thousands of deaths, a striking pattern is appearing in the hardest-hit countries: More men are dying than women. Nowhere is this trend more pronounced than in Italy. Men make up nearly 60 percent of people with confirmed cases of the virus and more than 70 percent of those who have died of covid-19, according to the country’s main public health research agency. (Mooney, Kaplan and Kim, 3/19)

People infected with the coronavirus can spread it easily, even if they're not yet experiencing severe symptoms of the disease, according to virologists watching the pandemic unfold in Europe. "In this infection, we see very high levels of virus in the upper airway, in the nose and throat," says Marion Koopmans, head of the department of virus science at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She is involved with the public health response to the outbreak in the Netherlands. Those high levels of the virus mean that the coronavirus can infect others "the moment you start to sneeze, you start to cough," she says. (Brumfiel, 3/19)

Kaiser Health News: Was The Novel Coronavirus Really Sneaky In Its Spread To The U.S.? Experts Say No.

Unveiling a series of policies meant to mitigate the threat of COVID-19, President Donald Trump also sought to respond to criticism that his administration has been slow to deal with what is now a worldwide pandemic. In particular, the president defended his administration on the issue of insufficient testing resources and what experts say is a looming shortage of medical equipment and personnel. (Luthra, 3/19)

With the new coronavirus outbreak, current evidence suggests that one infected person on average infects between two and three others. This means that, if no other measures are taken, herd immunity would kick in when between 50% and 70% of a population is immune. “But it doesn’t have to be –- and it won’t be –- this way,” said Matthew Baylis, a professor at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences at Liverpool University. (3/19)

Over the next three months, nearly a million women in the United States will give birth to nearly a million babies — a huge influx of mostly healthy, highly vulnerable patients into a hospital system that’s about to come under unprecedented strain. Pregnant women, not surprisingly, are anxious. Those in their third trimester, looking to deliver during an epidemic, are close to frantic. (Martin, 3/19)

The nation’s blood supply faces a dire shortage.“It’s an unprecedented situation,” said Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer of biomedical services at the American Red Cross. “We are already actively triaging units, determining which hospitals can and can’t get blood.” While donor blood is not being used to treat coronavirus patients, transfusions are still needed for cases such as trauma, organ transplants or complications of childbirth. (Wartik, 3/19)

Acute respiratory distress syndrome, also known as ARDS, is a common killer among critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19. But even if they survive, it’s a long road to recovery. Patients develop ARDS in the late stages of the infection when the virus has caused significant damage to the lungs. In the process of trying to fight off the virus, the body sends immune cells to the lungs causing an inflammatory reaction. (Rodriguez, 3/19)

Thanks to the new coronavirus, our plans for the future, once so clear and reasonable, now seem hazy and improbable. Who knows when our kids will go back to school, or when we will return to the office? Nobody can say how long dine-in restaurants will remain closed, or when we can finally meet friends for a much-needed drink. When can we pray with our congregations again? Throw a birthday party? Go to the movies? (Netburn, 3/19)

Disinfecting wipes are helping people combat the spreading of germs amid the coronavirus pandemic. But some experts say the wipes, arguably the supply that's been used to clean surfaces in homes the most, are harming sewers. Why? Because people are flushing wipes down toilets, rather than dumping them in the trash. Now, public agencies around the nation are urging people to solely throw their wipes in the trash, warning that not doing so could cause blockages and damage to sewer systems. (Kaur, 3/20)

In a world suffering a pandemic, cash is no longer king. A growing number of businesses and individuals worldwide have stopped using banknotes in fear that physical currency, handled by tens of thousands of people over their useful life, could be a vector for the spreading coronavirus. (Sweet, 3/20)

The novel coronavirus outbreak has forced millions of people around the world to limit what and who they touch and stay in place for the time being -- all methods to try to tamp down on the spread of the virus in the absence of a vaccine or treatment. But for the blind community, in particular, these restrictions create additional obstacles that may contribute to their already vulnerable state, experts said. (Pereira, 3/20)

When the Animal Care Centers of NYC put a call out on Friday for applications to its fostering program, it was looking to fill 200 available slots, a spokeswoman for the shelter said. Two thousand people applied. “One of the reasons we found that people are unable to adopt pets in New York City is because they are never home,” the spokeswoman, Katy Hansen, said. “They say it is not fair to the animal, or they are not able to spend enough time with them.” (Garcia, 3/19)

You’re mostly stuck inside, your children are home from school, and the coronavirus pandemic is making the future seem less certain by the day. If you’re like 27 percent of Americans, you might seek comfort in a familiar place: the refrigerator. (Iati, 3/19)

“Quarantine shaming” — calling out those not abiding by social distancing rules — is part of a new and startling reality for Americans who must navigate a world of rapidly evolving social norms in the age of COVID-19. As schools close and shelter-in-place orders sweep across the U.S., the divide between those who are stringently practicing self-isolation and those who are still trying to go about some semblance of a normal life has never been more clear. Complicating matters: What was socially acceptable even 48 hours ago may now be taboo, as government officials race to contain the virus with ever-expanding circles of social isolation. (Flaccus, 3/19)

In a state plagued by killer storms, dog-eating pythons and the clickbait tales of “Florida man,” the coronavirus has put the fate of Floridians at least partly in the hands of responsibility-challenged teenagers and 20-somethings. Authorities are telling the tens of thousands of young revelers who regularly descend here this time of year to do the right thing: follow national guidelines and emergency laws to limit gatherings, social contact, and to Wash. Those. Hands. A statewide edict has forced bars and nightclubs to shutter. Miami-Dade County on Thursday ordered the closure of all beaches and county parks. Mayors have told the raucous visitors in no uncertain terms: Go home. (Faiola, Mekhennet, Strickland and Rozsa, 3/19)

After studying infectious diseases, epidemiologists like Helen Jenkins, of Boston University, and Bill Hanage, of Harvard, who are married, typically go one of two ways. “They either become completely and utterly infection conscious,” Dr. Hanage said, “or they are the type of person who drops the toast and picks it up and wipes it off and eats it.” “We would mostly be in the second category, but this has pushed us into the first category fairly visibly,” he continued, adding, “when the facts change, I update my priors” — a statistician’s term for what one believes and expects. (Roberts, 3/19)

Experts around the country have been churning out model after model — marshaling every tool from math, medicine, science and history — to try to predict the coming chaos unleashed by the new coronavirus and to make preparations At the heart of their algorithms is a scary but empowering truth: What happens next depends largely on us — our government, politicians, health institutions and, in particular, 328 million inhabitants of this country — all making tiny decisions on an daily basis with outsize consequences for our collective future. (Wan, Achenbach, Johnson and Guarino, 3/19)

As a deepening public health crisis rocks the nation, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday shows a far different portrait of a country than from only one week ago, as nearly three in four Americans now say their lives have been upended in some way by the novel coronavirus and President Donald Trump's approval for his handling of the outbreak is on the rise. In the new poll, 55% of Americans approve of the president's management of the crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove. Trump’s approval on this issue is up from last week, when the numbers were nearly reversed. (Karson, 3/20)

As schools across the country close and employees are encouraged to work from home in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, some experts are concerned about an increase in domestic violence... "But in this particular time, with COVID-19, home can be pretty intense for domestic violence victims and survivors, due to the abusers ability to further control," said Ruth Glenn, the president and CEO of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). (Carrega, 3/20)

When Dr. Asaf Bitton looked out from his window in Boston recently, he was shocked by the scene. Although schools, offices and businesses already had shut down to slow the spread of coronavirus, the park was packed. “I saw people from my window outside playing in the park together, and I thought, ‘This is crazy,’” said Dr. Bitton, executive director of Ariadne Labs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Why did we close the schools if we’re going to shift social contact from the schools to the playground?” (Parker-Pope, 3/19)

To avoid overwhelming the U.S. health-care system by spreading the coronavirus to vulnerable groups, public officials around the country have asked people to practice social distancing — avoiding large crowds and close contact with others. President Donald Trump has called for Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that no events with 50 people or more take place for the next eight weeks. (Ao, 3/19)

The sight of empty grocery shelves — widely shared on social media — combined with the dread of an invisible threat seem a perfect recipe for widespread hysteria. But, so far, despite mixed messages from government officials and shortages of tests and hospital capacity, there is little evidence of widespread panic. (Carey, 3/19)

Crises are only political until they are personal. As news of Mr. Frilot’s diagnosis spread, his story was no longer just that of a young, healthy person who caught a virus that young, healthy people had been told they were not supposed to catch. It was a revelation for the conservative suburbs of New Orleans, where many had written off the pandemic as liberal fear-mongering. Mr. Frilot, a registered Republican, and his family are generally apolitical, and were not thinking much about the virus — whether as a fiction or anything else — before he got sick. But many in their community had opinions on it from the start. (Plott, 3/19)

Teen: “I can’t stay here all day. What about my friends!?” Parent: “Are you kidding? This is serious!” The adolescent brain is definitely in play as authorities around the globe struggle to keep young people from gathering, while parents fret at home about what they’re up to as the coronavirus spreads. (3/20)

Until several days ago, some bars and restaurants were still packed with St. Patrick’s Day crowds. Beaches were full. And it seemed as though many young adults were slow to take steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “I kept hearing, ‘Eighty percent of cases are mild,’” said Christian Heuer, 32, of Los Angeles, who tested positive for the virus last week and has been running a low-grade fever for six days. “But this is not just a sniffly runny nose. It’s the real deal. You’re really sick.” (Rabin, 3/20)

While there's concern for the elderly catching coronavirus, there's another high-risk group that has nothing to do with age. People with underlying medical conditions are also more likely to become seriously ill if they get it. Some of them are young and most of them may not look sick at all. Millions of them are living with a compromised immune system. (Zdanowicz, 3/19)

With almost all of us spending a lot of time at home because of the coronavirus pandemic and some under edicts to shelter in place and avoid going out at all, those of us who are used to regular exercise naturally have pressing questions and concerns about how best to stay in shape. (Reynolds, 3/19)

Newscasts bring word of “hot zones” and “lockdowns.” Conversations are littered with talk of “quarantines” and “isolation.” Leaders urge “social distancing” and “sheltering in place” and “flattening the curve.” In an instant, our vocabulary has changed — just like everything else. (Sedensky, 3/20)

The world’s 3 billion-plus smartphones emit the kind of data that health authorities covet during outbreaks. They show where individuals are, where they’ve been and who they might have talked to or even touched — potentially offering maps to find infected people and clues to stopping new ones. But gaining access to this data, even amid a global pandemic, is made complex by the legal and ethical issues surrounding government access to information that can reveal intimate details about citizens’ lives. (Timberg and Harwell, 3/19)

A highly anticipated heart study of the Apple Watch is facing disruptions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with enrollment slowing down and both retail store restrictions and social distancing measures interfering with a novel plan for seniors to obtain the devices. But, as the pandemic stretches on, the study could also become a test case for the opportunities of clinical research conducted remotely — both during the crisis and after it has passed. (Robbins, 3/20)

Senate Republicans' COVID-19 economic stimulus bill would suspend the Medicare sequester until the end of 2020, increase inpatient hospital add-on payments for treating COVID-19 patients, reduce restrictions on telehealth and boost funding to community health centers. Negotiations on the legislation are ongoing, and Republicans need Democratic support to pass the legislation. (Cohrs and Cohen, 3/19)

Soaring demand for telehealth and remote-care tools is prompting digital-health startups to ramp up quickly and could propel wider use of their technologies well after the new coronavirus is contained. Financial and other constraints previously limited use of tools enabling doctors to treat and monitor patients remotely. But the new coronavirus is spurring many of them to seek out remote-care and monitoring systems that could help them reduce crowding, protect staff and decide which patients need to be hospitalized. (Gormley, 3/20)

President Donald Trump will cancel an in-person meeting of G7 leaders at Camp David in June because of the coronavirus and will hold a video-conference instead, the White House said on Thursday. The decision comes as nations around the world seal their borders and ban travel to stop the virus’ spread. (Mason, 3/19)

Residential and retirement facilities across the country are limiting visitations to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, leaving residents increasingly isolated. But people are answering the call to brighten residents' days with cards. (Shannon, 3/19)

Every day, a quiet army of aides fans out across the country to fight off the creeping indignity and loneliness of old age. They head into individual homes and assisted living facilities, some to clip toenails or give baths or cook meals, others simply to converse or read aloud. They may be there as little as 30 minutes or as much as 14 hours. But as everyone tries to shield the elderly from the new coronavirus, these caregivers and the people who employ them are facing unenviable choices. Communities for older adults are closing their doors to any worker or visitor deemed “non-essential” — but the line between necessary and unnecessary care is blurred at best. (Boodman, 3/20)

Kaiser Health News: As Coronavirus Spreads Widely, Millions Of Older Americans Live In Counties With No ICU Beds

More than half the counties in America have no intensive care beds, posing a particular danger for more than 7 million people who are age 60 and up ― older patients who face the highest risk of serious illness or death from the rapid spread of COVID-19, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows. Intensive care units have sophisticated equipment, such as bedside machines to monitor a patient’s heart rate and ventilators to help them breathe. (Schulte, Lucas, Rau, Szabo and Hancock, 3/20)

The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in the new epicentre Europe, with the number of deaths in Italy outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus originated. With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the epidemic has stunned the world and drawn comparisons with painful periods such as World War Two, the 2008 financial crisis and the 1918 Spanish flu. (Faulconbridge and Mackenzie, 3/19)

Italy has a universal health care system. But now, its hospitals and medical staff are overwhelmed, prompting anguished debate. The Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care has issued guidelines for what it calls a "catastrophe medicine"-like scenario. The college put it starkly: Given the serious shortage of health resources, patients with the "best chance of success and hope of life" should have access to intensive care, the organization says. (Poggioli, 3/19)

The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus doubled in a week to more than 10,000 on Friday, led by large jumps in Italy, Iran and Spain, and increasing the urgency for governments all over the world to contain the pandemic. Deaths from the pneumonia-causing pathogen have more than quadrupled in the U.S. over the past week to 205, while confirmed infections in the country have surged to 14,250 from around 1,700 on March 13. (Xie, 3/20)

Iran, the country with the world's third highest case count, today reported 1,046 new cases, lifting its total to 18,407, according to the health ministry. It also reported 149 additional deaths, raising its fatality count to 1,284. The World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean regional office (EMRO) said today that 20,759 cases in the region have been reported in 22 countries, the vast majority in Iran. The next three hardest-hit countries are Qatar (452), Pakistan (302), and Bahrain (269). (Schnirring, 3/19)

So how is it that the new disease, Covid-19, has hit harder in Europe, which had weeks of warning that the epidemic was coming, than in China, where the virus originated and where there are twice as many people? To some extent, experts say, Europeans are paying a price for living in open, affluent democracies, where people are used to free movement, easy travel and independent decision-making, and where governments worry about public opinion. Governments aren’t used to giving harsh orders, and citizens aren’t used to following them. But China acted with a severity and breadth that stunned the West, making unpopular moves and accepting deep economic damage as the price of containing the disease. (Perez-Pena, 3/19)

China has exonerated a doctor who was officially reprimanded for warning about the coronavirus outbreak and later died of the disease, a startling admission of error by the ruling Communist Party that generally bodes no challenges to its authority. The party’s top disciplinary body said the police force in Wuhan had revoked its admonishment of Dr. Li Wenliang that had included a threat of arrest. (3/20)

Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist whose early warnings about the coronavirus earned him a reprimand from Chinese authorities, is finally receiving justice — albeit posthumously. Authorities in the country are apologizing to his family and dropping their reprimand, six weeks after his death from the disease caused by the virus. Widely known as a whistleblower who spoke up about the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, China, the 34-year-old doctor was initially punished by local authorities. They said he was "spreading rumors" in early January, after he had tried to warn others about the emergence of the novel coronavirus that has now become a global pandemic. (Cheng, 3/19)

As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, my fellow economists have reached deep into their bare cupboards of old ideas, and what have they found? Models that do not work: bailouts for big companies. Tax cuts for people well-off enough to owe taxes. Cash-grant schemes, a favorite of the universal-income crowd. These tactics won’t be effective. We cannot predict how bad the economic situation will get. And however bad it is, you cannot fill the hole with money alone. (James K. Galbraith, 3/19)

As the U.S. prepares for a lengthy battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that individuals who contract the virus get tested and needed care, whether or not they have insurance. Congress is poised to make testing free for all Americans, but more should be done. Millions of Americans could lose their jobs—and their health insurance—in coming weeks. Congress should create new pathways to full coverage for the uninsured and a back-up plan to finance care for infected patients who remain uninsured throughout this public health emergency. (Joe Antos and James C. Capretta, 3/19)

Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky and Ohio have postponed their state primaries because of concerns over the transmission of the coronavirus. Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are scheduled for April 28 — about the time the curve we are hoping to flatten may or may not be trending in the best of directions. It will be tempting for leaders in those states and others to postpone their primaries. Instead, in this hour of crisis, state officials — understandably scrambling to secure their people — should do all they can to hold their elections as soon as possible. The legitimacy of the eventual Democratic nominee could depend on it. (Jon Meacham, 3/20)

While touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss Covid-19 a couple weeks ago, President Donald Trump asked, "Who would have thought?" By not anticipating the catastrophe we are now living, Trump joins a pantheon of American leaders whose failures of imagination have come at great cost. (Alice Hill, 3/19)

So Donald Trump is now calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus.” Of course he is: Racism and blaming other people for his own failures are the defining features of his presidency. But if we’re going to give it a nickname, much better to refer to it as the “Trump pandemic.” True, the virus didn’t originate here. But the U.S. response to the threat has been catastrophically slow and inadequate, and the buck stops with Trump, who minimized the threat and discouraged action until just a few days ago. (Krugman, 3/19)

Donald Trump and the Republican Party are trying to distract you from their catastrophic failure. Two months ago, as the world knows, Trump was praising China’s government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, while downplaying the severity of the threat to the United States. “We have it totally under control,” he said in an interview to CNBC on Jan. 22. “It’s one person coming in from China and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” (Bouie, 3/20)

To fight the coronavirus, President Donald Trump is adopting the audacity of false hope. For the past two days, Trump has said he is dispensing "game changer" breakthroughs on treatments and a wartime-style effort to mass produce medical supplies that appear as rays of light amid America's darkening battle against the coronavirus pandemic. His eagerness for remedies no doubt reflects a sincere desire to deliver Americans from the nightmare of lockdowns, fear for loved ones and atmosphere of national trauma. But it is also becoming clear that the President's rhetoric is part of an emerging political strategy. (Stephen Collinson, 3/20)

In the blink of an eye, the essential nature of the American presidency seems to have changed. Only days ago most Republicans were cheering along to the president’s less than statesmanlike routine and happy to let him act as the chief culture warrior and judicial nominator in chief. But suddenly, the specter of Covid-19 has made owning the libs seem slightly less important and shined a bright light on the centrality of character to presidential leadership. Even such fervid supporters of President Trump as Tucker Carlson have admitted that his management of his administration in this crisis has left something to be desired. (Saldin and Teles, 3/20)

Devin Nunes is at it again. Again. Just a few days removed from suggesting that people should take advantage of the light crowds due to coronavirus and go out to eat and then blaming the media for reporting that he said what he said, the California Republican gave a long interview Wednesday with local conservative radio host Ray Appleton on the topic. And it is something else. (Chris Cillizza, 3/19)

China has seen drops in new Covid-19 infections along with signs that supply chains there are recovering. But we’re likely seeing the calm before a very large storm. In the U.S., a rippling cascade of shocks is oncoming, with severe impacts expected in April and May. The American Hospital Association is bracing for infection rates of 30 percent to 40 percent, and 500,000 potential deaths. (Sandor Boyson, 3/18)

The World Health Organization, for weeks now, has been making an emphatic plea to countries around the world: Social distancing is crucial to stopping the spread of coronavirus, but it is only half of the equation. To suppress and control a pandemic of this magnitude, countries also must find and isolate every person infected with Covid-19 — including those with mild cases of the disease who don’t turn up in doctor’s offices or hospitals. (3/19)

What part of “There’s a deadly scourge blazing its way around the globe; entire countries are on lockdown; American mayors are demanding that we ‘shelter in place;’ more than 100 people have died across the nation; and we may never see another sheet of toilet paper in the stores until Christmas” don’t the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice understand? As detailed by Herald reporter Monique O. Madan, on Tuesday, the Executive Office for Immigration Review — in a midnight tweet — postponed hearings in immigration courts across the country except, bafflngly, Miami. (3/19)

To halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, federal, state and local governments have called on us to separate ourselves as much as possible from others. The result in much of the United States has been the complete disruption of daily life, with schools suspending classes, businesses scaling back operations, workers staying home and bars, restaurants, malls, arenas and movie theaters going dark.Not surprisingly, though, some people are failing to comply with the new rules and admonitions. Photos of empty beaches and downtown districts abound, but so do shots of crowds of spring break partiers in Florida and packed concerts in Nashville. (3/20)

If the coronavirus makes you feel anxious, imagine what it feels like to be a nurse or a doctor right now. Medical workers risk their lives to protect public health during pandemics. As the COVID-19 virus spreads, we must all do our part to protect those working on the frontlines. “We take our job seriously and we know that we can take care of these patients, said Robin Cole, an emergency room nurse at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center. “We just insist that we take care of these patients in a safe manner, with the proper [personal protective equipment], using the precautionary principle to make sure that we’re safe, we keep our family safe and we’re keeping the public safe.” (3/19)

I’ve had hard conversations this week. “Look me in the eye,” I said to my neighbor Karen, who was spiraling to a dark place in her mind. “I make this personal promise to you — I will not let your children die from this disease.” I swallowed back a lump in my throat. Just the image of one of our kids attached to a tube was jarring. Two weeks ago our kids were having a pizza party and watching cartoons together, running back and forth between our apartments. This was before #socialdistancing was trending. Statistically, I still feel good about my promise to Karen because children do not seem to be dying from Covid-19. There are others to whom I cannot make similar promises. (Cornelia Griggs, 3/19)

Right now I want to hear less from politicians, and much more from doctors. Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging, as expected. ER doctors, nurses and health care experts are using traditional media and social media to sound alarms about supply shortages and other serious problems. "DOCTORS SOUND ALARM AS A NATION STRUGGLES" is the banner headline in Friday's NYT. (Brian Stelter, 3/20)

Happy hour, it turns out, is not canceled. In our new lockdown normal, you can get a downtown bar’s frothy, fussy cocktail, your favorite six-pack or a bottle of pinot delivered to your door after legislators swiftly enacted the biggest change to liquor laws since 1933. (Petula Dvorak, 3/19)

I went downtown last week to meet a couple of old friends for a long-scheduled work-related get-together — our last get-together for a while, I figure. A drive that usually takes 25 minutes, from northwest Dallas, took maybe 13 tops — no traffic on the toll road, no cars on the side streets. I stopped on Main Street and parked along a row of meters normally bumper-to-bumper on a weekday afternoon. I got out of the car and walked empty sidewalks to an apartment building where a man wearing purple latex gloves was delivering fast food to a resident.Inside the lobby, the people who lived there ignored me, an interloper in their midst. Hellos weren’t returned; nods of the head went unacknowledged. My host came to fetch me. Our small group, huggers all, bumped elbows and kept our distance — six feet and then some. We talked for a while about some business, pretending all was normal when it wasn’t, then we walked back downstairs. (Robert Wilonsky, 3/20)

In the winter of 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Edward Hopper began a new painting: a New York City diner at night, seen from outside, its four alienated inhabitants trapped behind a bubble of green glass. Of all Hopper’s paintings, “Nighthawks” encapsulates urban loneliness, the feeling of being unable to connect despite being surrounded by millions of others. Over the decades, it’s become so emblematic of this unhappy state that it’s regularly subject to parody. Sometimes the melancholy incumbents wear party hats; sometimes the diner floats in space. This week, a new version started circulating on social media. All the color had drained away. The people had vanished. The diner was empty. (Laing, 3/19)

In every community, COVID-19 poses additional threats for survivors of domestic violence. With external factors of mass closures, record numbers of people not working or working from home and the tension of the unknown, stress can build and lead to increased incidences of domestic violence.As well, the recommendation for social distancing parlays into the oft-used tactic of abusers: social isolation. In our work, it has been our experience that assailants use social isolation to gain greater control over the survivor. It often begins in subtle ways, but grows over time, which minimizes any help a survivor can access and can have significant physical and mental health impacts. (Barbara Niess-May, 3/19)

When we heard that the Los Angeles Unified School District would close schools for two weeks to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, my two sons — one in third grade, the other in fifth — were thrilled because no school usually means they get to sleep late, watch too much television and enjoy their vacation. I knew the closure would a challenge because I’m still working and, no, the boys weren’t being given the time off. They were switching from elementary school to home school. (Kerry Cavanaugh, 3/19)

Thanks to the coronavirus, my third-grade twins are home all day for the foreseeable future. I’m not going to recreate school for them.Judge me all you want. Out of respect for their amazing teachers, I’m making a good-faith effort to get my kids to do the work that’s been sent home, but that does not come anywhere close to filling what would have been a school day. (Jennie Weiner, 3/19)

Millennials may just have the opportunity to rebrand what it means to be American, as did many of their predecessors, including the "Greatest Generation," dubbed so for their sacrifices during World War II. Sure, there's plenty of blame to go around for the scary state of affairs regarding the novel coronavirus, especially when it comes to the American government: Why weren't we prepared? Why has President Donald Trump obfuscated the issue and blamed others? Still, the question to ask is: What do we owe one another? (Brandon Tensley, 3/19)

I’ve been speaking to epidemiologists about their best- and worst-case scenarios to gauge what may lie ahead and see how we can tilt the balance. Let me start with the best case, since we could all use a dose of hope — which may even be therapeutic — before presenting a bleaker prognosis.“The best case is that the virus mutates and actually dies out,” said Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who as a young doctor was part of the fight to eradicate smallpox. Brilliant was a consultant for the movie “Contagion,” in which a virus evolved to become more deadly, but that’s the exception. “Only in movies do viruses seem to become worse,” he explained. (Nicholas Kristof, 3/20)

If you have a cough, fever, or shortness of breath, how can you tell if you’ve got Covid-19, a common cold, the ordinary flu, or a bad case the worries? Should you get tested? When should you seek medical care —and when should you just stay home? (Michael Hochman, Michael Wang and Katy Butler, 3/20)

I can’t stop touching my face. I know the recommendations, but you can’t wipe away tears without your hands unless you awkwardly use your shoulder and that is getting old. My dad, David Kanter, died on March 18, and while we are restricted from gathering, there will be no in-person support from friends or family. He had come to Dallas to visit for Christmas, and during his visit he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He never got to go back home. The reality of this moment is that our family is in New England and can’t come to be with us. There will be no group gathering in my living room sharing stories and wine. And I’m not sure I want people bringing food to the house, so my wife and children and mom are isolated in a moment when we need others. (Daniel Kanter, 3/20)