Driving the Day: From POLITICO yesterday: Trump’s Mismanagement Helped Fuel Coronavirus Crisis. “For six weeks behind the scenes, and now increasingly in public, Trump has undermined his administration’s own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak — resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear.”
What to Watch For: Today President Trump will attend a campaign fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida. Dr. Anthony Fauci will appear on Fox News Sunday and Meet the Press. Surgeon General Jerome Adams will appear on Face the Nation and State of the Union.
Coronavirus Update
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On Saturday, President Trump went golfing at Trump International Golf Club in Florida and held a dinner with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at Mar A Lago. After the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Washington, DC was announced, Trump told reporters he was “not concerned” about the virus spreading in proximity to the White House. White House officials also said that Trump had not been in contact with the CPAC attendee who tested positive for the virus.
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After the announcement by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn that fewer than 6,000 coronavirus tests have been performed in the US, Vice President Pence appeared on Fox News to announce that state labs can now conduct coronavirus tests. Pence tweeted, “As a result of President @realDonaldTrump’s leadership, every state lab in the Country can now conduct Coronavirus testing.” CMS Administrator Seema Verma tweeted praise for LabCorp’s launch of coronavirus testing and said, “Industry leaders are taking charge to ensure timely and effective #COVID19 response!”
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Although there are none currently scheduled, the Trump campaign told ABC News they have no plans to cancel or delay rallies. At the Saturday afternoon task force briefing HHS Secretary Alex Azar was asked if political campaigns should consider suspending rallies, Azar said it was “not proper” for him to speak about campaign events in his official capacity.
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After the first two coronavirus deaths were announced in Florida, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) appeared on Fox News to ask the state and federal government to provide more information about the deaths and other cases of the virus in Florida. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted his condolences and concerns about the deaths, one of which occurred in his district days after Gaetz jokingly wore a gas mask on the floor of the House for debate on the coronavirus funding bill.
Federal Preparedness
Associated Press: Official: White House didn’t want to tell seniors not to fly
Bloomberg: U.S. Has Tested Fewer Than 6,000 Coronavirus Samples, FDA Says
Bloomberg: Pence Says Seniors Should Avoid Cruises as Virus Precaution
CNN: New CDC guidance says older adults should ‘stay at home as much as possible’ due to coronavirus
Financial Times: White House eyes ‘micro approach’ to stimulus
Jerusalem Post: Israel considers placing Americans under coronavirus quarantine
New York Times: Anyone Who Wants a Coronavirus Test Can Have One, Trump Says. Not Quite, Says His Administration.
New York Times: CPAC Attendee Has the Coronavirus, Officials Say
NPR: Where That $8.3 Billion In U.S. Coronavirus Funding Will And Won’t Go
Politico: Trump officials unsure how many people tested for coronavirus
Politico: How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.
Reuters: U.S. airport screeners, health workers plagued by fear and anger as coronavirus spreads
Vox: The CDC’s rocky effort to get Americans tested for coronavirus, explained
Washington Post: What went wrong with the coronavirus tests in the U.S.
Affordability and Access
Axios: Virus-driven shift to online classes brings home the digital divide
HuffPost: About Half Of Working Americans Say They Went To Work Sick In The Last Year
Los Angeles Times (column): Government can’t order insurers to cover the coronavirus for free. Here’s why
New York Times: For Urban Poor, the Coronavirus Complicates Existing Health Risks
Washington Post (Opinion): As coronavirus spreads, the bill for our public health failures is due
Leadership
Bloomberg: Trump Says Campaign Rallies Will Go On Despite Coronavirus
CNN: Fact check: White House falsely claims the coronavirus has been ‘contained’ in the US
CNN (Opinion): I live in Kirkland, epicenter of the US outbreak. We need Trump to take this seriously
Daily Beast: A Pandemic Killed Trump’s Grandpa. This One Could Destroy His Presidency.
FactCheck.org: Trump and the Coronavirus Death Rate
New York Times (Column): The Coronavirus Is Coming for Trump’s Presidency
New York Times: Inside Trump Administration, Debate Raged Over What to Tell Public
New Yorker (Column): Trump Weekends in Florida as Fear of the Coronavirus RisesZ
Politico: Trump ‘not concerned’ as first coronavirus case confirmed in Washington, D.C.
Politico: Trump’s mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis
Vox: Trump’s visit to the CDC shows why there’s concern about his coronavirus response
Washington Post (Analysis): Which is Trump more worried about: Coronavirus numbers or coronavirus patients?
Washington Post (Column): Trump is pushing a dangerous, false spin on coronavirus — and the media is helping him spread it
Washington Post: Squandered time: How the Trump administration lost control of the coronavirus crisis
Washington Post: Trump ‘didn’t know people died from the flu.’ It killed his grandfather.
Wired: Trump’s Coronavirus Press Event Was Even Worse Than It Looked
Economic Impacts
The Guardian: Italy set to quarantine whole of Lombardy due to coronavirus
Kaiser Health News: With Coronavirus Lurking, Conferences Wrestle With Whether To Cancel
Los Angeles Times: Uber, Lyft say they will pay quarantined drivers as senator calls on gig companies to help contain virus
Los Angeles Times: Truckers, dockworkers suffer as coronavirus chokes L.A., Long Beach ports cargo
New York Times: Spiraling Virus Fears Are Causing Financial Carnage
Washington Post: Coronavirus could halt the world’s emissions growth. Not that we should feel good about that.
Washington Post: Amtrak cancels nonstop Acela service between Washington and New York amid coronavirus crisis
Opinion And Analysis
New York Times (Opinion): Coronavirus School Closings: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Politico (Magazine): We Predicted a Coronavirus Pandemic. Here’s What Policymakers Could Have Seen Coming.
Washington Post (Perspective): When an emergency room suspected I had coronavirus, things got serious fast
In The States
California
CNN: A cancer patient quarantined on a cruise ship fears she won’t make it home for her chemotherapy
Los Angeles Times: Grand Princess passengers still in limbo amid debate over origin of coronavirus outbreak
Florida
Washington Post: Matt Gaetz made light of coronavirus by wearing a gas mask. Now one of his constituents has died.
New York
New York Times: Coronavirus in N.Y.C.: Why Closing Public Schools Is a ‘Last Resort’
New York Times: Coronavirus in N.Y.: Cuomo Declares State of Emergency
Washington
Los Angeles Times: Seattle-area nursing home deaths jump to 13 with COVID-19 and 11 of unknown causes
New York Times: Nursing Home Hit by Coronavirus Says 70 Workers Are Sick
Seattle Times: Seattle health care providers scramble to ration medical supplies as coronavirus cases climb
Washington Post: As coronavirus quietly spread, a nondescript nursing home became the deadliest hot spot in the U.S.