Driving the Day:
https://twitter.com/Covid19WarRoom/status/1247863437025296386
By The Numbers
Wednesday, April 8, 7:30 AM
Number of US cases reported: 399,929
Number of US deaths: 12,911
Total Number of People Tested in US: 2,064,146 (may not include all labs)
Financial Times: Income of 73% in US hit by outbreak — FT-Peterson poll
HuffPost: By A 10-to-1 Margin, Americans Support Orders To Stay At Home
McClatchy: Coronavirus has officially killed more Americans in five weeks than H1N1 did in a year
Politico: Poll: Majority of Americans now disapprove of federal coronavirus efforts, Trump’s handling of crisis
Politico: Poll: Obama would be better amid coronavirus, but Trump bests Biden
What to Watch For Today
President Trump holds phone calls with state and local leaders and with faith leaders today. The coronavirus task force will brief the press at 5:00 PM.
Must Read Stories
- We Still Don’t Have A National Testing Strategy: The Washington Post reports that, “Three months into the coronavirus epidemic, the Trump administration has yet to devise a national strategy to test Americans for the deadly disease” and that meetings have only begun on devising such a strategy in “recent days.” Experts say a comprehensive national testing strategy is essential to controlling the outbreak and resuming normal life. Left on their own in the absence of federal leadership, states have scrambled to establish robust testing regimes and labs face “crisis after crisis” as testing has become “a massive logistical failure” across the country.
- They Were Warned: Yet another report has emerged from ABC News that “As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region” and yet the administration failed to act. At Tuesday evening’s press briefing, President Trump admitted that he never read memos directed specifically to him from trade advisor Peter Navarro in January and February that warned that the coronavirus could endanger millions of Americans.
- Hydroxychloroquine Hype: President Trump continues to massively hype the potential benefits of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus, despite “flimsy” evidence that it is effective. The Los Angeles Times reports that, “Federal contracting records show the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Bureau of Prisons have placed emergency orders for more than $250,000 of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets from private suppliers over the last two weeks” and Trump says he is stockpiling “millions” of doses for Americans. At Tuesday’s press briefing Trump insisted that “you’re not going to die from this pill” even as a Mayo Clinic cardiologist warned that the drug has potentially fatal side effects that it is “inexcusable” to ignore.
- White House Uses Precious Rapid Tests To Protect Trump: The Washington Post reports that all guests visiting President Trump and Vice President Pence are now required to undergo a rapid coronavirus exam. Communities across the country are desperate for the new rapid test from Abbott Labs, but the federal government has only ordered 5,500 for use by the states.
Worth Watching
With Americans focused on the coronavirus crisis, President Trump has declared war on oversight:
- Associated Press: Trump challenges authority, independence of agency watchdogs
- Mother Jones: Trump Declares War on Watchdogs
- Politico: Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel
- Time: With Americans Focused on Coronavirus, Trump Goes After Government Watchdogs
Headlines
Trump’s Failures
ABC: Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources
The Atlantic (Ideas): This Is Trump’s Fault
Axios: Ivanka Trump plans focus on coronavirus recovery for small businesses
Bloomberg: U.S. Labs Face Crisis After Crisis Despite Improvements in Testing
Bloomberg: Trump Team Preps Plans to Reopen Economy That Depend on Testing
Buzzfeed: Leaked Emails Show That While The VA Announced It Had Adequate Coronavirus Gear, A Major VA Hospital Was Rationing
CNN: States desperate for medical supplies turn to each other for help
CNN: Coroners worry Covid-19 test shortages could lead to uncounted deaths
CNN: Acting secretary of the Navy resigns after calling ousted aircraft carrier captain ‘stupid’
ESPN: Sources: MLB, union focused on plan that could allow season to start as early as May in Arizona
The Independent: ‘I will protect you if your governor fails’: Trump hails his ‘good moves’ in coronavirus fight
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus pandemic pushes U.S. and China closer to cold war
Los Angeles Times: Foreign doctors on front lines of COVID-19 fear deportation from U.S.
NBC: Trump’s use of medical stockpile veers from past administrations, leaving states in the lurch
NBC: ‘Hot mess’: Small businesses besieged by problems getting coronavirus loans
Politico: Navy in crisis: Top leader’s resignation roils service in the middle of a pandemic
Politico: Trump’s top health officials predict diminished coronavirus death toll
Politico: Trump Broke the Agencies That Were Supposed To Stop the Covid-19 Epidemic
Politico: Kushner’s team seeks national coronavirus surveillance system
Politico: Trump’s religious backers line up to smack China over coronavirus
Politico: Republicans whack China over coronavirus as Trump plays nice
New York Times (Opinion): This Won’t End for Anyone Until It Ends for Everyone
New York Times: ‘Swept Up by FEMA’: Complicated Medical Supply System Sows Confusion
New York Times: Despite Promises, Testing Delays Leave Americans ‘Flying Blind’
New York Times: Small Business Aid Program Stretches Agency to Its Limits
Stat: Trump pledges to put a hold on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization
Talking Points Memo: What Power Does The Federal Government Really Have To Seize Medical Supplies?
Talking Points Memo: Trump Admin Still Pushed Mask Exports to China in Late Feb
USA Today: Trump says he never saw aide’s memos that warned coronavirus could endanger millions of Americans
Vox: Jared Kushner, Peter Navarro, and our epidemic of overconfidence
Vox: The US doesn’t just need to flatten the curve. It needs to “raise the line.”
Wall Street Journal: At FEMA, Companies Offer Critical Coronavirus Supplies the Government Can’t Buy
Washington Post: In the absence of a national testing strategy, states go their own way
Washington Post: Even as deaths mount, officials see signs pandemic’s toll may not match worst fears
Trump’s Lies
The Atlantic: Why Does the President Keep Pushing a Malaria Drug?
CNBC: Patients with autoimmune diseases are running out of hydroxychloroquine
CNN: New White House press secretary downplayed pandemic threat and said Democrats were rooting for coronavirus
Daily Mail: ‘You’re not going to DIE from this pill!’ Donald Trump ramps up his support for unproven anti-malaria drug and praises Fox host Laura Ingraham who lobbied him about it in the Oval Office
Daily Mail: Donald Trump insists US coronavirus death toll is accurate despite warnings from experts and state officials who say true number is much higher because of limited testing and inconsistencies in reporting
HuffPost: Trump Steaks And Trump Vodka Flopped, But Trump COVID Cure Could Win Him Reelection
Los Angeles Times: VA and Bureau of Prisons are buying hydroxychloroquine
NBC: Mayo Clinic cardiologist: ‘Inexcusable’ to ignore hydroxychloroquine side effects
Politico: DeSantis, hydroxychloroquine pitchman
Talking Points Memo: Trump Claimed The Feds Have ‘Built 18 Hospitals.’ FEMA And Army Records Say Otherwise
Vox: 400,000 cases later, Trump defends his February claim that the coronavirus was going away on its own
Vox: The evidence for using hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 is flimsy
Trump and the GOP Not Looking Out For You
Associated Press: Coronavirus pandemic breeds Washington lobbying boom
Associated Press: Trump challenges authority, independence of agency watchdogs
Axios: Trump rails against mail-in voting, as more states expand options amid outbreak
Bloomberg: Pence Tells U.S. Food Workers ‘Do Your Job’ as They Fall Ill
CNBC: Trump ally Tom Barrack hires lobbyists for coronavirus-related issues as he warns of hurdles for the commercial mortgage market
HuffPost: GOP Uses Coronavirus Pandemic To Make It Harder To Vote
HuffPost: Mississippi Governor Declares ‘Confederate Heritage Month’ During Coronavirus Pandemic
Mother Jones: Trump Declares War on Watchdogs
NPR: Another Break From The Past: Government Will Help Churches Pay Pastor Salaries
Politico: Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel
Talking Points Memo: Wearing PPE, Wisconsin Speaker Claims It’s ‘Incredibly Safe To Go Out’ To Vote
Time: With Americans Focused on Coronavirus, Trump Goes After Government Watchdogs
Vice: Pro-Life Centers Are Still Open in States That Banned Abortion Because of Coronavirus
Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Allows Texas to Ban Most Abortions During Coronavirus Pandemic
Washington Post: To protect Trump, White House among first to use rapid coronavirus tests sought by communities
Affordability And Access
FierceHealthcare: KFF: Treating uninsured COVID-19 patients could cost as much as $41B
Politico: For jobless Americans, Obamacare is still a potential lifeline
Campaigns and Elections
NBC: Coronavirus has ignited a battle over voting by mail. Here’s why it’s so controversial.
New York Times: Why Wisconsin Republicans Insisted on an Election in a Pandemic
New York Times: They Turned Out to Vote in Wisconsin During a Health Crisis. Here’s Why.
Politico: Wisconsin is holding the most dangerous election ever. Here’s why.
Politico: Florida election officials sound the alarm ahead of November
Congress
HuffPost: Democrats Call For Coronavirus Hazard Pay In Next Relief Bill
Washington Post: Treasury’s Mnuchin seeks additional $250 billion to replenish small-business coronavirus program
Democratic Response
Mother Jones: Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren Has a Plan to Protect Your Right to Vote From the Coronavirus
Economic Impact
Axios: Public transit’s death spiral
Eater: Some Restaurant Relief Funds Are So Overwhelmed With Applications They’ve Stopped Taking New Ones
McClatchy: Food prices are going up. Because of coronavirus, experts can’t say by how much.
Politico: Most Americans on food stamps must shop at stores, risking coronavirus exposure
Hospitals and Health Care Workers
The Hill: Some hospitals could lose out on federal relief dollars
The Guardian: ‘When it gets your hospital, it becomes real’: inside a hospital in one of the hardest hit US counties
Kaiser Health News: Cancer Patients Face Treatment Delays And Uncertainty As Coronavirus Cripples Hospitals
Kaiser Health News: Nursing Homes Have Thousands Of Ventilators That Hospitals Desperately Need
Inequality
Chicago Tribune: Chicago’s coronavirus disparity: Black Chicagoans are dying at nearly six times the rate of white residents, data show
The Hill: Black, Latino communities suffering disproportionately from coronavirus, statistics show
Kansas City Star: In Kansas City, coronavirus is hitting black residents in the Third District hardest
New Yorker: The Coronavirus and Inequality Meet in Detroit
New York Times: Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States
New York Times: New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates
Vice: ‘Cancer Alley’ Has Some of the Highest Coronavirus Death Rates in the Country
Vox: Covid-19 is disproportionately taking black lives
Washington Post: Covid-19 is ravaging black communities. A Milwaukee neighborhood is figuring out how to fight back.
Washington Post: The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate
International
Los Angeles Times: In El Salvador, gangs are enforcing the coronavirus lockdown with baseball bats
Politico: How Europe failed the coronavirus test
Wall Street Journal: Fear Lingers in Wuhan as China Eases Lockdown
Washington Post: New Zealand isn’t just flattening the curve. It’s squashing it.
Washington Post: Boris Johnson heads into second night in intensive care unit
In the States
Associated Press: DC fights to enforce distancing and braces for looming surge
Gothamist: Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes Suggests City Is Undercounting Coronavirus Fatalities
Miami Herald: Inside Florida’s frenzied, failed dash to dole out $600 million in no-bid mask deals
New York Times: A ‘Liberty’ Rebellion in Idaho Threatens to Undermine Coronavirus Orders
Politico: California to spend nearly $1B for 200 million masks per month
Wall Street Journal: Seven Days, Hundreds of Deaths: New York’s Worst Week Yet Tests Its Coronavirus Response
Washington Post: Cuomo’s coronavirus orders vex hospitals afraid to surrender ventilators, take on more patients
National Security
Politico: Sailor aboard 4th U.S. aircraft carrier tests positive for coronavirus
Washington Post: He made a career of healing patients — and became the military’s first virus casualty
Philanthropy
Vox: These are the trade-offs we make when we depend on billionaires to save us
Public Safety
CNN: Visits to New York City’s domestic violence website surged amid coronavirus pandemic
Science
Kaiser Health News: To Curb Coronavirus, What’s Behind The Wearing Of A Mask?
Social Impact
New York Times: With Museums Empty, Security Experts Hope Thieves Stay Home, Too
Trump Tweets
Just had a conf call w/ major lenders discussing our Great Small Businesses & the #PPPloan. I ask every company, big & small, making announcements about innovative contributions, hiring new workers, or looking to overcome setbacks to share your stories with #AmericaWorksTogether! [@realDonaldTrump, 4/7/20]
Why didn’t the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report. Another Fake Dossier! [@realDonaldTrump, 4/7/20]
The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation? [@realDonaldTrump, 4/7/20]