Driving the Day: According to the New York Times, “President Trump resists using emergency powers to compel production, saying companies will voluntarily provide much-needed protective gear…Doctors and hospital administrators have been warning for weeks that they face acute shortages of masks…executives in the medical supply industry said while they are rushing to accelerate their output of masks, it could take months to ramp up.”
What to Watch For: President Trump has no public events scheduled today. The coronavirus task force will brief the press at 4:30 PM. A deal appears close on a massive economic relief package with House and Senate leaders expected to meet this afternoon to discuss. The Senate has a cloture vote on the measure scheduled for 3:00 PM Sunday with final passage expected on Monday. Dr. Fauci will appear on CBS’s Face the Nation today and governors appear on all of the Sunday shows to discuss the crisis.
Coronavirus Update:
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Throughout the day Saturday on Twitter and in the press briefing, Trump continued to promote the unproven malaria drug chloroquine as a potential treatment for coronavirus. ‘This would be a gift from God if it works,” Trump said of the drug. Scientists are racing to test whether chloroquine can treat coronavirus, but Trump’s continued promotion of it has resulted in shortages that may make it unavailable for patients who rely on it to treat other conditions.
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Trump continued to dismiss reports of mask shortages and criticized reporters for not reporting on the fact that, “I was the one that closed the country down,” which he claimed “saved tens of thousands” of lives. The president also continued to bash previous administrations for doing “very little” to address shortages in the medical supply chain. Trump also boasted about the “incredible” number of tests being performed, even as states ration tests to only the sickest patients. Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that, “You’re not making things up” and acknowledged the issue with shortages.
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At this daily briefing, Trump was asked whether his own company would seek government assistance for his hotels. Trump replied, “I have to do what everybody else is doing” and said that he doesn’t know what the government assistance will be. Saturday afternoon the Trump hotel in Washington, DC laid off “the overwhelming majority” of its staff.
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The office of the Vice President announced Saturday evening that Mike and Karen Pence have tested negative for coronavirus.
By The Numbers
Sunday, March 22, 2020, 9:30 AM
Number of US cases reported: 24,380
Number of US deaths: 340
Total Number of People Tested in US: 191,541 (may not include private labs)
New York Times: Coronavirus Deaths by U.S. State and Country Over Time
Federal Health Response
Affordability and Access
Politico: Trump officials weigh reopening Obamacare enrollment over coronavirus
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Considers Special Enrollment Period for Affordable Care Act Due to Coronavirus Spread
Diplomacy
Bloomberg: Trump Sends Letter to North Korea Offering Help Fighting Virus
Daily Beast: White House Pushes U.S. Officials to Criticize China For Coronavirus ‘Cover-Up’
New York Times: Another Virus Victim: The U.S. as a Global Leader in a Time of Crisis
Immigration and Travel
New York Times: Hundreds Exposed to The Coronavirus on Cruise Ship Fly Home
New York Times: They Went Abroad to Study. Now They Are Stranded.
National Security
Yahoo: Federal law enforcement document reveals white supremacists discussed using coronavirus as a bioweapon
Preparedness
The Atlantic: How the Coronavirus Became an American Catastrophe
New York Times: As Natural Disasters Strike, a New Fear: Relief Shelters May Spread Virus
Prisons and Criminal Justice
Associated Press: 1st fed inmate tests positive for coronavirus
New York Times: ‘A Storm Is Coming’: Fears of an Inmate Epidemic as the Virus Spreads in the Jails
Politico: DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic
Shortages
New York Times: Governments and Companies Race to Make Masks Vital to Virus Fight
New York Times: As Coronavirus Looms, Mask Shortage Gives Rise to Startling Solution
Seattle Times: ‘Our warehouse is empty’: Washington state epidemiologist describes severe shortage of medical supplies
Talking Points Memo: Medical Orgs Urge Trump To Invoke Defense Production Act To Help With Supplies
Washington Post: Government scrambling as hospitals run low on basic supplies for coronavirus
Washington Post: Trump administration scrambles to offer guidance on what to do if hospitals run out of basic supplies for coronavirus
Social Distancing
USA Today (Opinion): We need an immediate five-week national lockdown to defeat coronavirus in America
Testing
Bloomberg: FDA Approves First Bedside Covid-19 Test by Cepheid
Stat: As public hungers for coronavirus tests, FDA warns new at-home kits are ‘unauthorized’
Washington Post: A new message on coronavirus in hard-hit areas: Don’t get tested
Washington Post: In hard-hit areas, testing restricted to health care workers, hospital patients
Treatment
Bloomberg: Trump Pushes an Unproven Coronavirus Drug, and Patients Stock Up
Business Insider: Elon Musk and Trump are touting a 1940s malaria pill as a potential coronavirus treatment. But supplies are already running short as prescriptions spike.
Daily Beast: Researchers Kickstart Huge Study of Malaria Drug to Prevent Coronavirus
Slate: Nigeria Reports Chloroquine Poisonings as Trump Keeps Pushing Drug Against Coronavirus
Federal Economic Response
Politico: Senate closing in on deal for $1.6 trillion rescue package
Wall Street Journal: Lobbyists Pile On to Get Wins for Clients Into Coronavirus Stimulus Package
Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Obama’s Bad Stimulus Example
Washington Post (Analysis): Unlikely group in Congress unifies to provide lifeline to small businesses caught in economic free fall
Leadership
The Atlantic: Anthony Fauci’s Plan to Stay Honest
CNN: Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence test negative for coronavirus, White House says
New York Times: Used to Meeting Challenges With Bluster and Force, Trump Confronts a Crisis Unlike Any Before
Politico: Short-term thinking plagues Trump’s coronavirus response
Politico: Trump has scoreboard obsession. It hasn’t worked with coronavirus
Washington Post (Perspective): The media must stop live-broadcasting Trump’s dangerous, destructive coronavirus briefings
Congress
Bloomberg: House Democrats Want Trump Team’s Answers on Supply Shortages
CBS: NYSE boss sold his own stock ahead of coronavirus market meltdown
Hospitals and Health Care Workers
California Healthline: Some Hospitals Continue With Elective Surgeries Despite COVID-19 Crisis
CNN: EMS workers expected to keep working after coronavirus exposure
New York Times: The Hardest Questions Doctors May Face: Who Will Be Saved? Who Won’t?
ProPublica: A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even in His Young Patients
Washington Post: Hospitals warn of shortages, closures without emergency aid
Campaigns and Elections
Politico: Anti-vaxx politicians under fire as coronavirus spreads
Slate: Joe Biden Stops by DJ D-Nice’s Social Distancing Dance Party
USA Today (Opinion): Democratic leaders: Act now to protect voting this year amid coronavirus crisis
International
Bloomberg: The Virus Hunter Showing the World How to Fight an Epidemic
CNN: Why does Russia, population 146 million, have fewer coronavirus cases than Luxembourg?
Financial Times: Germany’s coronavirus anomaly: high infection rates but few death
New York Times: Italy, Pandemic’s New Epicenter, Has Lessons for the World
Stat: A plea from doctors in Italy: To avoid Covid-19 disaster, treat more patients at home
Workers
Axios: The workers feeding America
Buzzfeed: This Is What Life Is Like During The Coronavirus Outbreak For A Delivery Guy
New York Times: ‘Terrified’ Package Delivery Workers Are Going To Work Sick
Wall Street Journal: ‘I’m Very Scared’: Janitors on Front Lines of Coronavirus Outbreak
Economic Impacts
ABC: ‘It’s about being well’: Cannabis shops thrive as ‘essential businesses’ in coronavirus pandemic
New York Times: Independent Restaurants Brace for the Unknown
New York Times: A Boom Time for the Bean Industry
Wall Street Journal: Marriott to Furlough Thousands of Corporate Jobs
Social Impacts
Buzzfeed: The Disorienting Thing Is You Can’t Compare This To Anything
Buzzfeed: Here’s What Parents Dealing With Coronavirus Isolation Want You To Know
New York Times: Americans Coping With the Coronavirus Are Clogging Toilets
Personal Preparedness
Boston Globe (Opinion): Guidance against wearing masks for the coronavirus is wrong — you should cover your face
New York Times (Opinion): I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share
Washington Post: How you can help during the coronavirus outbreak
In The States
Arizona
Washington Post: People moved here to escape big city drama. With coronavirus, that’s impossible.
Florida
Politico: Will spring breakers become super-spreaders?
Kentucky
Louisville Courier Journal: Social media memes praise Andy Beshear for his handling of coronavirus
Salon: “Govern me, daddy”: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear a clean-cut sex symbol for the coronavirus age
Louisiana
New Orleans Times Picayune: This 39-year-old New Orleans woman tested for coronavirus. She died before getting her results.
New York
Bloomberg: ‘Tipping Point’ at New York Area Hospitals as Virus Cases Mount
New York Post: NYC Health Department gets graphic in coronavirus sex memo
Trump Tweets
“HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents) ….be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE! @US_FDA @SteveFDA @CDCgov @DHSgov” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/21/20]