Driving the Day: (CVWR tweet):
The U.S. leads the world in the number of confirmed infections and @realDonaldTrump is now admitting that in the best case scenario 200,000 Americans will die. This didn’t need to happen. It’s the direct result of the Trump Admin's botched response to the #Coronavirus crisis. https://t.co/bZHBTDJwP8
— Coronavirus War Room (@Covid19WarRoom) March 31, 2020
By The Numbers
Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 7:30 AM
Number of US cases reported: 164,610
Number of US deaths: 3,170
Total Number of People Tested in US: 956,481 (may not include all labs)
Axios: The coronavirus outbreak won’t peak in every state at once
The Bulwark: COVID-19 Has Killed More Americans Than 9/11
CNN: More than 3,000 people in the US have died from coronavirus
New York Times: Restrictions Are Slowing Coronavirus Infections, New Data Suggest
What to Watch For
President Trump will participate in a phone call with network service providers at 2:30 today. The coronavirus task force will hold a press briefing at 5:00 PM.
Trump’s Failure to Prepare & How He’s Making it Worse
- Despite Documented Shortages, Trump Tells Governors There’s No Problem With Testing: On a call with governors on Monday, Trump insisted that he has not “heard about testing in weeks” and there are no problems with it. Governors strenuously pushed back with Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) informing the president that Montana is “one day away” from not being able to perform any tests at all if it doesn’t receive more test kits and Gov. MIchelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) warning that tribal areas in her state could be “wiped out” if more help doesn’t arrive. New analysis from the Washington Post shows how the catastrophic failure of testing in the United States left the government blind to the extent that the virus has spread.
- As Hospitals Face Shortages, Trump Tells Nation There Will Be Enough Ventilators For Everyone Who Needs One, Offers Supplies To Europe: At the Monday evening press briefing, Trump said that the US is “in very good shape” to provide enough ventilators to all who need them during the virus’s peak and claimed that US production of ventilators would so outstrip demand that, “We’re going to be sending them to Italy, we’re going to be sending them to France, we’re going to be sending them to Spain where they have tremendous problems.” While Trump was boasting about a supposed surplus of ventilators, NYU Lagone Health Center was issuing guidance to ER doctors to “think more critically” about who gets a ventilator and potentially “withhold futile intubations” from patients.
- Governors Report Getting Shoddy Goods From Stockpile: Following reports from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) that California was given broken ventilators from the national stockpile, Gov. Jamie Pritzker (D-IL) reported that the Trump administration sent his state the wrong type of masks. Instead of receiving 300,000 N95 masks, Illinois received surgical masks, which cannot be used by frontline medical staff for protection.
ABC: New Mexico’s governor warns tribal nations could be ‘wiped out’ by coronavirus
Associated Press: How dire projections, grim images dashed Trump’s Easter plan
BBC: Coronavirus: Trump says US in good shape to meet ‘peak’
CBS: Rural-state governors tell Trump they need tests and medical supplies, too
CNBC: Coronavirus job losses could total 47 million, unemployment rate may hit 32%, Fed estimates
CNN: Trump’s path to extending coronavirus guidelines was led by health experts and the scenes at one New York hospital
The Hill: Fox’s Boothe: WH looking into random coronavirus test sampling of U.S. population
Los Angeles Times: Trump’s mixed messages confuse coronavirus response
New York Times: Inside G.M.’s Race to Build Ventilators, Before Trump’s Attack
New York Times: What Sept. 11 Taught Us About Confronting Catastrophe
New York Times: Behind Trump’s Reversal on Reopening the Country: 2 Sets of Numbers
New York Times: Hospital Safety Rules Are Relaxed to Fight Coronavirus
New York Times: Trump suggests coronavirus testing is no longer a problem. Governors disagree.
Politico: Forget Washington — corporate America is focused on governors right now
Politico: ‘There is no surge plan’: Despite warnings, Congress failed to fully fund pandemics bill
ProPublica: Taxpayers Paid Millions to Design a Low-Cost Ventilator for a Pandemic. Instead, the Company Is Selling Versions of It Overseas.
Vanity Fair: As U.S. Hospitals Face Shortages, Trump Vows to Send Ventilators—to Europe
Vox: The US needs foreign doctors and nurses to fight coronavirus. Immigration policy isn’t helping.
Vox: Trump says 200,000 Americans could die from coronavirus, because he’s done “a very good job”
Washington Post: CDC considering recommending general public wear face coverings in public
Washington Post (Opinion): ‘No national response’: One senator’s alarming account of the first days
Washington Post (Analysis): 11 to 100,000: What went wrong with coronavirus testing in the U.S.
Washington Post: Both public health and politics played a role in Trump’s coronavirus decision
Trump’s Misinformation
- Trump Doubles Down On Attacking Nurses: At the press briefing on Monday, Trump lauded CEOs while continuing to attack nurses and reporters. Asked about his comments on Sunday that masks must be “going out the back door” at hospitals, Trump insisted that “a tremendous power in the business” told him that doctors, nurses and hospitals must be stealing or hoarding masks and equipment. There is no evidence that this has happened and Trump offered no proof for his theory. Coronavirus deniers, including Fox News commentator Todd Starnes, are increasingly taking aim at hospitals, filming videos in parking lots attempting to show that the crisis isn’t really straining hospitals.
CNN: Fact check: Trump again touts unproven drugs for coronavirus, and other misleading statements from Monday’s briefing
Daily Beast: CNN Chief Jeff Zucker Defends Not Cutting Away From Trump’s Coronavirus Pressers
HuffPost: Trump Again Accuses Health Care Workers Of Squandering Masks
MSNBC: In need of an enemy, Trump turns his sights on hospitals
NBC: Coronavirus deniers take aim at hospitals as pandemic grows
New York Times: President Trump’s Prime-Time Pandemic
New York Times: Despite scant evidence, the F.D.A. granted approval to use two malaria drugs.
Slate: The Trumpian French Doctor Behind the Chloroquine Hype
Talking Points Memo: FDA Gives Emergency Authorization To Potential COVID-19 Drugs, But Doubts Remain
Talking Points Memo: Trump Shouts Out To CEOs For COVID-19 Efforts While Continuing To Slam Reporters
Washington Post (Opinion): Yamiche Alcindor wants an answer, thank you very much
Trump, GOP Only Looking Out for Themselves
- Trump Advisors Now Worrying Virus Might Hurt Their Supporters, Not Just “Democratic Coastal Cities”: The Los Angeles Times reported that Trump advisors are concerned that the virus, “which so far has hit largely Democratic coastal cities hardest,” will soon hit rural areas where Trump supporters live. The Associated Press and Atlantic report that coronavirus response is now a partisan issue, with Republican governors being far more likely to resist aggressive mitigation measures and some conservatives ostentatiously refusing to participate as social distancing becomes a culture war issue.
- Republican Profiteering: The FBI has reached out to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to investigate his sale of $1.7 million in stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet and a new report shows that Oscar Health, a firm closely connected to Jared Kushner, has been far more involved in building a coronavirus testing website than was previously known, potentially violating federal ethics laws.
The Atlantic: The Social-Distancing Culture War Has Begun
The Atlantic: Kushner Firm Built the Coronavirus Website Trump Promised
Associated Press: Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide
Associated Press: FBI reaches out to Sen. Burr over stock sales tied to virus
Business Insider: A GOP senator calls on Trump to reopen parts of the coronavirus-stricken economy because ‘death is an unavoidable part of life’
Chicago Sun-Times: Pritzker says feds sent wrong masks as Illinois reports 8 more coronavirus deaths
Daily Beast: GOP Plows Forward on Plans to Kill Obamacare, Pandemic Be Damned
New York Post: Mount Sinai hospital leaders holed up in Florida vacation homes during coronavirus crisis
New York Times: Trump’s Virus Defense Is Often an Attack, and the Target Is Often a Woman
Open Secrets: Trump admin deems gun dealers and shooting ranges essential after lobbying push
Politico: Judge lifts Texas abortion ban pegged to coronavirus pandemic
USA Today (Opinion): Trump’s chaotic coronavirus presidency: Historically divisive and, for some, fatal
Washington Post (Opinion): The cult of Trump is a threat to untold numbers of American lives
Washington Post: Justice Dept. investigates at least one lawmaker’s stock trades before coronavirus spike in U.S.
Washington Post (Analysis): Trump just comes out and says it: The GOP is hurt when it’s easier to vote
Other News
Affordability And Access
McClatchy: For Florida’s uninsured, hospitalization for COVID-19 can be a $35,000 sucker punch
New York Times: No, Getting Tested for Coronavirus Is Not Always Free
Talking Points Memo: How Private Insurers Have Dragged Their Feet On A Crucial COVID-19 Safeguard
Campaigns and Elections
Axios: The race to change how America votes
NBC: Campaigning during coronavirus: DNC takes organizing on line
New York Times: Is the U.S. Headed Toward a Short British-Style Election?
NPR: Some Remain Skeptical About Voting By Mail — Even During A Pandemic
Politico: States struggle to prepare for voting during a pandemic
Popular Information: Mailing it in
Congress
NBC: Rep. Velazquez has presumed COVID-19 infection, was near Pelosi, other lawmakers last week
New York Times: Pelosi Floats New Stimulus Plan: Rolling Back SALT Cap
Politico: Congress eyes avoiding Washington for at least a month
Politico: From distraction to disaster: How coronavirus crept up on Washington
Stat: Lawmakers’ coronavirus response means delays for drug pricing legislation
Business
Axios: Coronavirus brings out Silicon Valley’s inner problem-solver
Politico: Why some of America’s best-known companies won’t qualify for bailout money
Reuters: Ford, GE to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days
Washington Post: Cruise ships canceled orders. Then hotels. Now, a linen company is making medical masks.
Democratic Response
McClatchy: Instagram, podcasts and Fox News: Biden urged to get more creative amid coronavirus crisis
NBC: What White House contenders have proposed for the uninsured jobless
New York Times: What the ‘Cuomo 2020’ Fantasy Says About 2020 Reality
Politico: How coronavirus blew up the plan to take down Trump
Washington Free Beacon: Liberal Dark Money Group to Spend $1.2 Million Attacking GOP Senators on Coronavirus
Economic Impact
Bloomberg: Nobody Knows What Will Happen When the Rent Comes Due on April 1
Mother Jones: Small Restaurants Are Furious About a Loophole in the Stimulus Bill. They Should Be.
New York Times (Opinion): Jobs Aren’t Being Destroyed This Fast Elsewhere. Why Is That?
Vox: “This one is scarier”: Obama-era officials say current economic crisis is fundamentally different from 2008
Wall Street Journal: Wheat and Rice Prices Surge in Coronavirus Lockdown
Education
Axios: Kids’ daily screen time surges during coronavirus
Federal Activity
Los Angeles Times: FDA approves 5-minute coronavirus test by Abbott Labs
Governors and Mayors
Mississippi Today: Gov. Tate Reeves defends handling of the COVID-19 crisis; talks Medicaid expansion, Trump and his controversial Spain trip
Hospitals and Health Care Workers
The Atlantic (Ideas): Are Community Hospitals Ready for the Coronavirus?
CNN: Inside a Brooklyn hospital that is overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients and deaths
HuffPost: ER Doctor Sick With Coronavirus: ‘Nothing Right Now Is Sustainable’
Kaiser Health News: Coronavirus Patients Caught In Conflict Between Hospital And Nursing Homes
Kaiser Health News: Already Taxed Health Care Workers Not ‘Immune’ From Layoffs And Less Pay
Wall Street Journal: NYU Langone Tells ER Doctors to ‘Think More Critically’ About Who Gets Ventilators
Immigration And Travel
Politico: Judge declines to release detained immigrant families, for now
Washington Post: Under coronavirus immigration measures, U.S. is expelling border-crossers to Mexico in an average of 96 minutes
International
Politico: Couple flees to north of the Arctic Circle in bid to escape Covid-19
Reuters: Special Report: Five days of worship that set a virus time bomb in France
In the States
Houston Chronicle: Houston’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 spikes dramatically, but testing suffers setback
Los Angeles Times: A choir decided to go ahead with rehearsal. Now dozens of members have COVID-19 and two are dead
New York Times: Florida Issues Arrest Warrant for Pastor Who Defied Virus Orders
New York Times: Days After a Funeral in a Georgia Town, Coronavirus ‘Hit Like a Bomb’
Politico: Bend it like the Bay Area: Doctors see flatter curve after 2 weeks of social isolation
Slate: Florida Is Facing a Coronavirus Catastrophe
Media
New York Times: The Medical News Site That Saw the Coronavirus Coming Months Ago
National Security
CNBC: Pentagon confirms first US service member to die from coronavirus
Reuters: U.S. spies find coronavirus spread in China, North Korea, Russia hard to chart
Personal Narratives
Buzzfeed: Six Siblings Said Goodbye To Their Mother Via Walkie-Talkie Before She Died Of The Coronavirus
Public Safety
New York Times: ‘We’re Left for Dead’: Fears of Virus Catastrophe at Rikers Jail
Vice: Inside the Federal Prison That’s ‘Ground Zero’ For the Coronavirus Outbreak
Workers
Bloomberg: Amazon Workers Cite Health Concern in Demands for Better Pay
New York Times (Opinion): They Don’t Want to Risk Their Lives to Flip Your Burger
New York Times: They Can’t Afford to Quarantine. So They Brave the Subway.
USA Today: Work strikes at Amazon, Instacart and Whole Foods show essential workers’ safety concerns
Vice: General Electric Workers Launch Protest, Demand to Make Ventilators
Vice: Whole Foods Employees Are Staging a Nationwide ‘Sick-Out’
Trump Tweets
“New York Governor Cuomo says President Trump has been “very helpful.” @foxandfriends Thank you, everybody is working very hard! [@realDonaldTrump, 3/31/20]
On #NationalDoctorsDay, we recognize the remarkable men & women who treat their fellow Americans, find cures for the diseases & illnesses we face, and never waver in their efforts to treat every patient with the dignity, respect, and empathy they deserve. [@realDonaldTrump, 3/30/20]