The Washington Post: Gov. Brian Kemp Sets Georgia On Aggressive Course To Reopen, Putting His State At Center Of Deepening National Debate 
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s move Monday to lift restrictions on a wide range of businesses, one of the most aggressive moves yet to reignite commercial activity in the midst the coronavirus pandemic, put his state at the center of a deepening national battle over whether Americans are ready to risk exacerbating the public health crisis to revive the shattered economy. (Stanley-Becker, 4/21)

The Associated Press: Georgia To Reopen Some Businesses As Early As Friday
Georgia’s timetable, one of the most aggressive in the nation, would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. Elective medical procedures would also resume. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service. (Amy, 4/21)

NPR: Georgia Beginning To Reopen Its Economy, Lifting Some Coronavirus-Crisis Limits
Kemp said "favorable data, enhanced testing and approval of our health care professionals" motivated him to reopen some businesses in the next week. Georgia is on track to meet Phase 1 criteria as recommended by the White House's coronavirus task force, according to the governor. Kemp cited Department of Public Health reports that emergency room visits of people with flu-like symptoms are declining and that documented COVID-19 cases have flattened. But according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Georgia and number of deaths attributed to the virus there, have been steadily increasing in the last month. (Hagemann and Booker, 4/20)

CNN: Some US State Leaders Move Toward Reopening While Death Toll Nearly Doubles In A Week 
Last week, more than 5,700 new coronavirus cases were reported in Georgia, a rate that was down about 6 percent from the week before, but still higher than the week that ended April 5, when fewer than 3,800 new cases were reported. The numbers are based on data collected by CNN and Johns Hopkins University. (Maxouris, 4/21)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: Georgia To Reopen Businesses; Fauci Issues Warning
“I don’t give a damn about politics now,” Kemp said. The governor said he was concerned about residents “going broke worried about whether they can feed their children and make the mortgage payment.” (Kaleem, 4/20)

Atlanta Journa- Constitution: Governor's Plan To Reopen Georgia Alarms Public Health Experts
“It’s a very big risk,” said Dr. Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “If you open up enough, it’s almost for certain” the virus will hit Georgia again. It’s just waiting for more susceptible people and more contacts. That’s how viruses work.” (Judd and Bluestein, 4/20)

The New York Times: Georgia, Tennessee And South Carolina Move To Reopen As Hot Spots Emerge
With that announcement, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia on Monday joined officials in other states who are moving ahead with plans to relax restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus, despite signs that the outbreak is just beginning to strike some parts of the country. In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee said on Monday that he was not extending his “safer-at-home” order that is set to expire on April 30. According to his office, “the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties” will be allowed to reopen on May 1. Businesses in Ohio are expected to reopen on that date as well. (Rojas and Cooper, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Some Governors Move To Reopen As U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 784,000
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, meanwhile, issued an order lifting restrictions on some retailers and other businesses. He also eased limits on access to public beaches, leaving the issue up to mayors and local leaders. Public-health experts say any return to something resembling normal life will require fast and widespread testing, but state health officials and laboratory operators are navigating supply shortages, test backlogs and unreliable results. Adm. Brett Giroir, the Trump administration’s testing coordinator, has said the federal government is fully engaged in fixing testing. (Calfas, Calvert and Dvorak, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Resists Pressure To Ease California Coronavirus Order
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday acknowledged that pressure from Californians and local governments is building to modify the statewide stay-at-home order carried out to stem to spread of the coronavirus, but he said restrictions will remain in place until the threat to public health subsides and adequate testing and other safeguards are implemented. (Willon, 4/20)

The Associated Press: WHO Warns Rush To Ease Virus Rules Could Cause Resurgence
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness, a warning that comes as governments start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again. “This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific. (Blake and Long, 4/21)

The Hill: Governors Headed For Messy Fight Over Coronavirus Restrictions
Governors are heading for a clash with their own citizens and local officials as they weigh how and when to reopen the country's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump's own guidelines for easing social distancing restrictions, unveiled on Thursday, leave the final decisions for those matters with state governors. And those governors are facing growing pressure from the public in states such as Ohio and Michigan, where protests have called on leaders to quickly lift stay-at-home orders and bans on large gatherings and to allow nonessential businesses to open their doors. (Kruzel, 4/20)

Politico: Murphy: Testing Capacity Must Double Before New Jersey Can Reopen
New Jersey will need to at least double its testing capacity before state officials can consider reopening major components of the economy, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday during his daily coronavirus press briefing. The state’s 70-plus testing sites are completing between 7,000 and 9,000 swabs per day, most of which then must be processed at commercial labs that require as long as a week to deliver results, Murphy said. (Sutton, 4/20)

Politico: How California’s Coastal-Rural Divide Could Provide Lessons For The Nation
When California emerges from its coronavirus lockdown, the state's often overlooked rural counties could be the first to open up rather than the nationally trendsetting San Francisco Bay Area. Rural counties house roughly one-tenth of California's nearly 40 million residents but comprise more than half its land mass. A greater share of inland residents have continued to work in essential sectors under social isolation orders, and many think their thinly populated communities are less vulnerable to Covid-19 spread and shouldn't be held back by coastal cities. (Mays, 4/20)

The Hill: Here's When All 50 States Plan To Reopen After Coronavirus Restrictions 
Governors are beginning to announce timelines for relaxing strict measures taken to mitigate the coronavirus. Many states are dropping stay-at-home orders beginning May 1, while several states have not yet announced an end to restrictions. At the federal level, President Trump last week issued guidelines “that will allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to reopening their individual states.” (Cohn, 4/20)

CNN: States That Require Face Masks In Public 
Masks and face coverings are recommended, but not required, for Americans who go out in public during the coronavirus pandemic. Seven states took that guidance further, and they're requiring residents to cover their faces when they visit essential businesses or use public transportation. (Andrew and Froio, 4/20)

Politico: Coronavirus Protests Test Facebook's Free Speech Pledges
The right-wing anti-lockdown protests breaking out around the U.S. are presenting the latest no-win quandary for Facebook, as the world's largest social network tries to fulfill its pledge to remain politically impartial amid a pandemic that has killed more than 42,000 Americans. The company has taken tentative steps so far — blocking protesters from using Facebook to organize in-person rallies in California, New Jersey and Nebraska — but not in other places, such as Michigan, Texas and Virginia, where people have rallied together outside state capitols in defiance of orders to self-isolate at home. (Overly, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Puts Limits On Protest Organizers
Dozens of protests have taken place in recent days, with participants complaining of shelter-in-place restrictions and pushing for state governments to allow more freedom to return to normal activities as the coronavirus pandemic plays out. Most of the events have been relatively small, but have drawn outsize attention on social media as the debate about when and how to reopen the economy becomes increasingly political. Facebook groups, some with tens of thousands of members and some using near-identical language in their descriptions, have popped up in states like Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. The groups raise concerns about what they see as overly restrictive orders imposed by state governors. (Wells and Restuccia, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Misinformation Spreads On Facebook, Watchdog Says
Posts on Facebook are promoting bogus Covid-19 cures and conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus, despite efforts by the social-media giant to crack down on misinformation, a watchdog group says. Sites with millions of Facebook followers have touted high doses of vitamin C and silver particles as able to cure the virus, according to NewsGuard, which tracks and rates news sites it says traffic in dubious information. Neither treatment has been scientifically proven to work. Other Facebook pages have spread the unproven theory that 5G wireless technology spreads the virus, NewsGuard said. (Alpert, 4/20)

Stateline: As Protests Spread, States Tread Carefully To Avoid Inflaming Extremists
As enraged protesters swarm state capitols and prominent militia leaders boast about gathering in large numbers, states are doing little to crack down on the anti-government groups that are defying stay-at-home orders. Trackers say extremist groups of all types are using the pandemic to foment misinformation, stoke anger against the government or prepare to take advantage of breakdowns in society. Many of the protesters don’t belong to such groups. Nevertheless, state and local officials fear that any action to stop the demonstrations on public health grounds could inflame radicals who have a broader anti-government agenda. (Brown, 4/21)

Reuters: As Protesters Decry U.S. Coronavirus Lockdown, Officials Urge Caution
The U.S. debate over restrictions for fighting the coronavirus intensified on Monday, as protesters labeled mandatory lockdowns as “tyranny,” while medical workers and health experts cautioned that lifting them too soon risked unleashing a greater disaster. With health authorities and many governors warning that far more testing is needed before the U.S. economy can be safely reopened, New York state launched the nation’s most ambitious effort yet to screen the general population for exposure to the virus. (Renshaw, 4/20)

Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 42,000 As Protesters Demand Restrictions End: Reuters Tally
U.S. coronavirus deaths topped 42,000 on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as more protesters gathered in state capitals to demand an early end to the lockdowns, while officials pleaded for patience until more testing becomes available. Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the respiratory virus, have ground the economy to a standstill and forced more than 22 million people to apply for unemployment benefits in the last month. (Shumaker, 4/20)

The Hill: Trump Support For Protests Threatens To Undermine Social Distancing Rules 
President Trump is sending conflicting signals on social distancing restrictions, backing federal guidelines that leave decisions to governors, while at the same time offering public support for protests of Democratic governors. Trump for three straight days has backed demonstrators protesting state restrictions, ratcheting up already high tensions with state governors and cutting against the White House’s own recommendations for a gradual reopening of business. (Chalfant and Samuels, 4/20)

ABC News: Governors Dealing With Protests Ask Pence For Help Keeping People Home, Access To Testing Gear 
Two governors facing protests against their stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic on Monday asked the White House for help keeping people home, after President Donald Trump had voiced support for the demonstrators. After Trump both said it was up to governors how and when to implement or lift the orders -- but then criticized governors he said had gone too far -- the governors of Michigan and North Carolina asked Vice President Mike Pence to reiterate the need for social distancing, and Pence agreed to "make a point" to do so. (Faulders and Gittleson, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Largely Spared Wyoming, So Far. Amid Protests To Open Up, Some Worry The Worst Is Yet To Come.
A steer skull decorated in turquoise gemstones greets visitors inside Teton Jewelers on West 17th Street, the lone jewelry store in the small shopping district here. Standing behind it is Ken Bingham, 67, slim and bald and packing a loaded .410 revolver capable of shooting shotgun shells. He says he's taking nearly every precaution against the novel coronavirus. Bingham’s wife, who recently finished chemotherapy, hasn’t been within six feet of him in a month. (Klemko, 4/20)

NPR: Anti-Quarantine Protest Draws Crowd In Harrisburg, Pa., But Gov. Keeps Stay-Home Plan
A large crowd of demonstrators gathered in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, honking horns, carrying signs and waving American flags near the state capitol as part of a backlash against social-distancing orders to control the spread of the coronavirus. A counterprotest drew a smaller crowd. Hours after the protesters dispersed, Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, announced he was lengthening the state's stay-at-home order until May 8. The order was previously set to expire on April 30. (Booker, 4/20)

Reuters: Michigan Governor Calls On Protesters To Avoid Unsafe Demonstrations
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday pleaded for residents of her state to refrain from holding more demonstrations protesting the coronavirus-related shutdown because of the need to follow guidelines designed to contain the spread of the virus. (Klayman, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: CA Vaccine Activists Protest Gavin Newsom Coronavirus Order
Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an order banning large gatherings because of the coronavirus crisis, and Sacramento-area law enforcement officials warned last week that they will start citing people who violate the ban. So why would state Capitol officials approve a Monday protest against stay-at-home orders that was advertised as attracting as many as 500 people? (Stanton and Wiley, 4/20)

The Hill: Poll: 74 Percent Of Voters Concerned About Losing Freedoms Due To COVID-19 
More than 7 in 10 voters fear losing freedoms due to the coronavirus pandemic, though exposure to the virus topped concerns overall, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday. Eighty-three percent of registered voters in the April 6-7 survey said they are worried about being exposed to the coronavirus, while 74 percent said they are concerned about losing freedoms. Seventy-three percent said they fear having to go to the hospital and 48 percent of voters said they are concerned about losing their job. Thirty-five percent said they are concerned about having to re-locate due to pandemic. (4/20)

The Associated Press: Cemetery Races To Keep Up As New York Virus Deaths Mount
The streets are eerily quiet. Barely a soul walks by. But when Rabbi Shmuel Plafker arrives at the cemetery, it’s buzzing: Vans pulling in with bodies aboard, mounds of dirt piling up as graves are dug open, a line of white signs pressed into the ground marking plots that are newly occupied. Some of the few signs of life in this anguished city are coming from those tending to the dead. As the world retreats and the pandemic’s confirmed death toll in New York City alone charges past 10,000, funeral directors, cemetery workers and others who oversee a body’s final chapter are sprinting to keep up. (Goldman and Sedensky, 4/21)

Boston Globe: Mass General Models Show Flattening Curve; COVID-19 Patients Not Expected To Overwhelm The System During This Week’s Surge
Doctors and mathematicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, part of a little-known modeling team, are now optimistic that the number of coronavirus patients has plateaued at their institution, as well as in their larger hospital network, and will not overwhelm clinicians. The Mass. General predictions come at a time when the state is considered a national hotspot for COVID-19 and when data show 100 to 150 Massachusetts residents dying daily from the virus. But analysts at the hospital believe that the crush of very sick patients at its doors is unlikely to get worse — and could start to ease in a week. (Kowalczyk, 4/20)

ProPublica: Officials Knew Coronavirus Could Spread At The Houston Rodeo And Proceeded With The Event Anyway
Days before the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicked off, area politicians celebrated this great piece of Americana — dubbed the world’s largest livestock show — which was going forward in the age of the coronavirus. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a 29-year-old rising political star, posted on Facebook on Feb. 28 how “pumped” she was for rodeo season, sharing a list of her favorite songs. “Look forward to seeing y’all there! #RodeoHouston.” (Trevizo, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: San Francisco's London Breed Takes Hits, Wins Praise
Mayor London Breed ran into a friend a few weeks ago at the grocery store. As she recounted on an online forum, he rushed to hug her.“Noooo!” she shrieked, moving back. He told her he had never been sick in his life. She countered that he could be an asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus. “The thing that is making me lose it is people who are not staying away from each other outside,” she said, laughing. “I feel like this is payback for all the problems I gave my grandmother.” (Dolan, 4/20)

Boston Globe: Baker Signs Bill Blocking Evictions During Coronavirus Crisis 
Evictions are officially on hold in Massachusetts. Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill Monday blocking all eviction and foreclosure proceedings in the state for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. The measure, which won final passage in the Legislature on Friday, would prohibit landlords from filing eviction cases, unless the health or safety of other tenants is at risk, for the next four months or until 45 days after the coronavirus state of emergency is lifted. (Logan, 4/20)

Boston Globe: State Revises Guidelines For Who Gets Ventilators In Crisis, Following Complaints About Equity 
Massachusetts has revised its guidelines for who should get lifesaving medical care if hospitals become overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, a shift that comes in response to widespread concern that the state’s initial plan would allow more people from disadvantaged groups to die. The guidelines, which are not mandatory, are intended to help shape the decisions hospitals would make if they do not have enough life-saving equipment, such as ventilators, to serve every patient in need. (Rosen, 4/20)

WBUR: After Uproar, Mass. Revises Guidelines On Who Gets An ICU Bed Or Ventilator Amid COVID-19 Surge 
Massachusetts is revising the previously released guidelines hospital staff would use to decide who would get a ventilator and who would not during a potential surge of COVID-19 patients. The changes are in response to an uproar from many in the disability and minority communities who worried they would be penalized for ailments that are the result of health disparities or issues that don’t affect their chances of long-term survival. (Bebinger, 4/20)

Boston Globe: Carpenters Union Ends Walkout Over Coronavirus Safety 
Two weeks after pulling its members off job sites across Massachusetts over coronavirus safety concerns, the state’s biggest construction union said they may return to work. The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents about 10,000 workers in Massachusetts, told members over the weekend that it’s okay to return to work if they feel it is safe. (Logan, 4/20)

Indianapolis Star: Coronavirus In Indiana: How E-Cigarette Business Became Essential
Many businesses have had to change course on the fly during the novel coronavirus lockdown, such as restaurants becoming mini-markets and grocery stores limiting customer purchases. But perhaps few have made the rapid pivot of Carmel resident Shadi Khoury, who switched his business from non-essential to essential almost overnight. Khoury owns 11 Indy E Cigs vaping stores but was forced to close when Gov. Eric Holcomb declared a state of emergency and limited businesses that could remain open. Rather than watch sales dry up, Khoury got an idea. Why not use his small plant where e-cig liquid is bottled to produce a fluid that was much needed instead of recreational? Hand sanitizer. (Tuohy, 4/21)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Coronavirus In Ohio: Ohio Schools To Remain Closed For The Rest Of The School Year, Prison Cases Rise
Ohio school buildings will remain closed for the rest of the school year amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.Gov. Mike DeWine announced the decision to continue remote learning during his Monday news conference. All kindergarten through 12th grade schools have been closed since March 17. DeWine said the decision was based on two factors: continuity of learning and health risk to students, teachers and community. (Borchardt and Weiser, 4/20)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Slidell Ends Nightly Curfews, But Asks Citizens To Obey Louisiana Stay-Home Orders 
Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer and Police Chief Randy Fandal agreed Monday it was time to rescind the nightly curfew that has been in place since April 3. City leaders said the curfew, which was in effect from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. daily, was enacted as a way to minimize unnecessary interaction between law enforcement officers and the public as the spread of the novel coronavirus ramped up in St. Tammany Parish earlier this month, especially in the Slidell area. (Canulette, 4/20)

KQED: State Lawmakers Want More Say In California's COVID-19 Response
California Assembly members on both sides of the aisle say they want to be more involved in helping the state through the COVID-19 pandemic. At a budget oversight subcommittee hearing at the state Capitol on Monday, lawmakers applauded the job Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing responding to the coronavirus outbreak in California. But Republicans and Democrats both questioned how Newsom is spending some of the money they authorized for the COVID-19 crisis. (Orr and Shafer, 4/20)

KQED: How Closed Schools Are Creating More Trauma For Students 
Between closed schools, social isolation, food scarcity and parental unemployment, the coronavirus pandemic has so destabilized kids' support systems that the result, counselors say, is genuinely traumatic. Sarah Kirk, an elementary school counselor in Tulsa, Okla., is especially worried about her students who were already at-risk, whose families "really struggle day to day in their homes with how they're going to pay the next bill and how they're going to get food on the table. Being home for this extended period of time is definitely a trauma for them." (Turner, 4/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Hits San Francisco’s Mission District Hardest Of All City Neighborhoods 
San Francisco officials unveiled a new map Monday that plots the city’s confirmed COVID-19 cases based on the ZIP codes where patients live. The map presents a notable, if limited, illustration of the disease’s hot spots in San Francisco. Those spots broadly overlap with neighborhoods that have long endured the brunt of health care disparities and income inequality in the city. (Fracassa, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: CA Marijuana Companies Ask For Tax Break, Coronavirus Loans 
Cannabis companies may be deemed essential business in California during the coronavirus emergency, but when it comes to support, some in the industry say the state and federal governments have left the them high and dry. The industry is “on the brink of collapsing,” said Jackie McGowan, a consultant who represents the cannabis companies. (Sheeler, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: Coronavirus CA: Sleep Train Arena To Treat COVID-19 Patients
The defunct Sleep Train Arena has long been a ghost town: wide cracks in the parking lots sprout weeds and grayish water stains mar the facade. Even its name is obsolete, as that company has changed its name.But these days, there’s a buzz of activity inside the Sacramento Kings’ old stomping grounds. (Moleski, 4/20)

Kaiser Health News: The Inside Story Of How The Bay Area Got Ahead Of The COVID-19 Crisis
Sunday was supposed to be a rare day off for Dr. Tomás Aragón after weeks of working around-the-clock. Instead, the San Francisco public health officer was jolted awake by an urgent 7:39 a.m. text message from his boss. “Can you set up a call with San Mateo and Santa Clara health officers this a.m., so we can discuss us all getting on the same page this week with aggressive actions, thanks,” said the message from Dr. Grant Colfax, director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Health. (Hart and Barry-Jester, 4/21)

Politico: ‘Another Nail In An Almost Closed Coffin’: Trump Faces His Next Coronavirus Test
President Donald Trump’s political fate now hinges on a simple premise: Everybody who needs a coronavirus test must be able to get a test. More than five weeks into a devastating shutdown of the U.S. economy, Trump’s aides and advisers inside and outside his administration now view disapproval of his preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic as his biggest political liability heading into the 2020 election. (Cook, 4/21)

Washington Post: Contamination At CDC Lab Delayed Rollout Of Coronavirus Tests
The failure by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quickly produce a test kit for detecting the novel coronavirus was triggered by a glaring scientific breakdown at the CDC’s central laboratory complex in Atlanta, according to scientists with knowledge of the matter and a determination by federal regulators. The CDC facilities that assembled the kits violated sound manufacturing practices, resulting in contamination of one of the three test components used in the highly sensitive detection process, the scientists said. (Willman, 4/18)

The Hill: Pressure Builds On White House To Increase Tests
Pressure is building on the Trump administration to further increase the nation’s production of coronavirus tests, as experts say the country is still nowhere near the level it needs to be to safely reopen the economy. Several recent leading estimates say the United States needs to at least triple its testing capacity. (Sullivan, 4/20)

The Associated Press: 'Political Game'? Governors Push Back On Trump Virus Charge
A chorus of governors from both parties pushed back hard Monday after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of playing “a very dangerous political game” by insisting there is a shortage of tests for coronavirus. The governors countered that the White House must do more to help states do the testing that’s needed before they can ease up on stay-at-home orders. Kansas’ Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said the current federal effort “really is not good enough if we’re going to be able to start to open our economy. We cannot do that safely without the tests in place.” (Suderman, Hanna and Colvin, 4/21)

The Washington Post: Maryland Buys 500,000 Coronavirus Tests Kits From South Korea, Hogan Announces
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that Maryland has purchased 500,000 tests from South Korea, saying the Trump administration “made it clear over and over again” that states “have to go out and do it ourselves.” Testing shortages have stymied the pandemic response across the country, sparking friction between the White House and governors. Over the weekend, Hogan disputed President Trump’s assertion that states already had enough tests, calling the White House messaging “just absolutely false.” (Nirappil, Cox and Schneider, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Meet Yumi Hogan, Maryland First Lady Who Helped Broker Korean Test-Kit Deal
Hogan acknowledged Monday that the deal would not have come together if it weren’t for his wife, first lady Yumi Hogan. Yumi joined the governor Saturday to welcome a Boeing 777, the first-ever Korean Air passenger plane to land at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, which the governor said was carrying more tests than “four of the top five states in America” combined have completed. (Wiggins, 4/20)

The Associated Press: 2 Types Of Testing Look For COVID-19 Infections New And Old
Testing is critical to controlling the coronavirus and eventually easing restrictions that have halted daily life for most Americans. But there’s been confusion about what kinds of tests are available and what they actually measure. There are still just two main types in the U.S. One tells you if you have an active infection with the coronavirus, whether you have symptoms or not. The other checks to see if you were previously infected at some point and fought it off. (Perrone, 4/20)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Homeless Shelters Ramp Up Testing To Stave Off Spread Of Coronavirus
As coronavirus cases rise in Georgia, testing has been ramped up at Atlanta’s homeless shelters to quickly identify individuals who have the virus and prevent it from spreading. While the testing has helped shelters identify and get treatment for residents who have coronavirus or the disease it causes, COVID-19, so far there seems to be no organized method of tracking the virus in the homeless population. (Habersham, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Crisis: Trump Says He Will Issue Order To Suspend Immigration During, Closing Off The United States To A New Extreme
President Trump announced in a tweet late Monday night that he plans to suspend immigration to the United States, a move he said is needed to safeguard American jobs and defend the country from coronavirus pandemic, which he called “the Invisible Enemy.” “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!,” the president wrote, announcing the plan at 10:06 p.m. (Miroff, Dawsey and Armus, 4/21)

The New York Times: Trump Plans To Suspend Immigration To U.S.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has used health concerns to justify aggressively restricting immigration. Even before the tweet, it had expanded travel restrictions, slowed visa processing and moved to swiftly bar asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants from entering the country, alarming immigration advocates who have said that Mr. Trump and his advisers are using a global pandemic to further hard-line immigration policies. But the president’s late-night announcement on Monday signals his most wide-ranging attempt yet to seal off the country from the rest of the world. (Rogers, Shear and Kanno-Youngs, 4/20)

The Associated Press: Trump Says He'll 'Suspend Immigration,' Offers No Details
He offered no details as to what immigration programs might be affected by the order. The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump’s tweeted announcement. Trump has taken credit for his restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries, arguing it contributed to slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S. But he has yet to extend those restrictions to other nations now experiencing virus outbreaks. (4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump To Temporarily Halt Immigration Into The U.S. Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Administration officials said the order wouldn’t make substantial changes to current U.S. policy. Even without an executive order, the administration has already all but ceased nearly every form of immigration. Most visa processing has been halted, meaning almost no one can apply for a visa to visit or move to the U.S. Visa interviews and citizenship ceremonies have been postponed and the refugee program paused, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. Migrants caught crossing the border are now immediately expelled once they are found. (Ballhaus and Hackman, 4/21)

Reuters: Trump Says He Will Suspend All Immigration Into U.S. Over Coronavirus
“As our country battles the pandemic, as workers put their lives on the line, the President attacks immigrants & blames others for his own failures”, former Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar said in a tweet. Immigration is largely halted into the United States anyway thanks to border restrictions and flight bans put in place as the virus spread across the globe. But the issue remains an effective rallying cry for Trump’s supporters. (Mason, 4/20)

Politico: Trump Says He’ll ‘Suspend Immigration’ Into The U.S.
Trump has faced calls from conservatives to stop allowing foreign workers to enter the U.S. because millions of Americans are out of work after shutdowns to stop the spread of the virus. But for weeks, his administration allowed them to enter. Specifically, the U.S. eased requirements for immigrants to get certain jobs, such as farmworkers, landscapers and crab pickers, aware that certain industries, including those that fill grocery store shelves, could be hurt if they couldn’t hire foreign employees. (Kumar and Choi, 4/20)

NPR: Federal Judge Orders ICE To Consider Releasing Detainees At High Risk For COVID-19
A federal judge in California on Monday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to "identify and track" every person in ICE detention at an elevated risk of complications from COVID-19 and to consider releasing those detainees regardless of their legal status. Risk factors identified by the court include pregnancy, persons over the age of 55 and those with chronic health conditions. (Hagemann, 4/21)

Politico: Trump Tones Down The Hydroxychloroquine Hype
President Donald Trump and his allies in conservative media have subtly scaled down their hyping of hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure for the coronavirus, according to a POLITICO review of White House briefings and cable news coverage. Although Trump had repeatedly promoted the decades-old malaria drug since the early days of the disease’s outbreak in the United States, his public statements regarding hydroxychloroquine have diminished significantly over the past week for reasons that remain unclear. (Forgey, 4/20)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump’s Bizarre Effort To Tag Obama’s Swine Flu Response As ‘A Disaster’
As the coronavirus pandemic emerged, President Trump quickly sought to compare his performance to the pandemic that appeared in 2009 under the watch of his predecessor, Barack Obama. He called it a “big failure” and a “debacle,” compounded by “horrific mistakes.” He railed about the death toll, often inflating the figures to 17,000, as he did in this recent tweet. These criticism might have had some resonance back when there appeared to be relatively few cases in the United States. On March 4, when Trump first attacked Obama’s handling of the swine flu, there were only about 100 reported cases of covid-19 in the United States. (Kessler, 4/21)

Politico: Surgeon General Gets Pushed To Sidelines, Sparking Questions
The Trump administration took Surgeon General Jerome Adams off television last week after his controversial remarks on Covid-19's threat to minorities, silencing the White House's loudest voice on racial disparities even as concerns mount about risks to communities of color. Adams made just one TV appearance last week, a steep decline from the 10-plus TV appearances he made the prior week on programs like ABC's "Good Morning America,” CBS’ “This Morning” and NBC’s “Today Show." (Diamond, 4/20)

Stat: NIH Director Francis Collins On Tony Fauci, The WHO, And Running A $39 Billion Research Agency From Home
Francis Collins hasn’t set foot on the National Institutes of Health’s campus in Bethesda, Md., for the last month. But the NIH director says he’s working harder than he has in his nearly five decades in science — never rising later than 5 a.m. and rarely stopping work before 10 p.m. to make sure the $39 billion biomedical research agency continues to function during the coronavirus pandemic. (Facher, 4/21)

The Hill: EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Top American Fighting COVID-19 At WHO
When Maria Van Kerkhove sat before a room full of reporters on Jan. 14, she admits she was a little nervous. As the newly appointed technical lead in charge of a key pillar of the World Health Organization's (WHO) response to a coronavirus outbreak that was beginning to spread in China, it was her first experience talking to a media scrum hungry for answers. Three months later, Van Kerkhove, 43, looks like the savvy veteran. (Wilson, 4/20)

Politico: Tracking The Virus May Require 300,000 Workers. We're Nowhere Close.
The country only has a fraction of workers needed to trace the coronavirus, as health departments are scraping together a rag tag army of graduate students, workers from a city attorney's office and even librarians. Before the pandemic, state and local health departments had fewer than 2,000 workers carrying out contact tracing — the detailed investigatory work to track and stop outbreaks of everything from syphilis to measles. The real number needed could be somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 — an astronomical figure that seems near impossible to reach without a massive national program to build a highly trained public health workforce. (Goldberg and Ollstein, 4/21)

ABC News: CDC Will Boost States' Coronavirus Contact Tracing Efforts, Pence Says 
During a private call with governors Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said that the Centers for Disease Control will be sending teams to all 50 states and territories on a 12-18 month rotation "dedicated exclusively to coronavirus surveillance." "We're going to deploy specific coronavirus teams on a 12-month, 18-month rotation to each and every state and that information should be reaching your state -- those personnel -- this week," Pence told governors, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC News. (Faulders and Siegel, 4/20)

In other news on tracking the virus —

The Wall Street Journal: Peter Thiel’s Palantir Saw Coronavirus Coming. Now It Braces For The Impact.
Peter Thiel’s data firm Palantir Technologies Inc. got an early jump on the coronavirus, recalling staff from abroad ahead of most companies. In recent weeks, it parlayed that knowledge into a growing role helping governments around the world track the pandemic. That may not be enough to spare the company from pain. Palantir’s business is being squeezed as corporate customers pare back spending, leading the Silicon Valley firm to draw up deep cost cuts and consider pushing back further its long-awaited initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. (Copeland and Schechner, 4/21)

The New York Times: Doctors And Governors Vie For Coronavirus Masks In Cloak-And-Dagger Deals
It was a stealth transaction, arranged through “someone who knew someone who knew someone,” taking place at an undisclosed location in an unnamed mid-Atlantic state. The getaway vehicles were disguised as food service delivery trucks, and they mapped out separate routes back to Massachusetts to avoid detection. Those were the lengths that a hospital system in Springfield, Mass., went to this month to procure urgently needed masks for workers treating a growing number of patients with the coronavirus. (Seelye, Jacobs, Becker and Arango, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom's Coronavirus-Mask Deal With Chinese Firm Draws Concern
Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s decision to spend almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds to buy protective masks drew national attention as an aggressive move by California to solve one of the most nagging problems of the coronavirus crisis. But almost two weeks after he announced the deal during a cable TV interview, very few details have been disclosed. The governor’s advisors have so far declined requests for information about the agreement with BYD, the Chinese electric car manufacturer hired to produce the masks, though the state has already wired the company the first installment of $495 million. (Myers, 4/20)

ProPublica: To Understand the Medical Supply Shortage, It Helps To Know How The U.S. Lost the Lithium Ion Battery To China
With so many critical health care products now made offshore that supplies could not meet surging demand as the coronavirus overwhelmed hospitals, America’s attention has again turned to the atrophied state of domestic manufacturing. As imports from Chinese manufacturers vaporized and other countries clamped down on exports, health care workers improvised with homemade face masks while American factories retooled in a desperate race to make ventilators and protective equipment. It’s a pattern, it seemed, in which devices invented in the U.S. end up being produced overseas. (DePillis, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Nurses Allege Inadequate Safety Protocols In Lawsuits Against State, Hospital Systems
The New York State Nurses Association filed three lawsuits against the state and two hospital systems on Monday, alleging that dangerous work guidelines and protective gear shortages exacerbated the spread of the novel coronavirus. The state’s largest nurses’ union filed suit against the New York Department of Health in New York County Supreme Court, charging that it failed to ensure that health-care employees had enough safety equipment, including N95 respirators and fluid-resistant gowns. (Ramachandran, 4/20)

Politico: Nurses Lawsuit: New York Failed To Protect Health Care Workers And The Public
NYSNA also alleged that the state health department failed to enforce regulations around the safe use of personal protective equipment, which led to hundreds of members testing positive for the virus. “Infected health care workers have become vectors of virus transmission to their families and the public at large,” according to the suit, which was filed Monday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. “DOH’s actions have thus created a nuisance to public health, which, although acutely injurious to frontline nurses, has endangered the public at large.” (Eisenberg, 4/20)

The Hill: New York Nurses Union Sues State, Hospitals Over Coronavirus Working Conditions 
The New York state nurses union filed lawsuits against the state and two hospitals Monday over what it says are unsafe working conditions and a lack of protective equipment. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) sued the New York Department of Health and two hospitals, Montefiore Medical Center and Westchester Medical Center, claiming they put nurses’s health and safety at risk. (Coleman, 4/20)

The Hill: Nurses Union To Protest At White House Tuesday
A national nurses union announced Monday that members of its organization would protest at the White House on Tuesday to demand funding for mass production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the next coronavirus stimulus package. National Nurses United (NNU), the largest nurses union in the U.S., said in a press release that members planned to read aloud names of nurses who have died from COVID-19 as hospitals across the country struggle to provide masks, gloves and other equipment for staffers. (Bowden, 4/20)

In other new on personal protective equipment —

ABC News: Factory Workers Helping To Make Protective Gear For COVID-19 Go Home After 28 Days 
More than 40 employees who spent nearly a month living at the facility where they were helping to make protective gear for health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic finally clocked out and went home to their families on Monday. The crew at chemical company Braskem America in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, spent the last 28 days split between two 12-hour shifts as they worked to make polypropylene, a raw material used to make N95 masks, hospital gowns and sanitary wipes. (4/21)

NPR: VA Admits It Is Rationing Protective Gear 
The Department of Veterans Affairs is the country's largest health care network with 300 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes nationwide. More than 9 million American veterans get care from the VA, and today VA doctors and nurses serve on the frontlines of the pandemic crisis. (Lawrence, 4/20)

WBUR: Threatened For Wearing A Mask Or Asking For More PPE? Here Are Your Legal Protections 
The nurse who was told to remove her mask on the labor and delivery floor so she wouldn’t scare patients, then reprimanded when she didn’t. The ICU clinician who brought in a protective hood, was told to take it back home, then felt his job was threatened when he resisted. The doctor who was told he’d be fired if he spoke to the press about not having enough masks in his hospital. These are all cases reported to WBUR by the people involved. None of them would tell their story on the record for fear of further retaliation by hospital administrators. (Bebinger, 4/20)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A Saukville Manufacturer Is Turning Sanitary Wipe Fabric Into 3.5 Million Masks For Essential Workers
With a shortage of masks endangering workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, Saukville manufacturer Rebel Converting is transforming its sanitary wipe fabric into 3.5 million free masks for clinics, nonprofits and public employees in the Milwaukee area. The company is also providing the material to Allen Edmonds, a Port Washington shoe manufacturer that has stopped shoe production to focus on masks. As of April 15, the company has made 50,000 masks for health care workers at Ascension, Froedtert Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. (Rumage, 4/20)

The New York Times: The Pandemic’s Hidden Victims: Sick Or Dying, But Not From The Coronavirus
Maria Kefalas considers her husband, Patrick Carr, a forgotten victim of the coronavirus. In January, Mr. Carr, a sociology professor at Rutgers University, suffered a relapse of the blood cancer that he has had for eight years. Once again, he required chemotherapy to try to bring the disease, multiple myeloma, under control. But this time, as the coronavirus began raging through Philadelphia, blood supplies were rationed and he couldn’t get enough of the transfusions needed to alleviate his anemia and allow chemo to begin. (Grady, 4/20)

CNN: Los Angeles County Hospitals Say People Are Waiting Too Long To Seek Treatment Over Coronavirus Fears 
Doctors at some Los Angeles County hospitals say people are waiting too long to seek medical treatment -- including those infected with the coronavirus -- over fears of catching Covid-19, potentially leading to more detrimental effects to their health. Los Angeles County reported 1,491 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total to 13,816, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said. (Elam and Holcombe, 4/21)

The Washington Post: Hospitals Tiptoe Toward Restarting Non-Emergency Surgery And Procedures
Some hospitals in communities less affected by the novel coronavirus moved cautiously Monday toward resuming non-emergency surgeries and procedures — a hopeful sign for patients awaiting that care and a medical system badly in need of the revenue those services provide. Acting on guidance released Sunday night by federal officials, medical centers with relatively few covid-19 patients readied some cancer, heart and other care that has been postponed by a nationwide call to halt such procedures. (Sellers, Goldstein and Bernstein, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Prioritize Cases, Assess Supplies Before Resuming Procedures
Hospitals whose COVID-19 peaks are behind them are eagerly forming or mobilizing plans to resume elective surgeries, which have largely ceased since mid-March to preserve capacity for coronavirus patients. Providers, now armed with guidelines from CMS and leading professional organizations, are trying to determine how to phase procedures back in safely. But there's an urgency to the process—countless hospitals and physician groups are bleeding money while they forgo profitable surgeries to treat expensive COVID-19 patients. (Bannow, 4/20)

The Hill: Louisiana To Allow Some Nonessential Medical Procedures To Resume
Louisiana's governor said Monday that the state will soon allow hospitals to resume some elective procedures, a boon to facilities struggling to make ends meet amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Advocate reported that Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) told reporters at a press conference Monday that the state Department of Health would allow some procedures to resume starting April 27. The move is a sign that Louisiana's hospitals are no longer in danger of reaching capacity. (Bowden, 4/20)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: In First "Baby Step" To Restart State, Elective Surgeries To Resume After Month Hiatus 
Elective surgeries soon might resume in the first “baby steps” to reopen the West Virginia economy, Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday. Hospitals must submit plans to the state health department beginning April 27 showing how the facilities will comply with multi-step criteria for safely resuming elective procedures, the governor said. The agency must approve the plans. (Kabler, 4/20)

Indianapolis Star: Holcomb Extends Stay At Home Order: What You Should Know
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb provided details Monday about the state's latest executive order, which works toward allowing health care providers to perform elective procedures. Here's what you need to know. (VanTryon, 4/20)

The Associated Press: States Work To Keep Meat Plants Open Despite Virus Outbreaks
Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef. In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly sent personal protective equipment and testing supplies to counties with meat processing plants. Gov. Kristi Noem said she didn’t think it would be difficult to fulfill federal requirements to reopen a shuttered facility in South Dakota. (Foley, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreads To Farms, Packaged-Food Plants
The coronavirus pandemic is deepening challenges for the U.S. food system, forcing plant closures and infecting farmworkers at a time when packaged-food companies say demand for groceries has never been higher. Production has been curtailed at a range of facilities across the country, including a Kraft Heinz Co. macaroni-and-cheese plant and a Conagra Brands Inc. frozen-meal factory. (Newman and Gasparro, 4/20)

The Associated Press: US Pork Farmers Panic As Virus Ruins Hopes For Great Year
After enduring extended trade disputes and worker shortages, U.S. hog farmers were poised to finally hit it big this year with expectations of climbing prices amid soaring domestic and foreign demand. Instead, restaurant closures due to the coronavirus have contributed to an estimated $5 billion in losses for the industry, and almost overnight millions of hogs stacking up on farms now have little value. (Pitt, 4/21)

The Washington Post: White House, Democratic Leaders Reach Coronavirus Deal To Restart Small-Business Loan Program
The White House and Congress on Monday tried to design another giant bailout package aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic’s economic and health fallout, scrambling to resolve last-minute snags over loan access and testing. “We have I believe come to terms on the principles of the legislation, which is a good thing, but it’s always in the fine print,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on CNN Monday evening. “And so now we’re down to fine print, but I feel very optimistic and hopeful that we’ll come to a conclusion.” Votes on the agreement are expected as early as Tuesday afternoon in the Senate and Thursday in the House. (Werner, 4/21)

The New York Times: Dispute Over Virus Testing Delays Deal On Aid To Small Businesses And Hospitals
A dispute between Democrats and the White House over how to handle coronavirus testing emerged on Monday as one of the most significant sticking points as negotiators struggled to finalize a nearly $500 billion bipartisan agreement to replenish a loan program for small businesses and provide more funding for hospitals and testing. Democrats are pushing to include a requirement in the measure, which is likely to include $25 billion for testing, that the Trump administration establish a national testing strategy, a move the president and Republicans have resisted, insisting on leaving those decisions to each state. (Cochrane, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress, Trump Administration Near Deal On Coronavirus Aid To Small Businesses
The deal is also set to include $75 billion in assistance for hospitals and $25 billion to expand testing for the virus across the country. All sides agreed to the $25 billion in funding, according to lawmakers and aides, but the negotiations bogged down in a dispute over how much the agreement should detail its uses. Democrats have pushed to attach the testing funds to a strategic plan that would put the federal government at the center. (Duehren, 4/20)

Politico: Coronavirus Relief Package Stalls Just Short Of A Deal
Democrats are also waiting to hear back on whether Republicans will agree to give states and localities more flexibility to use funds in the last rescue package to make up for lost revenue. The issue was one of the last major hangups, delaying a potential deal for more than a week as Democrats refused to relent on more aid for local governments despite unwavering Republican opposition. (Everett, Caygle and Levine, 4/20)

ABC News: National Testing Plan A Sticking Point In Reaching Small Business Aid Deal 
Testing supply shortages across the country have prompted Democrats to demand a national testing program to standardize the process across the country. They are pushing for a clear set of metrics to chart the country's progress in expanding testing, and to hold the administration accountable for any ongoing shortages, according to a Democratic source. The White House has pushed back on a national plan, arguing that testing is best left up to the states, while Republicans want the process to continue as a partnership between private industry and the government. (Khan and Siegel, 4/20)

The Associated Press: Virus Aid Exceeding $450B Remains Stuck In Negotiations
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., set up another Senate session for Tuesday in the hope that an agreement will be finished by then. “It’s now been four days since the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money. Republicans have been trying to secure more funding for this critical program for a week and a half now,” McConnell said. “Our Democratic colleagues are still prolonging their discussions with the administration, so the Senate regretfully will not be able to pass more funding for Americans’ paychecks today.” (Taylor and Mascaro, 4/21)

The Hill: Pelosi: Negotiators 'Down To The Fine Print' On Coronavirus Relief Package 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday evening that lawmakers are in the final discussions regarding the language for an interim stimulus package in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Pelosi indicated lawmakers were nearing a final draft of the bill, which aims to refill the coffers of a popular small business loan program that was included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package and in which Democrats had aimed to include funds for hospitals, coronavirus testing and state and local governments. (Bowden, 4/20)

The Hill: Ocasio-Cortez Comes Out Against Interim Coronavirus Relief Bill 
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Monday that she opposes the latest version of an interim relief package to address the coronavirus pandemic, while acknowledging that the legislation hasn't been finalized yet. "We have not seen the final text of this bill. But what I can say is that if it matches up with what has been reported, I will not support this bill, personally," Ocasio-Cortez said during a call with progressive groups. (Marcos, 4/20)

Politico: Banks Warn That New Small-Business Funding Could Evaporate In 2 Days 
Lawmakers are nearing a deal to restart an emergency small-business loan program that exhausted its funding last week — but it may buy only a few days before the program screeches to a halt once again. Lenders are warning their customers they might not be able to secure loans even if Congress provides an additional $300 billion as soon as this week. Banking industry representatives say the program has a burn rate of $50 billion per day and needs closer to $1 trillion to meet demand, with hundreds of thousands of applications pending. (Warmbrodt, 4/20)

And in news on the CARES Act —

The Wall Street Journal: Uncertainty About Rules Stalls Health-Care Companies’ Use Of Coronavirus Aid
Health-care companies say they are unable to use hundreds of millions of dollars of federal pandemic-relief funds already disbursed, citing uncertainty about rules governing the use of the $30 billion package. Health care is one of several industries that received immediate infusions of cash from the federal treasury. (Gold, 4/20)

The Associated Press: Publicly Traded Firms Get $300M In Small-Business Loans
Companies with thousands of employees, past penalties from government investigations and risks of financial failure even before the coronavirus walloped the economy were among those receiving millions of dollars from a relief fund that Congress created to help small businesses through the crisis, an Associated Press investigation found. (Dunklin, Pritchard, Myers and FAuria, 4/21)

The Washington Post: Ruth’s Chris, Shake Shack, Big Hotel Owners Get Millions In Small Business Funds
The federal government gave national hotel and restaurant chains millions of dollars in grants before the $349 billion program ran out of money Thursday, leading to a backlash that prompted one company to give the money back and a Republican senator to say that “millions of dollars are being wasted.” Thousands of traditional small businesses were unable to get funding from the program before it ran dry. (O'Connell, 4/20)

The New York Times: Shake Shack Will Return Its $10 Million Loan Amid Furor Over Stimulus Program
Buried deep in the 900-page stimulus package that Congress passed in March, a single paragraph has sparked an outcry from small restaurants as major chains and mom-and-pop places alike scramble to survive a devastating financial crisis. The provision, in a section outlining which small businesses qualify for loans from the federal government, allowed big chains like Shake Shack, Potbelly and Ruth’s Chris Steak House to get tens of millions of dollars while many smaller restaurants walked away with nothing when the $349 billion fund was exhausted last week. (Yaffe-Bellany, 4/20)

The Hill: GOP Senator: 'Millions Of Dollars Are Being Wasted' In Coronavirus Small Business Fund 
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Monday that Congress needs to make changes to a program that provides aid to small businesses, arguing that larger companies and those that have not been hurt by the coronavirus are receiving assistance... “I am concerned that many businesses with thousands of employees have found loopholes to qualify for these loans meant for small businesses. Unfortunately, when it comes to the PPP, millions of dollars are being wasted," he said in a statement. (Carney, 4/20)

NPR: SBA Paycheck Protection Program Gives Continental Materials $5.5 Million Loan
While many small businesses have found it difficult or impossible to get one of the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program loans, a company owned by a prominent Chicago family with close ties to the Trump Administration was able to get a $5.5 million loan under the program, according to documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. (Benincasa, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: CA Workers’ Comp Insurer Hikes Coronavirus Aid To $215 Million 
Leaders of one of California’s largest workers’ compensation insurers, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, announced Monday that it will pay COVID-19 medical costs and income losses for employees at essential businesses that it covers, whether they contracted the illness at work or not. The agency estimated that it will spend $215 million, more than four times what it announced last week, to expand this benefit and others to assist policyholders and their employees in overcoming challenges posed by COVID-19. Public health officials require infected people to quarantine themselves, meaning many will lose out on income from work. (Anderson, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: States Burn Through Cash For Unemployment Payments
New York state has asked the federal government for a $4 billion no-interest loan to cover unemployment payments for people put out of work by the coronavirus pandemic as it and other states burn through funds set aside for jobless claims. States are quickly depleting funds set aside as millions of laid-off workers apply for unemployment-insurance benefits offered by state governments, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Treasury Department data. (Chaney, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Sends One-Fifth Of Workers To Unemployment Line In Some States
The coronavirus pandemic is hitting state labor markets to very different degrees, with some seeing as many as one in five workers file for unemployment benefits and others far fewer. The variation appears to partly reflect when officials mandated business closures to stem the spread of the virus during the four weeks through April 11, as well as the state economies’ dependence on the industries most affected. Another factor that boosted new claims for unemployment insurance is that some states—such as Pennsylvania—encouraged laid-off workers to file. Other states, such as hard-hit New York, have struggled with technical glitches and overwhelmed filing systems, which held down the number of claims during the period. (Mackrael and Cameron, 4/21)

Politico: Restaurants’ Bailout Problem: Unemployment Pays More
Restaurants say their industry needs its own targeted recovery fund because the bailout package Congress passed last month is making it more attractive for their staff to draw unemployment benefits than to continue working. The new Paycheck Protection Program waives repayment of small business loans if the borrower uses 75 percent of the money to maintain payroll, a measure intended to reduce layoffs. But with the expanded unemployment benefits included in the stimulus bill, some workers can as much as double their weekly checks if they stay unemployed. (Kullgren, 4/20)

NPR: Some Business Owners Can't Compete For Jobs With New $600 Unemployment Benefit
$600 per week. That's what the federal government is now offering to people who've lost their jobs because of the coronavirus. For many workers and employers, that money is a godsend — a way to keep food on the table while also cutting payroll costs. But the extra money can create some awkward situations. Some businesses that want to keep their doors open say it's hard to do so when employees can make more money by staying home. (Horsley, 4/21)

The Oklahoman: Agency Submits Medicaid Waiver To Impose Work Requirements, Charge Premiums
The Stitt administration is moving forward with plans to charge Medicaid premiums and impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients who could be newly eligible for coverage as soon as July 1. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority on Monday submitted to the federal government the state’s Healthy Adult Opportunity waiver application. (Forman, 4/21)

Los Angeles Times: These U.S. Citizens Won't Get Coronavirus Stimulus Checks 
She works as a film producer and her small business has ground to a halt, forcing her and her husband to eat red beans and rice most nights, scramble to find small business loans and apply for medical assistance for their two children. So the 44-year-old woman from the Midwest, who asked that her name not be used to protect her privacy, has had to bite her tongue as friends have celebrated the arrival of economic stimulus checks. (Jarvie, 4/20)

The Hill: IRS Says Social Security Recipients With Children Must Take Action To Ensure Full Coronavirus Payment Now 
Recipients of Social Security and railroad retirement benefits who have children should act by Wednesday in order to quickly receive the full amount of their coronavirus relief payments, the IRS said Monday afternoon. The announcement gives non-filers who receive certain federal benefits only a short amount of time to get the payments for their children added to their automatic payments. (Jagoda, 4/20)

The Associated Press: As Mail Voting Pushed, Some Fear Loss Of In-Person Option
Scrambling to address voting concerns during a pandemic, election officials across the country are eliminating polling places or scaling back opportunities for people to cast ballots in person — a move raising concerns among voting rights groups and some Democrats who say some voters could be disenfranchised. In Nevada, election officials will open only one polling place per county for its June primary. (Cassidy and Riccardi, 4/20)

WBUR: Amid The Pandemic, Lawmakers Push Vote-By-Mail Law In Massachusetts 
Members of Massachusetts' Congressional delegation are calling on Beacon Hill lawmakers to pass a statewide vote-by-mail law, while urging Congress to fund efforts to expand voter access. The push follows the recent primary in Wisconsin — where tens of thousands of people were forced to choose between their right to vote and risking their health. (Brooks, 4/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Crisis: San Francisco Officials Scramble To Make Voting In November’s Election Pandemic-Proof 
Covid-19 has changed just about every aspect of our life — and voting in November’s election is likely to look different, too. David Campos, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, on Tuesday will ask Mayor London Breed, the Board of Supervisors and elections chief John Arntz to remake the city’s election. (Knight 4/21)

Reuters: Los Angeles Coronavirus Infections 40 Times Greater Than Known Cases, Antibody Tests Suggest
Some 4.1% of adults tested positive for coronavirus antibodies in a study of Los Angeles County residents, health officials said on Monday, suggesting the rate of infection may be 40 times higher than the number of confirmed cases. The serology tests, conducted by University of Southern California researchers on 863 people indicate the death rate from the pandemic could be lower than previously thought but also that the respiratory illness may be being spread more widely by people who show no symptoms. (Whitcomb, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus May Have Infected Hundreds Of Thousands In L.A. County
That translates to roughly 221,000 to 442,000 adults who have recovered from an infection, once margin of error is taken into account, according to the researchers conducting the study. The county had reported fewer than 8,000 cases at that time. The findings suggest the fatality rate may be much lower than previously thought. But although the virus may be more widespread, the infection rate still falls far short of herd immunity that, absent a vaccine, would be key to return to normal life. (Mason, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: More L.A. County Residents Likely Infected With Coronavirus Than Thought, Study Finds
Researchers at the University of Southern California, who joined with the health department, then estimated that 2.8% to 5.6% of L.A. County’s adult population has been infected at some point. “It does, for me, reinforce the need for everyone to continue to stay at home,” Dr. Ferrer said. “Because there are many, many people who are positive throughout the county who may not be showing symptoms.” (Abbott and Caldwell, 4/20)

ABC News: Antibody Test Study Results Suggest COVID-19 Cases Likely Much Higher Than Reported 
Sood cautioned that while the antibody testing had likely uncovered hidden cases of the coronavirus, "these tests are not good for telling if someone has immunity." Questions remain about whether antibodies for COVID-19 in people who've survived the illness provide immunity. There were 7,994 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to the county by the time of the study in early April. (Hartung, Mendelsohn, Fuhrman and Francis, 4/20)

NPR: New York Starts 'Aggressive' Coronavirus Antibody Testing In Quest To Reopen Economy
New York has begun "the most aggressive" statewide antibody testing to help determine how much of the population has been infected by and recovered from the coronavirus — a step health officials say is essential for reopening the economy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that state Department of Health officials plan to randomly select 3,000 people for tests that will look for indications that their bodies have fought off the virus, even if they were never tested or showed any symptoms. (Romo, 4/20)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Is Forcing Medical Research To Speed Up
As scientists race to understand the coronavirus, the process of designing experiments, collecting data and submitting studies to journals for expert review is being compressed drastically. What typically takes many months is happening in weeks, even as some journals are receiving double their normal number of submissions. Science, one of the world’s most selective research outlets, published the structure of the spiky protein that the virus uses to enter host cells — crucial knowledge for designing a vaccine and antiviral drugs — nine days after receiving it, according to Holden Thorp, the journal’s editor in chief. “It’s the same process going extremely fast,” he says. Is there precedent in Science’s 140-year history? “Not that anybody can remember.” (Tingley, 4/21)

Stat: He Ran Marathons And Was Fit. So Why Did Covid-19 Almost Kill Him? 
A week after testing positive for Covid-19, Joshua Fiske drove himself to a New Jersey hospital with a fever nearing 104 and a blood oxygen level extraordinarily low for an athletic 47-year-old. An X-ray revealed pneumonia in both lungs. He was admitted but his condition worsened: He felt cold enough to shiver under five blankets in one moment, then sweated through his hospital gown the next. He worried he wouldn’t pull through. (Glaser, 4/21)

The New York Times: How Coronavirus Infected Some, But Not All, In A Restaurant
In January, at a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, one diner infected with the novel coronavirus but not yet feeling sick appeared to have spread the disease to nine other people. One of the restaurant’s air-conditioners apparently blew the virus particles around the dining room. There were 73 other diners who ate that day on the same floor of the five-story restaurant, and the good news is they did not become sick. Neither did the eight employees who were working on the floor at the time. (Chang, 4/20)

ABC News: What Experts Say About Coronavirus In Water -- And What It Means For Beach Season 
With the weather warming up and states like Florida announcing plans to reopen beaches, thoughts of beach vacations and weekends at the lake are bubbling up -- and so is the question about whether it's safe to go swimming without contracting the new coronavirus. Research indicates that other coronavirus strains, such as SARS, can survive 12 days in room temperature tap water, two to three days in room temperature wastewater, and much longer in both at cooler temperatures, according to Dr. Ian Pepper, PhD, director of the University of Arizona Water and Energy Sustainable Technology (WEST) Center. (Anoruo, 4/20)

ABC News: 'COVID Toes': Could Skin Conditions Offer Coronavirus Clues? 
Months after the novel coronavirus appeared on the world stage, the deadly disease is still prompting medical mysteries, and doctors have identified another odd potential symptom: skin problems. A growing number of prominent dermatologists treating suspected and confirmed coronavirus-positive patients are reporting patterns and trends of skin conditions, suggesting the skin could be a kind of window about what may be happening with COVID-19 inside the body. Italian doctors published a series of cases signaling a trend about the skin in late March. In that study, one in five patients had a skin issue, most commonly a red rash or a hive-like eruption. (Romero, Kim and Abdelmalek, 4/20)

ABC News: Explaining How A Plasma Transplant May Help Coronavirus Patients Recover 
Experts are hoping a century-old technique used for treating epidemics may hold new promise for treating COVID-19 patients. It’s the much talked about treatment called convalescent plasma. The question doctors and researchers are asking is this: Can the blood of a recovered coronavirus patient be donated to help others who are sick? (Abdelmalek, 4/20)

ABC News: COVID-19 Survivor Launches Plasma Donor Group To 'Help Contribute To The Cure' 
A woman who overcame the coronavirus has turned her experience into an act of heroism by donating her plasma for antibody testing and spearheading a volunteer movement to help others. Diana Berrent, a professional photographer from New York, joined ABC News' "Pandemic: What You Need to Know" to share details about her experience with the disease and how it acted as a catalyst for her to mobilize volunteer efforts with other COVID-19 survivors. (4/20)

Stat: Symptom Checker Steers Covid-19 Patients To Care 
When Covid-19 began spreading in the United States, Emory Healthcare was prepared in one way other health systems were not: A decade earlier — in response to the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak — it had built an online symptom checker that could be quickly adjusted to screen patients for the new respiratory illness. The tool was launched on March 20, and in less than three weeks, more than 300,000 screenings had been completed, including many thousands in early hotspots such as California (18,500) and New York (17,000), according to data Emory provided to STAT. In nearly 22 percent of cases, patients reported signs of severe illness and were directed to seek emergency care. (Ross, 4/21)

Politico: Health Care Workforce Is Recession Proof. Is It 'Pandemic Proof?'
Health care workers are facing threats to their jobs — pay cuts, furloughs and even layoffs — amid the worst disease outbreak in a century that has already infected more than 770,000 people in the U.S. Hospitals are focused on combating the coronavirus, but that’s not where the money is. Medical practices and patients themselves are postponing elective procedures and delaying routine visits that usually drive profits. Plummeting revenue, compounded by higher costs for supplies like personal protective equipment, has led health care executives to take drastic steps like cutting payroll to try to keep their lights on as they fight the pandemic. (Cassella and Roubein, 4/20)

ProPublica: Medical Staffing Companies Cut Doctors’ Pay While Spending Millions on Political Ads
Private equity-backed medical staffing companies that have cut doctors’ pay are continuing to spend millions on political ads, according to Federal Communications Commission disclosures. The ads amount to $2.2 million since Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency on Jan. 31. About $1.2 million has been spent since President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration on March 13, the disclosures show. (Arnsdorf, 4/20)

The New York Times: Two E.R. Workers Worry: If They Died, Who’d Take Care Of Their Son?
A few nights ago, after their 18-month-old son, Nolan, went to sleep, Dr. Adam Hill and Neena Budhraja sat down on the living room couch in their apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Pen and paper in hand, they turned their attention to a pressing need: figuring out who would be Nolan’s legal guardian if the coronavirus swept them away. They aren’t just anxious parents. Adam, 37, is an emergency room doctor at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Neena, 39, is a physician assistant in the emergency room at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn. (Drucker, 4/20)

The Associated Press: South Texas ER Doctor Self-Isolates In His Kids' Treehouse
A South Texas emergency room physician has chosen a novel place to self-isolate as he’s treating patients with the novel coronavirus. Dr. Jason Barnes made a temporary home of his children’s treehouse in the backyard of the family’s Corpus Christi home. He is among many health care workers who are leaving their homes or or taking other precautions to protect their families after being exposed to the virus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (4/21)

The Washington Post: EMTs On The Front Lines Of The Coronavirus Pandemic Cope With Loss, Including Of Their Own Co-Workers
The caller was 18 years old. He was from Peru and lived with his father, just the two of them, everyone else back at home. The father, 56, had tested positive for covid-19 and now the son was unable to wake him from his bed. When Dave Prina and the other EMTs arrived, there was nothing to do but express condolences and ask for the father’s identification for the paperwork. What’s the boy going to do? he wondered. How will he live? How will he pay next month’s rent? (Cha, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: Healthcare Workers Confront Their Own Mortality
As the coronavirus tore through California in March, Dr. Amit Gohil bought his family a new board game: Pandemic. A pulmonary critical care doctor at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Gohil has asthma and diabetes, risk factors for COVID-19, and has been treating infected patients for weeks. At age 43, he is acutely aware his life could be cut short. He hoped the game, with its heroes of scientists and researchers, could be a way to help his children feel a sense of control over the virus, a story they all know could end badly. (Feldman, Chabria and Karlamangla, 4/20)

Detroit Free Press: Dealership Offers Coronavirus-Killing Chemical Spray To Medical Workers
Sellers Auto Group in metro Detroit is offering an in-car spray to protect medical workers from coronavirus starting Monday. The dealership group has partnered with Legacy Service Solutions of Waterford to provide health care workers and first responders with an antimicrobial solution in their cars. (LaReau, 4/20)

Boston Globe: Hospitals Redeploy Thousands Of Health Care Workers To Respond To COVID-19 Crisis 
On a normal day, Dr. Mitchel Harris, chief of orthopedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, would meet with patients in his clinic or see them in the operating room, where he’d fix their broken bones and torn tendons. Yet recently he worked a very different job: as a scribe hunched over a laptop, diligently taking notes, in a makeshift clinic for patients with COVID-19 symptoms. (McCluskey, 4/20)

CNN: 5-Year-Old Daughter Of Detroit First Responders Dies After Being Diagnosed With Coronavirus 
The 5-year-old daughter of two Detroit first responders has died of complications from coronavirus. Skylar Herbert died Sunday at Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital after being on a ventilator for two weeks, CNN affiliate WXYZ reported. She tested positive for coronavirus last month and developed a rare form of meningitis and swelling on the brain, according to WXYZ. (Silverman, 4/21)

Detroit Free Press: State Coronavirus Task Force On Race Dedicates Work To Detroit Girl, 5, Who Died
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday an executive order outlining who will serve on the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities and its priorities in addressing the way COVID-19 has disproportionately sickened and killed African Americans in the state. Citing statistics that show 40% of deaths from COVID-19 in Michigan have been among African Americans though they represent 13.6% of Michigan’s population, Whitmer said during a news conference Monday: "The deep inequities people in communities of color face, like basic lack of access to health care or transportation or protections in the workplace have made them more susceptible to COVID-19.  (Shamus, 4/20)

Politico: 'I'm Not Going To Go There And Die'
Generations of distrust in the health care system have accumulated particularly among African Americans but also Latinos, she said — a long-standing issue based on a history of medical abuses dating back to slavery that’s now burst to the fore, with dangerous consequences. One important way to allay such fears is through communication about the coronavirus that is tailored to minority and non-English speaking populations and delivered by credible messengers. With the pandemic disproportionately ravaging black and Hispanic populations, the need has become acute, lawmakers and public health experts are warning. (Barron-Lopez, 4/21)

Politico: Black Doctors Blast 'Woefully Anemic' Data On Minority Coronavirus Cases
Preliminary data shows that minority patients are disproportionately at risk of being hospitalized or dying from Covid-19. But health professionals say the numbers that have been released aren’t telling the whole story. Gross underreporting of tests, hospitalizations and deaths related to Covid-19 has plagued racial and ethnic data at the state and federal levels. Nearly half of all states have not included any data on the race or ethnicity of those affected by the coronavirus. Figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday list the race and ethnicity of 75 percent of all cases as unspecified. None of the race and ethnicity statistics for deaths have been reported nationally. (King, 4/20)

Fox News: Michigan Governor Whitmer Sets Up Coronavirus Racial Disparity Task Force 
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered on Monday the creation of a task force to investigate why the novel coronavirus has disproportionately affected the state’s African-American community.“ The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color throughout our state,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said in her executive order. “For example, while African Americans represent 13.6 percent of our state’s population, they represent a staggering 40 percent of the deaths from COVID-19.” (O'Reilly, 4/20)

CNN: America's Black And Hispanic Communities Are Bearing The Brunt Of The Coronavirus Crisis 
America has an inequality problem and the coronavirus crisis is making it worse. The pandemic is leaving few people untouched, but America's weakest demographic groups are shouldering the worst burden through job losses and front-line work, against a backdrop of a higher risk of infections and lower savings. (Tappe, 4/21)

WBUR: White House: Data On COVID-19 And Race Still Weeks Away
The Trump administration is having to backtrack on when it can provide data on the race of COVID-19 patients. Right now, there's no clear national picture of how the coronavirus is affecting people of different races. Some states are releasing this information, and there's some data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What little data there are is concerning. For one, African Americans represent a third of all deaths from COVID-19, even though they represent only 13% of the national population. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/20)

WBUR: Asian American Doctor On Experiencing Racism During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Feeling ‘Powerless’ In Helping Patients 
Discrimination against Asian Americans has surged in the United States. Since mid-March, the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council says they’ve received more than 1,100 reports of coronavirus discrimination. While President Trump and allies have called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus,” reports have recently surfaced regarding a key Republican strategy come November: Point the finger at China for the health care emergency unfolding in the U.S. (Hobson and McMahon, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Organ Transplants Plummet During New York’s Coronavirus Crisis
The volume of organ transplants across New York state has dropped precipitously with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, falling to 23 total organ transplants during April from an average of 220 transplants, according to an official for one of the state’s nonprofit transplant organizations. Hundreds of transplant recipients have contracted coronavirus, and at least 200 were hospitalized in the past week, according to Samantha Delair, the executive director of the New York Center for Liver Transplantation, who shared the data during a recent online seminar for peers in the organ-transplant community. (West, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Sparks Rise In Anti-Semitic Sentiment, Researchers Say
The new coronavirus pandemic is fueling anti-Semitic sentiment, Israeli researchers said Monday, as messages online and elsewhere falsely blame Jews for the spread of the disease and the ensuing economic impact. Researchers from the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University, which released its annual assessment of global anti-Semitism Monday, said the virus that causes the Covid-19 illness had revived centuries-old habits of faulting Jews for things that go wrong, such as natural disasters, plagues, world wars and economic crises. (Schwartz, 4/20)

The New York Times: Fear Of ‘Covid Hospitals’ Leads Women To Pursue Home Births
With less than three weeks to go until her baby was due, Aziza Hasanova packed her bags and prepared for what she expected to be a relatively smooth delivery at a Brooklyn outpost of one of New York City’s leading hospitals. But as the coronavirus pandemic swept across the city, all her planning was suddenly thrown into disarray. When she was 38 weeks pregnant, the hospital, N.Y.U. Langone in Brooklyn, canceled her last checkup, and Ms. Hasanova said a clerk at the hospital discouraged her from coming in because of the risks of being exposed to the surging number of patients infected with coronavirus. (Freytas-Tamura, 4/21)

The Washington Post: Stress And Anxiety Plague 60 Percent Of U.S,. Adults, A New Poll Says
Daily stress and worry plague a majority of American adults — 60 percent, according to a new nationwide Gallup poll, conducted from March 21 to April 5. The finding represents what Gallup describes as an “unprecedented” increase in the number of anxious Americans, a statistic that it says generally shows little change over time. (Searing, 4/20)

NPR: Couples Therapists' Stress-Reducing Advice To Survive Self-Isolation
Many Americans are spending a lot more time with their partners these days. And some of those relationships are being tested by the inevitable "pressure-cooker" moments that come with weeks of being confined to the home in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus. (Greene, 4/21)

The Hill: Earth Day Marks The Meeting Of COVID-19 And Climate Change
Earth Day on Wednesday is a celebration of the planet but it’s also a warning that the coronavirus crisis isn’t the only threat to the survival of humanity. The world is so focused on the COVID-19 pandemic that many people ignore the devastating consequences of climate change. President Trump’s hesitation to aggressively fight the pandemic is symptomatic of his refusal to confront climate change. (Brad Bannon, 4/20)

The Hill: Nearly Half Lived With Unhealthy Pollution Levels In 2016-2018: Analysis
Almost half of Americans lived in areas with unhealthy pollution levels between 2016 and 2018, according to an analysis published Tuesday. The American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report found that about 45.8 percent of the population, or about 150 million Americans, lived in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution between 2016 and 2018. (Frazin, 4/21)

The New York Times: How Abortion, Guns And Church Closings Made Coronavirus A Culture War
This is what it looks like when a pandemic collides with the culture wars in America. The mayor of Louisville, Ky., warned churches that holding services on Easter Sunday would defy the city’s social distancing guidelines. Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and Senate majority leader, answered with a stern letter, arguing, “Religious people should not be singled out for disfavored treatment.” The Democratic governor in Michigan extended bans on certain outdoor activities to include using motorboats. Conservatives called her an authoritarian and caricatured her move as a slap at people who enjoy the outdoors. (Peters, 4/20)

The Hill: Appeals Court Reinstates Limits On Medical Abortions In Texas
A federal appeals court on Monday reinstated limits on medication-induced abortions in Texas as part of the state’s curbs on certain medical procedures during the coronavirus pandemic. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a reversal of its ruling last week, said Texas could restrict women from terminating an unwanted pregnancy through the use of medicine. (Kruzel, 4/20)

The New York Times: Pandemic’s Costs Stagger The Nursing Home Industry
Even before they became deadly petri dishes for the worst pandemic in generations, many nursing homes were struggling to stay afloat and provide quality care. But since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, nursing home operators have had to spend more money on protective equipment for staff and technology to connect residents with relatives who are no longer allowed to visit. Their revenues have shrunk because they are admitting fewer new residents in hopes of reducing the risk of infection. (Goldstein, Gebeloff and Silver-Greenberg, 4/21)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Home Chain Converts Two Units To Care For Recently Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients
Two new units designed for COVID-19 patients who have recently been discharged from hospitals have opened at nursing homes operated by Novi, Mich.-based Optalis Healthcare, according to CEO Raj Patel. The hospital step-down units, called subacute-care units, are located at Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation in Beverly Hills and the Shelby Health and Rehabilitation in Shelby Township. (Greene, 4/20)

Kaiser Health News: ‘It Hurts Our Soul’: Nursing Home Workers Struggle With Thankless Position
In the months before county health officials ordered the evacuation of COVID-19-plagued Magnolia Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, the facility’s employees complained of bounced checks. It sat on a list of the nation’s worst nursing homes for health and safety violations. But when announcing the unprecedented evacuation of Magnolia’s 83 remaining patients last week, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County’s health officer, singled out the nursing home’s staff― after only one of its 13 certified nursing assistants showed up for a scheduled shift the previous day. (Almendrala, 4/21)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Nearly 1/3 Of Louisiana's Coronavirus Deaths Have Come In Nursing Homes; Death Toll To 403
Falling in line with a national trend, the coronavirus deaths in Louisiana's nursing homes and long-term facilities climbed to 403 -- around 30% of the state’s total COVID-19 deaths, according to numbers released Monday by the Louisiana Department of Health. Meanwhile, nearly half of the state’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities have at least one COVID-19 case, the numbers show. (Roberts III, 4/20)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nursing Home Residents ‘Terrified’ As COVID-19 Rampages Through Facilities 
COVID-19 cases and deaths have spiked in Nevada nursing homes and assisted living centers, and the facilities now account for more than 16 percent of all reported deaths from the disease in the state, according to new data published Monday. The data was posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on its nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website in a new tracking tool for state-run or -regulated institutions. (Erickson, 4/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Complaint Alleges Santa Clara County Health Workers In San Jose Nursing Homes Exposed To Coronavirus Patients 
Health workers were potentially exposed to the coronavirus without proper protection and training at two skilled nursing facilities in Santa Clara County, according to a complaint filed with state workplace safety regulators. The complaint filed by the SEIU Local 521 union alleges that county health care workers represented by the union who were assigned to two nursing facilities — Canyon Springs Post-Acute Care Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Ridge Post-Acute Care Skilled Nursing Facility — had direct contact with infected patients without proper masks and isolation practices. (DiFeliciantonio , 4/20)

The New York Times: Singapore Seemed To Have Coronavirus Under Control, Until Cases Doubled
Singapore did almost everything right. After recording its first coronavirus case on Jan. 23, the prosperous city-state meticulously traced the close contacts of every infected patient, while keeping a sense of normalcy on its streets. Borders were shut to populations likely to carry the contagion, although businesses stayed open. Ample testing and treatment were free for residents. But over the past few days, Singapore’s coronavirus caseload has more than doubled, with more than 8,000 cases confirmed as of Monday, the highest in Southeast Asia. (Beech, 4/20)

Politico: State Report: Russian, Chinese, And Iranian Disinformation Narratives Echoing Each Other
China, Iran and Russia are using the coronavirus crisis to launch a propaganda and disinformation onslaught against the United States, the State Department warns in a new report. The three governments are pushing a host of matching messages: that the novel coronavirus was an American bioweapon, that the U.S. was scoring political points off the crisis, that the virus didn’t come from China, that U.S. troops spread it, that America’s sanctions are killing Iranians, that China’s response was great while the U.S.’s was negligent, that all three governments are managing the crisis well, and that the U.S. economy can't bear the toll of the virus. (Swan, 4/21)

The Associated Press: New Zealand Could Pull Off Bold Goal Of Eliminating Virus
While most countries are working on ways to contain the coronavirus, New Zealand has set itself a much more ambitious goal: eliminating it altogether. And experts believe the country could pull it off. The virus “doesn’t have superpowers,” said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland. “Once transmission is stopped, it’s gone.” (Perry, 4/21)

The Washington Post: From Jacinda Ardern To Silveria Jacobs: How Female Leaders Are Battling The Coronavirus Pandemic
Silveria Jacobs is not messing around. When coronavirus cases started increasing in the Caribbean nation of Saint Maarten, the 51-year-old prime minister delivered blunt instructions. “Simply. Stop. Moving,” Jacobs said in a video address. “If you do not have the type of bread you like in your house, eat crackers. If you do not have bread, eat cereal, eat oats, sardines.” (Hassan and O'Grady, 4/20)

The Hill: Chile To Issue World's First 'Immunity Passports' To People Who Have Recovered From Coronavirus 
Chile is expected to issue the world’s first “immunity passports” to people who have recovered from the coronavirus, marking them exempt from quarantines and other restrictions. The so-called immunity passports would allow those who have recovered from the coronavirus or tested positive for the presence of antibodies to return to work and help reopen the country, The Washington Post reported. Paula Daza, an undersecretary in the Chilean Health Ministry, said more than 4,600 people are already eligible for the digital or physical cards. (Coleman, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Reckless Incitement To ‘Liberate’ States Endangers Lives 
Public fatigue with stay-at-home orders to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic is inevitable and understandable. Not understandable, nor forgivable, is the president of the United States inciting disrespect for his own government’s guidelines, which are unquestionably essential for the public health. Relatively small protests have broken out in the United States in recent days against the strictures designed to slow the spreading virus. People have a right to protest, if they conduct themselves without endangering others. But leaders have an obligation to point out that the behavior the protesters are encouraging could reignite the virus and cost lives.Tens of millions of Americans in recent weeks have willingly complied with stay-at-home guidelines put out by President Trump and by governors, a commendable showing of cohesion and collective good judgment. (4/20)

The New York Times: Trump Is Asking Us To Play Russian Roulette With Our Lives 
“LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.” With these three short tweets last week, President Trump attempted to kick off the post-lockdown phase of America’s coronavirus crisis. It should be called: “American Russian roulette: The Covid-19 version.’’ (Thomas L. Friedman, 4/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Seven Fateful Coronavirus Decisions
Facing a once-in-a-century pandemic, a crisis that some have likened to a world war, the U.S. is fortunate to have President Trump in charge. I have witnessed him make the tough decisions necessary at every turn to keep America safe. Seven of these decisions stand out. (Robert O'Brien, 4/20)

Fox News: Coronavirus Reopening – Democrats Resisting For This Reason
Only someone who has watched Democrats try to topple President Trump for three years with no success but ever-increasing desperation. Having failed to oust him by alleging conspiracy with Russia and then through a partisan and unfair impeachment, now they pray that a devastated economy will demolish his best argument for reelection. That could happen, especially if blue and purple state governors around the country keep the lid on activity, demand that small businesses remain shuttered, and enforce the general misery, all in the name of keeping us “safe.” Mayor Bill de Blasio is threatening to keep New York City’s municipal swimming pools closed this coming summer, for budget and health reasons. Can you imagine what impact that might have city kids who have been cooped up for months, and who are desperate to play outside? (Liz Peek, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Stocking Shelves In Covid-19 America 
Calls to reopen the economy are becoming more serious. And the mood in Indiana, which averages fewer Covid-19 cases than the nation as a whole, is passing resentment and edging toward defiance. Saturday brought protests at the governor’s mansion in Indianapolis. So I could stay at work and possibly get the virus. And the country could stay in shutdown and risk another Great Depression—not to mention a soft rebellion leading to the arrest of normally law-abiding citizens. If widespread testing doesn’t become available soon, things could get ugly. (Daniel Lee, 4/20)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Trump Still Doesn't Get It. Testing Must Happen Before Any Reopening.
President Donald Trump’s one consistency during this pandemic has been his failure to understand the central necessity of widespread testing and tracing — a failure upon which he doubled-down last week, wrongly suggesting some states don’t need it. Specific characteristics of the coronavirus, including its aggressive transmission and the fact that many who are infected never show symptoms, make testing a non-negotiable requirement. (4/20)

Los Angeles Times: 'Live Free Or Die' Isn't A Hypothetical Choice With Coronavirus 
The small groups of people who have gathered, and continue to gather, to protest coronavirus restrictions in this state and many others are right about one big thing: The damage being done by the stay-at-home orders is enormous. ...Things are worse than most of us have ever seen. On that we can all agree. But does the pain and suffering justify the immediate lifting of restrictions as the “Operation Gridlock” protesters demand? Absolutely not. There’s too much at stake. (4/21)

The Washington Post: America ‘Has Been Abused By This President,’ Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele Says 
Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has been on my “Cape Up” podcast five times. Each time, he has been clear-eyed and unsparing in his views on his party and the president. This time was no different. We talked about what he thought the press should say to President Trump at his daily rally from the White House. “You know what I’m looking forward to … just to put it out here,” Steele told me in the latest episode of “Cape Up,” “[a] reporter stands up when the president says something like he’s done over the last few weeks and looks at the president and says, ‘Mr. President, this is my last day on the job, you are full of s--- because what you just said is a bold-faced lie to the American people.” And Steele talked about how he thinks Trump has treated the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. “America, in some respects, has been abused by this president,” said Steele. (Jonathan Capehart, 4/21)

The New York Times: Essential Workers Deserve Better Protection From OSHA 
Shelter-in-place orders are an effective means to slowing the spread of the coronavirus, yet millions of Americans have no choice but to leave home to go to work every day. Deemed essential for their jobs in manufacturing, grocery stores, pharmacies, warehouses, retailing and restaurants, they face daily risks by working alongside colleagues and customers who may be carriers of the coronavirus. At grocery stores and sprawling warehouses, workers say not enough is being done to protect them from exposure. Walmart employees, for instance, say they lack sufficient sanitizing supplies and protective gear and are forced to congregate in spaces that put them well within a six-foot radius of co-workers. At meat processing plants, where production lines often require working shoulder to shoulder, the risks are particularly acute. And mass-transit workers say they haven’t been provided masks or personal cleaning supplies. (4/20)

The Washington Post: Our People Are Hungry. We Need A Leader Who Will Feed Them. 
They say you cannot see hunger. But what do you see in thousands of cars outside a food bank in San Antonio? Or cars lined up for hours outside supermarkets in Puerto Rico when people heard about food and water deliveries after Hurricane Maria? I am a cook. Over the past few years, I have learned a lot by feeding the many, not the few, after disasters across the world. (Jose Andres, 4/20)

The Hill: Local Officials Are In The Dark On Federal Efforts To Distribute Medical Supplies 
As cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) rage across the country and peak in some areas, one thing remains clear — the federal government’s efforts to get critical medical equipment to health professionals have come up short. In this unprecedented public health crisis, we need clear leadership and coordination, but what we have is a system marred by confusion and competition. And it’s taking its toll. (Jeffrey McKay and Matthew Wellington, 4/20)

Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer Must Do More To Safeguard People, Workers In Prisons
There has been an virtual silence from our state government around the 38,000 people in Michigan’s state prisons. Maybe it is because this is a segment of the population that is often ignored. Maybe it is because this is a burgeoning burden too big to really wrap our heads around. (Natalie Holbrook, 4/20)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Gov. Kemp: Don’t Risk Virus’ Resurgence Here
We all look forward to the day we can put this pandemic behind us, but given Georgia’s performance so far, Gov. Brian Kemp is moving too soon and confusing citizens. He is risking a resurgence of the coronavirus in our state. Yes, the statistical models have started to bend in our favor. While just models, these different analyses of COVID-19 cases and deaths, suggest that the state may be past its peak and a dire situation is getting better. (4/20)

The New York Times: The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients 
I have been practicing emergency medicine for 30 years. In 1994 I invented an imaging system for teaching intubation, the procedure of inserting breathing tubes. This led me to perform research into this procedure, and subsequently teach airway procedure courses to physicians worldwide for the last two decades. So at the end of March, as a crush of Covid-19 patients began overwhelming hospitals in New York City, I volunteered to spend 10 days at Bellevue, helping at the hospital where I trained. Over those days, I realized that we are not detecting the deadly pneumonia the virus causes early enough and that we could be doing more to keep patients off ventilators — and alive. (Richard Levitan, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: A Legacy Of Health Disparities Laid Bare By COVID-19
City health authorities released a report showing African Americans with the disease were dying at nearly twice the rate of whites—19.8 per 100,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases compared with 10.2 for whites. The disparity was even greater for Latino victims, who were dying at a rate of 22.8 per 100,000 cases.It's not surprising COVID-19 exacts a high toll on racial and ethnic minorities, who historically have suffered grievously from natural disasters. (Bruce Siegel, 4/20)

Stat: You Are Waiting For The Surge 
The death toll from the march of Covid-19 through New York City soars past 10,000. You track the wave of patients requiring life support in Boston. Rhode Island — your state, your community, your hospital — is described as being caught between these two hot spots. Models predict you’ll be overrun with cases in a week or two. For now, you’re waiting for the surge. (Jay Baruch, 4/21)

ABC News: To Defeat COVID-19, Don't Only Treat The Patient, Treat The Neighborhood
A virus that many once believed would impact only a small group of international travelers has infected nearly 750,000 Americans and killed another 39,000. Those numbers are shocking enough, but if you’re an African American or Latinx, you have even greater reason to be concerned. (Jay Bhatt, Kelli Todd and Kavita Patel, 4/20)

JAMA: COVID-19—Looking Beyond Tomorrow For Health Care And Society 
Just 6 months ago, the novel coronavirus now known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19, the severe disease it causes, were unheard of. ...Millions of people have been affected by COVID-19, hundreds of thousands have experienced critical illness, and tens of thousands have died. Physicians, other health care professionals, and health care systems around the world have been challenged like never before in recent history.Since one of the first publications in JAMA, titled “Coronavirus Infections—More Than Just the Common Cold,” by Fauci and colleagues on January 23, 2020, it was clear that the scope and ultimate effects of this outbreak were unclear and would evolve rapidly. However, at some point the acute phase of the pandemic will end, and it will be necessary to understand what the future may look like in health care and in society. Various forecasts have suggested possible timelines for when peaks in disease activity, intensity, and severity of COVID-19 may begin to gradually subside. There are major concerns and uncertainty not only regarding when a return to some semblance of “normal” activities might occur, but also regarding what that “new normal” will be like, in terms of the implications related to the lingering risk of ongoing COVID-19 disease. These implications may be profound and most likely will have important consequences for daily life and for the health care system. (Phil B. Fontanarosa Howard Bauchner, 4/17)

Stat: If A Vaccine Quenches Covid-19, What Will Pharma Want In Return? 
Make no mistake: The only long-term solution to the Covid-19 pandemic is a safe and effective vaccine. The current focus on identifying effective treatments, while important, serve only as a temporary Band-Aid. (Stewart Lyman, 4/21)

Boston Globe: Loneliness, Anxiety, Grief — Dealing With The Mental Health Impacts Of The Coronavirus 
Scientists and other professionals are collaborating across borders in a race to find treatments and a vaccine for COVID-19. The urgent need to combat the disease has made it patently obvious that such large-scale national and international efforts to safeguard and treat the physical health of the populace are essential. However, despite the fact that the psychological effects of the pandemic will linger long after the physical threat has abated, little effort has been made to address mental health. (Guy Winch, 4/21)

The Hill: How Will Telehealth Fare After COVID-19? 
Earlier this year, experts in children’s mental health gathered in Columbus, Ohio to talk about a pediatric crisis. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death in young people 10-19 years old. Half of the mental illnesses start by the age of 14. One in five children is living with a significantly impairing mental illness. (Tim Robinson, 4/20)

Detroit Free Press: Behind The Scenes Of A Metro Detroit Funeral Home During Coronavirus
The news is full of the changing nature of work during the coronavirus pandemic: shuttered businesses, laid-off workers, spiking unemployment claims. That's not Wujek-Calcaterra. If anything, business is up, a grim reality of life during a deadly virus. But the funeral homes are almost eerily quiet, 10 chapels and visitation rooms all but empty, chairs spaced six feet away awaiting mourners who may never arrive. Just 15 of the business' 48 employees are present — although none have been laid off — a short staff to handle a high demand. (Kaffer, 4/18)