First Edition: April 14, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Pediatric Practices Struggle To Adapt And Survive Amid COVID-19
The silence was striking. On a normal day, the well-child waiting room at Berkeley Pediatrics bustles with children playing, infants crying and teenagers furiously tapping on their smartphones. On a recent Monday, the room was deserted, save for a bubbling tropical fish tank and a few empty chairs. Every book, puzzle and wooden block had been confiscated to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There was not a young patient to be seen. (Gold, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News: In Shutting Out Threat, Seniors In Continuing Care Communities Feel Shut In
With tight restrictions in place at their continuing care retirement community, Tom and Janice Showler are getting on each other’s nerves.Most days, Tom, 76, likes to drive out of their community ― Asbury Springhill in Erie, Pennsylvania — to the store to pick up a few items. “If you follow the right protocols, the likelihood is quite low that we would come down with coronavirus,” Tom said. “If I didn’t go out at all, I’d feel like the walls were closing in on me.” (Graham, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News Fact Check: Sanders: In Coronavirus Relief Effort, Congress Fell Short On Paid Sick Leave
The pressure is building for Congress to pass a fourth coronavirus relief bill, beyond the roughly $2.2 trillion already approved to keep people and businesses viable during an unprecedented viral attack. And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is making his case for what a supplemental rescue package should include ― guaranteed paid sick leave. “It has been estimated that only 12% of workers in businesses that are likely to stay open during this crisis are receiving paid sick leave benefits as a result of the second coronavirus relief package,” Sanders argued in an op-ed published April 8 in The Guardian, just hours before he suspended his presidential campaign. (Luthra, 4/13)

Kaiser Health News: Watch: Coronavirus And Your Health Care
Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, answers questions from viewers on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” including many about the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on health care and insurance and the government’s response. You can find the program here. (4/13)

Kaiser Health News: Analysis: The Real Tragedy Of Not Having Enough COVID-19 Tests
President Donald Trump said late last month that he hadn’t “heard about testing in weeks.” But today — let’s face it — tests are being rationed in many parts of the country. Of course, the seriously ill and essential front-line personnel like doctors, nurses and police officers require and deserve to go to the front of the line for testing. But hundreds of thousands more people should have been tested by now, if only more tests were available. Testing them — and getting results — might have vastly changed their behavior, their self-care at home and (perhaps most important) our understanding of COVID-19, so that when it flares locally we would know how to respond in a more nuanced way, rather than shutting down society. (Rosenthal, 4/13)

The New York Times: ‘Worst Is Over,’ Cuomo Says As States Snub Trump On Restarting Economy
With the number of new deaths and rate of hospitalizations falling in New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that “the worst is over” in the coronavirus pandemic, and he announced an alliance with six other Northeastern governors to explore how to eventually lift restrictions — a move that appeared to be an implicit rebuke to President Trump. The governors from New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts and Rhode Island said they would begin to draw up a plan for when to reopen businesses and schools, and how quickly to allow people to return to work safely, although the timeline for such a plan remained unclear. (Ferre-Sadurni and McKinley, 4/13)

Reuters: New York, California And Other States Plan For Reopening As Coronavirus Crisis Eases
“Nobody has been here before, nobody has all the answers,” said Cuomo, whose state has become the U.S. epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, during an open conference call with five other governors. “Addressing public health and the economy: Which one is first? They’re both first.” The three Pacific Coast states announced they, too, planned to follow a shared approach for lifting social-distancing measures, but said they “need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening” can take place. (Caspani and Resnick-Ault, 4/13)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Plan: California Working With Oregon, Washington
“COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries,” Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. “It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what’s happening on the ground.” Newsom said he intends to provide details Tuesday on California’s strategy to begin to walk back his stay-at-home order and allow businesses to resume functions. (Luna, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Governors Form Compacts To Coordinate Reopening Society
They did not announce specific plans on how to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses. Instead, both groups said they would coordinate those decisions while first considering the health of residents. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said it could take time. “The house is still on fire,” he said during a conference call with reporters. “We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we’re going to need ... to make sure this doesn’t reignite.” (Mulvihill, 4/13)

The Associated Press: With No New Virus Hotspots, Debate Rages On When To Reopen
A lack of new hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be holding Tuesday, fueling a debate about how soon authorities could start scaling back social restrictions and reopen economies. While concerns remained over the virus’ fresh spread in places like Japan and Indonesia, nowhere was currently undergoing the explosion in hospitalizations and deaths that were seen earlier in China, southern Europe and parts of the United States. (Blake, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Virginia, Maryland, D.C. Weigh How Long To Keep Coronavirus Restrictions In Place
A group of scientists advising Virginia’s government said Monday that social distancing in the state appears to be working, and their models show the state’s hospitals have enough beds to handle the novel coronavirus pandemic for the next few months if current trends continue. But Gov. Ralph Northam (D) warned that the models also show lifting a stay-at-home order or other social distancing measures too soon would cause a spike in covid-19 cases that would overwhelm medical resources. “We can’t afford that,” Northam said. (Chason, Schneider and Nirappil, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Trump Claims He Has 'Total' Authority Over Reopening Economy
President Donald Trump claimed the “total” authority to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. But governors from both parties were quick to push back, noting they have primary responsibility for ensuring public safety in their states and would decide when it’s safe to begin a return to normal operations. Trump would not offer specifics about the source of his asserted power, which he claimed, despite constitutional limitations, was absolute. (Colvin, Miller and Mulvihill, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Governors Form Groups To Explore Lifting Virus Restrictions, While Trump Says He Alone Can Do So
“The authority of the president of the United States, having to do with the subject we’re talking about, is total,” Trump said, adding, “The president of the United States calls the shots.” He also suggested that if a governor declined to go along, he or she would pay a price. “If some states refuse to open, I would like to see that person run for election,” Trump said. (Craig and Dennis, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: States Move To Coordinate On Reopening Plans
Governors have wide authority over state stay-at-home orders and mandates to close schools in their states. Unknown is how or whether the federal government could override those orders—or whether individuals would comply if they felt it was too unsafe to resume their normal lives. “The president can’t magically make them go away,” said Wendy Parmet, a public-health law professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “They’re not his orders.” She added, however, that the president’s statements or orders could influence some governors to defer to White House guidelines. “The federal government has enormous influence, persuasion and the power of the purse,” Ms. Parmet said. (Calfas, Restuccia and De Avila, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Far-Right US Politicians Label Lockdowns Anti-Constitutional
In deeply conservative eastern Washington state, a prominent state lawmaker kicked out of his Republican Party caucus labels the coronavirus as a foreign bio-weapon, accuses Marxists of using the pandemic to advance totalitarianism and rails against lockdown restrictions imposed by the Democratic governor. A California teleconference last week to consider sport fishing limits in rural areas unprepared to handle influxes of anglers descended into chaos — with callers branding state officials as “fascists” and declaring it was time to “make fishing great again.” (Geranios, 4/13)

The Washington Post: South Dakota’s Governor Resisted Ordering People To Stay Home. Now It Has One Of The Nation’s Largest Coronavirus Hot Spots.
As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home. Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a “herd mentality.” It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether “to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.” (Witte, 4/13)

The Washington Post: What U.S. Leaders Say Affects Whether Americans Stay At Home, CDC Data Suggests
The decision by Americans to hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic has been heavily influenced by pronouncements from national and local leaders, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers the most robust information to date showing the relationship between people’s behavior and official policies announced by the White House and local leaders. (Wan and Bump, 4/13)

The Associated Press: New Trump Panel To Explore Path To Reopening US Economy
Every day, a team of public health officials turns up in the White House briefing room to lay out measures being taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic. A different team, expected to be formally announced as early as Tuesday, has begun meeting behind closed doors in the West Wing to tackle another matter paramount to President Donald Trump: how to begin reopening the American economy. The council, which is not expected to include health officials, could bring to the forefront the push-pull tensions within the White House between economists and public health officials over how quickly to reopen the economy vs. proceeding cautiously to ensure the virus doesn’t spike again. (Lemire, Freking and Madhani, 4/14)

Politico: Trump’s Grand Reopening Council Triggers A Slew Of New Questions
By Monday afternoon, the White House still had not articulated who within the administration would lead the group and how it would differ from existing infrastructure such as the National Economic Council, which coordinates economic policy across the administration. Officials were assessing how the body could even include outside executives or doctors because that could run afoul of federal rules about engaging private-sector interests in critical government discussions. Business groups were also wary of publicly aligning themselves with the White House during a controversial crisis. Even the exact mission seemed unclear. (Cook, 4/13)

NPR: Trump To Name New Coronavirus Advisers On Reopening The Country
A list of prospective councilors reported Monday by Fox News was heavy on administration officials and economic specialists. The report did not include anyone from certain groups that Trump has previously said he wanted to involve. "Not only the greatest minds, but the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason," as the president said on Friday. For example: "Very, very great doctors," Trump said. (Ewing, 4/14)

The Hill: Trump Says Jared And Ivanka Won't Be Part Of New Economic Coronavirus Council
President Trump told reporters Monday that senior advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump would not be part of the White House council he is convening to guide the reopening of the U.S. economy. Fox News had reported earlier Monday that the council was expected to include the president’s daughter and son-in-law. (Chalfant, 4/13)

The Washington Post: Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Offers Plans For Beating Back Coronavirus
A year after Scott Gottlieb resigned unexpectedly as Food and Drug Administration commissioner to return home to his family in Westport, Conn., he has never been in such demand — advising lawmakers, governors, members of the Trump administration and even the president himself about combating the novel coronavirus. The reason is simple, say the officials seeking his advice: He’s got a plan. In fact, several of them. (McGinley, Dawsey and Abutaleb, 4/13)

The Associated Press: A Month After New York's 1st Virus Death, Toll Hits 10,000
New York’s coronavirus death toll has now topped 10,000 only about a month after the state recorded its first fatality, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. The state tallied 671 new deaths on Sunday. It was the first time in a week the daily toll dipped below 700. Cuomo said the count has been “basically flat at a horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow.” More than half of New York’s 10,056 deaths have come in the past week. Hospitals are still getting about 2,000 new patients a day. (Villeneuve, Matthews and Hill, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Global Coronavirus Infections Near Two Million; U.S. Governors Plan For Reopening
Early Tuesday, confirmed cases world-wide of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, passed 1.92 million, more than a quarter of them in the U.S., according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In the 24 hours that ended at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, 1,584 people in the U.S. died from the coronavirus and 26,366 new cases were confirmed, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data. That is down slightly from daily highs of more than 2,100 and 35,000, respectively, last week. (Craymer, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Seeks Rain Ponchos As Surgical Gowns Dwindle
New York City officials have asked local organizations for rain ponchos to be used as medical gowns as Mayor Bill de Blasio said some protective equipment would be in short supply this week. While the city had enough N95 masks, surgical masks and gloves for the coming week, it didn’t have sufficient surgical gowns and face shields, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, said during a press conference Sunday. The shortage has forced the city to be creative to protect its health-care workers during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. (Honan, 4/13)

The New York Times: Trump Turns Daily Coronavirus Briefing Into A Defense Of His Record
President Trump turned Monday’s daily coronavirus task force briefing into an aggressive defense of his own halting response to the pandemic and used a campaign-style video to denounce criticism that he moved too slowly to limit the deadly spread of the virus. For nearly an hour, Mr. Trump vented his frustration after weekend news reports that his own public health officials were prepared by late February to recommend aggressive social distancing measures, but that the president did not announce them until several weeks later — a crucial delay that allowed the virus to spread. (Shear and Karni, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Isn’t Firing Fauci Over Coronavirus Comments, White House Says
President Trump isn’t firing Anthony Fauci, the White House said Monday, seeking to extinguish speculation that flared over the weekend after Mr. Trump retweeted a critic who called for the member of his administration’s coronavirus task force to be dismissed after he said lives could have been saved if the government had acted more quickly. “Today I walk in and I hear I’m going to fire him. I’m not firing—I think he’s a wonderful guy,” Mr. Trump said of Dr. Fauci at a White House news conference later Monday. (Leary and Armour, 4/13)

The Washington Post: President Trump Made 18,000 False Or Misleading Claims In 1,170 Days
When we last updated our database of President Trump’s false or misleading claims, it was on Jan. 19, the end of his third year as president. The president’s most frequently repeated false claim was that he presided over the best economy in the history of the United States. The next day, the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus was reported in the United States. So, with this update through April 3, we’ve added a new category — coronavirus — that already has more than 350 items. (Kessler, Rizzo and Kelly, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Trump's Disdain For 'Obamacare' Could Hamper Virus Response
The Trump administration’s unrelenting opposition to “Obamacare” could become an obstacle for millions of uninsured people in the coronavirus outbreak, as well as many who are losing coverage in the economic shutdown. Experts say the Affordable Care Act’s insurance markets provide a ready-made infrastructure for extending subsidized private coverage in every state, allowing more people access to medical treatment before they get so sick they have to go to the emergency room. In about three-fourths of the states, expanded Medicaid is also available to low-income people. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: The Coronavirus Economic Reopening Will Be Fragile, Partial And Slow
Walt Disney Co. reached a coronavirus milestone of sorts last month when it reopened a portion of its Shanghai Disney Resort as China’s pandemic began to ebb. But a trip to Tomorrowland may never be the same. Guests at the Shanghai resort must wear masks at all times, removing them only for eating. Hours and capacity are limited. And just to gain entry, visitors must submit to a temperature check and present a government-controlled QR code on their phone that indicates they are virus-free. Executives around the world who rapidly overhauled operations when the coronavirus struck, and the politicians who made them do it, are now focused on restarting the economy and their own businesses. (Schwartzel, Sider and Haddon, 4/13)

The New York Times: Economic Pain Will Persist Long After Coronavirus Lockdowns End
Walter Isenberg is the sort of business owner President Trump has in mind when he talks about the need to start lifting coronavirus lockdowns and reopen the American economy. Mr. Isenberg’s hotel and restaurant group in Denver has seen its revenues drop from $3 million a day last year to $40,000 a day now. But Mr. Isenberg has no expectation that his company, Sage Hospitality Group, will see the quick economic “boom” that Mr. Trump has predicted, even after state officials allow his properties to begin hosting customers again. (Tankersley, 4/13)

The New York Times: ‘This Is Going To Kill Small-Town America’
The coronavirus itself was slow to arrive in Bristol, a lakeside town of 3,300 people. The economic destruction came swiftly. By the end of March, with just a few local cases confirmed, gift shops, yoga studios and restaurants had all shut their doors. Hundreds lost jobs, contributing to a record surge in national unemployment claims. But at least the Freudenberg factory was running at full strength. The factory, which employs 350 people and makes bonded piston seals and other components for carmakers around the world, has an outsize impact on Bristol’s economy. (Gelles, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Pandemic Fuels Rapid Increase In Missed Mortgage Payments
About two million homeowners are skipping their monthly mortgage payments, according to industry data released on Monday, a number that is forecast to rise further as more Americans lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Approximately 3.74% of home loans are in forbearance as of April 5, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data, up from about 2.73% the prior week. (Ackerman, 4/13)

The New York Times: Stalemate Over Small-Business Aid Deepens As Officials Warn Of Funding Lapse
A stalemate over an emergency infusion of cash to help small businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic intensified on Monday after Democratic leaders doubled down on demands for additional money for state and local governments, hospitals, food assistance and rapid testing. With Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, insisting on adding to the Trump administration’s request to inject $250 billion into the loan program, it is unclear whether lawmakers can reach a consensus this week even as officials warn that the program could run out of funds as early as Friday. (Cochrane, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Negotiations Over New Coronavirus Aid Stall
Both parties want to add $250 billion to a popular fund for small-business loans, which the administration estimates will run out of money on Friday. Democratic leaders and President Trump have sounded hopeful about reaching a deal this week, but had little progress to report on Monday. Meanwhile, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said Monday that the House wouldn’t reconvene until May 4, several weeks after the original planned date of return, due to the coronavirus. Lawmakers could return sooner, should they be needed to assemble a quorum to pass legislation related to the government’s response to the pandemic, Mr. Hoyer’s office said. (Peterson and Duehren, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Relief Money Is Coming - For Some. Here's What To Know.
Americans are beginning to see the first economic impact payments hit their bank accounts. The IRS tweeted Saturday that it had begun depositing the funds into taxpayers’ bank accounts and would be working to get them out as fast as possible. The one-time payments were approved by Congress as part of an emergency relief package intended to combat the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. (Skidmore Sell, 4/13)

Politico: The Next Coronavirus Testing Debacle
Blood tests that measure a person’s antibodies to the coronavirus could be a powerful tool to determine when it’s safe to reopen the country. But concerns about the accuracy and availability of the tests — which detect whether a person has ever been exposed to the virus, and are different from the tests used to diagnose the disease — could hamper plans to allow Americans back to work and school. (Lim, 4/13)

The Washington Post: Michigan Health Care Workers To Be Tested For Antibodies To Covid-19
The biggest hospital system in Michigan is launching what’s believed to be the nation’s largest test for novel coronavirus antibodies. The study could determine who has already been infected with the virus and may now be immune to it — information that public health officials say is vital to decisions about reopening society. Beaumont Health will test blood samples from its 38,000 employees, as well as thousands of additional physicians and affiliates, officials said in interviews. (Harris, 4/13)

CNN: Antibody Tests: All Your Questions, Answered 
As the world watches and wonders when coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures might end, some hope antibody tests might help provide a solution. Antibody tests -- also known as serology tests -- aren't meant to diagnose active infection with the coronavirus. Rather, they check for proteins in the immune system, known as antibodies, through a blood sample. (Simon and Yu, 4/14)

Politico: U.S. Still Falling Short On Accurate Testing, FDA Chief Says
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has acknowledged the need to ramp up testing, but on Sunday his tone was cautious: Having an inaccurate test is worse than not having a test at all. Going forward, Hahn said on ABC’s “This Week,” “further ramping up testing, both diagnostic as well as the antibody tests, will really be necessary as we move beyond May into the summer months and then into the fall.” The doctor added that the United States has done more than 2 million tests, but stated: “We need to do more. No question about that.” (Dugyala, 4/12)

The Hill: FDA Approves First Saliva-Based Coronavirus Test 
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first saliva-based coronavirus test Monday under its emergency powers, Rutgers University announced. The FDA deployed its emergency-use authorization to approve of the test from the Rutgers lab RUCDR Infinite Biologics, informing the university of its approval on Saturday. The new saliva-based test aims to allow for increased testing and safety for health professionals conducting screening. (Coleman, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Could Old Vaccines For Other Germs Protect Against COVID-19?
Scientists are dusting off some decades-old vaccines against other germs to see if they could provide a little stopgap protection against COVID-19 until a more precise shot arrives. It may sound odd: Vaccines are designed to target a specific disease. But vaccines made using live strains of bacteria or viruses seem to boost the immune system’s first line of defense, a more general way to guard against germs. And history books show that sometimes translates into at least some cross-protection against other, completely different bugs. (Neergaard, 4/13)

Stat: Why An Old TB Vaccine Is Getting Attention In The Fight Against Covid-19
In the desperate search for ammunition to fend off the Covid-19 pandemic, a decades-old tuberculosis vaccine, given in huge numbers around the world, is gaining newfound attention. Researchers in Australia and the Netherlands are testing the idea that the vaccine, known as BCG — short for bacille Calmette-Guérin — could have broad power to boost the immune system against the novel coronavirus. In the United States, a research group in Boston hopes to test the vaccine in front line health workers for the same purpose. (Branswell, 4/14)

The New York Times: Millions Of Children Are At Risk For Measles As Coronavirus Fears Halt Vaccines
More than 100 million children could be at risk for measles because countries around the world are suspending national immunization programs in order to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, international public health leaders warned on Monday. So far, 24 low- and middle-income countries, including Mexico, Nigeria and Cambodia, have paused or postponed such programs, according to the Measles and Rubella Initiative, a consortium whose members include UNICEF, the American Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Hoffman, 4/13)

The New York Times: Despite Qualms, Arthritis Drug To Be Tested In Coronavirus Study
An Eli Lilly drug for rheumatoid arthritis carries a warning on its label saying patients with infections should not take it because it can make infections worse. Yet the National Institutes of Health is about to test it in people hospitalized with coronavirus infections. The study, whose innovative design is meant to find out — fast — what works, began at the end of February with the antiviral drug remdesivir made by Gilead Sciences. Four hundred patients have been treated either with remdesivir or a placebo. The results are now being analyzed and will be known within a few weeks. (Kolata, 4/13)

The Washington Post: Anti-Malarial Drug Touted By Trump Was Subject Of CIA Warning To Employees
The CIA has privately advised its workforce that taking an anti-malarial drug touted by President Trump and some of his supporters as a promising treatment for the novel coronavirus has potentially dangerous side effects, including sudden death. The warning, featured on a website for CIA employees with questions related to the spread of covid-19, came in late March after public discussion — and promotion by the president — that hydroxychloroquine, administered in concert with the antibiotic azithromycin, might prove effective against the disease. (Barrett, 4/13)

The New York Times: What Doctors On The Front Lines Wish They’d Known A Month Ago
Just about a month ago, people stricken with the new coronavirus started to arrive in unending ranks at hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, forming the white-hot center of the pandemic in the United States. Now, doctors in the region have started sharing on medical grapevines what it has been like to re-engineer, on the fly, their health care systems, their practice of medicine, their personal lives. Doctors, if you could go back in time, what would you tell yourselves in early March? (Dwyer, 4/14)

The New York Times: ‘What Disease Are We Treating?’: Why Coronavirus Is Stumping Many Doctors
Doctors say the coronavirus is challenging core tenets of medicine, leading some to abandon long-established ventilator protocols for certain patients. But other doctors warn this could be dangerous. (Stein and Tiefenthaler, 4/14)

Stat: Who Gets The Last Ventilator? Pondering The Unthinkable Amid Covid-19
The patient was around 80, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, his medical record filled with the accumulations and erosions of old age. His blood pressure was high, his spinal cord narrowing to a pinch. He had a history of alcohol addiction, but was no longer drinking. A prostate cancer had been burned out with radiation, and he had yearly appointments to make sure it wasn’t coming back. He had type 2 diabetes. (Boodman, 4/14)

Stat: How Much Of The Coronavirus Does It Take To Make You Sick? 
Infectious respiratory diseases spread when a healthy person comes in contact with virus particles expelled by someone who is sick — usually through a cough or sneeze. The amount of particles a person is exposed to can affect how likely they are to become infected and, once infected, how severe the symptoms become. The amount of virus necessary to make a person sick is called the infectious dose. Viruses with low infectious doses are especially contagious in populations without significant immunity. (Hogan, 4/14)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Nasal Swab: 3 Vans, 6 Coolers, A Plane, A Storm And 2 Labs
The lines start forming the night before, as people with glassy eyes and violent coughs try to get tested for the virus. In the darkness, they park their cars, cut their engines and try to sleep. The backlog for coronavirus testing in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest caseload in the country, has been getting worse, not better, officials say. So far, New Jersey has conducted over 115,000 tests, about one for every 75 residents. Across the river in New York, the epicenter of the crisis, there is about one for every 40. (Callimachi, 4/13)

The New York Times: U.S. Food Supply Chain Is Strained As Virus Spreads
The nation’s food supply chain is showing signs of strain, as increasing numbers of workers are falling ill with the coronavirus in meat processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores. The spread of the virus through the food and grocery industry is expected to cause disruptions in production and distribution of certain products like pork, industry executives, labor unions and analysts have warned in recent days. The issues follow nearly a month of stockpiling of food and other essentials by panicked shoppers that have tested supply networks as never before. (Corkery and Yaffe-Bellanay, 4/13)

The New York Times: Food Workers Say C.D.C. Guidelines Put Them At Greater Risk For Infection
Lisa Harris, a cashier at a Kroger grocery store in Virginia, was surprised last week when a customer offered her a $5 bill as a tip. Ms. Harris, a Kroger employee for 13 years, cited store policy in declining the generous offer. The woman was clearly disappointed that she could not do more.“She looked at me and said, ‘I just want to show you how grateful I am for what you do,’” Ms. Harris said. (Waldstein, 4/13)

ProPublica: How Panic Buying Has Put An Incredible Strain On Food Banks Even As The Need For Them Explodes
For Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the spike in demand has been as dramatic as the arrival of the coronavirus. In a normal year, Rodriguez’s organization provides food for some 50 million meals through a network of 1,000 pantries, food kitchens and other affiliates. But the pandemic meant that some of his bigger food pantries saw 50% more traffic almost overnight. And people who had previously donated food were now, for the first time in their lives, asking for help feeding their families. (Raghavendran and McCarthy, 4/13)

Reuters: Trump Administration To Unveil $15.5 Billion First Phase Of Coronavirus Farm Aid: Sources
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend up to $15.5 billion in the initial phase of its plan to bolster the nation’s food supply chain against the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, according to three sources familiar with the matter. (Huffstutter, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Virus Closes Some Meat Plants, Raising Fears Of Shortages
Some massive meat processing plants have closed at least temporarily because their workers were sickened by the new coronavirus, raising concerns that there could soon be shortages of beef, pork and poultry in supermarkets. The meat supply chain is especially vulnerable since processing is increasingly done at massive plants that butcher tens of thousands of animals daily, so the closure of even a few big ones can quickly be felt by customers. (Funk, 4/13)

Reuters: Amazon Fires Two Employees Critical Of Warehouse Working Conditions
Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it terminated two employees, who criticized the working conditions at the e-commerce giant’s warehouses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, for “repeatedly violating internal policies”. The termination of Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who worked as user-experience designers in Seattle, came in a couple of weeks after the company fired another employee Christian Smalls for raising health and safety concerns for people laboring through the outbreak. (4/14)

The Associated Press: Detained Immigrants Plead For Masks, Protection From Virus
Elsy was on the phone in an immigration detention center when guards showed up with face masks and forms to sign. The asylum-seeker from El Salvador and others had resorted to tearing their T-shirts into face coverings after a woman in their unit tested positive for COVID-19. But the guards would not give out the masks until the detainees signed the forms, which said they could not hold the private prison company running the detention center in San Diego liable if they got the coronavirus, according to Elsy and two other detainees, including one who read the form to The Associated Press over the phone. (Merchant, 4/14)

ProPublica: At Least 19 Children At A Chicago Shelter For Immigrant Detainees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
At least 19 children and two employees at a Chicago shelter for immigrant youth have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, in what appears to be the largest outbreak of the virus in the country in shelters for unaccompanied minors. According to an email sent to staff Sunday, Heartland Human Care Services officials said the first positive test results were reported at its Bronzeville shelter on Friday and that additional cases there were confirmed over the weekend. (Sanchez, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: States, New York City Seek Block On Public Benefit Rules For Immigrants
Three states and New York City asked the Supreme Court Monday to block Trump administration regulations that penalize immigrants for seeking public benefits, arguing that noncitizens shouldn’t be deterred from seeking health care during the coronavirus pandemic. Last August, the Department of Homeland Security tightened so-called public charge rules, which disqualify noncitizens who take advantage of welfare programs from obtaining legal residency. (Bravin, 4/13)