Governors Become Generals Of Coronavirus Crisis As Federal Government Dawdled

The New York Times: Once Political B-Listers, Governors Lead Nation’s Coronavirus Response
One day after President Trump told the nation’s governors on a conference call that he had been “watching a lot of you on television” dealing with the coronavirus, he proved it Tuesday morning by angrily tweeting at Michigan’s governor for saying on MSNBC that “the federal government did not take this seriously early enough.” But Mr. Trump’s name-calling — he referred to Gretchen Whitmer only as “Failing Michigan Governor,” and said she needed to “work harder” — soon backfired. (Martin and Burns, 3/17)

The Associated Press: US Life With COVID-19: A State-By-State Patchwork Of Rules
As the nation struggles to reconcile itself to a new and spreading peril, it also struggles with a patchwork of rules that vary dizzyingly from place to place: For now, your life and lockdown in the shadow of COVID-19 depends on where you live. In some places, many ordinary Americans are making public health choices, searching their own conscience and deciding for themselves what risk they’re willing to endure. In others, government has made at least some of those decisions. (Galofaro, 3/17)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Closures Accelerate Nationwide, But Wide Gaps Remain
Mark Estee spent his Tuesday laying off 100 cooks, waiters and dishwashers, having been forced by city decree in Reno, Nev., to close two restaurants that had been thriving just days ago. Less than an hour down the road, in Nevada’s Carson Valley, the threat of coronavirus had inspired no such restrictions. Estee’s three other restaurants were preparing to serve dinner, a hearty mix of pasta, burgers and beer. (Witte, Zezima, Cha and Craig, 3/17)

Reuters: Half Of All Americans Support Aggressive Steps To Slow Coronavirus In The U.S.: Reuters Poll
Roughly half of all Americans want the U.S. government to act more aggressively to slow the spread of the coronavirus, such as banning large public gatherings and shutting down all overseas flights, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. (Kahn, 3/17)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Residents May Have To Shelter In Place, De Blasio Says
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City’s mayor delivered conflicting messages Tuesday on whether city residents could be forced to shelter in place because of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus. Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an afternoon news conference that New York City residents should be prepared for such a possibility and that a decision could be made in conjunction with the state in the following 48 hours. (Berger, 3/17)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In N.Y.C.: Drastic ‘Shelter In Place’ May Be Next
New York City, a colossus of 8.6 million people and an economic engine for the country, ground to a shocking halt on Tuesday because of the coronavirus outbreak and the restrictions on public life put in place to stem its spread. The city’s mayor signaled that the shutdown could go even further with the possibility of an order to “shelter in place” — a decision he said “should be made in the next 48 hours.” (Newman, 3/17)

ABC News: New York Attorney General Suspends State Student, Medical Debt During Coronavirus Crisis 
New York Attorney General Letitia James has temporarily suspended medical and student debt referred to her office amid the coronavirus crisis. The collection of medical and student debt referred to the attorney general's office will be halted for at least a 30-day period, through April 15, according to a statement released by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and James on Tuesday. Not all student debt will be halted, just that which has been referred to the AG office for delinquency from state institutions. (Jacobo, 3/17)

The Hill: New York City Reports 923 Coronavirus Cases, 10 Deaths 
New York’s total number of coronavirus cases is up to 923 with 10 deaths as of Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said. “The number’s gone up literally over a hundred cases in the course of the day. We’re at 923 cases at this hour tonight, 10 people who have passed away,” de Blasio said on MSNBC Tuesday evening. It’s unbelievable how rapidly this crisis is growing right now.” (Budryk, 3/17)

NBC News: Employee At Sing Sing Prison Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Triggering Broader Fears
An employee at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, has tested positive for the coronavirus, NBC News has confirmed. Two other people, neither outwardly showing symptoms, have been tested, and those results are pending, according to the state Corrections Department. (Liautaud, 3/17)

The Associated Press: Nevada Governor Shutters Gambling, Dining To Halt Virus
Gambling will grind to a halt by Wednesday in casino-mecca Las Vegas, a city known for glitzy and sometimes reckless fun, as the governor of Nevada issued a sweeping statewide order aimed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Democrat Steve Sisolak ordered a monthlong freeze on gambling, shutting down everything from the famous casino resorts to slot machines found in convenience stores, cutting off an industry that fuels the state’s tourism and hospitality-powered economy. (Price and Sonner, 3/18)

The New York Times: ‘It Is A Nightmare Out Here’: Seattle Parents Struggle To Balance Work And Child Care
First the schools closed, then the babysitter canceled. Jaime Fitch, 40, a manager at the University of Washington School of Medicine, woke up on Monday to learn that her children’s caretaker — and her family’s best source of backup child care — had some symptoms of Covid-19, but not enough to get tested. Her mother-in-law, who has babysat in the past, was recently in a car accident and had a broken sternum. And Fitch’s husband, who is the director of marketing and operations at a start-up, needed to work, too. (Caron, 3/17)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Ghost Town’ Seattle Shows How Coronavirus Shuts Down A City
The buses on Melissa Paulen’s commute to work at the University of Washington Medical Center have been nearly empty for almost a week. The halls of the hospital are almost empty as well, as visitors have been tightly restricted, and nonessential staff are working from home. “It’s a ghost town,” Ms. Paulen, a 37-year-old gynecologist, said of the city. “It feels kind of eerie.” (Lovett, 3/18)

The Washington Post: D.C. Coronavirus: Allison Howard McGrath Infected At American Group Psychotherapy Association
By last Wednesday, the tickle in Alison McGrath Howard’s throat had turned into chills, though not severe enough to keep her from seeing six patients who came to her Northwest Washington office for psychotherapy. Twenty-four hours later, while walking her dog, Howard felt dizzy and fatigued. She anxiously catalogued her recent activities: grocery shopping, hanging with her two teenagers, going to her book club and attending a conference in Manhattan with 1,100 therapists from around the world. (Schwartzman, 3/17)

The Washington Post: D.C. Maryland Virginia Coronavirus News Tuesday
Maryland and Virginia reported dramatic spikes in their cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, as Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam banned gatherings of 10 or more people in restaurants, gyms and theaters, and Gov. Larry Hogan postponed Maryland’s April 28 primary election. With nearly every local county and jurisdiction now affected by the coronavirus, the region’s total had climbed to 162 by Tuesday evening. (Olivo, Chason and Schneider, 3/17)

The Washington Post: Volunteering And Coronavirus: When Helping People Could Mean Putting Them At Risk
Thelma Sanderlin, 88, has become accustomed to visitors. She has no husband or children, and no living siblings, but at least twice a month, a volunteer arrives at her apartment in the District to give her a break from the isolation that can jeopardize the health of older adults. “I just like to have company sometimes,” Sanderlin said. “They’re young people, you see. They listen to my aches and pains.” (Contrera and Shapira, 3/17)

WBUR: Can Local Governments Enforce Quarantines? Should They?
As states confirm more cases of the new coronavirus disease, local health officials are requesting that people who have tested positive and those who've come in close contact with them isolate themselves at home for 14 days. Many states have laws that give health department directors the authority to enforce a quarantine on individuals who pose a threat to public health. And if people defy a court-ordered quarantine, they could face fines and criminal charges. (Chen, 3/18)

WBUR: Self-Isolation Orders Pit Civil Liberties Against Public Good In Coronavirus Pandemic 
When local health officers issued simultaneous orders on March 16 for all residents of seven counties in the San Francisco Bay area to "shelter at their place of residence," Arnab Mukherjea thought it was "a bit draconian" for him as well as his wife and two young children. "Let's be honest, this is pain, but a little bit of pain right now may be worth it," said the California State University, East Bay professor of health sciences and resident of Contra Costa county, one of the jurisdictions affected by the stay-at-home edicts. (Welna, 3/17)

Boston Globe: Mass. Official Coronavirus Count Is 218, But Experts Say True Number Could Be As High As 6,500 
Two scientists studying the spread of the coronavirus say the number of infected residents in Massachusetts could be at least five times the number the state is reporting and possibly much higher, with one estimate ranging up to 6,500. The official tally reported by the state rose to 218 on Tuesday, but that number does not account for large numbers of infected people who have not been tested, particularly those who are not yet symptomatic or have only mild symptoms. (Martin, 3/17)

Boston Globe: City Plans Pop-Up Clinics For Treatment Of Homeless Amid Coronavirus Outbreak 
City officials have established a temporary medical clinic outside a South End homeless shelter and said they’re prepared to create other pop-up, makeshift clinics across the city to quarantine homeless people showing signs of COVID-19 infection. Two tents built in recent days at the Southampton Street Shelter will be used to isolate homeless residents who show symptoms or have been exposed to the virus, city officials told The Boston Globe late Tuesday afternoon. Each tent can accommodate around 20 people. (Coleman, 3/17)

Boston Globe: Meals On Wheels Stepping Up To Serve Seniors As Demand Grows During Crisis 
The group that delivers Meals on Wheels in Boston is stepping up to meet increased demand from homebound seniors, even as it scrambles to set up “grab-and-go” sites across the city for older residents who formerly gathered for free lunches at churches, senior centers, and other sites that have closed. Meals on Wheels is seeing an uptick in requests for home-delivered meals as seniors try to comply with social-distancing guidelines during the coronavirus crisis, said Valerie Frias, chief executive of Ethos, a Jamaica Plain nonprofit that runs the state’s largest Meals on Wheels program. (Weisman, 3/17)

State House News Service: Disabilities Community Copes With Cancellations, Precautions
Just as students and parents are adjusting to being out of school for the next few weeks, people with disabilities around Massachusetts are coming to terms with the cancellation of day programs, community activities and new precautions at group homes. (Young, 3/17)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Abbott Activates Texas National Guard For Coronavirus Response 
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced he activated the state's National Guard to help with the state's response to coronavirus but said deployment is not yet necessary. This means members, with the exception of first responders and health professionals, are now being called to active duty, but they have not yet been given an assignment. Texas joins more than 20 other states in making the move, including California, Florida and Arizona, according to the National Governors Association. (Goldenstein, 3/17)

Reuters: Washington State Governor Approves $200 Million In Coronavirus Emergency Funds
The governor of Washington signed legislation on Tuesday approving $200 million in emergency funds intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus in one of the hardest-hit U.S. states. (Whitcomb, 3/17)