Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Top Health Officials Say Americans Should Brace For Tragedy This Week On Par With Pearl Harbor, 9/11
The Associated Press: Trump Tempers Officials' Grave Assessments With Optimism
The U.S. surgeon general says that Americans should brace for levels of tragedy reminiscent of the Sept. 11 attacks and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, while the nation’s infectious disease chief warned that the new coronavirus may never be completely eradicated from the globe. Those were some of the most grim assessments yet for the immediate future and beyond. But hours later, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence tried to strike more optimistic tones, suggesting that hard weeks ahead could mean beginning to turn a corner. (Weissert and Freking, 4/6)
Reuters: U.S. Faces 'Really Bad' Week As Coronavirus Deaths Spike
The United States is entering what a senior official warned on Sunday would be the “hardest” week of the coronavirus crisis as the death toll mounted, but some saw glimmers of hope from a slight slowing of fatalities in hard-hit New York. New York, the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, reported on Sunday that for the first time in a week, deaths had fallen slightly from the day before. But there were still nearly 600 new fatalities and more than 7,300 new cases in the state. (Trotta and Alper, 4/5)
Reuters: Trump Hopes Virus Leveling-Off In Hot Spots; Advisers Take Tempered View
New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that for the first time in a week, deaths had fallen slightly from the day before, but there were still nearly 600 new fatalities and more than 7,300 new cases. “Maybe that’s a good sign,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing, referring to the drop in fatalities in New York.While Trump cited those numbers as an indication that Americans were starting to see “light at the end of the tunnel”, Anthony Fauci, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, said it took weeks for efforts like social-distancing and stay-at-home orders to slow the virus’ spread. (Alper and Spetalnick, 4/5)
The Washington Post: Americans Warned Of ‘Pearl Harbor Moment’ As Trump Tells Parts Of The Nation To Brace For ‘Peak’
Fauci, when asked if dire predictions were at odds with the promise of light at the tunnel’s end, said a peak suggests a possible turning point in the path of the virus but “doesn’t take away from the fact that tomorrow or the next day is going to look really bad.” The dead in the United States already number more than 9,500, triple the toll of the terrorist attacks that brought the nation low on Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams reached back further to find an analogue for the sense of national alarm, as the country surpassed 333,000 known cases. He said the coming days could bring catastrophe comparable to the attack that drew the United States into World War II in 1941. (Stanley-Becker, Gregg and Booth, 4/5)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Expects Coronavirus Peak In Some Cities Next Week As Global Toll Climbs
Modeling shows New York, Detroit and New Orleans—and areas around those cities—will likely reach the peak of their outbreaks in the next six to seven days, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx said Saturday evening. “The next two weeks are extraordinarily important,” Dr. Birx said at a White House news briefing. “This is the moment to do everything that you can on the presidential guidelines. This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe.” (Restuccia, Korn and Honan, 4/4)
CNN: Fauci: US Is 'Struggling' To Get Coronavirus Under Control And To Say Otherwise Would Be Wrong
The nation's top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the United States is "struggling" to get the coronavirus crisis under control and that to say otherwise "would be a false statement." Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans in an interview on CBS that "it is going to be a bad week" ahead as there is an escalation in cases, but that "within a week" or so the number of cases should start to flatten out. (Robertson and Cole, 4/5)
ABC News: Trump Discusses Opening The Country As Coronavirus Peak Approaches
The president discussed a Saturday morning call he had with commissioners of most of the major sports to discuss the effects of coronavirus to the industry, emphasizing that he wants fans "back in the arena" as soon as they can be. "You know, they want to see basketball and baseball and football and hockey. They want to see their sports. They want to go out onto the golf courses and breathe nice clean, beautiful fresh air," Trump said. "No, I can't tell you a date, but I think it's going to be sooner rather than later." (Stoddart, 4/4)
The New York Times: Official Counts Understate The U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll
A coroner in Indiana wanted to know if the coronavirus had killed a man in early March, but said that her health department denied a test. Paramedics in New York City say that many patients who died at home were never tested for the coronavirus, even if they showed telltale signs of infection. In Virginia, a funeral director prepared the remains of three people after health workers cautioned her that they each had tested positive for the coronavirus. But only one of the three had the virus noted on the death certificate. Across the United States, even as coronavirus deaths are being recorded in terrifying numbers — many hundreds each day — the true death toll is likely much higher. (Kliff and Bosman, 4/5)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Death Toll: Americans Are Almost Certainly Dying Of Covid-19 But Being Left Out Of The Official Count
The fast-spreading novel coronavirus is almost certainly killing Americans who are not included in the nation’s growing death toll, according to public health experts and government officials involved in the tally. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts only deaths in which the presence of the coronavirus is confirmed in a laboratory test. “We know that it is an underestimation,” agency spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said. (Brown, Reinhard and Davis, 4/5)
Politico: CDC Begins Blood Tests To Find Undetected Coronavirus Cases
The CDC has started conducting antibody tests to help determine how many people have been infected with the coronavirus — including those who never developed symptoms, an agency spokesperson confirmed. The test analyzes antibodies in a person’s blood to detect if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. identifying people who have recovered from infection and likely have some degree of protection from reinfection is a possible key to opening back up the country’s workforce. (Roubein, 4/4)
In other news about top health officials —
The Washington Post: Fauci And Birx Worked Together On AIDS. Now They’re Partners In Fighting The Coronavirus.
Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx walked side-by-side in the 1980s on hospital rounds, watching young men die of a mysterious disease that had no cure. The disease was so deadly that when Birx lost a large amount of blood giving birth in 1983 at the hospital where she worked, she screamed at the physician not to give her a transfusion, concerned tainted blood might come from men with the mysterious disease. (Kranish, 4/5)
CNN: Dr. Anthony Fauci Said He Tested Negative For Coronavirus Saturday
The nation's top infectious disease expert said he tested negative for coronavirus Saturday when asked why he wasn't wearing a face mask as the pandemic spreads across the nation. "There are a couple of reasons. One of them is part of the, in fact the major reason to wear a face mask is to protect you from infecting you," Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday at a news conference with the White House coronavirus task force. "I had my test yesterday and it's negative." (Carvajal and Kelly, 4/5)
The Hill: Scott Gottlieb Becomes Key Voice Warning Trump, GOP On Coronavirus
Scott Gottlieb has seen his national profile grow amid the coronavirus outbreak as the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner becomes a leading voice from outside the administration on how to tackle the worst health epidemic the country may ever have faced. Gottlieb, a 47-year-old physician, has become a regular presence on cable news shows, and his Twitter account is widely followed by journalists, health policy experts and politicians. (Chalfant, 4/5)
