Stat: Trump Announces Formal Freeze On WHO Funding, Pending An Investigation
President Donald Trump formally announced Tuesday that the United States will freeze funding to the World Health Organization, pending a formal investigation into the global health agency and its coronavirus response. In prepared remarks, Trump accused the organization of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” suggesting that the group overly relied on unverified reports from China, which Trump argued caused a “twenty-fold increase in cases worldwide.” He did not cite a source for that figure. (Florko, 4/14)

The New York Times: Criticized For Pandemic Response, Trump Tries Shifting Blame To The W.H.O.
For weeks, President Trump has faced relentless criticism for having overseen a slow and ineffective response to the coronavirus pandemic, failing to quickly embrace public health measures that could have prevented the disease from spreading. Recent polls show that more Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump’s handling of the virus than approve. So on Tuesday, the president tried to shift the blame elsewhere, ordering his administration to halt funding for the World Health Organization and claiming the organization made a series of devastating mistakes as it sought to battle the virus. He said his administration would conduct a review into whether the W.H.O. was responsible for “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread. (Shear and McNeil, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Trump Announces Cutoff Of New Funding For The World Health Organization Over Pandemic Response
Trump’s announcement was expected, as he seeks to deflect blame for his early dismissal of the virus as a threat to Americans and the U.S. economy. It is not yet clear how the United States will cut off money to the main international organization focused on fighting the pandemic, or whether Trump is setting conditions for a resumption of U.S. payments. “We have not been treated properly,” Trump said, as he announced a suspension period of 60 to 90 days for U.S. funding. (Gearan, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Trump Ends US Aid To WHO, Says Not Enough Done To Stop Virus
The United States contributed nearly $900 million to the WHO’s budget for 2018-19, according to information on the agency’s website. That represents one-fifth of its total $4.4 billion budget for those years. The U.S. gave nearly three-fourths of the funds in “specified voluntary contributions” and the rest in “assessed” funding as part of Washington’s commitment to U.N. institutions. (Superville, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. To Cut Funding To World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Response
Democrats panned Mr. Trump’s decision, arguing it could complicate global efforts to respond to the outbreak. “Any attempt by the President to force United States health experts to work without the WHO would be counterproductive and lead to more suffering in the end,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D., N.Y.) said. (Restuccia, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Suspends U.S. Funding For World Health Organization
Before the briefing had concluded, Democrats and public health officials expressed their outrage over the suspension of U.S. support for the WHO. “Withholding funds for WHO in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century makes as much sense as cutting off ammunition to an ally as the enemy closes in,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He suggested Trump was trying to deflect attention from the laggard federal response to the crisis by blaming a little-known U.N. agency for its operations in China. (Stokols, 4/14)

Politico: Trump Halts Funding To World Health Organization
The move drew swift blowback from the medical community, which said it would undercut global efforts to combat a disease that’s sickened nearly 2 million people worldwide and still has no proven cure or vaccine. “Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data,” said Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, who urged the administration to reconsider. (Ollstein, 4/14)

The Hill: American Medical Association Calls On Trump To Reconsider 'Dangerous' Halting Of WHO Funding
“Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data. Cutting funding to the WHO – rather than focusing on solutions – is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world,” she added. “The AMA is deeply concerned by this decision and its wide-ranging ramifications, and we strongly urge the President to reconsider.” The broadside against Trump comes shortly after the president said he will halt funding to the WHO while administration officials review the organization's “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”(Axelrod, 4/14)

ABC News: GOP Senators, Starting Probe, Demand WHO Turn Over Details On COVID-19's Origin 
Republican senators on Tuesday sent a wide-ranging demand for information, records and documents to the World Health Organization regarding the origins of the novel coronavirus, part of a larger investigation into the global response to the pandemic. In a letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, along with Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and a handful of GOP colleagues, requested a sweeping list of materials regarding what they called "WHO’s failed and delayed response to the Coronavirus." (Turner, 4/14)

The Hill: Pompeo Says WHO Needs 'To Do Its Job' As Trump Moves To Halt Funding 
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday night, saying the international body needs to “do its job” as President Trump moves to halt U.S. funding to the group. “[W]e need transparency, and we need the World Health Organization to do its job, to perform its primary function, which is to make sure that the world has accurate, timely, effective, real information about what’s going on in the global health space. And they didn’t get that done here,” Pompeo said on Fox News. (Axelrod, 4/14)

Reuters: Global Reaction To Trump Withdrawing WHO Funding
China urged the United States to fulfil its obligations to the WHO. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected nearly 2 million people globally, was at a critical stage and that the U.S. decision would affect all countries. (4/14)

Reuters: Trump Cuts WHO Funding Over Coronavirus, Global Toll Mounts
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was not the time to reduce resources for the WHO. “Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said in a statement. (Mason and Duran, 4/14)

The New York Times: Trump Announces His ‘Opening The Country’ Council
President Trump stood in the Rose Garden on Tuesday evening and recited a list of dozens of prominent business and labor leaders who he said would be advising him in deciding when and how to reopen the country’s economy, even as governors made it clear they will make those decisions themselves. The president’s announcement came after days of confusion about the makeup of what Mr. Trump has described as his “Opening the Country” council. Some business leaders were reluctant to have to defend Mr. Trump’s actions and risk damaging their brands, people with knowledge of the process said. (Karni and Haberman, 4/14)

The Associated Press: New Trump Advisory Groups To Consult On Reopening US Economy
The panel of advisers, whom Trump said he will consult by phone, will operate separately from the White House task force that’s leading the administration’s public health strategy to contain and mitigate the pandemic, though there is expected to be some overlap. The panel, which the White House has dubbed the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, includes more than 50 executives and leaders from agricultural, defense and financial service industries, as well as leaders from unions, professional sports, think tanks and more. (Lemire, Freking and Madhani, 4/15)

Politico: Trump Promised A Big Announcement. Then He Read Off A Long List Of Names.
He spent days hyping it up. He built suspense. And he promised a big announcement. When he finally unveiled his much-heralded new White House economic task force focused on reopening the economy, President Donald Trump read off a list of names. Dozens and dozens and dozens of names. With little explanation or context about their ultimate purpose, Trump spent roughly 10 minutes in the White House Rose Garden ticking off names of executives and companies from sectors including technology, agriculture, banking, financial services, defense, energy, transportation, sports and health care. (Cook and Orr, 4/14)

Politico: Economist Who Called Trump A ‘Total Narcissist’ Is Appointed To Coronavirus Council
He called Donald Trump a “total narcissist.” Now he may be advising the president on economic policy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Larry Lindsey, director of the National Economic Council for President George W. Bush, was named part of President Donald Trump’s cryptic White House economic advisory group on Tuesday to help deal with the fallout of the coronavirus crisis. It was a surprise announcement, considering Lindsey’s past displays of contempt for the president. (Choi, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Trump Wants To Declare Country Open By May 1 — But The Reality Will Be Much Slower
President Trump has all but decided to begin declaring the country ready to get back to business on May 1, two current and two former senior administration officials said, but a scramble is underway inside the White House to determine how to stagger a reopening of the economy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic while also protecting Trump from any political fallout. Impatient with the economic devastation wrought by social distancing and other mitigation measures — and fearful of the potential damage to his reelection chances — Trump has been adamant in private discussions with advisers about reopening the country next month. (Rucker, Costa and Parker, 4/14)

Reuters: Trump Says Close To Plan To Reopen Economy Possibly, In Part, Before May 1
Trump, facing re-election on Nov. 3 and under pressure to get the economy going again after millions have been made jobless by the shutdown, said some states should be able to reopen soon, based on a low rate of infections. “We think that some of the governors will be in really good shape to open up even sooner” than the end of April, Trump said. “Others are going to have to take a longer period of time.” (Mason and Alper, 4/14)

Politico: Why Trump Can’t Flip The Switch On The Economy
President Donald Trump is squabbling with governors and calling on a new council of corporate executives as he tries to reopen the American economy as quickly as possible. But his powers are limited not just by the Constitution but by the fact that he has limited sway over the real economy. Trump can fire off tweets, attempt to bully states into lifting social restrictions and otherwise declare America open for business. But he can’t force companies to reopen or ramp up production until owners and executives believe their workers are ready. (White, 4/15)

Politico: Republicans Press Trump To Restart Economy
While most Republicans say the country should go slow and take a regional approach, there’s an unmistakable demand building in the party for the president to move forward, according to interviews with more than a dozen GOP members of Congress. It’s a message they’re delivering privately in calls with Trump and his senior advisers, as well as in public op-eds and letters to the administration. “The president was very unfairly criticized for just [saying] what is indisputably true: ‘We need to make sure the cure isn’t worse than the disease.’ And I am concerned that the cure is worse than the disease,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “If you’re a carpenter, every nail you see, the solution’s a hammer. The same may be true for epidemiologists.” (Everett, Zanona and Levine, 4/15)

The Hill: Pelosi: Ignore Trump, Listen To Scientists 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday urged the public to ignore President Trump's glowing assessment of his response to the coronavirus pandemic and tune in to the public health experts instead. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi accused Trump of first undermining the country's ability to battle a global pandemic — by dismantling certain public health offices — and then deceiving the public about the administration's progress in the fight. The result, Pelosi charged, has been "unnecessary deaths and economic disaster." (Lillis, 4/14)

CNN: Rep. Trey Hollingsworth Says Letting More Americans Die Of Coronavirus Is Lesser Of Two Evils Compared To Economy Tanking 
An Indiana congressman said Tuesday that letting more Americans die from the novel coronavirus is the "lesser of two evils" compared with the economy cratering due to social distancing measures. Speaking with radio station WIBC in Indiana, Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth asserted that, while he appreciated the science behind the virus' spread, "it is always the American government's position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life, of American lives, we have to always choose the latter." (LeBlanc, 4/14)

The Associated Press: In Nod To Governors, Trump Walks Back Total Authority Claim
Hours after suggesting that the bipartisan concerns of governors about his assertion of power would amount to an insurrection, Trump abruptly reversed course Tuesday, saying he would leave it to governors to determine the right time and manner to revive activity in their states. He said he would be speaking with governors, probably on Thursday, to discuss his plans. “The governors are responsible,” Trump said. “They have to take charge.” Still, he insisted, “The governors will be very, very respectful of the presidency.” (Colvin and Miller, 4/15)

The Associated Press: Trump's 'I Alone Can Fix It' View And State Powers Collide
President Donald Trump insists there are “numerous provisions” in the Constitution to support his view that he has “total authority” to order states to open their economies as the coronavirus pandemic roils. He did not enumerate what they were. And the consensus among constitutional scholars is that’s because they don’t exist. (Tackett, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Inaccurate Assertion Of ‘Total’ Authority Sparks Challenge From Governors
Cuomo said the president’s claim of total authority is “not an accurate statement,” because the basic principle of federalism is enshrined in the Constitution, in which powers not given to the federal government remain with the states. “The statement that he has total authority over the states and the nation cannot go uncorrected,” Cuomo said. “There are many things that you can debate in the Constitution because they’re ambiguous. This is not ambiguous.” (Kim, Dawsey and Dennis, 4/14)

Politico: Governors Defy Trump, Who Cries ‘Mutiny'
Cuomo even threatened legal action if Trump “ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health” of New Yorkers. “We would have a constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government, and that would go into the courts, and that would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment,” the governor said in a separate interview on CNN’s “New Day.” (Forgey and Oprysko, 4/14)

Politico: ‘Flat-Out Wrong’: Conservatives Clobber Trump’s ‘Total' Power Boast
President Donald Trump’s bold claims that he has the ultimate power to order states to rev up their economies seemed certain — and perhaps designed — to provoke his critics on the left. What was more surprising was the even stronger backlash Trump’s swagger immediately drew from the right, including from voices normally loath to cross the president. (Gerstein, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Four Pinocchios For Trump’s Claim That He Has ‘Total Authority’ Over The States
After declaring independence from Britain and shaking off the yoke of King George III, the Founders of the United States adopted a system of government in which power would be split between the states and a centralized federal government. The federal government has enumerated powers that it cannot expand, but the state legislatures are free to adopt powers not explicitly forbidden by their constitutions or the U.S. Constitution, according to Robert F. Williams, an expert on state constitutional law at Rutgers University Law School in Camden, N.J. (Rizzo, 4/14)

The Washington Post: CDC, FEMA Have Created A Plan To Reopen America. Here’s What It Says.
A team of government officials — led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has created a public health strategy to combat the novel coronavirus and reopen parts of the country. Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans out of their homes and back to work. It gives guidance to state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. (Sun, Dawsey and Wan, 4/14)

CNN: CDC, FEMA Have Drafted A National Plan To Reopen US, Report Says 
The strategy has three phases, according to the report. One is readying the country through a "communication campaign and community readiness assessment until May 1," according to the Post. In the second phase, manufacturing of testing kits and protective equipment would be stepped up and emergency funding increased. That would go through May 15, the Post reported. "Staged reopenings" would start after that and would depend on conditions locally. (Waldrop, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Read: ‘Focus On The Future – Going To Work For America’
A team of government officials has created a public health response to a national plan to re-open the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. This document is an early draft executive summary by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is part of CDC’s public health response to an overall national plan. (4/14)

NPR: FEMA Administrator Gaynor Has Experience But Faces Issues
Leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the coronavirus pandemic may be one of the most thankless jobs in government right now. Governors are clamoring for more supplies, like ventilators and face masks. The president engages in public feuds with those governors. And other administration officials work back channels to acquire their own stockpiles of supplies. And in the middle of all this is Pete Gaynor, a former Marine and former head of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, who now directs FEMA. (Naylor, 4/15)

Politico: Covid-19 Case Hits FEMA's Coronavirus Command Center
An employee at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s command center tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, bringing home the disease’s dangers at the very facility where the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic is being managed. According to an administration official, it is the first such positive case at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center, which is located inside the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Lippman, 4/14)

Politico: Trump Announces Hospital-Led Ventilator Exchange Program
President Donald Trump announced today a national ventilator sharing program that aims to allow hospitals to lend the lifesaving devices to others facing acute coronavirus outbreaks. The goal of the program, developed in partnership with the American Hospital Association, is to utilize unused ventilators by sending them to hospitals in hot spots, according to Adam Boehler, a former HHS official who has been tapped to help with the coronavirus response. (Lim, 4/14)

The Hill: Trump Announces New Initiative For Hospitals To Lend Unused Ventilators To Areas Of Need 
Trump said the initiative would be supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services. He said that in the event there is a large lending need for more ventilators, the federal government “will make sure that you get them.” Certain areas of the country, particularly New York state, have seen huge numbers of coronavirus cases, while other areas have not experienced significant burdens on their medical systems. The virus had sickened close to 600,000 Americans and caused 25,000 deaths domestically as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. (Chalfant, 4/14)

Modern Healthcare: Trump Announces Ventilator Loan Program For Providers
The Trump administration contacted the American Hospital Association and suppliers to create a lending program after it learned that up to 60,000 ventilators were unused. "Within the past week alone, 20 top health systems have signed up for this dynamic ventilator reserve, representing over 4,000 ventilators," said Adam Boehler, a former HHS official working on the administration's coronavirus response. Boehler is currently CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. (Brady, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Buying More Than $2.5 Billion In Ventilators For Coronavirus Patients
The federal government expects to receive tens of thousands more ventilators in coming weeks under more than $2.5 billion in new contracts recently signed with manufacturers, though Covid-19 cases may have peaked by the time the machines are delivered. General Electric Co., Medtronic PLC and other manufacturers are scheduled to deliver 6,190 new ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile by May 8 and 29,510 by June 1 under the new contracts, the Department of Health and Human Services said. By the end of 2020, the new contracts are expected to yield 137,431 new ventilators, the agency said Monday. (Loftus, 4/14)

And in other preparedness news —

ABC News: How Did The US Come Up So Short On PPE? 
Despite years of public health experts warning that the United States was not prepared to handle a respiratory virus pandemic, when COVID-19 spread in the U.S., doctors and nurses found themselves without enough personal protection equipment, or PPE, to treat patients safely. Part of the problem, experts say, is the supply chain. The U.S. has been making fewer masks, gowns and gloves domestically, and instead relied on importing those items from other countries. (Schumaker, 4/14)

CNN: Pandemic Preparedness Never Accounted For A President Like Trump 
Donald Trump was in his element. Playing to a cheering crowd at a Detroit-area auto parts plant in January, the president railed against disgraceful Democrats, bad trade deals and the dishonest media as he touted his record of creating jobs "like you have never seen before." The brewing coronavirus crisis merited only a brief mention at the end of his speech. He wanted to assure his audience that his administration had it "very well under control." "We think it's going to have a very good ending," Trump said. (Murray and Glover, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Military Sees No Quick Exit From 'New World' Of Coronavirus
The U.S. military is bracing for a months-long struggle against the coronavirus, looking for novel ways to maintain a defensive crouch that sustains troops’ health without breaking their morale — while still protecting the nation. Unlike talk in the Trump administration of possibly reopening the country as early as May, military leaders are suggesting that this summer may be the best-case scenario of tiptoeing toward a return to normal activities. Even that is uncertain, and for now the focus is on adjusting as the pandemic’s threat evolves. (Burns, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Challenges The Military’s Way Of Doing Things — Including Haircuts
The Pentagon has issued adequate guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus among U.S. troops stationed around the globe, but execution of new and changing rules remains uneven, senior leaders said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, speaking at the Pentagon, said the Defense Department had issued eight iterations of instructions, including a worldwide “stop movement” order freezing many troops in place and new rules on physical distancing and the use of face coverings, based in part on evolving recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Ryan, 4/14)

Meanwhile —

The Associated Press: Coronavirus: 7 Infected On Navy Hospital Ship Mercy In L.A. Port
The Navy has removed 116 medical staff members from its hospital ship docked off Los Angeles after seven of them tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said Tuesday. The personnel from the medical ship Mercy were taken to a nearby base and remain under quarantine. None so far has needed hospitalization, said Lt. Rochelle Rieger of the 3rd Fleet. (4/14)

Kaiser Health News: COVID-19 Brings Overhaul Of Military Health Care To A Halt
The agencies that oversee the health of U.S. military personnel and veterans were pushing ahead this spring with the biggest overhaul of their health systems in three decades. The initiatives aimed to shift up to 15 million patients to private care providers, shutter clinics and hospitals, and reduce the number of military doctors and nurses. The Army, Navy and Air Force, along with the Defense Health Agency, had begun shedding patients and providers under reforms set into motion in 2017 under the National Defense Authorization Act. (Kime, 4/15)

ProPublica: Postal Workers Say USPS Isn’t Telling Them When Colleagues Test Positive for COVID-19, Despite Promising To
The U.S. Postal Service appears to be continuing its checkered response to the coronavirus. Workers across the country say they’re not being informed when colleagues have tested positive for COVID-19, despite a Postal Service policy to do so. At the end of March, after workers complained, the Postal Service told its employees they would be notified if someone “in your workplace is confirmed to have COVID-19.” But workers at 11 locations told ProPublica they found out about cases through colleagues or were only told by management days after word had already gotten out. (Jameel, 4/14)

NPR: Hoping To Save The Postal Service, People Rush To Buy Stamps
Thousands have taken to social media the last few days in support of the U.S. Postal Service. With the agency in financial trouble due to the Coronavirus crisis, Twitter users are urging others to buy stamps as a lifeline for the beleaguered agency. Since the crisis began, the Postal Service's business has tanked. Mail volume has decreased by nearly a third and the agency is projecting a $13 billion shortfall for the year. As a result, the Postal Service is asking lawmakers for as much as $89 billion in cash infusions to weather the financial storm. (Horn, 4/14)

The Associated Press: US Governors Grapple With Relaxing Virus Restrictions
After a month of draconian steps to minimize deaths and prevent hospital overload from the coronavirus pandemic, governors now face a new challenge: Deciding when and how to begin easing restrictions on businesses and social gatherings. Many of the states’ chief executives say they don’t want to move too quickly and risk a public health crisis, despite pressure from Republican lawmakers, business leaders, professional sports leagues and some parents. (Smyth, 4/15)

The Associated Press: California Governor Provides Complex Outline For Reopening
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday outlined a complex set of circumstances for the state to lift coronavirus restrictions and then described a possible startling new normal: temperature checks for restaurant customers, staggered start times for public schools to keep students separated and no crowds at sporting events, fairs or concerts. It was a reality check for the state’s 40 million residents after days of encouraging reports about the slow growth in new cases that had many hopeful for a reset of public life following a depressing early spring spent mainly indoors. (Beam, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Governors Assert Authority Over Reopening States’ Economies
The indicators include expanding testing, meeting the needs of hospitals in case of additional surges and offering guidelines for businesses and schools to practice physical distancing. Restaurants may have fewer tables, and classrooms could be reconfigured to separate students, he said. “There is no light switch here,” said Mr. Newsom, a Democrat. “It’s more like a dimmer.” (Calfas, Parti and Restuccia, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s Coronavirus Reopening: Gavin Newsom’s Six-Point Plan Will Alter Daily Life
But even when the lockdown measures are modified, Newsom warned, life will be “anything but” normal. People might need to wear face coverings in public for months, he said, and mass gatherings could be canceled for the foreseeable future, until the state reaches “herd immunity” — the point at which enough people have been exposed to the virus to prevent its transmission — and scientists develop a vaccine. (Koseff and Allday, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Names Goals To Lift California Coronavirus Order
Despite his attempts to quell uncertainty, Newsom has not yet provided a timeline for when the state’s nearly 40 million people can expect to return to work — or move about freely. And to those struggling to make ends meet, that’s the question they want answered most. “When are the restrictions going to be lifted?” asked Miguel Tot, who last worked at his job managing a downtown Los Angeles restaurant on March 16. “There’s no timetable on that, so I have no idea, you know, when normality is going to come back.” (Luna, 4/14)

CNN: California Governor Says Science, Not Political Will, Dictates When State Can Reopen 
The governor of California, the first state to put a coronavirus stay-at-home order in place, told his 40 million residents that the key to going back to work and play depends on six factors -- but it's still too early to tell how soon that will be. "Science, not politics must be the guide," Gov. Gavin Newsom said, joining a growing number of states that are taking it upon themselves to figure out how to get back to normal. "We can't get ahead of ourselves .... I don't want to make a political decision. That puts people's lives at risk." (Almasy, Hanna, Maxouris and Mossburg, 4/14)

The New York Times: U.S. Governors, At Center Of Virus Response, Weigh What It Will Take To Reopen States
In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown said the move toward reopening her state would be a cautious and incremental one, guided by data on transmission of the coronavirus, availability of personal protective equipment and testing capacity, among other factors. Gov. J. B. Pritzker of Illinois said he has begun reaching out to leaders of other Midwestern states to form a regional coalition to help make decisions on opening businesses and schools when the time comes. (Bosman, 4/14)

Stateline: Coronavirus And The States: Governors Coalesce To Reopen On Their Terms; Budgets Look Increasingly Bleak 
The governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — all Democrats except Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker — formed a working group to consider how and when to reopen the regional economy. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who spearheaded the effort, said decisions will be based on both economic and health concerns. (Povich, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Would You Give Up Health Or Location Data To Return To Work?
Cameron Karosis usually strives to protect his personal information. But a scary bout of COVID-19 that began last month with headaches and fevers, progressed to breathing problems and led to a hospital visit has now left him eager to disclose as much as possible to help halt the virus’ spread. Karosis has already shared personal details with Massachusetts health investigators. And if he was asked to comply with a disease-tracking phone app that monitored his whereabouts but didn’t publicly reveal his name and Cambridge street address, he said he’d do that, too. (Larson and O'Brien, 4/15)

Meanwhile, most plans to reopen rely on wide-spread testing, but the country has yet to be able to meet the demand —

Los Angeles Times: Reopening The Economy Requires Coronavirus Testing; U.S. Still Isn't Close
Effective testing is considered essential before state and local governments can lift restrictions on Americans’ movements, reopening schools and businesses and allowing the nation’s faltering economy to recover. But multiple, persistent problems continue to sharply limit the number of tests that can be done. Labs remain short of supplies, ranging from simple cotton swabs used to take samples from patients to complex chemicals, known as reagents, needed to carry out the tests. Some laboratories report shortages of trained workers. Little coordination exists to shift samples from busier labs, which have backlogs, to others that have surplus capacity. (Levey, 4/14)

ABC News: Trump Touts Saliva Coronavirus Tests After FDA Emergency Authorization 
In a Rose Garden briefing Tuesday President Donald Trump touted a potential new way of testing for the novel coronavirus could be safer for suspected coronavirus patients and health care workers and help alleviate the backlog in hard-hit cities -- spit. The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization Friday for a testing method developed by a Rutgers University lab that, instead of relying on swabs that reach deep into the nasal cavity, is designed to check for evidence of the virus in a patient's saliva. (Mosk and Bhatt, 4/15)

ABC News: COVID-19 Tests Still In Severely Short Supply, Volunteers Scramble To Fill The Gap 
More than five weeks after President Donald Trump promised “anybody that needs a test gets a test,” widespread rapid testing for the coronavirus remains patchwork at best. With over 328 million people living in the United States, less than three million have been tested for COVID-19. (Riegle, Lefferman, Rios and Yang, 4/14)

CNN: FBI Warns Companies Of Employees Faking Coronavirus Test Results
As US companies face record losses amid the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI is warning that American businesses now have something else to worry about: fraud by employees seeking to take advantage of the pandemic. In a report disseminated Monday to companies across the nation, and obtained by CNN, the FBI's Office of Private Sector notified members of private industry they should be on the lookout for fake doctors notes and falsified documentation from employees claiming positive Covid-19 test results. (Campbell, 4/14)

The Associated Press: California Schools Will Look Very Different When They Reopen
Staggered school start times. Class sizes cut in half. Social distancing in the hallways and cafeteria. These are a few of the possible scenarios for California schools that Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out as part of a roadmap for reopening the state amid the coronavirus. The timeline for reopening schools remains unclear, as it does for reopening California society at large. But Newsom said Tuesday that when the state’s 6 million students do return, things will look dramatically different. (Gecker, 4/15)

Politico: California Prepares For Socially Distant Schools In The Fall
Newsom said "we need to get our kids back to school; I need to get my kids back to school" but that the state would be "very, very vigilant" in how they do so, including deep cleanings. "What physically do those schools look like? Can you stagger the times that our students come in so you can appropriate yourself differently within the existing physical environment by reducing physical contact?" Newsom said as he unveiled benchmarks for the gradual reopening of the state on Tuesday. (Mays, 4/14)

CNN: Universities Begin Considering Canceling In-Person Classes Until 2021 
A number of universities are beginning to consider the possibility that in-person classes may not resume until 2021. Boston University has already canceled all "in-person summer activities" on its primary campus. But the school's coronavirus recovery plan includes protocols should officials deem it not safe to return in-person for the fall semester, and says classes would continue to be held remotely through the fall semester. (Ries and Wagner, 4/15)

PBS NewsHour: What An Interrupted School Year Means For These College Students 
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the academic year of some 20 million college students as campuses are shuttered nationwide. Many of these young people are continuing their studies through online classes -- but the transition is not easy for all of them. (Yang, Frazee and Lane, 4/14)

The New York Times: N.Y.C. Death Toll Soars Past 10,000 In Revised Virus Count
New York City, already a world epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, sharply increased its death toll by more than 3,700 victims on Tuesday, after officials said they were now including people who had never tested positive for the virus but were presumed to have died of it. The new figures, released by the city’s Health Department, drove up the number of people killed in New York City to more than 10,000, and appeared to increase the overall United States death count by 17 percent to more than 26,000. (Goodman and Rashbaum, 4/14)

Reuters: New York City Posts Sharp Spike In Coronavirus Deaths After Untested Victims Added
With only a tiny fraction of the U.S. population tested for coronavirus, the number of known infections climbed to more than 600,000 as of Tuesday, according to a running Reuters tally. U.S. public health authorities have generally only attributed deaths to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, when patients tested positive for the virus. New York City’s Health Department said it will now also count any fatality deemed a “probable” coronavirus death, defined as a victim whose “death certificate lists as a cause of death ‘COVID-19’ or an equivalent.” (Chiacu and Caspani, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Death Toll Soars After NYC Counts 'Probable' Fatalities
“Behind every death is a friend, a family member, a loved one. We are focused on ensuring that every New Yorker who died because of COVID-19 gets counted,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “While these data reflect the tragic impact that the virus has had on our city, they will also help us to determine the scale and scope of the epidemic and guide us in our decisions.” New Yorkers continue to die at an unnerving pace even as the number of patients in hospitals has leveled off. (Matthews, Sisak and Villeneuve, 4/15)

Politico: NYC Death Toll Jumps By 3,700 After Uncounted Fatalities Are Added
People whose death certificates don’t mention the virus still are not counted. From March 11 through April 13, 8,184 city residents died of causes not classified as confirmed or probable coronavirus. Among probable coronavirus deaths, 60 percent happened in hospitals, 22 percent in the victim's home and 18 percent in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. Brooklyn residents represented the most probable deaths, followed by Queens and the Bronx. (Durkin, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Adds 3,778 People To Its Coronavirus Death Toll 
The city’s stark news came after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday morning he saw promising signs that efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus had led to a plateau in hospitalizations, but expressed concern about a rise of deaths in nursing homes. “We’ve been worrying about nursing homes from day one,” he said, noting that nursing home outbreaks early on in Washington state had raised red flags for officials here. “That is the vulnerable population in the vulnerable place,” he said. (Honan and Brody, 4/14)

ABC News: At Least 26 New York City Homeless, Among Hundreds Of Cases, Have Died From COVID-19 
At least 26 homeless people among the 421 confirmed to have COVID-19 in New York City had died as of Tuesday, city officials said. "As our city confronts this virus, we are marshaling every tool and resource at our disposal to meet this moment and protect the New Yorkers who we serve," the New York City Department of Social Services said in a statement. (Katersky and Torres, 4/14)

ProPublica: There’s Been a Spike in People Dying at Home in Several Cities. That Suggests Coronavirus Deaths Are Higher Than Reported.
In recent weeks, residents outside Boston have died at home much more often than usual. In Detroit, authorities are responding to nearly four times the number of reports of dead bodies. And in New York, city officials are recording more than 200 home deaths per day — a nearly sixfold increase from recent years. As of Tuesday afternoon, the United States had logged more than 592,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 24,000 deaths, the most in the world, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. (Gillum, Song and Kao, 4/14)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Highest Number Of Deaths In A Day Recorded After Several Days Of A Downward Trend 
The US recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a day after several days in which the death toll had fallen or was nearly flat. The daily death toll was 2,405 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases, bringing the total number of US deaths to 26,033. At least 609,240 people have been infected with the virus in the US. (Maxouris, 4/15)

The Hill: Coronavirus Death Toll In US Surpasses 25K 
Last week, the U.S. passed Italy as the nation with the most deaths from COVID-19 and it continues to lead by more than 4,000. The United States accounts for more than a quarter of the total recorded cases globally, though testing resources and population vary in affected countries. Though the U.S. has much higher case rates than other countries, its fatality rate of just over 4 percent is lower than in other places, such as Italy and Spain. Worldwide, COVID-19 has killed a little more than 6 percent of confirmed cases. (Moreno, 4/14)

The New York Times: Treating Coronavirus In A Central Park ‘Hot Zone’
Rubber boots hung from a tree of wooden pegs in soggy Central Park after being sterilized with chlorine. Workers observed a one-way flow into and out of what they referred to as “the hot zone” of patient treatment tents. Step by step, they removed their isolation suits in a designated area, as a monitor barked instructions. “I like to liken it to a checklist that a pilot goes through before he starts the engine,” Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, the unit’s medical director, said on Monday. “You do it exactly the same way every single time.” (Fink, 4/15)

Politico: ‘It Really Is The Perfect Storm’: Coronavirus Comes For Rural America
Dr. Howard Leibrand has had two very different medical careers—29 years as an emergency-room physician, then 12 as an addiction therapist. The challenge he’s facing now, as the novel coronavirus slams bucolic Skagit County, Washington, where he lives and works, is like both rolled into one. Covid-19 has struck fast and hard, like the car crashes and mishaps that send victims to the ER. And like opiate addiction, it has spread stealthily through the heartland, even as it was dismissed as a distant, urban problem.“ One of the negatives of living in a rural community is you think it protects you somehow,” says Leibrand, who for years has also been the health officer—a sort of local surgeon general—of the county, a sprawling expanse of rich alluvial farmland, exurban bedroom communities, and steep Cascade peaks midway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. (Scigliano, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Covid-19 Checkpoints Targeting Out-Of-State Residents Draw Complaints And Legal Scrutiny
When the number of coronavirus cases began to skyrocket, several states, including Rhode Island, Florida and Texas, took the unprecedented step of setting up border checkpoints to stop nonresidents who might be carrying the virus. In Florida and Texas, state troopers are requiring motorists from out of state and their passengers to sign forms promising to self-quarantine for 14 days. (Lazo and Shaver, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Covid-19 Deaths Pass 500 In Washington Region After Record Tally Of Fatalities Reported
The number of covid-19 deaths in the greater Washington region passed 500 Tuesday with a record one-day increase in reported fatalities, even as local leaders maintained that social distancing measures like closing businesses and schools appear to be working. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said hospitalizations in the nation’s capital could peak in late May, a month earlier than previously projected, if area residents continue to stay at home and avoid large groups. (Olivo, Nirappil and Wiggins, 4/14)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Coronavirus Case Doubling Slows, Supporting Safer-At-Home
Cases of COVID-19 are growing slower than a month ago. Wisconsin's rate of doubling of infections was 3.4 days in early March, according to the state's Department of Health Services. Over the past two weeks, the rate of doubling has slowed to about 12 days, DHS said Tuesday. The longer doubling rate since Gov. Tony Evers' safer-at-home order signals that the social distancing rules are working, DHS said. (Hauer, 4/14)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coronavirus In Wisconsin: Assembly Passes Relief Package On Deadline
Wisconsin lawmakers for the first time in state history on Tuesday passed sweeping legislation from their kitchen tables, bedrooms and basements in an effort to help their constituents get through an outbreak of a deadly new virus. Nearly half of the 99-member Assembly voted in person Tuesday but the rest participated from their homes across the state using videoconferencing software. They met to reach one goal: pass a bill that helps pay for a surge of new costs brought by the coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 3,500 people in Wisconsin and left more than 380,000 without work. (Beck, 4/14)

The New York Times: On The No. 17 Bus Rolling Through The Pandemic In Detroit
Paris Banks sprayed the seat with Lysol before sliding into the last row on the right. Rochell Brown put out her cigarette, tucked herself behind the steering wheel and slapped the doors shut. It was 8:37 a.m., and the No. 17 bus began chugging westward across Detroit. On stepped the fast-food worker who makes chicken shawarma that’s delivered to doorsteps, the janitor who cleans grocery stores, the warehouse worker pulling together Amazon orders. (Eligon, 4/15)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Coronavirus Antibody Testing Halted In Las Vegas 
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday halted two Las Vegas operations providing rapid tests for COVID-19 antibodies as well as the virus itself. Sahara West Urgent Care & Wellness, which has been providing drive-thru nasal swab testing for the virus since early in the outbreak, confirmed that a state regulator had halted the rapid testing it had begun last week. (Hynes, 4/14)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Rental Law Makes Paying Security Deposits Easier
Back in January – when the new coronavirus seemed a distant threat – Cincinnati City Council passed a law that meant renters don't necessarily need a cash security deposit anymore. It was meant to break a barrier that low-income residents face when trying to rent an apartment. But now, as it goes into effect today, council members say they're glad they did it because it can help as people struggle to deal with COVID19 economic impacts such as job losses. (Coolidge, 4/14)

WBUR: Coronavirus-Stricken Cities Have Empty Hospitals, But Reopening Them Is Difficult 
As city leaders across the country scramble to find space for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients, some are looking at a seemingly obvious choice: former hospital buildings, sitting empty, right downtown. In Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, where hospitalizations from COVID-19 increase each day, shuttered hospitals that once served the city's poor and uninsured sit at the center of a public health crisis that begs for exactly what they can offer: more space. But reopening closed hospitals, even in a public health emergency, is difficult. (Feldman, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Suicide Hotlines See High Volume From Anxious Callers During Coronavirus Crisis 
Calls to Bay Area suicide prevention hotlines are up — some by as much as 100% — with the stresses of staying at home, financial problems, job losses and fear of the coronavirus increasingly wearing on people. The hotline at Crisis Support Services of Alameda County usually fields about 100 to 110 calls per day, said Narges Dillon, executive director, but last week about 200 people a day called — up from 150 the week before. (Cabanatuan, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: Outbreaks Ignite At Two California Prisons; Inmates Feel Like ‘Sitting Ducks’ 
Outbreaks of COVID-19 have flared up at two crowded California prisons, confirming the worst fears of prisoner families and advocates — and adding fuel to a growing federal court fight over the state prison system’s response to the pandemic. Forty-four prisoners and 21 staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus at the California Institution for Men in Chino, while 15 prisoners and 11 employees have been infected at the state prison in Los Angeles County, according to figures from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (Fagone and Cassidy, 4/14)

Houston Chronicle: Houston’s Top Doc Calls On Labs, Medical Providers To Speed Up Reports Of Positive COVID Cases
The city has reported massive amounts of new coronavirus cases in recent days, driven by a backlog in positive cases dating back weeks. Last Thursday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced 615 new cases of the coronavirus, half of which came from March. He also reported 402 new cases Monday spread out across weeks. (Scherer, 4/14)

Houston Chronicle: Three More Metro Bus Drivers Test Positive For COVID-19, Leading To Wide Warning To Riders 
Three additional Metropolitan Transit Authority bus drivers have tested positive for COVID-19, transit officials said Tuesday, urging riders to monitor themselves. Metro is cooperating with public health officials to notify passengers, along with other transit employees exposed to the drivers, officials said. (Begley, 4/14)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Health Care Startup Brings At-Home Coronavirus Testing To Hundreds 
A Houston health care startup has begun testing people in their homes for COVID-19 after becoming one of the first companies to receive federal approval for distributing at-home test kits. The company, imaware, has partnered with the Houston Health Department as part of an effort to increase the number of people getting tested for the disease spread by the novel coronavius. The at-home tests — at least for now — are allocated for those who are “symptomatic, exposed and high-risk individuals who are unable to leave their own home,” the Houston Health Department said. (Wu, 4/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Faulty Data Obscures The Coronavirus’ Impact On Georgia
Georgia’s public health agency counts just one confirmed diagnosis of the novel coronavirus — and only one death — at an Augusta nursing home. Windermere Health and Rehabilitation Center, however, acknowledges a much grimmer toll. The facility says 74 residents and 20 staff members have tested positive for the virus — and four residents have died. (Judd and Teegardin, 4/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Unreliable, Counterfeit Products Peddled To Desperate Hospitals
It seemed like an offer that couldn’t be refused. Georgia would be able to get a million medical masks from Shanghai. “I have a businessman,’’ the sender wrote, “that can get an airplane full of medical mask (sic) every other day. ”The message, forwarded by the governor’s office to officials at Georgia Emergency Management Agency in late March, mentioned one obstacle. A waiver would be needed to allow planes with the shipments to arrive at the Atlanta airport. Otherwise, the only viable destination was Chicago, according to the message. (Berard, 4/14)

Boston Globe: State Releases List Of Current Massachusetts Coronavirus Hospitalizations 
The Globe has obtained an exclusive list from the Department of Public Health of the state’s first effort to assemble current hospitalization data for COVID-19 patients. It shows that in more than 60 hospitals across the state, roughly 3,400 patients have been admitted this week with either confirmed or suspected cases of coronavirus, including more than 970 in the intensive-care units. State officials said this is a preliminary list and it will be updated daily. (Kowalczyk and Wen, 4/15)

Politico: Trump’s New Health Care Legacy: Big Expansion Of Federal Role
President Donald Trump’s coronavirus fight has turned an administration that spent years trying to shrink the nation’s safety net into the driving force behind a sudden expansion of government involvement in American health care. The Trump administration is already pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into a key health sector that it previously vowed to rein in, expanding Medicare benefits and boosting payments to state Medicaid programs by an estimated $50 billion, while promising to directly pay for coronavirus treatment for thousands of uninsured in what some experts say mirrors a single-payer system. (Cancryn, 4/15)

Politico: What The President Said He Did On The Virus — And What He Actually Did
President Donald Trump, stung by accusations that he was slow to act on the coronavirus pandemic, has released a long list of key actions the administration took to save lives. But the list, released by his campaign, overstates some of his actions – and leaves out the inactions. (Doherty, 4/14)

Meanwhile, after California created a special session for its health law exchange--something Trump has been resistant to do--the state saw a huge boost in sign-ups—

Modern Healthcare: Covered California Signs Up Nearly 60,000 Amid COVID-19 Special Enrollment
California's public insurance exchange said Tuesday that 58,400 people have so far signed up for coverage during a special enrollment period created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting March 20, Covered California opened up the exchange to any eligible uninsured individuals who want health coverage amid the public health emergency. The enrollment period ends June 30. (Livingston, 4/14)

The New York Times: C.D.C. Says More Than 9,000 Health Care Workers Have Contracted Coronavirus
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday that 9,282 health care professionals had contracted the coronavirus in the United States as of April 9 and that 27 had died from it. The agency cautioned that the numbers were most likely higher than reported because of inconsistencies in data-gathering and the lack of information during the outbreak. “This is likely an underestimation,” the report said, because the occupational status of patients was available for only 16 percent of the cases in the United States reported to the C.D.C. (Waldstein, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: New Coronavirus Has Infected More Than 9,000 U.S. Health-Care Workers
The figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer the first nationwide snapshot of how the Covid-19 pandemic is hitting front-line caretakers. Twenty-seven health-care providers have died from the disease caused by the virus, and the median age of those caretakers infected was 42 years old, the CDC found. The agency said the survey, conducted from Feb. 12 to April 9, likely understates the presence of the virus among clinicians. (Adamy, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News: True Toll Of COVID-19 On U.S. Health Care Workers Unknown
The number of health care workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus is likely far higher than the reported tally of 9,200, and U.S. officials say they have no comprehensive way to count those who lose their lives trying to save others. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the infection tally Tuesday and said 27 health worker deaths have been recorded, based on a small number of test-result reports. Officials stressed that the count was drawn from just 16% of the nation’s COVID-19 cases, so the true numbers of health care infections and deaths are certainly far higher. (Jewett and Szabo, 4/15)

Kaiser Health News/The Guardian: Lost On The Frontline
America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical staff account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides. Some of them do not survive the encounter. Many hospitals are overwhelmed and some workers lack protective equipment or suffer from underlying health conditions that make them vulnerable to the highly infectious virus. (Bailey, Gee, Jewett, Renwick and Varney, 4/15)

The New York Times: The Last Words Of A N.Y. Health Care Worker Who Died Of Coronavirus 
Lying in a hospital bed last month, Madhvi Aya understood what was happening to her. She had been a doctor in India, then trained to become a physician assistant after she immigrated to the United States. She had worked for a dozen years at Woodhull Medical Center, a public hospital in Brooklyn, where she could see the coronavirus tearing a merciless path through the city. (Rothfeld, Drucker and Rashbaum, 4/15)

And in other news from the front lines—

The Wall Street Journal: After Fighting Coronavirus, New York’s Health-Care Workers Sleep Away From Home
Hundreds of health-care workers around New York have made alternate living arrangements as they battle the coronavirus crisis, and officials are starting programs that can keep them from potentially infecting loved ones at home. As the outbreak here fills hospitals, more hotels are opening their doors—in limited capacity and with reduced or zero cost—to doctors, nurses and paramedics who are treating patients. (Vielkind, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Four Dispatches From The Pandemic’s Front Lines
A nurse holds a patient’s hand, seeing fear in his eyes. A two-doctor couple struggles to care for twin girls. As an emergency-room physician walks home alone after a long night, the only sound is the piercing wail of ambulance sirens, one after another. These are some of the medical workers on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, exposed to the virus that has ravaged the world while balancing their personal lives with a public mission. (Reddy, 4/14)

ProPublica: She Came to New York to Help Fight COVID. She Walked Into a “War Movie.”
Sarah Higgins is a nurse practitioner who has worked for years at a dermatology practice in Dallas. Because the practice performed elective procedures — skin rejuvenation, laser tattoo removal — it was suspended amid the COVID-19 crisis. Higgins, 34, soon raised her hand to come to New York City as a reinforcement for an overwhelmed health care workforce. She arrived in late March and was assigned to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of the hardest-hit medical centers in one of the city’s hardest-hit boroughs. (4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Detroit Kidney Doctor Wouldn’t Abandon Patients Amid Coronavirus 
In the Covid-19 era, Olaf Kroneman’s masked face might be the last familiar sight one of his kidney patients with coronavirus sees. Dr. Kroneman is on staff at four hospitals in the Detroit area, a region hard-hit by the pandemic. No family visits are allowed for patients with the virus, and staff contact with those stricken is kept to a minimum to protect doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. (Michaud, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman Starts Fund For Health-Care Workers With $100K Gift
On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, a team of health-care professionals working in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital gathered together, faces hidden behind masks. A hospital official asked them to look up at a screen, where she connected them via video conference software to a familiar face. “Happy Easter, everybody!” said Ryan Zimmerman, seated at home next to his wife, Heather. (Svrluga, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Health Care Workers Want More Transparency About On-The-Job Coronavirus Exposure  
A patient who spent the night in San Francisco General Hospital’s psychiatric emergency unit spiked a fever in the morning. Only then did his nurses learn that he’d come from one of the city’s largest homeless shelters, where dozens of residents tested positive for the coronavirus. After hospital staff frantically moved the patient to an isolation unit on Saturday, it took 12 hours to confirm he was infected. His nurses learned about the diagnosis from the man’s doctors, who called to let them know. And they were scared. (Moench, 4.15)

WBUR: Public Health Service Poised To Create A Ready Reserve To Fight The Coronavirus 
The Public Health Service has a commissioned officer corps of about 6,300 doctors, nurses and other professionals. Thousands of them deployed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They went to Liberia during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Now, about 1,800 corps members are focused on the coronavirus in the United States. More are needed, but these doctors and nurses all have day jobs. (Lawrence, 4/15)

The Washington Post: The $1,200 Relief Checks Have Begun Arriving In Americans’ Bank Accounts
The U.S. government has started sending $1,200 checks to Americans to help ease the financial pain caused by shutting down the economy to fight the deadly coronavirus. By Wednesday, 80 million people are expected to receive a direct deposit in their bank account, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. The checks are the centerpiece of the U.S. government’s economic relief package, and many Americans have taken to social media to celebrate the arrival of the money by posting photos of the money hitting their bank account. (Long, 4/14)

ProPublica: Millions of Americans Might Not Get Stimulus Checks. Some Might Be Tricked Into Paying TurboTax to Get Theirs.
Congress has approved billions of dollars of checks for Americans hard hit by the biggest round of layoffs in U.S. history. But millions of Americans will have to wait months for that money — and millions more may never get the money at all. That’s because the rescue legislation left it to the IRS, an agency gutted by Congress, to organize the complex logistics of delivering the money to those entitled to it. As the IRS has struggled, for-profit tax preparation companies, notably Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, have stepped in with websites to help people get their checks. (Elliott and Kiel, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Donald J. Trump's Name Will Be On Stimulus Checks In Unprecedented Move
The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump’s name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that could slow their delivery by a few days, senior IRS officials said. The unprecedented decision, finalized late Monday, means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks the IRS is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, “President Donald J. Trump” will appear on the left side of the payment. (Rein, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Lack Of Savings Worsens The Pain Of Coronavirus Downturn
Alicia Cook was down to $22 on Monday, a month after her hours as head banquet chef at a hotel in Nacogdoches, Texas, had dwindled to almost nothing. Her $10.25-an-hour wage had been enough to live on but not enough to save. A few hours of work over Easter will get her another $100. “It’s five $20 bills to rub together and I got to give away four of them to the light bill,” she said. (Harrison, 4/15)

The New York Times: How The Government Pulls Coronavirus Relief Money Out Of Thin Air
The United States has responded to the economic havoc wrought by the coronavirus with the biggest relief package in its history: $2 trillion. It essentially replaces a few months of American economic activity with a flood of government money — every penny of it borrowed. And where is all that cash coming from? Mostly out of thin air. (Phillips, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Airlines, Besieged In Covid-19 Era, Fail To Refund Passengers As Required, Lawsuits Say
A lawsuit filed against Southwest Airlines alleges the carrier violated its contract with customers by failing to provide refunds for flights canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the suit, traveler Adrian Bombin says that when Southwest canceled his trip from Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, via Florida, to Havana last month, he asked for a refund. (Laris, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Treasury, Airlines Reach Agreement On Coronavirus Aid
The Treasury’s assistance includes $25 billion in direct aid to allow passenger airlines to continue paying salaries and benefits to employees in the coming months. The payroll assistance “will support American workers and help preserve the strategic importance of the airline industry while allowing for appropriate compensation to the taxpayers,” Mr. Mnuchin said in a statement. Airline executives spent this past weekend in discussions with federal officials. On Friday Mr. Mnuchin told the largest carriers that 30% of the assistance would need to be repaid and that airlines would have to offer stock warrants on a portion of those funds. (Sider and Davidson, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Airbnb Gets $1 Billion Loan, Bringing Coronavirus Funding To $2 Billion
Airbnb Inc. secured a $1 billion loan from institutional investors, the company said, the second funding round for the home-sharing marketplace since the coronavirus pandemic devastated the global travel industry. The San Francisco-based company didn’t disclose Tuesday the terms of the loan or the names of the investors. According to a person familiar with the matter, the loan is five years, and the interest rate will be 7.5%, plus a benchmark rate known as the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. (Wollman, 4/15)

The New York Times: The Virus Is Vaporizing Tax Revenues, Putting States In A Bind
The ballooning costs of the coronavirus pandemic have put an unexpected strain on the finances of states, which are hurriedly diverting funds from elsewhere to fight the outbreak even as the economic shutdown squeezes their main source of revenue — taxes. States provide most of America’s public health, education and policing services, and a lot of its highways, mass transit systems and waterworks. Now, sales taxes — the biggest source of revenue for most states — have fallen off a cliff as business activity grinds to a halt and consumers stay home. (Walsh, 4/15)

The Hill: New York, New Jersey Lawmakers Demand More Federal Aid For States Hardest Hit By Coronavirus
A group of New York and New Jersey lawmakers demanded congressional leaders create a new fund to help the states hardest hit by the coronavirus grapple with the virus’s outbreak. The group of 36 bipartisan lawmakers, who represent the two hardest hit states in the country, wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging them to include a fund of at least $40 billion in a relief package that would be allocated based on states’ share of the national coronavirus infection rate. (Axelrod, 4/14)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Groups Float New Wish Lists For Funds Flowing From Washington
Hospital lobbying groups have scrambled to get their next set of asks together as regulators and lawmakers set priorities for existing COVID-19 provider relief grants and another potential infusion of cash. Members of Congress are haggling over an interim spending package to replenish funds for small business assistance that are already dwindling from a stimulus bill enacted late last month. Democrats want to double a relief fund for providers and Republicans would rather leave the issue for a later spending package. (Cohrs, 4/14)

Modern Healthcare: Private Equity-Owned Doc Practices Shut Out Of Small Business Bailout
Private equity funds that invest in healthcare companies hoped to piggyback on venture capital's bid to get a share of COVID-19 small business bailout funds, but the Trump administration has snubbed them so far. Congress set aside $350 billion for small business assistance in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Qualifying companies must have 500 employees or fewer. Under a set of standards called "affiliation rules," the administration determined that most private equity-owned companies, including healthcare practices hard hit by cancellations of elective procedures, won't qualify. (Cohrs, 4/14)

Stateline: Coronavirus Eviction Rules Don't Always Help People In Motels 
Most renters are protected from eviction by coronavirus emergency orders. But the new rules don't always apply to people who are paying for motel rooms, a major loophole that could affect thousands of families. The federal eviction moratorium is limited and applies to only certain rentals, such as landlords who have federally backed mortgages. And some states adopted laws before the pandemic that don’t consider motel dwellers tenants — and therefore don’t apply rental protections to them should they lose their jobs. (Wiltz, 4/15)

Meanwhile, Congress might have to adapt to legislating at a distance —

The New York Times: Sidelined By Coronavirus, Congressional Leaders Face Pressure To Vote Remotely
With Congress sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic and unable to return to the Capitol, House and Senate leaders are under increasing pressure from a bipartisan array of current and former lawmakers to shift to remote legislating, including using a secure online system to conduct votes. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, have both expressed opposition to remote voting, insisting that lawmakers can fulfill their duties without making such tradition-shattering changes in the way Congress operates. (Stolberg, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Puts Off Return To Washington Until Early May
Congress now heads into an unprecedented period, with legislation limited to consensus-driven aid packages that can pass by unanimous votes. Oversight hearings, judicial confirmations and non-virus bills will remain on hold until both chambers can safely meet again, spurring calls for remote voting and virtual hearings as some lawmakers fret that the legislative branch is ceding too much power to the executive branch in a national emergency. (Wise, 4/14)

Reuters: U.S. May Need To Extend Social Distancing For Virus Until 2022, Study Says
The United States may need to endure social distancing measures adopted during the coronavirus outbreak until 2022, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. The study comes as more than 2,200 people died in the United States from the outbreak on Tuesday, a record, according to a Reuters tally, even as the country debated how to reopen its economy. The overall death toll in the U.S. from the virus stands at more than 28,300 as of Tuesday. (4/15)

Stat: Study Sees Need For Some Social Distancing Into 2022 To Curb Coronavirus
The authors suggest a number of factors will play a major role in the path the disease will take over the coming years — if transmission subsides in summer and resurges in winter, if there is some immunity induced by infection and how long it lasts, and whether people get any cross-protective immunity from having been infected with related human coronaviruses that cause common colds. In terms of the latter, they suggest if infection with the human coronaviruses, HKU1 and OC43, gives some protection again SARS-CoV-2, it could appear that transmission of the new virus was tapering off. (Branswell, 4/14)

CNN: Social Distancing In The US May Have To Be Endured Until 2022 If No Vaccine Is Quickly Found, Scientists Predict
"Intermittent distancing may be required into 2022 unless critical care capacity is increased substantially or a treatment or vaccine becomes available," they wrote in their report. "Even in the event of apparent elimination, SARS-CoV-2 surveillance should be maintained since a resurgence in contagion could be possible as late as 2024." The Harvard team's projections also indicate that the virus would come roaring back fairly quickly once restrictions were lifted. "If intermittent distancing is the approach that's chosen, it may be necessary to do it for several years, which is obviously a very long time," Dr. Marc Lipsitch, an author on the study and an epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, told reporters. (Asmelash and Fox, 4/15)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Tests Science’s Need For Speed Limits
Early on Feb. 1, John Inglis picked up his phone and checked Twitter, as he does most mornings. He was shocked at what fresh hell awaited. Since 2013, Dr. Inglis, executive director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in New York, has been helping manage a website called bioRxiv, pronounced “bio archive.” The site’s goal: improve communication between scientists by allowing them to share promising findings months before their research has gone through protracted peer review and official publication. (Yan, 4/14)

The New York Times: Stay 6 Feet Apart, We’re Told. But How Far Can Air Carry Coronavirus?
The rule of thumb, or rather feet, has been to stand six feet apart in public. That’s supposed to be a safe distance if a person nearby is coughing or sneezing and is infected with the novel coronavirus, spreading droplets that may carry virus particles. And scientists agree that six feet is a sensible and useful minimum distance, but, some say, farther away would be better. Six feet has never been a magic number that guarantees complete protection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the organizations using that measure, bases its recommendation on the idea that most large droplets that people expel when they cough or sneeze will fall to the ground within six feet. (Sheikh, Gorman and Chang, 4/14)

The New York Times: This 3-D Simulation Shows Why Social Distancing Is So Important
Public health experts and elected officials have emphasized again and again that social distancing is the best tool we have to slow the coronavirus outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people to stay home. If you must venture out, you should stay at least six feet away from others. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of three feet of separation. (Parshina-Kottas, Saget, Patanjali, Fleisher and Gianordoli, 4/14)

The New York Times: For Runners, Is 15 Feet The New 6 Feet For Social Distancing?
It may be a good idea to give one another more than six feet of space while exercising outside during the current coronavirus pandemic, according to a compelling new study that looked at how air flows around bodies in motion. The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal and the results need further confirmation. But they indicate that runners and brisk walkers may create a wake of air behind them that could carry exhaled respiratory droplets for 15 feet or more, meaning that the droplets could reach people walking or jogging well behind them. (Reynolds, 4/15)

The Associated Press: Search For A COVID-19 Vaccine Heats Up In China, US
Three potential COVID-19 vaccines are making fast progress in early-stage testing in volunteers in China and the U.S., but it’s still a long road to prove if they’ll really work. China’s CanSino Biologics has begun the second phase of testing its vaccine candidate, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday. In the U.S., a shot made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. isn’t far behind. The first person to receive that experimental vaccine last month returned to a Seattle clinic Tuesday for a second dose. (Neergaard, 4/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Company Links People Online With Coronavirus Clinical Studies 
A San Francisco health startup is launching a new website to help people participate in clinical studies working on potential treatments for COVID-19 or a vaccine for the coronavirus that causes it. Backers say the free site, worldwithoutcovid.org, is for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus and those who have not. The goal is to make it easier for anyone to participate in a study, helping to speed up the process of developing new drugs or a vaccine — two crucial steps in the world’s fight against the pandemic. (Morris, 4/14)

ABC News: Head Lice Drug Emerges As Potential Coronavirus Treatment, Studies Show 
From a century-old blood plasma therapy to an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine, the scientific community is exploring new ways to leverage existing treatments in the fight against the novel coronavirus. The latest surprising lead for researchers is an antiparasitic drug called ivermectin, sometimes used to treat head lice. (Bhatt and Bruggeman, 4/14)

ABC News: No Evidence Yet For Effective COVID-19 Treatments, Review Shows 
Although would-be COVID-19 therapies like the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the failed Ebola drug remdesivir have drummed up excitement as potentially life-saving treatments, a comprehensive review of available data finds that it's still too early to tell. The review, published in JAMA on April 13, 2020, summarizes what's currently known about medical therapies used to treat COVID-19, concluding that "no therapies have been shown effective to date." (Kung, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News: A Desperate Scramble As COVID-19 Families Vie For Access To Plasma Therapy 
Stephen Garcia’s family is frantic. The auto body worker, just 32 years old, has been on a ventilator in a Los Angeles-area hospital for nearly two weeks, gravely ill with COVID-19, unresponsive — and unaware of the battle they’re waging on his behalf. For days, Garcia’s mother, his aunt and his girlfriend have pleaded with doctors at Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center to try an experimental treatment — blood plasma from people recovered from COVID-19 — in hopes of saving his life. (Aleccia, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Ravages The Lungs. It Also Affects The Brain.
A patient in Japan had seizures. An airline worker ended up in a Detroit hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with a rare form of brain damage. Others reported auditory and visual hallucinations or losing their sense of smell and taste. What they share: presumed or confirmed coronavirus infections. As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide reaches 2 million, clinicians are realizing the disease doesn’t just ravage the lungs and hurt the heart. It also can, in a significant proportion of cases, affect the nervous system in myriad little-understood ways. (Hernandez, 4/14)

The New York Times: Does Widespread Disinfecting Kill The Coronavirus? It’s Under Debate
The images are compelling: Fire trucks in Tehran or Manila spray the streets. Amazon tests a disinfectant fog inside a warehouse, hoping to calm workers’ fears and get them back on the job. TV commercials show health care workers cleaning chairs where blood donors sat. Families nervously wipe their mail and newly delivered groceries. These efforts may help people feel like they and their government are combating the coronavirus. (Weintraub, 4/14)

The Hill: COVID-19 Fatality Rates Vary Widely, Leaving Questions For Scientists 
The COVID-19 outbreak that has infected more than half a million Americans is killing people or causing them to become seriously ill at vastly different rates in different states, baffling scientists who are still learning about the coronavirus that causes the illness. The virus so far has killed at least 23,529 people in the United States, a case fatality rate of just over 4 percent. (Wilson, 4/14)

Politico: One-Third Of People Have Seen Misleading Info On Covid-19 On Social Media
Roughly one in three people across the United States, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina and South Korea say they've seen false or misleading information on social media linked to the coronavirus, according to a new report. The analysis, published Wednesday by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, comes as Facebook and Google say they've pulled out all the stops to clamp down on how misinformation about Covid-19 is shared on their networks. (Scott, 4/15)

WBUR: Why Some Coronavirus Tests Show A False Negative
As President Trump and governors across the nation spar over when and how to safely reopen the country, one crucial part of the equation is testing. But as more Americans are tested for the coronavirus, concern about the accuracy of those tests is growing. False negatives could distort our understanding of where we stand in the crisis. (Hobson and Hagan, 4/14)

ABC News: Experts Call For New National Public Health Workforce To Trace Spread Of COVID-19 Cases 
It starts with a phone call from a public health worker: You’ve been in contact with someone who has COVID-19. How do you feel? If you’re feeling sick, you may be asked to self-isolate, get a coronavirus test, and share the contact information for everyone you’ve recently interacted with. (Shubailat, Hill and Siegel, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News: Massachusetts Recruits 1,000 ‘Contact Tracers’ To Battle COVID-19
Massachusetts is launching an effort to reach everyone in the state who may have the coronavirus and get them tested and into isolation or treatment if needed. The ambitious goal is to stop — not just slow — the destructive power of COVID-19 through the tedious, yet powerful public health tool called contact tracing. Contact tracing starts with a call to someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus, and then follow-up with everyone that person was in close contact with — family, friends, colleagues or others they got closer than 6 feet from for more than a brief encounter. (Bebinger, 4/14)

NPR: People With Disabilities Say Medical Biases Make Them Fear Pandemic Rationing
It's a moment that people with disabilities have long feared: there's a shortage of life-saving equipment, like ventilators, and doctors say they may be forced to decide who lives and who dies. People with disabilities worry those judgments will reflect a prejudice that their lives hold less value. State health officials have drafted rationing plans that exclude some people with significant disabilities from ventilators and other treatment. (Shapiro, 4/15)

WBUR: Pressley Says ICU, Ventilator Guidelines Negatively Affect Minorities And Wants Baker To Rescind Them
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley asked Gov. Charlie Baker to rescind COVID-19 crisis care guidelines from the state, citing concerns the guidance around who receives certain medical resources amid any shortages would have a disproportionately negative impact on black and Latino patients and those with disabilities. (Atkins, 4/14)

CNN: New Research Makes The Case For Coronavirus Testing Of All Admitted Pregnant Patients 
Most of the pregnant women in New York who tested positive for the novel coronavirus were asymptomatic when they delivered, according to a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. More than one in eight of the asymptomatic patients admitted for delivery tested positive for coronavirus, the research conducted at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital found, making a case for testing all admitted pregnant patients. (Christensen and Holcombe, 4/15)

The Hill: Pregnant Woman Sick With COVID-19 Gives Birth While In Coma: 'I Was Very Confused' 
A new mother from Washington state currently fighting off the novel coronavirus said she woke up “very confused” recently after giving birth while under an induced coma. Angela Primachenko told a local ABC station in an interview published on Tuesday that she had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator recently after testing positive for the virus. At the time, Primachenko said she had been pregnant. (Folley, 4/14)

Bleacher Report: MLB Employees To Participate In 10,000-Person Coronavirus Antibody Study 
Major League Baseball's players and team employees will participate in a widespread study that is looking to test more than 10,000 individuals for COVID-19 antibodies, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Stanford University, USC and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory are conducting the study, which Passan notes, is unlikely to speed up the process of MLB ending its hiatus on team activities. (Schuster, 4/14)

ProPublica: COVID-19 Put Her Husband in the ICU. She Had to Be Hospitalized Next. The State Demanded to Know: Who Would Care for Their Children?
On the afternoon of March 24, as her symptoms from the coronavirus worsened, Laura Whalen found it difficult to talk. She would run out of breath before finishing a sentence. If she moved, even slightly, she coughed. Her friend Robin, a nurse, grew alarmed at the wispy sound of her voice and urged her to go to the hospital. “Laura,” she said on the phone, “you need to go.”“I’m not leaving my children,” Laura replied. “I’m not going anywhere.” (Sanders and Armstrong, 4/15)

ABC News: 117 Million Kids At Risk Of Missing Measles Vaccine During COVID-19 Pandemic 
As countries around the world shut down to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, 117 million kids are at risk of missing the measles vaccine, top health organizations say. Measles immunization campaigns in 24 countries have already been postponed, and more are expected to be delayed, according to the Measles & Rubella Initiative, a health partnership that includes the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and United Nations Foundation. (Schumaker, 4/14)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Distancing Drives A Halt In Measles Vaccinations
As hospitals and clinics across the country limit "non-essential" healthcare services to stem the spread of the coronavirus, experts worry that the postponement of routine immunizations could lead to an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases after social distancing practices begin to relax. Last month, the World Health Organization's issued guidance recommending countries temporarily suspend their mass preventive immunization campaigns, suggesting they design "strategies for catch-up vaccination" after the outbreak. (Johnson, 4/14)

The Associated Press: Parties Mine Wisconsin For Clues To Voting In The Virus Era
Democrats overcame legal confusion, safety concerns and presidential influence to pull off a win in Wisconsin this week, and both parties are mining the results for lessons on how to mobilize voters during a pandemic. Amid widespread allegations that Republicans were seeking to suppress votes by forging ahead with a chaotic election, statewide turnout for the Supreme Court election and presidential primary was a strong 1.5 million, the second-highest turnout for a Supreme Court election in 20 years. (Bauer and Riccardi, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Democratic Voter Motivation In Wisconsin Has Republicans Worried
John Carter, 71, stood in line for three hours last week to cast his ballot for Jill Karofsky, the liberal candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Carter, a retired bus driver from Milwaukee and African American Democrat, said he wanted badly to oust conservative Justice Dan Kelly. And he wanted to send a message to President Trump and state Republicans, who pushed for in-person voting despite the threat of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Gardner, Balz and Simmons, 4/14)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Deaths At U.S. Nursing Homes Pass 3,800, With 45 At Virginia Facility
Even before a single resident tested positive for the coronavirus at a nursing home in Richmond, Va., staff members were worried. Triple rooms were not uncommon. Supplies were hard to come by. And there were not enough nurses for all the aging patients inside. All that made the home, the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, an ideal place for the virus to spread, which it quickly did, with catastrophic results. (Ivory, Bogel-Burroughs and Smith, 4/14)

PBS NewsHour: Why Nursing Homes And Senior Living Centers Yield COVID-19 ‘Perfect Storm’ 
More than 3,600 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are believed to be linked to nursing homes and assisted living centers. The number is only an estimate -- likely an undercount -- because the federal government has not released details of what is happening in these facilities. (Nawaz and Norris, 4/14)

Houston Chronicle: One-Fifth Of Coronavirus Deaths In Texas Linked To Nursing Homes
More than one in five coronavirus-related deaths in Texas have been linked to skilled nursing homes, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data, illustrating the vulnerability of older residents in group settings to the deadly virus. Data shows that 22 percent of deaths related to COVID-19 as of Monday were connected to nursing homes, while another 8 percent were linked to assisted-living facilities, which provide a less-intensive level of care. (Foxhall, 4/14)

Cincinnati Enquirer: A Third Of NKY COVID-19 Deaths Have Been Nursing Home Residents
At least a third of the Northern Kentucky residents killed by COVID-19 had been living in local nursing homes, according to data from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Northern Kentucky Health Department. Seven local nursing home residents died from COVID-19 at Rosedale Green in Kenton County and Coldspring in Cold Spring, according to state data most recently updated on Sunday. As of Monday, 18 people in Northern Kentucky had died from COVID-19. Across the state, COVID-19 cases are overwhelming some nursing homes as local and state officials find ways to protect the vulnerable population. (Fair, 4/14)

Boston Globe: Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, State’s Nursing Home Workers Will Get Extra Pay
As the virus rips through the state, the jobs of nursing home staff have become newly hazardous. The virus has infected not only elderly residents but also workers, in one case killing a nurse. As workers go out sick or stay home due to fear, facilities have struggled to retain staff, especially the low-paid nursing aides who earn barely more than minimum wage. (Krantz, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Fired Amazon Warehouse Workers Accuse Company Of Retaliation, Which It Denies
Amazon.com Inc. has fired at least three warehouse employees and reprimanded several others who say they were singled out after pushing for better working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic, a contention the company denies. The current and former employees, who don’t belong to a union, say they are being retaliated against as they pushed the company for better treatment after helping to process an extraordinary surge in orders during a time of elevated worker absences. (Herrera, 4/14)

The Hill: First Amazon Warehouse Worker Dies Of Coronavirus 
An Amazon warehouse worker in California has died of the novel coronavirus, a spokeswoman for the online retail giant told The Hill on Tuesday. The worker, an operations manager at Amazon's Hawthorne facility, died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on March 31. (Rodrigo, 4/14)

In other news on workers —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: OSHA Won't Crack Down On Businesses That Don't Meet COVID-19 Guidance
As more of the nation’s essential workers become ill with coronavirus, the federal agency responsible for employee safety is telling many of them that it won't crack down on businesses that fail to follow COVID-19 guidelines. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s position has left some workers, unions and advocates scrambling to figure out how to protect employees. Workers say employers aren’t cleaning worksites properly, providing protective equipment or telling them when coworkers became sick with the coronavirus, interviews and records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show. (Perez, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Inside The Push To Redeploy Workers Quickly
As the pandemic began knocking out swaths of the economy last month, CVS Health Corp. ’s chief recruiter, Jeff Lackey, conferred with his contacts at companies that would suffer some of the biggest blows—airlines, hotel companies and retailers. His message: I want your people. CVS—where Mr. Lackey heads up talent acquisition—is now taking on the most ambitious hiring drive in its history. (Weber, 4/15)

Stat: 'We'll Be Deported': Immigrants Fear Seeking Covid-19 Tests Or Care 
Trying to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus has proven extremely challenging in this sprawling city, where public health officials, hospitals, and community clinics are grappling with millions of immigrant residents who may be too afraid to seek testing or care and are woefully unequipped by their economic circumstances to comply with orders to self-quarantine. As in many communities of color hard-hit by Covid-19, immigrants here are at higher risk for exposure to the virus because many cannot work from home, cannot afford not to work, and often have jobs that require interacting with large numbers of other people. (McFarling, 4/15)

WBUR: 'We'd Have To Abandon Our Daughters': Pandemic Delays International Adoptions 
As borders closed and travel was restricted, it became impossible to complete the U.S. Consulate's request. Moreover, the Parkers say they cannot return to the safety of their home in North Carolina because while David, Michaela, 24, and their infant son, Philip, are U.S. citizens — Claira and Ariella, now 23 months old, are not. (Westerman, 4/14)

Stat: 5 Burning Questions About Tech Efforts To Track Covid-19 Case
The pitch from technology companies goes something like this: We can tap phone data to track Covid-19 infections in U.S. communities and swiftly warn people about potential exposure, all without ever compromising anyone’s privacy. Apple and Google turned heads a few days ago when they announced a joint effort to bolster this public health service — a task known as contact tracing — by building software into smartphones that relies on Bluetooth technology to track users’ proximity to one another. Facebook is participating in a similar effort led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While their brands give them instant credibility in the business world, infectious disease experts aren’t convinced the technology offers a tidy solution to such a complicated public health problem. (Ross, 4/15)

Stateline: Hospital Hackers Seize Upon Coronavirus Pandemic
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, staffers at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois got an unwelcome surprise when they arrived at work one morning last month: Cybercriminals had hijacked their computer network and were holding it hostage. The hackers were demanding a ransom to restore the system. “Our website was pretty much down for three entire days, and it was the primary mode of communicating with the public about COVID-19,” deputy administrator Awais Vaid recalled. “The only good thing was that just a few months before, we had put our electronic medical records and our email on the cloud, so they were not affected.” (Bergal, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Teladoc’s Remote Doctor Visits Surge In Coronavirus Crisis
Teladoc Health Inc. said its remote medical appointments have more than doubled in number since early March, a sign the coronavirus pandemic is remaking how doctors take care of patients. Teladoc said it is conducting more than 20,000 remote medical appointments a day, more than twice the average daily volume of visits during the first week in March. The Purchase, N.Y., company hosted 1.8 million visits in the first quarter, up from 1.06 million visits a year earlier. (Krouse, 4/14)

The Associated Press: EU To Unveil Virus Exit Plan, Hoping To Avoid More Chaos
The European Union moved Wednesday to head off a chaotic and potentially disastrous easing of restrictions that are limiting the spread of the coronavirus, warning its 27 nations to move very cautiously as they return to normal life and base their actions on scientific advice. With Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark already lifting some lockdown measures, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, was rushing out its roadmap for members of the world’s biggest trade bloc to coordinate an exit from the lockdowns, which they expect should take several months. (Cook, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Death Toll In Europe Likely Far Higher Than First Reported
Newly published figures show deaths linked to the new coronavirus in the U.K. have far exceeded preliminary estimates, adding to a growing body of evidence across Europe that closely watched daily death tallies don’t reveal the virus’s true toll. Behind the discrepancy are lags in recording some deaths that can stretch to a week or more, as well as deaths in nursing homes and other non-hospital settings that aren’t normally captured by rapid-fire estimates used to track the pandemic. (Douglas and Legorano, 4/14)

The Associated Press: China Didn't Warn Public Of Likely Pandemic For 6 Key Days
In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data. (4/15)

The New York Times: She Kept A Diary Of China’s Coronavirus Epidemic. Now She Faces A Political Storm.
As Wuhan was engulfed by the coronavirus, the Chinese author Fang Fang worked late into the night, writing a daily chronicle of life and death in her home city that gave rise to a global pandemic. Her online diary, though sometimes censored, became vital reading for tens of millions of Chinese readers — a plain-spoken, spontaneous view into Wuhan residents’ fears, frustrations and hopes during their 11 weeks under lockdown in their homes. (4/14)

The Associated Press: South Koreans Vote In National Election Amid Virus Fears
In a surprisingly high turnout, millions of South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations on Wednesday to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus. The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum on President Moon Jae-in, who enters the final two years of his term grappling with a historic public health crisis that is unleashing massive economic shock. (Tong-Hyung, 4/15)

The Associated Press: Virus Choking Off Supply Of What Africa Needs Most: Food
In a pre-dawn raid in food-starved Zimbabwe, police enforcing a coronavirus lockdown confiscated and destroyed 3 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables by setting fire to it. Wielding batons, they scattered a group of rural farmers who had traveled overnight, breaking restrictions on movement to bring the precious produce to one of the country’s busiest markets. (Mutsaka, 4/15)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Poised To Hit Americas Nations With More Force
COVID-19 activity has yet to hit the Americas with full force, especially Latin America and the Caribbean, and countries should prepare for rapid intensification over the next few weeks, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned today. Elsewhere, more countries—some trending down and some trending up—extended their lockdown measures, as cases rapidly rose in some African countries and some Asian nations battled resurgences. (Schnirring, 4/14)

The New York Times: How ‘Fast Carbs’ May Undermine Your Health
In recent weeks, foods of all kinds have flown off the shelves at grocery stores as Americans stocked up to weather the coronavirus pandemic. But sales of “comfort foods” like potato chips, pretzels, pancake mix and cookies have seen a particularly dramatic surge. That may not be surprising: They are cheap, satisfying and shelf stable. Unfortunately, for the many millions of people now sheltered at home, avoiding the urge to make frequent trips to the kitchen throughout the day to snack on these foods can be tricky. (O'Connor, 4/14)

CNN: C-Section Babies May Be At Higher Risk Of Obesity And Diabetes In Later Life, Study Suggests 
Being born by cesarean section may have long-term health consequences, increasing your risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes as an adult, a study of more than 30,000 US women suggests. The research, published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that those women born by cesarean delivery were 11% more likely to be obese as adults and had a 46% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than women born by vaginal delivery. (Hunt, 4/13)

CNN: Rate Of New US Hep C Infections Rises Three-Fold In Past Decade, CDC Now Says All Adults Should Be Screened At Least Once 
The annual rate of newly reported hepatitis C infections in the United States has increased threefold, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A new CDC report finds that the annual rate rose from a rate of 0.3 cases per 100,000 people in 2009 to a rate of 1.2 per 100,000 people in 2018. That report also makes new recommendations for all adults to get screened for hepatitis C at least once in their lifetimes. (Howard, 4/10)

Stat: State Legislatures Are Lapping The Federal Government On Drug Pricing — Even Amid The Coronavirus
Here in the nation’s capital, the consensus is that the coronavirus pandemic has quashed all hope of serious drug pricing reform, at least for the foreseeable future. But states around the country have enacted significant reforms over the last month, even while they were dealing with a crisis. Drug pricing advocates were dealt a serious blow in March when Congress wrapped the majority of its 2020 health care work into a coronavirus relief package, and included no mention of drug pricing at all. It was the unceremonious end to nearly a year of gridlock that kept Congress from passing a bipartisan drug pricing package championed by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and members of the Trump White House. Now, Capitol Hill is virtually shuttered until at least May, and there’s little hope drug pricing reform will come up until after the November election. (Florko, 4/14)

Stat: Insurers And Pharma Alike Oppose Two Trump Drug Pricing Proposals
The Trump administration has proposed modest steps this year to promote biosimilar and generic medications, but each proposal has been met with staunch opposition from nearly all corners of the health care industry. The proposals are small and wonky: Under one, bonuses for insurers would be partially determined based on how often they encourage patients to use generic drugs; under another, insurers would be able to push patients toward lower-cost medicines by creating a new “tier” of medicines in their plan designs. (Florko, 4/10)

Stat: Opioid-Overdose Prescriptions May Go Unfilled Due To The Cost 
Although naloxone is widely regarded as an effective antidote for reversing opioid overdoses, a new study suggests that the cost of the medication has dissuaded people from filling prescriptions. Among 5.2 million people who were prescribed an opioid painkiller, 12% were considered to be at a high risk for an overdose, but only 0.5% of them filled a prescription for naloxone. Meanwhile, the average out-of-pocket cost was nearly triple for an opioid, according to the study published in Drug Safety. (Silverman, 4/8)

Stat: Pharmacy Reimbursement Often Lags For Generics Undergoing Price Hikes
Of more than 4,300 instances in which pharmacies saw generic drug prices rise by 50% or more over a recent two-year period, the reimbursement from health plans and pharmacy benefit kept up with the price increases only 16% of the time, according to a new analysis. The findings underscore the fact that pharmacies are sometimes getting squeezed when their costs increase, which has contributed to an ongoing number of closures among retail pharmacies around the U.S. in recent years. (Silverman, 4/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Fight Hinders Action Against Other Deadly Diseases
The coronavirus threat has suspended vaccination campaigns against many other diseases in the developing world, raising fears that other epidemics could surge in the poorest nations. With developing nations now engaged in commercial shutdowns and enforced social distancing measures, health services are pausing mass vaccination drives for polio, measles and other deadly diseases. Such campaigns risk spreading the new coronavirus, the World Health Organization warns. (Shah and Parkinson, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Potential Coronavirus Drugs May Cost As Little As $1, Study Says
Potential coronavirus treatments could be made for as little as $1, well below their typical price tags in pharmacies, according to an analysis of nine drugs in clinical trials. If their promise is confirmed in ongoing studies, medicines for Covid-19, including hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump touted as a treatment, and Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir could be manufactured from $1 to $29 a course, a study published Friday in the Journal of Virus Eradication found. (Jason Gale, 4/10)

Slate: States Can Use The Coronavirus Response To Go After Insulin Price Gougers.
The COVID-19 health care crisis is spreading beyond just those with the virus. As millions of Americans lose their jobs, they also stand to lose the employer-provided health insurance they rely on for life-saving drugs. Without insurance, the costs of those drugs can skyrocket. Insulin alone can cost $12,000 a year. For the diabetics who will lack insurance during the crisis, insulin costs could outpace government assistance with catastrophic consequences: ballooning medical debt or, worse, an increase in deaths among those who cannot afford care. (Steinberg, 4/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Biotech VCs Steer Around Covid-19 Obstacles
Biotechnology venture capitalists aim to continue launching new drug startups despite the disruptions imposed by the new coronavirus. Several biotech venture firms focus largely or entirely on founding startups instead of funding existing ones. By starting companies, VCs can secure significant ownership stakes in them and position themselves to make giant returns if the startup succeeds. (Gormley, 4/14)

Bloomberg: Does Gilead Remdesivir Work On Covid-19? Is There A Drug?
Results from a study of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental Covid-19 medicine are top-of-mind for Wall Street as cases surpass 1.35 million and deaths approach 76,000. With a potential vaccine more than a year away, Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir offers one of the nearest-term hopes for a treatment in the pandemic that’s sweeping across the globe and putting many countries, including most of the U.S., on lockdown. Results from late-stage studies out of China are expected this month with results from U.S. trials following in May. (Flanagan, 4/7)

Stat: Study Of AstraZeneca Cancer Drug Stopped Early For ‘Overwhelming’ Benefit
AstraZeneca halted a study of its lung cancer treatment Tagrisso after observing what the company called an “overwhelming” benefit, a result that could significantly expand the use of the blockbuster drug. The global trial, which enrolled nearly 700 patients, was slated to run for three years but stopped after about 12 months when an independent monitoring committee looked at the data and determined that Tagrisso had already bested placebo, the company said Friday. (Garde, 4/10)

Boston Globe: Blackstone Invests Up To $2B In Alnylam, A Bet On The Cambridge Biotech
The private equity firm Blackstone Group is investing up to $2 billion in Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a big bet on the Cambridge biotech’s approach to developing drugs for genetic diseases and disorders that need better treatments. The deal, which was announced Monday, is anchored by Blackstone’s purchase of half the royalties owed to Alnylam on global sales of inclisiran, an experimental RNA interference drug for the treatment of high cholesterol. (Saltzman, 4/13)

Stat: Zai Lab Targets Blood Cancers In Deal With Regeneron 
Shanghai’s Zai Lab (ZLAB) is adding a blood cancer drug to its pipeline through a licensing deal with the U.S. biotech giant Regeneron (REGN). Zai Lab will help develop and commercialize the bispecific antibody REGN1979 for the China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau market. Under the terms of the deal, the Chinese biotech is paying $30 million up front and potentially as much as another $160 million if the therapy meets certain regulatory and commercial milestones. (Chan, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Dealmakers Look Beyond Coronavirus Crisis For M&A Opportunities
The race for treatments and a vaccine for Covid-19 has turned a spotlight on the health-care industry. Pharmaceutical giants are already teaming up with tiny biotechnology firms to develop experimental therapies for the virus, and Johnson & Johnson saw its shares surge after partnering with the U.S. government to work on an inoculation. While many companies are focused for the moment on maintaining drug supplies to stretched health-care systems, the crisis could throw up a wave of potential dealmaking, advisers said. “Health care is a sector that might have interesting opportunities as a result of this crisis and is one of the sectors that has had the least impact,” said Nestor Paz-Galindo, UBS Group AG’s head of M&A for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Balezou, Tse and Ahmed, 4/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Cerevance Banks $45 Million For Neurological Drug Development
Biotechnology startup Cerevance Inc. has secured $45 million to hunt for treatments for neurological diseases by studying samples of brain tissue gathered from deceased donors world-wide. (Gormley, 4/14)

Washington Monthly: Why Are Patient Groups Silent On High Drug Prices?
Hill staffers know the drill. Every time legislation to limit drug prices begins to move, patient advocacy groups visit their offices, accompanied by sick and dying patients flown in for the occasion. Their mission: to stop any law they fear will decrease spending on drug research. Take, for example, the response from patient groups to a Trump administration effort in 2018. Borrowing from what left-of-center groups have advocated for years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed pegging prices for some drugs to the far lower prices paid abroad. (Merrill Goozner, 4/1)

Bloomberg: How To Make A Faster Coronavirus Vaccine
Making vaccines is difficult and expensive in the best of times. It usually takes years to bring a candidate to market. On top of the scientific difficulty, vaccines must clear an exceptionally high safety bar: Unlike just about any other treatment, they're given to otherwise healthy people in large quantities. Any significant side effects can have disastrous consequences, and long and careful testing is required to avoid harm. By one estimate, getting a single epidemic infectious disease vaccine from the preclinical stage to large-scale testing costs between $319 million and $469 million. These costs and risks are elevated further in a pandemic, because there’s no time for the usual lengthy and cautious process. (Max Nisen, 4/10)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Has Laid Bare The Inequality Of America's Health Care
In March, Congress passed a coronavirus bill including $3.1 billion to develop and produce drugs and vaccines. The bipartisan consensus was unusual. Less unusual was the successful lobbying by pharmaceutical companies to weaken or kill provisions that addressed affordability — measures that could be used to control prices or invalidate patents for any new drugs. The notion of price control is anathema to health care companies. It threatens their basic business model, in which the government grants them approvals and patents, pays whatever they ask, and works hand in hand with them as they deliver the worst health outcomes at the highest costs in the rich world. (Anne Case and Angus Deaton, 4/14)

Stat: The Tension Between Public Health And Patents In The Covid-19 Era 
The Covid-19 pandemic, devastating as it is, is producing some triumphs of collaborative research and innovation, as everyone from the World Health Organization to national laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and Facebook groups of engineers race to fight the virus. But lurking behind this remarkable work is a threat: Some individuals or companies may exploit patents to profiteer off the crisis and could slow these innovative efforts to a crawl. (Christopher Morten and Charles Duan, 4/14)

Williston Herald: On Drug Pricing, Sen. Cramer's Choice Is Clear
Senator Kevin Cramer has been a consistent voice for principled conservatism since North Dakota sent him Washington. His support for free enterprise and his efforts to limit government overreach have served us well. So it is disheartening to hear about his apparent interest in a big-government drug-pricing bill sponsored by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, especially since a smart, conservative alternative from Idaho Republican Mike Crapo is also working its way through Congress. (Bette Grande, 4/10)

The Washington Post: Nursing Homes Are In The Pandemic’s Crosshairs. They Can’t Be Neglected. 
Fewer than half of 1 percent of Americans reside in nursing homes, but they account for roughly 3,600 coronavirus deaths, more than 15 percent of the 22,000 in the United States as of Monday, according to a tally by the Associated Press. More than 85 percent of those deaths have occurred in the past 10 days — and that may understate the actual numbers given that many nursing home patients die without ever being tested for the pathogen. In addition to the nation’s 1.3 million nursing home residents, nurses, orderlies and other workers at the facilities are also at heightened risk. Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemicIn Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is sending “strike teams” to nursing homes composed of doctors, nurses, health officials and National Guard members who will administer speeded-up tests; ensure segregation of confirmed and suspected covid-19 cases; determine equipment needs; and provide on-site care and medical assessment. (4/13)

The New York Times: The Global Coronavirus Crisis Is Poised To Get Much, Much Worse 
In some places in the United States and other developed countries hit hard by Covid-19, the question is when might it become possible to start getting back to work. For much of the rest of the world, the nightmare is yet to start. And part of the horror is that many poorer countries won’t have the means to do much about it. Nor, given the international community’s lack of organization and leadership in the face of a global crisis, can they count on richer nations to help them. (4/15)

CNN: The Second Pandemic That Awaits Covid-19 First Responders
As the daily death toll decreased for the first time in New York on April 5, many of us are bracing for the storm to end and hopeful for our lives to resume outside of our homes. The relief is not only that the threat may be peaking, or that we can stop disinfecting our groceries, but that our loved ones working on the front lines of this disaster will be out of harm's way. I'm the daughter of a 9/11 first responder; I know as fear winds down, another battle is just beginning. (Samantha K. Smith, 4/14)

Stat: We'll See More Shortages Of Diagnostic Tests If The FDA Has Its Way 
February was a frustrating month for my laboratory. We wanted to make tests to detect the virus that causes Covid-19. My virology colleagues had great ideas and solid testing platforms. The Food and Drug Administration told us to stop. (Brian H. Shirts, 4/15)

The Hill: Reentry After The Panic: Paying The Health Price Of Extreme Isolation
With a world-wide sense of relief, progress continues in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Projections have been revised downward for virtually every major negative consequence of the disease... All of this is terrific news. But we will now pay a big price. (Dr. Scott W. Atlas, 4/13)

The Washington Post: The Science Is Challenging. But We Should Be Hopeful For A Covid-19 Vaccine Or Drug.
Peter Medawar once defined a virus as “a piece of bad news wrapped up in protein.” He wrote in 1983 that “no virus is known to do good.” The key to stopping the novel coronavirus is that no virus can multiply on its own. It must invade a living cell. All hopes rest on a drug, vaccine or other therapy to disrupt the virus attack or impede its replication machinery. This is complicated science, not the instant “game changer” that President Trump has touted in the unproven antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine. (4/14)

The Hill: Science Says Trump Was Right: Malaria Drugs Need To Be Pursued As A Coronavirus Therapy 
When President Donald Trump suggested that an off-labeled repurposing of a pair of old antimalarial drugs might prove to be a “game-changer” coronavirus therapeutic, pundits howled that he was irresponsibly peddling false hope to a weary American public like some late-night snake oil salesman... It's true that the president may not understand the sciences of virology and pharmacology, but I do — and all the available data urgently demand that our government pursue chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as treatments for the novel coronavirus. (Dr. Jeffrey Segal, 4/14)

Boston Globe: How To Get Better COVID-19 Infection Data Without Universal Testing 
The state of Massachusetts could benefit from more granular data on COVID-19 infections and deaths, but far more problematic is the fact that epidemiologists are basing their COVID-19 projections on imperfect data regarding the number and severity of infections. We know how many people have tested positive, but given our limited supply and conduct of tests, that is probably a far cry from the true number of people who have been infected thus far in the state and across the nation. (David E. Bloom and David Canning, 4/15)

Stat: Covid-19 Opens Unexpected Rifts Between Health Care Workers 
My pager wakes me at 4:00 a.m. It’s from Jill, a nurse on the medicine floor. “Mr. M is on 4L of oxygen. I think he needs to go to the ICU. Please come assess.” (Sunny Kung, 4/15)

The Washington Post: The Coronavirus Is Depriving People Of Funerals
Kaye Whitehead was raised with old-school values, so she is not accustomed to raising her voice at her parents. But that is what the Baltimore author and radio host did when she learned that her 76-year-old father intended to attend a funeral. She begged him to change his mind and screamed into the phone as she reminded him that he faced many of the health challenges that placed him in a high-risk group for covid-19 infection. When he’d heard enough, Whitehead tried her mother, pleading with her to hide the car keys if her husband was leaving to attend the funeral service. (Michele L. Norris, 4/14)

Boston Globe: Andrew Cuomo Leads The Rational States Of America 
Hail to the chief of the newly united rational states of America.Andrew Cuomo, by name. Clear-thinking citizens owe New York’s governor and his counterparts a heartfelt thank you. By stealing a Monday march on the country’s titular leader, they have ensured that the reopening of large regions of America will proceed according to the dictates of science and rationality — and not self-interested political considerations.Cuomo led the way by helping forge a bloc of Eastern states, from Delaware to Massachusetts, committed to developing a regional approach to reopening. On the West Coast, California, Oregon, and Washington announced a similar effort. (Scot Lehigh, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Wise Caution On Dropping Coronavirus Controls 
Ever so gradually and ever so strategically. That’s the road map California is taking toward easing strict social controls and reopening its economy after weeks of a near total shutdown to fight the coronavirus. Gov. Gavin Newsom is laying out a half dozen measurements he’ll use in deciding when to lower everyday restrictions adopted to control the outbreak. He’s promising to lift the constraints — but only if the course of fatalities and infections remains headed in the right direction. Everyone wants to know when, he acknowledged. But he wouldn’t commit to a date. “Ask me in two weeks,” he said, when pressed on when a restless state and a staggering economy might get an answer. (4/14)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: With Trump Nursing Grudges And Playing Dictator, It's Up To Governors To Lead.
A president who spent precious weeks failing to provide national leadership as coronavirus cases multiplied is now claiming authority he doesn’t have. President Donald Trump’s unhinged pandemic briefing Monday looked like a parody — peevish, self-centered, dishonest — but it also portends a serious constitutional showdown over how the nation should reopen for business. Trump declared his “authority is total” on that front, which is plainly false and dangerously dictatorial.Bluster isn’t leadership. Trump’s failure to provide the real thing has prompted governors to negotiate among themselves on the pace of their states’ reopening. At this point, that’s the only path. (4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Continues To Flip Flop On Coronavirus Strategy
There is no Trumpism, only Trump. One of the most vexing things for both fans and foes of President Trump is that he has a gift for being neither the hero nor the villain people like to cast him as. In 2016, when Trump refused to answer a question about whether he would accept an election defeat, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “The words that you heard from Donald Trump are what you’d expect from a Third World dictator, what you’d expect from a military leader about to attempt a coup in a foreign country, not from an American presidential candidate.” (Jonah Goldberg, 4/14)

The New York Times: Stop Talking About Inequality And Do Something About It
MINNEAPOLIS — The 12-hour drive to Detroit is always a chore, but on the last day of March, the pandemic gave a sinister hue to even the most banal elements of a Midwest road trip. Every time we used a bathroom, grabbed a gas pump or bought a snack was an opportunity to get infected. Making things worse, Detroit was seeing an explosion of coronavirus cases.My grandmother had just died unexpectedly at the age of 82 — raised on a farm in Louisiana, she had always been healthy; to me, she seemed indestructible. Nana raised us — not just my dad and uncles, but nearly the whole family. Skipping her funeral didn’t seem like an option. (Jeremiah Bey Ellison, 4/15)

CNN: What The Surgeon General Gets Wrong About African Americans And Covid-19
"When America catches a cold, black folks catch pneumonia." Growing up in Denmark, South Carolina, my father, Cleveland Sellers Jr., would regularly repeat this notion to offer much-needed perspective in different policy discussions throughout the years. And time and time again, my father's evergreen sentiments have proven to be correct. (Bakari Sellers, 4/14)

Fox News: Trump Right To Stop Funding World Health Organization Over Its Botched Coronavirus Response
President Trump was right to announce Tuesday that he will immediately stop funding the World Health Organization, which was scheduled to get $893 million from the U.S. in the current two-year funding period. (Gordon C. Chang, 4/15)

The New York Times: I Harvest Your Food. Why Isn’t My Health ‘Essential’? 
I am one of the thousands of farmworkers across the country making sure there is still food to put on your tables. Since I came to New York from Guatemala 11 years ago, I have cleaned cabbage in a packing shed, milked cows on dairy farms, trimmed apple trees in orchards and wrapped and pruned tomatoes in a greenhouse. If I get sick with Covid-19, I’m afraid of what it will mean for my children, my compañeros and my community. But unlike many other workers in the United States, my workplace has not shut down. Farmworkers are considered essential, and yet we are left out of government support. (Alma Patty Tzalain, 4/15)

Los Angeles Times: The Shaming Of Dr. Fauci At Trump's News Conference From Hell
One of the first signs that Monday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing was going further off the rails than usual was the early appearance of Anthony Fauci at the microphone. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been among the few trustworthy voices in that room, taking care, day after day, to stick to the facts. But the doctor is only human, and every once in a while we have gotten brief glimpses of how hard it must be for him to cope with the president’s incessant need to politicize everything. Remember when, a few weeks ago, he rubbed his forehead as President Trump spoke dismissively of the “deep state”? By (Robin Abcarian, 4/14)

The New York Times: Trump Votes By Mail. Why Can’t Everyone? 
In a democracy, no one should be forced to choose between health and the right to vote. Imagine if days before the November election you learn that your polling place has been closed, that your request for an absentee ballot has gone unfulfilled and that you have to risk a grave infection by standing in line — possibly for hours — to claim your stake in our democracy. (Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 4/15)

The Hill: States Blocking 4.4 Million From Gaining Medicaid Coverage
Earlier this month, President Trump proclaimed that it’s not fair 30 million Americans are uninsured, acknowledging this puts them at a disadvantage, especially as COVID-19 spreads. He suggested we should expand health coverage to the uninsured. The majority of Americans agree with the president on this topic. (David Jordan, 4/14)