First Edition: March 13, 2020
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News: The Coronavirus, The Congressman And Me
I got the COVID-19 text at 8:30 Tuesday night, three days after returning from a journalism conference in New Orleans. “At least one NICAR attendee has tested positive for coronavirus,” wrote my colleague Liz Lucas. Several of us had attended the data journalism conference, which draws reporters and editors from across the country. What do you do when you think you might have been exposed to a virus that is shutting down countries? (Luthra, 3/13)
Kaiser Health News: Coronavirus Puts Prisons In Tight Spot Amid Staff Shortages, Threats Of Lockdown
Federal prison union officials and inmate advocates warn that the combination of chronic understaffing, a new leave policy and the realities of coronavirus quarantines could lead to the first nationwide federal prison lockdown since 1995. As coronavirus races across the country, staffing challenges are particularly complicated in the nation’s jails and prisons where conditions create a tinderbox for contagion. There is no such thing as teleworking for a correctional officer tasked with guarding inmates. (Weber, 3/12)
Kaiser Health News: Congress Approves Boost In Food Aid For Seniors But Funding Falls Short Of Growing Need
Advocates for senior citizens hailed the bipartisan passage of a federal bill that calls for boosting money for nutrition programs so that fewer older adults go hungry. But the proposed funding still wouldn’t keep up with America’s fast-growing senior population. The legislation reauthorizes the Older Americans Act, which provides for home-delivered and group meals for anyone 60 and older while supporting an array of other services, such as transportation and in-home care. (Ungar, 3/12)
Kaiser Health News: Trump Wrongly Said Health Insurers Will Pay For All Coronavirus Treatment
As coronavirus cases multiply in the United States, one concern Americans have is what they can expect to pay if they seek treatment. Speaking from the White House, President Donald Trump suggested that people with health insurance shouldn’t have to worry about that.“Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of the health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing,” Trump said March 11. (Luthra and Sherman, 3/13)
Kaiser Health News: Donald Trump’s Wrong Claim That ‘Anybody’ Can Get Tested For Coronavirus
To show that his administration has been fast and effective in its response to the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump claimed that anybody who wants to get tested for the respiratory disease caused by the virus can do so. “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is,” Trump told reporters March 6 during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. (Valverde, 3/12)
Kaiser Health News: Coronavirus Pushes Hospitals To Share Information About Stocks Of Protective Gear
Masks, gloves and other equipment are crucial as health care workers face the COVID-19 outbreak. There is a strategic national stockpile that the U.S. government controls — but no one knows what, beyond that stockpile, is available in the private sector. Some hospitals have a surplus of the protective equipment and some not enough. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working on a system that would track the inventory across the U.S. (Farmer, 3/13)
Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Coronavirus Goes Viral
This was the week the coronavirus hit the U.S. in general and Washington, D.C., in particular in a big way. More than a half-dozen lawmakers are in self-quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus; stocks officially entered a bear market; and the White House and Congress are scrambling to try to get ahead of a fast-moving public health crisis. (3/12)
The New York Times: Congress Nears Stimulus Deal With White House As Wall Street Suffers Rout
Financial markets plunged on Thursday in the biggest one-day drop since the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987, and Congress neared a deal with the White House on a sweeping economic rescue package to respond to the colossal effect of the coronavirus pandemic. After a day of intense negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Ms. Pelosi told reporters that “we’ve resolved most of our differences” and the House would vote on Friday on the measure “one way or another.” It would then go to the Senate, which called off a recess that had been scheduled for next week in anticipation of a compromise. (Cochrane, Smialek and Tankersley, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Hopes Of Bipartisan Deal Rise As White House, Democrats Negotiate Coronavirus Relief
“We’ve resolved most of our differences, and those we haven’t we’ll continue to have a conversation — because there will obviously be other bills,” Pelosi told reporters outside of her office in the Capitol, at the end of a long day of intense talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The legislation will include measures to boost paid family leave and unemployment insurance, ensure free coronavirus testing, and strengthen nutritional aid like food stamps. The emerging agreement builds upon a bill House Democrats released late Wednesday that included a number of provisions Republicans opposed, setting off hours of frenzied negotiations on Capitol Hill to reach bipartisan consensus. (DeBonis, Werner and Stein, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Pelosi Says House, Trump Administration Near Coronavirus Pact
Efforts to put together a bill began only this week as lawmakers have rushed to respond to the pandemic that has tanked financial markets and infected more people world-wide. Democrats delayed procedural steps Thursday on the bill to allow for further negotiations and the possibility that they could amend the legislation. Republicans had raised concerns about the Democratic proposal to offer paid leave, criticizing the decision to have the Social Security Administration run the program in particular. Mrs. Pelosi said during a Thursday press conference that Democrats were reviewing proposals from Mr. Mnuchin. (Duehren and Andrews, 3/12)
Politico: Pelosi And Mnuchin Fail To Reach Deal On Coronavirus Aid Package
The final sticking points involved complex talks led by Mnuchin and Ways and Means Chairman Richie Neal (D-Mass.) over sick leave for employees impacted by the coronavirus as well as their family members, said multiple Democratic and GOP aides. Pelosi and Mnuchin held several conversations throughout Thursday. Pelosi then tapped Neal to try hammer out an accord over the paid leave issue with Mnuchin, said Democratic aides. The multibillion-dollar House proposal — which aims to shore up safety-net programs like food aid and unemployment insurance — represents Washington’s most aggressive response to the growing coronavirus crisis, which has sent financial markets into a panic as it quickly spreads across the globe. (Bresnahan, Ferris and Caygle, 3/12)
ABC News: Coronavirus-Relief Bill Aims To Expand Free School Lunch Program
With coronavirus-related school closures looming, federal lawmakers have proposed a bill that includes help for families that are struggling to feed their kids while at home. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, presented to the House on Wednesday, includes a provision for expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that provides money for low-income families to purchase healthy food. The proposal is one of at least eight provisions up for consideration by the Senate. (Carrega, 3/12)
Politico: McConnell Delays Senate Recess Amid Coronavirus Crisis And FISA Deadline
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that the Senate will delay its recess scheduled for next week to continue working on an economic relief package to address the coronavirus outbreak. “Notwithstanding the scheduled state work period, the Senate will be in session next week,” the Kentucky Republican tweeted. “I am glad talks are ongoing between the Administration and Speaker Pelosi. I hope Congress can pass bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong.” (Levine and Desiderio, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: FDA Grants New Coronavirus Test Emergency Approval
A new, high-speed coronavirus test has been granted emergency clearance by the Food and Drug Administration, the latest effort to expand capacity to diagnose the fast-spreading pathogen. The test was developed by diagnostics giant Roche Holding AG RHHBY -8.96% and is designed to run on the company’s automated machines, which are already installed in more than 100 laboratories across the U.S. It is only the third coronavirus diagnostic to receive emergency-use authorization from the FDA, following a test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one from the New York State Department of Health. (Roland and Loftus, 3/13)
ProPublica: The FDA Is Forcing The CDC To Waste Time Double Testing Some Coronavirus Cases
A federal directive that’s supposed to speed up the response to a pandemic is actually slowing down the government’s rollout of coronavirus tests. The directive, issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, requires that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a sister agency, retest every positive coronavirus test run by a public health lab to confirm its accuracy. The result, experts say, is wasting limited resources at a time when thousands of Americans are waiting in line to get tested for COVID-19. (DePhillis and Chen, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Virus Testing System Is Failing, Fauci Tells Congress
The federal government’s top infectious-disease doctor said the nation’s system for disease testing has failed during the coronavirus outbreak because people typically need a doctor’s permission to be tested. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified Thursday at a congressional hearing. “That is a failing. It is a failing. Let’s admit it.” (Burton, Armour and Wise, 3/12)
The New York Times: Travelers From Coronavirus Hot Spots Say They Faced No Screening
As thousands of Americans flee from Europe and other centers of the coronavirus outbreak, many travelers are reporting no health screenings upon departure and few impediments at U.S. airports beyond a welcome home greeting. Since January, officers from Customs and Border Protection have been on heightened alert for travelers who could potentially spread the virus. The Department of Homeland Security has told employees to look for visible physical symptoms and search through their travel documents and a federal database that tracks where they came from. Those customs officers will soon have to spot symptoms among a flood of more Americans funneled to designated airports from multiple countries in Europe, an administration official said, after President Trump announced new travel restrictions on the region this week. (Kanno-Youngs, 3/13)
The Wall Street Journal: As Virus Spreads, Drugmakers Are On The Case
Dozens of drugmakers are scrambling to develop vaccines that could prevent people from contracting the new coronavirus, or therapies to treat people infected with the respiratory disease it causes. Testing of several potential drugs and vaccines has already started, and more trials are in the works. Additional studies could follow if researchers find that products approved for other uses, or even ones they discarded, show promise in their labs tackling the virus. “You’re seeing the industry wheel into action,” says Jeremy Levin, chairman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization trade group and chief executive of Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (Hopkins, 3/12)
Los Angeles Times: Why Will It Take So Long To Make A Coronavirus Vaccine That Can Prevent COVID-19?
Nothing can stop a global outbreak in its tracks better than a vaccine. Unfortunately, creating a vaccine capable of preventing the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will probably take at least a year to 18 months, health officials say. “That is the time frame,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee this week. Anyone who says they can do it faster “will be cutting corners that would be detrimental.” (Khan, 3/12)
The New York Times: The Worst-Case Estimate For U.S. Coronavirus Deaths
Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die. And, the calculations based on the C.D.C.’s scenarios suggested, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nation’s medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. Fewer than a tenth of those are for people who are critically ill. (Fink, 3/13)
The New York Times: How The World’s Largest Coronavirus Outbreaks Are Growing
Milan, Italy. Daegu, South Korea. Qom, Iran. Many of the world’s largest coronavirus outbreaks took root in and around well-traveled cities, but they have since grown to encompass entire countries. Cases have spread across Italy’s north and down to Rome, leading to a lockdown of the entire country. Iran’s capital, where leaders dismissed the virus just two weeks ago, has seen thousands infected. And cases continue to surge across Europe. (Singhvi, McCann, Wu and Migliozzi, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Curve Shows Much Of Europe Could Face Italy-Like Surge Within Weeks
Some of the world’s top experts tracking the spread of the coronavirus predict that in a matter of weeks, much of Europe could be facing a similar surge in cases that has locked down Italy, overwhelmed its hospitals in the north and brought the country of 60 million to a standstill. The mathematical models developed by epidemiologists to track the virus show a sharp trajectory of infections in Spain, Germany, France and Britain. The modelers in Europe say a similar arc is likely in the United States, but anticipating the spread is made more difficult by the lack of widespread testing of suspected cases there. (Morris and Booth, 3/13)
The Hill: Trump Weighing Potential Emergency Declaration For Coronavirus
President Trump is weighing whether to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus, which would free up additional resources to combat the rapidly spreading disease. The president indicated to reporters that using an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act was under consideration, but would not say definitively whether he would sign it on Thursday. (Samuels, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Could Sign A Coronavirus Emergency Declaration Soon, Adviser Says
White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow made the disclosure in a conference call with GOP lawmakers Thursday morning, the people said. The White House declined to comment, and Mr. Kudlow didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. White House officials have for weeks been discussing an emergency declaration, likely under the 1988 Stafford Act, which would free up billions in Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds, administration officials said. The money would help local and state officials respond to the outbreak. (Restuccia, 3/12)
Politico: Trump Expected To Sign Order Unleashing Coronavirus Funding
Trump on Thursday said he is still mulling what emergency funding steps he will take. He is also pushing for Congress to pass a stimulus package, but lawmakers are bogged down over the details. “We have things that I can do,” Trump said in the Oval Office while sitting alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. “We have very strong emergency powers under the Stafford Act. … I have it memorized as to the powers in that act. If we need to do something. I have the right to do a lot of things people don’t even know about.” (Kumar, 3/12)
Politico: Trump Officials Did Sound The Coronavirus Alarm. They Just Don’t Work There Anymore.
On the January day a new coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, China, Tom Bossert, President Donald Trump’s former homeland security adviser, tweeted a stark warning: “we face a global health threat.” “Coordinate!” he implored. At the time, the coronavirus outbreak was isolated to China — a distant threat to America that did not seem to overly concern President Donald Trump. But Bossert was just one of several former Trump administration officials waving their arms. Other people like Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration until 2019, and Gary Cohn, who once helmed the National Economic Council, were also on TV and Twitter, arguing the administration must prepare for the situation to get worse. The people who had once been seen as Trump’s guardrails inside the administration were now trying to educate from the outside. (McGraw, 3/12)
Politico: ‘I Don’t Want People Dying’: Trump Defends Travel Ban After Confusing Primetime Address
President Donald Trump served up a freewheeling defense of his European travel ban Thursday, as senior administration officials sought to deliver a more controlled line of messaging in the aftermath of his primetime speech on the White House’s coronavirus response. “I don’t want people dying. That’s what I’m all about,” the president told reporters one day after announcing a 30-day ban on foreign visitors from most of Europe to fight the pandemic. (Forgey, 3/12)
NPR: Trump’s European Travel Ban Questioned By Public Health Experts
The new restrictions which apply to 26 countries in Europe (but not the United Kingdom) came as a surprise to many E.U. leaders when Trump announced them. They also came as a surprise to many public health experts. “From a public health perspective, it’s remarkably pointless,” says Francois Balloux, an epidemiologist at University College London who worked with the World Health Organization on the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Balloux says closing borders only works in the very early days of an outbreak, or for countries that haven’t yet detected any cases at all. The U.S., as of Thursday afternoon, had confirmed 1,323 cases. (Beaubien, 3/12)
The Washington Post: For Trump, The Coronavirus Crisis Is All About The Numbers — And They Don’t Look Good
During weeks of briefings and discussions over the escalating coronavirus, President Trump has repeatedly fixated on one thing above all: the numbers. He has aggressively quizzed aides about infection statistics — asking how many cases are in each state, and how the quantity compares with other countries. He has clung to the rosiest projections, repeating only the figures that support his belief that the coronavirus is not morphing into a global catastrophe. And he has intensely followed the plummeting stock market, which plunged more than 1,600 points Wednesday. (Parker, Dawsey and Abutaleb, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Forces New Travel Curbs, Bans On Large Gatherings
The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has risen to more than 1,300, with at least 38 deaths, as testing availability isn’t meeting demand and capabilities differ in each state. A top White House health official said that the U.S. system for testing people is failing, contradicting others in the administration who have said there is no shortage. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a congressional hearing. “That is a failing. It is a failing. Let’s admit it.” (Calfas, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Coronavirus Travel Ban Deepens Tensions With European Allies
President Trump’s announced travel ban on Europe, beyond surprising European capitals, deepens tensions among trans-Atlantic allies whose ties are already strained over trade, security, climate change and what Europeans say is the U.S. failure to consult them. European governments complained that the announcement, made early Thursday Europe time, came without notice and coordination on what is a global health problem. Moreover, the U.S. ban, European Union leaders said, directly affects European citizens, barring many of them from travel to the U.S., and disregards the EU’s “strong action” to contain the new coronavirus. (Norma, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Inside Trump’s Failed 10-Minute Attempt To Control The Coronavirus Crisis
In the most scripted of presidential settings, a prime-time televised address to the nation, President Trump decided to ad-lib — and his errors triggered a market meltdown, panicked travelers overseas and crystallized for his critics just how dangerously he has fumbled his management of the coronavirus. Even Trump — a man practically allergic to admitting mistakes — knew he’d screwed up by declaring Wednesday night that his ban on travel from Europe would include cargo and trade, and acknowledged as much to aides in the Oval Office as soon as he’d finished speaking, according to one senior administration official and a second person, both with knowledge of the episode. (Rucker, Parker and Dawsey, 3/12)
Politico: Trump Aides Pound On China. Health Experts Say: Please Stop.
They call it the “Wuhan virus.” As a lethal pandemic races across the world, overwhelming health systems and upending entire societies, President Donald Trump’s top aides and allies see an opening to weaken a vulnerable adversary. The Trump team’s escalating drumbeat against China is worrying some public health experts, who say the attempts to blame Beijing for the coronavirus outbreak could harm efforts to combat the spreading contagion, while winning praise from others. (Toosi, 3/13)
The Washington Post: Markets Plunged, Despite The Fed Announcing Flooding The Short-Term Lending Markets With $1.5 Trillion
The stock market crashed to its worst day since 1987, shrugging off dramatic intervention by two central banks and a prime-time address by President Trump as Americans realized the coronavirus will impose new limits on their daily lives. The Dow Jones industrial average posted its largest one-day point loss in history, dropping almost 2,353 points to close at 21,200.62. In percentage terms, the 10 percent loss marked the Dow’s worst day since the infamous October day known as “Black Monday.” (Lynch, Heath, Telford and Long, 3/13)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Stock Futures Jump After Dow’s Worst Day Since 1987
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 4.5% in early morning trading Friday. U.S. stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow falling 10% as the rapidly spreading coronavirus drove fears of a global slowdown despite action from the Federal Reserve. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 2.3% at the open Friday. Italy’s financial regulator suspended short selling of 85 Italian companies until the end of the trading day. The U.K.’s regulator also banned the trading activity on the same companies dual-listed on British exchanges. (Hirtenstein and Chiu, 3/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Behind The Scenes Of U.S. Coronavirus Economic Policy-Making
As the coronavirus affects almost every aspect of business, a collection of Trump administration officials—at times at odds with one another—have been seeking to coordinate government action to soften the anticipated blow to the economy. So far, that coordination has been more ad hoc than organized or torn from the classic crisis playbook, which has administration policy makers acting in concert with the Federal Reserve and seeking buy-in from congressional leaders from both parties before announcing a policy response. (Davidson, Restuccia and Timiraos, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Economists See Rising Risks Of Recession World-Wide
The U.S. and world economies look increasingly likely to slip into recession as expanding swaths of commerce shut down and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst day since 1987 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The global financial rout deepened on Thursday despite new measures by major central banks to ease market strains and bolster the economy—and as the Trump administration and Congress neared agreement on legislation to provide federal financial assistance to many affected businesses and workers. (Mitchell and Zumbrun, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: As Recession Looms, Priority Is Lessening Severity, Easing Financial Stress
In the last week the coronavirus shock has sharply raised the probability that the U.S., and the world at large, will suffer a recession. The main challenge for the world now is limiting its severity and preventing a health crisis from becoming a financial crisis. Hard data has yet to show a downturn, but it is out of date. Meanwhile, airlines, theaters and others report widespread cancellations. Just this week equity prices have tumbled, oil prices have plunged, and there are signs of growing stress in financial markets. (Ip, 3/12)
The Washington Post: What Your Health Plan Will Cover If You Get Coronavirus
In his prime-time speech, President Trump announced Wednesday night that health insurers had pledged to eliminate “all co-payments for coronavirus treatments” and “extend insurance coverage to those treatments.” That is not exactly correct. A broad swath of the nation’s private health insurers has agreed to waive the charges for a coronavirus test for their members. But they have not committed to cover the cost of care for those sickened by the virus. And while there is no specific treatment for the rapidly spreading infections, insurers have not expanded coverage for anyone, including the more seriously ill who need hospitalization. (Goldstein, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: White House Evaluates Trump Exposure To Coronavirus
Concerns about the possibility that President Trump has been exposed to coronavirus mounted on Thursday after a Brazilian official who met with the president last weekend tested positive for the virus. The White House is assessing who might have been exposed to the virus and hasn’t determined the next steps, press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday. She said Mr. Trump, 73 years old, and Vice President Mike Pence, 60, had “almost no interactions” with the Brazilian official and didn’t need to be tested for the virus. (Ballhaus, Hughes and Magalhaes, 3/12)
The New York Times: U.S. Hospitals Prepare For Coronavirus, With The Worst Still To Come
One Seattle-area hospital has already seen patient care delayed by the stringent infection-control practices that the government recommended for suspected coronavirus cases. Another in Chicago switched Thursday morning into “surge” mode, setting up triage tents in its ambulance bay and dedicating an entire floor to coronavirus patients. At least one is already receiving emergency supplies from the federal government’s stockpile. With the bow wave of coronavirus infections still to come, hospitals across the country are trying to prepare for a flood of critically ill patients who will strain their capacities like nothing they have seen in at least a generation. Even with some time to prepare, administrators fear they will not be ready. (Kliff, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Hospitals Face Major Challenges As Coronavirus Spreads
William Olson, the chief of operations for eight Oregon hospitals, grew worried when he was shown a heat map of coronavirus cases and flulike symptoms among patients across seven Western states. The maps captured trends for patients of Providence, which owns 51 hospitals and shared the results early Monday with its hospital executives. Seattle’s outbreak, depicted in blue dots, was already ballooning. And now Portland had its own blue specks. If the pattern held, his hospitals were about to be severely tested. “That was the alarm bells going off,” he said. Mr. Olson said Renton, Wash.-based Providence has sent its real-estate team to hunt for empty lots suitable for medical tents, an exercise under way in all its markets. Also on the Catholic health system’s list of possible extra space for patients: a former dormitory for nuns. (Evans and Wilde Mathews, 3/12)
The Washington Post: CMS Head Seema Verma Fails To Give A Straight Answer On Fox News About Hospital Preparedness For Coronavirus Patients
The question was important, straightforward and crucial to the country’s preparedness for dealing with the coronavirus crisis: Are America’s hospitals equipped to treat a possible influx of patients afflicted with covid-19? Do they have enough intensive care units and enough ventilators? And the official being questioned by Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on Thursday night was in a position to know. After all, Seema Verma is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which, as its website says, “oversees one of the largest federal agencies that administers vital health care programs to over 100 million Americans.” She is also on the White House coronavirus task force. As hard as she tried, however, MacCallum could not get a straight answer. (Barbash, 3/13)
The New York Times: Italy’s Health Care System Groans Under Coronavirus — A Warning To The World
The mayor of one town complained that doctors were forced to decide not to treat the very old, leaving them to die. In another town, patients with coronavirus-caused pneumonia were being sent home. Elsewhere, a nurse collapsed with her mask on, her photograph becoming a symbol of overwhelmed medical staff. In less than three weeks, the coronavirus has overloaded the heath care system all over northern Italy. It has turned the hard hit Lombardy region into a grim glimpse of what awaits countries if they cannot slow the spread of the virus and ‘‘flatten the curve’’ of new cases — allowing the sick to be treated without swamping the capacity of hospitals. (Horowitz, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Cuomo Warns New York Hospitals Of Coronavirus Surge
New York hospitals may need to halt all elective surgeries and recall former doctors and nurses to handle a surge in novel coronavirus patients, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Mr. Cuomo said at a press conference that stopping the surgeries would help avoid overwhelming the health-care system. The move would add 25% to 30% to the system’s capacity he said. New York’s Department of Health would expedite recertification for former doctors and nurses, he said. The state is also considering how the capacity of healthcare systems in upstate New York could relieve those downstate. (West, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Shows Why We Need Better Public Health Funding, Experts Say
To illustrate the gulf between the nation’s costly health care and its underfunded public health, Alfred Sommer, former dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, often tells a story: When people wake up after triple bypass surgery at the famous hospital across the street in Baltimore, they typically thank their doctors for the lifesaving miracles they performed — and sometimes even make donations to the institution. “Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Thank God I don’t have smallpox.’ Or, ‘Thank God my water is potable,’ ” Sommer said. (Sellers, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Virus Outbreak Pushes Italy’s Health-Care System To The Brink
When her hospital in the northern Italian city of Cremona had its first case of coronavirus three weeks ago, Francesca Mangiatordi was on a night shift. Since then, as dozens of new cases poured in, the emergency-room doctor has been faced with heart-rending choices, such as how to allocate scarce oxygen supplies among critically ill patients. “These are the choices I would have never wanted to make,” she said. “It’s somewhat like being in war.” (Lombardi and Petroni, 3/12)
The New York Times: Why Coronavirus Is A Special Risk To Half Of Americans
The new coronavirus is a serious threat to the elderly, as federal officials have been at pains to note recently. But they have stepped gingerly around advice for another group of Americans also at special risk from the infection: those with chronic health conditions. It is not a small group. Roughly half of all Americans have at least one chronic health condition, and 40 percent have more than one. (The figures include the elderly.) Heart disease, cancer, diabetes — all of these can exacerbate a coronavirus infection, studies show, increasing the odds of severe disease and death. (Rabin, 3/12)
Vox: How Social Distancing For Coronavirus Could Cause A Loneliness Epidemic
Deborah Johnson Lanholm, 63, lives in Sicklerville, New Jersey. A retired nurse, she’s the primary caretaker for her older sister, Helen Palese, who lives with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. “She’s nonverbal,” Deborah says. “I do her speaking for her. So every other day, we do something together. We go to the movies. I take her to my crocheting group. We go out to dinner or the mall. But she’s with other people. All of that will have to stop because she’s too compromised.” And it won’t just stop for Helen. It’ll stop for Deborah, too. “I’ll have to change my routine because I have to care for her,” Deborah says. “I won’t go out in crowds or be in places where I’ll be exposed.” (Klein, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Nursing Homes And Senior-Living Facilities Struggle To Control The Spread Of The Novel Coronavirus
Half a mile from the nursing home where the coronavirus first ran rampant here, the Gardens at Juanita Bay senior home received troubling news this week. A resident had tested positive for the virus. Managers urged residents on Monday to stay in their rooms. Meals would be delivered. On Tuesday morning a pipe-smoking resident rolled his motorized wheelchair down one of the compound’s paved, tree-shaded paths. He said he did not believe covid-19 was there, and that restrictions were ”overblown.” (Greene and Sacchetti, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Many Older Americans Are Playing Down The Coronavirus Threat While Others Opt For Safety
At her home in The Villages, a sprawling central Florida retirement community that overlaps three counties, Alicia Przybylowicz still greets neighbors with a big smile and an outstretched hand. “I’m a hand-shaker. I think I will always be a hand-shaker and a hugger,” the 64-year-old said. Worries about the coronavirus aren’t going to stop that. “It seems that it’s been blown out of proportion.” Not far away, at a house in the same community, Judy Nieman, 66, said that attitude is alarming. “We don’t know how this is going to spread in this community,” she said. “We’re all older here. This place is full of people who go on cruises all the time. They go on safaris. And I don’t see them curtailing their activities as much as I would.” (Fears and Dennis, 3/12)
Politico: America Shuts Down
Financial markets are careening. Public tours of the very symbols of American political power — the White House, Capitol Hill and Supreme Court — are being put on hold while some congressional offices are shuttering altogether. Campaign rallies are being canceled. Professional sports leagues have suspended play. And Broadway and Disneyland are shutting down. Each day, more and more employees are working remotely at companies large and small. Even the White House is considering mass teleworking. Schools are being closed or going virtual. Ohio students are getting a three-week spring break beginning Monday, while schools will be closed for two weeks across Maryland and six weeks in three Washington state counties. And travel is being discouraged — and in the case of foreign visitors from most of Europe, banned. Some cruise lines are even halting voyages on their ships. (McCaskill, 3/12)
The New York Times: Efforts To Control Coronavirus Could Get Even More Extreme
First came handwashing instructions and social distancing. Then came the prohibitions on large events and the shuttering of schools. Next up, should the coronavirus outbreak grow even more dire, are government measures that could have an even greater impact on daily life. Washington State — where 31 people have died from the virus, the most in the United States — has escalated through most of a 13-step strategy checklist for controlling infectious outbreaks and now has only a few remaining options: closing workplaces, restricting people to their homes and cordoning off targeted areas to help control the spread of infection. (Baker and Jordan, 3/13)
Reuters: ‘People Are Terrified’: Daily Life On Hold As Americans Face Coronavirus Threat
In Texas, a photographer worries about paying his bills. In Pennsylvania, an aspiring dancer struggles with a canceled audition. In suburban Los Angeles, a mother wonders whether anyone will show up for her son’s bar mitzvah. Across the United States, the coronavirus outbreak is shuttering schools, emptying sports arenas and clearing out offices as Americans practice “social distancing” – staying at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart from one another – that health authorities say is necessary to slow the advance of the deadly pandemic. (3/12)
The New York Times: Twenty-Four Hours When Sports Hit The Halt Button
One by one, beginning Wednesday night and all through Thursday, the pillars of the American athletic landscape toppled, unceremoniously, to the ground, marking one of the most astonishing nights and days in United States sports history. Professional basketball disappeared first, then the college game followed; hockey melted away; baseball went on indefinite hiatus; and soccer took leave, as well. Before Thursday, Americans could have held some hope that the country’s traditional sports leagues would, in the coming weeks, supply moments of needed respite and emotional escape from the weighty concerns of the coronavirus pandemic. (Keh, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court To Close To Public Indefinitely
The Supreme Court and other federal courts in the nation’s capital said they would close to the public indefinitely, allowing access only to those with official business, as authorities tried to stanch the coronavirus pandemic. “Out of concern for the health and safety of the public and Supreme Court employees, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public from 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2020, until further notice,” the Supreme Court said Thursday. (Bravin, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Disneyland To Close Temporarily As Coronavirus Spurs Cancellations
Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday it is closing its Disneyland Resort as the coronavirus pandemic caused widespread cancellations of sporting events and other public gatherings. As of Thursday afternoon, Disney’s larger U.S. park, Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., remained open with no closure plans. The company said that there have been no reported cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus at the Disneyland Resort but added that the closure was “in the best interest of our guests and employees.” (Watson, 3/12)
The Washington Post: Cancellations Hit Trump’s Hotels And Clubs Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
President Trump’s family business, which owns and operates hotels and golf courses, faced a rapidly deteriorating commercial outlook Thursday as it became caught up in the wave of cancellations across the tourism industry as a result of the coronavirus. The company also learned it had hosted its first confirmed coronavirus case: a Brazilian official who spent time with President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida last week. (Partlow, Fahrenthold and O’Connell, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Princess Cruises Cancels All Voyages For Two Months
Princess Cruises canceled all its voyages for the next two months and will cut short some current trips, after two of its ships suffered coronavirus outbreaks. It is the first ocean carrier to suspend sailings as a result of coronavirus. The suspension applies to voyages departing March 12 to May 10, Princess said Thursday. The cruise line is owned by Carnival Corp. Current trips with less than five days remaining will continue, but those extending beyond March 17 will be cut short. (Paris, Sebastian and Ailworth, 3/12)
The New York Times: How The Coronavirus Changed The 2020 Political Campaign
For the past year, the Democratic presidential candidates debated the merits of sweeping liberal ideas, fretted over notions of electability and bias, and rose and fell in the polls as voters struggled to choose a front-runner. And through it all, President Trump sniped from the sidelines, demonizing the party and its 2020 contenders as socialists. Almost overnight, everything has changed. Amid deepening uncertainty over a spreading virus and growing anxiety about an economic meltdown, that kind of classic presidential campaign ended and something extraordinary has begun: a real-time, life-or-death test of competency and leadership for those seeking the White House this November. (Lerer and Epstein, 3/12)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Syndicated from https://khn.org/morning-breakout/first-edition-march-13-2020/