Here are some significant developments:
- The Air Force conducted two flights Friday that helped bring 89 Americans stranded in Honduras back to the United States.
- Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Friday said President Trump had approved a major disaster declaration for the state of New York.
- A member of Vice President Pence’s office has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to press secretary Katie Miller. “Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual,” Miller wrote.
- Italy announced another record-breaking death toll on Friday: 627, up from 427 the previous day. The country cited 9,600 people in one day for violating lockdown.
- The U.S. tax filing deadline has been pushed back from April 15 to July 15. “All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Twitter.
- More than 250,000 cases have been confirmed across the globe. The World Health Organization noted that it took more than three months to reach 100,000 cases worldwide — but only 12 days to log the next 100,000. The number of deaths and confirmed cases continues to surge in Spain and Iran.
- For a second consecutive day, China reported no new local infections. But concerns are growing about a new wave of imported cases elsewhere in the region: Hong Kong reported its biggest daily jump in cases Friday, including many that involved recent travel.
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Pressure mounts on state and local governments as money for public services begins to run out
In San Jose, coronavirus infections have ripped through fire stations, sidelining more than one-tenth of the department. In New Orleans, the court system has ground to a halt, prompting officials to consider whether they can keep paying public defenders. And in Dayton, Ohio, the mayor has begun to fear a decline in tax revenue so severe there won’t be enough money to pick up the trash.
The coronavirus outbreak is forcing every state, city and county to execute a plan of attack for confronting the global pandemic. It’s a process that Sarah Eckhardt, the top official in Texas’s Travis County, likened to “building the plane while in the air.”
But the virus — and the extraordinarily costly response to it — is also putting enormous pressure on all the normal stuff: the criminal justice, sanitation, transit, emergency response and other systems that residents expect from their state and local governments.
Although the nation is just in the first stages of what is likely to be a prolonged struggle to suppress covid-19, the strain on public services is already beginning to show. First responders are stretched thin. Courts are paralyzed. And everywhere, money for basic public services is running out, fast.
“We have to manage beyond the scope of anything one city has prepared for or can handle,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, whose city is among the worst-hit in America. “We’re spending all our reserves right now, but we won’t make it if the federal government doesn’t step up and step up big.”
Read more here.
California’s stay-at-home order means residents can’t travel across state lines
If your state is under a stay-at-home order, can you flee to another state to avoid the restrictions?
In California, the answer is no.
Under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order instructing 40 million residents to stay home except for essential activities, residents are being directed to not travel across state lines.
The order, implemented Thursday, requires that California residents remain in the state unless it is for one of the critical infrastructure areas, according to the governor’s office. Residents are instructed to stay at home, and any travel that is not deemed essential is prohibited.
Some counties, like San Francisco, which implemented its own “stay-at-home” order earlier in the week, take cross-state travel a step further.
It is prohibited for a San Francisco resident to leave the county, not just the state of California, for any reason other than essential travel, according to the San Francisco mayor’s office. San Francisco’s order states the only travel allowed includes “travel to return to a place of residence from outside the jurisdiction” and “travel required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside the County.”
Stay-at-home orders now apply to one in five Americans
California. New York. Illinois. More than 70 million people have been told to stay at home in these three states — effectively ordering one in five of all Americans to socially distance themselves to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The orders essentially close three of the nation’s largest cities: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. They come as Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday that Americans will need to stay at home as much as possible and maintain social distance from other people for at least several weeks.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said Friday that all New Yorkers are prohibited from going into their offices unless they perform essential services, such as those who work at a hospital or grocery store or who provide Internet or water. Cuomo also has banned all nonessential gatherings. The regulations take effect Sunday.
“These provisions will be enforced,” he said. “These are not helpful hints. This is not if you really want to be a good citizen.”
Read more here.
Venezuela’s broken health system is uniquely vulnerable to coronavirus. Neighbors are afraid the country will hemorrhage infected migrants.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Inside one of Venezuela’s largest hospitals, doctors wearing gloves and masks but no protective gowns tended to a suspected coronavirus patient.
HIV patients languished in a room a few feet away. The door was left open, to allow air to circulate — the unit here at Caracas University Hospital has no working air conditioning. Running water, albeit with dark contaminants, came back three days ago. But doctors say it’s unlikely to last for long.
As in many hospitals in this collapsed socialist state, even washing hands is a luxury. The hospital has run out of soap, leaving doctors to bring their own, when possible. None of the six X-ray machines works. Without cleaning products to disinfect surfaces — including those in the waiting room where suspected coronavirus patients are held — hospital infections are common. A shipment of gloves and masks arrived Friday; doctors say they had gone a full month without them. Current supplies, they say, will run out in one week.
“If we start getting large numbers of patients, we will collapse,” said Maria Eugenia Landaeta, head of the infectious-diseases department at Caracas University Hospital. “Long lines of patients waiting, all beds full and patients we won’t be able to hospitalize. To sum up: total chaos.”
Analysts say Venezuela, already struggling under a dangerous mix of gaps in clean water and soap, underequipped and inadequately supplied public hospitals and authoritarian red tape, is uniquely vulnerable to the pandemic.
Read more here.
Air Force evacuates 89 Americans, including U.S. women’s football team, from Honduras
The Air Force is evacuating 89 U.S. citizens who had been unable to return home from Honduras, according to the U.S. Southern Command.
The Air Force conducted two flights Friday that helped bring the Americans to Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina. The flights out of Honduras’ Soto Cano Air Base carried mainly the entire U.S. women’s football team, which had traveled to Honduras on March 11 to play in a tournament and do charity work.
On Sunday, the group of 57 Americans — made up of players, coaches, personnel staff and family members — had learned they were stranded in Honduras after the government sent workers home, called off flights and shuttered public transportation for at least seven days in efforts to contain the virus. The team was supposed to fly home Monday.
The U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa worked closely to facilitate both flights. On Thursday, the State Department issued a rare Level 4 travel warning against all international travel and that Americans abroad could face trouble getting to the United States.
On Thursday, President Trump had told reporters at the White House that the United States was considering tapping the military to help stranded travelers, including hundreds of Americans in Peru, though he did not offer specifics.
Schumer says Trump approved ‘major disaster declaration’ for New York, offering more federal relief
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday said President Trump had approved a major disaster declaration for the state; a move that will allow the federal government to provide even more resources and relief.
Pres. Trump just approved a major disaster declaration for New York to fight coronavirus.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 20, 2020
Sen. @GillibrandNY and I pushed for this!
FEMA needs to get to work NOW to open these MANY billions in direct aid for New York and individuals to help save lives and protect public health.
No president has ever declared a major disaster in response to a public health issue before, according to E&E news. The designation is typically reserved for major natural events, including hurricanes, storms, drought and volcanic eruptions — or any other disaster “that the president believes has caused damage of such severity that it is beyond the combined capabilities of the state and local governments to respond,” according to FEMA.
“A major disaster declaration provides a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work,” FEMA wrote.
After invoking the Stafford Act to provide federal assistance to state and local governments, Trump invited state governors to request that he issue major disaster declarations as well, according to the Atlantic. The Atlantic reports that under a major disaster declaration, the federal government can provide unemployment assistance, food coupons, emergency transportation and other essential resources.
In the case of New York, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a statement that she and her colleagues in the New York congressional delegation had sent a letter to Trump earlier this week, urging him to adhere to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s (D) request for a major disaster declaration in the state. She said it would provide a bevy of additional federal resources as New York continues to combat covid-19.
“New York State has been significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and we need more resources in order to be fully equipped,” she wrote Wednesday. FEMA notes that the type of assistance varies based on each governor’s request.
Other legislators, including from Iowa and Washington state, have sought similar disaster designations.
Florida, New Jersey, Nevada and Connecticut all curbing large swaths of business
Florida, New Jersey, Nevada and Connecticut all moved Friday to curb large swaths of business as states take economic hits to combat the coronavirus.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued an executive order Friday afternoon that all on-premises restaurant sales must cease and all gyms and fitness centers must close. Restaurants can keep their kitchens open for takeout and delivery services only, a dramatic escalation from DeSantis’s announcement earlier this week that restaurants were permitted to stay open at 50 percent capacity.
Friday’s announcement came three days after the governor restricted bars, pubs and nightclubs, closing them for 30 days, although scenes of spring break revelry in Fort Myers, Siesta Key and Clearwater Beach continued this week, albeit at a more subdued pace.
DeSantis, however, does see the need for blowing off steam in the face of the coronavirus pandemic: The new executive order lifts some restrictions on restaurants to allow the sale of to-go sealed alcoholic beverages accompanying meals.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a similar crackdown at his Friday news conference, saying he expects to issue an executive order Saturday that will shut down all nonessential businesses. Murphy also expects the executive order to prohibit “gatherings of any sort”; the details are still in the works, officials say.
In Nevada, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced he was using his powers under the state’s emergency declaration to order all nonessential businesses to close at midnight until April 16. If businesses defy the directive and stay open, he said, state and local law enforcement will have the ability to treat it as a criminal act.
“Previously, I asked nonessential businesses to close. I’m no longer asking them to do that,” Sisolak said. “This is not the time to try and find loopholes.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), too, signed an executive order Friday stating all nonessential businesses must close starting at 8 p.m. on Monday and lasting through at least April 22.
“It’s tough medicine,” Lamont said during his Friday news conference. “I think it’s the right medicine.”
Lamont, who is also urging residents to stay home when possible, said businesses but not individuals could face fines if they choose not to comply.
“The municipal police are not going to be heavy-handed,” Lamont said. “If there’s a local retail store that stays open, there will be a friendly reminder that the governor has an executive order that you should be closed.”
FDA warns consumers to steer clear of unapproved at-home coronavirus tests
The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that consumers should avoid fraudulent and unauthorized products sold as at-home test kits for the coronavirus.
The agency said it hasn’t approved any such at-home tests. Some firms are beginning to offer them, in an effort to capitalize on the public’s continued frustration in not being able to get tested.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, in a statement, said the agency “sees the public health value in expanding the availability of COVID-19 testing through safe and accurate tests that may include home collection, and we are actively working with test developers in this space."
On Tuesday, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx said experts were exploring “innovative solutions,” like self-swabbing, but did not have enough data yet.
The Gates Foundation is one of several entities working on such a test.
Front-line heath workers push back against CDC mask guidelines for coronavirus
Medical associations and unions pushed back Friday against new federal guidelines for conserving and reusing masks, saying it will leave them unprotected against a dangerous infection carried by waves of patients already at their doors.
“Needless to say, this is frightening for our staff,” Katie Oppenheim, chair of the union for University of Michigan nurses, said on a conference call with reporters.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 112,000 health professionals, said the delays in procuring additional equipment — when officials knew from the experience of other countries this would be a problem — were unethical.
“If I sound angry,” she said, “I am.”
President Trump has announced steps in recent days to address the nation’s dwindling supplies of protective equipment for health-care workers — authorizing the release of emergency stockpiles, and working with manufacturers to ramp up production in a wartime-like effort. But health-care workers on the front lines are voicing frustration, and panic, that such help may arrive too late.
If they can’t stay healthy, they say, the whole system will fall apart.
Read more here.
Member of Pence’s office tests positive for the coronavirus, spokeswoman says
A member of Vice President Pence’s office has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to press secretary Katie Miller.
“Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual,” Miller wrote. “Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines.”
Pence leads the White House coronavirus task force. Additional information about the positive case was not immediately available.
Trump’s clubs and hotels, including Mar-a-Lago, suffer from coronavirus fallout
President Trump’s company — significantly reliant on tourism, conventions and restaurant income — has been sharply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with at least two properties closing and two hotels laying off staff, according to people familiar with the company.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ordered all restaurants and bars in the state to close Friday and imposed special restrictions in a few places including Palm Beach County — home of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
Previously, Mar-a-Lago had been partially open, offering limited sit-down service at its beachfront bistro, according to a letter sent to members.
Before that, Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas was shuttered in response to a statewide order from Nevada’s governor. It will not reopen until April 17, the hotel told customers. Some employees at the hotel have already been laid off, according to a letter one employee received.
In New York, Trump’s hotel on Central Park remained open Friday, but the hotel warned its investors that “we cannot predict the duration of this unprecedented event; however, the hotel expects a significant shortfall in revenues,” according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
By late Thursday, 51 of the New York hotel’s 300-plus employees had been laid off, according to a person familiar with the Trump hotel’s operations.
Read more here.
Census Bureau says it will extend counting deadline
As cities and states across the U.S. announced lockdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus, the Census Bureau said Friday that it will extend the deadline for counting everyone in the U.S. by two weeks.
The nonresponse follow-up operation, where enumerators go door-to-door to count people who have not responded, will start in late May instead of mid-May, and it will end Aug. 14 rather than July 31, said Tim Olson, associate director for field operations. People can also respond online, by phone, or by mail until Aug. 14.
The bureau will also delay a count of homeless people by one month until the end of April.
This is the first decennial census to which respondents are being asked to respond online. Most households in the U.S. received invitations this week to respond to the census online, by phone, and by mail. More than 18.6 million households had already responded as of Friday.
The bureau plans to employ hundreds of thousands of temporary workers is being affected by coronavirus concerns.
The bureau has recruited 2.8 applicants, 600,000 people have accepted job offers and are in the midst of going through background checks and fingerprinting, and more than 8,000 people a day are applying. But the bureau has suspended activities related to hiring and onboarding through at least April 1, Olson said, adding that the mobile assistance program, in which employees help people at large gatherings fill out the census, has also been delayed until at least mid- to late April.
Barr directs U.S. attorneys to ensure that federal employees can travel amid local restrictions
Attorney General William P. Barr directed U.S. attorneys around the country Friday to reach out to state and local officials to make sure that federal employees will be able to move freely amid travel and other restrictions.
In a memo, Barr noted that some jurisdictions had imposed shelter-in-place or lockdown orders, and he expected those to increase.
“As you know, many federal employees, including Department of Justice Employees carrying out law enforcement functions, are at times required to travel for official purposes,” he wrote. He asked the U.S. attorneys to inform local authorities “that federal employees must be allowed to travel and commute to perform law enforcement and other functions and should not be prevented from doing so, even when travel restrictions are in place.”
Alone no more: People are turning to dogs, cats and chickens to cope with self-isolation
On a normal Sunday at a PetSmart in Gaithersburg, Md., Lucky Dog Animal Rescue would hold an adoption event and find homes for about 15 dogs.
But as coronavirus news started to spread this past week, the waiting list skyrocketed from 10 to 40 would-be adopters. “And we had 30 adoptions in three hours at that event alone,” said Mirah Horowitz, the rescue’s executive director.
Forget toilet paper, milk and hand sanitizer: There is now a rush to stock up on cats and dogs. And rabbits and fish, even a couple of chickens.
As millions of people across the United States work from home and as schools close, the promise of companionship even in a time of isolation is prompting some to take in animals. Many say they finally have the time to properly train and care for a new pet. Animal rescuers across the country say they are seeing a spike in interest in adoption and fostering, as well as offers to help everywhere, from open-admission shelters to smaller nonprofit groups.
In California, where 40 million residents were ordered on Thursday night to stay home except for essential jobs or trips, such as getting groceries, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) noted an important exemption.“You can still walk your dog,” he said.
Read more here.
People are still getting tummy tucks and cataract surgeries — and health-care workers fear it puts us all at risk for coronavirus
As the government urges hospitals to suspend elective surgeries amid the spread of coronavirus, hospitals and outpatient clinics across the country are still doing breast augmentations, nose jobs and bone spur removals.
Health-care workers, worried that they might get infected from patients who have covid-19 but don’t show symptoms, have been asking institutions to suspend elective surgery for much of the month, according to interviews with more than a dozen health-care workers nationwide.
They describe facilities where there are barely enough surgical gowns to go around, masks in short supply and doctors discussing how to reuse single-use N95 masks — one doctor put maxi pads inside the mask to make it last longer.
They also said there are shortages of drugs including propofol, a drug used for sedation, and saline, with one nurse saying it is “immoral” that they are still being used for elective surgery.
Illinois residents ordered to stay at home except for essential activities
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on Friday ordered residents to stay at home except for certain essential activities, enforcing a measure two other states have taken to blunt the spread of the coronavirus. The order will take effect Saturday evening for 13 million people in the state, until the end of April 7.
“To avoid the loss of potentially tens of thousands of lives, we must enact an immediate stay at home order for the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
The announcement follows similar decrees in New York and California.
Pritzker said he expects cases in the state to rise rapidly. He said he did not come to the decision easily.
“As this epidemic has progressed we’ve had to make some hard decisions,” he said. “But ultimately you can’t have a livelihood if you don’t have your life.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot emphasized that the order was “not a lockdown or martial law,” noting many services will remain open. Officials said residents will still be able to go to the grocery store, get gas, get dinner from local restaurants and go running and hiking. Many will still be able to go to work, they said.
“Coronavirus will not go away by happenstance,” Lightfoot said. “We must be intentional about taking steps to ‘flatten the curve.’ ”
Municipalities will halt all evictions, authorities said.
Army shutters all recruiting stations, shifting to virtual effort
The Army is closing all of its recruiting stations and will shift to virtual recruiting, officials said Friday, as the Pentagon finds its footing to keep a stream of new soldiers flowing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands join the military every month, replacing troops who leave the service, but the logistical nightmare of sending recruits into confined spaces for months of training has sparked concern for some officials.
The Pentagon has said that training will continue, which was reiterated by Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville, in a news conference Friday, although additional screening and isolation measures have been put in place for recruits moving from hometowns to training sites.
But the digital shift in recruitment comes as the force reckons with how to socially distance in an inherently social institution. McConville said much recruiting is done through social media anyway. The Army, after sustained problems in meeting its recruiting goals, has looked online in recent years, for example creating its own esports league to reach pools of potential recruits.
Nearly two-dozen soldiers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, along with eight family members, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said. McCarthy said he expects promising recruitment numbers this year will help offset reductions for now, but it is unclear at what point declining numbers will prompt concern.
AP testing adapts, K-12 standardized testing is suspended, and student loan holders get a break
The organization that oversees the Advanced Placement program said Friday that face-to-face AP testing will be canceled because of the coronavirus crisis and replaced by shorter online versions of the exams that can be taken in 45 minutes at home. The College Board’s announcement reflected the extraordinary upheaval in education, with schools across the country closing in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
AP tests ordinarily take place in May. But disruptions in classes are occurring in many states, with no end in sight, posing unprecedented obstacles for teachers and students. Students will be able to take the 45-minute exams on computers, tablets or smartphones.
“To be fair to all students, some of whom have lost more instructional time than others, the exam will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March,” the organization said.
President Trump also said Friday his administration is waiving all federal requirements for standardized tests for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
All states have an annual federal mandate under the Every Student Succeeds Act to test students in most grades annually for accountability purposes. Some states had already declared they would not administer the tests.
“The Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing requirements, very importantly, for students in elementary through high school for the current year,” Trump said. “They’ve been through a lot. They’ve been going back and forth. Schools open. Schools not open.”
“I think a lot of the students will be extremely happy,” he said. “Some probably not. The ones that work hard — maybe not.”
Separately, the administration announced a week after promising to waive interest on federal student loans that Americans contending with the economic impact of the pandemic can opt to suspend their payments altogether.
“These are anxious times, particularly for students and families whose educations, careers, and lives have been disrupted,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement. “Right now, everyone should be focused on staying safe and healthy, not worrying about their student loan balance growing.”
For at least 60 days, the 42 million Americans holding $1.5 trillion in federal student debt can ask their loan servicer to allow them to temporarily postpone their payments. Anyone who was more than 31 days behind on their bill as of March 13, or who becomes that delinquent, will have their payments automatically suspended.
All federal student borrowers, regardless of whether they choose to postpone their payments, will automatically have the interest on their loans set at zero for at least 60 days.
The new interest rate will be retroactive to March 13.
People in public service jobs will have to think twice about postponing their payments. Opting out for two months will result in a longer path to debt cancellation for people working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The federal program cancels the remaining balance of a borrower’s debt after 120 on-time monthly payments, but postponing the bill will lengthen the process.
Drive-through testing location in Darien, Conn., changed after neighbors complain
Plans to conduct drive-through coronavirus tests outside Darien, Conn.’s town hall were canceled on Wednesday, four hours after the announcement sparked complaints from neighbors, the Darien Times reported.
A woman who said she lives near the town hall had written on the newspaper’s Facebook page that she was strongly opposed to the testing location because children live nearby and residents did not receive what she considered enough advance notice, according to the Darien Times. The comment appeared to have been deleted by Friday.
Other neighbors said they were also concerned about the testing spot being near their homes, the newspaper reported. When the cancellation was announced, dozens of people expressed frustration on Facebook and urged the town to reconsider.
First Selectman Jayme Stevenson wrote Thursday on Twitter that she was finalizing plans for a testing location “that will better handle vehicular traffics and queuing.”
On Friday, Darien officials announced that they had relocated the testing site to the town’s high school and that testing would begin Monday for people who have doctor’s orders and have passed an online screening process.
Darien, a town of roughly 21,000 people, was rated by Bloomberg News this year as the 10th wealthiest place in the country.
Fearful doctors and nurses at walk-in clinics have a message for patients: Stay away
In his chest, the pressure spread. His muscles ached, and his breathing grew labored. Then the nausea set in. The doctor, though, didn’t think he had gotten sick. No, this was panic.
Earlier that day, on March 12, he had called the owner of the primary-care clinic where he worked and demanded that their office reschedule every appointment made by patients without a critical need.
“We have to do it now,” he said, insisting that, with the coronavirus rapidly spreading, their office wasn’t equipped to handle infected patients — or prevent them from spreading it, through the clinic, to others. But the owner refused.
“We can’t keep the clinic open and pay people,” the doctor recalled being told, “if we don’t see patients.”
Even when reluctant clients called to ask if they should postpone, the doctor said, the front office staff told them not to worry. Come on in. Horrified, he soon felt overwhelmed.
“It’s when you know you’re hurting people when you took an oath not to,” the doctor said later, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution. “People are not shutting down business — even though they know better.”
While much of the country has fixated on how hospitals will respond to the pandemic, versions of the alarming scene at the physician’s walk-in clinic in Alexandria, Va., are playing out in retail, primary-care and urgent-care clinics across the United States, according to interviews by The Washington Post with health-care workers desperate to warn their patients but afraid that their bosses will retaliate.
Thanks to the convenience they provide, these outpatient operations — from family-owned small businesses to sprawling, venture capital-backed chains — have flourished over the past 15 years. They number in the thousands and serve millions of people each year.
Hospitals will, ultimately, provide the intensive care for patients critically sickened by covid-19, the deadly disease caused by the coronavirus. But often people exhibit no symptoms, or mild ones, during the infection’s early stages, leading many Americans to head straight to the clinics that have replaced personal physicians for physicals and prescriptions, sprained ankles and bouts of the flu.
Read more here.
Middle East’s most vulnerable imperiled as pandemic menaces refugee camps, migrant centers
Like many things, social distancing is a luxury unavailable to the residents of Al Shanti, a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Almost 86,000 Palestinians are packed within a quarter-square-mile of density and despair ready made for a coronavirus explosion. “If the virus reaches us, many people will die,” said Mahmoud Shakshak, 65, an unemployed Al Shanti resident.
With the virus menacing dozens of refugee camps, migrant centers and displacement sites across the Middle East, the region’s most vulnerable face a deepening nightmare. Agencies are bracing for the spread of the disease through crammed camps where feeble health systems, poor sanitation, warfare and political restraints could make it nearly impossible to contain.
In Yemen, nearly 3.6 million people are displaced, the vast majority living in makeshift camps with meager facilities or in overcrowded neighborhoods.
Nearly 900,000 Libyans sheltering in temporary centers need humanitarian assistance, the United Nations says. Some 1,800 mostly African migrants are held under brutal conditions in overcrowded detention centers. In Iraq, humanitarian groups say they fear for the 1.5 million civilians displaced in battles to defeat the Islamic State. What clean water they have is needed for cooking, not hand washing.
War-shattered Syria is perhaps the biggest concern. Nearly 4 million people, most displaced from elsewhere, are crammed into a sliver of territory along the Turkish border, which has surpassed Gaza as the most densely populated place in the region.
U.K. to pay 80 percent of wages to employees not working because of the virus outbreak
LONDON — In a major economic intervention, the British government announced Friday that it would pay 80 percent of the wages of employees who are not working, the latest attempt to help businesses and workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking at his now-daily news conference, Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, said the government was “taking exceptional measures to help and to compensate those who are adversely economically affected by what we have to do as a country.”
The government said it will pay up to 2,500 pounds ($2,885) per month. The announcement comes after days of criticism, from across the political aisle, that the government was urging people to stay at home if possible but not offering economic support to those who risked losing their jobs.
Rishi Sunak, the finance secretary, who was standing next to Johnson at the news conference said, “For the first time in history, the government will help to pay people’s wages.” He called the intervention “unprecedented measures for unprecedented times.”
Johnson also announced on Friday that cafes, pubs and restaurants across Britain will close from Friday evening in an effort to curb the spread of covid-19.
“It’s absolutely vital that people do avoid unnecessary social contact, that’s why we are closing the pubs and bars and the theaters and so on because we need now to stop the velocity of circulation of this disease,” Johnson told reporters.
The British government has been criticized for allowing schools and pubs and restaurants to remain open for as long as they have. During the news conference on Friday, many bars and restaurants were still bustling with customers. On Friday afternoon, schools across the United Kingdom closed their gates for an indeterminate amount of time.
Defense Department announces first positive cases of coronavirus at Pentagon
The Defense Department on Friday reported its first cases of the novel coronavirus within the Pentagon, saying that one active-duty airman and one contractor had tested positive.
The airman works for the Defense Health Agency, which has headquarters in Falls Church, Va., and oversees providing health-care services to the military branches. The airman reported visiting the Pentagon for less than an hour on Monday, the Air Force said in a statement Friday.
The defense contractor works for the Air Force at the Pentagon. The individual was last at the installation on March 2 and attended a Total Force Integration symposium at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland from March 3 to 6, the Air Force said. The contractor began self-quarantining at home with symptoms on March 7.
“The individual did not have symptoms during the event,” the Air Force said in a statement. “The Air Force sent an email to attendees informing them of the positive test.”
The cases were first reported by the McClatchy News Service.
Supreme Court to issue opinions as scheduled Monday
The Supreme Court will break with tradition and issue opinions Monday without taking the bench, a court spokeswoman said Friday.
Kathleen Arberg said the justices held their private conference Friday to review petitions, with an unspecified number of the nine participating by telephone. All are healthy, she said, but there was another change in routine because of concerns over the coronavirus: “The justices are temporarily forgoing their traditional handshake.”
The court is closed to the public, and the justices have indefinitely postponed two weeks of oral arguments that were scheduled to begin Monday.
A majority of the justices are considered to be in the higher-risk category for coronavirus because of their ages. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turned 87 on Sunday, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer is 81. Justice Clarence Thomas is 71, and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. will turn 70 on April 1. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Sonia Sotomayor are 65.
Typically when the court issues opinions, the justice who wrote the majority opinion reads a summary from the bench. Sometimes, a dissenting justice might also read. The opinions are issued in reverse seniority of the author, so the chief justice goes last if he has written an opinion. That pattern will continue when the opinions are posted on the website, supremecourt.gov, Monday morning beginning at 10.
The court does not reveal in advance how many opinions will be issued, nor which cases will be decided. They could be any of the cases the court has heard since the term began in October, and the court has a heavy caseload.
Among its unresolved issues: whether federal anti-discrimination law protects LGBT workers, the fate of some undocumented immigrants under the Deferred Act for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a Second Amendment challenge from New York and a Louisiana restriction on abortion clinic doctors.
At their private conference Friday, the justices considered a number of petitions seeking Supreme Court review for the next term. Their decisions will also be released Monday.
More than 4,000 National Guardsmen deployed in 31 states, Esper says
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, speaking on “Fox & Friends” on Friday, said that there are now “over 4,000 guardsmen in 31 states” helping in the response to the pandemic.
That marks a continued, gradual increase in the number of guardsmen involved. Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said Thursday that he anticipates “tens of thousands” of guardsmen may eventually participate.
The National Guard Bureau said in a statement that as of Friday morning, some 3,300 guardsmen were involved in 28 states, and that the numbers could change rapidly.
The Pentagon press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said in a tweet Thursday afternoon that the Defense Department is “not considering federalization” of the National Guard.
Such a move would give the federal government more control over how guardsmen are employed, but strip away flexibility that governors have to use guardsmen as they see fit in their states.
Under new agreement with U.S., Canada to send back asylum seekers
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from self-isolation Friday to announce new measures to contain the coronavirus, including that Canada will send back asylum seekers who attempt to cross the U.S.-Canada border.
The measures, announced during a news conference outside Trudeau’s Ottawa home, is a change from plans presented earlier in the week for Canada to allow in and quarantine any asylum seekers coming overland from the United States, Canada’s CTV News reported.
The prime minister said the decision came after a new agreement with Washington had been reached within the previous 24 hours.
At a news conference in Washington, acting U.S. secretary of homeland security Chad Wolf said the agreement will go into effect at midnight Friday night.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order “directs the department to suspend the introduction of all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. without proper travel documentation — that’s for both the northern and southern border,” he said. “Tonight at midnight, we will immediately execute the CDC order by immediately returning individuals arriving without documentation to Canada, Mexico, as well as a number of other countries.”
The agreements with Canada and Mexico suspend all nonessential travel at the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders.
Wolf said that people traveling for medical purposes, emergency response or public health services, those engaged in “lawful cross-border trade” and some others would be exempted.
“We will continue to maintain a strong and secure supply chain across our borders,” he said.
The new policy on migrants has been criticized by Canadian refugee advocates.
“During a pandemic, we must uphold our commitments to protecting the rights of refugees and vulnerable migrants,” Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said in email to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
A wealthy Brazilian brought coronavirus home from Italy. She lived. Her maid didn’t.
RIO DE JANERIO — Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world, but domestically, it’s less segregated. Every day, wealth and poverty collide in the homes of the upper class, where people from faraway favelas work as domestic employees.
That daily churn has now turned deadly. The first person killed by coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro state was a 63-year-old maid. Her boss, who had just returned from a trip to Italy in late February, had apparently infected her.
Fear is increasing in Brazil that its social inequities will accelerate the spread of the disease. The disease here began as a rich person’s ailment — the afflicted had just returned from European vacations and business trips. But it is now becoming clear that some of the people they’re most likely to pass it on to, along with family members, are their domestic employees, people with far fewer resources to combat the illness.
“We are very concerned and sad,” said Rio governor Wilson Witzel. “This virus reaches all of us.”
Family members of the maid told Agência Publica that her boss, who’s currently in isolation, withheld the potential risk from her employee.
“The boss didn’t tell her that she thought she was sick,” the maid’s brother said.
Had doctors known the maid likely had the coronavirus, according Agência Publica, they would have treated her differently.
"If the information had arrived earlier, maybe we could have changed her clinical history,” said Sebastião Barbosa, the director of the hospital.
The hospital only learned the maid’s boss had tested positive for the coronavirus on the day of her death.
Indiana is seventh state to postpone presidential primary
Indiana on Friday became the seventh state to push back its presidential primary because of the pandemic.
Voting, originally scheduled for May 5, will be postponed to June 2, the state’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, announced at a news conference.
“It stands to reason that rescheduling such an election should only be done in a time of emergency, and by definition we find ourselves in that situation,” he said.
Eighty-two delegates are at stake in Indiana’s Democratic primary.
The move followed a similar announcement Thursday from Connecticut’s Democratic governor, Ned Lamont, who moved voting from April 28 to June 2. A handful of other states have taken steps in the past week to delay primary contests and other elections. Louisiana was the first state, last Friday, to delay its presidential primary.
In a sign of the challenge posed by the delays, Louisiana as well as Kentucky selected new dates that fall after the Democratic National Committee’s June 9 deadline for holding nominating contests, which could result in penalties unless the party grants exemptions.
In addition to delays, Wyoming suspended the in-person portion of its caucuses, and Democrats in Kansas, who control that state’s primary, encouraged all registered Democrats to participate by mail.
Italy cited 9,600 people in one day for violating lockdown
Italian police cited a record 9,600 people on Thursday for violating the country’s strict coronavirus-related lockdown, Italy’s interior ministry said Friday.
Italian authorities on Thursday checked 200,842 people seen outside their homes and subsequently cited 9,407 of them for being outdoors in violation of regulations, the ministry said, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported. Police also checked 99,806 shops open in Rome and cited 205 of them for violations and closed down 21, according to ANSA.
The outbreak in Italy’s north prompted the Italian government to issue a lockdown on the entire country. Italians are ordered to remain in their homes and allowed out only for essentials such as grocery or medicine shopping, doctor appointments and a walk or run once a day.
They must fill out a form explaining their reason for leaving their home before going outside. Since the lockdown was ordered on March 11, Italian authorities cited a total of 61,425 people, according to ANSA.
Italy reports 627 coronavirus deaths, overall toll passes 4,000
ROME — Italy announced another record-breaking death toll on Friday, with 627 people dying from covid-19 within the last day, according to the Italian Civil Protection Agency.
At least 4,023 people have now died from the coronavirus in Italy. On Thursday, when 427 new deaths were announced, the country’s death toll officially surpassed China’s, where the outbreak originated.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy also rose from 41,035 to 47,021 over the last day, the agency reported.
Most of Italy’s deaths have occurred over the past week, as overwhelmed hospitals struggle to deal with the surge of critically sick. More than 300 people have died in Italy of the virus in each of the last six days.
While the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions are most at risk of dying from the disease, health experts haves stressed that young people remain in danger and have urged people to socially isolate to limit the virus’ spread.
WHO General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had a direct warning for young people at a news briefing on Friday: “You are not invincible. This virus could put you in the hospital for weeks and even kill you.”
Coronavirus brings out Trump’s antipathy for media and 'Deep State’
President Trump’s long-standing feud with journalists and federal bureaucrats became a flash point during his news conference on the coronavirus Friday as he called one reporter “terrible” and the U.S. State Department the “Deep State.”
During a tense exchange with NBC reporter Peter Alexander, Trump was asked what he would say to millions of Americans who are scared about the fast-spreading covid-19 disease.
“I say that you’re a terrible reporter,” said Trump, who accused Alexander of sensationalizing a pandemic that has killed thousands, ground economies to a halt and overwhelmed hospital systems in several countries.
“I think it’s a very nasty question. And I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people,” Trump said. “The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope. And you’re doing sensationalism.”
Trump’s mistrust of career bureaucrats also came into view, as he noted that his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo needed to return to the State Department, “or as they like to call it, ’the Deep State Department.’ ”
The term has become commonplace in the Trump era for the conspiracy theory that entrenched career bureaucrats are seeking to undermine the president at the State Department and CIA.
Pompeo, who smiled when the president used the term, was asked by a reporter how he feels about the president using that term when diplomats around the world are working to combat the virus.
“I’ve worked with the president for three years now. I know how much he values the people that work on my team,” Pompeo said.
“What a good answer,” Trump added. “Very true too.”
Trump spoke to Schumer about relief package, said they’re ‘not far away’ from an agreement
Trump spoke by phone with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) about the next phase of a coronavirus relief package, describing their conversation as evidence of how the country has come together during this crisis.
“We had a wonderful conversation. We both want to get to a good solution,” Trump said during a news briefing Friday. “Seeing people that weren’t speaking, getting along well, because we all have one common aim, and that’s to get rid of this invisible enemy, get rid of it fast.”
Schumer told the president there were at least six policies the Democrats want to see included in the legislation, including invoking the Defense Production Act to get ventilators and other medical equipment made.
“POTUS told Schumer he would, and then POTUS yelled to someone in his office to do it now,” according to a readout from Schumer’s office.
Asked about this at the briefing, Trump said he had already decided to make those moves before speaking to Schumer.
Schumer also asked Trump to support a plan to make federal investments in hospitals to address shortages, to support prohibiting companies of using bailout money on areas like executive bonuses, laying off employees or stock buybacks, to expand unemployment insurance, paid sick and family leave and to support canceling student loan debt during the crisis.
Trump said the two sides were “not very far away” on a compromise.
Mexico and U.S. agree to partial closure of border
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement for a partial closure of the border, according to U.S and Mexican officials.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced the closure on Twitter, and President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the deal at a White House briefing Friday.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said at the briefing that U.S. authorities would begin “immediately” turning back and deporting migrants who attempt to cross the border illegally.
An order from the Centers for Disease Control directs DHS to suspend the introduction of “all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. without proper travel documentation,” Wolf said.
“The CDC director has determined that the introduction and spread of the coronavirus to the department’s border patrol stations and detention facilities presents a serious danger to migrants, our frontline agents, officers and the American people,” he added.
Wolf said an outbreak along the U.S. southern border would increase the strain on hospitals and health systems in the region.
He said the agreement with not apply to lawful trade and commerce.
“Essential commercial activities will not be impacted," Wolf said. "We will continue to maintain a strong and secure economic supply chain across our borders.”
Ebrard emphasized earlier Friday that it was not a closure of the border.
“It will be restricted; it will be restricted for cases that are related to tourism and recreation,” Ebrard said.
Ebrard added that Mexico would continue accepting asylum seekers sent back under the Migrant Protection Protocols, along with Mexican deportees. But it would not allow the United States to return all migrants who cross the border illegally to Mexican territory, as the Trump Administration proposed earlier this week. He insisted the measures would not restrict any economic activity and would “reduce the risk of the virus’s spread.”
Ebrard suggested that the agreement was in Mexico’s best interest, given that the country has fewer cases than the United States.
“For example in El Paso there are more cases than in Ciudad Juárez, so we must be careful; we must have better coordination on health issues,” Ebrard said.
It remains unclear how the two countries will determine which travelers to stop at the border. Roughly one million people cross legally between the countries every day. Ebrard said more details would be provided on Friday afternoon.
2,600 U.S. troops in self-isolation in Europe; U.S.-led coalition in Iraq suspends training
About 2,600 U.S. troops stationed in Europe are under self-isolation due to potential exposure to the coronavirus, European Command chief Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters said Friday, with 35 service members testing positive for the virus.
“We’re preparing for worst-case scenarios with respect to the potential spread,” he said on a call with reporters.
The Pentagon stressed in a subsequent statement that these troops are “are not necessarily sick but may have been exposed and are doing their due diligence following health preventative measures.”
The command, which includes about 74,000 U.S. troops — with thousands in hard-hit Italy — accounts for about half of the 67 infected service members force-wide, the Pentagon said Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq suspended training for Iraqi security forces — the linchpin of the strategy to defeat remnants of the Islamic State — and sped withdrawal of forces from smaller bases due to coronavirus concerns, the coalition said Friday.
The coalition will “temporarily return some of its training-focused forces to their own countries in the coming days and weeks,” it said in a statement, but did not specify which countries and how many troops.
Training will resume as the “situation permits,” but no timeline was given. “Looking ahead, we anticipate the coalition supporting the Iraqi security forces from fewer bases with fewer people,” the coalition said.
U.S. troops had already begun handing over smaller bases to Iraqi forces and consolidating on larger installations before Friday’s announcement.
Officials previously said plans were in place for months as the threat from the Islamic State lessened while the threat of Iranian-backed militias has grown.
Militia attacks have killed and wounded almost two dozen coalition troops in recent weeks, though the coalition has denied the repositioning was due the frequency of those strikes.
Roughly 5,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq.
Only people performing essential services can report to work in New York, governor orders
All New York workers are prohibited from reporting to their workplace in person, with the exception of people who perform essential services, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said Friday.
The policy, to be formalized via executive order, will take effect Sunday evening and will be backed by the force of law, Cuomo said at a news conference.
“These provisions will be enforced,” he said. “These are not helpful hints; this is not if you really want to be a good citizen.”
The governor said the list of essential jobs includes those at grocery stores and pharmacies, as well as services such as Internet and water. He said a full list would be released by his office later in the day.
Cuomo emphasized that this policy is not an order to “shelter in place” — a term that is usually used in mass shooting situations. He said the guidance to residents to mostly stay inside may continue for months and that people should feel free to take walks for the sake of their mental health.
New York will also pause evictions from residential and commercial properties for 90 days, Cuomo said.
The state conducted 10,000 coronavirus tests on Thursday and confirmed 2,950 new cases, the governor said. Eighteen percent of the state’s 7,102 total confirmed cases have been hospitalizations.
Cuomo said New York is now conducting more tests per capita than China or South Korea.
All facilities regulated by New York’s health department are mandated to make any nonessential ventilators they have available to the state, Cuomo said. He added that New York needs 30,000 pieces of the equipment, which he said “are to this war what missiles were to World War II.”
Cuomo also asked businesses with masks they do not need, like closed dentists’ offices, to offer them to the state. He said the state would pay a premium to companies that can produce personal protective equipment, gloves, gowns and masks.
The Army Corps of Engineers is helping the state to build more hospital beds and is examining several potential sites for them. Additionally, Cuomo said all noncritical elective surgeries in the state will be canceled.
Under lockdown, Europeans are tuning in to their local radio stations for a ‘message of unity’
BERLIN — Radio stations across virus-stricken Europe teamed up Friday morning to broadcast a “message of unity.” Networks across the continent broadcast the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” by Gerry and the Pacemakers, or other songs with a similar message.
“Things like this crisis right now go beyond the limits of radio stations. That’s why I thought: Why don’t all radio shows play the same song at the same time,” explained Sander Hoogendoorn, a Dutch DJ who came up with the idea to broadcast “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” according to Germany’s public broadcaster.
The song’s title and message, he added, were supposed to “speak to those, who are doing incredible work in the health sector right now, those who are sick or those who can’t leave their home for a while."
Initially, Hoogendoorn only sought to convince other Dutch stations to join the effort, but by Friday morning, over 180 channels across more than 30 nations had agreed to participate, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS. On social media platforms, listeners reacted emotionally. “We’re all in this together,” wrote a BBC Radio 1 listener.
Meanwhile, in Italy, many radio stations teamed up for a similar initiative Friday, after the nation’s coronavirus death toll exceeded China’s.
At 11 a.m. local time, many Italian broadcasters aired the country’s national anthem, followed by three famous old pop songs with hopeful tones and titles that symbolically reference the sun and a blue sky.
“There’s lots of emotion, so many messages are coming (in)," said a host on Radio Deejay, a nationwide broadcaster.
Italy has been under lockdown for almost two weeks, with residents prohibited from leaving their homes for nonessential purposes.
Stefano Pitrelli contributed from Rome.
Americans stuck abroad urge State Department: Please, help us get home
Tara Lavelle, 42, is one of thousands of U.S. citizens stranded abroad as flights are canceled, and countries — such as Honduras, where she was on a scuba diving trip — abruptly close borders and suspend international travel.
But when she contacted the State Department for help finding a flight, she received this generic response by email Thursday: “While the U.S. government has successfully evacuated hundreds of our citizens in previous crises, these flights do not reflect our standard practice and should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens abroad” impacted by the novel coronavirus.
On Thursday, the State Department issued a rare Level 4 travel warning against all international travel and that Americans abroad could face trouble getting to the United States.
“Have a travel plan that does not rely on the U.S. government for assistance,” recommended the advisory.
But that suddenly became near impossible for Lavelle when she woke up Monday to news that Honduras had abruptly banned international travel and ordered people to remain home. Her return flight to Massachusetts, like all commercial international flights, was canceled.
By Thursday, she was one of 100 U.S. citizens who had agreed to pay $1,000 each to charter a plane to fly them home. Only the Honduran government refused to provide the plane a landing permit, and they cannot get anyone from the U.S. government to help put pressure on them, she said.
The Washington Post has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Canadians, meanwhile, have been able to charter a plane out Saturday, Lavelle said. The Post is trying to verify the claim.
“It’s been pretty scary, and I guess really surprising to see that the U.S. government just basically hasn’t been any help in getting us out of here,” she said. “They are giving us information that doesn’t make sense … You just feel like you’re left on your own.”
Tax filing deadline extended to July 15 due to coronavirus disruption
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that the administration has moved the IRS deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to July 15 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus.
The new deadline will give millions of taxpayers more time to fill out their tax forms as the virus upends daily life across the country. Mnuchin made the announcement on Twitter, citing President Trump’s directive.
“At @realDonaldTrump ’s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15,” Mnuchin said. “All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.”
The Treasury Department had previously announced $300 billion in delays to tax deadline payments. It had been reluctant to postpone the deadline for filing as well, in part because doing so may result in fewer Americans getting their tax refunds at a weak moment for the American economy.
Social distancing must continue for at least several weeks, Fauci says
Americans will need to stay at home as much as possible and maintain social distance from other people for at least several weeks, Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“If you look at the trajectory of the curves of outbreaks in other areas, it’s at least going to be several weeks,” Fauci said. “I cannot see that all of a sudden next week or two weeks from now, it’s going to be over.”
After weeks of limited testing for the novel coronavirus, Fauci said officials were “flooding the system” with test kits and expected to soon be able to give one to almost anyone.
He said reports that the old anti-malarial pill chloroquine might effectively treat the coronavirus are heartening but must be proved in a controlled clinical trial. The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration had said Thursday that the agency is considering testing the drug on coronavirus patients.
In response to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 38 percent of people in the United States sick enough to be hospitalized were younger than 55, Fauci said he wants to examine how many of those patients had underlying conditions. He added, however, that the study is another reason young people should not think that they are invincible to the virus.
That policy of taking aggressive measures should also apply to governments, Fauci said.
“When you think you’re maybe overreacting, you probably are not acting as forcefully as you should,” he said.
First lady Melania Trump gives hand-washing advice to parents of young children
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 20, 2020
Death toll in Spain surges by 30 percent in one day
The death toll from the coronavirus in Spain surged 30 percent within a day, according to authorities, as the grim tally rose from 767 on Thursday to 1,002 on Friday.
Confirmed cases in the virus-ravaged nation increased to 19,980 on Friday, a figure that is now roughly equivalent to Iran’s, even though severe doubts have been raised over whether the figures provided by Iranian authorities are trustworthy.
After Italy, Spain has been the hardest-hit country in Europe, with many cases centered in the capital, Madrid.
The Spanish government has taken drastic steps to curb new infections. Over the weekend, Spain became the second European country to impose a nationwide lockdown, ordering its more than 47 million people to mostly stay in their homes. Exceptions are only made for essential reasons, including work, medical appointments or to buy food.
On Thursday, Spain also ordered all of its hotels to shut down within seven days.
Pamela Rolfe, Michael Brice-Saddler and Loveday Morris contributed to this story.
‘We’re about to be overwhelmed,’ L.A. Mayor Garcetti says
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned Friday of the coming tsunami of coronavirus infections in the city and throughout California, which has imposed perhaps the most far-reaching measures yet to stamp out the spread.
“Whether it’s six days, or nine days … we’re about to be overwhelmed, which means people won’t get into our hospitals, people who don’t just have covid-19 could lose their lives,” Garcetti said on the “Today” show.
Watch @MayorOfLA's full interview with @hodakotb about the state's stay-at-home order and what it means for the millions of California residents. pic.twitter.com/xe2CJ9ABdw
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 20, 2020
Garcetti ordered closures of many public places Sunday, like bars and restaurants. Then on Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a stay-at-home order for all 40 million people in the state, amid projections that at current rates of infection, 56 percent of the state — 25.5 million residents — could contract the virus within the next two months.
“There will be millions of people who do get this,” Garcetti said.
The statewide restrictions are designed to lesson the blow on the health-care system, already under strain and struggling for basic protections for physicians and nurses, like gloves and masks.
The order allows for people to visit family members in need; critical businesses like pharmacies, banks and grocery stores will remain open. There are also exemptions for critical infrastructure, like energy, agriculture and emergency services.
“We’re going to keep the grocery stores open,” Newsom said. “We’re going to make sure that you’re getting critical medical supplies. You can still take your kids outside, practicing common sense and social distancing. You can still walk your dog.”
More than 1,000 people in California have tested positive for the virus, and 19 people have died.
More Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis, poll finds
The percentage of Americans who approve of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has ticked upward since last week, according to an ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday.
In the new poll, 55 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s management of the crisis, compared with 43 percent who disapprove.
Those numbers are nearly reversed from just a week ago. At that point, 43 percent approved of Trump’s handling of the pandemic while 54 percent disapproved.
Trump has taken on a more somber tone in recent days and is appearing more frequently at news briefings. Many Democrats argue that the change in tone has not been accompanied by a robust enough increase in actions from the federal government.
In the same poll, 72 percent said their lives have been disrupted in some way by the coronavirus crisis, a huge jump from last week, when only about one-quarter of Americans said the same.
Hong Kong reports record jump in new cases, fueling fear about imported infections
HONG KONG — Hong Kong reported a record jump in new coronavirus cases Friday as the region braces for an uptick in illness involving people who rushed back home to beat widening travel restrictions.
Thousands of people returned to the city this week, as a spike in new cases led the government to announce new quarantine measures that require anyone arriving from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days.
Friday’s surge of 48 cases marked the largest daily growth in cases since the outbreak began, representing roughly a quarter of all cases recorded here previously. Even as the virus swept through parts of China and elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong managed to largely control its outbreak. Just as life in the financial center had begun to return somewhat to normal, the wave of new cases is worrying experts who say it could lead to widespread community transmission. The city now has more than 250 confirmed infections.
Gabriel Leung, chair of public health at Hong Kong University who is serving on the Hong Kong government’s coronavirus committee, said the city is “at the highest risk since this began,” South China Morning Post reported.
“When one patient passes the virus to two people in the community to form an unknown number of hidden transmission chains, then it’s very likely that we will have 400 to 600 cases in the next two weeks,” he said.
The newspaper reported that 92 percent of the cases confirmed in the last two weeks were linked to international travel. Earlier Friday, Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific said it would cut capacity by 96 percent in April and May.
Cases in Iran approach 20,000; Ayatollah Khamenei says sanctions have made Iran more ‘self-sufficient’
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sought to boost the spirits of Iranians in the grip of the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak Friday, even as the country announced another 149 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 1,433.
Officials reported another 1,237 people have tested positive for the virus, pushing the total number of cases to almost 20,000.
Khamenei, in his annual address for Nowruz, the Persian new year, struck an optimistic tone, asserting that U.S. sanctions have helped the country become more self-reliant. Speaking on television rather than at the traditional mass gathering of supporters, he vowed a vigorous fight against the pathogen, which he called “an uninvited destructive guest.”
And despite the country’s collapsing economy, he pledged better times ahead, declaring this “the year of leaps in production.”
“Iran benefited from America’s sanctions,” he said. “It made us self-sufficient in all areas.”
The leader appeared healthy, helping to dispel rumors that he had become infected with the virus.
Iran’s senior leadership has been hard hit, with a vice president, deputy health minister and many lawmakers sickened by the disease. A senior aide to Khamenei and a top-level diplomat have died.
“Last year was a tumultuous year for the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. “But we will overcome all hardships with unity.”
Saudi Arabia grounds domestic flights and halts most transportation
Saudi Arabia will freeze most transportation in the kingdom, announcing Friday that all domestic flights, train service, public buses and taxis will be idled for at least the next two weeks, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Ministry of Interior said transportation related to health-care delivery, humanitarian aid and other official functions will continue. Buses serving hospitals will still run, as will those used by companies to transport employees.
Freight trains can continue operating, but the country’s passenger service, including high-speed routes, will shut down. Ferry service between Jizan and the Farasan Islands will be suspended for tourists and capped at 100 passengers per trip for residents and workers.
Saudi Arabia has reported 274 cases of the virus, with no deaths. The government had previously suspended international flights.
“We are living through a difficult phase of the world’s history,” King Salman said Thursday. “However, we are completely certain that this phase will end and pass, despite its harsh and bitter difficulties.”
Japan’s Abe to allow schools to reopen, at least in regions deemed to be virus-free
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that his government will draw up plans to allow schools to reopen when the new academic year begins in April, Kyodo News reported.
Abe’s surprise decision to ask schools to close last month had surprised his own education ministry and even some of the government’s own expert advisers. Critics said closing schools should not be a priority when adults were still commuting and mixing widely.
On Thursday, an expert panel advised the government to allow schools to reopen in areas that are not recording new infections.
Education minister Koichi Hagiuda said his ministry will compile guidelines early next week to prepare for the reopening of schools.
“We confirmed that our school closure request will not be extended,” Hagiuda said.
But Abe continued to warn against holding large events to prevent a surge in infections and stressed the need for people to take preventive steps such as keeping away from crowded areas and closed spaces with poor ventilation.
“We need to minimize the impact on society and the economy but our priority is on protecting people’s lives and health so we will step up efforts to prevent infections from spreading further,” Abe told Friday’s meeting at the prime minister’s office, part of which was open to the media, Kyodo reported.
Japan recorded 40 new infections on Thursday and one death, according to a tally kept by public broadcaster NHK, bringing the country’s total to 963 infections and 33 deaths. The figure does not include the 712 people who contracted the virus onboard the Diamond Princess.
In a region with millions of homeless people, a charity in Manila fears a government crackdown
MANILA — About 200 homeless people in the capital of the Philippines were unable to get food and shelter after police and local officials interrupted operations at a local charity, on the third day of a tightened lockdown in the country.
Fr. Flavie Villanueva, who runs the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center, said authorities claimed he was violating social distancing measures and a prohibition on public gatherings.
“I said, ‘They’re homeless. Isn’t your job to give them a roof, especially at this time?’” said Villanueva. “The [village] officers and police couldn’t say anything.”
There are reportedly 3 million homeless people in the capital region of Metro Manila alone.
Villanueva said his center complied with the rules, ran temperature checks on his beneficiaries and required them to take showers before claiming meals. Those in line were also asked to sit or stand apart.
The crackdown came as Manila officials said they had rescued homeless people elsewhere in the capital region, sending a contradictory message to social workers across the country.
At Villanueva’s shelter, up to 200 regular visitors throughout the course of the day were denied food packs and showers, which Villanueva said ran counter to government health advisories of practicing hygiene to avoid the spread of coronavirus. Manila police and local government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stringent rules under “enhanced quarantine” in President Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines cover half the country’s population.
Duterte’s critics have pointed out that the Philippines’ new order — which entails curfew and the suspension of public transport — did not account for the homeless and other sectors. This week, health workers across various cities were unable to report to work.
Villanueva said he may be allowed to resume operations Saturday after the press picked up his story — but the charity is still bracing for the worst.
YouTube follows Netflix in lowering streaming quality in Europe
BERLIN — YouTube will reduce its streaming quality in Europe for at least a month, following a similar move by streaming giant Netflix. The decisions are meant to alleviate possible strain on the continent’s Internet infrastructure as more people are staying at home.
The announcements came after a European Union commissioner held talks with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
“Teleworking & streaming help a lot but infrastructures might be in strain. To secure Internet access for all, let’s #SwitchToStandard definition when HD is not necessary,” E.U. Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wrote on Twitter earlier this week.
A Netflix spokesperson told Business Insider that the step would reduce the streaming service’s traffic “on European networks by around 25 percent while also ensuring a good quality service for our members.”
With Europe now the epicenter of the outbreak, hundreds of millions of people are on lockdown, virtually confined to their apartments to work, live and learn. The transition has seen a staggering rise in Internet usage as teleworking and online schooling become a fact of life for most. Some experts worry that Internet capabilities will buckle under the high volume of streaming demands.
More than 2,000 National Guard members have been activated — with more likely to come
More than 2,000 members of the National Guard across at least 27 states have been activated in response to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said, with more likely to be called to action in coming days.
As members of a reserve military force, most soldiers and airmen in the National Guard soldiers hold a civilian job but can be called into action by the president or governor, often in response to domestic emergencies.
But the force’s chief, Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, said the unpredictable nature of the outbreak — and the wide range of needs to be filled with much of the country effectively shut down — sets it apart from most natural disasters.
“When there’s a hurricane, you can see it on a map, you have a sense of how hard the storm will hit and how long the storm will last,” he said at a news conference on Thursday. “It’s like we have 54 separate hurricanes in every state, territory and the District of Columbia. Some are Category 5s, some are Category 3s, some are Category 1s."
All 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, have declared a state of emergency, a step necessary to activate the reserve forces.
In New York, Guard members were called on to distribute groceries in New Rochelle, a New York City suburb that has emerged as an epicenter of the outbreak. Reserve forces in states like Colorado and Florida are operating drive-through testing stations, while their counterparts in Pennsylvania transported the former passengers of a virus-stricken cruise ship.
At least six members of the National Guard have tested positive for the virus, Lengyel said.
British nurse begs hoarders to ‘stop it’ in emotional video after 48-hour shift
LONDON — A British critical-care nurse who had just finished a grueling shift only to find she couldn’t buy any fresh food at her local grocery store recorded an emotional video in which she pleaded with shoppers to stop stockpiling essentials.
“I’ve just come out of the supermarket, there’s no fruit or veg. I had a little cry in there,” she said in the video, shared to Twitter by BBC Yorkshire. The clip has been viewed more than 2 million times since Thursday.
Critical care nurse Dawn has pleaded for the public to "stop it" after being faced with empty supermarket shelves following a 48-hour shift. pic.twitter.com/1sQHM2U5Ba
— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) March 19, 2020
The nurse, whom the broadcaster identified only as Dawn, then goes on to explain that she had wanted to buy some food after her 48-hour shift, but found that shoppers fearful of the coronavirus pandemic had stripped shelves bare.
“I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to stay healthy,” she said, holding back tears.
Panic buying has gripped Britain’s grocery stores in recent days, with consumers hoarding essentials such as bread, tinned goods and cleaning products. Online food-delivery slots are booked up for weeks, and some stores have taken advantage of the situation by raising prices for sought-after items such as toilet paper and eggs.
“You just need to stop it,” Dawn said in the video. “It’s people like me that are going to be looking after you when you’re at your lowest. Stop it, please.”
The nurse’s plea triggered an outpouring of sympathy online, with many offering to help those on the front lines of virus containment efforts any way they could.
Olympic torch arrives in Japan with little pomp as questions loom over Games
There was little of the usual pomp on Friday when the Olympic torch landed in Japan from Greece, marking the traditional start of the season ahead of the Olympic Games, as the coronavirus pandemic looms over this year’s competition.
Much of the delegation that had planned to accompany the torch ultimately did not join for the trip as a precaution to avoid exposing themselves to the virus, Reuters reported. And a group of people initially invited to join for its welcome ceremony were instead asked to stay home.
“We originally planned to have children here to welcome the flame. But, prioritizing their safety, we’ve decided to do without them,” said Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee. “That was an agonizing decision ... We will do our utmost in preparing for a safe and secure event.”
The torch is now scheduled to go on a four-month relay around Japan, raising concerns that people could crowd together to catch a glimpse of the flame, potentially exposing themselves or others to the deadly virus.
The International Olympic Committee is facing growing calls to call off or postpone the 2020 Olympics, which Tokyo is due to host in July and August. Many experts see it as unfeasible that hundreds of thousands of people would gather for the event, with travel bans in place and the medical community calling for extreme social distancing tactics that have led many people around the globe to self-quarantine.
Sports events and seasons around the world have already been called off and several prominent athletes and coaches have been diagnosed with the virus.
South Asia, home to nearly 2 billion people, could emerge as next virus hotspot
NEW DELHI — It is the most densely populated region on earth, home to one quarter of the world’s population, and it is locked in a race against time.
South Asia – comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives – is rushing to check an accelerating coronavirus outbreak.
There are now more than 600 cases in the region, a figure that has quadrupled in the last week. While that total is low compared with Europe and the United States, experts say there is not nearly enough testing underway.
India, the regional heavyweight, has moved swiftly to restrict travel and shut down schools. The government says that the virus is not spreading undetected in its communities. But experts fear that India and its neighbors may be at the start of a deadly curve witnessed elsewhere in the world, where infections surge and hospitals struggle to cope.
The coming days and weeks are the “moment of truth,” said T. Jacob John, a renowned Indian virologist. He expects that cases of the virus will begin to increase exponentially in India. The country is headed for “unprecedented tough times,” he said.
India has just 0.5 hospital beds per 1,000 people, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, compared with 3.1 in Italy and 12 in South Korea.
Read more in our story here.
Besides Burr, Loeffler also sold millions in stocks before steep market decline
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) sold stocks worth millions of dollars shortly after senators received a private briefing on the novel coronavirus, the global pandemic that in subsequent weeks caused U.S. equity markets to plunge, the Daily Beast reported.
The news came just hours after similar reports about Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). Like the Georgia lawmaker, Burr had publicly insisted that the country was prepared to handle the outbreak, and calls for both to resign poured in overnight from figures across the political spectrum.
On Jan. 24, Loeffler and her colleagues on the Senate Health Committee attended a private briefing from administration officials on the public health threat posed by the virus, according to the Daily Beast.
On the same day, she reported the first sale of stocks jointly owned by her and her husband, the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, valued at between $50,001 and $100,000.
In the following weeks, she went on to sell 26 other holdings in companies like ExxonMobil and Auto Zone, many of which have seen their share price fall significantly as the pandemic wreaks havoc on markets. She did, however, purchase shares in a company that sells teleworking software.
“This is a ridiculous and baseless attack,” Loeffler said on Twitter early on Friday. “I do not make investment decisions for my portfolio. Investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisers without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement.”
Burr, chair of the senate’s powerful Intelligence Committee, also sold a significant share of his stocks last month, The Post’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee and John Wagner reported. The value was estimated at between $628,033 and $1.72 million.
According to the New York Times, two other senators, Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and James M. Inhofe (R-Ok.) also sold significant holdings around the same time.
Representatives for Feinstein, Loeffler, and Inhofe did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post early on Friday, though a spokesman for Feinstein told the Times that she played no role in choosing to sell the stock.
Taiwan official tells people to ‘buy as much as possible, there’s plenty of goods’
HONG KONG — Around the world, panicked people are trying to assuage their anxieties over a long-term viral outbreak by purchasing goods they’re afraid will disappear off store shelves: toilet paper, masks and non-perishable food. But supply couldn’t keep up with the sudden influx in demand, forcing many leaders to call on their citizens to slow down and only buy as much as they need short-term before unnecessary stockpiling causes the same dangerous shortages people fear.
Now Taiwan’s premier has a different message: “Buy as much as possible, there’s plenty of goods,” Su Tseng-chang wrote in a Facebook post Thursday, Reuters reported.
“Taiwan is a kingdom of fruits, a kingdom of fisheries, and a big food processing country," he wrote. “During the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, as the economy is slowing down, of course the government encourages everyone to enthusiastically buy.”
On Friday, Su told reporters that Taiwan still has more than enough toilet paper and urged people cooking at home to choose fruits and vegetables, Reuters reported. “Buy more Taiwanese agricultural products, cheer on the farmers,” he said. “This is a great thing.”
Vice President Pence urged Americans in recent days to only buy as much as they need for the week ahead. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that “people should have no reason to stockpile or panic-buy," as supermarket shelves went bare across the country and hundreds of people lined up outside shops.
On Friday, police in Australia’s New South Wales state joked on Twitter that they would share a full shopping list of what residents should panic-buy. They posted an image of a blank sheet of paper.
U.S. lawmakers finalize stimulus plan as lockdown measures widen
As lawmakers in the United States finalize a massive stimulus package and cities and states order residents to shelter in place to contain the novel coronavirus, fears about hospitals running out of medical supplies seem to be inching closer to reality.
The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled in just 48 hours this week, jumping from about 5,700 on Tuesday evening to more than 13,100 late on Thursday. More than 170 people have died, and worryingly, many of those hospitalized are younger adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The sharp rise in cases nationwide stems in part from expanded testing, officials say, and the total will continue to increase as more results become available. But there are already some obstacles in the way.
Facing a shortage of swabs, chemical solutions, and masks, some hospitals have been unable to take samples, and some laboratories have been kept from running the tests. As ordinary Americans are being turned away, many actors, politicians and athletes seem to be jumping to the front of the line for tests instead.
Pressed by reporters on whether these famous figures should get easier access to testing for the virus, President Trump said no.
“But perhaps that’s been the story of life," he added.
Republican lawmakers introduced a $1 trillion stimulus plan that would involve sending direct cash payments to many Americans. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for negotiations with Democrats over the relief measures to start on Friday, the details of the package keep changing.
On Thursday, Trump embraced another idea, expressing his support for the federal government to take equity stakes in private companies that receive coronavirus bailout funds.
Many struggling industries have asked the federal government for hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance, and such an approach would protect taxpayer investments in firms. But the move has been controversial because it effectively involves partial government ownership of private companies.
China records no new local cases for second day
HONG KONG — China recorded no new local coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, officials announced on Friday, as outbreak hotspots elsewhere remain inundated with patients.
The country recorded 39 cases of coronavirus on Thursday, all of which were imported from abroad, officials said. Three deaths were also recorded Thursday.
China has cracked down on new arrivals to the country in recent days, forcing many people into government-mandated quarantine in order to limit the spread of the virus and prevent new local clusters from emerging.
Nearly 81,000 cases of the virus and 3,248 related deaths have been confirmed in China since the outbreak was first recorded late last year. In Hong Kong, 208 cases have been recorded, including a recent uptick in cases imported from abroad. There have only been 17 cases reported in Macao and 108 in Taiwan.
Li reported from Beijing.
Small businesses continue to adapt in a rapidly changing environment
The lights are still on and the machines are churning at 24-Hr Meadowthorpe Laundromat near downtown Lexington, Ky. But in the last couple of days, the laundromat’s owner, Richard Peot, has watched the usually bustling shopping plaza around him grow quiet after Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) sweeping order Wednesday for most public-facing businesses “that encourage public congregation” to close to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The order includes everything from gyms and theaters to nail and hair salons. The fitness center next to the laundromat closed, and the coffee shop that had just announced a grand opening has gone dark.
“It’s dead,” Peot said. “You look up the street where there’s restaurants, bars — it’s all quiet. It’s eerie.”
Laundromats are an exception to Beshear’s order — along with food providers, gas stations, and retailers who can comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
“I feel very fortunate,” said Peot, who has run the laundromat for 10 years. “It’s going to be tough on a lot of people, and we want to do what we can to be able to be here for our community. I’ve been getting a lot of calls, are we open, and of course we are, 24/7.”
Peot’s daughter, who worked as a server at a nearby restaurant that has closed its doors, has been helping out at the laundromat. Business has been average to above-average, but Peot says he knows it’s still early.
He has been encouraging customers to wait for their laundry to finish on benches outside, or in their cars, and wipe down surfaces with a bleach solution multiple times a day. He tries to keep the air moving. Still, he gave his attendants the option to stay home if they need to. He’s considering adjusting his business model to include pick-up and delivery, and pondering ways to help out regulars strapped for cash.
“It’s a neighborhood joint, everyone knows everyone,” he said. “We’ve just got to work together to get through this.”
Deniers and hoaxers persist, despite dire warnings
WELLSVILLE, Kan. — Even as President Trump has asked Americans to stay at home and has called on the nation to come together to fight the “invisible enemy” known as the illness covid-19, virus doubters persist.
They call reports of more than 200,000 sickened and 9,000 dead worldwide a sham. Republican legislators have continued to brag about their dinners out, some beaches remain packed with spring breakers and Hollywood starlet Vanessa Hudgens was forced to apologize for complaining on Instagram that “people are going to die, which is terrible, but like, inevitable?”
Virus deniers vow to continue on with their daily activities with little adjustment, convinced that the unprecedented reaction to the virus is nothing more than a plot by the media or liberals out to get Trump. The Pew Research Center released a poll Wednesday that found that 62 percent of adults say the media is exaggerating the risk of the virus.
“I don’t feel the need to panic,” said Brandon Crist, 47. “If you don’t have a fever, you’re going to be fine. If you’ve got a fever, just get it checked. If you’re not sick, we don’t need everybody to stay at home.”
He was not worried about his family or his older relatives — “we’re all in good health” — and has gone ahead with plans to take a vacation in Arizona, where he plans to visit family and go out to restaurants as usual. The only bummer, he said, is that some parts of the Grand Canyon are closed.
A Charleston, S.C.,-based distillery creates a unique way to overcome business disruption
In a southern city where the drinking culture helps form the backbone of the local economy, Charleston, S.C.-based breweries and distilleries are quickly pivoting to exclusively offer to-go bottles and merchandise in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“In the spirit of Elmer (P-nut) Gardner, a local bootlegger who ran his operations on the site where we now sit, we are offering convenient curbside bottle pickup,” Firefly Distillery, Charleston’s oldest, said in a post on its Facebook page. “Instead of sliding cash through the back door, customers are encouraged to swipe their credit cards at our walk up window.”
Firefly Distillery calls it, in jest, a modern take on bootlegging — the business of illegally moving alcohol during prohibition.
No cash is being accepted, the distillery said.
“We shut down our tasting room and our gift shop before the governor made his edict ... just trying to protect our employees and [patrons],” Scott Newitt, co-owner of the distillery, said in an interview. “We said, ‘okay, how can we generate cash?’ ”
So using an Airstream trailer, Firefly set up a makeshift distribution site in front of its North Charleston distillery, offering bottles of its famed sweet tea vodka among other spirits.
“We turned it into a mobile retail store so people can drive up to it,” Newitt said.
Change in U.S. law makes millions more masks available for doctors, but that still may not be enough
Vice President Mike Pence said new legislation will allow tens of millions more protective masks to reach U.S. healthcare workers each month, beginning immediately, but it was still unclear whether total production will be enough to meet demand.
The legislation signed Wednesday provides manufacturers of N95 face masks protection against lawsuits when selling certain masks to healthcare workers, Pence said. That will free producers including 3M and Honeywell to sell tens of millions more masks per month to hospitals, Pence said.
The change means Minnesota-based 3M will now be free to sell 420 million masks a year to the U.S. healthcare sector, Pence said. And Honeywell of Charlotte, N.C., will soon boost N95 mask output in the U.S. by an additional 120 million masks per year, he added.
Those figures are still well short of the 3.5 billion N95 respirator masks the U.S. could need in a serious pandemic, an estimate Robert Kadlec, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, gave at a Senate hearing this month.
There are several other manufacturers of N95 masks for the U.S. market. Moldex of Culver City, Calif., and Prestige Ameritech of North Richland Hills, Texas, didn’t immediately respond to inquiries about their production levels.
Owens & Minor spokesman Chuck Graves said the company wouldn’t disclose its total mask production.
Read more here.