Summary
- Donald Trump repeatedly played down the importance of widespread testing before reopening the country for business during the daily coronavirus briefing. Trump reportedly intends to form another task force that will work on trying to reopen the economy by the end of April. But White House health experts have cautioned against scaling back social distancing too quickly.
- Mike Pence said the treasury is on track to send Americans payments of up to $1,200 by the end of next week. More than 16 million Americans have submitted unemployment claims in the past three weeks as the coronavirus pandemic devastates the US economy.
- New York broke its record for the highest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third consecutive day. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing that 799 New Yorkers died of the virus yesterday, bringing the state’s cumulative death toll to 7,067.
- British prime minister Boris Johnson was moved out of the intensive care unit. Downing Street said Johnson is in “extremely good spirits” and remains in the hospital as he recovers from coronavirus.
Updated
Fact check: The majority of states have less than 10% positive cases
Earlier, Dr Deborah Birx, a coordinator on the coronavirus response task force, said that 63% of the states (31 states) had less than 10% of total people tested for Covid-19 be positive. A quick glance at data provided by the Covid Tracking Project, a collaborative, volunteer-run project that collects data from local health departments, shows that about 28 states plus US Samoa meet that threshold.
While that’s still a slight majority of states, a handful are seeing much more dire statistics. Out of people tested in New York, about 40% have tested positive. Surrounding states also have grim stats: Thirty percent of those tested in Connecticut and 47% of those tested in New Jersey were positive. Presenting this number doesn’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of the spread of the disease in the United States since testing has been limited until very recently. In certain states like New York, where tests have been limited and the spread has been massive, requirements to getting tested are strict. In states that have seen a less intense outbreak, testing has been more widely available.
Updated
Experts to administration: Evidence on whether homemade masks work is "inconclusive"
The CDC is now recommending that all Americans wear homemade, non-medical masks while in public. But experts from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine told the White House in a letter sent yesterday that “the available evidence is inconclusive about the degree to which homemade fabric masks may suppress spread of infection from the wearer to others”.
Although any sort of fabric mask will block at least some of the larger respiratory droplets, “there’s little evidence regarding transmission of small aerosolized particulates,” the researchers wrote. Further studies will reveal what sorts of masks, and fabrics, offer the most filtration.
White House health officials like Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci have warned that masks are meant to supplement, not replace, other safety measures such as handwashing and keeping a 6ft distance apart from others.
Updated
The coronavirus briefing has ended.
Fact check: flu comparisons
Mike Pence said that “we’ve known from the beginning that this at least three times more contagious than the flu. And, I believe that fact alone has informed our projections and the modeling.”
But the president has often compared coronavirus to the flu, from the beginning. In late March, Trump complained about distancing measures on Fox News. “We’ve never closed down the country for the flu,” he said.
On March 9, he tweeted, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.”
On February 26, he said, “I mean, view this the same as the flu. When somebody sneezes — I mean, I try and bail out as much as possible when they’re sneezing. “
A moment for fashion, and recognizing the importance of the world “global” in “global health”:
“This scarf came from Africa,” Dr. Birx says at coronavirus briefing, recognizing her fellow public health officials around the globe. pic.twitter.com/UhigWQROkF
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 9, 2020
Fact check: Oil market
Trump repeatedly said that the oil market lost 40% of demand due to the Covid-19 crisis, but multiple reports say that the drop in demand worldwide is around 25% to 30%.
The drop is still massive, largely due to the global halt in flights, and has put major oil-producing countries on edge. Today, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), excluding the United States, reportedly agreed on a cut in production to stop the steepening of oil prices. The US cannot force cuts on its oil manufacturers as easily as other countries, though countries like Russia are pressuring the US to consider taking measures to cut production.
Updated
Dr Fauci, on what it could mean to “reopen” the country:
“Often, people say re-open the government, like it’s a light switch on-and-off for the entire country. We have a very large country with really different patterns of disease and outbreaks in different parts of the country. So, it’s not going to be a one size fits all.”
It’s worth noting here that the federal government doesn’t have the power to “switch on” the economy all at once. States, counties and cities ultimately have a lot of authority to enforce distancing measures for as long as they deem necessary.
Updated
Coronavirus testing by age:
Dr Birx presented the following numbers on testing nationally.
- People younger than 25: 200,000 have been tested of which 11% tested positive
- Age 25-45: 500,000 were tested, 17% were positive
- Age 45-65: 500,000 were tested, 21% were positive
- Age 65-85: 200,000 were tested, 22% were positive
- People older than 85: 30,000 tested, 24% were positive
Updated
Dr Anthony Fauci provided some good news with the bad.
This has been a very bad week in terms of the number of deaths, he said. At the same time, “we’re seeing a rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalization” in New York, he said. “That means what we are doing is working, and therefore we need to continue.”
Updated
More women than men are getting tested for coronavirus, but more men test positive for the virus, said Dr Deborah Birx. That suggests that men may not report symptoms or get help until they’re much sicker, she said. Once they finally do get to a health provider, they already have the virus.
She asked men to seek help as soon as they think they needed it, rather than waiting.
Updated
Pence said that White House officials are looking at whether health workers can wear reusable cloth gowns, instead of disposable ones, which are running out. Hospitals may have to “recycle gowns” to stretch their supplies, Pence said. More guidelines are forthcoming, he said.
US treasury is on track to issue first cash payments by next week
Mike Pence says the administration is “on the timetable” to send out the first round of stimulus checks by the end of next week. Many Americans will receive up to $1,200.
Updated
Fact check: Testing again
More from Trump on testing: “Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,” he said. “We’re talking about 325 million people and that’s not going to happen, as you can imagine. And it would never happen with anyone else either.”
Politico recently reported on a plan developed by two former FDA commissioners, Mark McClellan and Scott Gottlieb, to reopen the economy that hinged on widespread testing and a vast expansion of the United States’ public health system.
Serology or antibody tests – which can help detect if a person’s immune system has faced off against Covid-19 and recovered from it — could also help public health officials know when to ease back distancing and reopen businesses. “It’s really important to test for immunity,” Robert Siegel, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, told the Guardian, because people who are immune could return to work without endangering themselves or others. “They could more safely work as frontline healthcare providers,” Siegel said.
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Fact check: US stockpile of hydroxychloroquine
Trump said that the US has “purchased and stockpiled millions and millions of doses” of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug Trump has been touting as a game-changer in the fight against Covid-19. Medical experts, including the US National Institute of Health’s Anthony Fauci, has said there is no clinical evidence yet that the drug can effectively treat the disease.
Clinical trials have only recently begun. The US does have a hefty stockpile of the drug thanks to a recent donation from drugmaker Novartis, who said early last week that Sandoz, its generic drug division, will donate 30m doses of the medicine to the federal government. Novartis said in a press release that the doses of the drug will be used for controlled clinical studies to test the drug’s effectiveness against covid-19.
Fact check: Ventilator shortages
“We’re in good shape,” Trump said. “You’re not hearing of people needing ventilators much.”
It is true that some states have ended up with more ventilators than they think they need. California has loaned 500 ventilators to states like New York. California hospitals managed to increase their stock from 7,500 machines to more than 11,000, according to the state’s governor Gavin Newsom. “That has put less strain and pressure on the state’s effort to procure additional ventilators,” Newsom said.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a national shortage. The US has roughly 173,000 ventilators, according to the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University. Experts from Harvard Medical School predict that the US could end up needing 31 times that number to treat coronavirus patients.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said hospitals there would run out of the machines this week, and the number of cases continue to grow.
Asked how the country could reopen without an effective national system for coronavirus testing, Trump responded that “there are certain sections of the country that are in phenomenal shape already.” He didn’t specify what those areas are.
Public health experts have said that widespread testing is a key precursor to easing back social distancing measures.
Trump also said that the US will soon be doing “massive testing”, even though it’s not necessary, wihout providing any further detail on what that entails.
Updated
Fact check: Temporary hospitals
Trump said that Army Corps of Engineers have built 21 temporary hospitals nationwide, making up an additional 17,000 beds.
But according to a government press statement released yesterday, the Army Corps of Engineers has so far constructed 17 facilities, totaling 14,579 beds. Another 23 facilities made up of 8,571 beds are pending.
Donald Trump said he’s going to take a few questions from reporters before returning to negotiations on oil and air travel. His conversation with Vladimir Putin and Mohammed Bin Salman was “very good,” he said. They’re “getting close to a deal” and “getting along very well.”
“We’re going to see what happens, but it was a very good call,” Trump said.
Fact check: Testing
“Our tests are highly sophisticated,” Trump said, once again repeating a line that the US has done more testing than other countries.
While the US has ramped up testing, it still lags behind other countries, including South Korea and Germany. South Korea has administered 486,003 tests, according to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With a population of 51.5m, the country has tested about 1 in every 113 people. Germany has done even better, testing every 1 in 90 people.
Meanwhile, the United States, with a population of 329 million, had administered at least 1,951,044 tests, according to the Atlantic’s Covid Tracking Project — so the US has tested about 1 in every 168 people.
Fact check: hydroxychloroquine
As usual, Trump is touting hydroxychloroquine, noting that drug companies are ramping up productions and that the US has stockpiled doses.
In the week beginning March 30, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that is also used to treat autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, with an “emergency use authorization” to use on coronavirus patients in some circumstances.
Clinical trials to test the drug’s effectiveness in treating coronavirus have begun across the world, and in the US. However, experts, including US public health officials, have warned that it is too early to know if hydroxychloroquine works.
So far, the evidence that it’s an effective cure for coronavirus is thin. An initial French study that appeared to have launched the Trump administration’s obsession with the dug has since been discredited.
The drug is considered relatively safe for people without an underlying illness, but it’s unclear if it is safe for severely sick Covid-19 patients, who may have incurred organ damage due to the virus.
The surge in demand for the unproven hydroxychloroquine also risks shortages of the drug for those who need it most. It is used to help patients manage the chronic autoimmune disease lupus, but some are already complaining the drug is harder to come by.
Read more:
“Hopefully we’re going to be opening up —opening very very, very, very soon, I hope,” Trump said. The president said he’s looking into whether some parts of the economy can be reinstated sooner.
White House briefing has begun
Trump has taken the podium after a few delays.
The president is expected to speak within the next half hour. While the press and the public has been focused on the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has pushed through his agenda, giving handouts to big business, appointing judges and rolling back regulations.
My colleagues Emily Holden and David Smith report:
The last time America was facing a possible economic depression, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s chief of staff, observed: “Never allow a good crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.”
It is advice Donald Trump and his Republican allies appear to have taken to heart.
Faced with not one but two crises – public health and economic – Obama’s successor and his allies are advancing their agenda, whether in plain sight as a direct response to the pandemic, or under cover while the nation is deeply distracted.
Trump touts his wall on the Mexican border almost daily and emphasizes national borders, even though the coronavirus paid them no heed. He has attacked voting rights, assailed federal watchdogs, shredded regulations and signed a bill that hands billions of dollars to corporations while resisting congressional oversight.
Updated
CNN says that the vice president is not allowing top health officials to appear on the network, in order to pressure them to carry the president’s daily coronavirus briefings.
From CNN:
Vice President Mike Pence’s office reversed course on Thursday afternoon, after declining for days to allow the nation’s top health officials to appear on CNN and discuss the coronavirus pandemic, in what was an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House’s lengthy daily briefings in full.
After this story was published, Pence’s office allowed for the booking of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield for CNN’s Thursday night coronavirus town hall. Dr. Anthony Fauci was also booked for Friday on “New Day.”Trump makes 86 false claims over two weeks, including whoppers about Bloomberg, Pelosi and Social SecurityPreviously, Pence’s office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it would only allow experts such as Fauci or Dr. Deborah Birx to appear on CNN if the network televised the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members. CNN often only broadcasts President Donald Trump’s question and answer session, which sometimes includes the health care officials, live on-air.
Updated
Nine civil rights groups in the South have called for regional officials to issue protective measures for people who work at or are detained at correctional and juvenile facilities.
“Government officials to implement desperately needed protections against Covid-19 infection and deaths in correctional and juvenile facilities throughout the South, which disproportionately incarcerate Black individuals,” the groups wrote in a statement. “With poor health outcomes, inadequate access to health care, and elevated poverty rates, the South, which incarcerates a larger portion of its population than any other region in the nation, is exceptionally vulnerable to a widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in its facilities.”
Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the West Coast.
Joe Biden hold a wide lead over Donald Trump, according to a new CNN poll.
The former vice president leads 53% to 42% among registered voters. The poll also found that voters trusted Biden more to handle the response to the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and helping the middle class. Of those polled, 52% said they trusted Biden, compared to 43% tho trusted Trump to handle to the coronavirus crisis.
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- New York broke its record for the highest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third consecutive day. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing that 799 New Yorkers died of the virus yesterday, bringing the state’s cumulative death toll to 7,067.
- Another 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week. More than 16 million Americans have submitted unemployment claims in the past three weeks as the coronavirus pandemic devastates the US economy.
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British prime minister Boris Johnson was moved out of the intensive care unit. Downing Street said Johnson is in “extremely good spirits” and remains in the hospital as he recovers from coronavirus.
- Trump reportedly intends to announce the formation of a second coronavirus task force. The task force will be working on trying to reopen the economy by the end of April, which could create tension with the White House’s health experts, who have warned of a potential resurgence in coronavirus cases if social distancing restrictions are relaxed too quickly.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Senior White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the US economy may be reopened on a “rolling basis.”
“The next month or two, we should be able to restart at least on a rolling basis,” Kudlowtold Fox Business. “Our intent here was, is to try to relieve people of the enormous difficult hardships they are suffering through no fault of their own.”
Trump reportedly intends to form a second coronavirus task force with an eye on reopening the economy by the end of April, which could create tension with the White House’s health experts, who have warned against easing social distancing restrictions too quickly.
The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports on the latest from California:
While cases in California continue to rise, data is revealing promising points. For the first time in his daily press conferences, governor Gavin Newsom said, he could report that the number of patients admitted to ICUs dropped by 1.9%.
He cautioned, however, that a modest, one-day drop could be a statistical blip. Hospitalizations ticked up 4.1% over the past 24 hours, to 2,825 patients.
The racial disparities in deaths and Covid-19 cases that have surfaced in other states like Louisiana have so far not played out in California. While the data remains incomplete, with just over half of cases broken down by race, the trends so far track roughly with the demographics of the state’s population.
While the governor offered optimism and hope, he warned that the worst may be yet to come.
“The peak we projected is different from the one advertised by academics in other states,” he said. “Within California, we believe the peak extends into May, not in the next week or two.”
The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports on the latest from California:
In California, where coronavirus cases have topped 18,300, officials are offering relief to frontline workers in the form of hotel rooms for free or at “deep discount” rates to provide lodging if they’ve been exposed to the virus and don’t want to return home, governor Gavin Newsom said at an afternoon press conference.
We need to do better for our healthcare heroes. Too many are nervous about infecting a loved one. Or working long hours & driving home with little sleep.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 9, 2020
Starting tomorrow, CA will provide healthcare workers with hotel rooms at no-or low-cost & free flights for our Health Corps.
United, Southwest, Alaska and Delta airlines have additionally promised to cover travel costs for healthcare professionals working on the front lines.
“Those are the four airlines that have met this moment”, Newsom said.
The governor also responded to fear expressed by Californians who said the state was giving away its precious stockpile of equipment to other states like New York and New Jersey. For the moment, there’s enough to share, he said: California has 8,000 ventilators, about 32 percent of its stash, within its hospital system that aren’t currently being used.
“We thought it was the right thing to do, but also the responsible thing to do as American citizens to save lives”, Newsom said of the effort to assist other states. After states use ventilators, they have agreed to send them back to California.
Over the past month officials in California have cobbled together a healthy supply of ventilators, boosting its stash from 7,500 ventilators a month ago to the 11,750 it currently has.
Trump lashed out against the Wall Street Journal after the newspaper published a critical editorial about his daily briefings on the government’s response to coronavirus.
“The Wall Street Journal always ‘forgets’ to mention that the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are ‘through the roof,’” Trump wrote in a tweet, dismissing the newspaper as “Fake News.”
Trump’s tweet came about an hour after Fox News ran a segment on the editorial, which expressed disappointment that the daily White House briefings had become “all about the President.”
“The briefings began as a good idea to educate the public about the dangers of the virus, how Americans should change their behavior, and what the government is doing to combat it,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote.
“But sometime in the last three weeks Mr. Trump seems to have concluded that the briefings could be a showcase for him. Perhaps they substitute in his mind for the campaign rallies he can no longer hold because of the risks. Perhaps he resented the media adulation that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been receiving for his daily show. Whatever the reason, the briefings are now all about the President.”
The White House distributed a fact sheet on coronavirus to reporters, who will now be tested for the virus before attending the daily briefing.
The White House also said that it would only alert reporters of their results if a test came back positive.
WH doctors handed me this fact sheet before performing the coronavirus test. I was told I will only hear back if it comes back positive. pic.twitter.com/kvaZledHWa
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) April 9, 2020
The White House press office announced today that it would start administering rapid coronavirus tests to reporters after one journalist, who was last at the White House on Tuesday, started developing symptoms.
Updated
Bernie Sanders’ campaign will continue providing health care coverage for its employees through the end of October, even though the Vermont senator suspended his presidential bid yesterday.
Thanks to the leadership of @AriRabinHavt @fshakir and a boss who believes healthcare is a right, team @BernieSanders alums are getting fully paid cobra coverage through end of October. We can keep fighting for people we don’t know.
— melissa CANCEL ALL STUDENT DEBT NOW byrne (@mcbyrne) April 9, 2020
In comparison, former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is facing two lawsuits after he dismissed staffers eight months earlier than promised.
One lawsuit accused Bloomberg of having “deprived [staffers] of promised income and health care benefits, leaving them and their families potentially uninsured in the face of a global pandemic.”
Updated
Joe Biden has released a new plan to “help ease the economic burden on working people” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The presumptive Democratic nominee proposed lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 and forgive student debt from public universities for those making less than $125,000.
“I believe that as we are being plunged into what is likely to be one of the most volatile and difficult economic times in this country’s recent history, we can take these critical steps to help make it easier for working people to make ends meet,” Biden wrote in a Medium post detailing the plan.
The former vice president specifically credited Bernie Sanders, who dropped out of the race yesterday, for helping to bring these proposals forward.
“Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I’m proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis,” Biden wrote.
After Sanders announced his decision to suspend his campaign yesterday, Biden made a pitch to his supporters, pledging to address their priorities in his campaign. The effort reflects Biden’s need to unify the party and win over Sanders’ supporters in order to defeat Trump in November.
Trump celebrated the news that Boris Johnson has been moved out of the intensive care unit, wishing the British prime minister a speedy recovery.
Great News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just been moved out of Intensive Care. Get well Boris!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2020
The White House said it would start administering coronavirus tests to reporters attending the daily briefing after one journalist who was recently at the White House started showing symptoms.
The White House Correspondents’ Association said the affected reporter was last at the White House on Tuesday, and the person’s test results are expected later today.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the White House Medical Unit is going to conduct a COVID-19 test on all members of the press who plan to participate in today’s task force briefing, including correspondents, photographers, and technicians,” the White House press office said in a statement.
The White House announced last week that anyone seeing Trump or Vice President Mike Pence would take a rapid coronavirus test to prevent them from catching it.
Boris Johnson moved out of ICU
Boris Johnson has been moved out of the intensive care unit, as the British prime minister continues to recover from coronavirus.
Downing Street said in a statement, “The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits.”
For more updates, follow the Guardian’s UK coronavirus blog:
Updated
Mass summary deportations at US-Mexico border - report
The Trump administration has carried out nearly 10,000 summary deportations or “expulsions” since March 21, using emergency public health measures that have given US Customs and Border Protection broad authority to bypass immigration laws, CBP officials said Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
The measures have allowed the agency to turn away most unauthorized migrants, sending them back across the Mexican border. The moves have dramatically slashed the number of detainees held in border stations, where they fear the coronavirus could spread, the officials said. CBP currently has fewer than 100 detainees in custody, down from nearly 20,000 at this time last year during last year’s border crisis, officials said.
Since the implementation of the rapid expulsions, unlawful border crossings have dropped 56 percent, said acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan. Morgan also acknowledged that the United States has all but closed its borders to asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution, including those who attempt to enter legally at US ports of entry.
“Those who are undocumented or don’t have documents or authorization are turned away,” Morgan said.
Democratic lawmakers have accused the administration of defying U.S. laws and exceeding the authority of the coronavirus public health order, but Morgan defended the emergency measures as a necessary step to stop the spread of the disease.
Congressman Neal Dunn has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the second members of Florida’s congressional delegation to contract the virus.
Dunn’s office said in a statement that he was not feeling well on Monday and received a coronavirus test, which just came back positive.
“Congressman Dunn is feeling great and currently quarantining himself at home per CDC guidelines and working on Phase IV of the Administration’s response to this pandemic,” his office said in a statement. “He expects a full recovery soon.”
Dunn’s diagnosis comes about a month after fellow Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart became one of the first two members of Congress to test positive for coronavirus.
Updated
The first lady’s office created a video urging Americans to wear face coverings in places where social distancing is difficult, such as grocery stores and pharmaries.
As the CDC continues to study the spread of the COVID-19, they recommend people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures can be difficult to maintain. Remember, this does not replace the importance of social distancing. pic.twitter.com/eF3o33CUVS
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 9, 2020
“Remember, this does not replace the importance of social distancing,” Melania Trump says in the video. “It is another recommended guideline to keep us all safe.”
The CDC has recommended that Americans wear face coverings to help limit the spread of the virus, and some cities like Los Angeles have ordered residents to use them.
The coronavirus pandemic has created some surreal scenes on Capitol Hill, reflected in these photos showing reporters questioning Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell while practicing social distancing and wearing masks:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters in masks from a safe distance away as the nation practices social distancing measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. https://t.co/hE8XBwZAf5 pic.twitter.com/yxHAArWm8O
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 9, 2020
Less than three months ago, reporters were crowding around senators to question them about the impeachment trial, but those frantic huddles have become dangerous in the age of coronavirus:
Impeachment coverage looks rad pic.twitter.com/FvBi94JjCv
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) January 31, 2020
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- New York broke its record for the largest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third day in a row. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing that 799 New Yorkers died from the virus yesterday, bringing the state’s total death toll to 7,067.
- Another 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to the labor department’s latest report. More than 16 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in the past three weeks.
- Mike Pence’s office is blocking health experts from appearing on CNN in an effort to pressure the network to broadcast the daily White House briefing in full. CNN has only been carrying Trump’s portion of the briefing live before cutting to analysis and fact-checking of the president’s comments, which have frequently included falsehoods.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Nearly 50 emergency room doctors from New York City’s public hospitals have written an open letter to residents, urging people not to “cut corners,” when physical distancing, hand-washing and self-isolating.
“Every day, our emergency departments are overflowing with patients newly infected with COVID-19, many starving for oxygen and on the brink of death,” the doctors wrote. “Many are older, but some are young. Many have pre-existing medical problems, but some do not.
While we’re constantly searching for new treatments and better ways to care for our patients, too many are dying despite our best efforts. These patients are also our friends, families, and colleagues,” said the letter.
The bullet point letter repeated many of the public health messages of recent days. The disease is more contagious than previously thought, mimics the flu, can be spread asymptomatically, for example. It urged people to wash their hands, to assume they have Covid-19 if they show any symptoms at all, however mild, and to isolate from family members.
Millions of people are already taking these measures – but not diligently enough to stop the surge of patients coming to emergency rooms.
“Many of you have taken the steps above to protect yourself and others and we thank you. You are literally saving lives. But many of you have not – or continue to cut corners. This virus does not respect what we do ‘most of the time,’” the doctors wrote.
“Fellow New Yorkers, we need to do more!”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for trying to pass a coronavirus relief bill without holding a vote.
In consultation with the Trump administration, McConnell tried to get the bill, which would have allocated $250 billion in additional funds, approved by unanimous consent.
But Democratic senators objected to the proposal, calling for an extra $250 billion for hospitals and state and local governments. The bill was not able to pass, and senators won’t have a chance to take it up again until the pro forma session on Monday.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy called the Democrats’ objection “disgusting,” but Pelosi said the fault lied with McConnell for not conferring with Democrats about the bill.
Pelosi said treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin had “asked for a quarter of a trillion dollars in 48 hours with no data,” and McConnell had honored that request. The House speaker dismissed McConnell’s efforts today as a political “stunt” and called for more bipartisan deliberations over the timing and content of the bill.
Cuomo says Covid-19 worse for NY economy than 9/11
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in his daily briefing, just said that the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the New York economy are expected to be “more devastating” than the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “by far”.
New York state is bracing for a hit to its revenues of between $10 billion and $15 billion, with the focus being on the business ghost town that currently is New York City - the city that never sleeps, the crossroads of the world, etc - which is eerily still with non-essential businesses closed and folks on ‘stay home’ orders.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo expressed cautious optimism about signs that the state is flattening the curve of coronavirus cases.
Cuomo warns New Yorkers to not relax their social distancing measures, even after some encouraging coronavirus numbers: "We can't handle the worst-case scenarios. We can't even handle the moderate-case scenarios." https://t.co/vSwcu9K40f pic.twitter.com/fGGQSl1TJK
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 9, 2020
However, the governor warned that the state’s progress could be undone if social distancing practices are relaxed too quickly.
“Remember, the 1918 Spanish flu came in three waves,” Cuomo said. “We’re on the first wave. Everybody is assuming, well, once we get through this, we’re done. I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that. This virus has been ahead of us from day one.”
New York again breaks record for largest single-day death toll
New York broke its record for the largest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third consecutive day, governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing.
New York recorded 799 deaths from coronavirus yesterday, bringing the state’s total death toll to 7,067. New York has lost about the same number of people to coronavirus as the UK.
Cuomo said the state would be bringing in additional funeral directors to help deal with the surge of deaths.
As the state mourns the loss of several thousand New Yorkers, there are also signs that social distancing is flattening the curve.
Yesterday, the state recorded the lowest number of new hospitalizations since the crisis started. The number of ICU admissions and intubations are also down.
“We are saving lives by what we are doing today,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo holds daily briefing
New York governor Andrew Cuomo is holding his daily briefing on the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
The governor noted it has been 18 days since the state’s “stay at home” order went into effect, even though it may feel like “a lifetime” ago.
Cuomo also said hospitalizations in New York are currently lower than many projections initially predicted, applauding healthcare professionals and other first responders for their work.
“We’re flattening the curve so far,” Cuomo said of social distancing measures, emphasizing that New Yorkers cannot get complacent now.
The Guardian’s David Smith and Emily Holden report:
Faced with not one but two crises – public health and economic – Trump and his allies are advancing their agenda, whether in plain sight as a direct response to the pandemic, or under cover while the nation is deeply distracted.
Trump touts his wall on the Mexican border almost daily and emphasizes national borders, even though the coronavirus paid them no heed. He has attacked voting rights, assailed federal watchdogs, shredded regulations and signed a bill that hands billions of dollars to corporations while resisting congressional oversight.
“Most Americans are not tracking these at all,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “The crisis has created a blizzard condition in which information and criticism is not breaking through. It’s a perfect storm for Trump to push his agenda. You can hear ideologues saying: this is our moment, do not delay.”
Just as George W Bush’s administration exploited 9/11 to expand government powers and threaten civil liberties such as freedom of speech and due process, Trump’s White House scents political opportunity in a national crisis.
Pence's office blocks CNN from access to health experts
The office of Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus task force, has blocked CNN from access to health experts in an effort to pressure the network to carry the full daily White House briefing.
CNN reports:
Pence’s office has declined to allow the nation’s top health officials to appear on CNN in recent days and discuss the coronavirus pandemic killing thousands of Americans, in an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House’s lengthy daily briefings in full.
Pence’s office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members.
CNN often only broadcasts President Donald Trump’s question and answer session, which sometimes includes the health care officials, live on-air.
After Trump leaves the podium, CNN frequently cuts out of the White House briefing to discuss and fact-check what the President had said. A CNN executive said that the network usually returns to such programming because of the extensive length of the full briefing that includes Pence, which can run in excess of two hours.
Many news organizations, including the Guardian, have taken to fact-checking the president’s briefings in real time, after Trump repeatedly made misstatements about the federal government’s response to coronavirus.
Updated
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
Georgia is moving its presidential primary for a second time. The state’s presidential primary contest election, originally scheduled for March 24 is being pushed back from May 19 to June 9.
All of the state’s other statewide contests, which include partisan primaries and judicial races, are being moved to the June date, Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement.
Raffensperger noted the decision came after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp extended a state of emergency in the state to May 13, which would cover almost every day of in-person voting allowed for the May 19 contest, Raffensperger noted.
The secretary of state said, “This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials, and poll workers.”
Raffensperger previously began mailing applications for absentee ballots to 6.9 active registered voters in the state. He said Thursday that applications would continue to be accepted for the June 9 primary, even if the voter had requested it for the contest on May 19.
Raffensperger faced criticism for his efforts to facilitate vote by mail from Georgia House Speaker David Ralston. He said efforts to make it easier to vote by mail “will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia.” After the comments, Raffensperger announced he was setting up a task force to watch against voter fraud with mail-in ballots.
The Senate failed to pass a bill allocating an additional $250 billion to the small business loan program created by last month’s stimulus package.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but Senate Democrats objected because they are calling for an extra $250 billion for hospitals and state and local governments.
McConnell objected to Democrats’ proposed amendement to the bill, making it impossible to pass the bill by unanimous consent.
The Senate has now adjourned until Monday, when McConnell will have another chance to push the bill through as businessowners fear the program will soon run out of funds.
Joe Biden holds a 4-point lead over Trump in a new national poll, which comes a day after Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign.
According to the Monmouth University poll, Biden attracts the support of 48% of registered voters, while Trump stands at 44%. The result is similar to Biden’s 3-point lead over Trump in a poll released last month.
With Sanders dropping our of the race, such head-to-head polls between Trump and Biden have taken on a heightened level of significance as America looks ahead to the general election in November.
However, national polls do not reflect the state-by-state nature of presidential elections. Hillary Clinton famously won the popular vote in 2016 but lost the electoral college, handing Trump a victory.
Wisconsin continues to count ballots after its chaotic primary on Tuesday, which was disrupted by long lines and fears of spreading coronavirus at polling sites.
More than a million absentee ballots have been returned, but the question remains whether turnout overall decreased due to people avoiding in-person voting.
today's WI election update:
— Craig Gilbert (@WisVoter) April 9, 2020
1.042,690 absentee ballots returned out of 1,290,253 requested.
ballots postmarked by election day will still be counted until Monday.
the big turnout "unknown" remains how many people voted on election day.
we'll find out Monday after 4 pm
Some Wisconsin voters said they never received their absentee ballots, which left them with an undesirable choice between not voting at all and risking their health by voting in person.
A Wisconsin state senator said yesterday that one post office found three large tubs of unsent absentee ballots the day after the primary.
I learned today that the WEC received a call from a postal service worker informing them 3 large tubs of absentee ballots from Oshkosh and Appleton, were just located.
— Sen. Dan Feyen (@SenDanFeyen) April 8, 2020
I understand your frustration and am working hard to try to remedy the situation.
Senate Democrats are introducing their own coronavirus relief bill in an effort to get more funds for hospitals and state and local governments.
In consultation with the Trump administration, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is trying to quickly pass a bill allocating an addition $250 billion to the small business loan program created by the stimulus package. The program was originally given $350 billion, but that money appears to be rapidly dwindling.
Two Democratic senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, are now introducing their own bill to give additional funds to hospitals and state and local governments, as well as the small business loan program.
But the conflict is unlikely to produce anything other than a messaging war, considering Republicans control the Senate and can push through their smaller bill, which Democrats are unlikely to oppose.
When acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly traveled to Guam to criticize Captain Brett Crozier to his former crew members, it cost taxpayers approximately $243,000, according to a new report.
Modly resigned earlier this week amid an uproar over his comments about Crozier, who raised concerns about the spread of coronavirus on his ship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Crozier was later removed from his post.
Modly said that Crozier was either “too naive or too stupid” to command the ship if he did not think his letter expressing alarm would be made public. The acting secretary resigned a day after his comments came to light.
USA Today reports:
Modly flew aboard the C-37B, a Gulfstream business jet modified for military use. The per-hour cost of flying it is $6,946.19 per hour, according to the Navy official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Flight time for the Guam trip was about 35 hours for a cost of $243,116.65.
Another 6.6 million Americans file for unemployment benefits
The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and Michael Sainato report:
More than 6.6 million Americans lost their jobs last week with 16 million jobs gone in the last three weeks as the coronavirus pandemic brought the US economy to a standstill, the US labor department confirmed on Thursday.
Millions of Americans filed for unemployment benefits again last week as shutdowns across the US led employers to lay off workers in nearly every corner of the job market. Economists had expected 5.25 million Americans to file for unemployment benefits for the week ending 4 April.
In the previous two weeks the shutdowns cost close to 10 million people their jobs. Layoffs that started in the restaurant and leisure industries have now spread to include manufacturing, construction and even healthcare. Job losses are rising in every state and economists are predicting the unemployment rate will soon reach 15% or higher, levels unseen since before the second world war.
The largest increases were in California (up 871,992), New York (up 286,596), Michigan (up 176,329) and Florida (up 154,171).
But while the numbers are stark, economists cautioned it was too early to say what the long-term impact of Covid-19 will be on the economy.
“These figures don’t reflect a lack of demand,” said Dean Baker, visiting professor and senior economist at the University of Utah. During the last recession in 2008 unemployment reached close to 10% as the economy fell into recession. “That wasn’t in our control. This is literally in our control,” said Baker. “We are deliberately shutting down the economy.”
Trump plans second coronavirus taskforce – reports
Trump is reportedly planning to form a second coronavirus task force focused on reopening the US economy.
The Washington Post reports:
The taskforce will be made up of a mix of private-sector and top administration officials, including chief of staff Mark Meadows – whose first official day on the job was last week – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and national economic adviser Larry Kudlow, a senior administration official said.
Meadows is likely to lead the taskforce, though no official decision has been made, two senior administration officials said ...
The economic taskforce — which will be separate from the main coronavirus taskforce, despite having some overlapping members – will focus on how to reopen the country, as well as what businesses need to rebound amid catastrophic conditions. The goal is to get as much of the country as possible open by 30 April, the current deadline Trump set for stringent social distancing measures.
News of the second taskforce – and the late April deadline – comes as health experts like Dr Anthony Fauci urge caution in declaring the virus to be defeated as encouraging signs indicate the US is starting to flatten the curve of cases.
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Health experts urge caution on declaring flattening of the curve
Good morning, live blog readers.
There have been some promising signs in recent days that the US is starting to flatten the curve of its number of coronavirus cases, even as the death toll continues to climb.
New York, the state with the most coronavirus cases, is seeing a decline in the rate of hospitalizations, and a frequently cited model decreased its projected number of overall deaths in the country to 60,000.
At the daily White House briefing yesterday, Donald Trump sounded bullish on the perspective of soon reopening the economy, as reports indicate that he hopes to be able to relax physical distancing restrictions by the end of April.
“Aspirationally, I said let’s see if we can do it at Easter, but I said it would be very tough, and I was criticised for that,” Trump said. “But I don’t think we’re going to be very far behind and some of these models are looking like Easter’s going to be a very important date anyway because of the curve. It’s hitting the top and it’s starting to come down.”
But this morning, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, was hesitant to say that New York has flattened the curve, emphasizing that several days’ data will be needed.
Is the curve flattening in New York? @savannahguthrie asks Dr. Anthony Fauci. pic.twitter.com/UWEyLWFarz
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 9, 2020
“I don’t want to junmp the gun on that,” Fauci said when asked whether New York had flattened the curve. “But I think that is the case.”
He added, “I’m always very cautious about jumping the gun and saying, ‘Well, we have turned the corner.’ But I think we are really looking at the beginning of that, which would really be very encouraging. We need that right now.”
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