First Edition: April 24, 2020
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Anti-Vaccine Activists Latch Onto Coronavirus To Bolster Their Movement
While most of the world hungers for a vaccine to put an end to the death and economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, some anti-vaccine groups are joining with anti-lockdown protesters to challenge restrictions aimed at protecting public health. Vaccine critics suffered serious setbacks in the past year, as states strengthened immunization laws in response to measles outbreaks sparked by vaccine refusers. California tightened its vaccine requirements last fall despite protests during which anti-vaccine activists threw blood on state senators, assaulted the vaccine bill’s sponsor and shut down the legislature. (Szabo, 4/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Born Into A Pandemic: Virus Complicates Births For Moms And Babies
Mallory Pease’s contractions grew stronger as her husband, Mitchell, drove her to Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan, to give birth to their second child. It had been a routine pregnancy, but she told her doctor she’d recently developed a sore throat, aches, coughing and shortness of breath — symptoms her provider knew could indicate COVID-19. So, when she arrived at the hospital, she was taken to an isolation area, tested for the coronavirus and given oxygen. She took shallow, panting breaths as she delivered her daughter on March 23 in about five hours. (Aleccia and Ungar, 4/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Vaping, Opioid Addiction Accelerate Coronavirus Risks, Says NIDA Director
In 2018, opioid overdoses claimed about 47,000 American lives. Last year, federal authorities reported that 5.4 million middle and high school students vaped. And just two months ago, about 2,800 cases of vaping-associated lung injuries resulted in hospitalizations; 68 people died. Until mid-March, these numbers commanded attention. But as the coronavirus death toll climbs and the economic costs of attempting to control its spread wreak havoc, the public health focus is now dramatically different. (Luthra, 4/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Seniors With COVID-19 Show Unusual Symptoms, Doctors Say
Older adults with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, have several “atypical” symptoms, complicating efforts to ensure they get timely and appropriate treatment, according to physicians. COVID-19 is typically signaled by three symptoms: a fever, an insistent cough and shortness of breath. But older adults — the age group most at risk of severe complications or death from this condition ― may have none of these characteristics. (Graham, 4/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Abbott’s Fast COVID Test Poses Safety Issues, Lab Workers Say
Lab personnel say worries are mounting over the safety of a rapid coronavirus test by Abbott Laboratories that President Donald Trump has repeatedly lauded ― particularly, the risk of infection to those handling it. Trump and federal health officials have promoted the ease with which the Abbott test can be given to patients, whether at a drive-thru site or a doctor’s office. Another selling point: The test could “save personal protective equipment (PPE),” according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (Pradhan, 4/23)
Kaiser Health News:
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Whom Do We Trust For COVID Info?
Congress is approving still more money to address the health and economic fallout of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. But the pandemic rages on ― claiming a disproportionate number of lives among staff and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, and jeopardizing the lives and livelihoods of health care providers and patients alike with problems not related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. And the messaging from the White House is getting even more confusing as President Donald Trump and his science advisers seem to have different playbooks. (4/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Nears 50,000
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic neared 50,000 as Congress approved fresh relief funds for small businesses hit by lockdowns that have forced millions of Americans out of work. Confirmed coronavirus cases world-wide Friday exceeded 2.7 million, with more than 190,000 dead, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. accounted for nearly a third of the cases, exceeding 869,000, and more than a quarter of the deaths, at 49,963, according to Johns Hopkins. (Craymer, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
California Daily Death Toll Reaches Record High
The daily coronavirus death toll in California reached a new high as New York state revealed results of a study suggesting that more than 1 in 5 people in New York City may have been infected. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said 115 people died from complications from the virus Wednesday, the state’s deadliest day since the pandemic began. (Ansari, De Avila and Norman, 4/23)
The New York Times:
Trump Asks If Sunlight Can Kill Viruses. ‘Not As A Treatment,’ Birx Says.
President Trump has long pinned his hopes on the powers of sunlight to defeat the Covid-19 virus. On Thursday, he returned to that theme at the daily White House coronavirus briefing, bringing in a top administration scientist to back up his assertions and eagerly theorizing — dangerously, in the view of some experts — about the powers of sunlight, ultraviolet light and household disinfectants to kill the coronavirus. After the scientist, William N. Bryan, the head of science at the Department of Homeland Security, told the briefing that the government had tested how sunlight and disinfectants — including bleach and alcohol — can kill the coronavirus on surfaces in as little as 30 seconds, an excited Mr. Trump returned to the lectern. (Broad and Levin, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Trump Showcases Idea Heat, Humidity Could Help Fight Virus
The White House is pitching “emerging” research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of the coronavirus as President Donald Trump encourages states to move to reopen their economies. Past studies have not found good evidence that the warmer temperatures and higher humidity of spring and summer will help tamp down the spread of the virus. But William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing Thursday that there are “emerging results” from new research that suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air. (Freking, 4/24)
Reuters:
Sunlight, Heat And Humidity Weaken Coronavirus, U.S. Official Says
The findings could bolster hopes that the coronavirus will mimic the behavior of other respiratory diseases like influenza, which typically are less contagious in warm weather. But the coronavirus has also proven lethal in warm-weather places like Singapore, raising broader questions about the impact of environmental factors. President Donald Trump said the findings should be interpreted cautiously, but also claimed vindication for previously suggesting that the coronavirus might recede in summer. “I once mentioned that maybe it does go away with heat and light. And people didn’t like that statement that much,” he said at the briefing. (Holland and Sullivan, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
White House Touts Lab Study Showing Coronavirus Vulnerability To Summer Weather
The weather is no panacea when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, considering that warm states, such as Georgia and Florida, already are seeing significant outbreaks, as are warm and humid countries, including Singapore. Even if the virus were to wane during the summer, a dreaded second wave would still be likely in the fall, as has happened with past pandemic flu outbreaks. Earlier this month, a panel convened by the National Academies of Sciences reported to the White House that the pandemic is unlikely to wane substantially with the arrival of summer, though there are many uncertainties remaining. The new lab study, which is directed toward the same NAS group and the White House science adviser, may help reduce some of those uncertainties. (Freedman and Samenow, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
Trump Rebuked By Doctors After Asking If Disinfectants Can Be Injected To Kill Coronavirus In People
After a presentation Thursday that touched on the disinfectants that can kill the novel coronavirus on surfaces and in the air, President Trump pondered whether those chemicals could be used to fight the virus inside the human body. “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” (Chiu and Shepherd, 4/24)
CNN:
Sunlight And Bleach Might Kill The Coronavirus On A Park Bench, But They Can Be Harmful To The Body
Sunlight and bleach can both kill the new coronavirus, a federal official told the daily White House briefing Thursday. But President Trump turned what should have been a simple scientific summary into a puzzling stream of dangerous ideas about somehow streaming light into the body and suggestions about injecting disinfectants. (Fox, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Doctors Struggle To Stay True To Science But Not Cross Trump
It’s becoming a kind of daily ritual: President Donald Trump and a phalanx of doctors file into the White House briefing room each evening to discuss the coronavirus, producing a display of rhetorical contortions as the medical officials try to stay true to the science without crossing the president. The result can be a bewildering scene for Americans trying to understand how best to protect themselves from the virus. (Riechmann, Madhani and Lemire, 4/24)
Stat:
Why Was A Bureaucrat Part Of Trump's Hydroxychloroquine Authorization?
Rick Bright, an otherwise unknown federal bureaucrat, burst onto the political stage this week with allegations that the Trump White House put politics ahead of science to advance an untested malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment — explosive claims that beg the question: Why was Bright involved in decisions about the drug at all? (Florko, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: Few Americans Trust Trump's Info On Pandemic
President Donald Trump has made himself the daily spokesman for the nation’s coronavirus response. Yet few Americans regularly look to or trust Trump as a source of information on the pandemic, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 28% of Americans say they’re regularly getting information from Trump about the coronavirus and only 23% say they have high levels of trust in what the president is telling the public. Another 21% trust him a moderate amount. (Pace and Fingerhut, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Coronavirus Shakes The Conceit Of ‘American Exceptionalism’
What if the real “invisible enemy” is the enemy from within — America’s very institutions? When the coronavirus pandemic came from distant lands to the United States, it was met with cascading failures and incompetencies by a system that exists to prepare, protect, prevent and cut citizens a check in a national crisis. The molecular menace posed by the new coronavirus has shaken the conceit of “American exceptionalism” like nothing big enough to see with your own eyes. (Woodward, 4/24)
The New York Times:
‘I Wasn’t Happy With Brian Kemp,’ Trump Says
When Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia announced this week that he would soon allow restaurants, barbershops and other businesses to reopen, the Republican governor’s plan seemed in tune with a president who had openly encouraged protesters of social distancing restrictions. And the president did seem pleased. On Tuesday night, Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump, in separate phone calls, each expressed his support for the governor’s coronavirus response, said an official familiar with the calls who was unauthorized to speak about the matter. (Fausset and Rojas, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
Mixed Messages And Martial Metaphors: Trump Sows Confusion On Coronavirus About How To Reopen The Country
Trump has issued contradictory advice to Americans and contradictory or inchoate directives to governors, mayors, Congress and the scientists who flank him at daily news briefings intended to showcase his leadership. Much of the confusion surrounds when and how to lift safety restrictions that have closed businesses, schools, parks and casinos as a means of slowing transmission of a virus that has killed nearly 50,000 Americans. On Thursday, the day before barbershops, nail salons and other businesses were to reopen in Georgia over Trump’s objection and against the advice of the task force he empowered to guide the national response, Trump spoke glowingly about states that are reopening. (Gearan, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
‘Complete Disbelief’: Governors Blindside Front-Line Staff With Abrupt Reopening Plans
Governors preparing to roll back restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus are in some cases acting without the input and against the wishes of their own medical and emergency management staff. Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, announced he would let tattoo parlors, hair salons and bowling alleys reopen without receiving guidance from the panel of doctors tapped to advise him and without giving advance notice to regional health departments responsible for carrying out his orders, according to physicians and state officials. (Stanley-Becker and Weiner, 4/23)
NPR:
Coronavirus Latest: Georgia Reopens Despite Not Meeting White House Benchmarks
Georgia's confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths from COVID-19 are still steadily rising, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which happens to be based in Atlanta) describes community spread coronavirus as "widespread" in the state. That goes against all the principles laid out in the guidelines. Measured against other states, Georgia is nowhere near the bottom for cases — it has actually had the 12th most over the past three weeks. (Montanaro, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
When Is It Safe To Go Back To Normal? States Weigh Benchmarks.
The Trump administration laid out a three-phase plan for reopening the country, and states such as Georgia, Texas and Ohio have moved to loosen restrictions. But lifting lockdowns too early will bring the coronavirus roaring back, health experts say. The country still lacks a number of measures that must be in place before it is safe to go back to some new version of normal, experts say. These include enough testing to identify new cases quickly, an army of public-health workers to find and help those who have come into contact with the new cases, and places to quarantine new cases to choke off nascent outbreaks as restrictions lift. (McKay and Abbott, 4/23)
Reuters:
U.S. States Test Safety Of Reopening As Pandemic Pushes Jobless Claims Higher
An array of U.S. merchants in Georgia and other states prepared on Thursday to reopen for the first time in a month under newly relaxed coronavirus restrictions, as another week of massive unemployment claims highlighted the grim economic toll of the pandemic. (McKay, 4/23)
The Associated Press:
'Republicans Are Nervous': Some In GOP Eye Protests Warily
The latest demonstration by right-wing groups against measures to contain the coronavirus will be held Friday in Wisconsin, where hundreds, and possibly thousands of people plan to descend on the state Capitol to protest the Democratic governor’s stay-home ordinance. It’s expected to be among the biggest of the protests that have popped up around the U.S. in recent days. But as with some earlier events, one group will be noticeably absent: the state’s most prominent Republicans. (Bauer and Burnett, 4/24)
Politico:
How A Tea Party-Linked Group Plans To Turbocharge Lockdown Protests
The Convention of States, an activist network with tea party origins, did not originate the coronavirus lockdown protests across the country. But it’s got a plan to take them to the next level. Publicly, the group claims no affiliation with the organizers agitating for state governments to lift social-distancing measures. Yet behind the scenes and on their social media channels, the group’s leaders have made no secret of their desire to boost the protests, if not elevate them to a bigger, more professionalized and media-friendly network with a more broadly appealing message. (4/24)
The Associated Press:
Republicans Leap To Reopen Economy; Democrats More Cautious
Announcing plans to begin reopening his state, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster cited the ongoing economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. “South Carolina’s business is business,” he declared this week as he lifted restrictions on department stores, florists, music shops and some other businesses that previously had been deemed nonessential. (Kinnard, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Swing-State Republicans Pin Virus Fallout On Democrats
With legions out of work, Republicans across the critical battleground states are trying to lay blame for the economic wreckage of the coronavirus outbreak on Democratic governors, ramping up a political strategy that is likely to shape the debate in the run-up to the presidential election. In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — all three swing states with Democrats in charge — state Republican lawmakers, after an initial detente, have grown fiercely critical of the stay-at-home orders or business shutdowns imposed by governors to limit the spread of the coronavirus, casting them as the work of overzealous, nanny-state Democrats. (Levy, 4/24)
The Washington Post:
As Protesters Swarm State Capitols, Much Of The Coronavirus Backlash Is Coming From Within
With hundreds arrayed before him, standing shoulder to shoulder, the retired Army colonel vented his fury from the steps of Pennsylvania’s capitol building. The governor’s orders to shut down businesses in the face of a pandemic, he railed to a crowd of protesters this week, amounted to “tyranny.” He had battled overseas to defend freedom. Now, with the governor telling healthy people like him to stay home — “What the heck is going on here? I’m not sick!” — the fight had come to America’s shores. (Witte, 4/23)
NPR:
Poll Finds Large Majority Of Americans Support COVID-19 Shutdown
A majority of Americans — 8 in 10 — say strict shelter-in-place guidelines are worth it, to keep people safe from COVID-19 and control the spread of the virus, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. The same percentage, of around 80% of Americans, also say they can follow the restrictions for at least one more month. Only around 20% of Americans say the broad shelter-in-place measures are an unnecessary burden that is "causing more harm than good," the Kaiser Family Foundation reports. (Chappell, 4/23)
Stat:
New Data On Gilead’s Remdesivir, Released By Accident, Show No Benefit For Coronavirus Patients. Company Still Sees Reason For Hope
The antiviral medicine remdesivir from Gilead Sciences failed to speed the improvement of patients with Covid-19 or prevent them from dying, according to results from a long-awaited clinical trial conducted in China. Gilead, however, said the data suggest a “potential benefit.” A summary of the study results was inadvertently posted to the website of the World Health Organization and seen by STAT on Thursday, but then removed. (Silverman, Feuerstein and Herper, 4/23)
Politico:
WHO Data Leak Shows No Benefit From Gilead Coronavirus Drug
The draft documents posted to the WHO website — and then quickly removed — suggest that the drug did not help patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial in China, and caused significant side effects in several people that led them to end treatment. More participants who received remdesivir died compared to those in the control group, although the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Gilead thinks the results were mischaracterized because the study ended early due to low enrollment, spokesperson Sonia Choi said. "As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease." (Owermohle, 4/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Lilly To Start Testing Experimental Drug In Coronavirus Patients Soon
Drugmaker Eli Lilly said it expects to begin human testing as soon as next month for an experimental Covid-19 treatment that uses antibodies derived from the blood of people who have recovered from the viral disease. The testing could yield results by late summer and, if successful, potential emergency authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by early fall, Lilly Chief Executive David Ricks said in an interview Thursday. (Loftus and Walker, 4/23)
Roll Call:
COVID-19 Vaccine Development Raises Numerous Questions
As scientists race to find a COVID-19 vaccine, policymakers and regulators face challenging questions including how to balance efficacy demands with a tight timeline, plans to pay for a potential vaccine and the best way to distribute it. Public health experts have indicated that a COVID-19 vaccine, which will take at least a year to 18 months to develop, is important for a return to normalcy. Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced an initiative to increase collaborative efforts to develop a vaccine and treatments for the COVID-19 pandemic. (Raman, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
Feds Make $631 Million Available To States To Pay For Coronavirus Testing, Contact Tracing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it is sending $631 million to state and local health departments to increase their capacity to do contact tracing and testing for the novel coronavirus — a fraction of what many officials say they need to safely restart their economies. State and local health officials are also pressing to use this moment to build back up public health capacities that they say have been insufficient for years. (Wan, 4/23)
The Hill:
Trump Says He Disagrees With Fauci On Testing Capabilities
President Trump said Thursday he disagreed with Anthony Fauci’s statement that the U.S. does not yet have the testing capacity that it needs to effectively contain the spread of the novel coronavirus as stay-at-home restrictions are relaxed. “No, I don’t agree with him on that. I think we are doing a great job on testing,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing Thursday evening when asked about Fauci’s recent remarks in a Time magazine interview. “If he said that, I don’t agree with him,” Trump continued. (Chalfant, 4/23)
The Hill:
Romney, Sinema Request CDC Develop Real-Time Reporting Method: US Is 'Behind The Curve'
Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) develop a method of real-time national reporting of coronavirus cases, saying they worry the U.S. is “behind the curve.” The two senators submitted a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield asking the federal agency to modernize its reporting capabilities, saying its current “significant” efforts “may not be enough to equip us to respond as fast as is required.” They wrote that real-time national reporting is needed to measure the “size and scope of the COVID-19 outbreak,” especially as states like Georgia and Oklahoma move to reopen. (Coleman, 4/23)
NPR:
Navajo Nation Sees High Rate Of COVID-19
After New York and New Jersey, the place with the highest coronavirus infection rate in the U.S. is the Navajo Nation. Dr. Deborah Birx of the national task force told the White House press corps the tribe is using strike teams to address the issue. "They're really doing amazing work at their public health institutions with their governors and their mayors," Birx says. "They are in full contact tracing." (Moarles, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Somber Congress Delivers Nearly $500B More In Virus Aid
The measure passed Congress almost unanimously Thursday, but the lopsided tally belies a potentially bumpier path ahead as battle lines are being formed for much more ambitious future legislation that may prove far more difficult to maneuver through Congress. The bipartisan measure passed as lawmakers gathered in Washington as a group for the first time since March 27, adopting stricter social distancing rules while seeking to prove they can do their work despite the COVID-19 crisis. (Taylor and Fram, 4/24)
The Washington Post:
House Passes $484 Billion Bill With Money For Small Businesses, Hospitals And Testing To Battle Coronavirus
The legislation that passed Thursday was negotiated between the Trump administration and congressional leaders after the small-business Paycheck Protection Program — created as part of Congress’s $2 trillion economic stimulus package — ran out of money last week and stopped processing loans. The new measure includes $310 billion to replenish this program, $60 billion for a separate small-business emergency loan and grant program, $75 billion for hospitals and health-care providers, and $25 billion for a new coronavirus testing program. (Werner, 4/23)
Reuters:
U.S. House Passes $500 Billion Coronavirus Bill In Latest Relief Package
The House also approved a select committee, with subpoena power, to probe the U.S. response to the coronavirus. It will have broad powers to investigate how federal dollars are being spent, U.S. preparedness and Trump administration deliberations. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the panel was essential to ensure funds go to those who need them and to prevent scams. Republicans said the committee was not needed, citing existing oversight bodies, and called the panel’s creation another expensive Democratic slap at Trump. The committee was approved on a vote of 212-182, along party lines. (Zengerle and Cornwell, 4/23)
The Washington Post:
SBA Paycheck Protection Program Guidelines Ask For Some Loans To Be Returned
With Congress preparing to approve more than $300 billion in new funding for a small-business loan program, the Small Business Administration issued new guidance Thursday that suggested dozens of publicly held companies that previously received loans under the program should return the funds by May 7. (O'Connell and Gregg, 4/23)
The New York Times:
Did America Learn Anything From The Last Economic Crisis?
Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. Even when that history is only a decade old, evidently. The global financial crisis, the deep recession it caused, and the weak recovery that followed have produced plenty of lessons about helping the economy escape from a period of trauma. The United States seems to be ignoring some of them in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Irwin, 4/24)
The New York Times:
Financial Aid To Struggling States Is Next Big Congressional Battle
With congressional approval of the latest emergency pandemic measure sealed on Thursday, the focus is quickly shifting to an escalating battle over whether Congress will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to states staggering under the costs of the coronavirus outbreak. Anxious governors on the front lines of battling the pandemic have been clamoring for more federal help, saying their budgets are being stretched to the breaking point and their revenues are collapsing as they pour resources into health care while their economies are shut down. (Hulse, 4/23)
Reuters:
New York's Cuomo To McConnell On State Bankruptcy: Watch The Market Tank
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday derided Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that states whose finances are depleted by the coronavirus epidemic could declare bankruptcy as a “really dumb” idea and warned that financial markets would tank if that were allowed to happen. (Chiacu, 4/23)
The New York Times:
1 In 5 New Yorkers May Have Had Covid-19, Antibody Tests Suggest
One of every five New York City residents tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus, according to preliminary results described by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday that suggested that the virus had spread far more widely than known. If the pattern holds, the results from random testing of 3,000 people raised the tantalizing prospect that many New Yorkers — as many as 2.7 million, the governor said — who never knew they had been infected had already encountered the virus, and survived. Mr. Cuomo also said that such wide infection might mean that the death rate was far lower than believed. (Goodman and Rothfeld, 4/23)
Reuters:
New York Survey Suggests Nearly 14% In State May Have Coronavirus Antibodies
While noting the small sample size of 3,000 people and other limitations of the survey, Cuomo said the implied fatality rate of 0.5% of those infected was lower than some experts feared. “If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected,” Cuomo told a daily briefing. The implied fatality rate of 0.5% was calculated by dividing the official statewide death count to date of about 15,500 by the estimated number of infected - 14% of New York’s 19 million residents, or 2.7 million people. (Goldberg and Layne, 4/23)
Stat:
Coronavirus 'Serosurvey' Results Are Coming. Here's How To Kick Their Tires
Results from the first studies designed to determine how widely the coronavirus has spread in communities have started to trickle in, drawing immense attention. These studies, after all, are seen as critical indicators of when it might be safe to lift movement restrictions. Already, though, experts are raising concerns about the validity of some of the studies and cautioning officials and the general public not to put too much weight on any one finding. (Joseph and Branswell, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
Facts And Myths About Coronavirus Antibody Tests
Everyone has their hopes pinned on antibody or serology tests—blood tests designed to detect who was previously infected with the new coronavirus and has developed antibodies to it. Businesses and governments hope the tests can help slowly open up the economy. Individuals hope the tests can tell them if they will be protected from getting Covid-19 again. In an effort to get the tests out as quickly as possible, the Food and Drug Administration isn’t requiring manufacturers to get approval from the agency. The result, experts say, is that many tests are of dubious quality and include false claims. (Reddy, 4/23)
The New York Times:
Was It Covid? Americans Ask Amid Signs The Coronavirus Came Earlier
In January, a mystery illness swept through a call center in a skyscraper on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Close to 30 people in one department alone had symptoms — dry, deep coughs and fevers they could not shake. When they gradually returned to work after taking sick days, they sat in their cubicles looking wan and tired. “I’ve started to think it was the coronavirus,” said Julie Parks, a 63-year-old employee who was among the sick. “I may have had it, but I can’t be sure. It’s limbo.” (Bosman, Harmon and Fuller, 4/23)
The New York Times:
Nearly All Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19 Had Chronic Health Issues, Study Finds
A new study of thousands of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the New York City area, the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States, has found that nearly all of them had at least one major chronic health condition, and most — 88 percent — had at least two. Though earlier research has shown chronic conditions like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes are common risk factors for severe Covid-19, the ubiquity of serious medical conditions in these patients was striking: Only 6 percent of them had no underlying health conditions. (Rabin, 4/23)
The New York Times:
What Is Convalescent Plasma, And Why Do We Care About It?
A medical procedure doctors have used to treat novel diseases for a century has emerged as a focal point in the fight against Covid-19: convalescent plasma. Conva-what-now…? Convalescent plasma is the term used for plasma that is removed from the blood of a person who has recovered from a disease, then transfused into a patient still battling it. Yes, it sounds a little confusing. So allow us to break down everything you need to know about convalescent plasma — and why it matters right now. (Herrera, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
AP Review: State Supply Stocks Sparse And Dated Before Virus
Last autumn, when schools were in session, sports stadiums full and no one had even heard of the COVID-19 disease, the Missouri health department made an eerily foreshadowing request. It asked the state for $300,000 to buy supplies in case of a large-scale disease outbreak. The goal was to fill a gap between local and federal sources. Today, as states spend billions of dollars in the fight against the coronavirus, that October funding request appears woefully insufficient. Yet it highlights a stark fact: States were not stocked for a pandemic and have been scrambling to catch up. (Lieb and Dil, 4/24)
Stateline:
Washington State To Buy 1M Chinese Test Swabs In Bid To Reopen
Washington state is finalizing the purchase of roughly 1 million test swabs from China as it works to rapidly scale up its testing network to safely reopen parts of the economy. If Washington closes the deal, it will mark the second time this week that a state has gone outside the United States to procure testing supplies the federal government has been unable or unwilling to provide. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, announced Monday that his state paid $9 million for 500,000 tests from South Korea. (Brown, 4/23)
The New York Times:
China's Elite Donate Coronavirus Gear To The U.S.
U.S. hospitals and state officials face desperate shortages of the masks, ventilators and other gear they need to fight the coronavirus. Chinese factories can make it and sell it to them, but huge obstacles stand in the way — and Washington’s stumbles and growing hostility with Beijing aren’t helping. Now some of China’s elite — and others with big stakes in keeping the U.S.-China relationship alive — are stepping in to help. (Stevenson, Kulish and Gelles, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
Iowa Governor: Tip From Ashton Kutcher Led To Testing Deal
Iowa’s $26 million contract to increase coronavirus testing was reached after the governor acted on a tip from actor Ashton Kutcher, a revelation that increased skepticism about the no-bid deal on Thursday. Critics of Gov. Kim Reynolds said they were puzzled by the celebrity’s cameo in Iowa’s outbreak response, particularly when the state has been slow to tap some of its own experts. (Foley, 4/24)
The Associated Press:
11,000 Deaths: Ravaged Nursing Homes Plead For More Testing
After two months and more than 11,000 deaths that have made the nation’s nursing homes some of the most terrifying places to be during the coronavirus crisis, most of them still don’t have access to enough tests to help control outbreaks among their frail, elderly residents. Neither the federal government nor the leader in nursing home deaths, New York, has mandated testing for all residents and staff. An industry group says only about a third of the 15,000 nursing homes in the U.S. have ready access to tests that can help isolate the sick and stop the spread. And homes that do manage to get a hold of tests often rely on luck and contacts. (Condon, Sedensky and Mustian, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
New York City Nursing Home With Dozens Of Deaths During Coronavirus Outbreak Says It Got Little Help
At a Brooklyn nursing home where at least 50 people have died who were suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, a top administrator says his center had to go it alone for weeks during the outbreak, with little support from the state or other authorities. Cobble Hill Health Center Chief Executive Donny Tuchman said some staff wore garbage bags for protection. Some worked 16-hour shifts. And at times, patients were dying so quickly that the center’s refrigerated storage was beyond capacity, forcing workers to rotate bodies in and out as they waited for space at funeral homes or morgues. (Brody, 4/23)
NPR:
Nursing Homes Want Immunity From Civil Action As COVID-19 Spreads
The people most vulnerable to the coronavirus are older adults with underlying health conditions. And that perfectly describes the residents of nursing homes. There are no authoritative numbers on fatalities, but estimates are in the thousands. A report by The Wall Street Journal this week said more than 10,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. So, fearing a flood of lawsuits, nursing homes and other health care facilities have been seeking, and gaining, temporary immunity from potential civil suits in several states across the country. (Jaffe, 4/23)
The New York Times:
Jobless Numbers Are ‘Eye-Watering’ But Understate The Crisis
Nearly a month after Washington rushed through an emergency package to aid jobless Americans, millions of laid-off workers have still not been able to apply for those benefits — let alone receive them — because of overwhelmed state unemployment systems. Across the country, states have frantically scrambled to handle a flood of applications and apply a new set of federal rules even as more and more people line up for help. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that another 4.4 million people filed initial unemployment claims last week, bringing the five-week total to more than 26 million. (Cohen, 4/23)