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Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s reluctance to use the powers granted to him, and the resulting confusion and rebellion among the state’s local officials, illustrates the shortcomings of the country’s federalist approach to the outbreak. In the absence of clear direction from the federal government, each state, county, city and town has been left to go its own way. The disparities are likely to grow if President Donald Trump follows through on his pronouncement that he wants the country “opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” despite expert health warnings that it would be dangerous and premature to do so. (Blau, 3/27)

The $2 trillion stimulus package moving through Congress would provide $150 billion to states, territories, local and tribal governments. It appears to allow some flexibility in how states could spend the money but does not address state revenue shortfalls brought on by stunted economic activity. For example, it would allocate $5 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, including expansion of community health facilities, child care centers, food banks and senior services. That leaves room for local governments to decide which programs get how much money, within existing guidelines. (Povich, 3/26)

The CMS Thursday granted six states more flexibility for their Medicaid programs to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York landed Section 1135 Medicaid waivers. The CMS has now granted waivers to 29 states, approving them in less than a week on average. (Brady, 3/26)

Louisiana is taking drastic steps to surge its medical capacity to prepare for what officials fear could be an overwhelming tide of coronavirus patients in the coming days, with the state planning to put more than 1,100 beds in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to ease the strain on New Orleans area hospitals. (Karlin and Adelson, 3/26)

The Navajo Nation reported its first two coronavirus cases on March 17. Just over a week later, there are now 69 cases. The reservation is under stay-at-home orders — but thousands of people must regularly leave their houses for necessities such as water. (Chappell, 3/26)

As the U.S. took a grim world lead in the number of known novel coronavirus cases, Houston leaders announced the city’s first death linked to the devastating pathogen in a woman who was posthumously tested when no other explanation for her passing could be found. The woman, in her 60s, also had underlying health problems, said Dr. David Persse of the Houston Health Department. She likely contracted the virus while traveling recently outside Texas. (Hensley, 3/26)

A Stafford-based MedTech company is joining a slew of area manufacturing companies and distilleries that are altering their production lines to create hand sanitizer for local hospitals that are facing supply shortages due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Forward Science, a privately held oral healthcare products company, is currently creating batches of hand sanitizer to help supply Houston's healthcare workers who are currently putting themselves at risk while working on the frontlines of the pandemic. (Hennes, 3/26)

On Monday, Industrious Spirit Company tasting room manager Liam Maloney spent hours tossing small bottles of house-made hand sanitizer out of a window at the Providence, R.I., distillery.Simultaneously in Plymouth, Dirty Water Distilling was fielding an “overwhelming” number of sanitizer requests from first responders. And in Everett, the owners of Short Path Distillery were waiting for more supplies to arrive so they could whip up another batch. (Pelletier, 3/26)

So far, Massachusetts residents have filed 100 complaints of price-gouging, which the Massachusetts attorney general’s office is investigating. The reports largely involve stores that customers say increased the prices of essentials — hand sanitizer, paper towels, bottled water, cleaning products, and toilet paper. (Martin, 3/26)

School districts in Massachusetts have new marching orders from the state: they will have to start educating students with disabilities remotely as soon as possible.In a remote meeting Thursday morning, Russell Johnston — director of special education at the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education — told nearly 1,000 administrators, educators and advocates that “we’ve got to get our wheels turning” in offering those students the “free appropriate public education” to which they’re entitled under state and federal law. (Larkin, 3/26)

So far more than 23,000 people in Massachusetts have been tested for coronavirus. That's up nearly tenfold from from about 2,600 state residents tested a week ago.Gov. Charlie Baker said the state continues to make progress to aggressively test people. (Becker, 3/27)

Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that the state will provide additional services to the Boston homeless population by re-opening the former Newton Pavilion health care center at Boston Medical Center. People who are experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, in part because those who are at shelters stay in close quarters. (Dearing and Bologna, 3/26)

At the peak of Ohio's novel coronavirus surge, between 6,000 and 8,000 new people could be infected each day, according to a new projection from Ohio State University's Infectious Diseases Unit. That might seem like a dramatic increase from the number of patients with COVID-19 today. But limited testing means the number of confirmed cases represents a small portion of total infections statewide, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton has said repeatedly. (Borchardt and Balmert, 3/26)

Wisconsin’s pandemic death toll has doubled in a little more than a day, now standing at 12.Three of Thursday's four reported deaths were Milwaukee County residents. One was a 79-year-old Milwaukee woman with underlying health conditions who had been hospitalized since March 16 and died Thursday morning, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said. (Spicuzza and Carson, 3/26)

As preparations — and a race against time — continued for the anticipated strain of the coronavirus on hospitals, New Jersey was declared a major disaster area by President Donald Trump, and officials across Pennsylvania scrambled Thursday to find hospital space and much-needed supplies to care for the growing number of ill people. (McDaniel, Verma and McCrystal, 3/26)