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Questions about the US coronavirus death count have taken hold inside the White House, officials familiar with the matter say, as President Donald Trump and his aides discuss whether figures used by administration to determine mortality rates and death projections are reliable indicators for plotting a path forward. As nationwide case numbers show a steady decrease, Trump and some of his aides have begun questioning whether deaths are being over-counted, according to people familiar with the matter, even as the President publicly attests to the accuracy of the numbers. The top medical expert on the White House's coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said the opposite could be true: that coronavirus deaths are being undercounted as people die at home without going to hospital. (Liptak and Acosta, 5/13)

The U.S. has the most coronavirus deaths of any country in the world — on May 11, the death toll passed 80,000.And that's likely an undercount. "Almost certainly it's higher," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a virtual Senate hearing on Tuesday. "There may have been people who died at home who were not counted as COVID because they never really got to the hospital." (Huang, 5/13)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: Trump’s Comparison Of COVID-19 Death Rates In Germany, US Is Wrong

Following weeks of criticism over his administration’s COVID-19 response, President Donald Trump pulled out new statistics to claim the nation is actually among the best in the world in fighting the lethal coronavirus. “Germany and the United States are the two best in deaths per 100,000 people, which, frankly, to me, that’s perhaps the most important number there is,” Trump said at a May 11 Rose Garden press briefing. (Luthra, 5/14)

The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic neared 300,000 as more U.S. states prepared to further ease restrictions and some Asian countries rolled out massive testing initiatives to contain resurgent clusters of infections. Total cases world-wide topped 4.35 million, nearly a third in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. death toll stands at more than 84,000. (Hua, 5/14)

New York City hit a grim milestone this week, recording more than 20,000 coronavirus deaths throughout the five boroughs. Or did it? According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, the city is still weeks away from that mark, with thousands fewer deaths in its tally — and public health experts say the state's lag is a problem. (Durkin, 5/14)

President Trump on Wednesday criticized congressional testimony delivered a day earlier by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, who had warned against reopening the country too quickly and stressed the unknown effects the coronavirus could have on children returning to school. “I was surprised by his answer,” Mr. Trump told reporters who had gathered in the Cabinet Room for the president’s meeting with the governors of Colorado and North Dakota. “To me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.” (Rogers, 5/13)

The president accused Fauci of wanting “to play all sides of the equation,” a comment that suggested he is tiring of the nation’s top infectious disease expert. “I think they should open the schools, absolutely. I think they should,” Trump told reporters at the White House, echoing comments he had made in a television interview. “Our country’s got to get back and it’s got to get back as soon as possible. And I don’t consider our country coming back if the schools are closed.” (Freking and Colvin, 5/14)

The president, who previously made the strength of the economy central to his pitch for re-election in November, has encouraged states to reopen businesses and schools that were shuttered to halt the spread of the highly contagious respiratory disease. Fauci, 79, a proponent of the lockdowns, has become a target for criticism from the American far right and online conspiracy theorists since he made statements about the outbreak that were at odds with Trump’s. (Holland, 5/13)

While young people who don't have other health or immune system issues are at a significantly lower risk of dying from COVID-19, youth fatalities from the disease have been recorded, as have additional complications. This is not the first time Trump and Fauci have publicly disagreed on the nation's coronavirus response. Last month in an interview with CNN, Fauci seemed to imply that had the administration acted sooner to implement federal social distancing rules, fewer people might have died from the disease. (Wise, 5/13)

The president separately said in an interview with Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo that “we have to get the schools open, we have to get our country open, we have to open our country." "Now we want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible, we can't keep going on like this … You're having bedlam already in the streets, you can't do this. We have to get it open. I totally disagree with him [Fauci] on schools,” the president added. (Samuels, 5/13)

A rapid coronavirus test used by the White House to screen its staff could miss infections up to 48 percent of the time, according to a study by researchers at N.Y.U. Langone Health. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, evaluated the accuracy of the test, Abbott ID Now, a machine about the size of a toaster oven that can yield results in five to 13 minutes. The product, which was given emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in late March, has been enthusiastically promoted by President Trump — it was even used as a prop during at least one news conference. Mr. Trump has said the tests are “highly accurate.” (Thomas, 5/13)

The study, while preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed, raised questions about a test that has been praised by Trump, who displayed it at a Rose Garden news conference on April 2 and said it created “a whole new ballgame.” As the pandemic was creating a sense of urgency about testing, the Abbott test triggered a scramble among governors and other state officials because bottlenecks were causing waits of as long as a week or more for test results. (Johnson and Mufson, 5/13)

The Abbott device can produce test results in less than 15 minutes. That fast turnaround attracted attention from President Trump and other officials as testing backlogs swelled in March. Abbott said “it is unclear if the samples were tested correctly in this study.” The company said it has distributed about 1.8 million ID Now tests, and the reported rate of false negatives to Abbott is 0.02%. The company said the NYU results weren’t consistent with other studies of the test, such as one conducted by city officials in Detroit that found the ID Now correctly detected 48 out of 49 positive samples. (Weaver and Ballhaus, 5/13)

When patients were tested immediately after infection, typically before symptoms occur, the false-negative rate was 100%. On the first day of symptoms, the false-negative rate was 38%. After three days of symptoms, false-negatives dropped to 20%. The rate began getting worse after five days, suggesting a narrow window for the most accurate results. (Cortez, Court and Brown, 5/13)

"The White House might have to call an audible and switch tests," said Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor University School of Medicine in Houston. "Calling an audible" is a football term when the quarterback changes the play at the last minute. The White House has not yet released an official comment. (5/13)

In late March, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tweeted that Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 test was a “game changer," while President Donald Trump called the test “a whole new ballgame.” In April, Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration repeatedly touted the governor’s work to convince Abbott executives to bring the ID NOW test to the state. Later that month, Lamont said that “to be able to get the testing results in less than 15 minutes is how we’re going to lick this virus." (Brindley, 5/14)

When the nation's top health officials testified virtually before lawmakers Tuesday, a major focus on getting a handle on the coronavirus was the ability to test more Americans, long seen as one of the keys to safely re-opening the country. Though Health and Human Services Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir lauded a testing effort that was expanding weekly, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he found America's "testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever" and described a nation that was racing to catch up... Experts have said the U.S. capacity has to be far greater to fully re-open the country -- though the total number of tests needed and the amount of re-testing necessary is a matter of debate. But some researchers say there could be a way to help solve the testing riddle, not strictly by producing more tests, but by getting much more out of each individual test through a method known as "group testing." (Abdelmalek, 5/13)

Andrew Brooks, a Rutgers University molecular neuroscientist, remembers clearly having a long nasopharyngeal swab stuck up his nose in search of evidence of a virus. “It was terrible,” he recalls. “It felt like someone was poking the front of my brain.” Now Brooks, who is also the chief operating officer and director of technology development at a firm called RUCDR Infinite Biologics, has come up with a coronavirus test that relies on nothing more than spitting into a cup. (Mufson, 5/13)

Rachel Brummert left her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, just once after March 2: to pick up a prescription at CVS on March 18. That made the job of the contact tracer from the Mecklenburg County health department a lot easier after Brummert, 49, got her positive COVID-19 results on April 9. The tracer had only two other transmission possibilities to consider. She had to talk to people near Brummert’s husband at the financial services company office where he worked until March 18, and find a 26-year-old neighbor who two days later left groceries on the bottom step while Brummert stood on the top step. (Alltucker and O'Donnell, 5/13)

President Donald Trump hasn’t been able to go out, so he’s welcoming governors in. The visits are strikingly similar: Trump touts the governors as “special” and “great” and they in turn thank him for the “enormous help in our darkest hour of need.” The president cracks a joke or two about the governor getting a negative coronavirus test sitting down next to him. And then they all pose for the cameras. (Kumar, 5/14)

The bipartisan chairs of the National Governors Association on Wednesday urged Congress to pass more economic relief efforts to help assuage the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, warning against allowing debate over the vital aid to become yet another partisan flashpoint. In a joint statement, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said states need at least $500 billion in aid to make up for revenues lost during the crisis. "Each day that Congress fails to act, states are being forced to make cuts that will devastate the essential services the American people rely on and destroy the economic recovery before it even gets off the ground," Hogan and Cuomo wrote. (Wilson, 5/13)

As the nation enters a third month of economic devastation, the coronavirus is proving ruinous to state budgets, forcing many governments to consider deep cuts to schools, universities, health care and other basic functions that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Many states expect their revenue to plunge by 15% to 20% because government-ordered lockdowns have wiped out much of the economy and caused tax collections to evaporate. That puts statehouses billions of dollars in the red for the fiscal year that usually begins in July, with no end to the crisis in sight. (Mulvihill, 5/13)

President Donald Trump is expected to tap a former GlaxoSmithKline executive and a U.S. general to spearhead the government’s effort at developing a coronavirus vaccine on an accelerated schedule, officially called “Operation Warp Speed,” an administration official said on Wednesday. The former head of Glaxo’s vaccines division, Moncef Slaoui, will serve as chief adviser on the operation and U.S. General Gustav Perna will act as its chief operating officer. Trump previously said he would be the top boss on the effort to develop, test and produce on a shortened timeline a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has caused a global pandemic. (5/13)

Slaoui, 60, and Perna will oversee the initiative known as Operation Warp Speed, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement expected later Wednesday. Slaoui will work on a volunteer basis. Moncef SlaouiPhotographer: Graham Barclay/BloombergThe Trump administration project seeks to produce 300 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year, hastening development by simultaneously testing many different candidates and beginning production before they’ve completed clinical trials. (Jacobs and Armstrong, 5/13)

Operation Warp Speed is the initiative launched by the White House two weeks ago to aid in speeding production and later distribution of any COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, the official said four-star Army General Gustave Perna has been selected to serve as the chief operating officer overseeing logistics. Perna is the commanding general at U.S. Army Materiel Command in Huntsville, Alabama. (Weise, 5/13)

Public health experts have repeatedly warned that vaccine development could stretch into next year or beyond. HHS Secretary Alex Azar, White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner were among the officials who interviewed Slaoui and other candidates for the role last week. Other finalists included former National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni. Bloomberg first reported that Slaoui had been tapped as the administration’s therapeutics czar in a volunteer role. Army Gen. Gustave Perna, a logistics expert, will support in Slaoui in an operational role. (Diamond, 5/13)

French drugmaker Sanofi SA said on Wednesday that it is working with European regulators to speed up access to a potential coronavirus vaccine in Europe after its chief executive suggested Americans would likely get the vaccine first. The company said in a statement that it is currently in talks with the European Union and the French and German governments to expedite regional vaccine development. (Erman, 5/13)

The U.S.'s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has put $30 million toward one of Sanofi's two vaccine candidates, which is also using technology from GlaxoSmithKline. Because of this help, the U.S. expects "that if we’ve helped you manufacture the doses at risk, we expect to get the doses first," Hudson said.Meanwhile, the Sanofi CEO warned that Europe risks falling behind the U.S. and China. (Deutsch, 5/13)

The other night, midway through watching a clip from “Plandemic” — a documentary that went viral on social media last week, spreading baseless lies and debunked nonsense about the coronavirus to millions of Americans overnight — I had a terrifying thought: What if we get a Covid-19 vaccine and half the country refuses to take it? It occurred to me that all the misinformation we’ve seen so far — the false rumors that 5G cellphone towers fuel the coronavirus, that drinking bleach or injecting UV rays can cure it, that Dr. Anthony Fauci is part of an anti-Trump conspiracy — may be just the warm-up act for a much bigger information war when an effective vaccine becomes available to the public. (Roose, 5/13)

From testing failures to downplayed virus risks to the disproportionate effect on communities of color, two Covid-19 experts emphasized at a Tuesday forum what is now a familiar refrain: The U.S. response has been fundamentally flawed. “We had information and we discounted it,” said panelist David Williams, a professor of public health, African and African American studies, and sociology at Harvard. “We didn’t take it as seriously as we could have. I do think that we could have been in a better position than we currently are if we had acted promptly.” (Chakradhar, 5/13)

There is little continuity in the top levels of the U.S. government when one political party replaces the presidential administration led by another. The natural inclination is to ignore much of the work left behind by the previous folks — and to reinvent the wheel all over again. But former Obama administration officials cried foul after McConnell’s comments. “We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook.... that they ignored,” tweeted Ron Klain, the former “Ebola czar” in the Obama administration. (Kessler, 5/14)

Retired Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson (R), who served as White House physician for both former President Obama and President Trump, accused Obama on Tuesday of weaponizing the federal government against Trump. "President Obama weaponized the highest levels of our government to spy on President Trump," Jackson tweeted. "Every Deep State traitor deserves to be brought to justice for their heinous actions." (Johnson, 5/13)

A former chemical industry executive nominated to be the nation’s top consumer safety watchdog was involved in sidelining detailed guidelines to help communities reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, internal government emails show. Now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is questioning the role played by nominee Nancy Beck in the decision to shelve the guidelines. Beck is not a medical doctor and has no background in virology. (Dearen and Biesecker, 5/13)

Based on the guidance, "no one who is reopening meets the criteria for reopening," a senior CDC official told CNN. One major discrepancy between the White House and CDC guidelines surrounds nonessential travel. In the White House plan, nonessential travel can resume as early as Phase 2. The CDC, however, recommends that nonessential travel be avoided until Phase 3, and even then suggests it "may be considered" and advises caution. (Holmes and Valencia, 5/13)

The young migrants and asylum seekers swim across the Rio Grande and clamber into the dense brush of Texas, across the US-Mexico border. Many are teens who left Central America on their own. Others were sent along by parents from refugee camps in Mexico. They are as young as 10. Under US law they would normally be allowed to live with relatives while their cases wind through immigration courts. Instead the Trump administration is quickly expelling them under an emergency declaration citing the coronavirus pandemic, with 600 minors expelled in April alone. (5/13)

The Trump administration is moving to extend its coronavirus border restrictions indefinitely, advancing the crackdown through broad public health authorities that have effectively sealed the United States to migrants seeking protection from persecution, according to officials and a draft of a public health order. On March 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed a 30-day restriction on all nonessential travel into the United States from Mexico and Canada, closing legal points of entry to tourism and immediately returning immigrants who crossed the border illegally to Mexico or their home countries. Since then, only two migrants have been permitted to remain in the United States to pursue asylum, according to a United States Citizenship and Immigration official. (Shear and Kanno-Youngs, 5/13)

The Trump administration’s emergency coronavirus restrictions have shut the U.S. immigration system so tight that since March 21 just two people seeking humanitarian protection at the southern border have been allowed to stay, according to unpublished U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data obtained by The Washington Post. (Miroff, 5/13)

The nation’s largest community college system is suing the federal government for denying coronavirus relief funds to more than a half-million California students, including DACA recipients and many of those from low-income families. California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the system’s board of governors filed suit this week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos over eligibility restrictions placed on the use of federal aid money for students, arguing that the restrictions are unconstitutional. (Agrawal, 5/13)

While the pandemic has brought financial uncertainty for Maine food workers of all stripes, the livelihood of farmers and farm workers has been especially volatile. Most farms have lost business from chefs as the restaurant industry has shut down, while many farm workers haven’t been eligible for unemployment benefits. ... s of Wednesday, Mano en Mano had distributed the funds directly to 363 out-of-work farm workers and their families, many of whom are migrant workers, for emergency assistance to meet needs such as food, rent and utilities during the coronavirus pandemic. (Schoreder, 5/13)

The Agriculture Department has awarded multimillion-dollar contracts to companies that appear to have little experience working with food banks or farmers, spurning several big produce companies with extensive expertise in food distribution. An event planning company in San Antonio, Texas, known for throwing lavish weddings and high-end conferences, was awarded more than $39 million — one of the largest contracts handed out by USDA under a new program aimed at matching up food banks with surplus produce, meat and dairy. (Evich and McCrimmon, 5/13)

One Minnesota hog farmer sealed the cracks in his barn and piped carbon dioxide through the ventilation system. Another farmer has considered gassing his animals after loading them into a truck. And a third shot his pigs in the head with a gun. It took him all day. These are dark days on many American pig farms. Coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants across the Midwest have created a backlog of pigs that are ready for slaughter but have nowhere to go. Hundreds of thousands of pigs have grown too large to be slaughtered commercially, forcing farmers to kill them and dispose of their carcasses without processing them into food. (Corkery and Yaffe-Bellany, 5/14)

Tyson Foods Inc. is lowering some prices it charges supermarkets and restaurants for beef, after coronavirus-driven disruptions at meatpacking plants have led to a surge in meat costs. The Arkansas company, which processes about one-fifth of the nation’s beef, plans to reduce prices for ground beef, roasts and other beef products by as much as 20% to 30% for sales made this week to restaurants, grocery stores and other customers. The move will help keep beef affordable, said Noel White, Tyson’s chief executive. (Bunge, 5/13)

Think your grocery store runs are tough these days? In the remote Alaskan city of Gustavus, a small business owner, Toshua Parker, has started traveling 14 hours by boat to Juneau and back to stock up on critical supplies for his store during the coronavirus pandemic. (Bowman and Campbell, 5/13)

The coronavirus pandemic hit the world at a time of plentiful harvests and ample food reserves. Yet a cascade of protectionist restrictions, transport disruptions and processing breakdowns has dislocated the global food supply and put the planet’s most vulnerable regions in particular peril. “You can have a food crisis with lots of food. That’s the situation we’re in,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO. (Trofimov and Craymer, 5/13)

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, a big focus of local giving has been making sure neighbors and vulnerable populations have enough to eat. Across metro Atlanta, there have been efforts to distribute food to school children, workers who have lost their jobs and most recently: senior citizens. In East Point last weekend, a drive-thru food drive attracted hundreds of metro Atlanta senior citizens. (Kueppers, 5/13)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down a statewide coronavirus stay-at-home order on Wednesday, siding with a legal challenge from Republican lawmakers who said the state’s top public health official exceeded her authority by imposing the restrictions. While lockdown orders meant to quell the pandemic have been challenged in court in several states, the decision in Wisconsin marked the first such lawsuit to succeed in a larger political debate over social distancing that has grown increasingly partisan. (Gorman and Bernstein, 5/13)

The 4-3 ruling essentially reopens the state, lifting caps on the size of gatherings, allowing people to travel as they please and allowing shuttered businesses to reopen, including bars and restaurants. The Tavern League of Wisconsin swiftly posted the news on its website, telling members, “You can OPEN IMMEDIATELY!” The decision let stand language that had closed schools, however, and local governments can still impose their own health restrictions. In Dane County, home to the capital of Madison, officials quickly imposed a mandate incorporating most of the statewide order. City health officials in Milwaukee said a stay-at-home order they enacted in late March remains in effect. (Richmond, 5/14)

The justices wrote that the court was not challenging the governor’s power to declare emergencies, “but in the case of a pandemic, which lasts month after month, the Governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely.” Evers condemned the court’s decision, saying in a statement that Wisconsin “was in a pretty good place” but now “Republican legislators have convinced four justices to throw our state into chaos.” (Itkowitz, 5/13)

There have been legal challenges to stay-at-home orders in Michigan, California, Kentucky and Illinois, but none of those were successful in persuading a court to fully strike down the order, as the plaintiffs in the Wisconsin case were. Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order took effect on March 25 and was extended by the governor on April 16, leading to a protest at the State Capitol. During a 90-minute hearing about the order that was conducted over video chat last week, some justices asked tough questions of the lawyer defending the state’s top health official, Andrea Palm. “Isn’t it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work, among other ordinarily lawful activities?” Justice Rebecca Bradley asked. (Vigdor, 5/13)

Governor Tony Evers and his administration will be severely limited in their power to issue further mandates, since any future orders will need to be approved by the conservative majority state legislature. The Republican lawmakers who filed the legal challenge asked the court for a six-day stay, which would have allowed for negotiations on the stay-at-home orders, but the court struck that request down. (Hagemann, 5/13)

U.S. states are beginning to restart their economies after months of paralyzing coronavirus lockdowns, but it could take weeks until it becomes clear whether those reopenings will cause a spike in COVID-19 cases, experts said Wednesday. The outbreak’s trajectory varies wildly across the country, with steep increases in cases in some places, decreases in others and infection rates that can shift dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood. (Johnson, Smith and Sullivan, 5/14)

Several states, including Georgia, embarked on an unexpectedly political experiment late last month. Despite not hitting the benchmarks established by the federal government for scaling back social distancing measures, they were going to do so anyway, echoing President Trump’s desire for a return to economic normalcy even while rejecting the safety guidelines Trump ostensibly espoused. An intense debate over the decision erupted, with critics suggesting that those states would see a spike in new coronavirus cases, given the renewed ability of the virus to spread. Those supporting the decision figured that no spikes were likely or, perhaps, that they could be contained. (Bump, 5/13)

By many accounts, Gov. Tom Wolf has helped mitigate Pennsylvania’s coronavirus outbreak and avoided the full-blown disasters seen elsewhere. His success in the next challenge — containing the growing resistance to his efforts — is to be determined. The Democrat at the helm in one of the premier battlegrounds in November’s presidential election is struggling to fight a Republican revolt over his stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns. Egged on by state GOP lawmakers, counties have threatened to defy his orders while at least a few business owners have reopened despite his warnings. (Levy, 5/14)

When Jamie Williams decided to reopen her East Texas tattoo studio last week in defiance of the state’s coronavirus restrictions, she asked Philip Archibald for help. He showed up with his dog Zeus, his friends and his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Mr. Archibald established an armed perimeter in the parking lot outside Crash-N-Burn Tattoo, secured by five men with military-style rifles, tactical shotguns, camouflage vests and walkie-talkies. One of them already had a large tattoo of his own. “We the People,” it said. (Fernandez and Montgomery, 5/13)

Construction firms can resume nonessential operations in the coming days across New Jersey and in the northernmost counties of New York, officials said Wednesday, as both states moved forward with a limited economic restart amid the coronavirus crisis. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state’s North Country, which includes the Adirondack Park as well as the cities of Plattsburgh and Watertown, had met the required metrics for a limited reopening on Friday. State officials said earlier in the week that regions in the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier and the Mohawk Valley had met the requirements as well. The areas include the cities of Rochester, Binghamton and Utica. (Vielkind and De Avila, 5/13)

Los Angeles beaches reopened on Wednesday after weeks of coronavirus closure, drawing Californians out for a glimpse of the sun one day after learning that sweeping stay-at-home orders could remain in place all summer. (Devall and Ross, 5/13)

Parts of Maryland and Virginia will begin a gradual reopening this weekend, while the nation’s capital and its surrounding suburbs remain shut down. Hours before Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan gave localities a green light on Wednesday to loosen some restrictions, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser extended her city’s stay-at-home order and closure of nonessential businesses through June 8. (Nirappil, Cox and Wiggins, 5/13)

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is lifting the statewide stay-at-home order that has been in place for more than six weeks, replacing it with a “safer at home” policy that relaxes some of the restrictions. However, most of the limits on social and business interactions will remain in place as coronavirus deaths and cases continue to climb. Local jurisdictions are empowered to decide whether it is safe enough to lift the stay-at-home order in their area — and several have already declared it is not. (Cox and Wiggins, 5/13)

Kelley Chagolla, co-owner of the Charro Mexican Restaurant here in the conservative enclave of Weld County, decided to open her restaurant to diners this week, going directly against the governor's order to limit service to delivery and curbside. She watched the debacle in Castle Rock closely — where a restaurant opened to packed crowds, drew national attention, and then was shut down and fined — and definitely did not want to go that route. (Klemko and Gearan, 5/13)

Prompted by concerns about racial health disparities, African-American state lawmakers in Virginia are opposing plans by Gov. Ralph Northam to begin a phased reopening of Virginia's economy this week. In a letter to Northam, leaders of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus outline "grave concerns" about plans to begin reopening some businesses across much of the commonwealth on Friday. (McCammon, 5/13)

By the time spring arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, the pandemic had the world firmly in its grip. The vernal equinox arrived March 19, the day California handed down the first statewide stay-at-home order in the United States. Most of the country would soon follow suit. In the coming weeks, vast swaths of humanity would be largely confined to their homes. (Sen, 5/14)

With protesters set to descend again on the state Capitol to protest a sweeping stay-at-home order, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cited estimates Wednesday saying there could have been nearly 3,500 more coronavirus deaths in Michigan if not for her order. (Spangler, 5/13)

The novel coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on many areas in the United States, prompting nearly all states to issue stay-at-home orders and close businesses in an effort to stem the tide of the virus... There is no unified approach among states and only non-binding national guidelines. Complicating matters is that the virus is impacting different states in a dramatic way. And within states, there is dramatic variation as well. (Lantry, 5/13)

In the chaotic days of late March, as it became clear that New York was facing a catastrophic outbreak of the coronavirus, aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo quietly inserted a provision on Page 347 of New York’s final, voluminous budget bill. Many lawmakers were unaware of the language when they approved the budget a few days later. But it provided unusual legal protections for an influential industry that has been devastated by the crisis: nursing home operators. (Harris, Baker and McKinley, 5/13)

Nursing homes, many at the center of outbreaks of the new coronavirus, are struggling to find masks and other supplies their workers need to confront the pandemic. David Reis, owner of a nursing home in Connecticut, found a solution through a friend of a friend who normally imports clocks. The importer, Jordan Steinberg, said he would deliver 400,000 masks to Mr. Reis from China—a month’s supply—if he were paid about $300,000 upfront. “I’m not trying to fool anyone, I did this to make money,” Mr. Steinberg said. “But I worked extra hard on it because I knew this would help someone stay alive. A clock doesn’t help anyone do anything but tell time.” (Wirz and Hufford, 5/14)

Standing outside a window at the Bria of Geneva nursing home one morning last week, 2-year-old Rosa Morrow tried to get her grandmother’s attention. She held her palm to the screen. She blew kisses. She counted slowly, “1 … 2 … 3 …”On the other side, 71-year-old Claudette Stasik, who has tested positive for COVID-19, sat in her reclining wheelchair, her eyes closed and her arms crossed against her chest, her gray hair braided to one side. A nurse, wearing gloves, gently rubbed her hand. (Cohen and Coryne, 5/14)

After weeks of declining to name nursing homes with coronavirus cases, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released a list of 38 such facilities on Wednesday. The list does not include nursing homes with fewer than 10 beds, nor does it include facilities that have not had new coronavirus cases in the last 28 days. The state health department did not release any other information, such as the number of cases or deaths at each facility. (Chen, 5/13)

Rapper and activist Common went into quarantine concerned about incarcerated people he has met during visits to jails, prisons and juvenile detention centers around the U.S. and who aren’t able to maintain social distance or adopt rigorous hygiene routines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “It’s a troubling time for them,” Common said, “because they are the people who usually are overlooked.” (Morrison, 5/13)

Kaiser Health News: Under COVID Cloud, Prisons In Rural America Threaten To Choke Rural Hospitals

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Montana, it spread into the Marias Heritage Center assisted living facility, then flowed into the nearby 21-bed hospital. Toole County quickly became the state’s hot spot for COVID-19 deaths, with more than four times the infection rate of all other counties and the most recorded deaths in the state. Six of the state’s 16 COVID deaths through Tuesday have occurred here. (Dawson, 5/14)

President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from a federal prison due to coronavirus concerns and will continue serving his 7½ year sentence for tax and bank fraud from his Northern Virginia home, his attorney said Wednesday. The release of Mr. Manafort, 71 years old, who was charged in special counsel Robert Muller’s Russia investigation, is part of a sweeping effort by the federal Bureau of Prisons to ease crowding to stem the spread of the virus behind bars. He was among nearly 2,500 federal inmates who have been placed on home confinement in recent weeks as prison officials try to identify those who are at high risk for the disease and low risk for re-offending. (Gurman, 5/13)

New York City’s top police official on Wednesday forcefully defended how his officers have enforced social distancing rules after videos of recent arrests and enforcement data fueled complaints that the police were unfairly targeting black and Latino residents. Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea pushed back against assertions from some elected officials and community groups who said the arrest data and videos illustrated a racist double standard for social distancing by the police that was reminiscent of the “stop and frisk” policy. (Southall, 5/13)

The people of Cordova, Alaska, had weathered the coronavirus pandemic with no cases and the comfort of isolation — a coastal town unreachable by road in a state with some of the fewest infections per capita in the country. But that seclusion has come to an abrupt end. Over the past two weeks, fishing boat crews from Seattle and elsewhere have started arriving by the hundreds, positioning for the start of Alaska’s summer seafood rush. (Baker, 5/14)

Federal regulators said Wednesday they rejected certification earlier this month of the N95 masks that California had ordered from a Chinese firm in a massive $990 million purchase, a starker characterization of what transpired than Gov. Gavin Newsom gave last week. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health did not detail its reasons for denying the company BYD, saying an on-site assessment of the company’s N95-model respirators deemed the equipment “not acceptable” on May 4. BYD can tweak its design and again seek approval under an expedited review process, federal regulators said. (White and Murphy, 5/13)

District of Columbia residents learned Wednesday they will be staying home for at least another three weeks, highlighting the difficulty of stamping out the coronavirus in the nation's capital and raising questions about congressional activity on Capitol Hill. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced at a press conference that the stay-at-home order previously slated to lift on Friday would be extended until June 8, saying not all of the metrics needed for reopening have been met. (Sullivan, 5/13)

Kaiser Health News: Reversing History, Indian Health Service Seeks Traditional Healers

Cheryl Morales started the medicinal garden at the Aaniiih Nakoda College demonstration farm with only four plants: yarrow, echinacea, plantain and licorice root. After 10 years, the campus garden within the Fort Belknap reservation in northern Montana now holds more than 60 species that take up almost 30,000 square feet. Morales adds new plants annually. This year, she is testing Oregon grape root and breadroot. (Akridge, 5/14)

In 1936, roughly 90% of America’s urban areas had access to electricity, while roughly the same proportion of rural America was still in the dark. The Rural Electrification Act, signed that year as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, turned on the lights in isolated rural areas. As the coronavirus pandemic lays bare America’s digital divide, some advocates argue that now is the time to make a big, bold investment in the country’s broadband infrastructure. (Simpson, 5/14)

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccines for Children Program, a federally funded program that provides free vaccinations for children whose families would otherwise be unable to access them, distributed 28 percent fewer vaccines in March and 45 percent fewer in the month of April compared with last year’s distributions, said CDC Director Nirav Shah. (Andrews, 5/13)

The hospital ward where Dr. Maya Kotas worked for the last month at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center isn’t supposed to be an intensive care unit. The rooms, with two beds separated by a thin privacy curtain, aren’t supposed to house people fighting for their lives. The ventilators forcing oxygen into their weakened lungs aren’t supposed to be used for weeks on end, and the nurses tending those ventilators aren’t supposed to be giving critical care. Even Kotas herself wasn’t supposed to be there. The UCSF clinical instructor in pulmonary and critical care medicine should have been home in San Francisco doing research. But the novel coronavirus has rearranged lives and hospitals and entire cities, and last month, it brought Kotas to the heart of the pandemic in the United States. (Feldberg, 5/14)

Less than a year after completing a rotation at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Michelle Shabo, 28, found herself in March back in one of the same rooms where she had had taken care of patients. This time, she was the patient, battling a harrowing case of the coronavirus. Two months and one near-death experience later, Shabo dons a mask and gloves during overnight shifts at the field hospital in the Worcester DCU Center, working directly with coronavirus patients — people in a precarious position she knows all too well. (Berg, 5/13)

The novel coronavirus has made its way to a mid-Michigan residential treatment center for teens; 25 girls there have tested positive. Only three of the girls at the Wolverine Human Services' site in Vassar had symptoms of COVID-19  —  one had a slight headache, one had a slight sore throat, one lost her sense of taste and smell, according to Paul Whitney, vice president of residential programs for Wolverine. (Kovanis, 5/13)

As the number of COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts hospitals slowly ticks down, another grim metric — somewhat under the radar — has steadily been going up. That’s the case fatality rate, the percentage of deaths among known COVID-19 patients. It stands at about 6.6 percent, up from 1.6 percent on April 1. This increase may seem alarming, but it does not mean the disease is getting deadlier. Here are three contextual things to know about this number. (Arsenault, 5/13)

Gov. Brian Kemp used his emergency powers to extend an executive order that limits legal liability for Georgia’s hospitals and medical workers during the coronavirus pandemic, while also including a provision that specifically excludes abortion providers from the protections. The order signed Tuesday renews authority first granted in April that designates hospitals and frontline medical staffers as “auxiliary emergency management workers” and provides them additional legal protection from personal injury lawsuits during the pandemic. (Bluestein, 5/13)

The Massachusetts Nurses Association is asking Gov. Charlie Baker to establish an advisory group of front-line clinical staff with experience in caring for COVID-19 patients to help ensure safety as hospitals look to resume some version of their normal operations. The union, in its May 11 letter to Baker, also called for passage of legislation that would create an "occupational presumption" for health care workers who contract COVID-19, saying several such bills have been filed in the state Legislature. (Lannan, 5/13)

Students entering Harvard Medical School this fall will learn remotely to help avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, while returning students will likely have access to at least some on-site research and clinical facilities, administrators announced Wednesday. The state’s only public medical school, the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, said it expects to hold classes on campus for the fall but remote learning will likely be necessary to limit class sizes, an administrator said. (Fox, 5/13)

In late March, as the most dire public health crisis in a century swept across New York, sick people and those caring for them faced a hospital system that was less than the sum of its mighty parts. At Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, hundreds of Covid-19 patients arrived in need of more help than besieged medical workers could give. Patients were found dead in rooms. One medical resident described conditions as “apocalyptic.” Yet at the same time, 3,500 beds were free in other New York hospitals, some no more than 20 minutes from Elmhurst, according to state records. The city, which runs Elmhurst, had a fleet of 26 new ambulances available to transfer patients. (Dwyer, 5/14)

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital had twice as many average daily coronavirus inpatients as the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania last week, according to new state data, a difference that could have significant financial ramifications for the two largest health-care providers in the Philadelphia region. Both hospitals are facing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue as a result of the pandemic. The disclosure came in Pennsylvania Department of Health data released Wednesday that showed 51 hospitals in Pennsylvania, including 31 in the southeastern part of the state, were allocated vials of remdesivir, a drug that may help some patients recover more quickly from the coronavirus. The drugs were allocated this week based on patient counts from May 4 to 10. (Brubaker, 5/13)

Patrick Charmel, the president of Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., keeps his office door open. Alex Balko, the chief financial officer, raced in from across the hall. “Oh man, this is really not good,” Balko said, not bothering to take a seat. “This could be devastating to us.” Four days before, Griffin had admitted its first patient with telling symptoms, and people were starting to show up to be swabbed. With the novel coronavirus perhaps already within Griffin’s walls — and certainly hovering nearby — doctors were getting ready to cancel the mammograms, hernia repairs and all the other not-so-urgent care that provides the hospital’s main income. “Pat, this is not sustainable,” Balko said. “What are we going to do?” (Goldstein, 5/13)

HHS distributed $50 billion in grant funds to providers using a formula it chose that heavily favored hospitals that treat the highest share of privately insured patients, per an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The 10% of hospitals with the highest private insurance revenue were paid $44,321 per bed, compared with $20,710 for the 10% of hospitals with the lowest private insurance revenue, the analysis concludes. (Cohrs, 5/13)

Even though the stay-at-home order was only in place during the last week of March, inpatient surgeries declined 8.3% in the quarter year-over-year. Emergency room visits were down 4.8%. Clinic visits fell by 1%. Ochsner still managed to generate almost 9% higher revenue in the quarter ended March 31 year-over-year, mostly due to higher premium revenue. Revenue in the quarter was $965 million. (Bannow, 5/13)

Health insurers fled the Affordable Care Act in the early years of the law, fearing that losses from covering too many sick people would eat away at their profits. Now the insurers increasingly view Obamacare as a boon while job-based health coverage faces its biggest threat yet in a crashing economy. With tens of millions of people losing their jobs — and their health benefits — along with major cuts to Medicaid, the insurers see stability and the promise of enough healthy enrollees in a marketplace that offers government subsidized private insurance to millions of Americans during a pandemic. (Goldberg and Luthi, 5/14)

Soaring unemployment numbers could translate into nearly 27 million people losing their health insurance, according to a new report. "Between March 1st and May 2nd, 2020, more than 31 million people had filed for unemployment insurance," notes the Kaiser Family Foundation report, which was released Wednesday. "Actual loss of jobs and income are likely even higher, as some people may be only marginally employed or may not have filed for benefits." Along with losing their jobs, Americans who previously had health insurance coverage through their employers will lose that, too. (Schumaker, 5/13)

Atul Gawande on Wednesday confirmed that he will step down as chief executive of the health care company formed by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Berkshire Hathaway, saying it will allow him to devote more time to addressing the threats posed by Covid-19. Gawande said in a statement posted on Haven’s website that he will stay on as chairman of Haven’s board of directors and that a search has begun for a new chief executive officer. Mitch Betses, a longtime executive with CVS Health who became Haven’s chief operating officer in March, will oversee day-to-day operations. (Ross, 5/13)

Dr. Gawande, a prominent surgeon and professor at Harvard University, is taking on the less operational role of chairman, while Chief Operating Officer Mitch Betses will manage daily operations, Haven said Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Dr. Gawande was in talks to step down from his role. Dr. Gawande, who took the helm in July 2018, said the shift would enable him to focus on policy and advocacy work amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The venture said it is looking for a new CEO. (Sebastian, 5/13)

Despite his departure, many health industry insiders agree that there’s still a path forward for Haven. The key will be for the executive teams to rally behind this person in a big way, and for this new recruit to bring benefits into lockstep with their plans. Get it right, and there’s still big upside. “Innovative employers, partnered with the best providers, are most empowered to fix United States health care,” said Jonathan Slotkin, chief medical officer of Contigo Health, an employer health-focused company that was formed inside Premier. “It really will take a partnership of the providers who deliver care and the employers who pay for that care,” he said. (Farr, 5/13)

Haven’s announcement sparked fears that the employer-led venture could compete with health insurers. But its first plans worked through existing insurance carriers. JPMorgan offered plans to about 30,000 workers in Ohio and Arizona, Bloomberg News reported in November. The Haven plans didn’t subject workers to deductibles and offered incentives for wellness activities to offset medical costs, similar to other corporate health initiatives.Haven kept its operations under wraps for months, with little public evidence of the ambitious ideas the initial rollout seemed to promise. (Armstrong and Tozzi, 5/13)

The leadership change fuels skepticism about what the ultimate impact will be of Haven, which its founders described as an independent company "free from profit-making incentives and constraints" with the aim of improving employee satisfaction and reducing healthcare costs for their U.S. employees. The companies have shared little detail about their efforts and strategy since the group was formed in early 2018. Gawande, who was announced as its CEO less than two years ago, said as he reflected on how he could best contribute to Haven, chairman of the board was an ideal role. Mitch Betses, chief operating officer, will manage day-to-day operations as Haven searches for a new CEO. (Kacik, 5/13)

President Donald Trump’s ousted vaccine chief turned whistleblower will go public with his claims on Thursday in an unusually friendly setting — a hearing chaired by a close congressional ally whose district benefited from his decisions. Rick Bright, who was abruptly removed as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority last month, will air his complaints about the Trump administration's pandemic response in front of a House subcommittee overseen by Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat who represents a Northern California district home to a company that received more than $110 million in awards from BARDA while Bright led the office. (Diamond, 5/13)

America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus, says a government whistleblower who alleges he was ousted from his job after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic. Immunologist Dr. Rick Bright makes his sobering prediction in testimony prepared for his appearance Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Aspects of his complaint about early administration handling of the crisis are expected to be backed up by testimony from an executive of a company that manufactures, respirator masks. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/14)

In his written opening statement, Bright paints a gloomy picture unless the Trump administration responds more quickly and more strongly to the coronavirus. "It is painfully clear that we were not as prepared as we should have been," Bright says. "We missed early warning signals and we forgot important pages from our pandemic playbook." (Naylor, 5/14)

Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was removed April 20 after having served in the position for nearly four years, and transferred to a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health. In his prepared testimony, Bright also touches on a whistleblower complaint in which he asserted he was pressured by Department of Health and Human Services leadership to make “potentially harmful drugs widely available,” including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which President Trump has repeatedly heralded. (Wagner, 5/13)

Last November, Rick Bright, then the director of a federal office that approves funding for medical emergencies, sat in on a meeting between his boss and two men — a pharmaceutical and biotech consultant and an Emory University professor — seeking millions of dollars for an unproven drug. Bright wrote in a whistleblower complaint filed last week that he was wary as professor George Painter and consultant John Clerici described the drug “as a ‘cure all’ for influenza, Ebola, and nearly every other virus.” The team came back in February with an updated pitch after the coronavirus outbreak, suggesting its antiviral medication could be a treatment for COVID-19. (Song, 5/14)

Dr. Rick Bright, the ousted director of a key federal office charged with developing medical countermeasures, will testify before Congress on Thursday that the Trump administration was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic and warn that the the US will face "unprecedented illness and fatalities" without additional preparations. "Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities," Bright is expected to say Thursday, according to his prepared testimony obtained by CNN. "Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history." (Diamond and Collins, 5/13)

Democrats’ efforts to be watchdogs for the federal government’s coronavirus response limped into motion Wednesday with the first meeting of a special committee created to examine the pandemic. Yet the open briefing, held via videoconference, largely served to highlight the frustrations and limitations that lawmakers, especially Democrats, have encountered this spring as Congress has struggled to stake out its role in addressing the pandemic. (DeBonis and Kane, 5/13)

After Republicans and Democrats spent 90 minutes whipsawing between alternate realities, the top lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis paused for a fleeting display of humanity toward each other. "If the distance between me and you on any issue were five steps, I'd be happy to take three of them," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said to his GOP counterpart, Republican Whip Steve Scalise, as the panel's first meeting came to a close Wednesday. (Cheney, 5/13)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday defended the stunning $3 trillion price tag on Democrats’ pandemic relief package as what is needed to confront the “villainous virus” and economic collapse. “The American people are worth it,” Pelosi told The Associated Press. In an interview with the AP, Pelosi acknowledged that the proposal is a starting point in negotiations with President Donald Trump and Republicans, who have flatly rejected the coronavirus relief bill headed for a House vote Friday. (Mascaro and Rama, 5/13)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is plowing ahead with a vote Friday on House Democrats’ $3 trillion coronavirus relief package, bucking progressives who are calling for a delay to give lawmakers time to secure additional liberal priorities in the bill. Pelosi and her allies are putting on a show of force as they try to unite the sometimes-fractious caucus and get their troops in line ahead of this week’s roll call on the 1,800-plus-page bill. (Marcos and Wong, 5/13)

Businesses are going belly up, tens of millions have been laid off and, by some measures, the U.S. seems headed for another Great Depression. But Republicans surveying the wreckage aren’t ready for another round of coronavirus aid, instead urging a “pause.” It’s a position based on a confluence of factors. Polls show GOP voters think the government is already doing enough. Republicans on Capitol Hill are divided over the best approach. Billions approved by Congress have yet to be spent. And it’s also not clear what President Donald Trump wants to do next, if anything, to juice the economy — his payroll tax cut idea hasn’t gained any traction on Capitol Hill. (Taylor, 5/14)

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) said he plans to buck party lines and vote in favor of the $3 trillion coronavirus relief package proposed by House Democrats and slated to come to the floor on Friday. King — who represents one of the hardest-hit districts in the state and is set to retire at the end of this term — said while there are provisions that give him pause, he feels it’s critical that Congress provide funding for state and local governments that have been disproportionately affected by the deadly virus. The New York Republican also said the language to eliminate the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction for 2020 and 2021 factored into his decision to back the measure. (Brufke, 5/13)

Oklahoma Republicans in the U.S. House have come out strongly against the latest financial relief bill, saying Democratic leaders are using the pandemic to push for a “liberal wish list.” The House is expected to vote Friday on the measure, which has an estimated price tag of $3 trillion. Republican Reps. Tom Cole, of Moore; Kevin Hern, of Tulsa; Frank Lucas, of Cheyenne; and Markwayne Mullin, of Westville, have criticized the bill. (Casteel, 5/14)

Negotiations on Capitol Hill over the next package of coronavirus economic relief have revived discussions about ending surprise medical billing, an effort to bolster patient protections that has sparked heavy spending by opponents who warn of damage to the health-care system. Surprise billing typically occurs when a patient is treated at a hospital that is in their insurance network by a medical professional who isn’t, potentially leading to crippling medical charges. The push to end surprise billing pits patient advocates and health-insurance providers, who back the effort, against hospital and medical groups who say it amounts to government rate-setting that would jeopardize the finances of some hospitals and mean out-of-network doctors earn less money. (Peterson and Bykowicz, 5/14)

Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a law enforcement action. (Wilber and Haberkorn, 5/13)

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) formally introduced a pair of rules changes designed to revive congressional action in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has left Congress sputtering for the past two months. Hoyer said Wednesday that his resolution, drafted after bipartisan negotiations with GOP leaders, will allow lawmakers to cast their votes from afar if they cannot be present in the Capitol for “reasons beyond our control” related to the virus. Those lawmakers would designate their proxy to another lawmaker who is present. (Kane, 5/13)

Nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak led more companies to slash jobs even though most states have begun to let some businesses reopen under certain restrictions. Roughly 36 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said Thursday. (Rugaber, 5/14)

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 2.7 million new claims. Stock market futures moved lower following the numbers and pointed to another losing day on Wall Street. (Cox, 5/14)

The worse-than-expected data underscore the ongoing devastating impact of the coronavirus as dine-in restaurants and retailers remain largely closed and concerned Americans stay inside rather than spend. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday outlined a more-troubling economic scenario posed by the possibility of mass bankruptcies and unemployment. “Long stretches of unemployment can damage or end workers’ careers as their skills lose value and professional networks dry up, and leave families in greater debt,” Powell said in remarks to a virtual event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. (Dimitrieva, 5/14)

The flood of new claims threatens to add to the tension between President Trump and public-health officials over how quickly to try and restart parts of the economy, with Trump on Thursday alleging that some Democrats are trying to slow the process down in order to hurt him politically.(Romm, 5/14)

Not all of these employees are still out of work. Some have been called back to their jobs in industries deemed essential. Others have returned to their jobs as many states reopen parts of their economies, particularly in less populated areas where the coronavirus is mostly absent. Yet the unemployment rate has likely reached 20% unofficially, government data suggest, and it’s likely to rise again in May. (Bartash, 5/14)

Michelle Meyer, head of U.S. economics at Bank of America, said that even with the reopenings, she doubted that callbacks to work outnumbered additional layoffs from other sectors. The slowdown has been rippling beyond the early shutdowns in retail and hospitality to professional business services, manufacturing and health care.“In a sense, it’s a rolling shock,” she said. (Cohen and Hsu, 5/14)

“The numbers are very high, but they’re stepping down every week, and I see no reason why that decline in filings wouldn’t continue,” Keith Hall, chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers under former President George W. Bush said ahead of Thursday’s report. “Employers are likely poised to bring people back, but right now we’re in a holding pattern.” (Chaney and Guilford, 5/14)

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 2.981 million for the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said on Thursday. While that was down from 3.176 million in the prior week and marked the sixth straight weekly drop, claims remain astoundingly high. (Mutikani, 5/14)

One of the most progressive lawmakers in the House and one of the most conservative in the Senate, staring down a pandemic-driven unemployment rate at its highest level since the Great Depression, have come to the same conclusion: It’s time for the federal government to cover workers’ salaries. As Congress prepares to wage a new battle over how to best aid workers and businesses devastated by the coronavirus crisis, Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri and a rising conservative star, are both making the case to their party’s leaders that guaranteed income programs should be part of the federal relief effort. (Edmondson, 5/14)

Two months into disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic, millions of U.S. workers continue to apply for unemployment benefits each week. More than 33 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in the seven weeks since the coronavirus led to widespread business closures in mid-March, and economists expect another 3 million filed last week. (Chaney and Guilford, 5/14)

It takes 41 days for Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation office to respond to emails. When the answer finally comes, it may well be written by Angela Lowe. Ms. Lowe, a 41-year-old call center supervisor with a calm demeanor and raspy voice, works seven days a week replying to emails from the newly jobless and handling the more complex claims-related phone calls. A new email lands in her inbox every minute or so, and a notification flashes on her computer screen. At the same time, she said, she and her colleagues are answering calls and juggling online chats. “We’re doing two chats at a time,” she said. (Calvert, 5/14)

The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, delivered a stark warning on Wednesday that the United States was experiencing an economic hit “without modern precedent,” one that could permanently damage the economy if Congress and the White House did not provide sufficient financial support to prevent a wave of bankruptcies and prolonged joblessness. Mr. Powell’s blunt diagnosis was the latest indication that the trillions of dollars that policymakers have already funneled into the economy may not be enough to forestall lasting damage from a virus that has already shuttered businesses and thrown more than 20 million people out of work. (Smialek, Tankersley and Cochrane, 5/13)

For weeks, hopes that massive stimulus from the Federal Reserve and U.S. government would set the stage for a recovery later in the year fueled a blistering rebound in stocks even as the worst drop-off in jobs since the Great Depression slammed the economy. But recent comments from top officials have undercut the case for a speedy economic recovery even as states ease lockdown restrictions, forcing investors to factor in a protracted downturn that would likely weigh on stocks while fueling flows to bonds and other safe-haven assets. (Krauskopf, 5/14)

When big businesses like Shake Shack and the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise took millions of dollars’ worth of emergency loans intended for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called such borrowing “outrageous,” narrowed eligibility and threatened to hold companies criminally liable if they did not give the money back. But in the last month, large companies have continued to take out big loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, including publicly traded firms with ready access to other forms of capital. (Reppeport and McCabe, 5/13)

Homelessness in New York City could see a dramatic spike during the novel coronavirus pandemic if city leaders don't enact a plan to stabilize housing, a nonprofit has warned. More than 325,000 of New York City's lowest-income households -- almost 1 million people -- are at risk of severe income loss and may be unable to pay rent, according to Win, a nonprofit that provides temporary, emergency shelter to families with children experiencing homelessness. Win is a nonprofit partner of the city's Department of Homeless Services. (Torres, 5/13)

After weeks of waiting, self-employed workers can apply for unemployment approved by the federal stimulus package.Ohio Department of Job and Family Services started accepting applications from self-employed workers, 1099 tax filers and part-time workers on Tuesday. The first payments will go out this weekend, Director Kimberly Hall told reporters Wednesday. (Balmert, 5/13)

Americans want to be able to vote by mail in November — but Democratic proposals to require it appear to be going nowhere fast in Congress. House Democrats have sought to drastically overhaul the American electoral system in light of the pandemic, arguing dramatic change is needed to allow Americans to vote safely. In a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted last weekend, nearly three-in-five voters nationwide said they either strongly or somewhat support a federal law that would mandate that states “provide mail-in ballots to all voters for elections occurring during the coronavirus pandemic.” Just a quarter of voters either somewhat or strongly oppose the idea, with the remainder not having an opinion. (Montellaro, 5/13)

Tuesday marked the first major in-person elections in more than a month — and there were good reasons to be worried about whether they’d go safely and smoothly amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nebraska, which held its presidential and down-ballot primary elections, was one of just eight states never to issue a statewide stay-at-home order. And Wisconsin, which held a special election in the 7th Congressional District, was a site of chaos on April 7 when it held its presidential primary in person. But thankfully, it looks like both elections passed without major incident — and Nebraska’s was even a notable success. (Rakich, 5/13)

A higher percentage of voters cast ballots in person, rather than mailing them in absentee during the second Wisconsin election held in just five weeks amid a stay-at-home order to prevent spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. It's another sign that people's fears about leaving home amid the pandemic may be waning, as both state and national polls show growing impatience about stay-at-home orders. Polls have also shown growing skepticism among Republicans to the orders. That could have played into the larger in-person turnout in Tuesday's special election for a congressional seat, which Republican state Sen. Tom Tiffany won by about 14 points over Democrat Tricia Zunker. (Bauer, 5/13)

Betty Thompson could have voted absentee in the special congressional election held here on Tuesday. Her husband did. Her daughter did. So did many of her friends. But when it came time to cast her ballot in the state’s 7th Congressional District race, Thompson, 70, got in her car and went down to the Pilgrim Lutheran Church on the south side of this northern Wisconsin town, just as she has for every Election Day in recent memory. She wasn’t making a political statement in the age of covid-19. It wasn’t an act of rebellion. (Bailey, 5/13)

Communist-run Cuba, laboring under a six-decade U.S. embargo, is betting a biotech sector begun by late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro can give the Caribbean island an edge in a global race to find effective treatments for the new coronavirus. (Marsh, 5/13)

World Health Assembly negotiators have agreed on a draft resolution that ensures countries can navigate patent rights for Covid-19 medical products, a victory for those supporting wider access to drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines. Although the language could still change, the document mentions a voluntary pool, which would collect patent rights, regulatory test data, and other information that could be shared for developing medical products. The European Union last month asked the assembly, which is the governing body of the World Health Organization, to adopt the idea, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has already voiced support. (Silverman, 5/13)

Ministry official Yasuyuki Sahara said in an e-mail on Thursday that the U.S. firm’s treatment has been distributed to hospitals in Japan since May 11 and is being used for patients in intensive care or those on ventilators. Sahara said the amount of remdesivir delivered by the drugmaker wasn’t public information, and that global supplies were “quite limited”. California-based Gilead has pledged to donate the first 1.5 million doses of remdesivir. A company spokesperson said that a portion of that supply had been given to the Japanese government, without being more specific. (Swift, 5/14)

Jose Pascual, a critical care doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, recalled those first, mad days treating the sick when he had little to offer beyond hunches and Hail Marys. Each new day brought bizarre new complications of the coronavirus that defied textbook treatments. “We were flying blind,” he said. “There is nothing more disturbing for me as a doctor.” (Cha, 5/13)

With sporadic reports in recent weeks of cats infected with the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, a group of researchers set out to determine whether cats can transmit the pathogen to one another. The answer, the scientists said: They can. The question now is whether felines can transmit SARS-CoV-2 back to people. (Branswell, 5/13)

The cats, once infected, shed virus particles in the same way that humans do. And it is the same coronavirus that infects people. That makes it theoretically possible for cats to give the virus to humans, said Dr. Karen Terio, chief of the Zoological Pathology Program at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Still, Dr. Terio, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email that “given the limited social circle of most domestic cats, cats are most likely to become infected after contact with a human member of their household.” (Gorman, 5/13)

Health experts have downplayed that possibility. The American Veterinary Medical Association said in a new statement that just because an animal can be deliberately infected in a lab “does not mean that it will easily be infected with that same virus under natural conditions.” Anyone concerned about that risk should use “common sense hygiene,” said virus expert Peter Halfmann. Don’t kiss your pets and keep surfaces clean to cut the chances of picking up any virus an animal might shed, he said. (Marchione, 5/13)

More than 100 children in New York are suspected of having a mysterious inflammatory illness believed to be connected to the coronavirus, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Wednesday. The state’s department of health is investigating 102 cases, including three deaths, of children believed to have the illness, which is referred to as pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome. The disease is thought to be related to COVID-19 because all of the children have either tested positive for the virus or its antibodies, Cuomo said. (Hellmann, 5/13)

Doctors around the country and in Michigan are sounding the alarm that these widely varying symptoms could be quite serious, and might be a sign that a child has developed a newly identified pediatric multi-inflammatory syndrome that may be linked to COVID-19. About two dozen Michigan children are believed to have developed this syndrome, which has symptoms that overlap with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome, but is believed to be its own disorder, said Dr. Rudolph Valentini, a pediatric nephrologist who also is the Detroit Medical Center's Group Chief Medical Officer. (Shamus, 5/14)

Massachusetts hospitals are seeing a small number of cases of a rare pediatric inflammatory disease afflicting children that is possibly related to COVID-19. The condition’s currently being referred to as “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with COVID-19,” Boston Children’s Hospital said in a recent posting to its website by the communications staff. The article noted that not all children with the syndrome tested positive for COVID-19. (Andersen, 5/13)

Over a third of patients treated for COVID-19 in a large New York medical system developed acute kidney injury, and nearly 15% required dialysis, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. The study was conducted by a team at Northwell Health, the largest health provider in New York state. “We found in the first 5,449 patients admitted, 36.6% developed acute kidney injury,” said study co-author Dr. Kenar Jhaveri, associated chief of nephrology at Hofstra/Northwell in Great Neck, New York, whose findings were published in the journal Kidney International. (Steenhuysen, 5/14)

The new coronavirus can infect organs throughout the body, including lungs, throat, heart, liver, brain, kidneys and the intestines, researchers reported Wednesday. Two separate reports suggest the virus goes far beyond the lungs and can attack various organs -- findings that can help explain the wide range of symptoms caused by Covid-19 infection. The findings might help explain some of the puzzling symptoms seen in coronavirus patients. (Fox, 5/13)

As researchers probe DNA in search of clues about why some Covid-19 patients get so much sicker than others, they’re coming to a clear realization: It’s essential that they enroll as many patients as possible with cases so severe they were hospitalized. On Wednesday, consumer genetics giant 23andMe bowed to that reality. It plans to solicit help from hospitals to expand a massive study it launched last month so that it can recruit more people — up to 10,000 new participants — who have been hospitalized with Covid-19. The idea is to mine their data to try to identify genetic differences that may help explain why some infected patients wind up on ventilators while others don’t even get a cough. (Robbins, 5/13)

Hospitals across the country are filled with a curious sight these days: patients lying on their bellies. Patients almost always lie on their backs, a position that helps nurses tend to them and allows them to look around if they’re awake. But for many patients, the coronavirus crisis is literally flipping the script. The surprisingly low-tech concept, called proning, can improve breathing in patients stricken by the respiratory distress that is the hallmark of the virus, doctors have found. It draws from basic principles of physiology and gravity. (Belluck, 5/13)

Ordinary speech can emit small respiratory droplets that linger in the air for at least eight minutes and potentially much longer, according to a study published Wednesday that could help explain why infections of the coronavirus so often cluster in nursing homes, households, conferences, cruise ships and other confined spaces with limited air circulation. The report, from researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Pennsylvania, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal. It is based on an experiment that used laser light to study the number of small respiratory droplets emitted through human speech. The answer: a lot. (Achenbach, 5/13)

A viral video from Japan aims to show how easily germs and viruses can spread in restaurants when just one person is infected... The video shows 10 people coming into the restaurant, with one singled out as the "infected" person. Each participant goes about the buffet as they normally would, not considering a potential contamination. At the end of the video, the participants are cast under black lights illuminating where the "infection" has spread. (Johnson, 5/14)

The coronavirus spreading across the globe might never be eliminated, a leading World Health Organization official has said. During a media briefing in Geneva, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program, warned Wednesday that the disease may join the mix of viruses that kill people around the world every year. "This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV hasn't gone away," Ryan said. (Howard and Rahim, 5/14)

The latest mathematical COVID-19 model released by Harvard University researchers predicts that recurrent winter outbreaks will probably occur after the first, most severe pandemic wave; prolonged or intermittent physical distancing may be necessary into 2022; and a resurgence is possible as late as 2024. The report, published yesterday in Science, details how the researchers used estimates of seasonality, immunity, and cross-immunity of the HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1 human coronaviruses from US time series data to predict the likely course of the pandemic in temperate regions through 2025. (Van Beusekom, 5/13)

Hate crimes and incidents directed at Asian Americans have surged during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, whose director said Wednesday that civic groups and police departments have fielded more than 100 reports of hate incidents tied to the pandemic from February through April. Many of these incidents were “acts of hate-motivated hostility” that did not amount to hate crimes but were no less jarring, the commission’s director, Robin Toma, said in a virtual town hall. (Ormseth, 5/13)

For Anthony Flint, one of the most comfortable spots in his house became one of the most dangerous. With his company office closed by the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Flint took to working in a brown armchair in his bedroom, his legs sharing the ottoman with his terrier, Dusty. Then came the backache. “It got so bad that I was in the kitchen making dinner and I found myself hanging on to the counter trying to take weight off my legs,” he says. (Zitner, 5/13)

At Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vt., a five-ton granite bench sits on a triangle of grass. It is a mere five feet high and three feet deep, which seems modest in scale relative to the calamity it commemorates. “1918 Spanish Flu Memorial” reads an inscription on the front. “Over 50 million deaths worldwide” is chiseled on the back. Installed two years ago, the bench was underwritten by Brian Zecchinelli and his wife, Karen, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Wayside, a restaurant they own in nearby Montpelier. It opened in 1918, just a few months before influenza scythed through Barre, killing nearly 200 people, the largest loss of life of any town in the state. (Segal, 5/14)

Nightmares. Tantrums. Regressions. Grief. Violent outbursts. Exaggerated fear of strangers. Even suicidal thoughts. In response to a call on social media, parents across the country shared with NPR that the mental health of their young children appears to be suffering as the weeks of lockdown drag on. Most U.S. states have canceled in-person classes for the rest of the academic year. This week in Senate testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, sounded a cautionary note on the prospect of reopening school buildings nationwide, even in the fall. (Kamenetz, 5/14)

Plans from several major US airlines on how to enforce their mandatory mask requirements reveal that, for the most part, they will rely on passenger cooperation rather than strict enforcement. Separate memos obtained by CNN that American Airlines (AAL) sent to its pilots and flight attendants show that customers may be denied boarding for not wearing a mask. But once on the plane "the face covering policy will become more lenient" and "the flight attendant's role is informational, not enforcement," the pilot memo reads. (Muntean, 5/13)

The Bay Area blunted the impact of its first brush with the coronavirus, but infectious disease experts warn there are more outbreaks to come once the region eases shelter-in-place restrictions, and one looming event is of particular concern: the flu season. No one yet knows what to expect in the fall and winter, when the coronavirus may commingle with seasonal influenza. But even as public health officials battle the current COVID-19 outbreak, they’re bracing for a resurgence of cases and a potentially much deadlier situation in a few months. (Allday, 5/14)

Kaiser Health News: Despite Pandemic, Trauma Centers See No End To ‘The Visible Virus Of Violence’

On an early March day at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medical Center teemed with patients. But many weren’t there because of the coronavirus. They were there because they’d been shot. Gunshot victims account for most of the 2,600 adult trauma patients a year who come to this hospital on the city’s sprawling South Side. And the pandemic hasn’t dampened the flow. (Bruce, 5/14)

Since the coronavirus pandemic closed schools nationwide, children are spending much more time at home. But reports of abuse and neglect have declined dramatically, prompting concerns among child welfare advocates that mistreatment isn’t being exposed. (Brangham and Norris, 5/13)

For patients facing kidney failure and others in need of a transplant, it's imperative that they continue going to dialysis. But how can you do that safely in a world largely paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic? Ashraf El-Meanawy, the Medical College of Wisconsin's Director of Dialysis, said there are many options, but skipping dialysis should not be one of them. (Shelbourne, 5/13)

Coronavirus cases are higher in Georgia counties where more African Americans live, even after stripping out factors like poverty, health insurance and population density, according to the Morehouse School of Medicine. Using data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, researchers from MSM’s National Center for Primary Care looked at counties with at least 10 cases of COVID-19 to study how race factored in the disease’s deadly crawl through Georgia. (Suggs, 5/13)

As the pace of new coronavirus infections slows across Europe, governments are reconsidering how best to measure the progress of the disease and guide their decisions on loosening lockdowns. Some are finding that the gauges they used as new cases grew exponentially are becoming harder to interpret or just too volatile as new daily infections fall into the hundreds rather than the thousands. (Pancevski and Fidler, 5/13)

A typhoon that slammed into the Philippines on Thursday forced a risky evacuation for tens of thousands of people during the coronavirus pandemic, while New Zealand and Japan were among countries to relax restrictions as the virus is brought under control in some places. (Kurtenbach, 5/14)

When Chancellor Angela Merkel explained “R-naught,” or the reproduction variable, for the coronavirus during a news conference last month, she identified 1.0 as a key threshold. If the R-naught in Germany remained below 1.0, she said, it would suggest that active cases were in decline. A number above 1.0 would indicate that cases were on the rise. So when Germany’s R-naught, or R0, number rose above 1.0 on Saturday and remained there for three days before dipping back down to 0.9 on Tuesday, many wondered about the implications. (Eddy, 5/12)

Britain is in talks with Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG on rolling out an accurate COVID-19 antibody test that it said could be a ‘game changer’ on getting the world’s fifth largest economy back to work. (Faulconbridge and Holton, 5/13)

One restaurant in Thailand is ensuring it meets new social distancing guidelines, and providing lonely diners a bit of company, by seating stuffed pandas at its tables. Thailand earlier this month relaxed some restrictions on businesses as the number of coronavirus cases slowed, allowing restaurants to reopen but with strict rules in place to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. “Earlier we had only one chair for the tables where the customer came alone. But for me, it felt strange, so I thought I’d give them some company,” said Natthwut Rodchanapanthkul, the owner of Maison Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bangkok. (Kuhakan, 5/14)

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is one of the world’s most powerful leftists — a longtime champion of the poor who delivers scathing indictments of neoliberalism and the global elite. Yet his approach to government spending — even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout — might best be compared to that of conservative icons Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. (Linthicum, 5/13)

A surge of infections in Russia lifted the country's COVID-19 total to the world's second highest, as illness numbers and deaths continued to rise sharply in parts of South America. The global total today rose to 4,327,288 cases from 188 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. The number of deaths approached 300,000 and is at 295,540. (Schnirring, 5/13)

A secretive experiment revealed this week, in which neurosurgeons transplanted brain cells into a patient with Parkinson’s disease, made medical history. It was the first time such “reprogrammed” cells, produced from stem cells that had been created in the lab from the man’s own skin cells, had been used to try to treat the degenerative brain disease. But it was also a bioethics iceberg, with some issues in plain sight and many more lurking. (Begley, 5/14)

Allogene on Wednesday released the first data on tumor responses to its off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapy for an aggressive form of B-cell lymphoma, showing that at least some patients experienced complete remission. The new data are preliminary but important because they represent potential progress for the CAR-T field. If successful, the Allogene treatment, called ALLO-501, could be widely available and allow patients with advanced blood cancer to be treated on demand. Today’s bespoke CAR-Ts, by comparison, must be genetically engineered from each patient’s own cells. (Feuerstein, 5/13)

Roche on Wednesday said a two-drug combination that includes a novel but still experimental checkpoint-blocking immunotherapy significantly delayed tumor progression in a mid-stage study of non-small cell lung cancer patients. Reaction to the results might be muted, however, because the new combination treatment — tiragolumab plus Tecentriq — only showed a meaningful benefit in a subset of lung cancer patients. That profile makes it unlikely to compete against Merck’s dominant Keytruda-chemotherapy combination. (Feuerstein, 5/13)

Amgen’s experimental KRAS-blocking drug is showing a modest improvement in response rates for patients with advanced colon cancer and other solid tumors, according to an update from an early-stage clinical trial released Wednesday evening. While moving in a positive direction, the new data on the Amgen drug called AMG 510 are unlikely to ease all the doubts that surfaced last year about whether it can be broadly effective against different types of solid tumors. (Adam Feuerstein, 5/13)

Most companies in the microbiome space have focused on recurrent, deadly C. difficile bacterial infections. But microbes may also be able to help treat a common and pernicious condition called bacterial vaginosis, according to a new study. Women with the condition who inserted a powder made from a single type of bacteria, Lactobacillus crispatus, directly into their vaginas, saw their condition return about 30% of the time, down from the control group’s rate of 45%. That treatment, called Lactin-V, is the product of nearly two decades of work by California-based Osel, Inc. (Sheridan, 5/13)

Omnicare, which is the largest long-term care pharmacy in the U.S., agreed to pay a $15.3 million penalty for allegedly allowing opioids and other controlled substances to be dispensed without valid prescriptions. The CVS Health (CVS) unit failed to track limited stockpiles of the medicines that were stored in so-called emergency kits, which are supposed to be dispensed by long-term care facilities on an emergency basis, but only with valid prescriptions, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Omnicare also repeatedly failed to document and report emergency prescriptions. (Silverman, 5/13)

Knowing the infection fatality rate (IFR) of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infections is essential for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data through April 20, 2020, we fit a statistical model to COVID-19 case fatality rates over time at the US county level to estimate the COVID-19 IFR among symptomatic cases (IFR-S) as time goes to infinity. The IFR-S in the US was estimated to be 1.3% (95% central credible interval: 0.6% to 2.1%). County-specific rates varied from 0.5% to 3.6%. (Basu, 5/7)

Collaborating with the National Health Commission of China, we established a retrospective cohort of patients with COVID-19 from 575 hospitals in 31 provincial administrative regions as of January 31, 2020. Epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and imaging variables ascertained at hospital admission were screened using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and logistic regression to construct a predictive risk score (COVID-GRAM). The score provides an estimate of the risk that a hospitalized patient with COVID-19 will develop critical illness. Accuracy of the score was measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Data from 4 additional cohorts in China hospitalized with COVID-19 were used to validate the score. Data were analyzed between February 20, 2020 and March 17, 2020. (Liang et al, 5/12)

ACA Medicaid expansions are associated with increased Medicaid coverage and reduced uninsurance among poor new mothers. Opportunities remain for expansion and nonexpansion states to increase insurance coverage among new mothers living in poverty. (Johnston et al, 5/1)

A white paper published today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology calls on antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) to take steps to address the potential legal implications of stewardship activities. The paper, written by a team of legal and antibiotic stewardship experts, aims to address some of the concerns that ASPs, which are now required in most US hospitals, have about liability to patients they neither see nor examine. (5/13)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created during the Great Depression showed how a large-scale, federally funded, locally administered jobs program could address an employment crisis. Through a similar program today, state and local governments could use federal resources to help job centers, public schools, nonprofits, and private companies hire workers to address critical needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. These could include public health department staff, teachers’ aides in schools, child and elder care providers, and construction workers for housing and infrastructure projects. (Acs, 5/6)

Covid-19 is a tragic infection that is killing hundreds of thousands of people around the world. But it is also far more than that. It is a supernova in human history: an expanding, all-encompassing set of events and responses to them that touch every aspect of the human condition, simultaneously worsening and improving human health in myriad ways, through immediate and delayed paths. Over the next few decades, economists, epidemiologists, public health experts, historians, philosophers, sociologists, physicians, psychologists, and others will work to untangle the interwoven threads. (Vinay Prasad and Jeffrey S. Flier, 5/14)

As with so many stories about healthcare workers in the pandemic, it was wrenching to read about a dedicated local nurse who died of COVID-19 just two weeks after rushing into the room of a patient who had stopped breathing. The nurse, Celia Marcos, had gone ahead and begun chest compressions, which cause virus-laden air to be expelled forcefully, even though she lacked an N95 mask that would have afforded her the best protection. (5/14)

When Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, described the results of a remdesivir study a couple of weeks ago, he was cautious in characterizing how the experimental Gilead Sciences drug helped combat Covid-19. Patients given the intravenous medicine recovered faster than those on a placebo by 31%, or four days, Fauci said, conceding the result was not a “knockout.” Nonetheless, he insisted in his trademark keep-it-simple-demeanor, that the data showed “remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect…. This has proven that a drug can block this virus.” (Ed Silverman, 5/13)

Physical proximity, and touch, might be even more powerful. Much has been written about the importance of touch in the healing process, but it’s a difficult phenomenon to study. Stories suggesting a link are everywhere, though. (Clayton Dalton, 5/14)

In the midst of a pandemic like Covid-19, for which there are no FDA-approved drug treatments, hope is important. That’s one reason why remdesivir, an antiviral drug that Gilead Sciences originally made to fight Ebola, has been propelled into the spotlight with the hope that it can stop, or at least curtail, the ravages of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Data from the open-label SIMPLE trial, sponsored by Gilead, and the randomized controlled Adaptive Covid-19 Treatment Trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, show that remdesivir may accelerate recovery rates among patients with advanced Covid-19. The drug’s modest effects are a far cry from the strong antiviral activity it demonstrated in preclinical primate models of coronavirus (both MERS and SARS-CoV-2). (Victoria C. Yan and Florian L. Muller, 5/14)

Many supporters of President Trump believe that the figures for coronavirus fatalities are inflated, and Trump himself shared a tweet doubting the accuracy of some virus figures. He’s right that the death toll seems off — but not in the direction he would suggest. We’ve crunched the numbers, state by state, and it appears that somewhere around 100,000 to 110,000 Americans have already died as a result of the pandemic, rather than the 83,000 whose deaths have been attributed to the disease, Covid-19. (Nicholas Kristof, 5/13)

Dr. Tony Fauci appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday to testify before members of Congress. The topic, of course, was the ongoing debate over when and how to reopen the country at schools and workplaces amid the coronavirus pandemic, when to do it, and how quickly. Dr. Fauci left no doubts about how he feels on that question. Opening up now, he said, after just two months of lockdowns, is a very risky, indeed a dangerous, prospect. Letting Americans work and learn once again could be a catastrophe, he said. And he wasn't just referring to a handful of hotspots that have been hit especially hard. Entire states, Fauci said, likely need to remain closed. (Tucker Carlson, 5/13)

Americans were offered alternative realities this week from their president and the government's top coronavirus scientist. Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden on Monday to boast of his success in ramping up testing. "America has risen to the task," he said. "We have met the moment, and we have prevailed."The next day, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress that the path much of America has taken to rapidly reopen the economy could lead to "some suffering and death." (5/13)

President Donald Trump's repudiation of Dr. Anthony Fauci has long been probable. Once the trusted doctor warned of the human cost of Trump's push to quickly reopen the country, it became inevitable. Trump broke with Fauci, who has served under six presidents, on Wednesday over the infectious disease expert's warnings that getting businesses and schools back open too quickly would lead to unnecessary suffering and death. (Stephen Collinson, 5/14)

The current coronavirus pandemic is teaching us the importance of accurate scientific knowledge to guide political decisions. We are seeing how political leaders in Italy, Spain, the UK and the U.S. ignored scientific advice and pushed their countries to the brink of catastrophe. In all four cases, after initially ignoring the claims and data provided by the scientific community, the leadership changed strategies and began accepting their guidance — when it's most likely too late. The coronavirus crisis is not an isolated case, climate change is also a good example of how political leadership ignores science. (Javier Del Campo, 5/13)

It may seem like grotesque malpractice — both from a political and a public health standpoint. But it’s true: Amid a pandemic that has killed more than 80,000 Americans, President Trump and many Republicans are not just urging Americans to go back to work in dangerous conditions.They are also fully supporting an effort to roll back health coverage for millions. (Greg Sargent, 5/13)

Last month, a group of Stanford University researchers released a remarkable study: Covid-19 infections in Santa Clara, Calif., might well be 85 times higher than official estimates. The fatality rate for coronavirus might be as low as 0.12 percent, the researchers concluded, which would make Covid-19 only as deadly as the seasonal flu. Within hours, the paper had been leveraged by conservative commentators and activists on social media, forged into ammunition to support the protests against lockdowns and other social mitigation efforts meant to contain the coronavirus and minimize deaths. The right-wing, prospecting for proof that the severity of the pandemic was overblown, had found their science, plain as day. (Bajak and Howe, 5/14)

One does not need to be a professional pollster to understand that American voters want the federal government to stop shifting responsibility to the states for testing and that they are not enamored with the race to reopen the economy when conditions do not warrant doing so. The latest Pew poll shows that “a majority of Americans (61%) say it is primarily the federal government’s responsibility to make sure there are enough COVID-19 tests in order to safely lift the restrictions.” That captures two concepts: It’s the feds’ job, and you need testing to reopen. Local hospitals and medical professionals rate the highest on their pandemic response (88 percent), while public health officials such as those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also do extremely well (72 percent). President Trump gets 41 percent. Republicans, meanwhile, seem loath to believe that the virus is a big deal: (Jennifer Rubin, 5/13)

The racially disproportionate effect of the Covid-19 crisis in this country and a recent rash of high-profile senseless killings of black people by the police and vigilantes may seem on their face unrelated. But, in fact, they are related. The two phenomena have collided as a tragic reminder of how consistently and continuously states have failed black people in this country.It is state policy — both criminal and health — that leaves black people exposed and vulnerable and with little recourse for safety or justice. (Charles M. Blow, 5/13)

In late February, as data on the coronavirus pandemic continued to unfold, I started making calls to friends and family to prepare them. I told them to get ready to hunker down for three months. For many then, it was hard to believe that a virus we couldn’t much see evidence of, less understand, would require us to shut down our economy. I also spoke with C.E.O.s and governors, urging them to close nonessential businesses and enact stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the virus. Other public health advocates called for the same — and fortunately government and business leaders responded. Their actions saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives and spared American hospitals the horrors of rationing care. Shutting down was the right policy at the time. As circumstances have evolved, so has my thinking. (Marty Makary, 5/14)

Since Gov. Ivey made her decision, new cases in Alabama have continued to grow.On Monday, the state passed 10,000 cumulative coronavirus cases, and a lot of news reports have made note for the same reason we like to watch our cars’ odometers roll over to 100,000 miles. But I’d like to point to a more significant number we’ll pass sometime soon, maybe by the time you read this.10,936 — that’s the cumulative cases South Korea reported Monday.Sometime in the next week, Alabama will overtake South Korea.Alabama will overtake South Korea, despite that country having 50 million people to our five million. (Kyle Whitmire, 5/13)

The current pandemic has exposed the fragility and vulnerability of the U.S. medical supply system. This pandemic won’t be the last, and it has become abundantly clear that the U.S. shouldn’t rely on one or two foreign countries for such essential supplies. As we search for shovel-ready projects to fight the COVID-19 virus and lay the groundwork to be better prepared for the next, we need to look no further than Puerto Rico. (Jorge Heine and Kevin P. Gallagher, 5/13)

As we have not reached the level of testing or contact tracing needed to resume all economic activities safely, we should be reconsidering whether it is in fact true that we must choose between reducing economic insecurity and reducing harm at the hands of a poorly controlled pandemic. (Elizabeth Chiao, Katherine Y. King, Judy Levison and Dona Kim Murphey, 5/14)

As Massachusetts prepares to follow other states down the uncertain path of lifting coronavirus restrictions, the clamor of competing messages grows louder: Moving too fast will bring a surge in deaths. Moving too slowly will bury the economy. The debate over when to reopen will continue to rage between public health leaders, politicians, and business owners. But just as important is how. A growing number of scientists, economists, and business leaders have eschewed all-or-nothing thinking as they map out approaches to a new normal with COVID-19 until there is a vaccine. (Leung and Edelman, 5/13)

As the COVID-19 crisis continues in Maine and across the country, the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers are continuing their efforts to take accessible health care coverage from over 20 million Americans, including 83,000 Mainers. (Harnett, 5/13)