Driving the Day:
Associated Press: Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised
Vox: The Trump administration’s botched coronavirus response, explained
What to Watch For: Today, President Trump will hold a conference call with grocery executives at 1:30 PM. Dr. Anthony Fauci appears on all five major Sunday shows. The coronavirus task force will hold a press briefing at 5:00 PM. The president has declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer for coronavirus.
Coronavirus Update:
At the daily task force briefing, President Trump announced that he has taken a coronavirus test hours after the White House released a memo from physicians saying it wasn’t necessary for him to take it. The White House released results Saturday evening saying that Trump tested negative for the virus.
At the briefing, Trump said it was “fine” that Apple is closing all stores globally (outside of China) and suggested that other retailers consider doing the same and told Americans that non-essential travel should not be taken. Trump continued to emphasize that the virus is just “one of those things that happened. It’s nobody’s fault.” Trump also bragged about the stock market’s upturn after his Rose Garden press conference on Friday, which he claimed was a “record.”
Mike Pence announced the expansion of the European travel ban to include Ireland the UK. Surgeon General Jerome Adams demanded that the media stop the “finger pointing” and “criticism” and called for “less stories looking at what happened in the past.” Dr. Anthony Fauci said that we “have not reached our peak” of the outbreak and we will see more deaths, but “we can still influence the course of the drive.”
At the White House, physicians have begun to scan the temperatures of everyone attempting to enter to attend press briefings. One reporter was turned away on Saturday for registering a temperature above 100 degrees. The RNC announced that Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is quarantining at home awaiting coronavirus test results and is showing flu-like symptoms.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) became the first senator to announce his opposition to the Pelosi-Trump coronavirus relief bill, citing the damage he claims mandated paid sick leave would do to small businesses. The National Federation for Independent Business also came out in opposition to the bill.
By The Numbers
Saturday, March 15, 2020, 9:00 AM
Number of US cases: 2,759
Number of US deaths: 59
Number of states with confirmed cases: 49 + Washington, DC and Puerto Rico
Total Number of People Tested in US: Unknown
Bloomberg: A Fifth of Virus Cruise Cases Asymptomatic, Study Says
Bloomberg: Flu Watchdog Spots More With Fever and Cough, But It’s Not Flu
CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized
Talking Points Memo: Two ER Doctors Test Positive For COVID-19
New York Times: Coronavirus Threatens Americans With Underlying Conditions
New York Times (Opinion): How Much Worse the Coronavirus Could Get, in Charts
Washington Post: Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”
Federal Health Response
The Atlantic: America Isn’t Testing for the Most Alarming Coronavirus Cases
Axios: Pence tells White House staff to avoid physical contact
Bloomberg: Airports in the U.S. Struggle to Cope With the Crowds
Bloomberg: White House Asks Federal Agencies, Departments to Curb Travel
Bloomberg: Nursing Homes Block Doors, Check Entering Peoples’ Temperatures
New York Times: Coronavirus Screening Causes 7-Hour Waits in Crowded Lines at U.S. Airports
New York Times: Trump Administration Is Relaxing Oversight of Nursing Homes
New York Times: ‘It’s Totally Ad Hoc’: Why America’s Virus Response Looks Like a Patchwork
New York Times: The Coronavirus Is Forcing Hospitals to Cancel Surgeries
Newsweek (Opinion): Newt Gingrich: I Am In Italy Amid The Coronavirus Crisis. America Must Act Now—and Act Big
Politico: The shadow coronavirus czar
Reuters: U.S. to add Britain, Ireland to European travel ban – airline, U.S. officials
Roll Call: Hospitals want to kill a policy shielding nurses from COVID-19 because there aren’t enough masks
USA Today: Cruise passengers under coronavirus quarantine say they lack food, basic medical attention
Washington Post: Surge in coronavirus patients threatens to swamp U.S. hospitals
Washington Post: Coronavirus screening causes massive bottlenecks at O’Hare and other U.S. airports
Washington Post: ‘We’ll improvise’: A resource-starved rural hospital steels itself for coronavirus’s arrival
Federal Economic Response
NPR: Judge Blocks Rule That Would Have Kicked 700,000 People Off SNAP
New York Times (Editorial): There’s a Giant Hole in Pelosi’s Coronavirus Bill
New York Times (Editorial): The Companies Putting Profits Ahead of Public Health
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Treasury to Help Advance Funds to Employers for Paid Sick Leave
Leadership
Associated Press: Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised
The Atlantic (Ideas): Coronavirus Called America’s Bluff
CNN (Analysis): Donald Trump’s appalling, blame-shifting Rose Garden news conference
CNN: Trump says he was tested for coronavirus and results will take ‘a day, or two days’
NBC: Mismanagement, missed opportunities: How the White House bungled the coronavirus response
New York Times: On a Saturday Night in Florida, a Presidential Party Became a Coronavirus Hot Zone
New York Times: Trump Oversold a Google Site to Fight Coronavirus
New York Times: Trump Says He Could Demote Fed Chair Powell, Risking More Market Turmoil
New York Times: Trump Supporters Know Where to Turn in a Crisis: To Him
New York Times: Trump Is Losing Money in the Markets, Too
Politico: Trump now needs the hospitals he’s alienated
Vox: The Trump administration’s botched coronavirus response, explained
Wall Street Journal: President Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus, White House Says
Wall Street Journal: Democrats Sharpen Criticism of Trump’s Health-Care Policy in Coronavirus Pandemic
Washington Post: Amid outbreak, Democrats refocus on Trump’s health-care record
Washington Post: Trump is breaking every rule in the CDC’s 450-page playbook for health crisis
Washington Post: Infighting, missteps and a son-in-law hungry for results: Inside the Trump administration’s troubled coronavirus response
Washington Post: Trump tests negative for coronavirus as questions mount over his personal risks in face of pandemic
Congress
Talking Points Memo: With WH Support, Pressure’s On McConnell To Pass Pelosi’s COVID-19 Package
Media
New York Times: Fox Business Benches Trish Regan After Outcry Over Coronavirus Comments
Campaigns and Elections
NBC: Un-coventional? Coronavirus could risk Democratic, GOP national party gatherings
New York Times: Georgia Postpones Its Primary as Virus Upends Voting
New York Times: Could the 2020 Election Be Postponed? Only With Great Difficulty. Here’s Why.
International
Bloomberg: The Day Trudeau Put Canada Into Crisis Mode from Quarantine
Bloomberg: South Korea Wants to Show the World How to Tackle the Coronavirus
CNBC: France closes restaurants, cafes, movie theaters and other nonessential shops to fight coronavirus
The Guardian: Spain prepares to order nationwide lockdown over coronavirus
Slate: Europeans Under Lockdown Are Singing Together and Giving Their Health Care Workers Citywide Ovations
The Telegraph: Mass gatherings to be banned as Boris Johnson makes coronavirus U-turn
Washington Post: Pollution is plummeting in Italy in the wake of coronavirus, emissions data show
Economic And Social Impacts
The Atlantic: Social Distancing Could Change Our Relationship With FaceTime
Los Angeles Times: Liquor, marijuana and guns are also popular among coronavirus hoarders
NPR: Grocery Stores Start To Cut Hours As Coronavirus Prompts Surge In Panic-Buying
Time: Apple Temporarily Closes Retail Stores Worldwide to Fight Coronavirus
Washington Post: Sports cancellations leave one group of fans particularly deflated: Vasectomy patients
Washington Post: The companies that feed America brace for labor shortages and worry about restocking stores as coronavirus pandemic intensifies
Washington Post (Perspective): Pandemic, panic and toilet paper math
Personal Preparedness
The Atlantic: How You Should Get Food During the Pandemic
Buzzfeed: How Millennials Are Talking To Their Boomer Relatives About The Coronavirus
New York Times (Opinion): Please, Don’t Go Out to Brunch Today
In The States
Colorado
KCNC: Colorado State Legislature Suspends Session Until End Of Month
New York
New York Times: The Rich Have a Coronavirus Cure: Escape From New York
Washington, DC
Washington Post: D.C. street vendors to become public health ambassadors to help curb the spread of coronavirus
Trump Tweets
“Tomorrow I have called for a National Day of Prayer. I will be tuning in to Pastor @Jentezen at the @FreeChapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia at 11:00 AM EDT. God Bless the USA! https://freechapel.org/live” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]
“The @CDCgov has published guidelines on https://CoronaVirus.gov to enable every American to respond to this epidemic and to protect themselves, their families and their communities.” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]
“Just had a nice conversation with Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau of Canada. Great to hear that his wonderful wife Sophie is doing very well. The United States and Canada will continue to coordinate closely together on COVID-19.” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]
“SOCIAL DISTANCING!” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]
“Attending meetings on Covid-19 in the White House. Working with States and local governments, many of whom have done a great job. Full report latter!” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]
“THE UNITED STATES LOVES ITALY!” [@realDonaldTrump, 3/14/20]