“Here are some significant developments:”
- “Major flight restrictions were imposed at key airports along the East Coast, including in Washington, after an air traffic controller trainee tested positive for covid-19 Saturday.”
- “Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “I’m not totally sure what the president was referring to,” when asked about an hours-earlier tweet by President Trump that claimed the FDA was working on a combination of an anti-malaria drug and an antibiotic that could treat the infection.” (During week of 3/17/2020, the University of Minnesota is leading a 1,500 person clinical trial to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19. Frontline Medical workers are invited to participate.)
- “VP Pence said he and his wife, Karen, would be tested later on Saturday after a member of his staff had tested positive.”
- “The Food and Drug Administration approves new test that can detect the coronavirus in 45 minutes.” (California-based Cepheid is the company manufacturing the tests.)
- “Puerto Rican health officials confirmed the island’s first death.”
- “President Trump’s top economic adviser said a rescue package could ultimately inject more than $2 trillion into the economy.”
- “At least 55 coronavirus deaths in the U.S., one quarter of all fatalities, have occurred in senior-care facilities, a Post review finds.”
- “The British government pleaded with Britons to stop panic buying at supermarkets while Australian authorities ordered people off Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach Saturday.”
Hospitals warn of shortages, closures without emergency aid by Amy Goldstein
“U.S. hospitals are warning that they are so strapped for cash that, without some financial relief, they will be unable to meet their payrolls in a matter of weeks and could be forced to close as the new coronavirus is surging.”
“The American Hospital Association and 3 hospital chief executives spanning the continent said in a conference call Saturday that a federal directive this week to cancel elective procedures — to devote resources to coronavirus patients — is depriving them of the type of services that produces the most revenue.”
“And their ability to buy critically needed supplies — from protective gear to more hospital beds — is being stymied by the fact that private vendors are requiring hospitals to pay cash upon delivery, which they lack the money to do.”
“The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association are jointly urging Congress to provide hospitals and health systems $100 billion in emergency aid. The Federation of American Hospitals, the trade group for for-profit hospitals, issued a call Friday night for at least $225 million in aid.”
Gronda Morin 
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Dire need.
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