As shutdowns continue across the nation and hospitals prepare, as much as they can, for an influx of COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks, the situation is changing by the hour. A brief roundup of major events today nationwide:
• U.S. COVID-19 cases passed the 4,500 mark today, and are expected to rise rapidly in coming days as tests for the virus become, finally, somewhat more available.
• In a bizarre development, multiple media outlets have now confirmed that Donals Trump attempted to convince a German company to move its vaccine development efforts to the United States—seemingly in an attempt to control that vaccine when, or if, it arrived.
• After weeks of Donald Trump insisting that his administration had the emerging epidemic "very well under control," a call between Trump and state governors this morning resulted in public fury from several of the governors on the call after Trump responded to requests for more ventilators and other equipment by telling the states to "try getting it yourselves." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had called on Trump to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to rapidly scale up available hospital beds.
• Election officials across the country are "scrambling" to develop plans to reschedule March elections, expand vote-by-mail options, and take other steps in response to now-required shutdowns, lockdowns, and widespread "social distancing" measures. Seventeen states currently have laws barring voters from casting absentee ballots without an approved excuse. In Georgia, a civil rights group is calling for the state to extend voter registration after the state's presidential primary election was postponed until May.
• The Supreme Court is postponing oral arguments for all remaining cases in its March session. While highly unusual, the Court noted that similar postponements happened during the deadly 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.
• Republican Senate leaders, however, are now signaling that no vote on emergency response measures will take place for several more days at least due to opposition from some in the Republican caucus. Meanwhile, in the House, Republican conspiracy gadfly Rep. Louie Gohmert is currently blocking unanimous consent for the bill to be delivered to the Senate in the first place.
• Immigration judges and attorneys' groups have issued a joint letter to the Justice Department asking for the emergency closures of U.S. immigration courts, saying the department "is failing to meet its obligations to ensure a safe and healthy environment within our Immigration Courts."
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed a staffer at a New Jersey detention center tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in self-quarantine. Advocacy groups are calling for the release of many undocumented immigrants and refugees from ICE facilities due to the danger of COVID-19 infection in the often-overcrowded centers.
• The markets continued to plummet, with the Dow falling 2,999 points today. Nearly one-third of that loss took place during Trump's press event on virus preparedness, an event that saw a somber Trump perhaps begin to take the scope of the epidemic seriously—while still praising his performance as a "10" out of 10 and refusing responsibility for the crisis.
• Around the nation, conservative communities continue to dismiss the urgency of the current crisis—largely due to dismissiveness and misinformation from conservative leaders. Especially at risk are seniors, who are both reliable Republican voters and most at risk of dying from the virus.
• Case in point: ex-Sheriff David Clarke, who demanded his followers "GO INTO THE STREETS" to defy government coronavirus warnings.
• The seemingly inevitable outcome of such disinformation is now creating rifts even among stalwart Trump supporters, with some publicly urging he take the epidemic more seriously as others grouse that he has not weaponized a crisis "designed perfectly for the nationalist argument."
• One in five of the nation's remaining rural hospitals are in danger of closing. Those hospitals, already low on staff and supplies, are facing especially dire weeks ahead as they struggle to prepare for the almost certain arrival of the pandemic in their own communities.
• The nation's larger, better-funded hospitals are also expecting to be quickly overwhelmed with patients, as has been the case in Italy, where doctors have been forced to ration care.
• Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19, even though he has experienced few symptoms other than "a slight congestion." His experience should be taken as public reminder that staying home and avoiding crowds is essential, even for those individuals who don't believe they are sick: "My suspicion is that a lot of people have this and they don't even know it."
• Some kitchen tips and recipes to help you through the coronavirus isolation.