Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 6, 2020

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Joe diGenova, Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and Sharon Glasgow joined WMAL on Monday!

5am – A/B/C Actual Hospitalizations for Coronavirus Significantly Lower than Projections in Model. (Breitbart News) — The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model cited by White House Coronavirus Task Force officials appears to dramatically overstate the hospitalization of patients with coronavirus in the United States when the model’s projections are compared to actual data, a Breitbart News analysis finds. Breitbart News compared projections of the number of regular hospital beds needed to treat coronavirus patients made in the Friday, April 3 iteration of the IHME model for nine states to the actual number of cumulative hospitalizations (a number that includes current regular bed hospitalizations, current ICU hospitalizations, previously hospitalized and released patients, and previously hospitalized and deceased patients) reported by the respective health departments in those states as of Thursday, April 2.

New York Gov. Cuomo Reports A Drop In Number Of Deaths, But Warns It May Be A ‘Blip’ (NPR) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday that for the first time in days, the state has seen the daily number of deaths, hospitalizations and intubations as a result of COVID-19 decrease. More patients are also being discharged from hospitals. “There’s something a little bit different in the data today,” Cuomo said, as state officials reported 594 new deaths on Sunday, down from 630 on Saturday. The governor stressed it was still too early to tell what that means for the long term. “We’re not really a hundred percent sure what the significance is, as we’re feeling our way through this.” It’s possible, he cautioned, that the drop me simply be a “blip.” New York has become the epicenter of the battle against the coronavirus in the United States, with more than 122,000 cases in the state and 4,159 deaths. The scale of the crisis and Cuomo’s handling of it has pushed him to the fore as one of the leading voices during the crisis, often talking not just to New Yorkers, but to the nation as well.

IHME STILL WAY OVERESTIMATING NY HOSPITAL BEDS… (Hot Air) – Hope: Has New York State Begun To Turn The Corner Early On Coronavirus? How do these actual numbers match up with the IHME model of the epidemic that reportedly heavily influenced the White House’s own model? It depends on what you’re measuring. IHME’s forecast of the daily death toll has been quite accurate so far. […]

If anything, the model has underestimated deaths so far: On April 3 IHME projected 538 deaths from COVID-19 in New York State whereas the actual death roll was nearly 100 higher, beyond even the upper bound of the IHME’s range of likely fatalities for that day. Higher-than-expected numbers recently would make sense if in fact New York is peaking now instead of five days from now, as IHME’s forecast imagined, but it’d be hard to square an early peak with the social distancing measures that NYS has put it in place. Flattening the curve is supposed to delay the peak of the epidemic, not accelerate it, and to reduce the number of deaths during the peak. Right now New York may be peaking early — while also holding the number of peak deaths down from IHME’s projection of 855. How to reconcile that?

If you’re looking at hospitalizations instead of deaths, then IHME is way, way, waaaaaaaay off.

They thought 65,000+ hospital beds and 12,000 ICU beds would be needed to house the sick as of yesterday. The reality?

16,479 people hospitalized, 4,376 IC patients…

The current number of hospitalizations is literally a quarter of the IHME forecast. That’s a big miss.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Rejects IHME Model In Favor Of More Dire CHIME Model — From Penn Medicine. (Washington Post) – No model is perfect, and none should be read for confident predictions of the virus’s eventual toll. Projections will change frequently, but governments use models to aid planning and decision-making. Two in particular appear to be shaping government policy. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, was cited by White House officials this week and is the source of many graphs and projections making their way around the Internet this week. The COVID-19 Hospital Impact Model for Epidemics, or CHIME, developed by Penn Medicine, is the one used by the D.C. government. […] According to city officials, the CHIME model takes into account social distancing measures from the closure of nonessential businesses and schools and the ban on mass gatherings — but it also calculates that many people will not comply. The model says some 93,000 D.C. residents will contract the coronavirus during the pandemic, with the vast majority of them recovering. “My experience with human beings is we don’t do everything perfectly, and our model accounts for people who are very strictly social distancing . . . and for all the variations we will experience with social distancing,” Bowser said. […]

The IHME model says that the peak will come April 15 — but that the city will have enough hospital beds and ventilators at that time.

Using the CHIME model, the D.C. government has determined that it will need far more hospital beds for a summer peak.

Projections based on the CHIME model show the District needing an additional 2,705 intensive-care beds, while the IHME model shows the city would need only 47 more.

The city’s model also shows that D.C. hospitals would need more than 1,000 additional ventilators at the end of June, while the IHME model says the District would not need any more than it has today.

5am – D         Trump Fires Intelligence IG Who Told Congress About ‘Credible’ Whistleblower Complaint. President Donald Trump has fired the man who notified Congress that a whistleblower had concerns about a telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump notified both the House and Senate intelligence committees Friday about his decision to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson, who precipitated an impeachment inquiry when he relayed anonymous whistleblower testimony that the president’s conversation with Zelensky sought an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden in return for delivering military assistance.

Atkinson: Trump fired me because I handled whistleblower complaint properly. The intelligence community watchdog removed abruptly late Friday by President Donald Trump says he believes Trump ousted him because of his evenhanded handling of a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to the president’s impeachment. “It is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial Inspector General,” Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general said in a statement Sunday, “and from my commitment to continue to do so.”

5am – E         3M pushes back after Trump orders company to stop exporting N95 masks. (NY Post) – “There are, however, significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators,” it continued. The manufacturing company said it feared other countries would retaliate if it stopped exporting masks made in the US, “as some have already done.”

6am – A/B/C WORLD IMPACT: 

• Africa bracing for ‘complete collapse of economies’ as coronavirus takes its toll. (Fox News) – African leaders are warning of an economic collapse if financial assistance isn’t provided to the millions of people out of work because of the novel coronavirus. More than half of Africa’s 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other measures in a bid to prevent local transmission of the virus. “The African labor market is driven by imports and exports and with the lockdown everywhere in the world, it means basically that the economy is frozen in place,” Ahunna Eziakonwa, the United Nations Development Program regional director for Africa, told The Associated Press. “And with that, of course, all the jobs are gone.”  With some governments saying they’re unable to offer direct support, the fate of Africa’s large informal sector could be a powerful example of what experts predict will be unprecedented damage to economies in the developing world.
• India Bans All Exports of Virus Drug Often Touted by Trump. (Bloomberg) — India banned all exports of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted as a “game changer” in the fight against Covid-19. Exports of the drug and its formulations are prohibited “without any exceptions” and with immediate effect, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in an April 4 order on its website. The trade regulator had last month restricted overseas shipments of the drug, allowing only limited exceptions such as on humanitarian grounds and for meeting prior commitments. At a press conference on Saturday, Trump said he spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and appealed for the release of shipments U.S. has already ordered. India is giving his request “serious consideration,” he said.
• JAPAN LOCKDOWN: REUTERS: ‘Lockdown’, Japan-style: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus.
• SOUTH KOREA: CNN: South Korea is extending its social distancing campaign for two more weeks until April 19, as the number of new coronavirus cases in the country fell to the lowest in over six weeks.
• SWEDEN NOW GETTING HIT AFTER REFUSING TO LOCKDOWN: DAILY MAIL: Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven warns citizens to prepare for THOUSANDS of deaths after global amazement at officials’ refusal to order a lockdown amid coronavirus pandemic.
• U.K.: Boris Johnson remains in hospital due to persistent coronavirus symptoms: report. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained at a hospital Monday due to persistent symptoms related to the coronavirus. He was admitted Sunday night due to a high temperature that doctors said required additional tests. Downing Street officials said he was hospitalized as a “precautionary step” and that he still remained in charge of the government. “The PM is still at hospital,” a British government source told Reuters. “He spent the night in hospital.”
• ITALY PHASE 2: Daily Mail: Italy unveils plans for ENDING lockdown: Health minister announces ‘phase two’ will involve more testing and continued social distancing – as nation records its lowest daily death toll for two weeks
• EUTHANASIA IN SPAIN: Doctors facing ‘temptation of euthanasia’: French medic warns of terrible decision facing staff in coronavirus hit care homes while Spanish doctors are ‘ordered to stop using ventilators for patients older than 80’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8189385/Doctors-France-treating-coronavirus-patients-faced-temptation-euthanasia.html

6am – D         Fired Navy Captain Reportedly Tests Positive For Coronavirus. The Navy captain who was relieved of his duties after writing a letter begging for help for infected sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt has reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Capt. Brett Crozier sent a four-page letter asking officials to send the ship resources so his men didn’t die, according to the letter obtained by The Chronicle. Crozier was relieved of his duties Thursday after sending the letter and now reportedly has the virus. Two Naval Academy classmates of Crozier’s confirmed the news to the New York Times. Crozier reportedly had symptoms of the virus before he was removed from the ship Thursday.

Joe Biden Says USS Roosevelt Captain ‘Should Have A Commendation Rather Than Be Fired.’ Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was unequivocal Sunday in his support of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s recently dismissed commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, saying he should receive “a commendation.” Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly dismissed Crozier from his post earlier this week after the captain sent correspondence to the Department of Defense pleading for help for his sailors, more than 100 of whom had been striking with the coronavirus. Video showed Crozier leaving his ship to the cheers of his crews.

SCHUMER DEFENDS CROZIER & ATKINSON: On Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and USS Theodore Roosevelt Commanding Officer Captain Brett Crozier are examples of people the Trump administration fired for speaking the truth.

6am – E         Tiger at Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus in first known case of the virus being detected in animal in the US. (The Hill) — A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the coronavirus, while several other animals are being monitored for similar symptoms. In a press release, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which operates the zoo, said that the animals were likely infected by an asymptomatic carrier of the disease. It’s the first known case of the virus being detected in an animal in the U.S. as well as the first confirmed case in a tiger anywhere in the world. “Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, has tested positive for COVID-19. She, her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had developed a dry cough and all are expected to recover,” the WCS said in a statement.  “Our cats were infected by a person caring for them who was asymptomatically infected with the virus or before that person developed symptoms,” the statement continued. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the news in its own press release, adding that it was the first known case of the disease affecting a tiger in the world. “The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans) in one tiger at a zoo in New York. This is the first instance of a tiger being infected with COVID-19. Samples from this tiger were taken and tested after several lions and tigers at the zoo showed symptoms of respiratory illness,” said the USDA’s release. “Public health officials believe these large cats became sick after being exposed to a zoo employee who was actively shedding virus. The zoo has been closed to the public since mid-March, and the first tiger began showing signs of sickness on March 27. All of these large cats are expected to recover,” the release continued. New York state is home to the most cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., with more than 122,000 cases confirmed in the state and a death toll that has passed 4,100.

Coronavirus can infect cats — dogs, not so much. (Nature.com) – Cats can be infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and can spread it to other cats, but dogs are not really susceptible to the infection, say researchers in China. The team, at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, also concludes that chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus. Other scientists say the findings are interesting, but cat owners should not be alarmed just yet. The results are based on lab experiments in which a small number of animals were deliberately given high doses of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, and do not represent real-life interactions between people and their pets, says virologist Linda Saif at the Ohio State University in Wooster. There is no direct evidence that the infected cats secreted enough coronavirus to pass it on to people, she says.

Cat infected with COVID-19 from owner in Belgium. (Live Science) –  This is the first case of human-to-cat transmission of the novel coronavirus. A domestic cat in Belgium has been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that’s spreading across the globe, the government’s FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment announced March 27, according to news reports.  This is the first human-to-cat transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). About a week after its owner got sick with COVID-19, after returning from a trip to Northern Italy, the cat developed coronavirus symptoms: diarrhea, vomiting and respiratory issues, Steven Van Gucht, virologist and federal spokesperson for the coronavirus epidemic in Belgium, told Live Science. Cats and humans appear to have a similar “doorknob” on the surfaces of respiratory cells that lets the SARS-CoV-2 virus get inside, according to Van Gucht.  In humans, scientists have figured out that the SARS-CoV-2 virus attaches to a receptor protein called ACE2 that’s on the outside of respiratory cells. Once inside of these cells, the virus hijacks certain machinery so it can replicate. “The feline ACE2 protein resembles the human ACE2 homologue, which is most likely the cellular receptor which is being used by Sars-CoV-2 for cell entry,” Van Gucht said.

6am – F         Trapped in paradise: Newlyweds on their honeymoon are the ONLY guests at luxury Maldives resort after airports close. (Daily Mail) – A couple has found themselves trapped in an eternal honeymoon in Maldives after the rapid spread of the highly contagious coronavirus forced airports in their country to shutdown. Newlyweds Olivia, 27, and Raul De Freitas, 28, were only supposed to spend six days in paradise at the Cinnamon Velifushi Maldives before heading back to South Africa, where they are citizens. The De Freitas arrived in Maldives on March 22 and were supposed to head back home the following weekend.  Due to the mounting travel restrictions in multiple countries, the couple had made sure to check with their travel agent before embarking on their journey, according to The New York Times.  At that point, no restrictions for their itinerary had been announced and their agent told them that all South African citizens would be allowed back home.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S Attorney to the District of Columbia 

• Trump Fires Intelligence IG Who Told Congress About ‘Credible’ Whistleblower Complaint. President Donald Trump has fired the man who notified Congress that a whistleblower had concerns about a telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump notified both the House and Senate intelligence committees Friday about his decision to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson, who precipitated an impeachment inquiry when he relayed anonymous whistleblower testimony that the president’s conversation with Zelensky sought an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden in return for delivering military assistance.

7am – B/C     HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE:

• ON SUNDAY: President Trump: “I’m not acting as a doctor, I’m saying do what you want but there are some good signs.”
• CNN’s Jeremy Diamond presses Trump on why he is promoting Hydroxychloroquine as a potential coronavirus treatment: “I want them to try it and it may work and it may not work… Only CNN would ask that question. Fake News.”
• EXAMPLES OF HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE WORKING: Despite the “unproven” narrative by the media, here are few examples of how numerous doctors and patients are saying it has worked for them:
  • Hydroxychloroquine rated ‘most effective’ coronavirus treatment, poll of doctors finds. (NY Post) – An international poll of thousands of doctors rated the Trump-touted anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine the best treatment for the novel coronavirus. Of the 6,227 physicians surveyed in 30 countries, 37 percent rated hydroxychloroquine the “most effective therapy” for combating the potentially deadly illness, according to the results released Thursday.
  • A groundbreaking study by Dr. Didier Raoult, respected infectious disease, came out from France about how these drugs can stop the virus in just SIX DAYS.
  • James Cai, a NJ medical worker who got Covid-19, said that using Chloroquine was essential to his survival. (NYPost)
  • Florida coronavirus patient, Rio Giardinieri, says Trump-backed drug saved his life (NYPost)
  • Dr. Stephen Smith on effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine: ‘I think this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic’ (FoxNews)
  • Connecticut dad says chloroquine helped him recover from coronavirus (NYPost)
  • Michigan man with COVID-19 says Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin saved him (Fox2Detroit)
  • NJ Man’s Battle with COVID-19 Led Him to Experimental Drug. A South Jersey man got a drug called hydroxychloroquine through connections in Taiwan. (NBC Philadelphia)
  • How Wuhan Virologists Pegged Chloroquine as a Potential COVID-19 Cure. In a paper published in February, Chinese scientists noted an anti-malaria drug as a promising treatment.
  • Dr Vladimir Zelenko, a board-certified family practitioner based in New York, claims to have successfully healed around 500 patients using a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin (Z-Pak), zinc sulfate. (IBTimes)
  • According to Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, the drug may show some promise for Covid-19 based on its ability to treat the SARS coronavirus.  (ABC News)
  • Actor Dae Kim, an actor known for his role in  “Hawaii Five-0”, Believes Chloroquine Helped Him Recover From Covid-19 (Yahoo! News)
  • Thousands of NY COVID patients are being treated with anti-malarial drug. Meanwhile: Cuomo Announces Coronavirus Deaths In New York Dropping For The First Time.
  • JONATHAN SWAN: Scoop: Inside the epic White House fight over. The White House coronavirus task force had its biggest fight yet on Saturday, pitting economic adviser Peter Navarro against infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. At issue: How enthusiastically should the White House tout the prospects of an antimalarial drug to fight COVID-19? Toward the end of the meeting, Hahn began a discussion of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which Trump believes could be a “game-changer” against the coronavirus. Hahn gave an update about the drug and what he was seeing in different trials and real-world results. Then Navarro got up. He brought over a stack of folders and dropped them on the table. People started passing them around.  “And the first words out of his mouth are that the studies that he’s seen, I believe they’re mostly overseas, show ‘clear therapeutic efficacy,'” said a source familiar with the conversation. “Those are the exact words out of his mouth.” Fauci pushed back against Navarro, saying that there was only anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine works against the coronavirus.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – DREW HARWELL – a technology reporter for The Washington Post covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. 

• WashPost: Thousands of Zoom video calls left exposed on open Web. Many of the videos include personally identifiable information and deeply intimate conversations, recorded in people’s homes. The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell reports: Thousands of personal Zoom videos have been left viewable on the open Web, highlighting the privacy risks to millions of Americans as they shift many of their personal interactions to video calls in an age of social distancing. Many of the videos appear to have been recorded through Zoom’s software and saved onto online storage space without a password. But because Zoom names every video recording in an identical way, a simple online search can reveal a long stream of videos that anyone can download and watch. Videos viewed by The Post included one-on-one therapy sessions; a training orientation for workers doing telehealth calls, which included people’s names and phone numbers; small-business meetings, which included private company financial statements; and elementary-school classes, in which children’s faces, voices and personal details were exposed.  Many of the videos include personally identifiable information and deeply intimate conversations, recorded in people’s homes. Other videos include nudity, such as one in which an aesthetician teaches students how to give a Brazilian wax. Five people identified in the videos and interviewed by The Post said they had no idea how the footage made its way online.

7am – E         BIDEN NEWS:

• VIRTUAL DEM CONVENTION? Biden tells Sanders he’s pushing ahead with VP, Cabinet picks. Biden told donors at a virtual fundraising event his campaign is to unveil a committee to vet potential vice presidential candidates “sometime in the middle of the month.”
• Biden tells Sanders he’s pushing ahead with VP, Cabinet picks. Biden told donors at a virtual fundraising event his campaign is to unveil a committee to vet potential vice presidential candidates “sometime in the middle of the month.” Joe Biden disclosed Friday evening he has told his Democratic rival Bernie Sanders that he is moving forward with Cabinet and vice presidential picks. Biden told donors at a virtual fundraising event his campaign is to unveil a committee to vet potential vice presidential candidates “sometime in the middle of the month,” and said he has held discussions with others about potential Cabinet positions.
• Why Gretchen Whitmer’s stock is rising with Team Biden. (The Hill) – Whitmer’s stock is also rising because she governs a state Democrats saw slip away in 2016. Biden scored a huge victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Michigan primary, and Democrats are desperate to win the state back in the 2020 general election. “There’s been a lot of talk about her internally,” said one source close to the campaign. “She has impressed a lot of people the past few weeks.” “She would be a fascinating choice,” a major donor added. Biden acknowledged this week that Whitmer is under consideration.
• Joe Rogan: ‘I Would Rather Vote For Trump’ Than Joe Biden. “This is the real issue with the Democratic Party,” Rogan said. “They’ve essentially made us all morons with this Joe Biden thing.”  “Can you imagine?” asked Weinstein. “I can’t vote for that guy,” said Rogan. “I can’t vote for him, I can’t vote for Trump,” Weinstein said. “I’d rather vote for Trump than [Biden],” said the podcast host. “I don’t think he can handle anything. You’re relying entirely on his cabinet. If you want to talk about an individual leader who can communicate, he can’t do that. And we don’t know what the f*ck he’ll be like after a year in office.” Rogan contended that, unlike former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who both visibly aged in office, Trump “seems to be fine” with the “pressure of being president.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SHARON GLASGOW – co-owner of Glasgow Farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia, now she’s regularly hosting drive-in church sermons at her property.

• Sharon Glasgow April 4 at 1:46 PM: Drive-In Church 2-3PM every Sunday till quarantine lifts. We’ll be raising a hallelujah at two services Easter Sunday! 2-3pm and 4-5pm-Invite friends!! He is RISEN- we have reason to CELEBRATE ! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1921212258011703&set=a.242626129203666&type=3
• Stafford farm and wedding venue holds “drive-through” church. (THE FREE LANCE–STAR) — Social distancing and restrictions against gatherings of more than 10 people means that most churches have had to shut their doors in response to the coronavirus outbreak. “So many people feel hopeless and discouraged right now,” said Sharon Glasgow. “Christ is truly the only one who can encourage them.” Sharon and her husband, Dale, own a farm and wedding venue in the Hartwood area of Stafford County. Recognizing that many people would miss the comfort of gathering together for worship, the Glasgows decided to host a drive-in church service this past weekend. “We knew we had parking for a large amount of people,” Sharon Glasgow said. “We had the sound system. And we found a worship leader.” Twenty-four hours before the service, which was held Sunday afternoon, the Glasgows posted information about their plans on Facebook and Instagram. “Those are the only two ways people knew about it, and we still had 63 cars there,” Sharon Glasgow said. Worship leader Becca Griffiths presided over the non-denominational Christian service. She drew from Psalm 91, which reads, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ … He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”

8am – B/C     D.C. BECOMING NEXT HOT SPOT:

• Surgeon General: ‘The Next Week Is Going to Be Our Pearl Harbor Moment… Our 9/11 Moment,’ Everyone Needs to Do Their Part
• Dr. Fauci warns: ‘This is Going to Be a Bad Week’; Saying We Have Coronavirus Under Control is a ‘False Statement’
• DC is becoming more prominent on case data that the White House coronavirus task force showed on Sunday. Dr. Deborah Birx is looking at D.C. as one of the U.S.’s next big hot spots for COVID-19. And limiting your trips to the grocery store and pharmacy could help.
• DC Closes Fish Market at The Wharf After Large Crowds Gather Despite Stay-At-Home Order. Vendors in the Municipal Fish Market at The Wharf in Southwest D.C. are being told to close by Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office after large crowds gathered there on Saturday were not observing social distancing guidelines. The Wharf Community Association said in a statement that there would only be accessed allowed to the area for people’s homes, offices, hotels and businesses. City officials said that businesses can reopen if they present a plan for social distancing and safe practices to the D.C. Restaurant Association.
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Rejects IHME Model In Favor Of More Dire CHIME Model — From Penn Medicine. No model is perfect, and none should be read for confident predictions of the virus’s eventual toll. Projections will change frequently, but governments use models to aid planning and decision-making. Two in particular appear to be shaping government policy. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, was cited by White House officials this week and is the source of many graphs and projections making their way around the Internet this week.

8am – D         MARYLAND UPDATE:

• Maryland reported Sunday morning that another 14 people had died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the most deaths reported in a single day. Overall, the District, Maryland and Virginia reported 810 additional infections Sunday, bringing the total number of known cases in the greater Washington region to 7,252. The death toll in the greater Washington region now stands at 140. The District reported one additional death Sunday; Virginia reported two but removed three earlier cases from its tally.
• Washington Post headline: “Unafraid to call out Trump, Hogan emerges as lead GOP voice for urgent action on pandemic.” As the number of coronavirus infections and deaths has surged, so has the national profile of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who has emerged as chief spokesman for the nation’s governors — and one of few Republicans willing to question the statements and actions of President Trump.  The media blitz is driven partly by Hogan’s role as chair of the National Governors Association. But it’s also fueled by his unvarnished predictions of an impending catastrophe, his resolute explanations of why the economic harm of a mass shutdown is worth the cost, and his position as one of the few Republicans willing to question statements by President Trump and declare that the United States was “caught flat-footed.” Hogan’s latest warning, based on the projections of epidemiologists advising him, is that the capital region will be the nation’s next hot spot, potentially crippling the federal government’s ability to respond.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s Korean-Born Wife Negotiates For Shipment Of Tests From South Korea.
  • KYLE GRIFFIN: Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland leaned on his wife, a Korean immigrant, to get supplies for his state: “Let’s talk to them in Korean, and tell them we need their help.” Several companies in South Korea immediately said they would send tests. […]
  • NYT: Mr. Hogan has also leaned on his wife, Yumi Hogan, a Korean immigrant, who was also at the governor’s convention, which included a dinner at the Korean ambassador’s home. As the first Korean first lady in American history, Ms. Hogan has become something of an icon in South Korea. “I just grabbed my wife and said, ‘Look, you speak Korean. You know the president. You know the first lady. You know the ambassador. Let’s talk to them in Korean, and tell them we need their help.’” Several companies in South Korea immediately said they would send tests.
• With coronavirus at more than 80 nursing homes in Maryland, Gov. Hogan increases protective measures. (Baltimore Sun) – With confirmed cases of the new coronavirus found in over 80 nursing homes across the state, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency order Sunday aimed at curbing the spread of the illness in such facilities, many of which have been ravaged by similar outbreaks across the country. Per the order, “symptomatic” residents now qualify for expedited COVID-19 tests, administered either by the state or other public laboratories. The state is giving priority in testing to such residents, as well as health care workers, patients in hospitals and first responders believed to have the disease. Among the other measures included in the order, nursing home staff who interact with residents will be required to wear personal protective equipment, and homes must create separate areas with designated staff to care for positive and suspected cases of the disease.
• LUNACY… California Is Forcing Nursing Homes To Take COVID-19 Patients. LAT: As fears escalate about the toll the coronavirus will take on the sick and elderly in nursing homes — who are among the most vulnerable to the deadly virus — California regulators have told skilled nursing facility operators that they must accept patients even if they have the disease. The order comes amid a fierce debate between healthcare providers. Hospitals are desperate to clear space for an expected wave of COVID-19 patients, so they are discharging as many patients as possible, including nursing home residents. Many nursing home administrators are equally desperate to keep those residents out until they are proven virus-free, fearing a catastrophic result if the deadly pathogen gains a foothold in their institutions.

8am – E         ‘We Don’t Live In A Police State’: Ted Cruz Blasts Democrats For ‘Driving A Car Alone’ Citation (Daily Caller) – Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized Democrats for enforcing stay-at-home orders in a way that he thinks cross a line. “This is absurd. To Dem politicians (and it seems to be only Dems doing this, eg Wolf in PA, DeBlasio in NYC, Cooper in NC), protect public safety, but WE DON’T LIVE IN A POLICE STATE. Resist authoritarianism & don’t abuse power. Driving a car alone is not a public health threat,” Cruz tweeted Sunday.