White House coronavirus plan aims to send $2,000 to many Americans, includes $300 billion for small businesses  —  Talks remain fluid, but discussions with Congress are intensifying as virus fallout worsens  —  White House officials are working with congressional Republicans …

Bernie Sanders suspends his 2020 campaign Facebook ads  —  Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign currently has no active Facebook ads, the morning after another disappointing finish in a series of primary contests.  —  Why it matters: A pause in digital advertising spend on Facebook …

China's coronavirus propaganda campaign is putting lives at risk  —  The Chinese authorities are engaged in a full-scale effort to rewrite the history of the coronavirus epidemic.  Some in the West might be tempted to dismiss the significance of Beijing's propaganda efforts.  But they shouldn't.

Trump calls himself a ‘wartime president’ over coronavirus as he invokes Defense Production Act  —  President Trump on Wednesday announced that he is invoking the Defense Production Act as part of the administration's efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic — and also described himself as being a “wartime president.”

Coronavirus poses dreadful choice for global leaders: Wreck your economy or lose millions of lives  —  The coronavirus pandemic has confronted governments around the globe with the ultimate bad choice: Wreck your economy or lose millions of lives.  —  While some initially hesitated …

These Places Could Run Out of Hospital Beds as Coronavirus Spreads  —  Percentage of occupied hospital beds that would need to be emptied or added  —  A new Harvard analysis shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues …

Dow erases all gains made since Trump took office  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday erased all the gains it had made since President Trump took office amid the ongoing economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.  —  The morning of Trump's inauguration, the stock index opened at 19,795 and closed at 19,827.

Questioning the Clampdown  —  Will people lose faith when they find out they are expected to get the virus anyway?  —  Experts now agree the virus's spread can be slowed but not contained.  It will take its place among mostly seasonal respiratory infections.

US and Canada preparing to suspend non-essential travel between the two countries  —  (CNN)The United States and Canada are preparing to issue a joint statement in the next 24-48 hours to suspend non-essential travel between the two countries, a Trump administration official tells CNN.

California preparing for worst case scenarios  —  In readying the National Guard for action, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office emphasized that it's for duties routinely performed during natural disasters and other emergencies.  But Newsom grimly added that “we have the ability to do martial law ... if we feel the necessity.”

How Washington Failed to Build a Robust Coronavirus Testing System  —  Government decisions that limited testing for the pathogen blinded the U.S. to the outbreak's scale.  Here's how it happened.  —  When cases of the new coronavirus began emerging several weeks ago in California …

Trump Finally Enlists Much of Government in Coronavirus Attack  —  Hospital ships stayed in port, veterans hospitals awaited orders and requests for help went unanswered, as much of the government remained on the sidelines.  —  WASHINGTON — The mayor of Seattle wanted “mass tents” …

Presidential race now leans toward the Democrats  —  ANALYSIS — More than 14 months ago, I wrote a column in this space suggesting that the 2020 presidential contest was a toss-up, but one that tilted toward the Democrats.  I offered caveats about the economy and the Democratic nomination …

My Coronavirus Test: 5 Days, a Dozen Calls, Hours of Confusion  —  The symptoms have been easy to deal with.  The health care system has not.  —  Almost a dozen calls with five health care providers over five hours.  Two hours of hold music.  Two hours in a hospital.

‘NOT TRUE’: Oprah Winfrey debunks bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory spreading across the Internet  —  Late Tuesday night, as results trickled in from Democratic primary elections and the number of people infected by the novel coronavirus continued to climb, Oprah Winfrey's name began trending on Twitter.

Trump's ‘Chinese Virus’ coronavirus tweets echo his Mexico insults — with similar results  —  Just as we saw following Trump's rhetoric against Latinos, the violent trickle-down effect is clear.  —  CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang tweeted Tuesday that “this morning …

The Pandemic Is Too Big for Trumpworld to Spin  —  Last Friday, we got a sign that Fox News changed the party line on the coronavirus.  Then suddenly, Trump changed his tune, too.  Hmmm...  BEAST INSIDE  —  The Trumpy media from top to bottom is having a rough time of it these days.

5.7-magnitude earthquake strikes near Salt Lake City knocking out Utah's coronavirus hotline  —  The quake was reported shortly after 7 a.m. local time.  —  A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, early Wednesday, knocking out the state's coronavirus hotline, according to the governor.

West Virginia was the 50th state to report a coronavirus case.  This may be the reason it took so long  —  Asymptomatic cases may be driving spread of coronavirus  —  (CNN)On the surface, West Virginia might have seemed immune to coronavirus.  —  While the other 49 states had reported …

Trump Sought to Expand Virus Drug Tests Over FDA Objections  —  Plan would have expanded use of investigational drugs for coronavirus; FDA officials said plan would pose risks to patients  —  WASHINGTON—The White House considered issuing an executive order greatly expanding the use …

‘Hell is coming’ — Bill Ackman has dire warning for Trump, CEOs if drastic measures aren't taken now  —  Bill Ackman's plea to Trump to save US from the coronavirus's economic destruction  —  Bill Ackman urged President Donald Trump to shut down the country for 30 days to contain …

Analysis: American attitudes make virus response a hard sell  —  When Americans are summoned to deal with an attack or defy overwhelming odds, the response typically goes something like this: Fight.  Hold the line.  Stand together.  This won't stop us.  Keep on living your life.  We will prevail.

Rand Paul Calls Undocumented Immigrants ‘Non-People’  —  NONE FOR YOU  —  In a Senate floor speech Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul described undocumented immigrants as not “legitimate” people and “non-people” while making the case that they should not be given access to federal child tax credits.

Republicans like me built this moment.  Then we looked the other way.  —  Stuart Stevens is a writer and Republican political consultant who has advised a pro-Bill Weld super PAC in the 2020 election.  His book about the Republican Party, “It Was All A Lie,” will be published next month.

Hospital Workers Make Masks From Office Supplies Amid U.S. Shortage  —  'We're not getting new supplies and our stores are almost depleted.'  —  Hospital workers in Washington state have been making protective medical gear out of office supplies and other run-of-the-mill materials as they deal …

Dow plunges 1,000 points as stretch of unprecedented volatility continues because of coronavirus  —  Stocks set to fall sharply at open following Tuesday's bounce  —  Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the markets remained highly volatile with the government response to the coronavirus fallout still unfolding.