“The Campaign Panicked”: Inside Trump's Decision to Back Off of His Easter Coronavirus Miracle  —  An impulsive promise ("His view was: I need to show people there's a light at the end of the tunnel") led to Fauci pushback.  Poll numbers—and a friend in a coma—pushed Trump to reverse course.

Anthony Fauci's security is stepped up as doctor and face of U.S. coronavirus response receives threats  —  Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious-diseases expert and the face of the U.S. response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, is facing growing threats to his personal safety …

Fox isn't enough: Amid coronavirus crisis, Trump leans on a new media friend  —  President Trump has made contentious exchanges with reporters a feature of his daily coronavirus briefings, often using personal invective to bulldoze past questions about shortfalls with masks, ventilators and testing and his own past statements.

A Ventilator Stockpile, With One Hitch: Thousands Do Not Work  —  While President Trump has assured states that thousands of ventilators remain at the ready, thousands more are in storage, unmaintained, broken or otherwise unusable.  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has repeatedly assured Americans …

Italy's Coronavirus Death Toll Is Far Higher Than Reported  —  Many are dying uncounted as nation's stretched health-care system struggles to save the living and accurately gauge human cost  —  MILAN—In the town of Coccaglio, an hour's drive east of here, the local nursing home lost over a third of its residents in March.

Republicans: ‘Nobody Expected’ the Coronavirus Pandemic.  So Joe Biden Is Nobody?  —  President Trump, having stopped dismissing the threat of the coronavirus and calling criticism of his laggard response “their new hoax,” has begun insisting everybody was shocked.  “It's something that nobody expected,” he has said.

Pelosi should ‘stand down’ on passing another rescue bill in House, McConnell says  —  One week after the Senate unanimously passed a $2 trillion emergency relief bill aimed at limiting the financial trauma from the coronavirus pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) …

Trump Literally Laughed at How He Can Game the Press With His ‘New Tone’  —  The president is acutely aware that if he acts in somber fashion, the media will quickly notice and praise him for it.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  As evening fell on Tuesday, Donald Trump did what he's done virtually every …

Ellis Marsalis, New Orleans jazz piano legend hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, dies  —  Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of one of New Orleans' great musical families has died.  —  The 85-year-old jazz piano legend was hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19.

The scramble for the rapid coronavirus tests everybody wants  —  As hot spots clamor for Abbott Laboratories' quick tests, Trump officials debate where to send them  —  As Abbott Laboratories began shipping its new rapid-response tests across the country Wednesday, a new flash point emerged …

Train Operator at Port of Los Angeles Charged with Derailing Locomotive Near U.S. Navy's Hospital Ship Mercy  —  LOS ANGELES - A train engineer at the Port of Los Angeles was arrested this morning on federal charges for allegedly running a locomotive at full speed off the end of rail tracks near the USNS Mercy.

Secret Service signs contract this week to rent golf carts in town of Trump club  —  The Secret Service this week signed a $45,000 contract to rent a fleet of golf carts in Northern Virginia, saying it needed them quickly to protect a “dignitary” in the town of Sterling …

Cable TV and COVID-19: How Americans perceive the outbreak and view media coverage differ by main news source  —  Coverage of COVID-19 has dominated the news and resulted in skyrocketing ratings for the nation's cable news networks.  And according to a survey conducted March 10-16, 2020 …

Cuomo Is a Media Hero in the Pandemic.  De Blasio Is a Scapegoat.  —  The mayor of New York, who is often disdainful of the media, has become an irresistible punching bag.  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York called me this morning a little out of breath, feet pounding in the background, on his daily walk in Prospect Park.

More than 4,000 coronavirus cases in Washington region, with peak still weeks away  —  The number of novel coronavirus cases in the Washington region climbed past 4,000 Wednesday, as officials in Virginia projected that the peak of the covid-19 crisis is still at least several weeks away.

Scoop: Netanyahu shared fake video as proof of Iranian virus cover-up  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared with his cabinet a video he claimed was evidence of Iran concealing coronavirus deaths by dropping bodies in garbage dumps, two cabinet ministers tell me.

We Are All Restrictionists Now  —  When President Donald Trump announced a restriction on travel from Europe in a mid-March Oval Office address, European Union officials erupted in outrage.  —  The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, issued a joint statement …

Exclusive: The Military Knew Years Ago That a Coronavirus Was Coming  —  The Pentagon warned the White House about a shortage of ventilators, face masks and hospital beds in 2017—but the Trump administration did nothing.  —  Despite President Trump's repeated assertions that the COVID-19 epidemic was …

Malaria Drug Helps Virus Patients Improve, in Small Study  —  A group of moderately ill people were given hydroxychloroquine, which appeared to ease their symptoms quickly, but more research is needed.  —  The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helped to speed the recovery of a small number …

Kevin Thomas Duffy, U.S. Judge in Terrorism Cases, Dies at 87  —  An independent-minded jurist, he oversaw the World Trade Center bombing trial and another involving a plot to down jetliners.  He died of the coronavirus. … Kevin Thomas Duffy, a federal judge who presided over decades …

Coronavirus live updates: 127 health care workers in California infected  —  To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, The San Francisco Chronicle's critical updates are free to read.  Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers.  Subscribe now for full access and to support our work.

Pro-Trump Super PAC to Spend $10 Million on Attack Ads Against Biden  —  The ads bought by the group, America First, will air in three Rust Belt states that were pivotal to President Trump's victory in 2016.  —  The super PAC supporting President Trump's re-election is planning …

‘ESSENTIAL’ LAUNDROMATS UNDER STRAIN AS CITY'S WASH CULTURE SHIFTS  —  Need to know more about coronavirus in New York?  Sign up for our daily morning newsletter.  —  Laundromats in New York have been deemed essential businesses by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allowing them to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida Governor, at Long Last, Orders Residents to Stay Home to Avoid Coronavirus  —  Gov. Ron DeSantis said the decision corresponded with the “national pause” effectively recommended by the White House.  —  MIAMI — Florida's coronavirus cases kept ballooning, especially in the dense neighborhoods of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Louisiana church packed for services again despite charges against pastor amid pandemic  —  Central, Louisiana — Buses and cars filled a Louisiana church parking lot for another service Tuesday evening as worshippers flocked to hear a Louisiana pastor who is facing misdemeanor charges …

Party leaders agree with Joe Biden - the Democratic National Convention cannot proceed as originally planned  —  Democratic Party leaders across the country are calling on party bosses to curtail, postpone or dramatically rethink the party's national convention scheduled for July in Milwaukee …

Many New York Coronavirus Patients Are Young, Surprising Doctors  —  Older patients remain most at risk, but hospitals are being hit with more and more younger cases  —  Younger adults in New York City are being hospitalized with Covid-19 infections at surprisingly high rates …