Top Items:
New York Times:
Coronavirus Death in California Came Weeks Before First Known U.S. Death — The earliest U.S. deaths publicly attributed to the virus had been on Feb. 26, when two people died in the Seattle area. Santa Clara County said an autopsy showed a Feb. 6 death was also related.
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Los Angeles Times:
Autopsies reveal first confirmed U.S. coronavirus deaths occurred in Bay Area in February — Two coronavirus-infected people died in Santa Clara County on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, the medical examiner revealed Tuesday, making them first documented COVID-19 fatalities in the United States.
Discussion:
Reason and Balloon Juice
sccgov.org:
County of Santa Clara Identifies Three Additional Early COVID-19 Deaths — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Three individuals who died at home in February and March were positive for SARS-CoV-2 — Santa Clara County, CA - The County of Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner has identified three individuals …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, VICE, Slate, Axios, HuffPost, New York Post, The Hill and New York Times
Matt Dixon / Politico:
Southern governors create a Covid-19 coalition and experts fear a ‘perfect storm’ — TALLAHASSEE — Republican governors across the Southeast are teaming up to reopen the region's economy, even as they lack the testing to know how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading.
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David Knowles / Yahoo News:
Birx says Georgia residents ‘can be very creative’ about getting tattoos and haircuts while social distancing
Birx says Georgia residents ‘can be very creative’ about getting tattoos and haircuts while social distancing
Discussion:
New York Post and The Hill
Jaweed Kaleem / Los Angeles Times:
Mayors resist Southern governors' push to reopen despite coronavirus outbreak
Mayors resist Southern governors' push to reopen despite coronavirus outbreak
Discussion:
Washington Post
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Georgia leads the race to become America's No. 1 Death Destination
Georgia leads the race to become America's No. 1 Death Destination
Discussion:
Raw Story
Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Jay Inslee Endorses Biden, Citing Private Conversations on Climate Policy — The governor of Washington State, one of the Democratic Party's most prominent environmentalists, urged progressives to get on board with the presumptive presidential nominee's campaign.
Discussion:
Axios
RELATED:
Denise Grady / New York Times:
New U.S. Treatment Guidelines for Covid-19 Don't See Much Progress
New U.S. Treatment Guidelines for Covid-19 Don't See Much Progress
Discussion:
medRxiv, Washington Times and ABC17NEWS
Joe Palca / NPR:
NIH Panel Recommends Against Drug Combination Promoted By Trump For COVID-19
NIH Panel Recommends Against Drug Combination Promoted By Trump For COVID-19
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
New York Times:
The Quiet Hand of Conservative Groups in the Anti-Lockdown Protests — Groups in a loose coalition have tapped their networks to drive up turnout at recent rallies in state capitals and financed lawsuits, polling and research to combat the stay-at-home orders.
Discussion:
Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Michigan Advance and Raw Story
RELATED:
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Fox News Quietly Backs Away From Hyping Trump's Coronavirus ‘Miracle Drug’ — After spending two full weeks of programming touting an anti-malarial drug as a coronavirus cure, Fox's primetime stars have pulled back almost entirely—and so has the president.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Media Matters for America, Science and Forbes
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Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:
As people stay home, Earth turns wilder and cleaner — An unplanned grand experiment is changing Earth. — As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities …
Discussion:
Kaiser Health News
New York Times:
Trump (the Company) Asks Trump (the Administration) for Rent Relief — The president's family business pays at least $3 million a year to the federal government for the lease on its D.C. hotel, which is all but empty because of the virus. The next monthly payment is coming due.
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Week
Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell slams brakes on next round of coronavirus aid — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is drawing a line: There will be no more attempts at long-distance legislating on the coronavirus. — In a telephone interview Tuesday after passage of a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill …
Discussion:
National Review, The Hill, Slate, HuffPost, Washington Post, Breitbart and Raw Story
RELATED:
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Senate passes $484 billion coronavirus bill for small business and hospital relief, testing
Senate passes $484 billion coronavirus bill for small business and hospital relief, testing
Discussion:
The Hill, American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit and Forbes
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump says he will ask Harvard, big businesses to return coronavirus relief funds
Trump says he will ask Harvard, big businesses to return coronavirus relief funds
Discussion:
Politico, One America News Network, National Review, Breitbart, ABC News, Mediaite and The Week
Gabby Orr / Politico:
Trump prepares to hit the road — President Donald Trump is eager to hit the road. — As his own health officials continue to warn against non-essential travel, Trump has privately urged aides over the past week to start adding official events back to his schedule, including photo ops …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Jeffrey Sachs on the Catastrophic American Response to the Coronavirus — In the early nineties, the economist Jeffrey Sachs was known as a “shock therapist,” for advising the Soviet Union on its controversial transition to a free-market economy. Since then, Sachs has shifted his focus …
New York Times:
The Death of the Department Store: ‘Very Few Are Likely to Survive’ — Shuttered flagships. Empty malls. Canceled orders. Risks of bankruptcy. The coronavirus has hit the behemoths of the retail world. — American department stores, once all-powerful shopping meccas that anchored malls …
Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Changes Trump Re-Election Calculus in Key States — Rising job losses, coronavirus cases and political tensions may affect the president's prospects in the states that ensured his victory in 2016 — Rising job losses, deaths and political tensions are putting new pressure …
Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:
Trump's Coronavirus Response May Be Turning Off Older Voters — Two of the political data points that currently spell bad news for Donald Trump are steadily worsening public assessments of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Joe Biden's strong position among voters over 65 …
Discussion:
New York Times, Raw Story, Washington Post and National Journal
Lena H. Sun / Washington Post:
CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating — Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire …
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, PJ Media Home, New York Post, WPRI-TV, ABC17NEWS, Sputnik News, ScienceAlert, Fox News, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, TheGrio, Raw Story, KTLA and Mediaite
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
32 millionaire CEOs who scooped up taxpayer money meant for struggling small businesses — With the pandemic severely restricting economic activity, thousands of small businesses across the country are on the brink of collapse. Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program as a lifeline.
Discussion:
Just The News, Townhall and The Hill
Tim Mak / NPR:
Secret Recording Reveals NRA's Legal Troubles Have Cost The Organization $100 Million — Audio will be available later today. — The National Rifle Association's legal troubles have cost the powerful gun rights group $100 million, according to a recording of the group's board meeting obtained by NPR.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story
New York Times:
Chinese Agents Spread Messages That Sowed Virus Panic in U.S., Officials Say — American officials were alarmed by fake text messages and social media posts that said President Trump was locking down the country. Experts see a convergence with Russian tactics.
Discussion:
National Review
Collin Anderson / Washington Free Beacon:
Michigan Governor Whitmer Awards Coronavirus Contract to Dem Consulting Firm — UPDATE 6:45 p.m.: After publication of this article, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration announced that the contract was being rescinded. Read more here. — _ — Recent Stories in Coronavirus
Discussion:
SOM, Crain's Detroit Business, Fox News, PJ Media Home, The Gateway Pundit, Redstate, National Review and Twitchy
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly from NIH, WHO, Gates Foundation and others are dumped online — Who posted them is unknown, but they immediately became fodder for right-wing activists attacking the organizations — Unknown activists have posted nearly 25,000 email addresses …
Alex Daugherty / Miami Herald:
Donna Shalala failed to disclose stock sales in 2019 in violation of federal law — Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala, the lone House Democrat on the committee set up to oversee $500 billion in taxpayer money being used for coronavirus-related payouts to large businesses …
Discussion:
Politico and American Prospect
J.D. Vance / The American Mind:
End the Globalization Gravy Train — Donor dollars shouldn't be made in China. — In the present crisis, we find ourselves locked in an interminable debate about whether to “reopen” the economy. To put my cards on the table, I've found many of the orders issued by governments …
Jill Serjeant / Reuters:
Michael Moore's ‘Planet of the Humans’ asks: what if green energy cannot save the planet? — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As environmentalists celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week, a new documentary poses a sobering question. — What if wind farms, solar panels …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Wrap, PJ Media Home and Breitbart
Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Scoop: Biden's “four Cs” of Trump coronavirus criticism — Watch for Joe Biden and his surrogates to stand up a disciplined criticism of President Trump's coronavirus response around “the four Cs,” per a campaign memo obtained by Axios: “Coverup.” “Chaos.” “Corporate favoritism.”
Discussion:
CNBC, more at Mediagazer »
Nicholas Florko / STAT:
Director of U.S. agency key to vaccine development leaves role suddenly amid coronavirus pandemic — WASHINGTON — Rick Bright, one of the nation's leading vaccine development experts and the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is no longer leading the organization, officials told STAT.
The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Turns to Peter Thiel's Palantir to Track Virus — Palantir, a longtime partner of intelligence agencies, co-founded by major Trump backer Peter Thiel, is helping build “the single source for [coronavirus] testing data.” — A Silicon Valley company co-founded by a close ally …
Discussion:
The Verge and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Senate Republicans Contradict Trump on Russian Interference — But the biggest mysteries of the 2016 election remain unsolved. — In what amounts to a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump's views on the subject, the Republican-chaired Senate Intelligence Committee released a 158-page report on Tuesday …
Discussion:
Raw Story and The New Civil Rights Movement