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.

A disturbing new study suggests Sean Hannity helped spread the coronavirus  —  Sophisticated new research links Hannity's coronavirus misinformation to “a greater number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.”  —  Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, media critics have warned that the decision …

Axios qualifies for PPP loan  —  Axios is among the small businesses that qualified for a PPP loan to protect existing jobs and help weather the coronavirus crisis.  —  Why it matters: We are in the somewhat unique position of being both a media company, which covers government and business …

Georgia Democratic lawmaker announces resignation week after endorsing Trump  —  A little more than a week after he announced that he was endorsing President Donald Trump, Democratic state Rep. Vernon Jones announced Wednesday morning that he would not complete his term.

Joe Biden to name selection panel for running mate by May 1  —  Former vice president Joe Biden said he intends to name the panel of advisers who will help him select a running mate by May 1, offering the nugget early Wednesday morning via an appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

Trump prepares to hit the road  —  President Donald Trump is eager to hit the road.  —  As his own health officials continue to warn against nonessential travel, Trump has privately urged aides over the past week to start adding official events back to his schedule, including photo ops …

Health Chief's Early Missteps Set Back Coronavirus Response  —  HHS Secretary Alex Azar waited for weeks to brief the president and oversold his agency's progress  —  WASHINGTON—On Jan. 29, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told President Trump the coronavirus epidemic was under control.

McConnell Says He Favors Allowing States to Declare Bankruptcy  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he favors allowing states struggling with high public employee pension costs amid the burdens of the pandemic response to declare bankruptcy rather than giving them a federal bailout.

Trump (the Company) Asks Trump (the Administration) for Hotel 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.

New U.S. Treatment Guidelines for Covid-19 Don't See Much Progress  —  A panel of experts said there was insufficient evidence about many drugs that have been considered as possible remedies for coronavirus patients, including some President Trump has advocated.

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 …

Las Vegas mayor: Reopen casinos, let the ones with the most infections then close  —  Standing in front of an empty storefront along Main Street, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman was beaming with optimism, believing that businesses would make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN Boss Tells Staff They Will Not Return to Offices Until at Least September  —  STAY AT HOME  —  CNN won't send staffers back into its offices until at least September.  In an internal email obtained by The Daily Beast, network chief Jeff Zucker told staff that the vast majority of company staff will …

The anti-quarantine protests seem spontaneous.  But behind the scenes, a powerful network is helping.  —  The ads on Facebook sounded populist and passionate: “The people are rising up against these insane shutdowns,” they said.  “We're fighting back to demand that our elected officials reopen America.”

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 …

Chinese Agents Helped 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.

Is Biden Gaining Older Voters, and Losing Young Ones?  —  Even modest differences could prove crucial in an election that begins with numbers and coalitions very similar to those in 2016.  —  After impeachment, a coronavirus pandemic and four years of tweets, the early national polls show …

Many small businesses say loans won't get them to rehire  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Some small businesses that obtained a highly-coveted government loan say they won't be able to use it to bring all their laid-off workers back, even though that is what the program was designed to do.

Birx says Georgia residents ‘can be very creative’ about getting tattoos and haircuts while social distancing  —  Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the leading medical experts on President Trump's coronavirus task force, tried to reconcile the controversial order by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reopening …

GOP Quietly Pushes Through Long-Sought Priorities As Pandemic Rages  —  Rolling back environmental regulations, imposing voter ID, banning abortion — it's all happening while the public is focused on the coronavirus.  —  President Donald Trump announced Monday night that he planned to suspend all immigration to the United States.

Stacey Abrams on ‘The View’: Reopening parts of Georgia right now ‘makes no sense’  —  “It simply puts more Georgians at risk,” she said of the decision.  —  As the public campaigning ramps up to be presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's vice presidential pick, Stacey Abrams …

POLITICO Playbook: The next rescue package is now in doubt  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED, by Thursday morning, the HOUSE will be voting on the half-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill that just passed the Senate, readying it for a trip to the White House for President DONALD TRUMP'S signature.

Top economist: US coronavirus response is like ‘third world’ country  —  Joseph Stiglitz attacks Donald Trump, saying US on course for second Great Depression  —  Donald Trump's botched handling of the Covid-19 crisis has left the US looking like a “third world” country and on course …

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch to Forgo Salary, Execs to Take Pay Cuts  —  Tiered pay cuts of 15 percent to 50 percent will impact other executives at the media giant.  —  Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch will forgo his salary amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and 700 employees at the company …

Why we can't build  —  The Capitol building in Washington, DC, on April 19.  Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images  —  America's inability to act is killing people.  —  In a viral essay, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen makes a simple exhortation: It's time to build.

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 …

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 …

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 …

“Reopen Wisconsin” protest permit denied; organizers say it'll happen anyway  —  Organizers of a protest against Governor Tony Ever's “Safer at Home” order say the Department of Administration (DOA) has denied their permit application citing “the state of emergency,” but the protest will go on.