The health crisis has increasingly become an economic one.
March 31, 2020, 2:32 PM
3 min read
3 min read
The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.
Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.
Markets slip slightly
U.S. financial markets opened relatively flat Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down just over 100 points, or approximately 0.5% Tuesday morning. The S&P 500 was down by 0.6% and the Nasdaq dipped by 0.3%.
The slight drop comes after markets have swung widely for weeks amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The S&P 500 is on track for its worst quarter since the financial crisis of 2008.
The U.S. has become the new epicenter of the outbreak, with more than 164,000 diagnosed cases of the novel coronavirus. At least 3,170 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.
On Monday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that priorities for the next coronavirus economic stimulus package could include more protections for health care workers as well as an infrastructure element.
Pelosi added, however, that the next bill likely won’t get a vote until mid to late April.
“I would not suspect that we would have any bipartisan legislation before we return after Easter and Passover,” she said. “But we’re getting ready — and in some cases we are ready.”
As officials scramble to supply hospitals with much needed protective equipment for doctors and nurses fighting the novel coronavirus on the front lines, hospital leaders around the country warn that they are running low on another critical supply: money.
Hospitals have taken a significant loss of revenue as they cut back lucrative elective procedures to free up resources to treat COVID-19 patients. At the same time, they are pouring money into efforts to fight the virus like buying personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, providing child care for staff and overtime pay, transforming units to COVID-19 wings for treatment and setting up drive-thru testing sites, hospital officials told ABC News.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week called the combination a “double whammy.” For hospital systems across the country the costs are astronomical and state officials told ABC News they fear some facilities do not have enough cash to keep up.
The $2 trillion stimulus package President Donald Trump signed on Friday afternoon, which awards nearly $100 billion to hospitals to fight the coronavirus, is a boost many hope will alleviate some of the financial burden and prevent hospitals from closing their doors.
“We can’t print money, so we have to have the financial support coming in.” LeRay Brown, the CEO of One Brooklyn Health System, told ABC News. “Without that funding I don’t know how long we can continue.”
One Brooklyn Health System, which operates three hospitals in New York City where the virus has hit hardest in the U.S., projects they will need to spend an additional $30 million per month in order to respond to surge needs in their area, Brown said, including the nearly $8 million they will lose per month by cutting out elective surgeries. Purchasing nearly 300 additional beds in order to increase hospital’s capacity by 50% — which they have been mandated to do under an executive order signed by Cuomo — will cost $5 million alone.
The hospital system, which is crucial for low-income individuals in the area, is already caring for over 200 patients who either have the virus or are awaiting test results. Meanwhile, it only has two weeks cash on hand, Brown said.
One doctor on the front lines said they feel hospitals are being overlooked in the national dialogue about the extreme toll the pandemic has taken on the U.S. economy.
“I think there’s been so much national focus on bailing out the airlines, but I think what people don’t realize is that the hospitals are in extreme financial trouble over the COVID-19 crisis,” a physician at a top Boston area hospital told ABC News. “I feel like people — nobody’s talking about that. Everybody thinks hospitals are doing fine. If we don’t bail out the hospitals, we’re going to lose the very lifelines that we have — the front lines that we have — to fight this thing.”
During the signing of the stimulus bill, Trump did acknowledge the challenge hospitals are facing, saying more than $100 billion is going to “support our heroic doctors, nurses and hospitals” and that hospitals will get “the money they need.”
American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack called the legislation an “important first step forward,” but warned that “more will need to be done to deal with the unprecedented challenge of this virus.”
Hospital leaders in numerous states echoed the dire concerns about their facilities and the urgent need for an infusion of funding.
Andy Carter, the president and CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), said there is a “legitimate credible threat” that some hospitals in his state would close without immediate financial support.
An HAP spokesperson told ABC News the federal package was “encouraging,” but warned there was no “clarity” on how much aid would be distributed to hospitals in the state — or when.
“We caution that some of our members have estimated, and nationwide accounts validate, that hospitals are facing a financial free-fall,” the spokesperson wrote, explaining that a “preliminary analysis” shows that losses for hospitals in Pennsylvania alone could rise to more than $1 billion per month.
In Ohio, President of the Ohio Hospital Association Mike Abrams said he could think of two hospitals that he “worries a lot about,” and could “think of many more” that will be in equally precarious situations if aid does not come soon. The TriHealth system, based in Cincinnati, has already cut 20% of senior leader’s pay in order “be fully prepared for the surge in demand,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Clement said in a statement, as reported by Cincinnati.com.
Jeff Tieman, president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, explained the increase in costs are especially significant for rural hospitals that were already “under serious financial stress” even before the pandemic began in the state of Vermont, which has one of the oldest populations in the country,
Minnesota-based health system M Health Fairview, which recently converted one of its hospitals to a COVID-19 specialized-care facility, is anticipating a cut of more than a third of its revenue due to loss of volume in outpatient areas, spokesperson David Henke told ABC News. As a nonprofit group that operates on a extremely tight margins — with net operating margin for last fiscal year at just 0.2% — Fairview faces significant financial challenges as a result of the pandemic, Henke said.
“Our focus right now is providing the care our patients and our community need,” Henke told ABC News. “However, the reality is M Health Fairview, like many health care systems across the country, is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of this public health crisis.”
And the financial crunch is a reality hospitals across the financial spectrum are dealing with.
“Even the hospitals who are well resourced are really worried,” Abrams told ABC News. He estimates the fiscal impact on Ohio hospitals would amount to a loss of $1.2 billion per month. “It is effecting everyone negatively, whether you are a huge system that is well resourced or a small system that was hanging on nervously.”
The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York said the cost of scaling back their capacity by 90% in order to brace for a surge and transforming their facilities, coupled with the loss in revenue, amounted to “hundreds of million of dollars,” CEO Lou Shapiro told ABC News.
In Louisiana, where the number of positive cases and deaths is skyrocketing, Baton Rouge General Hospital has also backed away from its outpatient business as it doubles down on its COVID-19 response while continuing to provide essential care for those having heart attacks, strokes, diabetes or cancer.
Completely letting go of the highly lucrative elective surgery has caused a big financial strain on the system, its CEO Stephen Mumford told ABC News. Mumford said on Thursday there were less than five surgeries, all of which were emergent surgeries.
“When you go from a hospital that does 40 to 50 surgeries a day to a hospital that does two to three, it really is going to hurt us,” Mumford said.
“But the reality is, we can’t worry about that right now,” Mumford said. “We’re a community hospital and we’ve got to take care of the community patients that are coming in.”
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. ABC News’ Ali Dukakis contributed to this report.
The health crisis has increasingly become an economic one.
March 27, 2020, 8:15 PM
5 min read
5 min read
The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.
Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.
After 3-day rally, markets slip Friday
After three days of back-to-back gains, U.S. financial markets slipped Friday as the coronavirus pandemic wages on.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 900 points, or over 4%, when U.S. markets closed Friday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also both dropped by more than 3%.
The fall comes as the United States now has nearly 86,000 cases of COVID-19, the highest number in the world. At least 1,300 people have died in the U.S.
Moreover, in New York City — the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — Mayor Bill de Blasio projected Friday morning that “over half the people in this city will ultimately be infected.”
Equity markets have seesawed for weeks as the COVID-19 outbreak has sowed uncertainty among investors.
A $2 trillion stimulus package to help lessen the blow of the outbreak on the economy was approved by the Senate earlier this week, leading to the three-day market rally ahead of Friday’s tumble.
IMF chief predicts a ‘quite deep’ recession for 2020
Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a briefing Friday that the organization representing more than 189 countries is now projecting a recession for 2020.
Moreover, “we are expecting it to be quite deep,” she said.
“We are very much urging countries to speed up containment measures aggressively so we can shorten the duration of this period of time when the recession is in standstill,” she said. “And also to apply well-targeted measures, primary focusing on the health system to absorb that enormous stress that comes from coronavirus and on people, businesses, and the financial system.”
She applauded countries’ fiscal and monetary policy responses so far for both their speed and breadth.
In a statement shortly after Friday’s briefing, Georgieva and the IMF’s Financial Committee Chair Lesetja Kganyago called for increased multilateral action among central banks and other financial institutions.
“We are in an unprecedented situation where a global health pandemic has turned into an economic and financial crisis. With a sudden stop in economic activity, global output will contract in 2020. Member countries have already taken extraordinary actions to save lives and safeguard economic activity. But more is needed,” they said in a joint statement.
It continued: “Priority should be afforded to targeted fiscal support to vulnerable households and businesses to accelerate and strengthen the recovery in 2021.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledges $25 million for coronavirus treatment funding
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday that he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, will give $25 million to accelerate the development of coronavirus treatments, saying he hopes to get a vaccine to test developed in “months rather than a year or more.”
“We’re partnering with the Gates Foundation and others to quickly evaluate the most promising existing drugs to see which ones might be effective at preventing and treating the coronavirus,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Friday morning. “Since these drugs have already gone through clinical safety trials, if they’re effective, it will be much faster to make them available than it will be to develop and test a new vaccine — hopefully months rather than a year or more.”
The federal government has been rolling out its response to the coronavirus crisis, trying to slow the spread and prop up the economy, which has taken a severe hit.
House lawmakers scrambled back to Washington Friday morning amid fears one GOP member of Congress would force a delay in the vote on the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed unanimously by the Senate.
But early Friday afternoon the House passed the historic measure and sent it to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Within minutes of signing the bill, Trump touted the aid on Twitter.
An aide to House Speaker Pelosi confirms that she was not invited to the White House to participate in the signing ceremony.
The last time the two spoke was Oct. 16, 2019, roughly five months ago.
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.
Here are Friday’s most significant developments in Washington:
The House passed a $2 trillion relief measure and President Trump signed it
House members scrambled back to Washington in expectation of a call for quorum, roll call vote
President Trump uses the powers of the Defense Production Act for the first time
Friday is the 12th day of the president’s 15-day guidelines to slow the spread
President Trump, at the daily White House briefing, said he would decide whether to extend or modify the guidelines next week
Here are the latest developments in the government response:
Trump says he’s using powers of Defense Production Act
For the first time, Trump has issued an order to use the authorities granted to presidents by the Defense Production Act.
He signed a memo today to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar telling him to use authority granted by the act to requite General Motors to produce ventilators — after he threatened to do so earlier on Twitter.
“Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a written statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”
Trump said in the memo that Azar “shall use any and all authority available under the Act to require General Motors Company to accept, perform, and prioritize contracts or orders for the number of ventilators that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.”
While Trump has repeatedly threatened to use the DPA — and claimed he had “invoked” it several times — as far as it’s known he had not set in motion a process by which it would actually be used until now.
He opened the daily White House briefing on he government’s response Friday evening by elaborating on his use of the DPA, which several governors pressured him to do in the last week, with some criticizing the president for not utilizing it sooner.
“This invocation of the DPA should demonstrate clearly to all that we will not hesitate to use the full authority of the federal government to combat this crisis. We thought that we had a deal with, as an example, General Motors,” Trump said. “And I guess they thought otherwise. They didn’t agree. And now they do. They do agree.”
The president then announced that White House trade adviser Peter Navarro will serve as policy coordinator for the Defense Production Act, calling it a “very important position” before asking Navarro to speak.
“Over the last several days we ran into roadblocks with GM,” Navarro said, calling Trump a “wartime president” who takes action. “President Trump invoked the defense production act as a way of enhancing and accelerating this mobilization. I salute him for doing so.”
Overall, Trump said 100,000 ventilators made by several companies will ship out to states in need over the next three months or so.
“In the next 100 days — well, first of all, we’ve already delivered thousands of them, but within the next 100 days we will either make or get in some form over 100,000 additional units,” Trump said, adding that 100,000 was three times the number of ventilators normally made in the U.S. in a year.
“No effort will be spared in winning this war. We’re going to win the war. Hopefully we’ll win soon and with as few lives as possible lost,” the president said, as the reported cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. topped 100,000.
“If this should happen again — hopefully it won’t — but if a thing like this should happen again, we’ll be able to handle it very much more easily,” he said.
After calling Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, a “failed presidential candidate” who “leveled out at zero in the polls” and claiming Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “has no idea what’s going on,” President Trump was asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl what exactly he wanted from the nation’s governors in this time of crisis.
“All I want them to do — very simple — I want them to be appreciative. I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true. I want them to be appreciative. We’ve done a great job,” Trump said.
When pressed further on a lack of communication between the White House and certain governors, the president said, “If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call them.”
When Karl later asked the president if everybody who needs a ventilator will be able to get a ventilator, Trump refused to answer the question definitively.
“I think we’re in really good shape. This is a pandemic, the likes of which nobody’s seen before,” he said. “We’ve distributed vast numbers of ventilators, and we’re prepared to do vast numbers.”
When pressed for an answer, Trump told Karl, “don’t be a cutie pie.”
“Everyone who needs one — nobody’s ever done what we’ve done. Nobody’s done what we’ve been able to do.” the president said.
Trump said the coronavirus task force hasn’t made a decision on what to do on Monday, which will mark the end of the 15 days of government guidelines to social distance, work from home and self-isolate if showing symptoms, but said he will be sitting down Monday or Tuesday with doctors and medical professionals to decide what the government will suggest Americans do next.
Asked if the guidelines might stay in place for months, Trump said he hoped not, but again said medical professionals would weigh in on the decision.
“I certainly want to get it open as soon as possible. I don’t want it to be long, but we also want it to open safe. Otherwise, what did we do?” Trump said.
House passes historic relief bill after brief drama
The House of Representatives passed the historic coronavirus relief bill by voice vote Friday, a move that allowed for swift passage without having to call the entire House membership back to Washington.
The $2 trillion package, which the Senate passed on Wednesday, is the largest emergency aid package in U.S. history. The measure now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced he was objecting to the voice vote and called instead for a recorded vote.
“I came here to make sure our Republic doesn’t die by unanimous consent in an empty chamber, and I request a recorded vote,” Massie said, objecting to the vote.
The chair proceeded to override Massie’s objection, and the House broke out in applause when the bill passed.
Color from the House chamber
Inside the House chamber, lawmakers kept their distance from each other throughout Friday’s debate.
Most members wiped down the microphones with a disinfecting wipe before speaking, following the new and unprecedented protocol the House Attending Physician and Office of the House Sergeant at Arms announced on Thursday.
“Members will be required to cleanse their hands with waterless hand sanitizer before entering and departing the House Chamber and are requested to follow all health safety procedures while on the Floor. Seating in the House Chamber will be limited,” their memo stated yesterday.
One member — freshman Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. — put on pink latex gloves before speaking. In a dramatic moment, Stevens continued her remarks past her allotted time and began raising her voice despite objections from the chair.
“I wear these latex gloves to tell every American to not be afraid!” she exclaimed.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also spoke out against the bill, noting she represents “one of the hardest hit” congressional districts across the country.
“We have to go into this vote eyes wide open. What did the Senate majority fight for? One of the largest corporate bailouts with as few strings as possible in American history. Shameful! The greed of that fight is wrong,” she said. “There should be shame about what was fought for in this bill and the choices that we have to make.”
House Democrats fear lone GOP member may object to quick voice vote
The possibility of the House passing the Senate-passed coronavirus relief bill in the fastest available way — by unanimous consent or a simple voice vote — slipped away from Democrats Friday morning as expectations grew that Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., would force a delay the vote.
Late Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office urged members to return to Washington by 10 a.m. Friday to make a quorum, amid growing concern of COVID-19 spreading across the Capitol and country.
For today, a quorum constitutes 216 members, and if Massie notes the absence of a quorum, he could stop the proceedings until quorum is reached.
Once at least 216 members are present, the House could have a recorded roll call vote if one-fifth of the body — or 44 members — support it. If not, they could try to hold a voice vote again, and Massie’s objection of the absence of a quorum wouldn’t prevail.
Three hours of debate on the bill are expected in the morning before an effort to pass it by voice vote.
The eleventh hour concern over Massie prompted several House members to board near-empty planes headed to the nation’s capital Friday morning.
Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota shared a photo of himself with three Minnesota lawmakers appearing to be the only passengers on a flight to Washington.
Just after midnight, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., posted a photo of a deserted LAX, noting he was traveling back to the chamber since other members can’t for health reasons.
After calling Massie a “grandstander” at Thursday’s task force briefing, President Trump doubled down on his disapproval of the Kentucky congressman on Twitter Friday morning, even calling for Massie to be thrown out of the Republican party.
In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, Massie indicated he would request the formal roll call vote.
Trump changes tone, tells GM, ‘START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!’
President Trump abruptly changed his tone on whether more ventilators were urgently needed as governors have been demanding.
In a series of tweets, he once again threatened to use the Defense Production Act, which he says he has activated but not actually employed, to force General Motors to make them — as the federal government had been negotiating with the company to do so. He took aim at Ford as well.
Trump said General Motors had agreed to produce 40,000 ventilators “very quickly,” but now, he said, they are saying it could deliver 6,000 ventilators in late April, “and they want top dollar.”
He said “General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!”
It was unclear if Trump’s tweeting “invoke ‘P'” — which he said in another tweet means invoke the Defense Production Act — is legal invocation of the measure, but appeared to be another threat.
After Trump tweeted, Ventec and GM said in a statement they were poised to deliver their first ventilators by next month and would ramp up to a manufacturing capacity to more than 10,000 per month – although they did not say when they would reach that goal.
The tweets come after the New York Times reported his administration had delayed going forward with a government contract because of cost concerns over the $1 billion or more price tag.
On Thursday night, in a 40-minute phone interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump suggested the number of ventilators being requested by governors to combat COVID-19 isn’t necessary.
“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” he said. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?'”
The president said that companies are stepping up and producing the “very, very expensive” ventilators and other pieces of equipment, but he also repeated that this was primarily a state responsibility.
“Remember, we are a second line of attack,” Trump said. “The first line of attack is supposed to be the hospitals in the local government and the states. The states themselves.”
Despite saying positive things about New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, Trump struck a sharply partisan tone at other moments. He called Washington Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state, calling him a “failed presidential candidate” who “should be doing more.”
He also referred to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, another Democrat, as “the young woman governor” and said she wasn’t “stepping up.”
There will be nearly 3,000 beds available at the Javits Center.
March 28, 2020, 12:23 AM
7 min read
7 min read
With the Army’s help, the temporary field hospital at New York City’s Javits Convention Center will now hold 2,910 beds, making it one of the largest hospitals in America. Established in record time, the temporary hospital is an example of the surge of federal and military resources into New York to help with the novel coronavirus pandemic, including the Army Corps of Engineers, two Army field hospitals, and the Navy’s hospital ship the USNS Comfort.
Over the last week the Army Corps of Engineers has been busy transforming the convention center’s expansive exposition halls into an overflow medical facility that beginning Monday will treat patients who are not infected with the novel coronavirus. The treatment of non-COVID-19 patients is designed to make it easier for medical facilities in New York to focus treatment on patients infected with the virus.
Originally slated to house 1,000 beds composed of four Federal Emergency Management Agency field hospitals, the Army Corps of Engineers took advantage of the convention center’s design and the arrival of two Army field hospitals from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Fort Hood, Texas, to expand the number of beds at the temporary hospital.
“We basically took that four [multiplied] by 250 is 1,000. We thought we could expand it by stretching the ratio,” Gen. Todd Semonite, the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, told reporters Friday. “So today we’re going to plan on having 2,910 rooms up by Monday morning in the Javits Center.”
That number of beds will make the Javits Center hospital larger than the 2,600 bed capacity of New York- Presbyterian Hospital, the city’s largest hospital.
“The Javits Center is an amazing facility,” said Semonite. “Every 10 feet there’s a great big steel door in the floor, you open it up in there is all the electrical; there’s cold water, there’s hot water and there’s a place for sewers, so you can actually do things like sinks, right in the middle of a convention center to be able to make that happen.”
The hospital will be staffed by 350 medical personnel from FEMA and the two Army hospitals.
Non-COVID-19 patients will be transported from hospitals in the New York City area to the convention center, just as they will be at the 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort when it is operational in New York Harbor on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, three of the Army’s six field hospitals were ordered to assist in the treatment of non-COVID-19 patients with one of them headed to Washington state and the other two to New York City.
Six hundred soldiers from those the 531st Hospital Center from Fort Campbell and the 9th Hospital Center from Fort Hood flew to the New York on Thursday, ahead of the arrival of their medical equipment that was being transported in 108 tractor trailer trucks
“This is obviously the absolute top priority of the nation right now, and knowing that our very well-trained and capable [531st] Hospital Center is going to be part of this makes us really proud,” Maj. Gen. Brian Winski, the commander the 101st Airborne Division, told ABC News in an interview.
“They’re well trained, they’re prepared and readiness is our watchword; they’re prepared to deploy in a moment’s notice, which is exactly what they did and they are going to make a huge impact,” he added.
While the medical personnel from the 531st Hospital Center will not be treating non-COVID-19 patients, they will still follow guidelines to ensure they do not become exposed to the virus during their deployment.
Prior to their departure, Winski told his soldiers that the length of their deployment to New York will likely be “a matter of months, not weeks” and that his command will do their best to ensure that they and their commands are kept informed of when they will come home.
Their prolonged stay will also have an impact at Fort Campbell’s Blanchfield Army Community Hospital where most of the personnel from the 531st are normally assigned.
“It is requiring us to reorganize,” Winski said, acknowledging soldiers’ deployment will lead to staff adjustments at Blanchfield to ensure that facility can treat COVID-19 cases at Fort Campbell.
“We’re going to adjust how we’re organized up there to ensure that we are configured as best as we can possibly be for larger numbers of COVID-19 patients that require hospitalization.”
In Peoria, Illinois, there is a moderate risk for long-track, strong tornadoes.
March 28, 2020, 11:14 AM
4 min read
4 min read
A major storm is quickly intensifying Saturday morning in the central U.S. and will bring a significant severe weather outbreak to parts of the Midwest Saturday afternoon and evening – including the threat for dangerous, significant, long-track tornadoes.
Radar Saturday morning is showing the organizing storm with a rain shield that stretches from the Great Plains through the Great Lakes and the Mid-Atlantic. Some of the thunderstorms Saturday morning, especially in northern Illinois, are capable of producing 1 to 2 inches of rainfall. There is a flash flood watch issued for parts of Indiana and Ohio, where 1-2 inches of rain is likely in the next 36 hours.
Storms on Friday evening produced greater than baseball-sized hail in parts of Oklahoma and Missouri.
On the colder side of the system, winter weather advisories, and blizzard warnings have been issued for the upper Midwest and the Plains, where locally up to 6 inches of snow is possible this week.
There is a moderate risk area for severe weather in northern Illinois and the extreme eastern edge of Iowa. In Peoria, Illinois, there is a moderate risk for long-track, strong tornadoes.
There is potential that an upgrade to a high-risk alert will be coming later Saturday from the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
In the enhanced risk and slight risk areas, tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail will be possible. Regardless of the risk area, some strong tornadoes are possible Saturday. Some of the cities in the enhanced and slight risk areas include Nashville, Little Rock, Arkansas, St. Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis.
Storms will approach the Midwest and Mississippi River valley by mid to late Saturday afternoon. The increased concern will occur later in the evening as we head towards dusk and first couple hours of night, when the low-level jet will strengthen along the cold front. This low-level jet will greatly enhance the shear with the thunderstorms, and allow the storms to rotate. Therefore, there is a possibility of significant severe weather during the night hours Saturday night.
The storm will be sliding eastward on Sunday and some of the severe weather will try to move into parts of Ohio Valley and Western Appalachians. However, the intensity of the storms is expected to decrease with only general thunderstorms expected for now, with a couple of stronger storms possible.
Additionally, some snow will be possible in parts of the upper Midwest, including Duluth, Minnesota and Minneapolis.
By Monday, the storm will have cleared much of the country, with little weather impact remaining.
The site hopes to paint a more broad, accurate picture of the virus spread.
March 28, 2020, 12:00 PM
4 min read
4 min read
As health experts and public officials have warned that confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus are likely nowhere near the actual number of people infected, medical professionals in Boston have created a website to help close the gap.
“COVID Near You” allows the public to report coronavirus-related symptoms. The site asks users how they are feeling with the options of “Great, thanks!” and “Not feeling well” as answers.
Those who answer that they’re not feeling well are asked to identify their symptoms and answer a series of questions, such as when they began to feel ill, if they have been in quarantine or isolation and whether they have traveled outside of the United States.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital who helped develop the website, said that with more data it would be easier to identify emerging hotspots.
He told ABC News that most people experience mild illnesses, so they often won’t go to a health care provider.
“It’s so important to understand the mild illness,” said Brownstein, an ABC News Medical Unit contributor. “A mild illness in the community … that is what ends up leading to more complicated issues.”
There are more than 590,000 cases of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the world, and at least 26,943 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
A map on the website shows the number of people in the U.S. who have reported experiencing coronavirus symptoms, which can range from mild, like a slight cough, to more severe, including fever and difficulty breathing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The website was created by employees at HealthMap, a medical data tool at Boston Children’s Hospital, and is similar to one developed to track the flu.
While Brownstein noted that it was possible for false information to slip through the cracks, they have established protections to limit it.
“COVID Near You” collects a zipcode and IP address from those who use it, which, Brownstein said, make it easier to determine if one person is continuously entering incorrect data.
And while the site has limitations — it will not give someone a diagnosis of coronavirus — Brownstein said he believes local officials will find it a very useful tool.
“We’re putting the ‘public’ back in public health,” he said.
The health crisis has increasingly become an economic one.
March 27, 2020, 1:45 PM
3 min read
The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.
Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.
After three-day rally, markets slip Friday
After three days of back-to-back gains, U.S. financial markets slipped Friday as the coronavirus pandemic wages on.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 700 points, or over 3%, when U.S. markets opened Friday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also both dropped approximately 3% Friday morning.
The United States now has nearly 86,000 cases of COVID-19, the highest number in the world. At least 1,300 people have died in the U.S.
Moreover, in New York City — the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — Mayor Bill de Blasio projected Friday morning that “over half the people in this city will ultimately be infected.”
Equity markets have seesawed for weeks as the COVID-19 outbreak has sowed uncertainty among investors.
A $2 trillion stimulus package to help lessen the blow of the outbreak on the economy was approved by the Senate earlier this week, leading to the three-day market rally ahead of Friday’s tumble.
After haggling all day, the Senate voted late Wednesday night 96-0 to unanimously pass a sweeping $2 trillion relief package – representing the third congressional effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell observed that the upper chamber, which was deeply divided down partisan lines over impeachment earlier this year, had shifted from “one of the most contentious, partisan periods in the nations history to passing this rescue package.”
“I think one of the reasons that happened is we are inspired by what is going on around the country,” McConnell, R-Ky., said. “People are helping each other, people are reaching out, looking for ways to make a difference, following the directions of the healthcare professionals, this is a proud moment of the United States senate and for the country and we are going to win this battle in the very near future.”
“It’s a historic day because it matches a historic crisis. And our people need help,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “People came together to help the American people. And that’s a great sign. It shows you that the Senate can function when the need is so real and so pressing.”
The bill now heads to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced lawmakers will vote Friday morning to send the measure to the president’s desk.
“Our nation faces the worst pandemic in over fifty years. Urgent action continues to be needed to address this threat to the lives and livelihood of the American people,” Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote in a statement early Thursday morning following the Senate vote. “On Friday, the House will take up the legislation with strong bipartisan support.”
Due to the limited flight options, members participating in self-quarantine, and several states mandating stay-at-home orders, congressional leaders announced that the House will vote to approve the bill by voice vote – without the need for all members to return to the Capitol to participate in a recorded roll call vote.
“In order to protect the safety of Members and staff and prevent further spread of COVID-19 through Members’ travel, the Republican Leader and I expect that the House vote on final passage will be done by voice vote,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced Wednesday night. “Members who want to come to the House Floor to debate this bill will be able to do so. In addition, we are working to ensure that those who are unable to return to Washington may express their views on this legislation remotely.”
McConnell announced the Senate will not meet again for legislative business until April 20. The upper chamber will still meet every few days for pro forma sessions, where additional measures may be considered amid the ongoing crisis. Once the bill clear the House, the lower chamber is also expected to take a long recess while the country recovers from the pandemic.
Senate Republicans downplayed concessions given to Democrats throughout the marathon negotiations, arguing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “delayed life-saving aid to medical professionals and significant relief for families and small businesses in order to claim credit for wins that are either bipartisan or Republican ideas.”
“Reading Chuck Schumer’s list, we half expected that the next thing I read would be the minority leader taking credit for inventing fire,” a senior Senate GOP aide said. “The reality is that almost every significant “win” he’s taking credit for, is actually a Senate Republican idea.”
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.
The aide claimed Senate Republicans “never objected” that oversight of the Economic Stabilization Fund be structured in the mold of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) oversight, or that the bill would include billions of dollars to shore up hospitals.
“What Schumer and Senate Democrats actually wanted was to create a completely new structure that would have given subpoena power to a new panel that would have had oversight of the entire Trump administration pandemic response,” the aide argued. “From the beginning, when Leader McConnell laid out four pillars of phase three, unprecedented aid to the nation’s hospitals was a primary element. There was always going to be tens and tens of billions for our hospitals in the CARES Act. Sen. Schumer’s attempt to take credit for an increase in hospital aid is nonsensical because there was no opposition.”
Wednesday afternoon, a quartet of Senate Republicans objected to a provision in the massive unemployment insurance expansion in the package that they say could mean that some Americans could be paid more to be out of work than they were earning before they were laid off or furloughed because of the pandemic.
In the unprecedented expansion of jobless benefits in the relief bill, each worker would receive a $600 weekly check for four months — on top of the customary benefits doled out by states.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who pushed for the expansion of these benefits, said he and three other GOP senators — Rick Scott of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Nebraska’s Ben Sasse — are demanding an amendment to the bill that would cap benefits for the jobless at 100 percent of a worker’s pay before he or she was out of a job.
“This bill pays you more not to work than if you were working,” Graham said, contending the bill would pay the unemployed roughly $24 per hour, on average.
The provision, which aides said was not a drafting error, was negotiated by the Trump Administration, Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and senior Democrats, including Schumer and Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee.
Unemployment insurance, which is administered at the state level through individual programs, was not conducive to imposing a brand new federal bureaucracy to dole out emergency benefits, Republican and Democratic aides who were close to the talks explained. Senate negotiators chose to come up with a national average wage in order to arrive at the $600 weekly figure, and the bill would have the states take on that financial burden on the front end only to be repaid by the federal government.
Ultimately, the problem was just a hiccup, with the four introducing an amendment that would cap unemployment benefits, but it failed in a vote late Wednesday.
All politics are local, and beyond exerting public pressure to lobby the Senate to improve the bill, this is a package that most members of the House had little direct sway in crafting. That has generated apprehension that a single member — Republican or Democrat — could scuttle efforts to pass the Senate agreement without calling all of the House’s membership back to Washington to cast a roll call vote.
House Republican leaders held two conference calls with their members on Wednesday to build cohesive support for the Senate agreement. Minority Whip Steve Scalise is also touting the Senate deal as “the largest economic relief package in American history.”
Scalise’s whip team convened a conference call Tuesday where a source expressed optimism that all lawmakers won’t need to return for a vote — and that they won’t have to change the rules to achieve that.
Whenever a vote is called in the House, the member presiding over the House asks all in favor to say “Aye!” – and all opposed — “No!” This generally provokes each side to yell out their votes and the member presiding over the House as Speaker Pro Tempore rules on whichever side he or she believes prevailed. Only then does a member – usually from the losing end – stand to request a recorded vote.
The way GOP leaders see it, their members could still shout “NO!!!!!” and be satisfied that they expressed their opposition without forcing a roll call vote. But it remains an open question whether all members would be content without a recorded vote.
“It only takes one member to object to trying to pass this via [unanimous consent], which is a very real possibility that we recognize,” a whip team source acknowledged. “However, passing this by voice vote remains a possibility. We have discussed this with various factions of our conference, and believe this is a possible outcome. Strong Republican support for the bill is evident at this point.”
During an appearance on PBS prior to the Senate vote, Pelosi said she does not believe the House will be able to pass the stimulus bill by unanimous consent.
“No I don’t think we can get unanimous consent,” Pelosi said. “I think there are a number of people who are working their way here on the Republican side for sure — maybe the Democrat side — to object to unanimous consent.”
She also acknowledged the House could approve the measure by a voice vote.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is already warning that the agreement is “terrible” for New York — even though Schumer, the senior senator from the Big Apple, had an outsized role negotiating the deal.
House Democratic leaders are also conferring with each other as they await a Senate vote, and working to hold off the left flank of the party from upsetting the bipartisan vibe.
While Pelosi refused to fully endorse the agreement as she awaited the legislative text, her statement Wednesday morning outlined several victories Democrats are emphasizing in order to unite the caucus — while admitting the agreement does not match the Democratic priorities spelled out in their own proposal.
“This bipartisan legislation takes us a long way down the road in meeting the needs of the American people,” Pelosi stated. “While the compromise does not go as far as our Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act, thanks to the unity and insistence of Senate and House Democrats, the bill has moved a great deal closer to America’s workers.”
More than a dozen representatives remain in self-quarantine as two other members of the House recover from the coronavirus.
As with the two previous phases of Congress’ response, leaders are attempting to assuage any consternation among their members by promising future waves of relief in the coming weeks and months.
Rep. David Cicilline, the chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, announced he’s supporting the Senate’s deal, but he’s already looking for more action from Congress.
“I’ve already directed my staff to begin identifying additional priorities for Rhode Island. In the weeks ahead, I will continue working with Gov. Raimondo and my colleagues in the Congressional Delegation to ensure we leave no stone unturned until this crisis has ended,” Cicilline, D-R. I., noted in a statement Wednesday.
ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report
This report was featured in the Thursday, March 26, 2020, episode of “Start Here,” ABC News’ daily news podcast.
“Start Here” offers a straightforward look at the day’s top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.
As the coronavirus pandemic destabilizes an already fragile gig economy in the U.S., rideshare drivers say the “misclassification” of workers as contractors instead of employees is helping to contribute to a “public health disaster.”
“When there is a pandemic illness that nobody should be exposed to that’s where you see the cracks,” Nicole Moore, a Lyft driver labor organizer in Los Angeles said of the rideshare industry.
“Misclassification is a public health disaster and it’s time for everybody to hold the companies accountable so that we don’t have these issues,” she added.
Rideshare drivers, like many other freelancers, are classified as contractors, so they are generally ineligible for unemployment and health benefits from companies. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, they face exposure to sick riders, risk getting riders sick, but say they can only take sick days if they test positive for the virus.
And even though they are viewed as “essential” employees during the crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is under a shelter-in-place order, providing a means to access medical care, they don’t have the benefits of employees.
Moore told ABC News that she said she stopped working two weeks ago amid the COVID-19 outbreak because she has a family member who “would be very highly at risk” to the disease, and she does not want to risk exposing them. She said, however, that many of her colleagues do not have the ability to stop work.
“I don’t know what this industry is going to look like in a week when all of a sudden there have been 10 coronavirus-exposed drivers who have driven people,” she added. “And there has been no way for the infrastructure that has been set up to try and help avoid that tragic situation.”
Amid the global health crisis, rideshare industry giant Uber said it is offering 14 days of paid sick leave for drivers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, have been quarantined or asked to self-isolate by a public health authority, or have had their account restricted by the company after possibly being exposed to someone diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
“The mounting fear and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus is being felt by everyone around the world,” an Uber spokesperson told ABC News in a statement. “We know it’s especially concerning for people who drive and deliver with Uber. In these difficult times, their well-being is at the top of our minds, and we have a dedicated team working around the clock to support them the very best we can.”
Lyft announced similar measures, saying they “will provide funds to drivers should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 or put under individual quarantine by a public health agency,” in an announcement on their website.
“This is an unprecedented situation for all industries and communities, and our focus is on helping keep our riders, drivers, and team members safe,” a Lyft spokesperson told ABC News in a statement. “We are working hard to support those who drive with Lyft and are advocating for people-centered stimulus solutions that put money in the pockets of everyday Americans, including drivers.”
Both companies also said they are suspending “pool” services to protect passengers during the pandemic.
Drivers say this isn’t enough
Moore, who is a volunteer organizer with the rideshare labor group Drivers United, told ABC News that she does not think nearly enough is being done by the companies to keep drivers or passengers safe.
“I know nobody so far who is able to access the 14 days of sick leave by the companies,” Moore said.
“The 14 days of paid sick leave is only if you’re told by a public health official to quarantine because of exposure or diagnosis,” she said. “That means if you feel sick right now, it is almost impossible to get a test if you have mild symptoms, so nobody is going to quarantine you.”
“You do hear in the news about a driver here or a driver there who has gotten coronavirus, those are likely to be people who have had access to that,” she said. “That’s not what we’re seeing in the general population right now of people who may have a cough or be carriers. People who have a cough or may be carriers, don’t have access to the test.”
Testing got off to a very slow start in the U.S. compared to other countries, and despite capacity increasing in recent days, many people have reported not being able to get tests.
Moreover, Moore said that while the companies said they would “provide disinfectant and hand sanitizer for drivers and they could pick them up from the hubs,” that “three days later, they closed the hubs.”
“We have people running around in cars without basic disinfectant,” she added. “The companies have been taking no responsibility for the safety of passengers.”
Moore said that even before the coronavirus outbreak, many people used rideshare services as medical transport, noting it is very common, if “somebody feels sick, they call and they go to the hospital in an Uber or a Lyft.”
In times of pandemic, however, “you don’t want those people in the same car,” Moore said.
If drivers choose not to work because they are sick or worried about being an asymptomatic carrier, Moore said they have very limited access to unemployment benefits or paid sick leave, and it mostly varies based on local government initiatives.
Filing for unemployment or even California’s mandated three days of paid sick leave is an uphill battle for most drivers, Moore said, due to their classification as independent contractors.
“They need immediate access to unemployment, they do not have it,” Moore said. “In order to bring that benefit down would be a fight, a legal fight.”
Moore said she has spent most of her time recently with Drivers United just trying to help people feed themselves.
“We’re showing people where to apply for basically food stamps, and where there are food kitchens because people don’t have access to food right now,” she said. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of drivers in California.”
‘Forced to work to keep the roof over my head’
Edan Alva, a full-time Lyft driver who said he makes most of his income from rideshare driving despite being classified as an independent contractor, told ABC News that despite the pandemic that has brought his city of San Francisco to a near-lockdown, “I am forced to work to keep the roof over my head.”
“I may or may not die because of it,” Alva said of working during the pandemic, but added that “not working is not an option.”
“Once I stop working I am at risk of losing my apartment of not being able to pay rent,” he said.
Alva said that he came down with the flu in January, and during that time he had not yet earned enough to pay his rent.
“We don’t have any protections, no disability insurance, no sick days, no health care,” he said. “Even when I ended up at my home being sick, I couldn’t afford going to the doctor.”
Alva said he pays out of pocket for “the cheapest” health insurance he could find, but doctor’s visits are still “extremely expensive” for him, so he avoids it if he can.
“Most drivers simply cannot afford the choice of losing the roof over your head or going to see a doctor,” he said. “You simply won’t go to see a doctor.”
Alva said he is also worried about his passengers, so he disinfects his car “at least three times a day, and in between rides when any passenger displays any signs of sickness.”
Even this, however, he said, “I end up doing at my own expense.”
As the Bay Area has enforced a mandatory shelter-in-place that has brought the city to a halt, Alva said it is doubly-insulting that despite getting no benefits, he is still dubbed an essential service to the city.
“The ironic thing is that we rideshare drivers are considered by local and state government as essential workers during this time of crisis, yet we are not provided with the health insurance that would enable us coping with this, and prevent us from being at a much higher risk,” he said. “We don’t get the sick days.”
Mostafa Maklad, also from the San Francisco area, said he currently drives for “Uber, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Caviar, Postmates, Lyft and Amazon Flex,” to make ends meet.
Despite working for half a dozen of the major players in the industry, he says he doesn’t have health insurance but is still working amid the pandemic and the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order.
“Everyone who does this kind of work, they don’t have the option,” of not working right now, he said. “They go put their life on the stake in order to get by.”
