He calls the pandemic the greatest economic “shock of the 21st Century.”
March 23, 2020, 4:45 PM
6 min read
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a “major economic crisis that will burden our societies for years to come,” the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Secretary-General Angel Gurria warned.
In an op-ed published over the weekend calling for joint action “to win the war” against the pandemic, Gurria called the COVID-19 health crisis the “greatest economic, financial and social shock of the 21st Century.”
His new statement reverses course from a handful of previous outlooks, which forecasted that the outbreak would cause only a temporary blow to the economy.
As the crisis wages on, Gurria added that the economy will likely not rebound as easily as previously thought.
“This shock brings a double whammy: a halt in production in affected countries, hitting supply chains across the world, and a steep drop in consumption together with a collapse in confidence,” Gurria wrote. “Stringent measures being applied, albeit essential to contain the virus, are thrusting our economies into an unprecedented ‘deep freeze’ state, from which emergence will not be straightforward or automatic.”
Gurria called for a “combined, coordinated international effort” to meet the challenge.
He forecasted that even after the worst of the health crisis has passed, people will face a job crisis. Moreover, he says global inequality in income, wealth and job stability will further destabilize the already fragile coronavirus-ravaged economy.
“More than one third of OECD households are financially insecure, meaning they would fall into poverty if they had to forgo three months of their income,” he wrote.
Gurria called for a four-pronged approach that includes increased cooperation between countries to respond to the health challenges, international joint policies to buffer global economies, further cooperation between central banks and all government agencies working together to do everything possible to restore confidence.
At the crux of Gurria’s plea is governments working together.
“In our global world, many issues cannot be dealt with anymore within domestic boundaries, be it a virus, trade, migration, environmental damages or terrorism,” he said. “Multilateral action creates positive spillovers that will be more effective for each country than if they acted alone.”
The OECD launched an “online policy hub” on Saturday in response to the pandemic that provides up-to-date information on policy responses from countries around the world, “together with OECD advice, in some cases,” Gurria said.
Gurria’s update is much more severe than the OECD’s previous economic outlook in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that was published earlier this month. Even that milder outlook, however, called the outbreak the greatest threat to the economy since the 2008 financial crisis.
In the worst-case scenario of itsprevious outlook, published on March 2, the organization predicted that annual global GDP growth could drop to 1.5% in 2020, or half the rate projected before the outbreak.
His op-ed comes as businesses across the world have been forced to come to a halt as governments work to stop the spread of the outbreak.
As the health crisis increasingly becomes a financial one as well, U.S. financial markets have shed approximately one-third of their value in just weeks, despite aggressive action from the Federal Reserve.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the country, businesses, schools and groups are heading online to stay productive.
Rural communities with poor to little broadband Internet access, however, are stuck in digital deserts with no way to ride out the situation, according to digital accessibility activists.
Tim Marema, the editor of The Daily Yonder, a blog that covers several issues in rural America, including internet access, said the years of lagging behind broadband infrastructure construction in places like Appalachia make it tougher to come up with solutions to those barriers during the outbreak.
“You can’t close the digital gap in a few months,” Marema told ABC News.
While the Federal Communications Commission and internet providers have put in temporary fixes, such as removing data caps, increasing cellphone tower range and free access to low-income users, Marema and other activists say those solutions won’t go far enough in the next few weeks.
The Pew Research Center reported that in 2019, about 73% of American adults had a home broadband connection. However, about 63% of rural Americans have broadband internet access, which is 12 percentage points below urban Americans and 16 percentage points below suburban Americans, according to a survey released last year by Pew.
Those 12- and 16- percentage-point differences translate into miles and miles of rural communities not covered. Marema, who lives in rural Tennessee, said the biggest factor is the lack of high-speed network cables and cellphone access in those communities. He said it’s been so bad in his neighborhood that students, particularly those in college, have to go through more hoops to get their assignments completed.
“During Thanksgiving break, students would have to drive into town and go to the McDonald’s parking lot to file homework,” he said.
Marema said that access to tele- and video-education services is the biggest concern among rural communities since residents who work are for the most part in jobs that don’t lend themselves to telecommuting, such as retail, manufacturing and farming.
Irma Munoz, the chief operating officer of IDEA Public Schools, a charter school that has 96 campuses throughout Texas and Louisiana, said 35% of the 53,000 student body have no reliable internet or computer access at home. The school will be providing over 15,000 laptops and tablets to their families, free of charge, and give them mobile hotspot, of MiFi, devices, but Munoz said she is still worried about their classes.
“There are a lot of [students] that live on [the] U.S. Mexico border that have internet, but it’s limited,” she told ABC News. “And MiFi isn’t always guaranteed to work.”
Chris Lewis, the president and CEO of Public Knowledge, a non-profit tech advocacy group, said the internet deserts in rural America will make it harder for people in those communities to get good healthcare service. Some of those rural areas have a shortage of hospitals and medical centers, and a lack of access to telemedicine. Without access to accurate information and updates on the virus from their local health department, rural residents could rely on misinformation, adds Lewis.
“These are all concerns that we have been raising for over the years, but it is now heightened in a pandemic,” he told ABC News.
The federal government and internet service providers, ISPs, have acknowledged the digital divide during the crisis and made plans to remedy the issue. Earlier this month, ISPs and cellphone service providers, including Verizon and AT&T, signed a pledge issued by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that they would waive late fees and provide more access to their WiFi hotspots over the next 60 days.
Some of the ISPs, like Cox, Comcast and AT&T, are removing their data cap limits. Internet providers Spectrum and TDS, which cover areas in Kansas and Wisconsin, are offering free broadband access to pre-K, grammar, high school and college students during the pandemic.
Matt Mandel, vice president for government and public affairs for the Wireless Infrastructure Association, which represents ISPs and digital infrastructure providers, said the companies are prepared to make sure everyone is connected.
“No one knows what is going to happen, but the carriers are doing what they can,” he told ABC News.
Lewis said the pledges are no guarantee that the providers will keep a consistent connection for remote-area residents, and more importantly, do nothing to expand the infrastructure to connect people in the next few weeks.
“None of this helps those who don’t have access to broadband in the first place,” he said. “We really need a sense of urgency from policymakers to close the digital divide.”
In the short term, Lewis said the companies could consider rolling out their mobile internet units that are usually deployed to disaster areas, such as Puerto Rico after the hurricanes.
“If those are available in rural areas, fantastic, put those in,” he said.
In the long term, the advocates said they hope elected officials and other policymakers study the issues facing the digital divide and push for an immediate bolstering of rural networks.
Marema noted that Jackson County, Kentucky, built out a fiber-optic broadband network with money from the 2009 stimulus, and the county has boosted its economy and academics with teleschool and telecommuting options.
“They are an example of what is possible in a community that plans, knows what it wants and gets the appropriate amount of targeted capital investment from the government and companies,” he said.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought the economy to a screeching halt — sending stock markets reeling, unemployment rates surging and upending entire industries.
As the health crisis wages on, here are some resources from the government and private sector that are available to help carry you through financially.
What to do if you are laid off or unemployed
Tens of thousands of U.S. workers have found themselves suddenly unemployed in recent weeks, and some economists have predicted the numbers are only going to tick up as the pandemic wages on.
Unemployment benefits are out there, but they vary state to state. Most states provide 26 weeks of unemployment insurance, though Massachusetts provides up to 30 weeks. North Carolina and Florida, on the other hand, provide up to 12 weeks, according to the nonpartisan think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In New York and New Jersey, so many people attempted to file for unemployment this past week that the online systems for submitting applications crashed in both states, according to the agencies.
There can also be further restrictions for part-time or freelance workers, though this also varies state to state. To apply, check out the information on your state’s website.
What to do if you can’t make your rent or mortgage payment
If you are struggling to pay your rent or mortgage amid the pandemic’s economic fallout, the federal government and some local authorities have announced a series of moratoriums on evictions and other actions.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a foreclosure and eviction moratorium Wednesday for single-family homeowners for the next 60 days if they have Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages.
The action “will allow households who have an FHA-insured mortgage to meet the challenges of COVID-19 without fear of losing their homes, and help steady market concerns,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement.
More information on the HUD’s eviction and foreclosure moratorium can be found here.
David Dworkin, president and CEO of the nonprofit affordable housing advocacy group, the National Housing Conference, told ABC News that the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, also known as Freddie Mac, and the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, are encouraging homeowners to contact their mortgage service providers immediately if they’re in financial straits.
“For homeowners, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have already made clear that all you have to do is call your servicer, the phone number that you send your payment to every month, and tell them that because of coronavirus you are unable to pay your mortgage,” Dworkin said. “It may be because you lost your job, it may be because you’re sick. It doesn’t matter. They’re not asking for proof. They’re just saying if you can’t pay your mortgage because of COVID-19 let us know, and we will defer your mortgage payments for as long as six months.” More information can be found here.
Moreover, major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Seattle have also instituted moratoriums on evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic if you are struggling to make rent. For more information, check your local city or state’s housing websites.
Experts also urge that if you think you are struggling to pay your rent, be sure to take action as soon as possible.
Can I get paid sick leave?
While the U.S. remains one of the only developed countries in the world without federal paid sick leave, both the government and some businesses have announced new measures to ensure you can take time off from work without losing pay if you fall ill.
President Donald Trump signed an economic relief bill on Wednesday that includes paid sick days for most employees of small and mid-size companies. To help offset the costs for employers, businesses would be reimbursed for some of these costs through tax credits. Big businesses — those with more than 500 employees — however, are exempted from offering their employees paid sick leave or family leave under the bill.
In the private sector, many big businesses announced revised paid sick leave policies for workers.
Those companies include Starbucks, Uber, Lyft, Chipotle, Darden Restaurants and more — a full breakdown can be found here.
Paid sick leave policies vary widely from state to state, and it is best to check with your employer.
Many state and local governments have paid sick day laws, though they can be narrowly focused and contain exemptions. Information on California’s paid sick leave policy, which promises three days for most employees, can be found here. Information on New York City’s paid sick leave policy can be found here. The National Conference of State Legislators provides a national breakdown of paid sick leave by state here.
Who’s hiring?
At the same time people are being laid off, a handful of national organizations announced they are hiring. Here is a partial list of some companies hiring and where to apply.
Walmart announced it was hiring 150,000 new associates through the end of May for its stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers. The roles will initially be temporary, but many can be converted to permanent roles, the company said. More information on where to apply is here.
Amazon said it will hire 100,000 full- and part-time positions at fulfillment centers and delivery networks across the U.S., citing heightened demand for delivery services as social distancing measures kick in. Information on how to apply and openings can be found here.
7-Eleven, the world’s largest convenience store chain, is hiring up to 20,000 people amid the pandemic, the company announced, citing an anticipated surge in delivery shopping through its new app. The chain encouraged interested applicants to inquire in-store or on its website, here.
Kroger supermarkets announced it will be hiring 10,000 full- and part-time workers for their retail stores, manufacturing plants and distribution centers. Information on how to apply can be found here.
Tesco said it is hiring 20,000 “temporary colleagues” amid the pandemic, and interested candidates can also inquire in-store or on their website.
Walgreens announced similar measures, saying it is dealing with “significant demands on our stores and pharmacies during this time,” and that it is looking to hire approximately 9,500 roles in stores across the U.S., particularly customer service associates, pharmacy technicians and shift leads. Information on how to apply can be found here.
Teleworking software companies Zoom and Slack also announced they were hiring, with information available here and here, respectively.
What help is there for small business owners?
Often called the backbone of the economy, small business owners are some of the most susceptible to economic downturns like the ongoing crisis. A number of government agencies at the national and local level, as well as a series of private sector investors, have stepped in to offer assistance.
The U.S. Small Business Administration pledged late last week it would offer up to $2 million in low-interest loans to small businesses to help them weather the storm.
“Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world,” SBA Administrator Jovita Carranva said in a statement. “Our Agency will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the situation.”
The agency says the loans can be used to help with payroll, bills and pay fixed debts. For small businesses without credit available elsewhere, the interest rate is 3.75%, and long-term repayment plans for up to 30 years are available, according to the agency.
A number of local governments also announced similar actions.
San Francisco announced it is deferring quarterly business taxes due April 30 for nine months until February 2021 with no interest or penalties. Moreover, the city said is deferring small business licenses and permit fees for three months and it had also established a “COVID-19 Small Business Resilience Fund,” which will offer emergency grants of up to $10,000 for microbusinesses that can show a recent loss of revenue.
New York City pledged similar relief. Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees who have seen sales decrease by 25% or more will be eligible for zero-interest loans of up to $75,000, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office. Businesses with fewer than five employees may also be eligible for a grant to cover 40% of payroll costs for two months to help retain employees, according to the city.
In the private sector, Facebook pledged $100 million in grants on Tuesday for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in over 30 countries hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. More information on how to access a Facebook grant for small businesses can be found here.
Other companies have announced other initiatives to lessen the financial blow for small business owners, including Citi, which promised waivers for monthly service fees and increased support for small business-owner clients.
What should I do with my 401(k) or retirement savings?
As unprecedented volatility roils the stock markets, many everyday investors are questioning amid all the uncertainty what this means for their 401(k) or retirement savings. While it can be easy to fall into panic, experts urge to remain calm and remember the long-term horizon of your retirement investing.
“The best thing to do is nothing,” Greg McBride, the chief investment officer at Bankrate, told ABC News. “The risk is that you make any decision based on short-term volatility that has long-term ramifications on your financial health.”
McBride urged people not to look at their 401(k) statements now, saying, there’s “no need to be a masochist.”
When you get your quarterly statement in the first half of April, “that might be an opportune time to rebalance your account,” he added.
“With stocks having fallen so sharply, and bonds having done reasonably well, it might have thrown your initial investment mix out of whack,” he said.
One option for investors would be “rebalancing back to your initial investment mix” and “selling off some of those bonds that have done well and putting the proceeds into stocks.”
Still, McBride notes that “if you were 20 years away from retirement last month, you are 19 years and 11 months away from retirement now.”
“Your retirement horizon hasn’t changed; now more than ever retirement savers need to maintain that long-term perspective,” he said. “The markets will turn around sooner and faster than the economy and maybe even public health, you don’t want to be sitting on the sidelines when that happens.”
McBride urged retirement savers to think in terms of years and decades, not weeks and months.
“Stocks are long-term investments, you should never have money in stocks that you’re going to need for the next seven to 10 years,” he said.
For older Americans who may be closer to retirement, experts urge people to ensure they are diversified in their portfolio, and even delay retirement if that is feasible.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson and Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.
At least 23 states have shut down businesses to slow coronavirus’ spread.
March 25, 2020, 1:40 AM
5 min read
At least 23 states have enacted policies to close nonessential businesses in an effort to slow the spread of novel coronavirus in the United States.
While guidance varies from state to state, recreational spaces like museums, movie theaters, gyms, day cares, music venues and malls, as well as personal care retailers like spas, nail and hair salons, tend to fall in the nonessential businesses category.
In New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday warned that the “rate of new infections is doubling about every three days,” essential businesses that remain open include health care facilities, infrastructure and manufacturing entities and essential services like trash collection, law enforcement and homeless shelters.
Bars and restaurants can only offer take-out or delivery.
The changes are in line with the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s guidelines for slowing the spread of coronavirus in the U.S., which include practicing social distancing, working from home if possible and avoiding eating or drinking at bars, restaurants or food courts.
It was John Pagliarini’s first day on the job as former Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Angel Tavares’ chief of staff.
One of the first people to walk through the door was the then Providence Emergency Management Agency Director Peter Gaynor.
Gaynor came bearing gifts for Pagliarini– a duffel bag with “executive one” written on the front, filled with emergency management supplies.
“I look inside and it’s a fire suit, emergency frequency radio and all the things you would need for Armageddon,” Pagliarini, now in the private sector, told ABC News.
After Gaynor was confirmed as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director by the Senate in January, Pagliarini’s boss, Tavares, took to Twitter to congratulate his former colleague.
Tavares said of Gaynor he is a “Marine who has never stopped serving our country.”
For many, Gaynor is not known, but he is now the head of the agency tasked with leading the nation through one of the worst pandemics ever — novel coronavirus. Former colleagues and bosses spoke of Gaynor’s actions during a time of crisis.
A former DHS official who worked with Gaynor, and spoke on the condition of anonymity, told ABC News that Gaynor did not seek out his position, first as acting administrator and then administrator. Instead, when the agency was in chaos with resignations and acting positions, he stepped up.
This official said that Gaynor’s agency was “thrust into this, after many of these decisions and some missteps were made, now it’s on Pete and FEMA to try to overcome some of those early missteps.”
The former DHS official told ABC News that Gaynor could have very well thrown the Department of Health and Human Services “under the bus” but he chose not to when asked some tough questions during Sunday show interviews over the weekend.
On ABC News’ “This Week,” Gaynor couldn’t give specific details about how many N95 masks are being shipped from the FEMA stockpile.
“I mean, it is hundreds of thousands of millions of things that we’re shipping from the stockpile. I can’t give you the details about what every single state or what every single city is doing,” Gaynor said. “But I’m telling you that we are shipping from our national stockpile, we’re shipping from vendors, we’re shipping from donations. It is happening. The demand is great,” Gaynor said in response to questions from “This Week” anchor, Martha Raddatz.
“That says more about Pete as a leader than anything. He’s willing to take the bullets on behalf of others,” this official continued of Gaynor’s TV appearances.
John Cohen, a former acting undersecretary of Homeland Security, who used to work closely with FEMA, said he has been concerned watching a lethargic national response to the pandemic and said he was surprised to see FEMA moving so slowly.
“FEMA has developed an emergency-planning and preparedness process that has been successfully used to deal with disasters for decades,” said Cohen, now an ABC News contributor. “There’s real concern among emergency management officials that that process isn’t being used today to deal with the public health crisis.”
Democratic governor of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo, said the response has been slow, but they are getting better.
“It’s getting better, I would say, but they’ve been slow to respond. It’s been disorganized and sluggish at times. And they are just playing a lot of catch up. But, I think the move to centralize the response to FEMA was a very smart move,” she said.
Before Gaynor was thrust onto the national spotlight, Raimondo was his boss when he was the top emergency management official in his home state.
“He’s the guy that I would call at one in the morning or five in the morning or five on a Saturday,” Raimondo told ABC. “And when it seemed like we were in a moment of panic, he would always respond. Sometimes leaders get paralyzed in crisis, not Pete, He always responded. If he didn’t have a good answer, he will go get some data and come back with a good answer.”
Gaynor’s first boss, former Providence mayor and current Democratic congressman David Cicilline, called Gaynor a “humble public servant and the right man for the job, so long as the President stays out of his way and allows him do his job.”
Cicilline, who is the Chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, the messaging arm for Democrats, added he’s the “best emergency preparedness professional I know.”
Those who know him say that he is a hard worker, but is better behind the scenes than in front of the cameras.
“He’s not a flashy guy, he’s a leader,” Raimondo said. “But he’s the guy you want the trenches, calling the shots, building systems, managing the team, motivating people making sure every day he’s all about continuous improvement. I promise you with him in charge tomorrow will be a little bit better than today.”
Allan Fung, the Republican Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island said that Gaynor is prepared and “has the respect of many in the state, including myself.”
Pagliarini recalled that in 2008, when there was a snowstorm that was only supposed to be a few inches turned out to be almost a foot of snow. Cicilline, who was then the mayor, tasked Gaynor to come up with a plan to get all of the students in the Providence School Department safely home.
“He did and he came up with a great solution and things were much better after he took over,” Pagliarini said.
Andre Thibeault, then director of operations in the Providence school district, remembers Gaynor as being prepared for anything and respectful of the chain of command because of his military experience.
He showed the same leadership after Providence was hit with a hurricane, in 2009, Thibeault said
Before his time in emergency management – Gaynor spent more than 20 years in the Marine Corps.
“He commanded Marines in Iraq. And that’s not something he’s ever talked to me about,” Tavares said in an interview with ABC News.
“I think no doubt his experience in Iraq will be helpful to him as well. Because if people realize, when you bring troops into a country, you basically have to supply them everything.” Tavares explained. “And so I have no doubt that’ll be helpful. So this is a leader and someone who America will look back on and be grateful that he was in command When this is over, I’ve no doubt about that.”
When Gaynor was nominated to be the number two at FEMA, he told WJAR it was a “big step, big job and lots of responsibility.”
Gaynor said his approach started at a local level.
“One of the hardest things to do is to get people to prepare. Whether you are preparing for a hurricane or for floods, it really starts at the individual level, to the neighborhood level, to the city and town, to the state to the federal government,” Gaynor said in that same interview.
At a federal level, he earned the confidence of people around the country.
“Pete has the respect of state and local emergency managers, because he was one of them. And, that mutual respect and those relationships are going to prove critical during the coronavirus response,” Daniel Kaniewski a former Acting Deputy Administrator at FEMA told ABC News.
“I think what he brings uniquely to this role is that understanding of what it’s going to take to for state and local governments to successfully respond to this disaster and what he and FEMA and the federal government can do to best support that response,” Kaniewski added.
Asked if Administrator Gaynor is up for the job, Tom Bossert former White House Homeland Security Adviser said, “Damn right he is. He better be, and he has my full, unwavering support—along with every emergency manager in this great Nation.”
The Department of Homeland Security referred ABC News to a January statement by Acting Secretary Wolf.
“Pete guided FEMA through some tremendous challenges to provide much needed assistance to disaster survivors across the country. Pete’s experience as both a state and local emergency manager, combined with more than two decades of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, have made him an invaluable leader of the agency. I look forward to continuing to work with him to support the men and women of FEMA as they carry out their incredible work,” the Acting Secretary said.
Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the battle against coronavirus are increasingly anguished over the hospital-imposed rationing of masks, gowns and other protective gear, restrictions they say are exposing them to unnecessary risks at the worst possible time.
At Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, nurses said they were being handed a single mask in a brown paper bag at the start of each shift and told to make it last. At Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., the more protective masks, known as N95s, are being kept in a locked room, according to one neurologist who agreed to speak anonymously about his growing unease.
And at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago, the situation is apparently so dire that the administration is hiding masks from its own staff, even as it prohibits the use of “outside [personal protective equipment].”
“There is a limited supply of N95 masks on the floor – Their location will be disclosed to you when you start your shift,” reads an internal memo obtained by ABC News, a copy of which can be read below. “PLEASE keep this on a need-to-know basis as masks are disappearing and we do not have many left in the hospital.”
They understand the shortages, several of medical workers said, but if they get sick, the coming surge will be that much harder to manage.
“I’m not trying to point fingers,” the neurologist said. “Friends all over the country are asking me the same thing. Why are we not protecting the physicians?”
On Tuesday, National Nurses United, the country’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses, issued a statement decrying the shortages that have led to nurses working with “vastly inferior protective equipment such as bandanas and craft store items that offer little, if any, effective protection.”
“Instead of putting U.S. nurses and other health care workers in greater danger,” said executive director Bonnie Castillo in a statement, “we should be stepping up protective standards for our most at-risk caregivers who are already selflessly saving patients here, not putting them in danger.”
The careful rationing of protective gear has become widespread policy around the country, following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control that urged hospitals to marshal their resources ahead of an expected surge in infected patients.
Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago, for example, is limiting the use of N95 masks to certain procedures that create a particularly acute risk of exposure to the virus.
“These are ONLY to be used IF you are performing an aerosol-producing procedure (AKA: CPR, Intubation, Sputum collection, or bronchoscopy),” the internal memo reads. “Normal labor/vomiting/coughing is NOT an aerosol-producing procedure.”
When reached for comment by ABC News, a spokesperson for Mercy Hospital issued a brief statement.
“We are aware of the global shortage of supplies, and we continue to urge local, state, and federal governments to continue to make related stockpiles available,” the spokesperson said. “Mercy also continues to work closely with suppliers globally to meet this challenge. Our leadership team recognizes it is important to protect our colleagues and our patients, and safekeeping our equipment is part of that effort.”
Because many hospitals operate under strict rules that bar them from speaking out, nurses and doctors have been reluctant to talk publicly about their growing concerns. But in online forums and private social media groups, the discussions are revealing more and more anxiety.
“We are definitely feeling vulnerable and this week will be much worse,” wrote an anesthesiologist in Maine in a private Facebook group of doctors from around the country shared with ABC News.
“We are now creating our own [masks] with plastic bags rubber band and nasal cannula taped to the top of face shields,” wrote a Long Beach, California doctor in that same group.
Some hospital officials have questioned whether widespread use of protective masks is beneficial. UCI Health in Orange County, California even sent out guidelines calling constant mask usage by staff “harmful.”
“Constant masking creates and stokes a culture of fear,” reads the UCI Health guidance from March 18. “In China almost everyone wore masks and yet the virus raged on with worsening spread.”
UCI Health did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
At New York’s Presbyterian Hospital, an internal memo from the chief surgeon, pointed to an acute supply shortage. Dr. Craig Smith wrote that the hospital normally uses 4,000 regular surgical masks per day. But right now, they are consuming 40,000 masks each day, with the demand is expected to grow to 70,000 per day.
“We’re told manufacturing is beginning to accelerate, but that relief is weeks away at best,” he wrote.
Providing medical staff even one mask to use each day is probably too much, Smith wrote, but “is an important concession to their emotional needs. In theory the mask is to be used only if the person becomes symptomatic.”
New York-Presbyterian Hospital also did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
That reasoning is not providing comfort, though, to many frontline medical workers, who now believe they are being exposed to the virus every day they come to work.
”We are not prepared,” warned a caregiver in Fairfax, Virginia, who has treated coronavirus patients. “There has been panic and uneasiness among the critical care staff. We are used to panic mode. But when it comes to protecting ourselves, we are uneasy.”
At least one hospital chain, the nonprofit Partners Healthcare in Massachusetts, is opting for a different approach. In a recent coronavirus update tweeted out by doctors there, the hospital chain announced a “new surgical mask policy” that would require its medical staff to wear masks at all times.
“Given what we have learned about COVID-19, this universal mask approach will serve to protect our patients and other staff members should the healthcare worker have asymptomatic infection,” the memo says.
National Nurses United, meanwhile, has launched a campaign pressing public officials to step up the mass production of high-standard protective equipment,.
“The failure to assure all staff have secure and effective personal protective equipment,” Castillo said in a statement, “will prolong this crisis.”
ABC News’ Pete Madden and Soorin Kim contributed to this report.
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“Without adequate testing, I don’t think you can know for sure.”
March 24, 2020, 11:10 PM
5 min read
Doctors and researchers still have much to learn about the exact symptoms caused by COVID-19, but a group of ear, nose and throat doctors now suspect two such symptoms may be an altered sense of taste, called dysgeusia, and a loss of smell, known as anosmia.
In a statement released earlier this week, the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery reported: “Anecdotal evidence is rapidly accumulating from sites around the world that anosmia and dysgeusia are significant symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Anosmia, in particular, has been seen in patients ultimately testing positive for the coronavirus with no other symptoms.”
But many other viral infections, including the common cold, similarly can impair one’s senses. About 40% of patients recovering from a viral illness report a loss of smell, according to Dr. D.J. Verret, who’s double board certified in otolaryngology, head and neck, and facial plastic surgery.
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“The sense of taste and smell are very closely related,” he said. “We know from previous research that coronavirus infections are seen in post-viral anosmia. It is therefore not a stretch to think that COVID-19, caused by a coronavirus, can result in smell or taste disturbances.”
According to a case report from Taiwan, a woman infected with SARS, a close cousin of COVID-19, lost her sense of smell for more than two years. There isn’t yet significant data linking COVID-19 to altered senses of smell or taste, but the anecdotal evidence is growing.
“The good news is that the symptoms seem to be self-limiting and improve with time,” said Dr. Wendy Smith, an otolaryngologist at Permanente Medical Group. “Up to two-thirds of post-viral anosmia cases resolve spontaneously. This typically occurs within six to 12 months. Cases related to COVID19 may resolve more quickly.”
ENT U.K. at The Royal College of Surgeons of England, a professional society of ear, nose and throat physicians, has reported a significant number of COVID-19 patients from South Korea, China, Germany and Italy experienced a decreased or lost sense of smell — as many as 30% in South Korea, where patients said it was accompanied by milder symptoms.
Doctors in countries where COVID-19 has spread have reported that some people whose only apparent symptom is a loss of smell may not have been tested for the virus and could unwittingly be spreading it.
But many other individuals experience a loss of smell for afflictions wholly unrelated to COVID-19: nasal and sinus disease, head trauma, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, brain tumors, aging, certain medications, tobacco, diabetes, hypothyroidism and exposure to chemical, toxins or metals.
With spring approaching, seasonal allergies also could be the cause of someone’s lost or altered senses of smell or taste.
The American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery wants the loss of smell and altered taste added to list of symptoms considered for COVID-19 screenings. And doctors who see such patients may need to consider self-isolating until tested and cleared of COVID-19.
“Without adequate testing, I don’t think you can know for sure,” Verret added. “My advice would be to self-quarantine if you have new onset of these symptoms, and be sure to let any healthcare providers you come into contact with know that you have the symptom.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists symptoms of the new coronavirus as fever, cough and shortness of breath, and that there’s currently no treatment or vaccine. Anyone not in immediate distress or requiring emergency attention should stay home and alert a doctor.
Angela N. Baldwin M.D., M.P.H., is a pathology resident at Montefiore Health Systems in New York City and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
“The way he handled pain, he was a tough guy,” his son said.
March 24, 2020, 11:47 PM
6 min read
Lawrence Riley was an iron man. The 66-year-old Milwaukee resident was a U.S. Navy veteran, a retired firefighter and had survived two strokes.
His family thought he could beat anything.
“The way he handled pain, he was a tough guy. For this to take him out, it was a shock,” his son, Elvaughn Riley, told ABC News in a telephone interview.
The elder Riley died last Thursday, two days after he tested positive for novel coronavirus.
His family said he had been feeling under the weather days before. What started as just feeling tired and drained over the weekend turned into Riley being bedridden by Monday, according to his son.
Come Tuesday, his family rushed him to the hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma and confirmed infected with coronavirus.
Two days later, he died.
There are over 52,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 677 deaths, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.
The virus is believed to be more dangerous for older people. Out of the deaths in the U.S., about 80% were adults over the age of 65, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Elvaughn Riley, 28, said his family is trying to come to terms with their father’s death, but they haven’t been able to greive properly.
When his dad was admitted, his mom, younger sister and younger brother were all told to quarantine inside their home in an effort to stop further spread. Riley lives elsewhere and has not been able to see them. He leaves food and supplies at their front door.
And when their dad had passed, they weren’t able to be with him.
“We weren’t even there to comfort him, to hold his hand,” Riley said. “He died alone.”
His relationship with his dad had always been special, he said. Hearing stories from his father’s time in the Navy during the Vietnam War inspired Riley to sign up himself.
While he served, he ended up having the same job as his father: aviation maintenance administration.
“I looked up to him so much. Me joining the Navy was an easy decision. The kind of man my father was, I wanted to be like that,” Riley said.
He described his dad as someone who would take anyone in that needed it and was a father figure to many of his friends who grew up in a single-parent home.
Whitley Riley, the youngest and only daughter in the family, similarly described her father as giving.
“He was just really sweet,” she told ABC News over the phone. “The sweetest man I’ve ever known.”
Just a year shy of graduating, she had taken extra classes to graduate early so that her dad didn’t have to wait until 2022 to see her in a cap and gown.
The 19-year-old Prairie View A&M University student said she’s on still track to graduate in 2021, but her father won’t be able to be there.
“I was doing all the work and he won’t be able to see me,” she said.
It isn’t the only milestone her father will miss.
On Wednesday, she turns 20 years old.
She and her brother hope their dad’s story will serve as a message to others to take the disease seriously. If not for yourself, then for others.
“We need to do everything we can to protect one another. Just because someone the same age as me might not feel the symptoms doesn’t mean you can’t pass it along,” Riley said. “It took my father just like that. I never thought in a million years my dad would be gone in five days.”
Almost half of the U.S. novel coronavirus cases are in New York.
March 25, 2020, 2:01 AM
7 min read
As New York State continues to see a rise in cases of the novel coronavirus and is the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, clinical trials for drug treatments began on Tuesday in the state.
The state acquired 70,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine, 10,000 doses of zithromax and 750,000 doses of chloroquine in the last few days, according to a news release by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.
“We hope for optimistic results,” Cuomo said during a press conference Tuesday, talking about the clinical trials. “The president and the FDA accelerated that drug coming to New York so the hospitals will start using that drug today.”
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In the United States there are over 51,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and almost half of those cases are in New York State. Of the at least 674 deaths in the U.S., 131 occurred in New York City.
“About 56% of all the cases in the United States are coming out of that metro area, and 60% of all the new cases are coming out of the metro New York area, and 31% of the people succumbing to this disease,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, at Tuesday’s task force press briefing.
“New York is definitely a hot spot, there’s no question about it,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening. “And you know what we are doing in New York to try and help, and I think we are doing an incredible job.”
On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence touted the quick start of clinical trials.
“We’re pretty sure we set a record,” said Pence, adding that he thinks it took “62 days to be in the phase one clinical trial.”
But as this trials begin, misinformation about the drugs being tested has spread.
“I’ve spoken with a number of health officials and there is a good basis to believe that they could work,” Cuomo said in a press conference on Sunday. “Some health officials point to Africa, which has a very low infection rate and there’s a theory that because they’re taking these anti-malaria drugs in Africa, it may actually be one of the reasons why the infection rate is low in Africa. We don’t know, but let’s find out and let’s find out quickly.”
And while Trump has said the trial “is looking very, very good” and that chloroquine, a drug used to treat and prevent malaria, could be a “game changer,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top expert on infectious diseases, continued to downplay the president’s statements during Tuesday evening’s press conference.
“You heard yesterday about drugs being out there,” Fauci said, but later added that the drug “hasn’t been definitively proven to work.”
A man in his 60s from Arizona died this week after ingesting a form of chloroquine. While the additive he ingested had the same active ingredient as the prescription drug, it is formulated differently. His wife was also in critical condition, according to Banner Health.
“Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, the medical director of the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center.
A vaccine to treat COVID-19 is estimated to be at least a year away, and no drug has been approved to treat the virus yet.
But while the drug trials begin, experts still point to self-quarantining, especially in New York State, as the most effective way to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“They have to be following the presidential guidelines,” said Birx.
She said because they were apart, she didn’t take a COVID-19 test.
March 24, 2020, 5:11 PM
7 min read
The day after revealing her husband had tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalized, Sen. Amy Klobuchar provided an update, saying he’s still on oxygen.
Her husband, John Bessler, has suffered from a bleeding cough and “dangerously low” oxygen levels, the Minnesota senator told Good Morning America host Robin Roberts on Tuesday.
Klobuchar said one of the hardest things about the disease is “you can’t go and visit your loved one.”
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“All you can do is call, email and text and try to reach the caretakers who are taking care of him … to get updates,” Klobuchar said.
Bessler started to feel sick almost two weeks ago and immediately self-quarantined in his apartment, as coronavirus concerns began to grow, Klobuchar said. But given that Bessler, 52, was healthy and had no pre-existing health conditions, she said she wasn’t sure how he contracted the virus.
While he took the test last Wednesday, Klobuchar said he received the results on Monday.
“We suspected over the weekend that he had it, and that’s the story of a lot of people,” she said.
Klobuchar did not self-quarantine because she was in Minnesota while her husband was in Washington, D.C., adding that they were separate for at least the two weeks.
“By the time I came back for votes, he was starting to feel sick, so we stayed in separate places,” she told Roberts. “So by the time we got the test back, the 14 days had gone by.”
She added that she hasn’t shown symptoms of the virus and was advised by her doctor to not get tested — as she would likely not qualify for the test “no matter what.”
“Why would I get a test when other people who are sick aren’t getting tests?” she said. “I’m going to be treated like everyone else.”
Klobuchar explained that the many Americans that have contracted the virus have “worse going on.”
“It’s all Americans … this isn’t just my story,” the senator added.
She told Roberts that she will continue to work from her office, saying she’s devoting her time to getting the funding Americans need during this time of economic emergency.
“Everyone here has been working around the clock to get the bill done,” she says. “We are very hopeful this morning.”
The over $1 trillion stimulus packaged — lead by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — aims to boost the economy to help American workers and businesses survive the pandemic.
“We have stuck together to try to push for more funding for medical surge, for equipment and hospitals,” Klobuchar said.
She said if she had to predict, the bill should be ready to go by Tuesday.
“I’m actually optimistic that we will have an agreement,” she added.
