E3: Coronavirus US live: Donald Trump predicts 'a very, very painful two weeks'

Fact check: Ventilators, again

The government has almost 10,000 ventilators remaining in the stockpile, Trump said, but “we are holding it back for flexibility,” he said, so they can be distributed strategically.

“It’s not the flu,” Trump said of the coronavirus. “It is vicious.”

The president has repeatedly compared the coronavirus pandemic to the seasonal flu.

Fact check: Late start

Though Trump is seeking to blame states for a delayed response to the coronavirus crisis, the president consistently downplayed the concerns of public health officials who raised early alarms.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

Trump, Birx and Fauci have piled on New York.

“All of our major cities modeled like New Yor is what gets us into trouble,” Birx said. “California and Washington state reacted very early to this.”

The president is arguing that he is saving the country from a much worse fate than 100,000 to 240,000 deaths. “100,000 is, is — according to modeling, a very low number.”

“You would have had people dying all over the place,” Trump said, painting a picture of what would have happened if the country had done nothing. “You would have seen people dying in airplanes, you would have seen people dying in hotel lobbies.”

“How many people have even seen anybody die?” he said. “You would have seen death all over.”

Fact check: Testing

“We are doing more than anybody else in the world, by far” on testing, Trump said. “And they’re very accurate tests.”

The graphic outlining the predicted number of deaths, with and without mitigation, isn’t presented in a particularly sensitive manner. As a New York Times reporter in the room noted, the slide listed as “goals” up to 240,000 deaths.

That terrifying number is lower than 2.2m deaths that could occur if no distancing or mitigating measures are taken, according to the model presented by Birx.

This White House briefing room slide lists as "goals" 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

Breathtaking. pic.twitter.com/CrajjVGqVf

The White House has predicted 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the US from coronavirus pandemic, even with mitigation measures. This isn’t the first time that the task force scientists have presented these grim projections.

But Birx said the model doesn’t assume every American does everything they’re supposed to do, “so it can be lower than that,” she said.

Fact check: More on ventilators

Trump warned that the “surge is coming and it’s coming pretty strong” and so the federal government is “holding back” 10,000 ventilators. The actual number of ventilators in the Strategic National Stockpile is around 16,600, according to reports last week.

“We gotta brace ourselves,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The number of cases will continue to go up for in the coming week, he said. “We cannot be discouraged by that because the mitigation is actually working and will work.”

Early mitigation slowing the spread of disease in California and Washington state is “gives us great hope,” said Dr. Deborah Birx.

According to modeling that she presented, which assumes that Americans will abide by strict distancing measures, showed the virus receding about July 1. “There is no magic bullet. No magic vaccine or therapy. Its just behavior” she said.

“We are going to go through a very tough two weeks,” Trump said, striking a more somber tone than he has at previous briefings. “This is going to be a very, very painful two weeks.”

There will be“light at the end of the tunnel,” he added. We are going to see things get better “all of a sudden” like a “burst of light.”

Related: The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life

Fact check: US unemployment pre-pandemic

Trump praised the sacrifice made by the American public and businesses before stating that the US has the “greatest economy in the history of our country.” He added that “we had the best unemployment numbers and best employment number we’ve had, by far.”

Fact check: 10,000 ventilators

Trump once again touted US stockpile of 10,000 ventilators, which he said the government is “holding back” strategically.

Because Europe “took a much different route than we did, a much different route,” in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, “they’re having tremendous problems,” Trump said. As he did during yesterday’s briefing, the president is attempting to paint the US’ delayed and chaotic response to the pandemic as superior to Europe.

Yesterday, Trump implied that the US would soon have such a surplus of scarce and necessary medical equipment that he’d be able to send the excess to Italy, France and Spain.

“There’s a great pride going on right now,” the president said.

He signaled that the Treasury and Small Business Administration have announced further details on the paycheck protection program, which provides $350bn for small businesses to continue making payroll for two months.

Donald Trump has appeared in the briefing room alongside the task force.

LIVE: Press Briefing with Coronavirus Task Force https://t.co/CurosT0chF

Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh — blogging from the West Coast.

We’re awaiting the daily coronavirus briefing from Trump and other members of the White House task force responding to the pandemic.

The last day of the month in an election year is usually a major fundraising deadline, with campaigns rushing to run up their numbers before the Federal Elections Commission reporting deadline at midnight.

But how do you fundraise in the middle of a pandemic, when the FEC deadline coincides with the first day that millions of newly unemployed Americans will have to pay rent?

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

Trump’s daily press conference on the US response to coronavirus was even more of a spectacle yesterday than usual.

The president was accused of using the briefing to promote specific companies, including MyPillow, whose chief executive Mike Lindell has become a regular at Trump rallies.

Trump praised companies for doing their ‘patriotic duty’ by producing or donating medical equipment to meet America’s most urgent needs. ‘What they’re doing is incredible,’ he said. ‘These are great companies.’

He went on to invite Lindell, Darius Adamczyk of Honeywell, Debra Waller of Jockey International, David Taylor of Procter & Gamble and Greg Hayes of United Technologies to make short speeches. He introduced Lindell as a ‘friend’ and riffed: ‘Boy, do you sell those pillows, it’s unbelievable what you do.’

Trump’s daily press conference on the coronavirus response will be slightly delayed.

The event, which was scheduled to start in about 25 minutes at 5 pm ET, will now start at 5:15.

Will be starting The White House news conference at 5:15 P.M. Eastern.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer criticized majority leader Mitch McConnell for suggesting impeachment distracted lawmakers from the coronavirus response.

The New York Democrat noted he said in late January, as Trump’s impeachment trial was going on, that coronavirus should be declared a public health emergency.

Senator Mitch McConnell:

You may have been distracted by impeachment from acting to fight coronavirus, but not everyone was.

I called for President Trump to declare a public health emergency to fight coronavirus on January 26!https://t.co/KbAPP3HWv5 https://t.co/LiTiUj6wkF

The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports:

A separate program California launched this week, which calls to duty recently retired health care professionals and those on the verge of completing degrees, is off to a roaring start. About 25,000 people met the call and filled out applications, governor Gavin Newsom said.

The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports:

California has created a hotline for seniors who are isolated in their homes and may need help with daily needs as well as a live person to speak with.

Trump has appeared reluctant to use the powers of the Defense Production Act even though his administration has invoked it many times before.

The New York Times reports:

A Korean War-era law called the Defense Production Act has been invoked hundreds of thousands of times by President Trump and his administration to ensure the procurement of vital equipment, according to reports submitted to Congress and interviews with former government officials.

Yet as governors and members of Congress plead with the president to use the law to force the production of ventilators and other medical equipment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, he has for weeks treated it like a ‘break the glass’ last resort, to be invoked only when all else fails.

Joe Biden also dodged a question about whether Trump’s delayed response to coronavirus has cost American lives, as House speaker Nancy Pelosi has claimed.

“President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus,” Biden said in response to a question from CNN host Brooke Baldwin. “But he is responsible for not using all of the power at his disposal to deal with this virus.”

Related: Pelosi accuses Trump of costing US lives with coronavirus denials and delays

Joe Biden emphasized the need for more tests to combat coronavirus, echoing House speaker Nancy Pelosi and a number of governors from both parties.

Biden told CNN it was important to identify and track coronavirus patients to mitigate the spread of the virus, but states have complained about inadequate testing.

California has nearly 7,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, governor Gavin Newsom said in a virtual press briefing.

NEW: CA has 6,932 positive cases of #COVID19.

1,617 of those who have tested positive are in our hospitals. 657 of those patients are in the ICU.

Over the next few weeks we expect these numbers to increase. This disease can impact anyone. Stay home. Take this seriously.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over a pro forma session in the House, which is expected to be out of session until April 20.

The resignation of congressman Mark Meadows, who is leaving the House to become Trump’s chief of staff, was read on the floor. Meadows’ resignation is effective at 5 pm today.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has closed 10 playgrounds across the city after residents failed to adhere to social distancing guidelines there.

The mayor also issued a plea to people who may have ventilators in their office, such as plastic surgeons or veterinarians, to donate them to the coronavirus response effort.

The Guardian’s Erin McCormick and Patrick Greenfield report:

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Martinique and Barbados have refused to accept the medical evacuation of two critically ill passengers from a stranded coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, according to the vessel’s owner.

Hospitals are threatening to fire staffers who publicly share concerns about working conditions amid the pandemic.

Bloomberg News reports:

Ming Lin, an emergency room physician in Washington state, said he was told Friday he was out of a job because he’d given an interview to a newspaper about a Facebook post detailing what he believed to be inadequate protective equipment and testing. In Chicago, a nurse was fired after emailing colleagues that she wanted to wear a more protective mask while on duty. In New York, the NYU Langone Health system has warned employees they could be terminated if they talk to the media without authorization.

‘Hospitals are muzzling nurses and other health-care workers in an attempt to preserve their image,’ said Ruth Schubert, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Nurses Association. ‘It is outrageous.’

This graph of US coronavirus cases is being widely shared, as the country’s number of cases continues to climb.

This NYT graph of US coronavirus curve continue to shoot up exponentially is troubling. https://t.co/0ImVAceRYk pic.twitter.com/YKBxL36wxl

The captain of a Navy aircraft carrier sent an urgent memo asking for help to contain an outbreak on the ship.

Captain Brett Crozier, commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, asked that the ship be allowed to dock to let the 5,000 sailors on board quarantine.

A group of New York doctors shared a video urging young people to take social distancing guidelines seriously.

The doctors warned that young people can get seriously ill from coronavirus and said those with mild symptoms should immediately self-isolate.

The sale of Trump’s Washington hotel has been put on hold as the industry struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Washington Post reports:

Trump’s firm, which he still owns, has had to press pause on the proposed sale of its D.C. hotel lease due to the market’s collapse as potential buyers wait for banks and investors to return normal operations. ...

Trump’s company, now run by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, announced the planned sale in October and set a January deadline for initial bids. It is unclear how many companies are pursuing the lease, which Trump signed with the federal government before his election, although BET co-founder Sheila Johnson was among the bidders.

Dr Anthony Fauci said the White House is examining whether to recommend more widespread usage of face masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said medical professionals should still have priority in receiving face masks, considering they are on the front lines against the virus.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he believes the impeachment of Trump distracted lawmakers from responding early to coronavirus.

The Kentucky Republican told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt this morning that the virus “came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment.″

Here’s where the day stands so far:

At his press conference that ended moments ago, New York governor Andrew Cuomo referred to coronavirus as “the great equalizer,” citing his brother’s recent diagnosis.

"This virus is the great equalizer:"

Here's what @NYGovCuomo said about "my best friend," brother @ChrisCuomo, testing positive for Covid-19. "He will be fine." pic.twitter.com/Lf91IIbseU

New York governor Andrew Cuomo closed his press conference by criticizing Congress’ response to the coronavirus crisis.

Cuomo said the three bills passed by Congress do not provide sufficient funding to New York, which has seen the most coronavirus cases in the country.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he is dissatisfied with how the state’s unemployment system is working now as many companies lay off employees.

“It is not working as smoothly as I’d like to see it,” Cuomo said. “It’s compunding people’s stress.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo was asked how the state will determine who receives ventilators if there is a shortage.

“I don’t even want to think about that consequence,” the governor replied.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the chaos created by a bidding war on ventilators was easily predictable and should have been avoided.

“Did you really have to learn that 50 states shouldn’t compete against 50 states, and then FEMA shouldn’t come in late and compete with 50 states?” Cuomo said.

CUOMO: "Anyone could've told you a lot of these things ... Did you really have to learn that 50 states shouldn't compete against 50 states, and then FEMA shouldn't come in late and compete with 50 states? It's not like you had to go to the Harvard Kennedy school to learn this." pic.twitter.com/odPjfLggxl

New York governor Andrew Cuomo lamented how many states are bidding against each other to obtain ventilators right now.

“You have 50 states competing to buy the same item. It’s like being on Ebay,” the governor said. “How inefficient!”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state has ordered 17,000 ventilators from China at a price of roughly $25,000 each.

Cuomo said the state’s financial commitment to the ventilators underscores how badly they are needed to mitigate the coronavirus death toll.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will hit the peak of its coronavirus crisis in seven to 21 days.

“This does me no good,” Cuomo said of the estimate. “The range is too broad.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said there was a lesson to be learned from his brother’s coronavirus diagnosis.

Cuomo noted his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, was considered an essential worker. CNN said the host was at its New York offices as recently as last Friday.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

“He is going to be fine,” the governor said of his brother. “He’s young, in good shape, strong, not as strong as he thinks, but he will be fine,” Cuomo joked.

News of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s positive coronavirus test broke as his brother Andrew, the governor of New York, was beginning his daily press conference in Albany.

Andrew is discussing Chris now, but here’s what happened when the two brothers spoke to each other in prime time on Monday night.

Related: Will Andrew Cuomo run for president, his brother asks? 'No. No'

I don't know why but I could watch this forever.pic.twitter.com/utRawEFP55

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said “nobody knows” when the coronavirus crisis may end, and New Yorkers should prepare accordingly.

“I can say this, it’s not going to be soon,” Cuomo said of when the crisis may start to dissipate. “So calibrate yourself and your expectations, so you are not disappointed every morning when you wake up.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is trying to prepare for when it hits its peak number of coronavirus cases, which will likely come in the next few weeks.

“We’ve been behind this virus from day one,” Cuomo said, arguing officials and hospitals need to prepare for the likely surge in cases.

New York govenor Andrew Cuomo is holding his daily press conference on the state’s response to coronavirus in Albany.

Cuomo said New York has confirmed 172,196 cases of coronavirus and 1,550 deaths, accounting for about half of all deaths in the country.

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the brother of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

pic.twitter.com/e9Ym9jeT2R

New York City has seen 932 deaths from coronavirus, marking an increase of 142 since yesterday morning, according to the latest statistics.

The city has also seen more than 40,000 cases, the majority of them being people under the age of 50.

NEW: New York City COVID-19 cases top 40,000 since last night with 932 deaths.

According to this morning's statistics 52% of reported cases were for people 50 years of age or YOUNGER.

Here's a chart showing case counts and new cases in NYC: pic.twitter.com/WMTEKDxd0b

Coronavirus has claimed more than 3,000 American lives, with yesterday becoming the deadliest day of the pandemic for the US yet.

Those figures mean the coronavirus death toll has now surpassed that of the September 11 attacks, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans.

Related: Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state

Trump called on Congress to pay a $2tn infrastructure bill just days after the president signed a $2tn package meant to aid the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will hold a press briefing in about 30 minutes.

I will be giving my daily #Coronavirus briefing at 11:30 AM. Stay tuned.

Congressman Max Rose announced he would deploy to the National Guard to help with coronavirus response efforts.

Rose, a captain in the Army National Guard, will deploy tomorrow and serve as an operations officer at Staten Island facilities in the coming weeks, his office said in a statement.

Tomorrow, I will be deploying to the National Guard to do my small part to assist in the response to the coronavirus on Staten Island.

Wanted you to hear from me what this means. We will get through this—together. pic.twitter.com/ycwNtGi4ty

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he believes the country is already starting to see the effects of social distancing restrictions.

“If you look now, we’re starting to see glimmers that [social distancing] is actually having some dampening effect,” Fauci told CNN.

Republican senator Rick Scott called for most testing to be done in his home state of Florida, where governor Ron DeSantis has not yet issued a statewide “stay at home” order.

DeSantis has faced some criticism over his response to the virus after footage circulated of spring breakers visiting Florida beaches earlier this month.

House majority leader Steny Hoyer urged members to keep their schedules “very flexible” in the weeks and months to come.

Hoyer said yesterday that the House was not expected to reconvene until 20 April , but the Democratic leader warned the chamber will later have to make up for time lost because of the pandemic.

Schedule update from @LeaderHoyer urges members to keep their "schedules very flexible."

"In order to make up for time that has been lost, the House may meet during weeks that had previously been scheduled as District Work Periods, and four-day weeks may become five-day weeks. " pic.twitter.com/YDCi4FyuRk

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine complained about the lack of “widespread testing” in a CNN interview this morning, echoing reported complaints from other governors.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says the state will see its peak in coronavirus cases “between mid-April and mid-May... It’s a 30-day period time. We’re not quite sure when.”
“Part of this is driven by the fact that we don’t have widespread testing,” he adds.https://t.co/LO087rLFBH pic.twitter.com/DMD8onU2LV

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats’ fourth coronavirus bill would help to serve state and local leaders grappling with the pandemic.

On a call yesterday with reporters, Pelosi said the legislation would include proposals on clean water, infrastructure and rural broadband.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi also commented on her tense relationship with the president amid the coronavirus pandemic. (The pair have not spoken in five months.)

“If it’s necessary, I’m sure we will speak,” Pelosi told MSNBC. But she added that she didn’t know what she would learn from speaking to Trump.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi made an appearance on MSNBC this morning and called for more testing to fight the coronavirus crisis.

“Proper testing, that has been a problem since the start,” Pelosi said. “Testing, testing, testing.”

Speaker Pelosi on upcoming coronavirus legislation: "I hope that in this next bill that we will be able to address the concerns of our state and local governments. That is absolutely essential. We need to do more ... we can only go as fast as the signature." pic.twitter.com/S7TduoQOME

I watched a portion of low rated (very) Morning Psycho (Joe) this Morning in order to see what Nancy Pelosi had to say, & what moves she was planning to further hurt our Country. Actually, other than her usual complaining that I’m a terrible person, she wasn’t bad. Still praying!

Hello and welcome to our live blog coverage of the coronavirus emergency. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday night that the peak number of concurrent cases in the state, still the country’s foremost hotspot, was expected to arrive in the coming six to 21 days.

As of Tuesday morning there were more than 164,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States and 3,161 had died, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. In New York state there were 67,384 confirmed cases and 1,342 deaths. Neighboring New Jersey had the second-most cases with 16,636 cases and 198 deaths.

“New York Governor Cuomo says President Trump has been “very helpful.” @foxandfriends Thank you, everybody is working very hard!

I don't know why but I could watch this forever.pic.twitter.com/utRawEFP55

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