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UNIVERSITY BATTLE

New Oxford study suggests millions of

New Oxford study
suggests millions people may have already built up
coronavirus immunity
of people may have
already built up
coronavirus
immunity March 24, 2020
March 24, 2020

A model predicting the progression of the novel

Trump invokes
Defense Protection coronavirus pandemic produced by researchers at
Act to force GM to
Imperial College London set off alarms across the
make ventilators
March 27, 2020 world and was a major factor in several governments'
Oli Scarff/Getty Images decisions to lock things down. But a new model from
Instacart shoppers
plan strike Monday Oxford University is challenging its accuracy, the Financial Times reports.
to demand
coronavirus
protections
The Oxford research suggests the pandemic is in a later stage than previously
March 27, 2020 thought and estimates the virus has already infected at least millions of people

Pope Francis offers

worldwide. In the United Kingdom, which the study focuses on, half the
coronavirus prayer population would have already been infected. If accurate, that would mean
from a strikingly
empty St. Peter's transmission began around mid-January and the vast majority of cases presented
Square
March 27, 2020
mild or no symptoms.

Take a look inside The head of the study, professor Sunetra Gupta, an Oxford theoretical
New York City's
epidemiologist, said she still supports the U.K.'s decision to shut down the
convention center
turned makeshift country to suppress the virus even if her research winds up being proven correct.
hospital
March 27, 2020 But she also doesn't appear to be a big fan of the work done by the Imperial
College team. "I am surprised that there has been such unqualified acceptance of
House sends $2.2
trillion coronavirus
the Imperial model," she said.
stimulus bill to
Trump's desk If her work is accurate, that would likely mean a large swath of the population has
March 27, 2020
built up resistance to the virus. Theoretically, then, social restrictions could ease
New York's sooner than anticipated. What needs to be done now, Gupta said, is a whole lot
coronavirus death
toll passes 500, but of antibody testing to figure out who may have contracted the virus. Her research
Cuomo shares
some 'good news'
team is working with groups from the University of Cambridge and the University
March 27, 2020 of Kent to start those tests for the general population as quickly as possible. Read
more at the Financial Times. —Tim O'Donnell
Coronavirus
stimulus will make
Mnuchin 'one of the
most powerful
Cabinet members
in modern history'
March 27, 2020

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GET 'ER DONE

Trump invokes Defense Protection Act to

force GM to make ventilators
March 27, 2020
 Apparently President Trump's tweets weren't enough. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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On Friday, Trump announced that he had invoked the Defense Production Act to
compel General Motors to start producing ventilators. GM was "wasting time" in
negotiations, so Trump sidestepped those talks to "require General Motors to
accept, perform, and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators," he said in a
Friday statement.

Katie Bo Williams
@KatieBoWill

Trump authorizes the use of the DPA to compel GM to accept

the federal contract for ventilators. Trump in a statement says
"GM was wasting time."

82 7:03 AM - Mar 28, 2020

65 people are talking about this

Trump activated some provisions of the Korean War-era DPA last week, calling
himself a "wartime president." But he didn't utilize the provision that can compel
companies to ramp up production of needed medical supplies; We "haven't had
to use it because no one has said NO!" Trump tweeted Tuesday. Still, Democratic
lawmakers and national security experts kept pushing Trump to invoke the act.

Trump targeted GM and Ford yet again in a tweet just a few hours before
invoking the DPA, calling on GM to "immediately open their stupidly abandoned
Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING
VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!" Unfortunately, six exclamation points just couldn't get
the job done. —Kathryn Krawczyk

DELIVERIES DENIED

Instacart shoppers plan strike Monday to

demand coronavirus protections
March 27, 2020

As COVID-19 spreads throughout the U.S., Americans

have turned to grocery delivery services to avoid going
out and potentially exposing themselves to the virus.
But the workers who make those deliveries happen say
they're feeling none of that same security.

istock/Kwangmoozaa
 Shoppers for the grocery delivery service Instacart will stop accepting orders
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MENU starting Monday to demand better protections amid the pandemic. They're
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seeking additional "hazard pay" for every delivery, paid protections such as hand
sanitizer and gloves, and expanded sick leave, and won't return to work until their
demands are met, Vice first reported.

"It's so scary to be in a grocery store right now, and so scary to be around swarm
and mobs of people," veteran Instacart shopper and strike organizer Vanessa
Bain told The Washington Post. But "while Instacart's corporate employees are
working from home, Instacart's [gig workers] are working on the frontlines in the
capacity of first responders," Bain told Vice. Instacart joins strikers across the
nation, including Amazon workers in Queens and sanitation worker in
Philadelphia, who are complaining of unsafe conditions amid the new
coronavirus spread.

"The health and safety of our entire community — shoppers, customers, and
employees — is our first priority," a spokesperson for Instacart told Vice. The
company offered new features and benefits to workers in a Friday blog post,
including adding 30 more days to its 14-day sick leave for those quarantined or
sick from COVID-19, but only for those who've tested positive for the disease.
None of the new benefits met strikers' demands. —Kathryn Krawczyk

EXTRAORDINARY

Pope Francis offers coronavirus prayer from

a strikingly empty St. Peter's Square
March 27, 2020

In yet another surreal sight to emerge from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic,
Pope Francis on Friday delivered a blessing from a strikingly deserted St. Peter's
Square.

It was a rainy Friday in Vatican City as Pope Francis delivered his Urbi et Orbi
blessing amid the coronavirus crisis, which has left more than 9,000 people dead
in Italy. The prayer the pope offered is usually reserved for Christmas and Easter,
 The Washington Post notes. It was streamed online, and the Vatican referredSUBSCRIBE
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MENU this as "An Extraordinary Prayer in the Time of Pandemic."

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ABC News
@ABC

Pope Francis delivers an extraordinary "Urbi et Orbi" blessing

from an empty St. Peter's Square amid coronavirus pandemic.
abcn.ws/39mMyhl

483 4:50 AM - Mar 28, 2020

221 people are talking about this

Chico Harlan
@chicoharlan

Incredible scene right now: Pope Francis praying in the middle

of an empty St. Peter’s Square.

30.4K 4:04 AM - Mar 28, 2020

9,757 people are talking about this

"Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities," Pope
Francis said, per Reuters. "...We have realized that we are in the same boat, all of
us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us
called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other."

Italy is among the most affected countries amid the coronavirus crisis with more
than 80,000 cases, and Vatican City has confirmed four cases.

"Lord, may you bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts,"
the pope said near the end of his homily, per the National Catholic Register. "You
ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak and we are fearful. But you, Lord, will
not leave us at the mercy of the storm."

The unusual sight of the pope's blessing in the empty St. Peter's Square was,
Reuters' Crispian Balmer said, "another image that will go down in history," while
 the Post wrote that "the images of the event were among the most memorable in
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MENU the modern history of the Catholic Church." —Brendan Morrow

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TOTALLY TRANSFORMED

Take a look inside New York City's

convention center turned makeshift hospital
March 27, 2020

It took New York City just about a week to build its newest 1,000-bed hospital.

As of Friday, what's being called the New York Medical Station at the Javits
Center appears ready to open for non-COVID-19 cases. Rows of makeshift
hospital rooms line the main convention floor separated by temporary walls and
sheet doors, and all the rooms are decked out with a bed, lamp, and even a little
plant.

Sarah Boxer
@Sarah_Boxer

The seemingly miles of beds being set up at Javits. It is

absolutely unreal to see what the National Guard & first
responders have put together here in just days.

45.8K 4:29 AM - Mar 28, 2020

12.1K people are talking about this

Shimon Prokupecz
@ShimonPro

Inside the Javits center

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6,173 2:03 AM - Mar 28, 2020

2,487 people are talking about this

Starting Monday, the Javits Center will serve patients who aren't suspected of
having the new coronavirus, as those cases have quickly overwhelmed New York
City's existing hospitals. Still, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has warned the
1,000 additional beds won't satisfy the growing need for hospital space
throughout the city. He called on President Trump to approve building field
hospitals across the city's five boroughs to provide an additional 4,000 beds as
New York quickly becomes the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. He
also thanked the Army National Guard, which put together the Javits hospital in
just a week. —Kathryn Krawczyk

THE COROANVIRUS CRISIS

House sends $2.2 trillion coronavirus

stimulus bill to Trump's desk
March 27, 2020

The House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion

coronavirus stimulus package, sending it to President
Trump's desk.

The House on Friday approved the relief package

responding to the coronavirus pandemic after the

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate took the same step. The bill, which includes
stimulus checks for most Americans, was passed in a
voice vote.

One lawmaker, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), tried to force a roll call vote rather
than a unanimous voice vote on the bill. The House had been hoping to avoid
asking members to unnecessarily travel and gather together in Washington amid
the coronavirus pandemic, but was required to form a 216-member quorum to
 overrule Massie; "scores of lawmakers" had to "begrudgingly" return to the SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

MENU Capitol, The Washington Post writes.

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Massie drew bipartisan criticism with this move. President Trump slammed him as
a "third rate grandstander" and called for him to be kicked out of the Republican
Party, while former Secretary of State John Kerry called him an "a--hole." Trump is
expected to sign the stimulus bill, tweeting Friday that "workers and small
businesses need money now in order to survive." —Brendan Morrow

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

New York's coronavirus death toll passes

500, but Cuomo shares some 'good news'
March 27, 2020

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday announced the state's coronavirus
death toll has passed 500, but he did have a bit of good news to offer.

Cuomo on Friday said 519 people have died from the COVID-19 coronavirus in
New York, up from 385 fatalities reported the day before.

"That is going to continue to go up, and that is the worst news that I could
possibly tell the people of the state of New York," the governor said.

The number of coronavirus cases in New York has climbed past 40,000, by far
the most in the country. Cuomo cited the number of people who were
hospitalized 20 or 25 days ago and had been on a ventilator since then in
explaining the rising death toll.

"We're seeing a significant increase in deaths because the length of time people
are on the ventilator is increasing, and the more it increases, the higher the level
of deaths will increase," Cuomo said. "...It's bad news, it's tragic news, it's the
worst news, but it is not unexpected news, either."

Cuomo did, however, offer some good news, saying that COVID-19
hospitalizations were previously doubling every two-and-a-half days in the state,
but now, the number is doubling roughly every four days.
 "It's still doubling, and that's still bad news," Cuomo said. "...But there is goodSUBSCRIBE & SAVE
MENU news in that the rate of the increase is slowing."
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Cuomo on Friday also delivered an impassioned message to members of the

National Guard assisting with the pandemic response, saying, "I am proud to fight
this fight with you." —Brendan Morrow

CNN Newsroom
@CNNnewsroom

On Thursday, 6,481 people who have tested positive for

coronavirus were hospitalized, up from 5,327 Wednesday, New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
“It’s doubling about every four days,” but the “good news” is the
rate of increase is slowing, he said.cnn.it/2WK9yUV

29 3:05 AM - Mar 28, 2020

24 people are talking about this

SIDE EFFECTS

Coronavirus stimulus will make Mnuchin

'one of the most powerful Cabinet members
in modern history'
March 27, 2020

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will gain some

unprecedented power from the coronavirus relief bill
he helped write.

The House is set to pass a stimulus bill that addresses

economic shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

on Friday (or possibly Saturday). It'll send individual
checks to Americans and billions of dollars to
institutions and businesses, and with Mnuchin overseeing it all, it'll make him
"one of the most powerful Cabinet members in modern history," The Washington
Post writes.
 Mnuchin has been at the forefront of congressional negotiations surrounding the
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MENU stimulus bill since the start, steering it from its trillion-dollar beginnings to a final
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total more than double that cost. A highlight of the bill is its $1,200 checks for
individual Americans. Mnuchin will be responsible for ensuring those checks
actually get distributed, and has so far been hopeful — perhaps unrealistically so
— that they'll be out by April.

The bill also contains a $500 billion funding program, and Mnuchin will oversee
how it's distributed to local and state governments, as well as businesses, the
Post notes. He'll undoubtedly face pressure from corporate executives looking
for bailouts from that fund, and will have to weigh those pleas alongside the
needs of taxpayers.

Mnuchin will remain "under constant scrutiny by Democrats, Republicans, a new

inspector general, a new congressional oversight panel, as well as [President]
Trump" as these disbursals go on, the Post notes. But he's so far gotten both
sides of the aisle and the president onboard with the bill, even as Trump
reportedly fielded dozens of calls complaining about what was inside it. Read
more at The Washington Post. —Kathryn Krawczyk

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