CMYK Nxxx,2020-04-16,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

Late Edition
Today, variably cloudy, breezy,
chilly, high 50. Tonight, partly
cloudy, cold, low 38. Tomorrow, sun-
shine then clouds, afternoon rain,
high 50. Weather map, Page A20.

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,665 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 $3.00

SALES AT U.S. STORES HIT ‘CATASTROPHIC’ DEPTHS

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
+ 2%

RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES SALES Percentage change from previous month
–2

Scant Testing Retailers Fear

Is Still Barrier Any Rebound –4

For Reopening Is Too Far Off

–6

This article is by Abby Good- By SAPNA MAHESHWARI

nough, Katie Thomas and Sheila
Kaplan.
As President Trump pushes to
reopen the economy, most of the
country is not conducting nearly
enough testing to track the path
and penetration of the coro-
navirus in a way that would allow
Americans to safely return to
work, public health officials and
political leaders say.
Although capacity has im-
proved in recent weeks, supply
shortages remain crippling, and
many regions are still restricting
tests to people who meet specific
criteria. Antibody tests, which re-
veal whether someone has ever
been infected with the coro-
navirus, are just starting to be
rolled out, and most have not been
vetted by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration.
Concerns intensified on
Wednesday as Senate Democrats
released a $30 billion plan for
building up what they called “fast,
free testing in every community,”
saying they would push to include
it in the next pandemic relief pack-
age. Business leaders, who par-
ticipated in the first conference
call of Mr. Trump’s advisory coun-
cil on restarting the economy,
warned that it would not rebound
until people felt safe to re-emerge,
which would require more screen-
ing.
And Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of
New York reiterated his call for
federal assistance to ramp up test-
ing, both for the virus and for anti-
bodies.
“The more testing, the more
open the economy. But there’s not
Continued on Page A13
and BEN CASSELMAN
Retail sales plunged in March,
offering a grim snapshot of the co-
ronavirus outbreak’s effect on
consumer spending, as busi-
nesses shuttered from coast to
coast and wary shoppers re-
stricted their spending.
Total sales, which include retail
purchases in stores and online as
well as money spent at bars and
restaurants, fell 8.7 percent from
the previous month, the Com-
merce Department said Wednes-
day. The decline was by far the
largest in the nearly three dec-
ades the government has tracked
the data.
Even that bleak figure doesn’t
capture the full impact of the sud-
den economic freeze on the retail
industry. Most states didn’t shut
down nonessential businesses un-
til late March or early April, mean-
ing data for the current month
could be worse still.
“It was a pretty catastrophic
drop-off in that back half of the
month,” said Sucharita Kodali, a
retail analyst at Forrester Re-
search. She said April “may be
one of the worst months ever.”
The resulting job losses contin-
ue to mount. Best Buy, which has
125,000 employees over all, said
Wednesday that it would furlough
51,000 hourly store workers be-
ginning Sunday, including nearly
all of its part-time staff.
And in the months ahead, the
question is how quickly spending
will bounce back once the econ-
omy reopens, and how many busi-
nesses will survive until then.
EMILY ROSE BENNETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
People who lose jobs won’t
Paris Banks boarding the No. 17 bus in Detroit. She tries to reduce her risk by disinfecting her seat. quickly resume spending once
–8
Source: Dept. of
Commerce
MARCH ’20
THE NEW YORK TIMES – 8.7%
businesses reopen. And those
willing to spend may be reluctant
to congregate in malls, restau-
rants and other businesses that
rely on face-to-face contact.
Michelle Cordeiro Grant, chief
executive and founder of Lively, a
lingerie brand acquired by Wacoal
last year, said it wasn’t clear how
customers would want to shop
and “what the new culture of
shopping in physical retail will
be.”
“Do they want to have a differ-
ent type of fitting-room experi-
ence?” she mused. “Do they want
our associates to wear masks and
to be offered a mask? What is the
try-on situation?”
When demand does rebound, it
might come too late for some re-
tailers, many of which were strug-
gling even before the pandemic
because of changes in mall traffic
and a long-term shift to online
sales.
The disruptions from the pan-
demic may ultimately hand more
power to retailers able to continue
operating stores during the crisis.
“It’s only going to cause a
shakeout of a lot of retailers, and I
think long term it just means that
some of these big guys get less
competition,” Ms. Kodali said.
“The less competition they have,
Continued on Page A10

Allies of Trump No Choice but Shoulder to Shoulder on the Bus Colleges Running Low on Money
Urged His Move
By JOHN ELIGON
Against W.H.O. sprayed
DETROIT — Paris Banks
the seat with Lysol before
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
WASHINGTON — Fox News
pundits and Republican lawmak-
ers have raged for weeks at the
World Health Organization for
praising China’s handling of the
coronavirus crisis. On his podcast,
President Trump’s former chief
strategist, Stephen K. Bannon,
urged his former boss to stop
funding the W.H.O., citing its ties
to the “Chinese Communist
Party.”
And inside the West Wing, the
president found little resistance
among the China skeptics in his
administration for lashing out at
the W.H.O. and essentially trying
to shift the blame for his own fail-
ure to aggressively confront the
spread of the virus by accusing
the world’s premier global health
group of covering up for the coun-
try where it started.
Mr. Trump’s decision on Tues-
day to freeze nearly $500 million
in public money for the W.H.O. in
the middle of a pandemic was the
culmination of a concerted con-
servative campaign against the
group. But the president’s an-
nouncement on the W.H.O. drew
fierce condemnations from many
quarters.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
said cutting its funding was “not in
U.S. interests.” Speaker Nancy
Continued on Page A8
the fast-food worker, said through Worry Students Will Vanish, Too
Detroit’s Working Class atoblue mask. She was on her way
Commutes in Dread
work at a local Middle Eastern
fast-food chain.
sliding into the last row on the
right. Rochell Brown put out her
cigarette, tucked herself behind
the steering wheel and slapped
the doors shut.
It was 8:37 a.m., and the No. 17
bus began chugging west across
Detroit.
On stepped the fast-food
worker who makes chicken
shawarma that’s delivered to
doorsteps, the janitor who cleans
grocery stores, the warehouse
worker pulling together Amazon
orders.
Everybody Cover Up
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New Yorkers must wear face coverings in stores and in public. Page A14.
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
By 9:15, every available row on
the bus was occupied. Strangers
sat shoulder to shoulder. The city
might be spread across 139 square
miles, but one morning last week
there was no way to social dis-
tance aboard this 40-foot-long
New Flyer bus. Passengers were
anxious and annoyed. Resigned,
too.
“I don’t like it, but it’s something
you have to do,” Valerie Brown, 21,
This hardscrabble city, where
nearly 80 percent of residents are
black, has become a national hot
spot with more than 7,000 infec-
tions and more than 400 deaths.
One reason for the rapid spread,
experts say, is that the city has a
large working-class population
that does not have the luxury of
living in isolation. Their jobs can-
not be performed from a laptop in
a living room. They do not have
vehicles to safely get them to the
grocery store.
Continued on Page A12
JAMES ESTRIN/THE NEW YORK TIMES
For years, Claire McCarville
dreamed of going to college in
New York or Los Angeles, and
was thrilled last month to get ac-
cepted to selective schools in both
places. But this month, she sent a
$300 deposit to Arizona State Uni-
versity, a 15-minute drive from her
home in Phoenix. “It made more
sense,” she said, “in light of the vi-
rus.”
Across the country, students
like Ms. McCarville are rethinking
their choices in a world altered by
the pandemic. And universities,
concerned about the potential for
shrinking enrollment and lost rev-
enue, are making a wave of deci-
sions in response that could pro-
foundly alter the landscape of
higher education for years to
come.
Lucrative spring sports sea-
sons have been canceled, room
and board payments have been
refunded, and students at some
schools are demanding hefty tu-
ition discounts for what they see
as a lost spring term. Other reve-
nue sources like study abroad pro-
grams and campus bookstores
have dried up, and federal re-
search funding is threatened.
Already, colleges have seen
their endowments weakened and
worry that fund-raising efforts
will founder even as many fam-
ilies need more financial aid. They
also expect to lose international
students, especially from Asia, be-
Applicants Reconsider
Their Choices in a
Changed World
cause of travel restrictions and
concerns about studying abroad.
Foreign students, usually paying
full tuition, represent a significant
revenue source everywhere, from
the Ivy League to community col-
leges.
Some institutions are project-
ing $100 million losses for the
spring, and many are now bracing
for an even bigger financial hit in
the fall, when some are planning
for the possibility of having to con-
tinue remote classes.
Administrators anticipate that
students grappling with the finan-
cial and psychological impacts of
the virus could choose to stay
closer to home, go to less expen-
sive schools, take a year off or not
go to college at all. A higher educa-
tion trade group has predicted a 15
percent drop in enrollment nation-
wide, amounting to a $23 billion
revenue loss.
“The combination of fear for
health and safety and the eco-
nomic impact at the same time is
one that I haven’t experienced,
and I don’t think most university
leaders have,” said Kent D.
Syverud, the chancellor of Syra-
Continued on Page A15

INTERNATIONAL A17-18 NATIONAL A19-21 SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-10 ARTS C1-8 THURSDAY STYLES D1-6

Seeking a Grammar Revolution
In Argentina, a push for gender-neutral
terms is gaining supporters, including
President Alberto Fernández. PAGE A17
Paris’s 2 Catastrophes
The anniversary of the Notre-Dame fire
passed with rebuilding work paused
and the city in lockdown. PAGE A18
The Radio Show That Wasn’t
President Trump wanted a daily two-
hour show, officials said, but was reluc-
tant to compete with Rush Limbaugh, a
friend and conservative ally. PAGE A19
Warren Endorses Biden
Elizabeth Warren is the latest big-name
progressive to help Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s
appeal with liberal voters. PAGE A21
OBITUARIES A24, B11-12
Seeking a Financial Tiebreaker
Although the status of the U.S. Open
remains unclear, the U.S.T.A. will try to
bail out tennis’s grass roots. PAGE B9
BUSINESS B1-8
Upheaval in a Small Town
Once the pandemic reached rural Bris-
tol, N.H., the effect on the local econ-
omy was devastating. PAGE B1
Amazon at Odds With France
Turning the Camera on Himself
Kenya Barris, creator of the comedy
“black-ish,” stars as a successful TV
writer in Netflix’s “#blackAF.” PAGE C1
The Glory of Rockefeller Center
The critic Michael Kimmelman joins
the historian Daniel Okrent on a virtual
tour of the complex. PAGE C1
Experts at Lockdown Fitness
Some trainers who spent time behind
bars share tips on how to emerge from
confinement in better shape. PAGE D1
A Dress Giveaway Goes Wrong
Reese Witherspoon’s fashion line, Dra-
per James, offered free clothes to teach-
ers — just not every teacher. PAGE D1
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
Neal K. Katyal PAGE A23

Fierce Pass Rusher for Packers The retailer said it would temporarily

U(D54G1D)y+#!]!&!?!"
Willie Davis, a Hall of Famer, helped suspend operations there after a court
win five N.F.L. titles, including the first said it hadn’t adequately protected
two Super Bowls. He was 85. PAGE A24 workers against Covid-19. PAGE B1
$2.75 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER © 2020 D THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 latimes.com

State’s scariest
virus scenarios
finally yield to
ray of optimism
Coronavirus cases in
California may be
peaking, models show,
provided we stick
with social distancing.
By Joe Mozingo,
James Rainey
and Nathan Fenno
The dire predictions from
Gov. Gavin Newsom and
state public health officials
Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times have been steady and un-
ON THE first warm day in weeks, kayakers, boaters and a paddle boarder observe physical distancing nerving: Millions of Califor-
Wednesday in Orange County’s Huntington Harbour with a view of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains. nians would be infected by
the coronavirus, hospitals
would be overrun, desperate
patients could die without
ventilators.
California’s secretary of
Health and Human Serv-
ices, said he believed the
state would need at least an
additional 15,000 ventilators
to handle the crisis, which he
predicted would peak in May
or June.
But by Friday, Ghaly’s
comments were far less
alarming. “Any peak, when it
comes, will probably not be
significantly higher than to-
day on ICU hospitalizations
and overall hospitalizations
because we have done all the
right things on physical dis-
tancing and staying at
home,” he said.
On Wednesday, the state
for the first time released
some of the data behind
those earlier warnings that
hospitals would be over-

War hero But a more optimistic whelmed in May. A chart

Cash down the drain

outlook is emerging, with shows a demand for 31,747
several epidemiological beds by May 20. But it also

earned studies suggesting the state

is probably at the peak num-
ber of daily new cases, as
shows that the projections
on hospitalizations have so
far been hugely overblown,

a unique for online TP buyers? long as social distancing re-

strictions remain in place.
It was less than a month
ago, on March 18, that New-
predicting a need for 11,428
beds Tuesday when only
5,065 were actually hospital-
ized with COVID-19.

Dodgers Some Amazon sellers don’t deliver as promised

som wrote a letter to Presi-
dent Trump saying that 25.5
million Californians could be
A spokeswoman with the
state health agency, Kate
Folmar, acknowledged that

moment By Daniel Miller

Marketplace Pulse. “I would not bet on it.
Or you will receive a product that is not
what you are expecting — specifically a
infected within eight weeks.
And on April 7, Mark Ghaly,
the projections had been off
[See Optimism, A6]

The toilet paper promised to be “gen- lower-quality product or a different prod-

BILL PLASCHKE tly textured” yet “durable enough for the uct altogether.”

At last, Ken
Mallory
would be
cheered.
After a
lifetime of
stoic
courage, the
95-year-old
World War II
veteran would finally be
properly thanked for his
service.
“He was finally going to
get his standing ovation,”
said his daughter, Judie
Miller.
It was going to happen at
Dodger Stadium last Sat-
urday, where Mallory was to
be honored as the Dodgers’
Military Hero of the Game.
It is the team’s most
meaningful nightly tradi-
tion. If you’ve seen it, you’ll
never forget it.
In the middle of the
second inning of every home
game, a military hero is
escorted onto the field and
introduced to thunderous
applause. The hero’s accom-
plishments are read by
announcer Todd Leitz, their
branch of service’s theme
song is played by organist
Dieter Ruehle, and they
bask for several long mo-
ments in what is often a
long-overdue show of public
gratitude.
After the ceremony, the
hero usually walks into the
stands past the Dodgers
dugout, where third base-
man Justin Turner has
made a tradition of shaking
their hand and gifting an
autographed baseball. The
hero then walks up through
the stands amid a gantlet of
outstretched hands from
fans wanting to congratu-
late and connect with his-
tory.
Last Saturday, in front of
what would surely have
been a sellout crowd for the
first series against the de-
fending World Series cham-
pion Washington Nationals,
Mallory was finally going to
[See Plaschke, A7]
Judie Miller
VETERAN Ken Mallory
displays some World War
II items and mementos.
task at hand.” The package’s lettering
was in Chinese, save for one word: “Face.”
It wouldn’t come for several weeks,
and at $23.90 for 10 rolls, it seemed
Amid the pandemic, toilet paper is in
short supply at many stores. With health
officials now urging Americans to further
cut back their grocery runs, shoppers like
Financial troubles
pricey. But it was available for purchase
immediately.
So, on March 20, I did what countless
me have gone online, making “toilet pa-
per” the No. 1 search term on Amazon
since early March.
deepen at City Hall
other anxious Americans have done dur- Enterprising operators in the Amazon
ing the coronavirus outbreak: I clicked Marketplace, the home of third-party workers who don’t work in
the “Buy Now” button on Amazon. sellers, have moved quickly. Taking ad- Rising costs already the police and fire depart-
It’s been more than three weeks since I vantage of the dearth of online stock from ments, one city official said.
placed my order with the seller in Guang- U.S. brands, they’ve flooded the Market- strained Los Angeles’ During his coronavirus
zhou, China, and I’m still waiting. A par- place with toilet paper that’s mostly from budget — then came briefing Wednesday, the
cel tracking website indicates that China overseas — products never intended for mayor said he and the city’s
Post has created a logistics order for my American homes. the economic crisis budget analysts are working
toilet paper. Destination: Finland. (I live Toilet paper is a bulky item with a low of the coronavirus. to protect as many core serv-
in L.A.) price — not exactly a formula for high ices as possible.
“It’s likely that you will never receive profits when shipped internationally. So By Dakota Smith “But make no mistake,”
your toilet paper,” said Juozas Kaziuke- how exactly does the e-commerce toilet and David Zahniser he added. “There will be big
nas, founder of e-commerce research firm paper trade [See Toilet paper, A9] cuts.”
Garcetti’s remarks stand
Even before the arrival of in sharp contrast to the tri-
the coronavirus outbreak, umphal tone from city politi-
Los Angeles city leaders cians about the budget in
had been facing a budget recent years as a booming
crunch, in large part be- economy allowed them to
cause of new pay raises and boost funding to combat
increased benefits for the homelessness, fix more
city workforce. streets and sidewalks and
Now, the shutdowns trig- support generous labor
gered by a global health cri- agreements.
sis have unleashed a new Buoyed by low unem-
and potentially more dire fi- ployment, new construction
nancial threat, endangering and increased tourism, the
the city’s ability to maintain city saw year-over-year
existing public services. growth in the money that
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who flows into its general fund,
is preparing to release his which pays for such basic
proposed 2020-21 budget services as police officers,
Beth Franssen next week, has begun look- firefighters and paramedics.
BETH FRANSSEN felt let down by the toilet paper she bought for $28.70 ing at the possibility of pay That money comes in part
from a Chinese vendor on Amazon Marketplace. “They are doll-sized rolls.” cuts and furloughs for city [See Budget, A6]
MORE COVERAGE
Cambodia sees
clothing pile up
Small Georgia hospital overwhelmed
Brands such as Gap and
Old Navy cancel their
orders, leaving factory One of the nation’s fiercest COVID-19 outbreaks hits remote Albany
owners and workers
unpaid. WORLD, A3 onslaught.
By Jenny Jarvie Soon, her unit would
Churches sue for have no available beds and
Before Mandy Hall lined would have to start lining
‘essential’ status up to have her temperature critical patients in gurneys
California pastors join taken, don a surgical mask along a back hallway. “What
fight against orders that and step through the glass if patients continue to flood
prevent the practice of doors of the hospital, she re- in?” Hall said as paramedics
religion as usual amid a cited a line from the Old Tes- delivered a man on a
pandemic. CALIFORNIA, B1 tament. stretcher. “What if, at some
Perhaps this is the point, we don’t have a place
L.A.’s salsa music moment for which to fit them? I don’t think it’s
you were created. a matter of if it happens. It’s
rhythms on pause It was not yet 7 a.m., and a matter of when.”
Musicians and club the small emergency room Far from the big coastal
owners worry about the was already crammed with hubs of Seattle, Los Angeles
future of their vibrant, dozens of COVID-19 patients and New York, this hospital
intimate scene after the struggling to breathe. in the remote southwest
virus crisis. CALENDAR, E1 Ambulances were pulling Georgia city of Albany —
in to the emergency bay as over 35 miles from an inter-
Weather the 47-year-old front-line state highway and 180 miles
nurse and director of emer- from a major airport — is
Low clouds early, then sun.
gency services at Phoebe struggling to treat a commu-
L.A. Basin: 74/58. B8
Putney Memorial Hospital nity with one of the most in-
put on fresh scrubs, fit an Ben Roberts For The Times tense coronavirus rates in
N95 mask under her surgical “WE FEEL completely helpless,” says Mandy Hall, a the nation.
mask and huddled with staff front-line nurse and director of emergency services With 1,320 cases in Dou-
to prepare for the coming at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Ga. [See Hospital, A5]

BUSINESS INSIDE: Clean energy sector loses 100,000 jobs. It’s expected to get worse. A8