U.S. in desperate race to avert a national crisis and avoid Italy’s grim fate, as cases and death toll skyrocket

Tuesday Every aspect of modern life is being hit as sweeping measures are rolled out in an effort to stem the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, President Trump declared a national emergency “to unleash the full power of the federal government. No resource will be spared, nothing whatsoever,” the president said, as stocks rose sharply to regain some of their recent losses.

The administration has established a new partnership with private industry to expand testing capabilities, even as it has faced criticism over testing failures. Mr. Trump said the administration is trying to work with pharmacies and private entities to establish drive-thru testing sites, something the head of the Centers for Disease Control said days earlier wasn’t necessary.

While more than half of the roughly 137,000 people who’ve caught the virus worldwide have already recovered, the toll in human lives is staggering. More than 4,700 people have died, including at least 50 people in the United States — and it’s expected to get much worse before it gets better. Fueling the fear in financial markets and cities around the world is the fact that four months after it first started making headlines, the COVID-19 disease retains an aura of mystery. With vastly different figures in various countries, it still isn’t clear how deadly the disease is, how easily it spreads, or how many undetected cases may be lurking.  –CBS Nation

Ohio estimates a case explosion: A top health official in Ohio estimated on Thursday that more than 100,000 people in the state have coronavirus, a shockingly high number that underscores the limited testing so far. Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton said at a press conference alongside Gov. Mike DeWine (R) that given that the virus is spreading in the community in Ohio, she estimates at least 1 percent of the population in the state has the virus. “We know now, just the fact of community spread, says that at least 1 percent, at the very least, 1 percent of our population is carrying this virus in Ohio today,” Acton said. “We have 11.7 million people. So, the math is over 100,000. So that just gives you a sense of how this virus spreads and is spreading quickly.”

Ohio avalanche: The U.S. is already in the midst of a critical undiagnosed medical crisis and doesn’t know it yet

She added that the slow rollout of testing means the state does not have good verified numbers to know for sure. “Our delay in being able to test has delayed our understanding of the spread of this,” Acton said. The Trump administration has come under intense criticism for the slow rollout of tests. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top National Institutes of Health official, acknowledged earlier Thursday it is “a failing” that people cannot easily get tested for coronavirus in the United States.

Not everyone with the virus has symptoms, and about 80 percent of people with the virus do not end up needing hospitalization, experts say. However, the virus can be deadly especially for older people and those with underlying health conditions. The possible numbers in Ohio are a stark illustration of how many cases could be in other states as well, but have not been revealed given the lack of widespread testing.  –The Hill

U.S. drive-through testing facility over-whelmed: Colorado’s new drive-through coronavirus-testing station in Denver made its debut Wednesday and was quickly overwhelmed. At one point Thursday, the line of cars with passengers waiting to be swabbed was almost four hours long, until the state cut off the service for the day. Drive-through checks for Covid-19, with health workers in protective gear swabbing noses through car windows, was part of South Korea’s largely successful strategy for containing the virus: The country tested more than 200,000 in a matter of weeks, a stark contrast to the U.S., where testing has proceeded at a crawl. The nation’s testing is “failing — let’s admit it,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci told Congress Thursday. –Bloomberg