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The latest
Several senators face public fury over reports that they sold large amounts of stock before the markets crashed last month, after receiving private briefings on the outbreak. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) sold up to $1.72 million in hotel stock and other holdings in mid-February, transactions that were disclosed one day after the Dow peaked and less than a week after he wrote a column assuring people the country was prepared for the coronavirus.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) — who is married to the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange — also unloaded stocks before the market plunge. All three say they did not personally make the decisions and deny acting improperly, but calls for investigations and resignations mounted Friday. "There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis, and that appears to be what happened," Fox News host Tucker Carlson said, talking about Burr.
Confirmed infections in the United States have doubled in 48 hours to more than 13,000, including more than 170 deaths. The total is expected to climb much higher as long-delayed coronavirus testing rolls out in many communities.
Emergency rooms are struggling to keep up. Medical staff in some cities have been setting up isolation tents in driveways and improvising face masks — or reusing disposable masks in one hard-hit Georgia ER. "We're about to be overwhelmed, which means people won't get into our hospitals," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned on the "Today" show.
California's 40 million residents have been ordered to stay at home by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), as forecasts warn that more than half the state's population could contract the virus unless the infection rate is slowed.
In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) also instated a lockdown beginning Saturday evening. New York's Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) did the same. Mexico agreed to partially close its border with the U.S. on Friday following a similar agreement with Canada this week.
U.S. officials expect social distancing measures will likely need to remain in place for at least several weeks. "I cannot see that all of a sudden next week or two weeks from now, it's going to be over," Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on the "Today" show. A handful of churches across the country have refused orders to close, and a Pew Research Center poll this week found that 62 percent of Americans think the media is exaggerating the threat.
President Trump is one of them. At Friday's White House briefing, he raged at reporters for "doing sensationalism," referred to his own State Department as "the Deep State Department" and complained: "We haven't been given the credit we deserve." A new ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 55 percent of Americans approve of Trump's management of the crisis — a significant jump from last week.
Struggling to stem an economic crisis, the IRS has delayed tax filing deadlines for three months, to July 15. Meanwhile, Congress continues to work on a $1 trillion stimulus bill including cash payouts to most Americans, but lawmakers in both parties have begun to attack the legislation as unfair. The Dow sank another 900 points by the end of Friday.
Disturbing reports keep pouring in from parts of the world where the virus began spreading earlier. Spain became the second country to impose a nationwide lockdown, ordering people to mostly stay at home as its death toll surged 30 percent in a day to more than 1,000.
Italy, the first country in Europe to lock down, on Friday reported 627 deaths in a day, pushing its death toll above 4,000. Panic hoarding has emptied many British grocery stores of basic supplies, and YouTube and Netflix have downgraded video streaming quality across Europe as tens of millions of people staying at home stress the continent's Internet network. Experts fear that South Asia — home to 2 billion people and many war-torn and impoverished communities — will soon be ravaged by the disease.
More than three months into the outbreak, the total number of confirmed cases now stands at more than 200,000, according to the World Heath Organization, which notes half those infections were reported in the last 12 days. Nearly 9,000 patients have died. Because most people aren't tested, the true number of infections is believed to be much higher. |
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'Flattening the curve'
Remember the four simulations from Sunday's newsletter demonstrating how viruses spread and how to slow the infection rate?
The Post has translated that page into many other languages. All of them are free to access.
As we add new languages, you can find them at the top of our coronavirus page.
(Harry Stevens/The Washington Post)
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Your questions, answered
If you're like us, you've been working from home for a week or more by now, possibly cooped up with roommates or relatives, and your place is way overdue for a weekend scrub-down. We hosted a live chat this week with Brian Sansoni, senior vice president of the American Cleaning Institute, and it's full of good questions and answers about housekeeping during a pandemic. Some excerpts:
Q: I live in an apartment complex with communal laundry. ... What's the best way to use a communal space while protecting myself from possible exposure?
Sansoni: Take disinfecting wipes with you when entering a communal space and use them to wipe down surfaces that are frequently touched (doorknobs, washer and dryer doors and buttons). ... As an extra precaution, wearing gloves could also be helpful. Just be sure not to touch your face, if you do. As always, once you return from the communal laundry room — take the time to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds.
Q: I can't find disinfecting wipes, what's the best way to clean surfaces when I need to go out?
Sansoni: Disinfecting spray works equally as well. For hard surfaces, pre-clean any surfaces prior to disinfecting to remove any excess dirt or grime ... Depending on the product, you need to let the surface air dry anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes in order to let the germ or virus kill take effect.
Q: I've seen links about how to make your own hand sanitizer. Do they work as well as store bought?
Sansoni: We strongly recommend against trying to make your own hand sanitizer at home.
We recommend reading the whole transcript for more tips. Stay clean, stay healthy, and leave your chemistry experiments for another time. |
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Live updates
Want to know more? Submit your question and The Post may answer it in a future story, live chat or newsletter. |
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Today's top reads
Find more stories, analysis and op-eds about the outbreak on our coronavirus page, including:
- An analysis of Trump's eruption at an NBC reporter
- Widespread bipartisan opposition to the details of the stimulus package
- How the late-night shows are making the best of an unfunny situation
- Tummy tucks and cataract surgeries are still happening, putting all at risk
- A case for canceling the Summer Olympics right now
By Chris Mooney, Sarah Kaplan and Min Joo Kim ● Read more »
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By Beth Reinhard, Rosalind Helderman, Faiz Siddiqui and Mark Berman ● Read more »
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'March Madness'
Josh Safran, 19, and Jackson Weimer, 21, host "Corona Madness" on Twitch from Weimer's mom's basement to fill the time they now have. (Jackson Weimer)
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Thousands of people are watching two Gen-Zers simulate the March Madness tournament on an Xbox from a basement
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