1/ Trump declared a national emergency – which he described as “two very big words� – to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Trump then shook hands with members of his team. The declaration will “open up access� to $50 billion in emergency funding, lift restrictions on doctors and hospitals to “do as they want,� and waive student loan interest. Trump also announced plans for a large-scale drive-thru protocol for testing for the virus, but said “We don’t want everybody taking this test. It’s totally unnecessary.� Trump then blamed existing rules set by prior administrations for limiting options, saying “I don’t take responsibility at all� for the lack of available testing. The administration expects 1.4 million additional tests to be available next week and five million within a month. When asked about the closure of the White House’s pandemic response team in 2018, Trump called it a “nasty question� and denied firing the team. Trump also announced that the government would buy large quantities of crude oil for the nation’s strategic reserve while oil prices are low. (Politico / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN / Wall Street Journal / The Guardian)

Trump criticized the CDC for its response to COVID-19 and blamed the Obama administration for the situation. In a pair of tweets, Trump — without evidence — claimed that the CDC knew its testing system for large-scale pandemics was “inadequate� and “did nothing about it.� Trump also called the Obama administration’s response to the Swine flu pandemic a “full scale disaster� and said Obama “made changes that only complicated things further.� (NBC News / New York Times)

The CDC’s worst-case scenario projects that as many as 200,000 to 1.7 million Americans could die from coronavirus. Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected during the pandemic, which could last months to over a year. And, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization. The U.S. has about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. (New York Times / USA Today)

[QUOTABLE] “The federal response has been a fiasco.� – Dr. Ashish Jha of the Harvard Global Health Institute (PBS)

[QUOTABLE] “The system is not really geared to what we need right now. That is a failing. Let’s admit it.� – Dr. Anthony Fau...