CASES. The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has now passed 1,000 with cases in nearly every state in the nation.
The NYT reports: “A majority of the cases were in Washington State, California and New York, where everyday life swiftly began to change. Businesses closed. Colleges canceled class. Governors urged people to avoid crowds. In Massachusetts, dozens of new cases were announced on Tuesday, and in South Dakota, the governor announced the state’s five first cases, including one man who died. The number of states with no reported cases stands at about a dozen, declining by the day.” MAP.
TAX DEADLINE. The Trump administration is likely to extend the April 15 deadline for filing taxes as part of its coronavirus response. “There had yet to be a final decision on the move, nor would the logistics of how the plan would work finalized, the newspaper added. Treasury officials were undecided about how long the deadline would be extended beyond April 15, or who would be eligible, according to the report.”
POINTING FINGERS. The Department of Health and Human Services blamed the slow response to the coronavirus on an email crash: “As health department officials worked quickly to negotiate an emergency funding package to fight the spreading coronavirus outbreak on Feb. 23, they came to a frustrating realization: Their email system had crashed. The outage in the Health and Human Services secretary’s office stretched on much of the day, with some messages delayed up to 11 hours, creating frustration and slowing the Trump administration’s coronavirus response.”
AVIATION. Three TSA agents at San Jose International Airport have tested positive for coronavirus. “The officers are receiving medical care and all TSA employees they have come in contact with over the past 14 days are quarantined at home.”
BOGUS CURE. The Missouri Attorney General sued televangelist Jim Bakker over his bogus “silver solution” cure for the virus. “Tuesday morning, a spokesperson with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office told the News-Leader that the office was filing suit against the Jim Bakker Show operation near Branson. Spokesman Chris Nuelle said in an email that the goal of the suit was ‘to stop (Bakker) from selling that Coronavirus ‘cure,’’ a product known as “silver solution” that was priced at $80 or more on Bakker’s show.”
