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Thursday, April 30, 2020

Overnight Health Care: Pelosi floats almost $1T for states | US intel investigating COVID-19's origins | Trump outlines efforts to protect nursing homes

 
 
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Welcome to Thursday’s Overnight Health Care.

The death toll from the coronavirus is approaching 63,000 in the U.S., with more than 1 million confirmed cases.

The Trump administration is making a push to reach senior citizens and rolled out a handful of initiatives Thursday designed to help nursing homes during the pandemic.

Task force member Anthony Fauci also said he's optimistic a vaccine will be ready by the winter and House Democrats want nearly $1 trillion for states in the next stimulus bill. 

We'll start with the legislative debate:

A big number: Pelosi floats almost $1T for states

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats will push for including almost $1 trillion in the next coronavirus relief package to help states and local governments hit hard by the pandemic.

That figure, Pelosi said, would likely be the single largest line-item of the Democrats' next emergency package, known as CARES 2, which is also expected to include hundreds of billions of dollars more to help workers, businesses and families weather the crisis.

"We're not going to be able to cover all of it, but to the extent that we can keep the states and localities sustainable, that's our goal," Pelosi told reporters in the basement of the near-deserted Capitol.

GOP not thrilled: "That strikes me as a pretty outrageous number, just for state and local support," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters in the Capitol, shortly after Pelosi floated the $1 trillion figure. "We've already provided $150 billion in CARES 1."

Read more here.

Related: House Democrats push to include primary care workers in coronavirus relief package

 

US intel says it's investigating COVID-19's origins

U.S. intelligence agencies issued a rare statement Thursday saying they agreed with "the widespread scientific consensus" that COVID-19 was "not manmade or genetically modified" but also that they are investigating whether it emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

“The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified," the statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. 

“As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security. The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan,” the statement concluded. 

Context: The intelligence statement was released hours after a report in The New York Times that said Trump administration officials were pushing spy agencies to look for evidence on whether a government laboratory in Wuhan was the origin point for the coronavirus. 

Read more here.

 

New look: Pence wears face mask while touring GM plant

Vice President Pence on Thursday donned a face mask as he toured a General Motors plant in Indiana, marking the first time he's worn a mask on camera.

It came just days after he defended his decision not to wear one in defiance of the Mayo Clinic's policy on a visit to Minnesota.

The vice president was joined by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) on the trip to the GM plant. All wore masks during the tour of the facility, which has been converted to produce ventilators.

GM brought employees back to the Kokomo, Ind., plant earlier this month to ramp up production of ventilators needed to help treat those with coronavirus. The facility has already produced thousands of the machines, which have been distributed to hospitals in need. 

Read more here.

 

Fauci: Hundreds of millions of vaccine doses may be ready by 2021 

Some possible hope for a relatively speedy vaccine timeline: Anthony Fauci said Thursday that it is possible that hundreds of millions of doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be ready by January as the Trump administration seeks to speed vaccine development.

Asked by NBC’s Savannah Guthrie whether it is “in the realm of possibility” for hundreds of millions of vaccine doses to be ready by January, as the administration’s new Operation Warp Speed envisions, Fauci said, “I do.”

“We want to go quickly, but we want to make sure it's safe and it's effective,” he added. “I think that is doable if things fall in the right place.”

Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, noted that a major step in meeting that timeline is to start manufacturing a potential vaccine even before the trial results showing whether it works are completed.

Meeting the January timeline, of course, depends on whether the results of trials end up showing that the vaccine works.

“We're going to start ramping up production with the companies involved and you do that at risk, in other words you don't wait until you get an answer before you start manufacturing, you at risk, proactively, start making it, assuming it's going to work,” he said. “And if it does, then you can scale up and hopefully get to that timeline.”

Read more here

 

Trump outlines initiatives to protect nursing homes

President Trump on Thursday outlined a handful of new initiatives intended to aid and protect nursing homes as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy toll on older Americans.

Trump announced the creation of a commission focused on safety in nursing homes composed of industry experts, patient advocates and state and local officials. The group will meet in May and issue recommendations for steps to protect seniors.

The federal government will require nursing homes to report cases of COVID-19 to all residents and their families, as well as directly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that information will be publicly available, but have not said when that will happen.

The context: Nursing homes have been devastated by the virus. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 10,000 people have died in long term care facilities, including nursing homes, in only 23 states that have reported data. The political undertones of Thursday's event were hard to miss, though, as Trump has seen his standing among older voters slip in recent polling. The development has triggered concerns among some advisers given seniors will play an outsized role in key swing states like Arizona and Florida.

Read more here.

Related: Trump administration to send PPE shipments to nursing homes

 

California governor orders closure of Orange County beaches

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday that the state would temporarily close beaches in Orange County following a weekend in which thousands of people packed the public areas despite social distancing restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

The state government had originally indicated plans to close all public beaches and state parks this weekend, but Newsom said at a news conference that the closures would only apply to Orange County.

He said that recent behavior had "raised alarm bells" among health officials and warned that it could help spur future outbreaks. 

Read more here.

 

What we’re reading

How high will it go? As Covid-19 death toll in U.S. blows past 60,000, there are no easy answers (Stat News)

Remdesivir drug shows promise -- but it is far from a coronavirus cure (CNN.com)

As White House’s social distancing guidelines expire, health experts worry about public complacency (Washington Post)

Trump administration draws up plans to punish China over coronavirus outbreak (CNN.com)

 

State by state

Gov. Baker details efforts to reopen Mass. economy after coronavirus Shutdown (NBC 10 Boston)

Nursing homes stricken as Pennsylvania death toll tops 2,000 (Associated Press)

Few new restrictions as Georgia’s shelter-at-home order ends (Online Athens)

Reopening America: A state-by-state breakdown of the status of coronavirus restrictions (CNBC)

Texas still won’t say which nursing homes have COVID-19 cases. Families are demanding answers (Pro Publica)

 

The Hill op-eds

We need to take a cold hard look at the World Health Organization 

 
 
 
 
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The Hill’s Campaign Report: Pressure grows on Biden to address Tara Reade allegations

 
 
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

 

LEADING THE DAY:  Pressure grows on Biden to address Tara Reade allegations

Pressure is growing from the news media and survivor advocacy groups for former Vice President Joe Biden to address allegations from Tara Reade, a former aide to the then-senator who says he sexually assaulted her in 1993.

The Biden campaign has strenuously denied the allegations, but Biden has not addressed the matter himself.

Several top Democratic women, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have defended Biden and said they do not believe the allegations against him.

I have great sympathy for any women who bring forth an allegation. I’m a big strong supporter of the 'Me Too' movement. I think it’s been a great contribution to our country. And I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded. I know him. I was proud to endorse him on Monday.” – Pelosi

When asked if Biden should address the allegations himself, Pelosi said it’s a matter that he has to deal with.”

The issue has been getting closer media scrutiny in recent days after a former neighbor came forward to say that Reade told her about the allegations at the time.

The Washington Post editorial board has called on Biden to address the matter and to release his Senate records, which are being stored at the University of Delaware. Reade says she filed a complaint at the time, but the Biden campaign has said it does not have such a complaint.

Biden has done dozens of interviews with media outlets since Reade first made the claim last month, but he has not been asked about it. That could change, as several media outlets have requested interviews with Biden to address this matter specifically.

Biden will be on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday and is expected to be asked about the allegations.

The Hill interviewed several officials from survivor advocacy groups who are calling on Biden to address the matter himself.

We appreciate that some in the media have taken Tara Reade’s allegations seriously and urge that they be investigated fairly and rigorously. We also call on Vice President Biden to address the allegations directly and to fully cooperate in an investigation.” - Heather Drevna, the vice president of communications for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network

The issue is a difficult one for Democrats in the “Me Too” era, who set a standard of “believe all women” in allegations directed toward President Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has claimed a double standard in the way Democrats and the media have treated Reade’s allegations, compared with the coverage of charges made against Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.

McConnell on Thursday called on Biden to release his records.

“When you run for president of the United States your life is an open book and I can't imagine that Vice President Biden is not going to have to participate in releasing all of the information related to the allegations. It's a very challenging thing to run for president and I think everyone who has done that has realized that their entire life is opened up to scrutiny. and I think that is happening to Vice President Biden and they shouldn't be surprised.” - McConnell

— Jonathan Easley

 

READ MORE:

The Hill: Democrats begin to confront Biden allegations.

Ben Smith: Why won’t tv news book Tara Reade?

Peter Beinart: Biden should release his papers.

The Washington Post: Biden should address Reade allegations. 

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

Biden’s campaign announced four co-chairs of a running mate selection committee, naming former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and longtime adviser Cynthia Hogan to lead the effort. Max Greenwood reports.

Biden’s presidential campaign has reached a deal with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that will allow the progressive former White House hopeful to keep hundreds of delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer. Max reports.

Trump’s reelection campaign is preparing its first major wave of television ads for the general election as it works to blunt a slide in Trump’s approval ratings a just more than six months before voters cast their ballots. Tal Axelrod reports.

 

PERSPECTIVES: 

Alyssa Milano: Why Democrats should continue supporting Biden.

Noah Rothman: Biden and the social justice charade. 

 

FROM CONGRESS & THE STATES:

Georgia Sen. David Perdue (R) warned this week that his home state could be in play in November as it emerges as a top presidential and Senate battleground. Tal reports.

Prominent election handicapper Cook Political Report has shifted the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) from "solid" Republican to "likely" Republican as the Judiciary chairman runs for a fourth term. John Bowden reports.

 

POLL WATCH:

“I don’t believe the polls. I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.” - Trump on Thursday

SAINT ANSELM-NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS

Biden: 50

Trump: 42

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

(Keep in mind these dates could change because of the outbreak.) 

May 2:

Kansas Democratic primary

 

May 12:

Nebraska primaries

 

May 19:

Oregon primaries

 

May 22:

Hawaii Democratic primary

 

June 2:

Delaware primaries

District of Columbia primaries

Indiana primaries

Maryland primaries

Montana primaries

New Mexico primaries

Pennsylvania primaries

Rhode Island primaries

South Dakota primaries

 

June 9:

Georgia primaries

West Virginia primaries

 

June 23:

Kentucky primaries

 

July 7:

New Jersey primaries

 

July 11:

Louisiana

 

July 14:

Alabama Republican Senate primary runoff

 

August 11:

Connecticut primary

 

August 17-20:

Democratic National Convention

 

August 24-27:

Republican National Convention

 

One hopeful thing 

A few weeks ago, we told you about how then-99-year-old British Army Veteran Tom Moore was raising money on his JustGiving page for the country’s National Health Service (NHS) by walking laps through his garden. 

Well today, the country is celebrating his 100th birthday, with his total fundraising topping a whopping £30 million (about $38 million) this morning.

"Reaching 100 is quite something. Reaching 100 with such interest in me and huge generosity from the public is very overwhelming," Moore said, according to the BBC

"People keep saying what I have done is remarkable, however it's actually what you have done for me which is remarkable,” he continued. "Please always remember, tomorrow will be a good day."

From all of us at The Hill, Happy Birthday, Captain Tom! 

We’ll see you all tomorrow for the latest campaign news and updates. 

 
 
 
 
 
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CORONAVIRUS REPORT: Jobless claims hit 30 million Americans | US intelligence agency investigating virus origin, says COVID-19 ‘not manmade’ | LA becomes first major US city to provide free coronavirus testing for all | Cuomo to suspend NYC subway service at night | Pentagon moves to double output of testing swabs | DC health chief says city may not reopen for three months | Rep. Trey Hollingsworth says US has best biologists and best economists and they can find way to get America safely reopen and normal again

The Hill's Coronavirus Daily Update
 
4.30.20 - CORONAVIRUS REPORT - THURSDAY
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

> US jobless claims top 30 million 

> Intelligence agency says COVID-19 ‘not manmade or genetically modified’ 

> LA becomes first major US city to provide free coronavirus testing 

> Cuomo suspending NYC subway service at night to disinfect cars 

> Pentagon moves to double output of testing swabs

> DC health chief breaks with Trump, says city may not reopen for another three months in worst-case scenario

 
THE INTERVIEW

 

 

Watch the full interview here

 
THE HILL'S CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Welcome to The Hill's Coronavirus Report. It's Thursday,

 

Editor’s Note.  

 

Richard Edelman’s special coronavirus edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer is packed with insights (see interview here), some quite obvious but they deserve repeating. One of the most important takeaways is that people around the world, but also those in the U.S., are looking to scientists for leadership and direction and less to politicians and presidents. If I were President Trump, I would surround myself with physicians and doctors such as White House coronavirus task force members Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, Jerome Adams and others.

 

Trump has tapped those excellent advisers, but rather than posturing in a way where he signals that he is hearing them, he contradicts them. On Wednesday, Trump told business executives that America could wipe out the coronavirus without drugs. He said, “If you don't have the vaccine, if the virus is gone, we're like we were before, but having a vaccine would be a great thing."  

 

Trump continued to assert, “It's gonna go, it's gonna leave, it's gonna be gone, it's gonna be eradicated, and it might take longer, it might be in smaller sections, it won't be what we had.” But as Fauci and many others have said, this virus will not go away on its own. 

 

I think the American public is distinguishing today between government officials like Fauci, Birx, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on one hand and politicians on the other. Their trust in government direction and leadership may be solid while politicians, rightly or wrongly, are looked at as another tribe. Hopefully, leaders in both political parties will look at what Edelman has shown about their tarnished brands and whether craven or not, at least position themselves so they appear allied with science and the desperate needs of citizens today rather than an opponent of it.

 

– Steve Clemons

 

 

Your Coronavirus Report team includes Steve Clemons, editor-at-large of The Hill, and researcher Andrew Wargofchik. Follow us on Twitter at @SCClemons and @a_wargofchik. CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Hill’s Coronavirus Special Report. To stay up-to-date on all things coronavirus, visit TheHill.com and SUBSCRIBE to our Overnight Healthcare newsletter for the latest developments from the daily White House coronavirus task force briefings.

 
THE HILL 'VIRTUALLY' LIVE

On Wednesday, our 3D journalism platform — The Hill Virtually Live hosted Safeguarding Seniors: Healthcare in a Health Crisis with House members Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) and Fred Upton (R-Mich). 

 

Dr. Patrice Harris of the American Medical Association, AARP’s Nancy LeaMond, Karen Freeman-Wilson of the Chicago Urban League and Alliance for Aging Research’s Sue Peschin also joined us for a discussion on supporting seniors, tackling disparities and the role of innovation in the age of COVID-19. Watch the full program video here


Keep the conversation going using #TheHillVirtuallyLive and follow @TheHillEvents for news on upcoming programs.

 
CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

There are 3,247,648 reported cases of coronavirus cases around the world. 230,615  have died from the virus. 61,547 have died in America.

 

The U.S. is reporting 1.053,036. Spain 239,639. Italy 205,463. 166,628 cases in France. 166,443 in the U.K. 120,204 in Turkey, Russia is now reporting 106,498 cases. Iran 94,640. China 83,944. 16,117 in Pakistan. 3,037 in Bahrain. 2,954 cases in Thailand — where daily infections have stayed in the single digits for four consecutive days. 

 

New York is reporting 304,372  cases. New Jersey 116,365 cases. Massachusetts 60,265. 50,538 in Illinois. 48,870 in California. 46,458 in Pennsylvania. Iowa is reporting 7,147 cases. 6,950 in Alabama. 6,520 in Wisconsin. 5,136 in Minnesota. Nevada reports 5,025. 


With testing capabilities now at the center of the national reopening debate, the U.S. has conducted 6,065,570 coronavirus tests. 124,449 in the US have reported full recoveries from COVID-19.

 
WASHINGTON WATCH

US intelligence agency says COVID-19 “not manmade or genetically modified.” The top U.S. spy agency in a rare public statement Thursday said it agreed with "the widespread scientific consensus" that the coronavirus was "not manmade or genetically modified," but also said it was investigating whether it emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. (The Hill)

 

Pentagon moves to increase production of coronavirus testing swabs. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Mike Andrews said in a Wednesday statement, Puritan Medical Products “will quickly establish a new manufacturing facility capable of doubling its current monthly output of 20 million to 40 million swabs." (The Hill)

 

Bipartisan group of lawmakers back efforts to expand telehealth services for seniors. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are throwing their support behind efforts to expand telehealth services, especially for elderly patients, to help combat the coronavirus. Speaking at The Hill’s first virtual event on Wednesday, Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) highlighted how telehealth allows elderly patients to receive proper medical care and checkups during the pandemic while staying at home. (The Hill)

 
LAWMAKERS TWEET

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) 

@JohnCornyn Little bit of encouraging news: 46% of confirmed #COVID__19 cases in Texas have recovered so far.

 

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.)

@RepKarenBass Pregnant women who are incarcerated should not be in tiny prison cells during a global pandemic. Andrea Circle Bear should not be dead right now and neither should the 30 other federal prisoners who have passed away due to COVID-19.

 

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) 

@repgregwalden For rural healthcare providers, #COVID19 and the ban on elective procedures have been a financial one-two punch. I'm grateful to

@HHSGov for pushing out $394,606,116 from the CARES Act to Oregon hospitals and providers.

 
ACROSS THE NATION

 

All LA County residents, even those without symptoms, can now get tested for COVID-19. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has long characterized expanding COVID-19 testing to all Angelenos, including those without symptoms, as a critical milestone that needed to be met before leaders could consider lifting some restrictions. And now, he says, that milestone is a reality. (Los Angeles Times

 

D.C. health chief says city may not reopen for another three months in worst-case scenario. A top Washington, D.C., health official said late Wednesday that it could be another three months before the city resumes normal operations in a worst-case scenario. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, said in a virtual town hall that the “most stringent” plan for stemming the spread of the coronavirus would prevent the city from reopening for at least three months, NBC4 Washington reported. (The Hill

 

Michigan court rules governor’s stay-at-home order does not violate constitutional rights. A Michigan court on Wednesday ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's (D) stringent stay-at-home order in response to the coronavirus outbreak does not violate residents' constitutional rights, denying a motion for a preliminary injunction. Five Michigan residents filed a lawsuit against the governor and other state officials claiming that the quarantine measures infringed on their constitutional rights to procedural and substantive due process. (The Hill

 

How might coronavirus reshape society? Will the commercial real estate market collapse as more people work from home? Will elbow bumps replace handshakes and hugs? Or, more darkly, will there be rampant discrimination against people wrongly thought to be carriers of the pathogen? Medical historians and experts say humanity's past experiences with diseases have shaped the world we know today, from the way our cities are constructed to modern privacy laws and even the way people think about sex. (The Hill)

 
WORLD VIEW

🇸🇪 Trump: Sweden paying “heavily” for not locking down nation. President Trump defended his decision to support social distancing measures and states that have implemented stay-at-home orders on Thursday, pointing to coronavirus deaths in Sweden, which has largely allowed businesses to remain open during the pandemic. (The Hill)

 

🇷🇺 Anger rises among Russia's doctors as coronavirus hospitals get put on lockdown. The coronavirus pandemic has put the spotlight on the risks faced by front-line health workers, and Russia is no exception. Medical facilities in the country have emerged as one of the main breeding grounds for COVID-19, and two dozen hospitals have had to shut down for long quarantines, with many doctors falling sick. The numbers are stark. On Thursday, Russia's total number of reported coronavirus cases surpassed the 100,000 mark, exceeding numbers reported from Iran and China. (CNN)

 

🇨🇱 Chile backtracks immunity claims amid outcry over “passports” for recovered patients. Health Minister Jaime Mañalich is backtracking earlier remarks that suggested most people who recover from coronavirus infections will remain immune for a “minimum of three months” — a claim that directly contradicts the World Health Organization and other experts who say it is far too early to determine whether all recovered patients will gain immunity and, if they do, for how long. (Washington Post)

 
SCIENCE

VA still using hydroxychloroquine. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie defended the department's use of an unproven anti-malaria drug for treating patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, saying the drug was only being administered to high-risk veterans. (The Hill)

 
BUSINESS

3.8 million more Americans file for unemployment benefits. Initial unemployment claims reached 3.8 million last week, the sixth consecutive week with millions of new claims as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. The new figure brings the six-week total of new claims to more than 30 million, by some estimates one-fifth of the entire American workforce. (The Hill)

 

Only half way there on job losses? McKinsey says 57 million jobs vulnerable in U.S. and 59 million in Europe to coronavirus shock. While leisure and hospitality accounted for most of the earliest layoffs and furloughs, the share from industries such as retail trade, manufacturing, nonessential healthcare and professional services has been growing. McKinsey Global Institute estimated that up to 57 million U.S. jobs are now vulnerable, including more and more white-collar positions. By way of context, some 59 million jobs are at risk in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, which have a considerably larger population. (McKinsey Global Institute)

 

Liability shield for businesses emerges as new fight over reopening. The business community is pressuring the White House and Congress to shield companies from lawsuits as they seek to reopen. Democrats, labor unions and trial attorneys have voiced fierce opposition to a liability shield for employers. But top Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration appear eager to extend businesses of all sizes a layer of legal protection from any coronavirus-related litigation. (The Hill)

 
IDEAS, CAUSES, PASSION

We need to take a cold hard look at the World Health Organization. The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO, so the loss of America’s assessed dues or voluntary donations means a lot. Doesn’t that mean that the United States should get its way and that the WHO should change its tune when the U.S. says it must? (Roger Cochetti for The Hill


COVID-19 crisis: Wake-up call for the world to go digital. More than 26 million Americans filed for unemployment in the past four weeks due to COVID-19. Digitalization and automation are filling some gaps, but when the dust settles, will digital agents and robots have replaced those jobs for good? Was COVID-19 the wake-up call for the world to go digital? (Mark Minevich and Chetan Dube for The Hill)

 
GENEROUS SPIRITS

British veteran promoted by the Queen on his 100th birthday after raising millions to fight coronavirus. The veteran known as "Capt. Tom," who raised tens of millions of dollars for the British National Health Service, turned 100 Thursday, receiving a promotion from the Queen to the rank of colonel and a special flyover to commemorate his achievements. (Good Morning America


You better watch out, you better not cry — Santa Claus is coming to FaceTime. Santa Claus is taking some time out of his busy list-checking schedule to host virtual meetings with children across the nation, reminding them to stay positive and well-behaved during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Fox News)

 
ICYMI: STEVE'S INTERVIEWS, 15 MINUTES EACH

> Steve interviews NATO Deputy Secretary General MIRCEA GENONA 

> Steve interviews Vanda Pharmaceuticals President and CEO MIHAEL POLYMEROPOULOS

> Steve interviews Seattle Mayor JENNY DURKAN

> Steve interviews Pfizer’s chief scientist MIKAEL DOLSTEN 

> Steve interviews UAE Ambassador to U.S. YOUSEF AL OTAIBA 

> Steve interviews Sen. CHRISTOPHER COONS (D-Del.) 

> Steve interviews Edelman Public Relations CEO RICHARD EDELMAN 

> Steve interviews Rep. DONNA SHALALA (D-Fla.) 


Watch all Coronavirus Report interviews here.

 
YOUR WORLD, YOUR STORIES

 

Wedding bells, reimagined. Congratulations to our reader Joseph Casavecchia and his wife, Emma, who – despite their long-anticipated wedding being canceled due to the pandemic – were still able to tie the knot at an audience-free destination wedding in the Grand Canyon. Read the full story here. 



 

SEND US YOUR OWN PICS – from your own walks or adventures – during this time of physical distancing but social connection. And SEND US YOUR STORIES of how teleworking is going, what you have learned from homeschooling, new ways to exercise, and special moments or standout heroism you want to share. What’s working for you? What’s comic in these dark days? 

 

Send to YourStories@TheHill.com. Our thoughts are with you, our readers, and we hope and trust that no matter the weight of burdens on you now — and it’s not a good story for everyone we know — that we all stand together, resilient and confident, on the other side of this. There will be another side.


CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Hill’s Coronavirus Report. To stay up-to-date on all things coronavirus, visit TheHill.com and SUBSCRIBE to our Overnight Healthcare newsletter for the latest developments from the daily White House coronavirus task force briefings.

 

 
To view past editions of The Hill's Coronavirus Daily Update, CLICK HERE.
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