Governors sound alarm for aid

Governors, mayors, hospital administrators and doctors across the United States on Sunday called on the federal government to supply them with desperately needed medical supplies as the number of people being tested and confirmed with the coronavirus surged.

On Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in his state had risen to 15,168 — roughly 5 percent of the pandemic's growing global total— and the death toll in the state is 114, both highest in the nation.

Cuomo urged President Donald Trump to use the Defense Production Act to compel companies to manufacture much-needed masks, gowns and ventilators. He said states were competing with one another for the protective gear.

"I'm trying to buy masks. I'm competing with California and Illinois and Florida," Cuomo said, adding that price-gouging has become "a tremendous problem", noting that price gouging and simple scarcity economics have forced the state to in some cases to pay "$7 for masks that used to cost 85 cents".

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker echoed Cuomo's comments. "We're competing against each other. We're competing against other countries. You know, it's a Wild West, I would say, out there. And indeed, we're overpaying, I would say, for (personal protective equipment), because of that competition," he said Sunday.

Trump has so far declined to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order companies. Some – including Tesla, General Motors and Ford — are volunteering to make supplies.

At a White House news conference on Sunday, Trump reiterated his stand against implementing the act.

Trump touted the shipment of tens of thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment from the national stockpile to those states, including gloves, masks and gowns.

3M, a large manufacturer of N95 masks for medical workers, said it is shipping half a million to New York and Seattle, with arrivals starting Monday.

Trump also said that the federal government would fund "100 percent" of the National Guard units called out in New York, California and Washington state.

He said troops would help construct additional medical facilities at specified sites in each state: New York will receive four federal medical stations with 1,000 hospital beds; California will receive eight medical stations with 2,000 beds; and Washington will receive several stations and 1,000 beds.

"We're dealing also with other states. These states have been hit the hardest," Trump said.

New York state on Tuesday will begin testing drugs that could be used to combat the coronavirus, Cuomo said. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shipped doses of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and chloroquine to the state, Cuomo said. He credited the FDA for moving expeditiously to provide the drugs.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that "HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine."

Dr Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said on Saturday, "I'm not totally sure what the president was referring to. Many things you hear out there are what I call anecdotal reports. They may be true, but they're anecdotal. If you really want to definitively know if something works, you have to do the kind of trial that you get the good information with."

In Washington, a government rescue package estimated at close to $2 trillion, the largest economic stimulus measure in modern American history, was dealt a blow on Sunday after Democrats blocked action in the Senate, saying it didn't adequately protect workers or impose strict enough restrictions on bailed-out businesses.

In a procedural vote it was blocked 47-47. Several Republican senators were not in the chamber: Rand Paul, who announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus earlier in the day, and Utah's senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney.

Ohio and Louisiana on Sunday became the latest states to announce statewide stay-at-home orders, which take effect Monday night. Ohio's order lasts until April 6, while Louisiana's extends until April 12.

New York's Cuomo also took issue with what he called the "insensitive" and "arrogant" behavior of New York City residents who continued to gather in parks and other public spaces. Cuomo indicated that he would give the city 24 hours to come up with a plan to reduce density in those spaces, which he would need to approve. Cuomo suggested that city officials could close some streets to traffic to give residents more outdoor space.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been placed under quarantine after a doctor who administered a vaccine to her on Friday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Some 3,500 doctors and other health workers in Spain have tested positive for the coronavirus.