NEW YORK (AP) — The government’s lending program for small businesses is on hold.

The Small Business Administration said Thursday that it reached the $349 billion lending limit for the program, after approving nearly 1.7 million loans.

Thousands of small business owners whose loans have not yet been processed must now wait for Congress to approve a Trump administration request for another $250 billion for the program. Lawmakers have been haggling over whether to extend the program as it stands now, or whether to add provisions that, among other things, would help minority businesses. It’s unclear when they might reach an agreement that would allow loan approvals to continue.

Business owners left in limbo were getting more anxious after hearing the program was on hold.

“Ugh. I'm starting to stress a bit,” said Greg Corey, who applied when the program launched April 3. He last heard from his bank on Saturday. Corey, owner of Porchlight, an Atlanta-based advertising and marketing firm, has been cutting expenses and work for freelancers so he can keep paying his staff of 10.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA head Jovita Carranza on Wednesday urged Congress to approve more funds. Meanwhile, thousands of businesses are still applying, hoping to get loans when Congress approves an extension of the program.

The fight in Congress over the extension is along party lines. Republicans are amping up the political pressure in hopes of getting a relatively narrowly-drawn infusion of $250 billion in funding into the program, but top Democrats are seeking to add funding for hospitals and state and local governments.

Action on Capitol Hill is complicated by the shuttering of the Capitol other than for pro forma sessions that require unanimous agreement in order for any legislation to advance. The sums are unlike anything that has passed under conditions requiring such unanimous consent — a wholly unprecedented situation that has scrambled the power dynamics inside the Capitol.

Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California are also seeking to add provisions that among other things would help minority businesses.

A Senate session Thursday afternoon likely won’t produce any progress, which means the business payroll subsidy program won’t get funding until next week at the earliest.

The most likely outcome if there is to be a successful result could be a relatively narrowly-drawn bill involving additional funding for hospitals and maybe testing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587060914300.png" alt="Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin answers questions outside the White House this week.- photo courtesy Dept. of Treasury" />
 <figcaption>Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin answers questions outside the White House this week.- photo courtesy Dept. of Treasury</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The government’s lending program for small businesses is on hold.The Small Business Administration said Thursday that it reached the $349 billion lending limit for the program, after approving nearly 1.7 million loans.Thousands of small business owners whose loans have not yet been processed must now wait for Congress to approve a Trump administration request for another $250 billion for the program. Lawmakers have been haggling over whether to extend the program as it stands now, or whether to add provisions that, among other things, would help minority businesses. It’s unclear when they might reach an agreement that would allow loan approvals to continue.Business owners left in limbo were getting more anxious after hearing the program was on hold.“Ugh. I'm starting to stress a bit,” said Greg Corey, who applied when the program launched April 3. He last heard from his bank on Saturday. Corey, owner of Porchlight, an Atlanta-based advertising and marketing firm, has been cutting expenses and work for freelancers so he can keep paying his staff of 10.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA head Jovita Carranza on Wednesday urged Congress to approve more funds. Meanwhile, thousands of businesses are still applying, hoping to get loans when Congress approves an extension of the program.The fight in Congress over the extension is along party lines. Republicans are amping up the political pressure in hopes of getting a relatively narrowly-drawn infusion of $250 billion in funding into the program, but top Democrats are seeking to add funding for hospitals and state and local governments.Action on Capitol Hill is complicated by the shuttering of the Capitol other than for pro forma sessions that require unanimous agreement in order for any legislation to advance. The sums are unlike anything that has passed under conditions requiring such unanimous consent — a wholly unprecedented situation that has scrambled the power dynamics inside the Capitol.Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California are also seeking to add provisions that among other things would help minority businesses.A Senate session Thursday afternoon likely won’t produce any progress, which means the business payroll subsidy program won’t get funding until next week at the earliest.The most likely outcome if there is to be a successful result could be a relatively narrowly-drawn bill involving additional funding for hospitals and maybe testing.

Virus relief: Government lending program for small businesses on hold

The Kansas Department of Health released the latest coronavirus numbers Thursday afternoon.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here for </a>additional details

The Kansas Department of Health released the latest coronavirus numbers Thursday afternoon.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here for </a>additional details<figure>
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KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — Reno has rallied, and the work continues.

Debra Teufel with the Chamber noted that the <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">Rally Reno</a> program has passed the $100,000 mark with $101,325 in gift card sales as of Thursday morning. The program has sold 1,770 gift cards to 467 customers. Each customer has averaged $216 in orders. The webpage has over 30,000 views with 4500 unique visitors to the <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a> site.

The El Dorado and Winfield chambers have reached out to start similar programs in their communities.

These numbers have all been accomplished in just 22 days and 90 businesses are participating. Donors have agreed to continue to look at contributing to keep the match between <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a> and the unmet needs fund through United Way of Reno County going, but there is no specific number as to how far above $100,000 the match will go as of Thursday morning.

If you need to buy gift cards, or to apply for assistance through the unmet needs fund, you can find links to do both at <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585236822615.jpeg" alt="" />
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 </figure>
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — Reno has rallied, and the work continues.Debra Teufel with the Chamber noted that the <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">Rally Reno</a> program has passed the $100,000 mark with $101,325 in gift card sales as of Thursday morning. The program has sold 1,770 gift cards to 467 customers. Each customer has averaged $216 in orders. The webpage has over 30,000 views with 4500 unique visitors to the <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a> site.The El Dorado and Winfield chambers have reached out to start similar programs in their communities.These numbers have all been accomplished in just 22 days and 90 businesses are participating. Donors have agreed to continue to look at contributing to keep the match between <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a> and the unmet needs fund through United Way of Reno County going, but there is no specific number as to how far above $100,000 the match will go as of Thursday morning.If you need to buy gift cards, or to apply for assistance through the unmet needs fund, you can find links to do both at <a href="https://rallyreno.org/">RallyReno.org</a>.

Rally Reno passes $100,000 in gift card sales

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Smithfield Foods will temporarily close its plants in Cudahy, Wisconsin, and Martin City, Missouri, because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Martin City is a neighborhood of Kansas City located along the Missouri and Kansas border in Jackson County.)

The plant near Milwaukee will be closed for two weeks while the facility in Missouri is closed indefinitely. The Missouri plant receives raw material from the company's Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility, which is also closed.

Smithfield Foods has reported 518 infections in employees in Sioux Falls and another 126 in people connected to them.

Smithfield said a small number of employees at the Wisconsin and Missouri plants have tested positive for COVID-19.

The company is based in Smithfield, Virginia and employs over 1,000 workers at the Cudahy plant.

John Eiden, president of the United Food &amp; Commercial Workers Union Local 1473, raised concerns that the company wasn’t doing enough to protect workers in a letter to Smithfield’s human resources department, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/south/news/cudahy/2020/04/15/coronavirus-milwaukee-patrick-cudahy-plant-close-2-weeks/5141310002/">Journal Sentinel&nbsp;</a>reported.

The March 26 letter said two employees have tested positive for coronavirus, but not all union members were informed of the second case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587045646390.png" alt="Photo courtesy Smithfield foods" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Smithfield foods</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Smithfield Foods will temporarily close its plants in Cudahy, Wisconsin, and Martin City, Missouri, because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Martin City is a neighborhood of Kansas City located along the Missouri and Kansas border in Jackson County.)The plant near Milwaukee will be closed for two weeks while the facility in Missouri is closed indefinitely. The Missouri plant receives raw material from the company's Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility, which is also closed.Smithfield Foods has reported 518 infections in employees in Sioux Falls and another 126 in people connected to them.Smithfield said a small number of employees at the Wisconsin and Missouri plants have tested positive for COVID-19.The company is based in Smithfield, Virginia and employs over 1,000 workers at the Cudahy plant.John Eiden, president of the United Food &amp; Commercial Workers Union Local 1473, raised concerns that the company wasn’t doing enough to protect workers in a letter to Smithfield’s human resources department, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/south/news/cudahy/2020/04/15/coronavirus-milwaukee-patrick-cudahy-plant-close-2-weeks/5141310002/">Journal Sentinel&nbsp;</a>reported.The March 26 letter said two employees have tested positive for coronavirus, but not all union members were informed of the second case.

Smithfield foods closes plants in Kansas City and Wisconsin


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has extended the state's Stay Home order until May 3, but what comes after that? A group of Republican legislators sent her a letter asking for her plan. Among them is Rep. Paul Waggoner.

"People need to know, what are the metrics?" Waggoner asked. "There's a real ambiguity as to what is considered bad enough. That's even framed poorly. The initial point of bending the curve was that we didn't want to overwhelm our hospitals."

To this point, actual hospital usage hasn't been that large of a problem in Reno County.

"If you took away the issue with personal protective equipment, that seems to be an issue that seems to be kind of getting solved and you took away the issue with having test kits available, to make that more freely," said Waggoner. "Frankly, those two things have been the issues that have been more scary to people."

The problem is that those issues, at least in terms of supply chain, really haven't gone away long-term. Waggoner is looking at it from a health care resource perspective.

"It would be nice if we had a metric," Waggoner said. "As long as the numbers are, you know, it's less than this many people that have it, in a serious fashion or have to be hospitalized, we'll continue loosening. If it gets above that, or noticeably above that, we'll have to go back to some other level."

Legislative leadership has not decided if or when they will return to wrap up the 2020 session.

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587035426296.jpeg" alt="" />
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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has extended the state's Stay Home order until May 3, but what comes after that? A group of Republican legislators sent her a letter asking for her plan. Among them is Rep. Paul Waggoner."People need to know, what are the metrics?" Waggoner asked. "There's a real ambiguity as to what is considered bad enough. That's even framed poorly. The initial point of bending the curve was that we didn't want to overwhelm our hospitals."To this point, actual hospital usage hasn't been that large of a problem in Reno County."If you took away the issue with personal protective equipment, that seems to be an issue that seems to be kind of getting solved and you took away the issue with having test kits available, to make that more freely," said Waggoner. "Frankly, those two things have been the issues that have been more scary to people."The problem is that those issues, at least in terms of supply chain, really haven't gone away long-term. Waggoner is looking at it from a health care resource perspective."It would be nice if we had a metric," Waggoner said. "As long as the numbers are, you know, it's less than this many people that have it, in a serious fashion or have to be hospitalized, we'll continue loosening. If it gets above that, or noticeably above that, we'll have to go back to some other level."Legislative leadership has not decided if or when they will return to wrap up the 2020 session.

Waggoner: Kelly should let legislators know metrics for reopening state

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly faced increased pressure Wednesday from the Republican-controlled Legislature to outline plans for reopening the state’s economy even as she extended a statewide stay-at-home order and prepared to send money to hospitals struggling in the coronavirus pandemic.

Kelly is keeping her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/425a488fcf8f16dfb0d7e06a9293b1ff">shelter-in-place directive active&nbsp;</a>for all 2.9 million Kansas residents until May 3, an additional two weeks. It initially took effect March 30 and was to stay in place until Sunday, but Kelly said the coronavirus outbreak might not peak until April 29. The state saw a 4.8% increase Wednesday in confirmed coronavirus cases, to 1,494, and the number of reported COVID-19 related deaths jumped to 76, up seven from the day before.

The Democratic governor called a teleconference meeting with top legislative leaders to get their permission to purchase another $10 million in personal protective equipment. She also informed lawmakers of plans to provide $17 million in state funds to hospitals to offset losses until aid promised by the U.S. government starts flowing.

But more than 40 Republican legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://apdocs.inside.ap.org/documents/150873-letter-to-kelly-04-14-20.html" target="_blank">demanded in a letter</a>&nbsp;that she provide a detailed plan for allowing businesses to reopen, saying “there is no excuse for us not to be prepared to rebuild.” And House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, admonished Kelly that the aid to hospitals helps only one segment of the economy.

“We can’t help out the whole economy — I’m not saying we can — but the one thing we can do is to get people back to work, get people back to making money, being able to pay their bills,” Hawkins said.

Kelly already faces strong criticism from Republicans for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9cc005f93f1daa0edd5fcfbc581351e5">limiting in-person worship services</a>&nbsp;and religious gatherings to 10 or fewer people, which GOP leaders see as restricting religious freedom.

She’s also under fire from Republicans because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d0f463f9d78d0d9facb06d9a21c20d96">a surge in unemployment claims</a>&nbsp;from jobless workers has overwhelmed the state Department of Labor’s phone lines and website. Kelly said Wednesday that 150 workers are handling calls, up from 21 when the coronavirus outbreak began in Kansas in early March, and a team of 30 people is working around-the-clock on the processing system.

Kelly said she’s working on a plan to loosen restrictions, which could be done regionally or industry-by-industry. But she said schools won’t reopen until at least August, large gatherings may be banned for some time and the state won’t “throw the doors wide open.”

“Life as we’ve known it won’t be the same for quite a while,” Kelly told legislative leaders. “Until we have a vaccine that works, we’re going to probably have to be dealing with some mitigation effort.”

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.

Black Kansans have been disproportionately affected. They’ve had 114 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 33 cases per 100,000 for white residents as of Wednesday. Even more startling is the difference in death rates: 11.5 per 100,000 for black residents, compared to just 1.4 for white residents. However, the information is incomplete, with missing racial data for 23% of cases and 12% of deaths.

Kelly described the trend as “alarming” in a written statement and said it “points to, among other things, inequalities in healthcare.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586999622631.png" alt="Governor Laura Kelly answers questions during Wednesday's press conference where she extended the stay-at-home order to May 3" />
 <figcaption>Governor Laura Kelly answers questions during Wednesday's press conference where she extended the stay-at-home order to May 3</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTHTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly faced increased pressure Wednesday from the Republican-controlled Legislature to outline plans for reopening the state’s economy even as she extended a statewide stay-at-home order and prepared to send money to hospitals struggling in the coronavirus pandemic.Kelly is keeping her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/425a488fcf8f16dfb0d7e06a9293b1ff">shelter-in-place directive active&nbsp;</a>for all 2.9 million Kansas residents until May 3, an additional two weeks. It initially took effect March 30 and was to stay in place until Sunday, but Kelly said the coronavirus outbreak might not peak until April 29. The state saw a 4.8% increase Wednesday in confirmed coronavirus cases, to 1,494, and the number of reported COVID-19 related deaths jumped to 76, up seven from the day before.The Democratic governor called a teleconference meeting with top legislative leaders to get their permission to purchase another $10 million in personal protective equipment. She also informed lawmakers of plans to provide $17 million in state funds to hospitals to offset losses until aid promised by the U.S. government starts flowing.But more than 40 Republican legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://apdocs.inside.ap.org/documents/150873-letter-to-kelly-04-14-20.html" target="_blank">demanded in a letter</a>&nbsp;that she provide a detailed plan for allowing businesses to reopen, saying “there is no excuse for us not to be prepared to rebuild.” And House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, admonished Kelly that the aid to hospitals helps only one segment of the economy.“We can’t help out the whole economy — I’m not saying we can — but the one thing we can do is to get people back to work, get people back to making money, being able to pay their bills,” Hawkins said.Kelly already faces strong criticism from Republicans for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9cc005f93f1daa0edd5fcfbc581351e5">limiting in-person worship services</a>&nbsp;and religious gatherings to 10 or fewer people, which GOP leaders see as restricting religious freedom.She’s also under fire from Republicans because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d0f463f9d78d0d9facb06d9a21c20d96">a surge in unemployment claims</a>&nbsp;from jobless workers has overwhelmed the state Department of Labor’s phone lines and website. Kelly said Wednesday that 150 workers are handling calls, up from 21 when the coronavirus outbreak began in Kansas in early March, and a team of 30 people is working around-the-clock on the processing system.Kelly said she’s working on a plan to loosen restrictions, which could be done regionally or industry-by-industry. But she said schools won’t reopen until at least August, large gatherings may be banned for some time and the state won’t “throw the doors wide open.”“Life as we’ve known it won’t be the same for quite a while,” Kelly told legislative leaders. “Until we have a vaccine that works, we’re going to probably have to be dealing with some mitigation effort.”For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.Black Kansans have been disproportionately affected. They’ve had 114 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 33 cases per 100,000 for white residents as of Wednesday. Even more startling is the difference in death rates: 11.5 per 100,000 for black residents, compared to just 1.4 for white residents. However, the information is incomplete, with missing racial data for 23% of cases and 12% of deaths.Kelly described the trend as “alarming” in a written statement and said it “points to, among other things, inequalities in healthcare.”____

Kansas governor squeezed on economy but extends restrictions

Harvey County Public Information Officer

NEWTON, Kan. — A Harvey County woman who recently died of leukemia has been confirmed as the fifth presumptive-positive case of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Harvey County.

The confirmed case is a woman in her 30s. The woman died April 9. While she tested presumptive-positive for COVID-19 in the days before her death, acute leukemia was defined as her cause of death. The woman had been hospitalized at an out-of-county medical facility. Testing was completed by a private lab. The Health Department has completed follow-up on all contacts.

“We are again saddened by the loss of another community member, though this time not related to COVID-19. Our thoughts are with this Harvey County resident’s friends and family,” Harvey County Health Department Director Lynnette Redington said.

As of today, the KDHE has confirmed 1,494 cases of COVID-19 in Kansas, including 76 deaths. Harvey County has now had five confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of Harvey County’s five confirmed cases, three individuals have recovered. Harvey County reported its first confirmed case March 26.

The KDHE has also classified two Harvey County cases as probable for COVID-19, including one death. The cases are probable because they met clinical criteria with a presumptive-positive lab test for blood work, but were negative in testing for an active COVID-19 virus. The KDHE has not included probable cases in its confirmed statistics at this time. The two deaths in Harvey County are not related.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584475841056.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By KYLE McCASKEYHarvey County Public Information OfficerNEWTON, Kan. — A Harvey County woman who recently died of leukemia has been confirmed as the fifth presumptive-positive case of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Harvey County.The confirmed case is a woman in her 30s. The woman died April 9. While she tested presumptive-positive for COVID-19 in the days before her death, acute leukemia was defined as her cause of death. The woman had been hospitalized at an out-of-county medical facility. Testing was completed by a private lab. The Health Department has completed follow-up on all contacts.“We are again saddened by the loss of another community member, though this time not related to COVID-19. Our thoughts are with this Harvey County resident’s friends and family,” Harvey County Health Department Director Lynnette Redington said.As of today, the KDHE has confirmed 1,494 cases of COVID-19 in Kansas, including 76 deaths. Harvey County has now had five confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of Harvey County’s five confirmed cases, three individuals have recovered. Harvey County reported its first confirmed case March 26.The KDHE has also classified two Harvey County cases as probable for COVID-19, including one death. The cases are probable because they met clinical criteria with a presumptive-positive lab test for blood work, but were negative in testing for an active COVID-19 virus. The KDHE has not included probable cases in its confirmed statistics at this time. The two deaths in Harvey County are not related.

Harvey County confirms fifth COVID-19 case, unrelated death

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Certainly it will be hard to celebrate Third Thursday with the stay-at-home order in place, but Hutch Rec is hoping to share the monthly event in a different way while providing something special for children during school lunch pickup.

During lunch distribution, the Third Thursday Youth Activity Book will be handed out.

Local artists have united to create an activity/coloring book that is available for youth in Hutchinson and Reno County. Printed copies will be available at the Hutchinson USD 308 and Buhler USD 313 lunch pickup sites on April 17, as well as at Dillons Marketplace.

A digital version will also be available to download and print at <a href="https://www.hutchrec.com/overview-of-community-events-races/third-thursday/">thirdthursdayhutch.com</a>.

Lunch on Thursday will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at HMS-7, HMS-8 and McCandless Elementary School in USD 308, and at Union Valley Elementary School on East 30th from 11 a.m. until noon in USD 313.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1576695224661.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Certainly it will be hard to celebrate Third Thursday with the stay-at-home order in place, but Hutch Rec is hoping to share the monthly event in a different way while providing something special for children during school lunch pickup.During lunch distribution, the Third Thursday Youth Activity Book will be handed out.Local artists have united to create an activity/coloring book that is available for youth in Hutchinson and Reno County. Printed copies will be available at the Hutchinson USD 308 and Buhler USD 313 lunch pickup sites on April 17, as well as at Dillons Marketplace.A digital version will also be available to download and print at <a href="https://www.hutchrec.com/overview-of-community-events-races/third-thursday/">thirdthursdayhutch.com</a>.Lunch on Thursday will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at HMS-7, HMS-8 and McCandless Elementary School in USD 308, and at Union Valley Elementary School on East 30th from 11 a.m. until noon in USD 313.

Hutch Rec to offer something extra for kids on Third Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he’s prepared to announce new guidelines allowing some states to quickly ease up on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/fa1fda126fe191425abc20ab461dfbe7">social distancing</a>&nbsp;even as business leaders told him they need more&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c335958b1f8f6a37b19b421bc7759722">coronavirus testing</a>&nbsp;and personal protective equipment before people can safely go back to work.

The industry executives cautioned Trump that the return to normalcy will be anything but swift.

The new guidelines, expected to be announced Thursday, are aimed at clearing the way for an easing of restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while keeping them in place in harder-hit places. The ultimate decisions will remain with governors.

“We’ll be opening some states much sooner than others,” Trump said Wednesday.

But in a round of calls with business leaders earlier in the day, Trump was warned that a dramatic increasing in testing and wider availability of protective equipment will be necessary for the safe restoration of their operations.

The new guidelines come as the federal government envisions a gradual recovery from the virus, in which disruptive mitigation measures may be needed in some places at least until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/76b614811eef32955180c8260188bc24">a vaccine</a>&nbsp;is available — a milestone unlikely to be reached until next year.

Trump said at his daily briefing that data indicates the U.S. is “past the peak” of the COVID-19 epidemic, clearing the way for his plans to roll out guidelines to begin to “reopen” the country.

He called the latest data “encouraging,” saying the numbers have “put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/ad29c4d8fd12aeb00bd05ad96708f325">Dr. Deborah Birx</a>, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, added that data from across the country showed the nation “improving” but that Americans had to recommit to social distancing to keep up the positive momentum.

She said nine states have fewer than 1,000 cases and just a few dozen new cases per day. She said those would likely be the first to see a lifting in social distancing restrictions at the direction of their governors under the guidelines set to be released Thursday.

Birx said the White House was particularly concerned about Rhode Island, noting it is now seeing a surge in cases from the Boston metro area after seeing a spike several weeks ago from cases from New York.

Trump consulted dozens of high-profile CEOs, union officials and other executives via conference calls Wednesday.

He received a mixed message from the industry leaders. They, too, said they want to get the economy going but had worries about how to safely do so.

In a tweet midway through Trump’s round of conference calls with the executives, the president said the participants were “all-in on getting America back to work, and soon.”

But participants in a morning call that included dozens of leading American companies raised concerns about the testing issue, according to one participant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion.

Another person who participated in Wednesday’s calls said it was stressed to Trump that expansion of testing and contact tracing was crucial, as well as guidelines for best practices on reopening businesses in phases or in one fell swoop.

The participant said those on the call noted to the administration that there was about to be a massive rush on personal protective equipment. Many businesses that are now shuttered will need the protective equipment to keep their employees and customers safe.

Trump was told “the economy will look very different and operations will look very different,” one participant said.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was among several representatives from major sports leagues to speak with Trump. During a Fox News Channel interview ahead of the calls, he credited the president with gathering some of the “best of the best” to help shape his approach on reopening the economy. Still, Cuban did not embrace Trump’s push to reopen parts of the economy May 1.

“This is such a moving target that I think the biggest mistake we can make is rush to a decision,” said Cuban, who previously had been critical of Trump’s response to the pandemic. “But I’m going to help him in every way I can, whatever he needs me to do.”

The panel, which Trump dubbed the new Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, also could help give Trump a measure of cover. If cases surge once restrictions are lifted, as many experts have warned, Trump will be able to tell the public he didn’t act alone and the nation’s top minds — from manufacturing to defense to technology — helped shape the plan.

Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, who participated in one of the calls with Trump, said there was also discussion about tax relief as well as “making sure that people are optimistic about the economy and they feel safe coming back to work.”

“I think you’ll see steps to reopen the country at different rates in different states in the not too distant future,” Nolan said.

The launch of the council was not without hiccups.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka didn’t know until he heard his name announced in the Rose Garden on Tuesday that he would be part of the advisory group, according to Carolyn Bobb, a spokeswoman for the union.

“We were not asked,” Bobb said in an email. It was “just announced.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Trump has appointed some “smart people” to his task force who could offer state leaders helpful guidelines as they negotiate the way forward.

“There are certain roles that only the federal government can play and should play, but I think the governors are going to make their own decisions within those recommended guidelines,” Hogan said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587031848543.png" alt="President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue during Wednesday's Coronavirus Task Force briefing in the White House Rose Garden." />
 <figcaption>President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue during Wednesday's Coronavirus Task Force briefing in the White House Rose Garden.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he’s prepared to announce new guidelines allowing some states to quickly ease up on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/fa1fda126fe191425abc20ab461dfbe7">social distancing</a>&nbsp;even as business leaders told him they need more&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c335958b1f8f6a37b19b421bc7759722">coronavirus testing</a>&nbsp;and personal protective equipment before people can safely go back to work.The industry executives cautioned Trump that the return to normalcy will be anything but swift.The new guidelines, expected to be announced Thursday, are aimed at clearing the way for an easing of restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while keeping them in place in harder-hit places. The ultimate decisions will remain with governors.“We’ll be opening some states much sooner than others,” Trump said Wednesday.But in a round of calls with business leaders earlier in the day, Trump was warned that a dramatic increasing in testing and wider availability of protective equipment will be necessary for the safe restoration of their operations.The new guidelines come as the federal government envisions a gradual recovery from the virus, in which disruptive mitigation measures may be needed in some places at least until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/76b614811eef32955180c8260188bc24">a vaccine</a>&nbsp;is available — a milestone unlikely to be reached until next year.Trump said at his daily briefing that data indicates the U.S. is “past the peak” of the COVID-19 epidemic, clearing the way for his plans to roll out guidelines to begin to “reopen” the country.He called the latest data “encouraging,” saying the numbers have “put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586989213442.png" alt="Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator answered questions at Wednesday's briefing in the White House rose garden." />
 <figcaption>Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator answered questions at Wednesday's briefing in the White House rose garden.</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://apnews.com/ad29c4d8fd12aeb00bd05ad96708f325">Dr. Deborah Birx</a>, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, added that data from across the country showed the nation “improving” but that Americans had to recommit to social distancing to keep up the positive momentum.She said nine states have fewer than 1,000 cases and just a few dozen new cases per day. She said those would likely be the first to see a lifting in social distancing restrictions at the direction of their governors under the guidelines set to be released Thursday.Birx said the White House was particularly concerned about Rhode Island, noting it is now seeing a surge in cases from the Boston metro area after seeing a spike several weeks ago from cases from New York.Trump consulted dozens of high-profile CEOs, union officials and other executives via conference calls Wednesday.He received a mixed message from the industry leaders. They, too, said they want to get the economy going but had worries about how to safely do so.In a tweet midway through Trump’s round of conference calls with the executives, the president said the participants were “all-in on getting America back to work, and soon.”But participants in a morning call that included dozens of leading American companies raised concerns about the testing issue, according to one participant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion.Another person who participated in Wednesday’s calls said it was stressed to Trump that expansion of testing and contact tracing was crucial, as well as guidelines for best practices on reopening businesses in phases or in one fell swoop.The participant said those on the call noted to the administration that there was about to be a massive rush on personal protective equipment. Many businesses that are now shuttered will need the protective equipment to keep their employees and customers safe.Trump was told “the economy will look very different and operations will look very different,” one participant said.Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was among several representatives from major sports leagues to speak with Trump. During a Fox News Channel interview ahead of the calls, he credited the president with gathering some of the “best of the best” to help shape his approach on reopening the economy. Still, Cuban did not embrace Trump’s push to reopen parts of the economy May 1.“This is such a moving target that I think the biggest mistake we can make is rush to a decision,” said Cuban, who previously had been critical of Trump’s response to the pandemic. “But I’m going to help him in every way I can, whatever he needs me to do.”The panel, which Trump dubbed the new Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, also could help give Trump a measure of cover. If cases surge once restrictions are lifted, as many experts have warned, Trump will be able to tell the public he didn’t act alone and the nation’s top minds — from manufacturing to defense to technology — helped shape the plan.Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, who participated in one of the calls with Trump, said there was also discussion about tax relief as well as “making sure that people are optimistic about the economy and they feel safe coming back to work.”“I think you’ll see steps to reopen the country at different rates in different states in the not too distant future,” Nolan said.The launch of the council was not without hiccups.AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka didn’t know until he heard his name announced in the Rose Garden on Tuesday that he would be part of the advisory group, according to Carolyn Bobb, a spokeswoman for the union.“We were not asked,” Bobb said in an email. It was “just announced.”Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Trump has appointed some “smart people” to his task force who could offer state leaders helpful guidelines as they negotiate the way forward.“There are certain roles that only the federal government can play and should play, but I think the governors are going to make their own decisions within those recommended guidelines,” Hogan said.___

Trump says new guidelines aim to lift some restrictions

In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.

President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on&nbsp;<a href="http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9a9b-fea8db1a8f51" target="_blank">retrospective infection data</a>.

That delay from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 was neither the first mistake made by Chinese officials at all levels in confronting the outbreak, nor the longest lag, as governments around the world have dragged their feet for weeks and even months in addressing the virus.

But the delay by the first country to face the new coronavirus came at a critical time — the beginning of the outbreak. China’s attempt to walk a line between alerting the public and avoiding panic set the stage for a pandemic that has infected almost 2 million people and taken more than 126,000 lives.

“This is tremendous,” said Zuo-Feng Zhang, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “If they took action six days earlier, there would have been much fewer patients and medical facilities would have been sufficient. We might have avoided the collapse of Wuhan’s medical system.”

Other experts noted that the Chinese government may have waited on warning the public to stave off hysteria, and that it did act quickly in private during that time.

But the six-day delay by China’s leaders in Beijing came on top of almost two weeks during which the national Center for Disease Control did not register any cases from local officials, internal bulletins obtained by the AP confirm. Yet during that time, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 17, hundreds of patients were appearing in hospitals not just in Wuhan but across the country.

It’s uncertain whether it was local officials who failed to report cases or national officials who failed to record them. It’s also not clear exactly what officials knew at the time in Wuhan, which only opened back up last week with restrictions after its quarantine.

But what is clear, experts say, is that China’s rigid controls on information, bureaucratic hurdles and a reluctance to send bad news up the chain of command muffled early warnings.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6f2e666485e9abae4bb112251eca77be">The punishment of eight doctors for “rumor-mongering,”</a>&nbsp;broadcast on national television on Jan. 2, sent a chill through the city’s hospitals.

“Doctors in Wuhan were afraid,” said Dali Yang, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Chicago. “It was truly intimidation of an entire profession.”

Without these internal reports, it took the first case outside China, in Thailand on Jan. 13, to galvanize leaders in Beijing into recognizing the possible pandemic before them. It was only then that they launched a nationwide plan to find cases — distributing CDC-sanctioned test kits, easing the criteria for confirming cases and ordering health officials to screen patients, all without telling the public.

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied suppressing information in the early days, saying it immediately reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization.

“Those accusing China of lacking transparency and openness are unfair,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Wednesday when asked about the AP story.

The documents show that the head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, laid out a grim assessment of the situation on Jan. 14 in a confidential teleconference with provincial health officials. A memo states that the teleconference was held to convey instructions on the coronavirus from President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, but does not specify what those instructions were.

“The epidemic situation is still severe and complex, the most severe challenge since SARS in 2003, and is likely to develop into a major public health event,” the memo cites Ma as saying.

The National Health Commission is the top medical agency in the country. In a faxed statement, the Commission said it had organized the teleconference because of the case reported in Thailand and the possibility of the virus spreading during New Year travel. It added that China had published information on the outbreak in an “open, transparent, responsible and timely manner,” in accordance with “important instructions” repeatedly issued by President Xi.

The documents come from an anonymous source in the medical field who did not want to be named for fear of retribution. The AP confirmed the contents with two other sources in public health familiar with the teleconference. Some of the memo’s contents also appeared in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/fkdt/202002/e5e8a132ef8b42d484e6df53d4d110c1.shtml" target="_blank">a public notice about the teleconference</a>, stripped of key details and published in February.

Under a section titled “sober understanding of the situation,” the memo said that “clustered cases suggest that human-to-human transmission is possible.” It singled out the case in Thailand, saying that the situation had “changed significantly” because of the possible spread of the virus abroad.

“With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high,” the memo continued. “All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.”

In the memo, Ma demanded officials unite around Xi and made clear that political considerations and social stability were key priorities during the long lead-up to China’s two biggest political meetings of the year in March. While the documents do not spell out why Chinese leaders waited six days to make their concerns public, the meetings may be one reason.

“The imperatives for social stability, for not rocking the boat before these important Party congresses is pretty strong,” says Daniel Mattingly, a scholar of Chinese politics at Yale. “My guess is, they wanted to let it play out a little more and see what happened.”

In response to the teleconference, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing initiated the highest-level emergency response internally, level one, on Jan. 15. It assigned top CDC leaders to 14 working groups tasked with getting funds, training health workers, collecting data, doing field investigations and supervising laboratories, an internal CDC notice shows. The memo directed Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, to begin temperature checks at airports, bus and train stations, and cut down on large public gatherings.

The National Health Commission also distributed a 63-page set of instructions to provincial health officials, obtained by the AP. The instructions ordered health officials nationwide to identify suspected cases, hospitals to open fever clinics, and doctors and nurses to don protective gear. They were marked “internal” — “not to be spread on the internet,” “not to be publicly disclosed.”

In public, however, officials continued to downplay the threat, pointing to the 41 cases public at the time.

“We have reached the latest understanding that the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission is low,” Li Qun, the head of the China CDC’s emergency center,&nbsp;<a href="http://tv.cctv.com/2020/01/15/VIDEVPaxZBFtDLGUA6mk5PW2200115.shtml" target="_blank">told Chinese state television on Jan. 15</a>. That was the same day Li was appointed leader of a group preparing emergency plans for the level one response, a CDC notice shows.

On Jan. 20, President Xi issued his first public comments on the virus, saying the outbreak “must be taken seriously” and every possible measure pursued. A leading Chinese epidemiologist, Zhong Nanshan,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/14d7dcffa205d9022fa9ea593bb2a8c5">announced for the first time that the virus was transmissible from person to person on national television.</a>

If the public had been warned a week earlier to take actions such as social distancing, mask wearing and travel restrictions, cases could have been cut by up to two-thirds,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.03.20029843v3.full.pdf" target="_blank">one paper later found</a>. An earlier warning could have saved lives, said Zhang, the doctor in Los Angeles.

However, other health experts said the government took decisive action in private given the information available to them.

“They may not have said the right thing, but they were doing the right thing,” said Ray Yip, the retired founding head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s office in China. “On the 20th, they sounded the alarm for the whole country, which is not an unreasonable delay.”

If health officials raise the alarm prematurely, it can damage their credibility — “like crying wolf” —and cripple their ability to mobilize the public, said Benjamin Cowley, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong.

The delay may support accusations by President Donald Trump that the Chinese government’s secrecy held back the world’s response to the virus. However, even the public announcement on Jan. 20 left the U.S. nearly two months to prepare for the pandemic.

During those months,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6a8f85aad99607f313cca6ab1398e04d">Trump ignored the warnings of his own staff and dismissed the disease as nothing to worry about</a>, while the government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bc">failed to bolster medical supplies</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c335958b1f8f6a37b19b421bc7759722">deployed flawed testing kits</a>. Leaders across the world turned a blind eye to the outbreak, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for a strategy of “herd immunity” —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/193a0cfe074685144ade169084a68255">before falling ill himself.</a>&nbsp;Brazilian President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b21a296383694c6726d03e027134daf1">Jair Bolsonaro sneered at what he called “a little cold.”</a>

The early story of the pandemic in China shows missed opportunities at every step, the documents and AP interviews reveal. Under Xi, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades, increasing political repression has made officials more hesitant to report cases without a clear green light from the top.

“It really increased the stakes for officials, which made them reluctant to step out of line,” said Mattingly, the Yale professor. “It made it harder for people at the local level to report bad information.”

Doctors and nurses in Wuhan&nbsp;<a href="http://archive.vn/OLdHs#selection-871.108-890.0" target="_blank">told Chinese media</a>&nbsp;there were plenty of signs that the coronavirus could be transmitted between people as early as late December. Patients who had never been to the suspected source of the virus, the Huanan Seafood Market, were infected. Medical workers started falling ill.

But officials obstructed medical staff who tried to report such cases. They set tight criteria for confirming cases, where patients not only had to test positive, but samples had to be sent to Beijing and sequenced. They required staff to report to supervisors before sending information higher,&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.is/SYydC" target="_blank">Chinese media reports show.</a>&nbsp;And they punished doctors for warning about the disease.

As a result,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b981ea744ee2a25f89c5abb0e8c1e92f">no new cases were reported for almost two weeks from Jan. 5</a>, even as officials gathered in Wuhan for Hubei province’s two biggest political meetings of the year, internal China CDC bulletins confirm.

During this period, teams of experts dispatched to Wuhan by Beijing said they failed to find clear signs of danger and human-to-human transmission.

“China has many years of disease control, there’s absolutely no chance that this will spread widely because of Spring Festival travel,” the head of the first expert team, Xu Jianguo,&nbsp;<a href="https://takungpao.com/news/232108/2020/0105/400593.html#10006-weixin-1-52626-6b3bffd01fdde4900130bc5a2751b6d1" target="_blank">told Takungpao, a Hong Kong paper,</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6. He added there was “no evidence of human-to-human transmission” and that the threat from the virus was low.

The second expert team, dispatched on Jan. 8, similarly failed to unearth any clear signs of human-to-human transmission. Yet during their stay, more than half a dozen doctors and nurses had already fallen ill with the virus,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316" target="_blank">a retrospective China CDC study published in the New England Journal of Medicine would later show.</a>

The teams looked for patients with severe pneumonia, missing those with milder symptoms. They also narrowed the search to those who had visited the seafood market — which was in retrospect a mistake, said Cowling, the Hong Kong epidemiologist, who flew to Beijing to review the cases in late January.

In the weeks after the severity of the epidemic became clear, some experts accused Wuhan officials of intentionally hiding cases.

“I always suspected it was human-to-human transmissible,” said Wang Guangfa, the leader of the second expert team, in a Mar. 15 post on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. He fell ill with the virus soon after returning to Beijing on Jan. 16.

Wuhan’s then-mayor, Zhou Xianwang, blamed national regulations for the secrecy.

“As a local government official, I could disclose information only after being authorized,” Zhou told state media in late January. “A lot of people didn’t understand this.”

As a result, top Chinese officials appear to have been left in the dark.

“The CDC acted sluggishly, assuming all was fine,” said a state health expert, who declined to be named out of fear of retribution. “If we started to do something a week or two earlier, things could have been so much different.”

It wasn’t just Wuhan. In Shenzhen in southern China, hundreds of miles away, a team led by microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung used their own test kits to confirm that six members of a family of seven had the virus on Jan. 12.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-03-09/exclusive-qa-with-hong-kongs-yuen-kwok-yung-who-helped-confirm-coronaviruss-human-spread-101526079.html" target="_blank">In an interview with Caixin</a>, a respected Chinese finance magazine, Yuen said he informed CDC branches “of all levels,” including Beijing. But internal CDC numbers did not reflect Yuen’s report, the bulletins show.

When the Thai case was reported, health authorities finally drew up an internal plan to systematically identify, isolate, test, and treat all cases of the new coronavirus nationwide.

Wuhan’s case count began to climb immediately — four on Jan. 17, then 17 the next day and 136 the day after. Across the country, dozens of cases began to surface, in some cases among patients who were infected earlier but had not yet been tested. In Zhejiang, for example,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.zjwjw.gov.cn/art/2020/1/21/art_1202101_41786033.html" target="_blank">a man hospitalized on Jan. 4 was only isolated on Jan. 17 and confirmed positive on Jan. 21.&nbsp;</a>In Shenzhen, the patients Yuen discovered on Jan. 12 were finally recorded as confirmed cases on Jan. 19.

The elite Peking Union Medical College Hospital held an emergency meeting on Jan. 18, instructing staff to adopt stringent isolation — still before Xi’s public warning. A health expert told AP that on Jan. 19, she toured a hospital built after the SARS outbreak, where medical workers had furiously prepared an entire building with hundreds of beds for pneumonia patients.

“Everybody in the country in the infectious disease field knew something was going on,” she said, declining to be named to avoid disrupting sensitive government consultations. “They were anticipating it.”

By Associated PressIn the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on&nbsp;<a href="http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9a9b-fea8db1a8f51" target="_blank">retrospective infection data</a>.Six days.That delay from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 was neither the first mistake made by Chinese officials at all levels in confronting the outbreak, nor the longest lag, as governments around the world have dragged their feet for weeks and even months in addressing the virus.But the delay by the first country to face the new coronavirus came at a critical time — the beginning of the outbreak. China’s attempt to walk a line between alerting the public and avoiding panic set the stage for a pandemic that has infected almost 2 million people and taken more than 126,000 lives.“This is tremendous,” said Zuo-Feng Zhang, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “If they took action six days earlier, there would have been much fewer patients and medical facilities would have been sufficient. We might have avoided the collapse of Wuhan’s medical system.”Other experts noted that the Chinese government may have waited on warning the public to stave off hysteria, and that it did act quickly in private during that time.But the six-day delay by China’s leaders in Beijing came on top of almost two weeks during which the national Center for Disease Control did not register any cases from local officials, internal bulletins obtained by the AP confirm. Yet during that time, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 17, hundreds of patients were appearing in hospitals not just in Wuhan but across the country.It’s uncertain whether it was local officials who failed to report cases or national officials who failed to record them. It’s also not clear exactly what officials knew at the time in Wuhan, which only opened back up last week with restrictions after its quarantine.But what is clear, experts say, is that China’s rigid controls on information, bureaucratic hurdles and a reluctance to send bad news up the chain of command muffled early warnings.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6f2e666485e9abae4bb112251eca77be">The punishment of eight doctors for “rumor-mongering,”</a>&nbsp;broadcast on national television on Jan. 2, sent a chill through the city’s hospitals.“Doctors in Wuhan were afraid,” said Dali Yang, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Chicago. “It was truly intimidation of an entire profession.”Without these internal reports, it took the first case outside China, in Thailand on Jan. 13, to galvanize leaders in Beijing into recognizing the possible pandemic before them. It was only then that they launched a nationwide plan to find cases — distributing CDC-sanctioned test kits, easing the criteria for confirming cases and ordering health officials to screen patients, all without telling the public.The Chinese government has repeatedly denied suppressing information in the early days, saying it immediately reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization.“Those accusing China of lacking transparency and openness are unfair,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Wednesday when asked about the AP story.__The documents show that the head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, laid out a grim assessment of the situation on Jan. 14 in a confidential teleconference with provincial health officials. A memo states that the teleconference was held to convey instructions on the coronavirus from President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, but does not specify what those instructions were.“The epidemic situation is still severe and complex, the most severe challenge since SARS in 2003, and is likely to develop into a major public health event,” the memo cites Ma as saying.The National Health Commission is the top medical agency in the country. In a faxed statement, the Commission said it had organized the teleconference because of the case reported in Thailand and the possibility of the virus spreading during New Year travel. It added that China had published information on the outbreak in an “open, transparent, responsible and timely manner,” in accordance with “important instructions” repeatedly issued by President Xi.The documents come from an anonymous source in the medical field who did not want to be named for fear of retribution. The AP confirmed the contents with two other sources in public health familiar with the teleconference. Some of the memo’s contents also appeared in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/fkdt/202002/e5e8a132ef8b42d484e6df53d4d110c1.shtml" target="_blank">a public notice about the teleconference</a>, stripped of key details and published in February.Under a section titled “sober understanding of the situation,” the memo said that “clustered cases suggest that human-to-human transmission is possible.” It singled out the case in Thailand, saying that the situation had “changed significantly” because of the possible spread of the virus abroad.“With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high,” the memo continued. “All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.”In the memo, Ma demanded officials unite around Xi and made clear that political considerations and social stability were key priorities during the long lead-up to China’s two biggest political meetings of the year in March. While the documents do not spell out why Chinese leaders waited six days to make their concerns public, the meetings may be one reason.“The imperatives for social stability, for not rocking the boat before these important Party congresses is pretty strong,” says Daniel Mattingly, a scholar of Chinese politics at Yale. “My guess is, they wanted to let it play out a little more and see what happened.”In response to the teleconference, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing initiated the highest-level emergency response internally, level one, on Jan. 15. It assigned top CDC leaders to 14 working groups tasked with getting funds, training health workers, collecting data, doing field investigations and supervising laboratories, an internal CDC notice shows. The memo directed Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, to begin temperature checks at airports, bus and train stations, and cut down on large public gatherings.The National Health Commission also distributed a 63-page set of instructions to provincial health officials, obtained by the AP. The instructions ordered health officials nationwide to identify suspected cases, hospitals to open fever clinics, and doctors and nurses to don protective gear. They were marked “internal” — “not to be spread on the internet,” “not to be publicly disclosed.”In public, however, officials continued to downplay the threat, pointing to the 41 cases public at the time.“We have reached the latest understanding that the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission is low,” Li Qun, the head of the China CDC’s emergency center,&nbsp;<a href="http://tv.cctv.com/2020/01/15/VIDEVPaxZBFtDLGUA6mk5PW2200115.shtml" target="_blank">told Chinese state television on Jan. 15</a>. That was the same day Li was appointed leader of a group preparing emergency plans for the level one response, a CDC notice shows.On Jan. 20, President Xi issued his first public comments on the virus, saying the outbreak “must be taken seriously” and every possible measure pursued. A leading Chinese epidemiologist, Zhong Nanshan,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/14d7dcffa205d9022fa9ea593bb2a8c5">announced for the first time that the virus was transmissible from person to person on national television.</a>If the public had been warned a week earlier to take actions such as social distancing, mask wearing and travel restrictions, cases could have been cut by up to two-thirds,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.03.20029843v3.full.pdf" target="_blank">one paper later found</a>. An earlier warning could have saved lives, said Zhang, the doctor in Los Angeles.However, other health experts said the government took decisive action in private given the information available to them.“They may not have said the right thing, but they were doing the right thing,” said Ray Yip, the retired founding head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s office in China. “On the 20th, they sounded the alarm for the whole country, which is not an unreasonable delay.”If health officials raise the alarm prematurely, it can damage their credibility — “like crying wolf” —and cripple their ability to mobilize the public, said Benjamin Cowley, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong.The delay may support accusations by President Donald Trump that the Chinese government’s secrecy held back the world’s response to the virus. However, even the public announcement on Jan. 20 left the U.S. nearly two months to prepare for the pandemic.During those months,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6a8f85aad99607f313cca6ab1398e04d">Trump ignored the warnings of his own staff and dismissed the disease as nothing to worry about</a>, while the government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bc">failed to bolster medical supplies</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c335958b1f8f6a37b19b421bc7759722">deployed flawed testing kits</a>. Leaders across the world turned a blind eye to the outbreak, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for a strategy of “herd immunity” —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/193a0cfe074685144ade169084a68255">before falling ill himself.</a>&nbsp;Brazilian President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b21a296383694c6726d03e027134daf1">Jair Bolsonaro sneered at what he called “a little cold.”</a>_________________________The early story of the pandemic in China shows missed opportunities at every step, the documents and AP interviews reveal. Under Xi, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades, increasing political repression has made officials more hesitant to report cases without a clear green light from the top.“It really increased the stakes for officials, which made them reluctant to step out of line,” said Mattingly, the Yale professor. “It made it harder for people at the local level to report bad information.”Doctors and nurses in Wuhan&nbsp;<a href="http://archive.vn/OLdHs#selection-871.108-890.0" target="_blank">told Chinese media</a>&nbsp;there were plenty of signs that the coronavirus could be transmitted between people as early as late December. Patients who had never been to the suspected source of the virus, the Huanan Seafood Market, were infected. Medical workers started falling ill.But officials obstructed medical staff who tried to report such cases. They set tight criteria for confirming cases, where patients not only had to test positive, but samples had to be sent to Beijing and sequenced. They required staff to report to supervisors before sending information higher,&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.is/SYydC" target="_blank">Chinese media reports show.</a>&nbsp;And they punished doctors for warning about the disease.As a result,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b981ea744ee2a25f89c5abb0e8c1e92f">no new cases were reported for almost two weeks from Jan. 5</a>, even as officials gathered in Wuhan for Hubei province’s two biggest political meetings of the year, internal China CDC bulletins confirm.During this period, teams of experts dispatched to Wuhan by Beijing said they failed to find clear signs of danger and human-to-human transmission.“China has many years of disease control, there’s absolutely no chance that this will spread widely because of Spring Festival travel,” the head of the first expert team, Xu Jianguo,&nbsp;<a href="https://takungpao.com/news/232108/2020/0105/400593.html#10006-weixin-1-52626-6b3bffd01fdde4900130bc5a2751b6d1" target="_blank">told Takungpao, a Hong Kong paper,</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6. He added there was “no evidence of human-to-human transmission” and that the threat from the virus was low.The second expert team, dispatched on Jan. 8, similarly failed to unearth any clear signs of human-to-human transmission. Yet during their stay, more than half a dozen doctors and nurses had already fallen ill with the virus,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316" target="_blank">a retrospective China CDC study published in the New England Journal of Medicine would later show.</a>The teams looked for patients with severe pneumonia, missing those with milder symptoms. They also narrowed the search to those who had visited the seafood market — which was in retrospect a mistake, said Cowling, the Hong Kong epidemiologist, who flew to Beijing to review the cases in late January.In the weeks after the severity of the epidemic became clear, some experts accused Wuhan officials of intentionally hiding cases.“I always suspected it was human-to-human transmissible,” said Wang Guangfa, the leader of the second expert team, in a Mar. 15 post on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. He fell ill with the virus soon after returning to Beijing on Jan. 16.Wuhan’s then-mayor, Zhou Xianwang, blamed national regulations for the secrecy.“As a local government official, I could disclose information only after being authorized,” Zhou told state media in late January. “A lot of people didn’t understand this.”As a result, top Chinese officials appear to have been left in the dark.“The CDC acted sluggishly, assuming all was fine,” said a state health expert, who declined to be named out of fear of retribution. “If we started to do something a week or two earlier, things could have been so much different.”It wasn’t just Wuhan. In Shenzhen in southern China, hundreds of miles away, a team led by microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung used their own test kits to confirm that six members of a family of seven had the virus on Jan. 12.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-03-09/exclusive-qa-with-hong-kongs-yuen-kwok-yung-who-helped-confirm-coronaviruss-human-spread-101526079.html" target="_blank">In an interview with Caixin</a>, a respected Chinese finance magazine, Yuen said he informed CDC branches “of all levels,” including Beijing. But internal CDC numbers did not reflect Yuen’s report, the bulletins show.When the Thai case was reported, health authorities finally drew up an internal plan to systematically identify, isolate, test, and treat all cases of the new coronavirus nationwide.Wuhan’s case count began to climb immediately — four on Jan. 17, then 17 the next day and 136 the day after. Across the country, dozens of cases began to surface, in some cases among patients who were infected earlier but had not yet been tested. In Zhejiang, for example,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.zjwjw.gov.cn/art/2020/1/21/art_1202101_41786033.html" target="_blank">a man hospitalized on Jan. 4 was only isolated on Jan. 17 and confirmed positive on Jan. 21.&nbsp;</a>In Shenzhen, the patients Yuen discovered on Jan. 12 were finally recorded as confirmed cases on Jan. 19.The elite Peking Union Medical College Hospital held an emergency meeting on Jan. 18, instructing staff to adopt stringent isolation — still before Xi’s public warning. A health expert told AP that on Jan. 19, she toured a hospital built after the SARS outbreak, where medical workers had furiously prepared an entire building with hundreds of beds for pneumonia patients.“Everybody in the country in the infectious disease field knew something was going on,” she said, declining to be named to avoid disrupting sensitive government consultations. “They were anticipating it.”

China didn't warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days

By BRIAN GRIMMETT, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-04-15/kansas-hospitals-wont-say-how-full-theyre-getting-with-coronavirus-patients">Kansas News Service</a>

WICHITA, Kansas — Flatten the curve: A phrase that didn’t mean
 anything two months ago is now the driving factor behind social 
distancing, stay-at-home orders and limiting the number of people who 
can gather in one place.

The idea is to make sure hospitals aren’t
 overrun with severe COVID-19 cases, as well as help hospitals conserve 
limited resources such as personal protective equipment.

But in 
Kansas there isn’t publicly available data on whether a hospital is 
close to filling up. And few are willing to share that information.

At this point, the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/" target="_blank">Kansas Department of Health and Environment</a>
 said 327 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but it doesn’t 
provide which hospitals or whether patients have gone home.

<a href="https://www.stormontvail.org/" target="_blank">Stormont Vail in Topeka</a>
 is a rare exception. Every day, the hospital publishes a dashboard with
 information like how many patients it's treating for COVID-19, 
ventilator usage and tests administered. While it strays from giving 
specific numbers of available beds, it does provide a percentage of how 
many of its hospital and intensive care beds are in use.

“It displaces rumor,” Stormont Vail CEO Dr. Rob Kenagy said of releasing the information. “It displaces fear.”

He said early on there were a lot of questions from the community and staff about whether the hospital would be the next <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-ethics-speci/special-report-all-is-well-in-italy-triage-and-lies-for-virus-patients-idUSKBN2133KG" target="_blank">Italy</a>, Spain or <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/30/823970536/cuomo-makes-plea-to-medical-workers-nationwide-please-come-help-us-in-new-york" target="_blank">New York City</a> in terms of being overwhelmed. In their crisis plan, he said, transparency seemed like the best option.

The
 hospital is also providing a daily color-coded indicator of where they 
stand with personal protective equipment; green for good, yellow for 
getting low and red for critical need.

“If we were to get into a 
place where our capacity would be tested, we felt like it would be best 
for our community and our team members to know the detail of those 
capacity constraints,” Kenagy said.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital sends out a similar daily dashboard.

The <a href="http://www.medicalnewsnetwork.org/NewsNetwork/DocTalk/C/Coronavirus%20Media%20Briefing%20Thursday%204-9-20" target="_blank">University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas</a>,
 isn’t going quite that far. But it has provided a daily total of how 
many COVID-19 cases it's treating — hovering at about 30 for a few days.

“That’s
 really what’s telling us where we are on the curve because we haven't 
tested enough people out in the community,” said Dr. Steve Stites, the 
chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System. “We 
don’t have the same public health structure we once did. We don’t have 
the same testing we once had.”

In a news conference Tuesday, he 
said stagnant hospitalization numbers likely mean that the Kansas City 
area is flattening the curve.

Meanwhile, most other hospitals are 
keeping mum. Salina Regional Health Center, Saint Catherine Hospital in 
Garden City and the St. Luke’s Hospital system declined to provide 
capacity information. Ascension Via Christi in Wichita and HCA hospitals
 in the Kansas City metro did not respond to a request for data.

Some
 might not be used to giving out the information, others may be worried 
about competitors knowing any weaknesses. Either way, the information 
exists. It’s just not public.

<a href="https://www.kha-net.org/AboutKHA/" target="_blank">The Kansas Hospital Association</a>
 provides services for and lobbies on behalf of Kansas hospitals. In an 
emailed statement, KHA vice president Cindy Samuelson said its members 
are working with government officials on a daily basis to monitor and 
report system capacity, as well as planning for increased demand.

The
 good news, if there is such a thing during a pandemic, is that one of 
the main models predicting hospital resource use shows Kansas will have 
plenty of capacity.

Kansas is expected to <a href="https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/kansas" target="_blank">reach peak resource use on April 20, needing 485 beds</a>
 for coronavirus patients, according to the Institute for Health Metrics
 and Evaluation. The organization’s model shows the state has enough 
capacity for 4,810 COVID-19 patients. (IMHE calculated capacity based on
 a hospital's total number of beds minus their historical average daily 
use for other types of patients.)

“Quite honestly, we’re not at 
capacity yet,” KDHE Secretary Lee Norman said. “We have a lot of ability
 to surge in terms of the beds and the type of beds.”

Even the 
worst-case scenario of the IMHE model predicts Kansas would need only 
about 1,500 hospital beds — again, well under the system’s total 
capacity.

But a model is only as good as its assumptions, and doesn’t represent the individual needs of each region or hospital.

“If you actually have real data, that trumps any kind of model,” said <a href="http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-people/adalja/" target="_blank">Amesh Adalja</a>,
 an infectious disease physician and researcher at John Hopkins 
University. “We want our models to accurately reflect reality, but 
they’re not a substitute for reality.”

Local hospital 
administrators agreed that making sure the actual hospitalization 
numbers line up with the latest model depends on continued social 
distancing and staying at home efforts.

“The fact is that it has helped a tremendous amount,” Kenagy said. “And we will be able to weather the size of the surge.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the University of Kansas Health System.

Brian
 Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for 
KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on 
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en" target="_blank">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586981245204.png" alt="Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka is among those preparing for the worst when it comes to the COVID-19 outbreak. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka is among those preparing for the worst when it comes to the COVID-19 outbreak. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-04-15/kansas-hospitals-wont-say-how-full-theyre-getting-with-coronavirus-patients">Kansas News Service</a>WICHITA, Kansas — Flatten the curve: A phrase that didn’t mean
 anything two months ago is now the driving factor behind social 
distancing, stay-at-home orders and limiting the number of people who 
can gather in one place.The idea is to make sure hospitals aren’t
 overrun with severe COVID-19 cases, as well as help hospitals conserve 
limited resources such as personal protective equipment.But in 
Kansas there isn’t publicly available data on whether a hospital is 
close to filling up. And few are willing to share that information.At this point, the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/" target="_blank">Kansas Department of Health and Environment</a>
 said 327 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but it doesn’t 
provide which hospitals or whether patients have gone home.<a href="https://www.stormontvail.org/" target="_blank">Stormont Vail in Topeka</a>
 is a rare exception. Every day, the hospital publishes a dashboard with
 information like how many patients it's treating for COVID-19, 
ventilator usage and tests administered. While it strays from giving 
specific numbers of available beds, it does provide a percentage of how 
many of its hospital and intensive care beds are in use.“It displaces rumor,” Stormont Vail CEO Dr. Rob Kenagy said of releasing the information. “It displaces fear.”He said early on there were a lot of questions from the community and staff about whether the hospital would be the next <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-ethics-speci/special-report-all-is-well-in-italy-triage-and-lies-for-virus-patients-idUSKBN2133KG" target="_blank">Italy</a>, Spain or <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/30/823970536/cuomo-makes-plea-to-medical-workers-nationwide-please-come-help-us-in-new-york" target="_blank">New York City</a> in terms of being overwhelmed. In their crisis plan, he said, transparency seemed like the best option.The
 hospital is also providing a daily color-coded indicator of where they 
stand with personal protective equipment; green for good, yellow for 
getting low and red for critical need.“If we were to get into a 
place where our capacity would be tested, we felt like it would be best 
for our community and our team members to know the detail of those 
capacity constraints,” Kenagy said.Lawrence Memorial Hospital sends out a similar daily dashboard.The <a href="http://www.medicalnewsnetwork.org/NewsNetwork/DocTalk/C/Coronavirus%20Media%20Briefing%20Thursday%204-9-20" target="_blank">University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas</a>,
 isn’t going quite that far. But it has provided a daily total of how 
many COVID-19 cases it's treating — hovering at about 30 for a few days.“That’s
 really what’s telling us where we are on the curve because we haven't 
tested enough people out in the community,” said Dr. Steve Stites, the 
chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System. “We 
don’t have the same public health structure we once did. We don’t have 
the same testing we once had.”In a news conference Tuesday, he 
said stagnant hospitalization numbers likely mean that the Kansas City 
area is flattening the curve.Meanwhile, most other hospitals are 
keeping mum. Salina Regional Health Center, Saint Catherine Hospital in 
Garden City and the St. Luke’s Hospital system declined to provide 
capacity information. Ascension Via Christi in Wichita and HCA hospitals
 in the Kansas City metro did not respond to a request for data.Some
 might not be used to giving out the information, others may be worried 
about competitors knowing any weaknesses. Either way, the information 
exists. It’s just not public.<a href="https://www.kha-net.org/AboutKHA/" target="_blank">The Kansas Hospital Association</a>
 provides services for and lobbies on behalf of Kansas hospitals. In an 
emailed statement, KHA vice president Cindy Samuelson said its members 
are working with government officials on a daily basis to monitor and 
report system capacity, as well as planning for increased demand.<h2>Predicting the future</h2>The
 good news, if there is such a thing during a pandemic, is that one of 
the main models predicting hospital resource use shows Kansas will have 
plenty of capacity.Kansas is expected to <a href="https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/kansas" target="_blank">reach peak resource use on April 20, needing 485 beds</a>
 for coronavirus patients, according to the Institute for Health Metrics
 and Evaluation. The organization’s model shows the state has enough 
capacity for 4,810 COVID-19 patients. (IMHE calculated capacity based on
 a hospital's total number of beds minus their historical average daily 
use for other types of patients.)“Quite honestly, we’re not at 
capacity yet,” KDHE Secretary Lee Norman said. “We have a lot of ability
 to surge in terms of the beds and the type of beds.”Even the 
worst-case scenario of the IMHE model predicts Kansas would need only 
about 1,500 hospital beds — again, well under the system’s total 
capacity.But a model is only as good as its assumptions, and doesn’t represent the individual needs of each region or hospital.“If you actually have real data, that trumps any kind of model,” said <a href="http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-people/adalja/" target="_blank">Amesh Adalja</a>,
 an infectious disease physician and researcher at John Hopkins 
University. “We want our models to accurately reflect reality, but 
they’re not a substitute for reality.”Local hospital 
administrators agreed that making sure the actual hospitalization 
numbers line up with the latest model depends on continued social 
distancing and staying at home efforts.“The fact is that it has helped a tremendous amount,” Kenagy said. “And we will be able to weather the size of the surge.”Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the University of Kansas Health System.Brian
 Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for 
KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on 
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en" target="_blank">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.

Kan. hospitals won't say how full they're getting with virus patients 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s enlisting advisers from nearly all sectors of American commerce, the medical field and elected office to help shape his plans to reopen the coronavirus-battered economy.

The panel of advisers, whom Trump said he will consult by phone, will operate separately from the White House task force that’s leading the administration’s public health strategy to contain and mitigate the pandemic, though there is expected to be some overlap.

The panel, which the White House has dubbed the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, includes more than 50 executives and leaders from agricultural, defense and financial service industries, as well as leaders from unions, professional sports, think tanks and more.

The list of executives includes Apple’s Tim Cook, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, all individuals with whom Trump has long-standing relationships. Trump also named some individuals who have been critical of him in the past, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

Trump added that he would likely announce on Wednesday the names of elected officials, including governors and members of Congress, whom he would also consult.

“I’m confident that these respected people ... will give us some great ideas in addition to what the governors have learned,” Trump said.

Trump has insisted that he has “total” authority to decide how and when to loosen restrictions in the country — although the Constitution largely delegates such matters to the states. The president added on Tuesday that he plans to take action “in conjunction with governors.”

He also signaled that he is ready to push for big swaths of the country to get back to business soon. He noted that some states have been less affected by the virus and will be ready to “open very very shortly, if not, almost immediately.” More than 25,000 Americans have been killed by the virus outbreak.

Before Trump announced the people with whom he’d be consulting, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stressed that the White House needed to make sure to include “voices of working people.” Trumka was among the union officials included on the list.

The global economy is projected to shrink by 3% during 2020, a falloff that would mark the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to the International Monetary Fund.

With the country barreling toward a likely recession ahead of November’s election, Trump is eager to spur an economic revival, hoping to steady financial markets and restore some of the 16 million jobs already lost because of the pandemic. He originally hoped to have the country stirring again by Easter but now wants at least a partial reopening by the end of the month.

Many medical experts in the government, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, have cautioned that easing up on social distancing too soon could lead to a new wave of the disease that would require shuttering the economy again, with disastrous results.

Fauci said Tuesday that the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the economy.

Some ethics experts and participants in past councils created by Trump voiced concerns that the president may not be open to using the new panel to explore diverse viewpoints and hard truths about the best path forward.

“It doesn’t work if you bring in the hallelujah chorus,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank. Lee served on a short-lived manufacturing council that Trump established early in his presidency.

Among the executives with whom Trump said he will consult are representatives from Cisco Systems, Tyson Foods, Archer Daniels Midland, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Morgan Stanley, Grand Rapids State Bank and Southern Bank Corp.

Trump said he would also consult with union leaders including the International Union of Operating Engineers president James Callahan, North America’s Building Trade Unions president Sean McGarvey, International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James Hoffa, and Trumka.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586903031063.png" alt="President Trump during a Coronavirus Task Force briefing Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>President Trump during a Coronavirus Task Force briefing Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s enlisting advisers from nearly all sectors of American commerce, the medical field and elected office to help shape his plans to reopen the coronavirus-battered economy.The panel of advisers, whom Trump said he will consult by phone, will operate separately from the White House task force that’s leading the administration’s public health strategy to contain and mitigate the pandemic, though there is expected to be some overlap.The panel, which the White House has dubbed the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, includes more than 50 executives and leaders from agricultural, defense and financial service industries, as well as leaders from unions, professional sports, think tanks and more.The list of executives includes Apple’s Tim Cook, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, all individuals with whom Trump has long-standing relationships. Trump also named some individuals who have been critical of him in the past, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.Trump added that he would likely announce on Wednesday the names of elected officials, including governors and members of Congress, whom he would also consult.“I’m confident that these respected people ... will give us some great ideas in addition to what the governors have learned,” Trump said.Trump has insisted that he has “total” authority to decide how and when to loosen restrictions in the country — although the Constitution largely delegates such matters to the states. The president added on Tuesday that he plans to take action “in conjunction with governors.”He also signaled that he is ready to push for big swaths of the country to get back to business soon. He noted that some states have been less affected by the virus and will be ready to “open very very shortly, if not, almost immediately.” More than 25,000 Americans have been killed by the virus outbreak.Before Trump announced the people with whom he’d be consulting, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stressed that the White House needed to make sure to include “voices of working people.” Trumka was among the union officials included on the list.The global economy is projected to shrink by 3% during 2020, a falloff that would mark the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to the International Monetary Fund.With the country barreling toward a likely recession ahead of November’s election, Trump is eager to spur an economic revival, hoping to steady financial markets and restore some of the 16 million jobs already lost because of the pandemic. He originally hoped to have the country stirring again by Easter but now wants at least a partial reopening by the end of the month.Many medical experts in the government, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, have cautioned that easing up on social distancing too soon could lead to a new wave of the disease that would require shuttering the economy again, with disastrous results.Fauci said Tuesday that the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the economy.Some ethics experts and participants in past councils created by Trump voiced concerns that the president may not be open to using the new panel to explore diverse viewpoints and hard truths about the best path forward.“It doesn’t work if you bring in the hallelujah chorus,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank. Lee served on a short-lived manufacturing council that Trump established early in his presidency.Among the executives with whom Trump said he will consult are representatives from Cisco Systems, Tyson Foods, Archer Daniels Midland, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Morgan Stanley, Grand Rapids State Bank and Southern Bank Corp.Trump said he would also consult with union leaders including the International Union of Operating Engineers president James Callahan, North America’s Building Trade Unions president Sean McGarvey, International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James Hoffa, and Trumka.Among the sports world emissaries he said he planned to consult are the WWE’s Vince McMahon, NASCAR board chairperson Lesa Kennedy, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.___

Coronavirus Update