'Hospitals without walls:' Pres. Trump's admin makes health care changes to address patient surge
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's administration announced temporary regulatory waivers that allow hospitals to provide care at other locations to make room for patients.It’s called “hospitals without walls.”“They could use a college dormitory, a gymnasium,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said Tuesday, March 31.The new program is creating room for critical coronavirus cases while continuing to give uninfected patients the care they need.“It allows hospitals to provide services off-site,” Verma added.Verma said the agency is changing the rules to pay for patients’ treatment outside of hospitals and clinics, with FEMA helping expand hospital space in states across the country.Verma said this initiative adds to the work they have done and allows more involvement on the local level.“What we want to do is empower local communities to start thinking about this and to use the resources that they already have in their community," she said.The CMS waivers will allow hospitals to transfer uninfected patients to the sites, making room for those testing positive for coronavirus.As far as filling the new spaces with supplies, Verma said they want to make sure health care workers have the tools they need to save lives.“FEMA sent a very special force of people that are working to find supplies.
President Trump, other lawmakers call for release of low-risk inmates to protect them from COVID-19
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau of Prisons is changing its guidelines to protect guards and prisoners from coronavirus.Some lawmakers, including President Donald Trump, are even considering releasing low-risk prisoners.While most Americans are trying to stay apart, social distancing is nearly impossible for the nation’s prison population.“Let’s keep in mind, you know, the least of these and make sure they’re being protected and not disposable,” Senator Kamala Harris said.Senator Kamala Harris called on the Federal Bureau of Prisons to release low-risk inmates from their custody and she demanded the department provide details on how it will slow the spread of the virus within its walls.“The incarcerated are not going to be immune to it if they have not taken the appropriate precautionary steps,” Harris said.At a press briefing last week, President Trump said he’s even considering prisoner release.“We’re talking about totally non-violent prisoners, we’re actually looking at that yes,” President Trump said.President Trump said he is considering an executive order to release some prisoners but hasn’t said much about it since.The idea’s getting some pushback and not just from Republicans.“I don’t think that’s where the major emphasis needs to go,” Representative John Garamendi, D-California, said.Democrat John Garamendi says lawmakers should make sure inmates are kept safe but says releasing prisoners goes too far.“Certainly there’s going to be infections in our prisons.
Pres. Trump extends federal social distancing guidance for 30 days as virus spreads
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Bracing the nation for a grim death toll, President Donald Trump on Sunday, March 29 extended the voluntary national shutdown for a month, bowing to public-health experts who told him the coronavirus pandemic could claim over 100,000 lives in the U.S., perhaps significantly more, if not enough is done to fight it.It was a stark shift in tone by the president, who only days ago mused about the country reopening in a few weeks.
President Trump: No quarantine, but travel advisory for NY, CT and NJ
NORFOLK, Va. — President Donald Trump backed away from calling for a quarantine for coronavirus hotspots in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, instead directing Saturday night that a “strong Travel Advisory” be issued to stem the spread of the outbreak.After consulting with the White House task force leading the federal response and the governors of the three affected states, President Trump said: "I have asked the @CDCgov to issue a strong Travel Advisory, to be administered by the Governors, in consultation with the Federal Government.
President Trump boosts virus aid, warns governors to be 'appreciative'
WASHINGTON — After days of desperate pleas from the nation’s governors, President Donald Trump took a round of steps to expand the federal government’s role in helping produce critically needed supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic even as he warned the leaders of hard-hit states not to cross him.“I want them to be appreciative,” President Trump said Friday after the White House announced that he would be using the powers granted to him under the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to try to compel auto giant General Motors to produce ventilators.Yet President Trump — who hours earlier had suggested the need for the devices was being overblown — rejected any criticism of the federal government's response to a ballooning public health crisis that a month ago he predicted would be over by now.“We have done a hell of a job," President Trump said, as he sent an ominous message to state and local leaders who have been urging the federal government to do more to help them save lives.President Trump said he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence not to call the governors of Washington or Michigan — two coronavirus hotspots — because of their public criticism. “If they don’t treat you right, I don't call,” Trump said.The comments came after President Trump unveiled a slew of executive actions to bolster states' capacities to respond to the pandemic, including authorizing Defense Secretary Mark Esper to call up an unspecified number of federal reservists to help with the coronavirus response.Friday's invocation “should demonstrate clearly to all that we will not hesitate to use the full authority of the federal government to combat this crisis," President Trump said.President Trump had been saying for more than a week that he was reluctant to use the Defense Production Act — even after he invoked it — because companies were already doing what he wanted and he didn't need arm-twisting to make them comply.Yet President Trump continued to suggest that states' own failures were to blame for the needed intervention. “Normally these would be bought for states, just so you understand,” he said.The president has been under growing pressure from the nation's governors to do more to bolster supplies, despite the perceived risks of speaking out.
President Trump seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators
DETROIT — President Donald Trump issued an order Friday that seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act.President Trump said negotiations with General Motors had been productive, “but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course.”President Trump said “GM was wasting time” and that his actions will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.Previously President Trump has been reluctant to use the act to force businesses to contribute to the coronavirus fight.
President Trump signs $2.2T stimulus after swift congressional votes
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic rescue package into law Friday, after swift and near-unanimous action by Congress to support businesses, rush resources to overburdened health care providers and help struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic.Acting with unity and resolve unseen since the 9/11 attacks, Washington moved urgently to stem an economic free fall caused by widespread restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus that have shuttered schools, closed businesses and brought American life in many places to a virtual standstill.“This will deliver urgently needed relief," President Trump said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office, flanked only by Republican lawmakers.
Pres. Trump says federal officials developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday, March 26 that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak.In a letter to the nation's governors, President Trump said the new guidelines are meant to enable state and local leaders to make “decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other measures they have put in place.” States and municipalities would still retain authority to set whatever restrictions deem necessary.President Trump has been seeking for days to determine how to contain the economic fallout of the guidelines issued by his administration as well as local leaders to slow the tide of infections.
Pres. Trump's campaign threatens legal action against TV stations in Wisconsin over Dem ad
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is threatening legal action against local TV stations in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin if they don't pull a Democratic anti-President Trump commercial that uses clips of the president talking about the coronavirus outbreak.
White House, Congress agree on $2 trillion virus rescue bill
WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate leaders of both parties announced agreement early Wednesday on an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.The urgently needed measure is the largest economic rescue bill in history.
AG Josh Kaul coalition urges President Trump to spur mask making
MADISON -- Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is leading a coalition of 16 attorneys general in urging President Donald Trump to use the Defense Production Act to boost production of masks and respirators in the fight against COVID-19.Kaul says healthcare workers, law enforcement and other first responders “need resources now.” The Democratic attorney general says President Trump must act now and use his broad power to address shortages in critical supplies.President Trump has balked at using his authority under the recently invoked Defense Protection Act to compel the private sector to manufacture masks and ventilators, even as he encourages them to spur production.
President Trump says he hopes US will be reopened by Easter amid virus
WASHINGTON — With lives and the economy hanging in the balance, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the country will be reopened by Easter as he weighs how to refine nationwide social-distancing guidelines to put some workers back on the job amid the coronavirus outbreak.As many public health officials call for stricter, not looser restrictions on public interactions, Trump said he was already looking toward easing the advisories that have sidelined workers, shuttered schools and led to a widespread economic slowdown.“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said during a Fox News virtual town hall.
Pres. Trump says he intends to reopen country in weeks, not months
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday, March 23 that he wants to reopen the country for business in weeks, not months, and he claimed, without evidence, that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic."We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem," President Trump told reporters at a press briefing, echoing a midnight Sunday tweet. “We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems."President Trump acknowledged there were trade-offs, “there's no question about that," but claimed that, if closures stretch on for months, there would be “probably more death from that than anything that we're talking about with respect to the virus.”The comments were further evidence that President Trump has grown impatient with the pandemic, even before it has reached its expected peak.
Over 1.5 billion globally asked to stay home to escape virus
PARIS — The hunt for masks, ventilators and other medical supplies consumed the U.S. and Europe, as more than 1.5 billion people — one-fifth of the world's population — were asked or ordered to stay home on Monday to try to blunt the spread of the coronavirus.Political paralysis stalled efforts for a quick aid package from Congress, and U.S. stocks fell at the opening bell even after the Federal Reserve said it will buy as much government debt as necessary and lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them cope with the economic damage from the outbreak.In New York, where a near-lockdown took effect statewide over the weekend amid fears the city could become one of the world's biggest hot spots, the mayor warned that hospitals are 10 days away from shortages in “really basic supplies" needed to protect health care workers and patients alike.“If we don't get the equipment, we're literally going to lose lives,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN.The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die.
Mobile hospitals: President Trump orders FEMA to help California, New York, Washington
NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump said Sunday, March 22 he ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ship mobile hospital centers to the hard-hit states of Washington, California, and New York amid the coronavirus pandemic.The president agreed to send a massive Navy hospital ship to Los Angeles to deal with the area's surge of coronavirus patients.The USNS Mercy -- one of the Navy's two 1,000-bed hospital ships -- was pier side in San Diego and soon to be expected in Los Angeles.Pres.
N. Korea says President Trump's letter offers anti-virus cooperation
SEOUL, South Korea — President Donald Trump sent a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking to maintain good relations and offering cooperation in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, Kim’s sister said Sunday.The latest correspondence came as Kim observed the firing of tactical guided weapons over the weekend, drawing criticism from South Korea, as nuclear talks remain deadlocked.In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, Kim’s sister and senior ruling party official, Kim Yo Jong, praised President Trump for sending the letter at a time when “big difficulties and challenges lie ahead in the way of developing ties" between the countries.In the letter, she said President Trump explained his plan to “propel the relations between the two countries ...
Legislators 'very close' on economic rescue package topping $1T
WASHINGTON — Top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House pushed toward resolution late Saturday on a ballooning $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package, as President Donald Trump urged a deal to steady a nation shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic.With a population on edge and financial markets teetering, all sides indicated a deal is within reach.
'Mass hysteria:' 7 Wisconsin friends stuck in Peru amid COVID-19 lockdown
CUSCO, Peru -- Staying inside your home for days at a time can be tough, but FOX6 News on Thursday, March 19 spoke with some Wisconsin families desperate to get back to theirs.
DWD: 29,300 unemployment applications submitted in Wisconsin in 4 days
MADISON -- Unemployment claims by workers displaced due to the coronavirus pandemic skyrocketed since Sunday, March 15.Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary Caleb Frostman said Thursday, March 19 preliminary numbers showed there were 1,500 claims on Sunday, 4,300 on Monday, 8,500 on Tuesday, and 15,000 on Wednesday.Gov.
Family of 4 could get $3K under virus relief plan, treasury secretary says
WASHINGTON — The first federal checks to families could be $3,000 for a family of four under the White House proposal to unleash $1 trillion to shore up households and the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus outbreak.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, March 19 that the “checks in the mail” would be direct deposited into people’s accounts under the plan President Donald Trump's administration has proposed to Congress.The payments would be $1,000 per adult and $500 per child so that a family of two parents and two children would receive $3,000, Mnuchin told Fox Business Network.