Inside Trump’s Coronavirus Theatrics on War Powers, Ventilators and GM

On Friday, Mar. 27, President Donald Trump took what appeared to be bold, decisive action in the fight against the new coronavirus. Reaching for wartime powers under the Defense Production Act, Trump ordered the federal government to “use any and all authority” to force auto giant General Motors to produce ventilators, the life-saving medical devices … Read more

‘An Activist, a Warrior, a Mother to So Many.’ Lorena Borjas, Pillar of New York Trans Community, Dies From Coronavirus

Aged 19 and incarcerated on Rikers Island, Bianey Garcia and a friend — victims of a homophobic attack that had led to their arrests, Garcia says — needed help. They called Lorena Borjas. A pillar of New York City’s Latinx LGBTQ community, Borjas had long been known as a staunch defender of the rights of … Read more

Alaska’s Remote Villages Are Cutting Themselves Off to Avoid Even ‘One Single Case’ of Coronavirus

With a deadly coronavirus epidemic creeping northward and the nearest hospital 230 miles away, Galen Gilbert, First Chief of Arctic Village, Alaska, knew his 200-person town could not afford to take any chances. A single case of COVID-19 could lead to the virus quickly spreading around the tight-knit community, but anybody who needed hospitalization would … Read more

‘I Still Can’t Believe What I’m Seeing.’ What It’s Like to Live Across the Street From a Temporary Morgue During the Coronavirus Outbreak

From the living room window of her Brooklyn apartment, Alix Monteleone watched the team of workers assemble the morgue in stages over the weekend. First, they parked the refrigerated trailer along the curb, a white box about the size of a large shipping container. Then, they built a wooden ramp to allow hospital staff to … Read more

‘No One Mentions the People Who Clean It Up’: What It’s Like to Clean Professionally During the COVID-19 Outbreak

When Vanessa is asked to clean up after patients who have the seasonal flu or measles or MRSA in the Pennsylvania hospital where she works in environmental services, she knows what to do. She knows how to disinfect surfaces, what needs to be thrown away and what she should wear to protect herself. But when … Read more

New Coronavirus Test Provides Results in as Few as Five Minutes, According to Manufacturer

On March 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use to Abbott Laboratories for its rapid COVID-19 test designed for doctor’s offices, urgent care centers and smaller hospitals without complex testing labs. According to the Illinois-based company, the test can give positive results in as little as five minutes, and negative results in … Read more

Faced with a crush of patients, besieged NYC hospitals struggle with life-or-death decisions

The decision is a reflection of a grim reality where thousands of health care workers have fallen ill, ventilators are so scarce that some hospitals are putting two patients on one machine, and protective equipment like masks and gowns are in such short supply that some workers are sewing their own. View original article Contributor: … Read more