A bridge between life and death
The Trump administration issued its first formal wartime order for equipment. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race. And Jewish Americans are celebrating one of their most significant holidays of the year: Passover.
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But first, when will life return to normal? An expert says U.S. testing is too far behind to know, and he expects a second wave of cases.
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Most COVID-19 patients put on ventilators will not survive
Ventilators are in short supply as coronavirus patients fill hospitals across the country. Some facilities in New York City plan to use one ventilator to help two COVID-19 patients at a time. The oxygen-providing apparatus, for most COVID-19 patients, will merely serve as a bridge from life to death. Dennis Carroll, who led the U.S. Agency for International Development's infectious disease unit for more than a decade, said perhaps one-third of COVID-19 patients on ventilators survive. Though ventilators won't fix the ailments that put patients on them, they can provide support until other treatments work or the patient's body overcomes the disease. Physicians are determined to use the tool in the last-ditch effort to keep patients alive.
President Donald Trump's administration used its wartime powers Wednesday to make its first formal order of equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic, compelling General Motors to deliver 30,000 ventilators by August.
'We're sounding the alarm'
Black Americans are dying of coronavirus at much higher rates in some major cities, raising concerns about care for the nation's most vulnerable populations. Democratic lawmakers and the White House have called on federal health officials to release racial data to ensure resources and information reach every community affected by the outbreak. Only a few states have released their racial information, including Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina. "This is a critical issue for us that we're raising, and we're sounding the alarm," said Hardie Davis, president of the African American Mayors Association and mayor of Augusta, Georgia.
In New York state, data shows about 18% of novel coronavirus deaths in New York, excluding New York City, were black people, and 14% were Hispanic people. In contrast to the newly reported death data, black people account for about 9% of the state's population outside New York City, and Hispanic people account for 11%.
76 days
Streets in the city of Wuhan, China, were clogged with traffic as thousands streamed out to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Restrictions in the city of 11 million people, where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and more than 3,300 deaths from COVID-19 were reported, have been gradually eased as the number of new cases steadily declined.
Hydroxychloroquine who?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention switched its guidance for use of a drug touted by President Trump as a possible treatment for COVID-19. The updated, and shortened, guidance says that "hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are under investigation in clinical trials" for use on coronavirus patients and that "there are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19."
Give it to me straight
The USA surpassed 423,000 coronavirus cases Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University, and the death toll passed 14,500. There are more than 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases globally, almost 88,000 deaths and 318,000 recoveries.
Nearly 2,000 people died Tuesday because of complications from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization and CDC.
The Short List is featuring stories from health care workers on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. Share your story with us at TheShortList@usatoday.com.
Real quick
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Despite coronavirus, students at Clemson University threw a party with 100 people. A South Carolina city is working to enforce social distancing guidelines at private residences.
Bernie cedes Democratic nomination to Biden
Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose call for a political revolution attracted millions of followers and galvanized a national movement for a liberal agenda, dropped out of the presidential race, giving former Vice President Joe Biden a clear path to the 2020 Democratic nomination. Sanders congratulated Biden in a speech and called him a "decent man" whom he plans to work with to "move our progressive ideas forward." USA TODAY’s Susan Page notes Sanders' decision to suspend his campaign means the Democratic Party has united behind a nominee earlier than in any open contest in nearly two decades. "That doesn't ensure victory, of course, but the opposite situation might have invited defeat," she said.
(Virtual) Passover seders are still possible!
Stay-at-home orders and social distance measures won’t keep Jewish Americans from celebrating one of their most significant holidays: Passover. Pesach, as it's called in Hebrew, is observed from sundown Wednesday to April 16. The Passover story, which focuses on plagues and hardship, feels particularly poignant amid the coronavirus pandemic. How does one honor the holiday and prepare a traditional seder (or ceremonial dinner) when resources are limited and there are public health orders against hosting gatherings? USA TODAY talked with Jason Leivenberg of the Jewish Federation of Greater LA about how to host a modernized seder.
What everyone’s talking about
Hey, how about those pictures of the super moon!! That was something.
The Masters didn't happen. That didn't stop Tiger Woods from having the dinner. Here's how Tiger and family improvised and did a Masters Champions Dinner "quarantine-style."
"Tears are a good thing": "Schitt's Creek" cast Zooms together, sharing emotions and watching the series finale.
Tracy Morgan defends President Trump amid the coronavirus: "Now is not the time for blame."
Body of missing Kennedy child found after five-day search
After a five-day search, Maryland police found the body of Gideon McKean. The 8-year-old descendant of Robert F. Kennedy had been missing with his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, since last week when their canoe disappeared in the choppy waters of the Chesapeake Bay on April 2. The child's body was found about 2,000 feet from where the body of his mother, RFK's granddaughter, was located Monday. The search for the two was carried out by multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, and involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology.
A break from the news
20 popular retailers are giving back during the coronavirus pandemic, from Nordstrom to PopSockets.
From milestone birthdays to baby showers, these are creative ways people celebrate in quarantine.
As coronavirus forces us to isolate, windows become portals through which we greet, grieve, read, love, sing, celebrate and even wed.
This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus, ventilators, President Trump, Bernie Sanders, Passover: It's Wednesday
