The Trump administration announced plans Friday to speed up coronavirus testing, introducing an emergency hotline for companies and private laboratories developing quicker tests and seems on a path to a multi-billion-dollar federal plan with Congress amid reports the president will declare a national emergency later today.
"I hope he does it, it's the right thing to do, it will free up states and local communities to act more aggressively," Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District) told Cheddar on Friday.
The administration is catching up to warnings health officials have been making for weeks about the United States's lack of preparedness for what is now a pandemic. Bera, a physician himself, said the new measures will allow community health centers taking care of Medicaid patients to be reimbursed for telemedicine.
"If you can manage [sick patients] using technology, using telehealth, telemedicine and they can stay at home, that is actually a good thing, that will help slow the spread," he said.
Though telemedicine may help treat patients without potentially infecting those they come in contact with, a lack of test kits will impede physicians’ ability to track patients.
"What I’ve suggested to the administration is, look, if South Korea can do it, pick up the phone, call the Korean company that’s making these tests and see if you can’t just license those tests and get it sent over here if it’s taking so long for us to do it," he said.
While health workers attempt to slow the spread of the virus, politicians are still at work on a bill, which appeared to hit a roadblock today over disagreements about paid sick leave. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been negotiating the plan, which House Democrats are expected to vote on today.
"We're told that they're pretty close," Bera said. "Workers, families, those hourly wage folks, they're going to be hurt immediately. This is America, we don't let people fall down like that."
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders endorses former Democratic rival Joe Biden for president.
Transit unions are calling for greater protections for their employees, as coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on bus drivers and train operators working on the frontlines.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif. - 3rd District) believes the former captain of the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, deserves to be reinstated after being removed for going around the chain of command to ask for help for his virus-plagued vessel.
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hold arguments by teleconference in May in key cases, including President Donald Trump's bid to shield his tax and other financial records.
The sailor was found unresponsive on April 9 and moved to ICU at a hospital. He died Monday. The Roosevelt has been in a coronavirus crisis that prompted the acting Navy secretary to fire the ship's captain on April 2.
White House officials are pointing to hopeful signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing. President Donald Trump insisted he would not move to reopen the country until it is safe.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Flight attendants for American Airlines told Cheddar of frantic attempts to collect as much personal protective equipment as they can despite promises from the carrier to provide masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers for its employees.
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have launched a website for Americans who didn’t file their taxes for 2018 or 2019 to submit their bank account information so they can receive their coronavirus stimulus check.
During World War II, the shipyard earned the nickname the "Can-Do Shipyard" for its efforts in constructing ships and other military vessels. Now, the industrial complex and its tenants are aiding in a fight against an invisible enemy.
