| CONGRESS: The Trump administration's effort to swiftly secure an additional $250 billion for small businesses ahead of Easter is progressing, although Democrats want the legislation to add at least another $250 billion for hospitals, states and food stamps. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the House cannot pass the small business relief sought by Republicans alone without other provisions because leadership needs a unanimous vote of those present while lawmakers are away from Washington (Reuters). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is expected to try to pass a GOP measure today (The Hill). Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) negotiated on Wednesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to seek a short-term deal (The Hill). “I think we have a pretty good understanding with the Democrats,” Trump said on Wednesday, adding that small businesses have bipartisan support in Washington and that other needs supported by Democrats could be addressed down the road. “We can do a phase four [bill], and a phase four would be later.” The Hill: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) urged Congress to eliminate a cap on total funding for small businesses in the coronavirus legislation. Politico: In phone calls with lawmakers of both parties on Wednesday, Vice President Pence and Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers that the worst coronavirus hot spots are showing signs of “stabilization.” Mnuchin (pictured below) used the calls to lobby lawmakers to quickly pass legislation to help the high number of small businesses that need loans to try to stay afloat while the economy remains shuttered. The Hill: Democratic senators seek federal funding to help local news media outlets as part of the coronavirus stimulus legislation. The Hill: House Democrats introduced a bill on Wednesday to thwart price gouging. 
© Getty Images *** U.S. CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Federal officials on Wednesday labored to strike a balance between coronavirus case data hinting at potential improvement and the grim tallies of fatalities in New York, New Jersey and Louisiana. Fauci said it appears the White House projections of new cases and possible deaths heading into the summer will not be as high as initially estimated, a favorable sign. Part of the explanation appears to be the better-than-expected voluntary compliance by Americans with the guidance to wash hands, practice social distancing and abide by orders to stay home. “Although one of the original models projected 100- to 200,000 deaths, as we're getting more data and seeing the positive effect of mitigation, those numbers are going to be downgraded,” Fauci said during a Fox News interview. “I don't know exactly what the numbers are going to be, but right now it looks like it's going to be less than the original projection” (The Hill). CNN: Here’s why coronavirus case models, revised daily, show fewer deaths than feared: U.S. behaviors have changed. The Hill: Fauci says, "I don't think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you. Not only would it be good to prevent coronavirus disease; it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country." The conclusion that mitigation is working prompted Obama to tweet his encouragement along with a news article: “Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure on our heroic medical professionals. But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring – something we have yet to put in place nationwide.” The Hill: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday issued new guidance for essential workers who have been in proximity to confirmed cases of the coronavirus but were asymptomatic and now want to safely return to work. Another hypothesis now debunked is that young people do better than seniors when infected with the coronavirus. Scientists looking at early data out of China, South Korea and Italy thought young people might be less at risk from serious respiratory distress and death from COVID-19. But a Washington Post analysis of available state data finds that 759 people younger than 50 have been killed by the virus in the United States, including many patients in their 20s and 30s with no known health vulnerabilities prior to infection. There’s at least one more myth that science is clearing up: The coronavirus is unlikely to subside in warm weather, according to the National Academies of Sciences, countering the notion that COVID-19 might act like influenza and ebb and surge as a seasonal health threat (The Washington Post). In New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, deaths from the coronavirus spiked to a combined new high for a second straight day. The virus killed another 779 people in the Empire State over a period of 24 hours, a heart-breaking record, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said, compared with 731 on Tuesday (The Hill). In New Jersey, 275 people died, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said, up from 232 on Tuesday. Underscoring the dire threat in New York and New Jersey, 7,772 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in those two states, more than in the rest of the United States combined. And in New York, more people have tested positive for the infection than in any country outside the United States, including hard-hit Italy and Spain (The New York Times). At least 40 percent of the COVID-19 tests in New York and New Jersey are positive, with a combined 11,000 new cases per day. > Indiana: In Pence’s home state, at least three counties in Indiana have among the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rates in the United States, topping the Seattle area and some counties near Detroit. “I know several of the people who have died. And if I don’t know them, I know somebody who knows them,” said Sean Durbin, Decatur County’s public health preparedness coordinator. “So you see the grief. You see how it hits home. That would be the biggest difference than a big city — is that we all know each other. It’s like somebody from your family dying” (The Associated Press). > Washington: Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Wednesday made a decision suggesting his state is feeling more confident that its mitigation efforts have lowered the infection rate dramatically. “After consultation with local, state and federal leaders, the DOD [Department of Defense] field hospital currently stationed at the Century Link Field Event Center will be returned to FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] so it can be deployed to another state facing a more significant need," he said in a statement. The Hill’s Reid Wilson reports, Washington and Oregon used effective techniques that can work in other states. 
© Twitter The Hill: States are increasingly taking action to reduce the threat of COVID-19 infection in prison populations. The Hill: State and federal health officials are calling on people across the country not to travel or gather in groups ahead of Easter, Ramadan and Passover. The Associated Press: Trump’s myths and misinformation with some fact checking, from coronavirus testing to new jobs the president claims were created by his daughter. Politico: As the federal government churns out trillions of dollars in economic and pandemic relief, none of the oversight functions included the mammoth rescue package are operational and problems are evident just weeks after enactment. The Hill: Trump on Wednesday said the administration will freeze $452 million in appropriations to support public health efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) while investigating its stance with China and the pandemic. “WHO got it wrong,” the president said for the second day without providing details of U.S. misgivings. “They minimized a threat very strongly. Not good.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pictured below) denied the global health organization he leads showed bias in favor of China as a viral epidemic became known late last year. “Please don’t politicize this virus,” he said (The New York Times). | 
