vox--2020-04-03--America’s emergency stockpile is almost empty. Nobody knows what happens next.

The Strategic National Stockpile , which is a relatively obscure office in the federal government that manages the country ’ s emergency medical supplies , exists to respond to a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic .
As the United States faces hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 cases , a widespread shortage of medical supplies is reaching a critical point .
States lacking essential equipment like ventilators and masks need relief quickly .
But as President Trump struggles to coordinate a cohesive response to the pandemic and fights with state governors over how these supplies will be distributed , the stockpile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s also starting to run out of supplies .
That ’ s why Senior advisor to the president Jared Kushner prompted controversy when he made a rare public appearance at the April 2 coronavirus task force briefing and commented on the federal stockpile .
When asked about states ’ needs for supplies , Kushner said that the stockpile was “ supposed to be our stockpile.
” The president ’ s son-in-law added , “ It ’ s not supposed to be states ’ stockpiles that they then use.
” Then , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stockpile website had been changed to de-emphasize its commitment to helping states and to downplay the size of its inventory .
This particular description online now refers to the federal stockpile as “ a short-term stopgap buffer.
” Part of this new definition of the Strategic National Stockpile does reside in the general vicinity of reality .
The stockpile is running low .
The Trump administration admits it .
And no , this is not the states ’ fault .
But it ’ s not entirely clear what will happen when it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Strategic National Stockpile anyway ?
The United States ’ Strategic National Stockpile , like its nuclear arsenal , is something the US hoped it would never need to use .
Formed in 1999 as anxiety over Y2K mounted , this federal stockpile was designed to prevent an interruption to hospital supply chains , if all the computers ended up melting down on New Years Eve .
That never happened , but because biological attacks were becoming a growing threat , the US government outfitted the stockpile in the interest of national security .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for example , officials could quickly access vaccines and antitoxins to fight back against nerve agents or diseases like small pox .
These biological countermeasures still exist and are stored in six warehouses located in strategic , undisclosed locations across the country , where they are maintained by a staff of about 200 .
The exact inventory of the Strategic National Stockpile is classified , though journalists have reported that it contains over 1,000 categories of drugs and medical items worth about $ 8 billion .
In the 20 years since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mobilized after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks that followed .
Later , the US government deployed it in response various major hurricanes , as well as the H1N1 pandemic , during which the stockpile sent flu medication to all 50 states .
Since then , the Strategic National Stockpile has been preparing for the next outbreak , though it obviously didn ’ t know when or what it would be .
With an annual budget of about $ 600 million , the stockpile has maintained a large supply of personal protective equipment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and surgical gowns , as well as medical equipment like the ventilators that hospitals so urgently need now to treat Covid-19 patients .
A significant challenge is that many of these items have a shelf life .
“ Part of stockpiling is not just accruing the necessary equipment , but also maintaining it and replacing it as needed , ” Andrew Lakoff , a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California who studies health preparedness , told Recode .
“ So it ’ s sort of an ongoing , indefinite process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may or may not prove to be necessary.
” While the Strategic National Stockpile was originally part of the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) , the Trump Administration moved it to a different part of the Health and Human Services Department in 2018 .
At the time , this concerned certain experts and lawmakers , who worried that the move could disrupt the delicate process of managing the stockpile .
As The Washington Post reported at the time , some even worried then that the Trump administration ’ s plan would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the stockpile.
” It ’ s important to note that the mission of the Strategic National Stockpile is ultimately of limited scope .
As spelled out in the law that established it , the federal stockpile is intended “ to provide for and optimize the emergency health security of the United States.
” The word “ emergency ” does a lot of work in that sentence .
Richard Branson , a respiratory care specialist and professor at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who advises the federal government on ventilator supplies , explained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designed to meet initial needs in a crisis , until industry could ramp up production .
Because ventilators are such specialized pieces of equipment with parts sourced from all over the world , quickly manufacturing more is a uniquely difficult challenge .
“ This is the first time in 20 years ventilators from the stockpile have been used , ” Branson told Recode .
“ If last year , you had known that fact and there were 80,000 ventilators in the stockpile that had never been deployed , you would be asking me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went without healthcare.
” But there aren ’ t actually 80,000 ventilators in the federal stockpile .
As of early March , the Strategic National Stockpile only had 16,600 ventilators .
It has even fewer now : On April 3 , the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) told Recode that the federal government has just 9,800 ventilators available .
There are 9,054 remaining in the Strategic National Stockpile , and the Department of Defense has 900 .
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said that just his state , which is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as many as 37,000 ventilators at the peak of the outbreak .
After waiting for relief from the Trump administration , Cuomo ultimately enlisted the National Guard to relocate ventilators from upstate facilities to New York City .
As far as the rest of the country ’ s concerned , it ’ s safe the say that the Strategic National Stockpile isn ’ t even close to meeting the overall demand that ’ s expected during the coronavirus pandemic .
“ It ’ s Like Being on eBay With 50 Other States ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is running low on other urgently needed supplies as well .
On April 1 , the Washington Post reported that the federal stockpile ’ s stock of personal protective equipment , including N95 masks , was almost depleted .
A Department of Homeland Security official told the paper that the stockpile was only “ designed to respond to a handful of cities , ” pointing to a global shortage of these products .
And experts and lawmakers are concerned that the Trump administration ’ s uneven distribution of supplies is driven by political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington State requested 233,000 N95 respirators and 200,000 surgical masks , the Strategic National Supply sent them less than half that amount .
Illinois , Massachusetts , and Maine also said they received fractions of what they requested from the federal government .
But on March 10 , after Washington ’ s request , Florida asked for 430,000 surgical masks , 180,000 N95 respirators , and other equipment .
The full order arrived three days later .
One anonymous official told The Washington Post , “ The president knows Florida is so important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to what Florida wants.
” Trump ’ s brazen behavior isn ’ t going unnoticed .
Adam Schiff , chair of the House Intelligence Committee , said that in the distribution of medical supplies there should be “ no favoritism in terms of political allies , no discrimination against states or governors based on lack of presidential flattery.
” Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado sent a letter to the Health and Human Services inspector general requesting an investigation into the Strategic National Stockpile ’ s supply of ventilators .
Gardner told Politico that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to be rooted out and those responsible held accountable.
” And Connecticut Gov .
Ned Lamont called the state of the stockpile “ disturbing.
” After President Trump declared a national emergency over the novel coronavirus crisis on March 13 , he told states to order their own medical supplies , kicking off a process that has led to governors entering bidding wars with each other and even with the federal government over essential goods like ventilators and N95 masks .
“ It ’ s like being on eBay with 50 other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Gov .
Cuomo said in a daily press briefing at the end of March .
“ What we ’ re seeing now is a sort of competition on the open market among states trying get ahold of stuff that the stockpile doesn ’ t have enough of — or is running out of , ” said Lakoff , the USC professor .
“ Everyone ’ s scrambling to try to figure out how to get ahold of this stuff.
” What happens when the stockpile is emptied We don ’ t really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stockpile runs out of essential supplies .
But we might learn soon enough .
“ FEMA planning assumptions for COVID-19 pandemic response acknowledged that the Strategic National Stockpile ( SNS ) alone could not fulfill all requirements at the state and tribal level , ” a FEMA spokesperson told Recode .
“ Therefore , the federal government will exhaust all means to identify and attain medical and other supplies needed to combat the virus.
” The agency added that it would meet additional demand through the private sector or the Pentagon .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Airbridge which will include 20 flights transporting supplies from Asia to various cities in the United States in early April .
FEMA says these flights are transporting masks , gloves , goggles , and surgical gowns , all of which go first to medical distributors and then to hospitals and health care facilities .
President Trump has also invoked the Defense Production Act to order GM to begin producing ventilators and 3M to produce more N95 masks domestically , as well as ordering 3M to cease exports of these products .
( 3M @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has warned that ceasing exports will actually make the mask shortage in the US worse . )
Meanwhile , private corporations and everyday Americans have been making an enormous effort to fill in the gaps that the government has failed to close .
Elon Musk has promised that his companies , Tesla and Space X , will start building ventilators .
Hobbyists are coming up with new designs for cheap breathing machines that can be built out of simple materials .
Automotive parts factories have changed their workflows to start producing face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement of people sewing face masks out of leftover fabric is taking the country by storm .
Put quaintly , everybody is doing their best .
The federal government , on the other hand , seems to be getting worse at dealing with the Covid-19 crisis .
After spending the first two months of the year denying the severity of the coronavirus outbreak , it ’ s now clear that the Trump Administration has settled on deflecting blame and settling into the posture of unaccountability .
As Vox ’ s Matthew Yglesias puts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ led by Donald Trump , has essentially abdicated its traditional role of spearheading a coordinated response.
” Coming up with a response , it seems , is the states ’ problem .
This is what makes the shifting role of the Strategic National Stockpile so frustrating for so many people right now .
Before Kushner ’ s appearance at the coronavirus task force briefing , the stockpile ’ s website said the “ Strategic National Stockpile is the nation ’ s largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local supplies to run out.
” The following morning it read , “ The Strategic National Stockpile ’ s role is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies.
” So that stockpile that was designed to help the entire nation in an emergency is now a backup plan .
Also , it ’ s basically gone .
What Kushner said about the federal government not being there to help out with supplies ?
Unfortunately , that ’ s true .
The states are on their own , and that reality @ @ @ @ @ @

The Strategic National Stockpile, a relatively obscure office in the federal government that manages the country’s emergency medical supplies, exists to respond to a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.
As the United States faces hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 cases, a widespread shortage of medical supplies is reaching a critical point. States lacking essential equipment like ventilators and masks need relief quickly. But as President Donald Trump struggles to coordinate a cohesive response to the pandemic — fighting with state governors over how these supplies will be distributed and reportedly seizing shipments from private companies before distributing supplies to political allies — the stockpile is becoming a contentious subject. It’s also starting to run out of supplies.
That’s why Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the president, prompted controversy when he made a rare public appearance at the April 2 coronavirus task force briefing and commented on the federal stockpile. When asked about states’ needs for supplies, Kushner said the stockpile was “supposed to be our stockpile.” The president’s son-in-law added, “It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.”
Then, the following morning, the Strategic National Stockpile website had been changed to deemphasize its commitment to helping states and to downplay the size of its inventory. This particular description online now refers to the federal stockpile as “a short-term stopgap buffer.”
Part of this new definition of the Strategic National Stockpile does reside in the general vicinity of reality. The stockpile is running low. The Trump administration admits it. And no, this is not the states’ fault. But it’s not entirely clear what will happen when it’s emptied out.
What is the Strategic National Stockpile, anyway?
The Strategic National Stockpile, like the nuclear arsenal, is something government officials hoped they would never need to use. Formed in 1999 as anxiety over Y2K mounted, this federal stockpile was designed to prevent an interruption to hospital supply chains, if all the computers ended up melting down on New Year’s Eve. That never happened, but because biological attacks were becoming a growing threat, the US government outfitted the stockpile in the interest of national security. If a bioweapon struck an American city, for example, officials could quickly access vaccines and antitoxins to fight back against nerve agents or diseases like smallpox.
These biological countermeasures still exist and are stored in six warehouses located in strategic, undisclosed locations across the country, where they are maintained by a staff of about 200. The exact inventory of the Strategic National Stockpile is classified, though journalists have reported that it contains over 1,000 categories of drugs and medical items worth about $8 billion.
In the 20 years since the stockpile was established, it was first mobilized after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks that followed. Later, the US government deployed it in response to various major hurricanes, as well as to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-2010, during which the stockpile sent flu medication to all 50 states.
Since then, the office of the Strategic National Stockpile has been preparing for the next outbreak, though no one knew when or what it would be. With an annual budget of about $600 million, the stockpile has maintained a large supply of personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, face shields, and surgical gowns, as well as medical equipment like the ventilators that hospitals so urgently need now to treat Covid-19 patients.
A significant challenge is that many of these items have a shelf life.
“Part of stockpiling is not just accruing the necessary equipment, but also maintaining it and replacing it as needed,” Andrew Lakoff, a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California who studies health preparedness, told Recode. “So it’s sort of an ongoing, indefinite process that takes a lot of resources that may or may not prove to be necessary.”
While the Strategic National Stockpile was originally part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Trump administration moved it to a different part of the Health and Human Services Department in 2018. At the time, this concerned certain experts and lawmakers, who worried that the move could disrupt the delicate process of managing the stockpile. As the Washington Post reported at the time, some even worried then that the Trump administration’s plan would “politicize decision-making about products bought for the stockpile.”
It’s important to note that the mission of the Strategic National Stockpile is ultimately of limited scope. As spelled out in the law that established it, the federal stockpile is intended “to provide for and optimize the emergency health security of the United States.” The word “emergency” does a lot of work in that sentence.
Richard Branson, a respiratory care specialist and professor at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who advises the federal government on ventilator supplies, explained to Recode that the federal stockpile was designed to meet initial needs in a crisis, until industry could ramp up production. Because ventilators are such specialized pieces of equipment with parts sourced from all over the world, quickly manufacturing more is a uniquely difficult challenge.
“This is the first time in 20 years ventilators from the stockpile have been used,” Branson told Recode. “If last year, you had known that fact and there were 80,000 ventilators in the stockpile that had never been deployed, you would be asking me why this money was wasted while people went without health care.”
But there aren’t actually 80,000 ventilators in the federal stockpile. As of early March, the Strategic National Stockpile only had 16,600 ventilators. It has even fewer now: On April 3, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Recode the federal government has just 9,800 ventilators available. There are 9,054 remaining in the Strategic National Stockpile, and the Department of Defense has 900.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that just his state, which is currently at the epicenter of the pandemic, will need as many as 37,000 ventilators at the peak of the outbreak. After waiting for relief from the Trump administration, Cuomo ultimately enlisted the National Guard to relocate ventilators from upstate facilities to New York City. As far as the rest of the country is concerned, it’s safe to say that the Strategic National Stockpile isn’t even close to meeting the overall demand that’s expected during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s like being on eBay with 50 other states”
Besides ventilators, the Strategic National Stockpile is running low on other urgently needed supplies as well. On April 1, the Washington Post reported that the federal stockpile’s stock of personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, was almost depleted. A Department of Homeland Security official told the paper that the stockpile was only “designed to respond to a handful of cities,” pointing to a global shortage of these products.
And experts and lawmakers are concerned that the Trump administration’s uneven distribution of supplies is driven by political goals. In early March, when Washington state requested 233,000 N95 respirators and 200,000 surgical masks, the Strategic National Stockpile sent them less than half that amount. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maine also said they received fractions of what they requested from the federal government.
But on March 10, after Washington’s request, Florida asked for 430,000 surgical masks, 180,000 N95 respirators, and other equipment. The full order arrived three days later. One anonymous official told the Washington Post, “The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection … He pays close attention to what Florida wants.”
Trump’s brazen behavior isn’t going unnoticed. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said that in the distribution of medical supplies there should be “no favoritism in terms of political allies, no discrimination against states or governors based on lack of presidential flattery.”
Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado sent a letter to the Health and Human Services inspector general requesting an investigation into the Strategic National Stockpile’s supply of ventilators. Gardner told Politico that “any kind of mismanagement or abuse needs to be rooted out and those responsible held accountable.” And Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont called the state of the stockpile “disturbing.”
After Trump declared a national emergency over the novel coronavirus crisis on March 13, he told states to order their own medical supplies, kicking off a process that has led to governors entering bidding wars with each other and even with the federal government over essential goods like ventilators and N95 masks. “It’s like being on eBay with 50 other states, bidding on a ventilator,” Cuomo said in a daily press briefing at the end of March.
“What we’re seeing now is a sort of competition on the open market among states trying get ahold of stuff that the stockpile doesn’t have enough of — or is running out of,” said Lakoff, the USC professor. “Everyone’s scrambling to try to figure out how to get ahold of this stuff.”
What happens when the stockpile is emptied
We don’t really know what happens when the Strategic National Stockpile runs out of essential supplies. But we might learn soon enough.
“FEMA planning assumptions for Covid-19 pandemic response acknowledged that the Strategic National Stockpile alone could not fulfill all requirements at the state and tribal level,” a FEMA spokesperson told Recode. “Therefore, the federal government will exhaust all means to identify and attain medical and other supplies needed to combat the virus.” The agency added that it would meet additional demand through the private sector or the Pentagon.
This effort includes a public-private partnership called Project Airbridge which will include 20 flights transporting supplies from Asia to various cities in the US in early April. FEMA says these flights are transporting masks, gloves, goggles, and surgical gowns, all of which go first to medical distributors and then to hospitals and health care facilities. The new project is not without its own controversy. In the days after its launch, several state and local governments as well as private hospitals reported that the federal government was confiscating their shipments of medical supplies in order to redistribute them as it saw fit. This practice would directly contradict the Trump administration’s earlier statements about states fending for themselves.
Trump has also invoked the Defense Production Act to order GM to begin producing ventilators and 3M to produce more N95 masks domestically, as well as ordering 3M to cease exports of these products. (3M has warned, for what it’s worth, that ceasing exports will actually make the mask shortage in the US worse.)
Meanwhile, private corporations and everyday Americans have been making an enormous effort to fill in the gaps the government has failed to close. Elon Musk has promised that his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, will start building ventilators. Hobbyists are coming up with new designs for cheap breathing machines that can be built out of simple materials. Automotive parts factories have changed their workflows to start producing face shields and other supplies, and a movement of people sewing face masks out of leftover fabric is taking the country by storm. Put quaintly, everybody is doing their best.
The federal government, on the other hand, seems to be getting worse at dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. After spending the first two months of the year denying the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, it’s now clear that the Trump administration has settled on deflecting blame and establishing a posture of unaccountability. As Vox’s Matthew Yglesias puts it, the “federal government, led by Donald Trump, has essentially abdicated its traditional role of spearheading a coordinated response.” Coming up with a response, it seems, is the states’ problem.
This is what makes the shifting role of the Strategic National Stockpile so frustrating for so many people right now. Before Kushner’s appearance at the coronavirus task force briefing, the stockpile’s website said the “Strategic National Stockpile is the nation’s largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out.” The following morning it read, “The Strategic National Stockpile’s role is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies.”
So the stockpile that was designed to help the entire nation in an emergency is now a backup plan. Also, it’s basically gone. What Kushner said about the federal government not being there to help out with supplies? Unfortunately, that’s true. The states are on their own, and that reality is starting to sink in.
Update, April 7, 11:15 am ET: This piece has been updated to include reports of the federal government confiscating medical supplies from state and local governments.


vox--2020-04-03--“We’re gonna find out”: Amid coronavirus crisis, Trump admits New York may not have ventilators it n

“We’re gonna find out”: Amid coronavirus crisis, Trump admits New York may not have ventilators it needs

President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that in the days to come New York may not have enough ventilators to treat all the coronavirus patients who need them .
Asked by ABC ’ s Jon Karl during the White House press briefing if he can assure New Yorkers that they ’ ll have all the ventilators they need , Trump flatly replied “ no.
” “ They should ’ ve had more ventilators at the time .
They should ’ ve had more ventilators , ” Trump said .
“ They were totally under-serviced .
We are trying to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York .
You know , we have , ah , we have states , we have a lot of states — we have territories too — but we have a lot of states that have to be taken care of .
Some much more so than others.
” “ We happen to think that [ Cuomo ’ s ] well-served with ventilators .
We ’ re gon na find out , ” continued Trump .
Nearly 3,000 people have already died from Covid-19 ( the disease caused by the novel coronavirus ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 136,000 in the tri-state area have the virus .
Sadly , the worst is likely yet to come .
Both Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill Di Blasio said on Friday that if current trends hold , New York City will run out of ventilators next week .
That will likely cause coronavirus deaths to spike as patients are unable to get the care they need to stay alive .
Cuomo on Friday tried to address the situation by authorizing the National Guard to take ventilators from hospitals outside the New York City @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to places that do , but he ’ s previously indicated federal help is necessary for him to meet the demand .
Trump , however , has been reluctant to pull out all the stops .
Last week , he told Sean Hannity he had “ a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being in said in some areas are just bigger than they ’ re going to be .
I don ’ t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.
” Since then , Trump has repeatedly attacked state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not doing more on their own to acquire ventilators .
But while Trump thinks the states should ’ ve done more to prepare for a pandemic , he apparently doesn ’ t feel his administration had the same obligation .
Asked on Friday about why he didn ’ t do more to acquire the necessary medical gear , Trump absurdly tried to shift blame to “ previous administrations , ” ignoring that he was president for three full years before the coronavirus hit .
The federal government reportedly has a stockpile of roughly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration doesn ’ t seem keen to deploy them to New York .
Asked Friday by CBS ’ s Weijia Jiang to explain comments Jared Kushner made the day before about how the federal stockpile is purportedly “ not supposed to be states ’ stockpiles , ” Trump unloaded on Jiang ( “ you oughta be ashamed of yourself ” ) and then argued he has an obligation to save some of them for other states that could face crises on the level of New York in the future .
“ Frankly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this , ” Trump said , adding : “ We have a stockpile .
It is a federal stockpile .
We can use it for states , or we can use it for ourselves .
We do use it for the federal government .
We have a very big federal government.
”  Trump ’ s comments likely won ’ t come as a surprise to Gov .
Cuomo , who said on Thursday that “ I don ’ t think the federal government is in a position to provide ventilators to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... our attitude here is that we are on our own.
” Still , it ’ s jarring to hear the President of the United States basically admit he ’ s leaving the state hardest-hit by the worst pandemic the country has experienced in a century to fend for itself — especially in a circumstances where the federal government is in possession of resources that could save American lives .
Trump , however , seems to think the best course of action is to save them for a future circumstance where other states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reelection hopes ) are in need .
The news moves fast .
To stay updated , follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter , and read more of Vox ’ s policy and politics coverage .

President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that in the days to come New York may not have enough ventilators to treat all the coronavirus patients who need them.
Asked by ABC’s Jon Karl during the White House press briefing April 3 if he can assure New Yorkers that they’ll have all the ventilators they need, Trump flatly replied, “No.”
“They should’ve had more ventilators at the time. They should’ve had more ventilators,” Trump said. “They were totally under-serviced. We are trying to do — we are doing our best for New York. You know, we have, ah, we have states, we have a lot of states — we have territories too — but we have a lot of states that have to be taken care of. Some much more so than others.”
“We happen to think that [New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s] well-served with ventilators. We’re gonna find out,” continued Trump.
.@jonkarl: Cuomo says NY may be days away from running out of ventilators. Can you assure NY that they will have the ventilators they need?
TRUMP: "No. They should've had more ventilators at the time. They should've had more ventilators." pic.twitter.com/j2I94iiXas — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2020
Nearly 3,000 people have already died from Covid-19 (the disease caused by the novel coronavirus) in New York, and more than 136,000 in the tri-state area have the virus. Sadly, the worst is likely yet to come.
Both Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday that if current trends hold, New York City will run out of ventilators next week. That will likely cause coronavirus deaths to spike as patients are unable to get the care they need to stay alive. Cuomo on Friday tried to address the situation by authorizing the National Guard to take ventilators from hospitals outside the New York City area that don’t need them to places that do, but he’s previously indicated federal help is necessary for him to meet the demand.
CUOMO: "How can we be in a position where you can have New Yorkers possibly dying because they can't get a ventilator, but a federal agency saying 'I'm going to leave the ventilators in a stockpile.' I mean, have we really come to that point?" pic.twitter.com/8XqAh99Bka — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2020
Trump, however, has been reluctant to pull out all the stops. Last week, he told Sean Hannity he had “a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be. I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.” Since then, Trump has repeatedly attacked state officials in New York and elsewhere for not doing more on their own to acquire ventilators.
But while Trump thinks the states should’ve done more to prepare for a pandemic, he apparently doesn’t feel his administration had the same obligation. Asked on Friday why he didn’t do more to acquire the necessary medical gear, Trump tried to shift blame to “previous administrations,” although he was president for three full years before the coronavirus hit.
ACOSTA: Why don't we have enough masks or equipment?
TRUMP: "Previous administrations gave us very little ammunition for the military and very little shelf space."
(Trump was president for 3 years before the coronavirus hit.) pic.twitter.com/vuugvWItYR — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2020
The federal government reportedly has a stockpile of roughly 8,000 functional ventilators, but the Trump administration doesn’t seem keen to deploy them to New York.
Asked Friday by CBS’s Weijia Jiang to explain comments Jared Kushner made the day before about how the federal stockpile is purportedly “not supposed to be states’ stockpiles,” Trump unloaded on Jiang (“you oughta be ashamed of yourself”) and then argued he has an obligation to save some of them for other states that could face crises on the level of New York in the future.
“Frankly, many of the states were totally unprepared for this,” Trump said, adding: “We have a stockpile. It is a federal stockpile. We can use it for states, or we can use it for ourselves. We do use it for the federal government. We have a very big federal government.”
Wow. Trump unloads on a reporter who dared to ask him about Kushner saying on Thursday that the federal ventilator stockpile is "our" stockpile & not the states'.
"When he says 'our,' he's talking about our country ... it's such a basic, simple question. You oughta be ashamed." pic.twitter.com/HWWkTWs00e — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2020
Trump’s comments likely won’t come as a surprise to Cuomo, who said Thursday, “I don’t think the federal government is in a position to provide ventilators to the extent the nation may need them ... our attitude here is that we are on our own.”
Still, it’s jarring to hear the president of the United States basically admit he’s leaving the state hardest hit by the worst pandemic the country has experienced in a century to fend for itself — especially in circumstances where the federal government is in possession of resources that could save American lives.
Trump, however, seems to think the best course of action is to save them for a future circumstance where other states (perhaps ones more crucial to his reelection hopes) are in need.
The news moves fast. To stay updated, follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter, and read more of Vox’s policy and politics coverage.


vox--2020-04-03--Understand the unfolding coronavirus pandemic with these Vox podcast episodes

The coronavirus outbreak that causes the Covid-19 illness continues to spread as a health threat across the globe .
As new coronavirus cases are discovered , questions keep popping up about how to prepare for an outbreak , how to travel , and the difference between quarantine , isolation , and social distancing — to name a few .
That ’ s where Vox podcasts come in .
From what it ’ s like to be quarantined with coronavirus to how prepared the US is set up to respond to this outbreak to how AI warned about coronavirus before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , The Weeds , Worldy , Reset , and Recode Decode episodes will help you understand the situation as it unfolds .
April 3 , 2020 | Ezra and Matt discuss Covid-19 ’ s impact on insurance premiums , the case for single-payer , and more .
April 2 , 2020 | Last week ’ s unemployment numbers shattered all records .
This week , they doubled .
Vox ’ s Matthew Yglesias , host of The Weeds podcast , proposes a way out of this mess .
The race to make more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life-saving ventilators for Covid-19 patients are in short supply , and how people like Dr. Richard Boyer are trying to fix that .
What social solidarity demands of us in a pandemic April 2 , 2020 | There is no doubt that social distancing is the best way to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
But the efficacy of social distancing ( or really any other public health measure ) relies on something much deeper and harder to measure : social solidarity .
“ Solidarity , ” writes Eric Klinenberg , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not just our own personal security .
It keeps us from hoarding medicine , toughing out a cold in the workplace or sending a sick child to school .
It compels us to let a ship of stranded people dock in our safe harbors , to knock on our older neighbor ’ s door.
” Klinenberg , a sociologist by trade , is the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University .
His first book , Heat Wave , found that social connection was , at times , literally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chicago ’ s 1995 heat wave .
Since then , he ’ s spent his career studying trends in American social life , from the rise of adults living alone to the importance of “ social infrastructure ” in holding together our civic bonds .
This conversation is about what happens when a country mired in a mythos of individualism collides with a pandemic that demands social solidarity and collective sacrifice .
It ’ s about preventing an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation from overwhelming the most vulnerable among us .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , what kind of leadership it takes to actually bring people together , the irony of asking young people and essential workers to sacrifice for the rest of us , whether there ’ s an opportunity to build a different kind of society in the aftermath of Covid-19 , and much more .
April 1 , 2020 | Arthur Longworth calls Sean from Washington State Reformatory to explain what it ’ s like to serve a life sentence at a prison where the coronavirus is spreading .
March 31 , 2020 | @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has become a place to escape the reality of a global pandemic , gather with friends online - and even get married .
March 31 , 2020 | Part rally , part media-bashing , part critical updates on the coronavirus crisis , President Trump ’ s daily press briefings are muddying the message .
Coronavirus has pushed US-China relations to their worst point since Mao March 30 , 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic is a grim reminder that the worst really can happen .
Tail risk is real risk .
Political leaders fumble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disaster .
And even as we try to deal with this catastrophe , the seeds of another are sprouting .
The US-China relationship will define geopolitics in the 21st century .
If we collapse into rivalry , conflict , and politically opportunistic nationalism , the results could be hellish .
And we are , right now , collapsing into rivalry , conflict , and politically opportunistic nationalism .
The Trump administration , and key congressional Republicans , are calling COVID-19 “ the Chinese virus , ” and trying to gin up tensions to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government officials , beset by their own domestic problems , are claiming the US military brought the virus to China .
The US-China relationship was in a bad way six months ago , but this is a new level of threat .
Evan Osnos covers the US-China relationship for the New Yorker , and is author of the National Book Award winner , The Age of Ambition : Chasing Fortune , Truth and Faith in the New China .
In this conversation , we discuss the past , present and future of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of armed conflict ?
What might deescalation look like ?
And we know what the US wants — what , in truth , does China want ?
March 29 , 2020 | What do we mean when we say “ airborne ?
” ; plus , the most important unanswered questions about how coronavirus is transmitted .
March 27 , 2020 | On today ’ s show , more listener questions : Why isn ’ t everyone social distancing ?
Will I be immune after I get it ?
When will this end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 27 , 2020 | Ezra and Matt analyze the huge but inadequate stimulus bill .
Deepak Chopra : “ If this doesn ’ t bring us together , then we deserve whatever happens ” March 27 , 2020 | Dr. Deepak Chopra talks with Recode ’ s Kara Swisher about how to cope with the global threat posed by coronavirus , the parallel “ pandemic of panic , ” and how to not be overwhelmed by fear and anxiety .
Is the cure worse than the disease ?
March 26 , 2020 | @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be worse than the problem itself !
” That was President Donald Trump , this week , explaining why he was thinking about lifting coronavirus guidelines earlier than public-health experts recommended .
The “ cure , ” in this case , is social distancing , and the mass economic stoppage it forces .
The problem , of course , is COVID-19 , and the millions of deaths it could cause .
This is a debate that needs to be taken seriously .
Slowing coronavirus will impose real costs , and immense suffering , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ?
This is the most important public policy question right now .
And if the discussion isn ’ t had well , then it will be had , as we ’ re already seeing , poorly , and dangerously .
What this coronavirus does to your body March 26 , 2020 | Why does it spread so easily ?
And could it mutate into something worse ?
The Atlantic ’ s Ed Yong explains the science so far .
March 25 , 2020 | Congress has settled on a historic stimulus package @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might not be enough .
Chamath Palihapitiya : “ The investing landscape is done , ” taxes will go up , and a two-week lockdown is inevitable March 25 , 2020 | Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode ’ s Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis , its impact on startups , and how the US government should and will react — including by tracking individuals via their technology and repatriating cash from tech companies like Apple .
Palihapitiya says businesses should make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth of cash on hand to weather this recession and its slow recovery period and predicts the US will need to devote an entire year ’ s GDP to combat covid-19 .
He criticizes the corporate “ shenanigans ” that will make economic recovery harder says he ’ s done investing for at least nine months , because anyone trying to do deals now will be “ decapitated.
” Plus : What we can all learn right now from the histories of the Great Depression and the 2008 financial crisis , and which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stronger than before ?
March 24 , 2020 | Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode ’ s Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis , its impact on startups , March 24 , 2020 | How the tech giant is responding to the pandemic , and what it says about Amazon as a company .
March 24 , 2020 | Jane , Dara , and Matt on the Defense Production Act , wartime mobilization , and pandemic-induced autarky .
March 23 , 2020 | @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covering the global coronavirus pandemic to giving birth in the middle of it .
( Transcript here . )
Learn more about your ad choices .
Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices An economic crisis like we ’ ve never seen March 23 , 2020 | “ What is happening , ” writes Annie Lowrey , “ is a shock to the American economy more sudden and severe than anyone alive has ever experienced.
” It ’ s also different from what anyone alive has ever experienced .
For many of us , the Great Recession is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not analogous at all .
There , the economy ’ s potential was unchanged , but financial markets were in crisis .
Here , we are purposefully freezing economic activity in order to slow a public health crisis .
Early data suggests the economic crisis is going to far exceed any single week or quarter of the financial crisis .
Multiple economists have told Ezra Klein that the nearest analogy to what we ’ re going through is the economy during World War II .
“ I have a secret advantage when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ m married to Annie Lowrey , ” writes Ezra Klein .
“ I can give you the bio — staff writer at the Atlantic , author of Give People Money ( which is proving particularly prophetic and influential right now ) — but suffice to say she ’ s one of the clearest and most brilliant economic thinkers I know .
Her viral piece on the affordability crisis is crucial for understanding what the economy really looked like before Covid-19 , and she ’ s been doing some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worsen the economic problems we had and create a slew of new ones .
But this isn ’ t just a conversation about crisis .
It ’ s also a conversation about how to respond .
I wouldn ’ t call it hopeful — we ’ re not there yet .
But constructive.
” The biggest experiment in online learning , ever March 22 , 2020 | COVID-19 has shut schools all over the country , and millions of American students are now learning at home , online .
Are online tools enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
March 20 , 2020 | On today ’ s show , we answer listener ’ s questions : Why is there no TP ?
Will we run out of food ?
Can I get the virus from sex ?
Should I finally write my will ?
How can I help ?
How quickly can we treat covid-19 ?
March 19 , 2020 | The scientific community is moving at unprecedented speed to develop a way to treat COVID-19 .
But how soon can a treatment or a vaccine be available to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vox ’ s Brian Resnick ( safely ) meets Sean in a Washington , D.C. park to deliver the Five Commandments of social distancing .
“ The virus is more patient than people are ” March 19 , 2020 | Ron Klain served as the chief of staff to vice presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden .
In 2014 , President Barack Obama tapped him to lead the administration ’ s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa .
He successfully oversaw a hellishly complex effort preparing domestically for an outbreak and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contain the disease .
But Klain is quick to say that the coronavirus is a harder challenge even than Ebola .
The economy is in free fall .
Entire cities have been told to shelter in place .
And there ’ s no telling how long any of this will last .
In this conversation , Klain answers Ezra Klein ’ s questions about the disease and how to respond to it , as well as questions many of you submitted .
TFW your dad gives you Covid-19 March 18 , 2020 | @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has Covid-19 , and Vox ’ s Dylan Scott explains how the United States is still trying to get its act together on testing .
March 17 , 2020 | Jane , Dara , and Matt discuss President Trump ’ s new more serious tone and competing economic stimulus proposals .
March 17 , 2020 | After dismissing coronavirus concerns for months , President Donald is pivoting to serious action to slow the crisis in the United States .
March 16 , 2020 | The country ’ s largest school district told a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus pandemic .
It ’ s creating chaos for teachers , students , and parents .
Maggie Haberman : How coronavirus changes everything for President Trump March 16 , 2020 | Maggie Haberman , the White House correspondent for the New York Times , talks with Recode ’ s Kara Swisher about how the rest of the country has bypassed Trump ’ s failure to lead on the coronavirus outbreak ; his exposure to COVID-19 at Mar-a-Lago and refusal to self-quarantine ; and the toxic cocktail of practices in his administration : Infighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She also discusses CDC director Anthony Fauci ’ s “ unimpeachable ” credibility vs. President Trump ’ s trust problem , how Vice President Pence is doing at the helm of the coronavirus task force , and how this period could have a bigger impact on Trump ’ s re-election chances than previous crises .
Plus : Who is actually running things at the White House right now , and can Trump operate his campaign without mass rallies ?
March 14 , 2020 | Ezra and Matt on dueling pandemic response plans from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s disastrous speech .
March 14 , 2020 | Italy has quarantined the whole country in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus .
Vox ’ s Julia Belluz explains why the US might look like Italy soon .
Ron Klain : The coronavirus outbreak is just getting started in the US March 13 , 2020 | Epidemic co-host Ron Klain , who led the White House ’ s ebola response under President Obama , talks to Recode ’ s Kara Swisher about how the COVID-19 outbreak will strain America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crisis , rattling public confidence and delaying the country ’ s response ; and the way people who work in the gig economy — including Uber drivers and food delivery workers — will be especially hurt by the situation .
He also discusses the logic behind travel bans and limits of their efficacy , why it ’ s impossible for the US to completely cut itself off from China , and what Trump didn ’ t say in his Oval Office address , but should have .
Klain , an adviser and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , also talks about the ex-vice president ’ s surprisingly successful presidential campaign and how it ’ s reckoning with Biden ’ s history of verbal flubs .
How to slow down coronavirus March 12 , 2020 | President Trump has banned most Europeans from traveling to the US .
Vox ’ s Jen Kirby explains why that won ’ t stop the novel coronavirus from spreading , and Eliza Barclay tells us what we can do to slow the spread .
Every country for itself March 12 , 2020 | Zack , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on coronavirus from their respective homes , under self-isolation .
They talk about the politics of Trump ’ s ban on European travel to the US and explore why the European Union seems to be neglecting to help Italy in its time of need .
They also explain how the virus has led to a massive drop in oil prices — and why , at this particular time , this could seriously destabilize political systems around the world .
March 10 , 2020 | The stock market ’ s going haywire .
Major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home .
Austin has canceled SXSW .
Vox ’ s Matthew Yglesias says governments across the world have to act fast to save the global economy .
March 10 , 2020 | The cost of China ’ s high-tech response to contain the coronavirus .
So you think you have Covid-19 March 6 , 2020 | Thus far , the United States hasn ’ t been doing the best job of testing for the novel coronavirus .
ProPublica ’ s Caroline Chen explains why .
March 5 , 2020 | Can we stop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media ?
Covid-19 , explained by Carl ( who has it ) March 3 , 2020 | Carl Goldman was on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and now he has Covid-19 .
He speaks to Sean Rameswaram from a CDC quarantine in Omaha , Nebraska .
February 18 , 2020 | One coronavirus .
Two cruise ships .
Lots of mistakes .
The Japanese case shows us that quarantining people on a cruise ship to stop the spread of Covid-19 can backfire , while the Cambodia case suggests that letting people disembark and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health nightmare .
Find out what these cruise ship emergencies reveal about the largest outbreak .
February 13 , 2020 | Zack Beauchamp and Alex Ward talk about the politics of the coronavirus outbreak in China : Why the Chinese government botched the initial response , why Chinese citizens are so angry about it , and the reasons why the problems with this response are inherent to the current Chinese governance model .
They then debate the claim from many analysts that this is the most serious crisis for China ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and the ( low ) probability that this could trigger another revolution-minded uprising .
How will the coronavirus outbreak end ?
February 6 , 2020 | In 2015 , Dr. Vineet Menachery said a SARS-like virus could spread to humans more easily than previously believed .
Now he explains what we can do to stop it .
An AI warned about coronavirus before the CDC February 4 , 2020 | How AI could predict the next big outbreak .
You can check out our guide to news of the coronavirus outbreak here @

The coronavirus outbreak that causes the Covid-19 illness continues to spread as a health threat across the globe. As new coronavirus cases are discovered, questions keep popping up about how to prepare for an outbreak, how to travel, and the difference between quarantine, isolation, and social distancing — to name a few.
That’s where Vox podcasts come in. From what it’s like to be quarantined with coronavirus to how prepared the US is set up to respond to this outbreak to how AI warned about coronavirus before the CDC, the following Today, Explained, The Weeds, Worldy, Reset, and Recode Decode episodes will help you understand the situation as it unfolds.
How coronavirus is impacting education
April 23, 2020 | Teachers and students are still struggling with online education.
Conspiracy-19
April 23, 2020 | Vox’s science editor, Eliza Barclay, arms you with the facts you need to fight your uncle’s favorite coronavirus conspiracy theories.
This one’s for Earth
April 22, 2020 | Cryptic treehunters. Unknown apples. Flowers fighting back. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Vox’s Umair Irfan and Brian Resnick explain what we learned about the planet in the last year.
Opening up
April 21, 2020 | Dara, Jane, and Matt on conservatives’ desire for a rapid reopening of American businesses, and a ‘feel good’ white paper about air pollution.
The 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory
April 21, 2020 | A coronavirus conspiracy theory has led to arson attacks in the UK. And - how to talk to friends and family about coronavirus misinformation.
One day, three healthcare workers
April 21, 2020 | A nurse, a paramedic, and a physician’s assistant record themselves throughout the course of a day in the fight against Covid-19.
The epicenter of the epicenter
April 20, 2020 | Covid-19’s victims, and the people they leave behind.
The year 2038 problem
April 19, 2020 | What’s the deal with January 19th, 2038? Why remembering Y2K correctly matters.
Help is on the way (sort of)
April 17, 2020 | Ezra and Matt break down the implementation problems that have bedeviled the CARES Act.
Long shot
April 17, 2020 | It could be a year or more before the vaccine is ready, but there’s a radical plan to speed up the process.
Contact Tracing, Explained
April 16, 2020 | Public health’s “tried and true” tactic against infectious disease, and how Google and Apple want to help end the lockdown.
Zeke Emanuel’s exit strategy
April 16, 2020 | President Trump wants to reopen the country yesterday. Bioethicist Zeke Emanuel, who served as a health policy advisor to former President Obama, offers a safe path.
Death Cab for The Postal Service?
April 15, 2020 | The United States Postal Service is on the brink of collapse. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains how and why the country should save it.
How indie bookstores might survive the pandemic
April 14, 2020 | There’s a new online bookseller in town that’s trying to save your local indie bookstore.
All praise, no pay
April 14, 2020 | Essential workers in the food, transportation, and retail industries are being called American heroes. They want to be paid as such.
The corporate bailout watchdog
April 14, 2020 | Congressional oversight committee member Bharat Ramamurti joins Matt to explain his new job and what’s wrong with shareholder capitalism.
Elizabeth Warren has a plan for this, too
April 13, 2020 | Friend of the show Ezra Klein speaks to Sen. Elizabeth Warren about several plans she has proposed to combat this pandemic.
The Internet Has a Crush on Dr. Fauci
April 12, 2020 | From fan pages to food pics, Dr. Anthony Fauci is everywhere. The Verge’s Makena Kelly explains the person behind the meme.
How does this end?
April 10, 2020 | Ezra and Matt review four major plans for after social distancing; plus the Democratic primary finally ends.
The loneliness pandemic
April 10, 2020 | Coronavirus has led to another pandemic: social isolation. Vox’s Ezra Klein says this sickness has a cure.
Six feet away from God
April 9, 2020 | While a few religious leaders flout shelter in place ordinances, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan are inspiring most to get creative with worship.
Toby Ord on existential risk, Donald Trump, and thinking in probabilities
April 9, 2020 | Oxford philosopher Toby Ord spent the early part of his career spearheading the effective altruism movement, founding Giving What We Can, and focusing his attention primarily on issue areas like global public health and extreme poverty. Ord’s new book The Precipice is about something entirely different: the biggest existential risks to the future of humanity. In it, he predicts that humanity has approximately a 1 in 6 chance of going completely extinct by the end of the 21st century. The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that tail risk is real. We always knew a zoological respiratory virus could become a global pandemic. But, collectively, we didn’t want to think about it, and so we didn’t. The result is the reality we live in now.
But for all the current moment’s horror, there are worse risks than coronavirus out there. One silver lining of the current crisis might be that it gets us to take them seriously, and avert them before they become unstoppable. That’s what Ord’s book is about, and it is, in a strange way, a comfort.
This, then, is a conversation about the risks that threaten humanity’s future, and what we can do about them. It’s a conversation about thinking in probabilities, about the ethics of taking future human lives seriously, about how we weigh the risks we don’t yet understand.
Will your favorite restaurant survive?
April 9, 2020 | Why the pandemic is exposing the complicated relationship between delivery apps and restaurants and how a restaurateur and app developer is helping keep his industry alive.
Vote and die
April 8, 2020 | Wisconsinites had to choose between catching Covid-19 and voting on Tuesday. Is the rest of the country next?
Your phone knows if you’re staying at home
April 7, 2020 | And it is telling the government. The Verge’s Casey Newton explains how location data is helping fight coronavirus, and why even privacy advocates don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Featuring Casey Newton, Silicon Valley Editor at the Verge.
“The Great Equalizer”
April 7, 2020 | Madonna was wrong. Covid-19 isn’t an equalizer. It’s coming for America’s most vulnerable populations.
The immunity test
April 6, 2020 | A vaccine will take a while, but Vox’s Umair Irfan says the global effort to test for immunity and treat Covid-19 is well underway.
Elizabeth Warren has a plan for this, too
April 6, 2020 | In January, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the first presidential candidate to release a plan for combatting coronavirus. In March, she released a second plan. Days later, with the scale of economic damage increasing, she released a third. Warren’s proposals track the spread of the virus: from a problem happening elsewhere and demanding a surge in global health resources to a pandemic happening here, demanding not just a public health response, but an all-out effort to save the US economy. Warren’s penchant for planning stands in particular stark contrast to this administration, which still has not released a clear coronavirus plan. There is no document you can download, no web site you can visit, that details our national strategy to slow the disease and rebuild the economy.
So I asked Warren to return to the show to explain what the plan should be, given the cold reality we face. We discussed what, specifically, the federal government should do; the roots of the testing debacle; her idea for mobilizing the economy around building affordable housing; why she thinks that this is exactly the right time to cancel student loan debt; why America spends so much money preparing for war and so little defending itself against pandemics and climate change; whether she thinks the Democratic primary focused on the wrong issues; and how this crisis is making a grim mockery of Ronald Reagan’s old saw about “the scariest words in the English language.”
The two types of tests we need to end this
April 5, 2020 | How testing technology will help end the spread of covid-19.
Mask on? Mask off?
April 3, 2020 | In an about-face, the Centers for Disease Control would now like you to cover your mouth and nose when you go outside.
Coronavirus meets health reform
April 3, 2020 | Ezra and Matt discuss Covid-19’s impact on insurance premiums, the case for single-payer, and more.
6.6 million more unemployed
April 2, 2020 | Last week’s unemployment numbers shattered all records. This week, they doubled. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias, host of The Weeds podcast, proposes a way out of this mess.
The race to make more ventilators
April 2, 2020 | Why life-saving ventilators for Covid-19 patients are in short supply, and how people like Dr. Richard Boyer are trying to fix that.
What social solidarity demands of us in a pandemic
April 2, 2020 | There is no doubt that social distancing is the best way to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But the efficacy of social distancing (or really any other public health measure) relies on something much deeper and harder to measure: social solidarity.
“Solidarity,” writes Eric Klinenberg, “motivates us to promote public health, not just our own personal security. It keeps us from hoarding medicine, toughing out a cold in the workplace or sending a sick child to school. It compels us to let a ship of stranded people dock in our safe harbors, to knock on our older neighbor’s door.” Klinenberg, a sociologist by trade, is the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. His first book, Heat Wave, found that social connection was, at times, literally the difference between life and death during Chicago’s 1995 heat wave. Since then, he’s spent his career studying trends in American social life, from the rise of adults living alone to the importance of “social infrastructure” in holding together our civic bonds.
This conversation is about what happens when a country mired in a mythos of individualism collides with a pandemic that demands social solidarity and collective sacrifice. It’s about preventing an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation from overwhelming the most vulnerable among us. We discuss the underlying social trends that predated coronavirus, what kind of leadership it takes to actually bring people together, the irony of asking young people and essential workers to sacrifice for the rest of us, whether there’s an opportunity to build a different kind of society in the aftermath of Covid-19, and much more.
Lockdown while locked up
April 1, 2020 | Arthur Longworth calls Sean from Washington State Reformatory to explain what it’s like to serve a life sentence at a prison where the coronavirus is spreading.
There’s no social distancing in Animal Crossing
March 31, 2020 | Nintendo’s new game New Horizons has become a place to escape the reality of a global pandemic, gather with friends online - and even get married.
The trouble with Trump’s daily briefings
March 31, 2020 | Part rally, part media-bashing, part critical updates on the coronavirus crisis, President Trump’s daily press briefings are muddying the message.
Coronavirus has pushed US-China relations to their worst point since Mao
March 30, 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic is a grim reminder that the worst really can happen. Tail risk is real risk. Political leaders fumble, miscalculate, and bluster into avoidable disaster. And even as we try to deal with this catastrophe, the seeds of another are sprouting.
The US-China relationship will define geopolitics in the 21st century. If we collapse into rivalry, conflict, and politically opportunistic nationalism, the results could be hellish. And we are, right now, collapsing into rivalry, conflict, and politically opportunistic nationalism.
The Trump administration, and key congressional Republicans, are calling COVID-19 “the Chinese virus,” and trying to gin up tensions to distract from their domestic failures. Chinese government officials, beset by their own domestic problems, are claiming the US military brought the virus to China. The US-China relationship was in a bad way six months ago, but this is a new level of threat.
Evan Osnos covers the US-China relationship for the New Yorker, and is author of the National Book Award winner, The Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China. In this conversation, we discuss the past, present and future of the US-China relationship. What are the chances of armed conflict? What might deescalation look like? And we know what the US wants — what, in truth, does China want?
Airborne, Explained
March 29, 2020 | What do we mean when we say “airborne?”; plus, the most important unanswered questions about how coronavirus is transmitted.
Your coronavirus questions, answered (Part II)
March 27, 2020 | On today’s show, more listener questions: Why isn’t everyone social distancing? Will I be immune after I get it? When will this end? My anxiety is spiking!
When $2 trillion isn’t enough
March 27, 2020 | Ezra and Matt analyze the huge but inadequate stimulus bill.
Deepak Chopra: “If this doesn’t bring us together, then we deserve whatever happens”
March 27, 2020 | Dr. Deepak Chopra talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how to cope with the global threat posed by coronavirus, the parallel “pandemic of panic,” and how to not be overwhelmed by fear and anxiety.
Is the cure worse than the disease?
March 26, 2020 | “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself!” That was President Donald Trump, this week, explaining why he was thinking about lifting coronavirus guidelines earlier than public-health experts recommended. The “cure,” in this case, is social distancing, and the mass economic stoppage it forces. The problem, of course, is COVID-19, and the millions of deaths it could cause.
This is a debate that needs to be taken seriously. Slowing coronavirus will impose real costs, and immense suffering, on society. Are those costs worth it? This is the most important public policy question right now. And if the discussion isn’t had well, then it will be had, as we’re already seeing, poorly, and dangerously.
What this coronavirus does to your body
March 26, 2020 | Why does it spread so easily? And could it mutate into something worse? The Atlantic’s Ed Yong explains the science so far.
The two trillion dollar question
March 25, 2020 | Congress has settled on a historic stimulus package, but Ezra Klein is worried it might not be enough.
Chamath Palihapitiya: “The investing landscape is done,” taxes will go up, and a two-week lockdown is inevitable
March 25, 2020 | Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis, its impact on startups, and how the US government should and will react — including by tracking individuals via their technology and repatriating cash from tech companies like Apple. Palihapitiya says businesses should make sure they have at least 36 months worth of cash on hand to weather this recession and its slow recovery period and predicts the US will need to devote an entire year’s GDP to combat covid-19. He criticizes the corporate “shenanigans” that will make economic recovery harder says he’s done investing for at least nine months, because anyone trying to do deals now will be “decapitated.” Plus: What we can all learn right now from the histories of the Great Depression and the 2008 financial crisis, and which industries will come out of this crisis stronger than before?
Asia’s second wave
March 24, 2020 | Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis, its impact on startups,
Is Amazon primed for coronavirus?
March 24, 2020 | How the tech giant is responding to the pandemic, and what it says about Amazon as a company.
Fighting coronavirus with corporate conscription
March 24, 2020 | Jane, Dara, and Matt on the Defense Production Act, wartime mobilization, and pandemic-induced autarky.
Giving birth in a pandemic
March 23, 2020 | Vox’s Julia Belluz went from covering the global coronavirus pandemic to giving birth in the middle of it. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An economic crisis like we’ve never seen
March 23, 2020 | “What is happening,” writes Annie Lowrey, “is a shock to the American economy more sudden and severe than anyone alive has ever experienced.”
It’s also different from what anyone alive has ever experienced. For many of us, the Great Recession is the closest analogue — but it’s not analogous at all. There, the economy’s potential was unchanged, but financial markets were in crisis. Here, we are purposefully freezing economic activity in order to slow a public health crisis. Early data suggests the economic crisis is going to far exceed any single week or quarter of the financial crisis. Multiple economists have told Ezra Klein that the nearest analogy to what we’re going through is the economy during World War II.
“I have a secret advantage when trying to understand moments of economic upheaval. I’m married to Annie Lowrey,” writes Ezra Klein. “I can give you the bio — staff writer at the Atlantic, author of Give People Money (which is proving particularly prophetic and influential right now) — but suffice to say she’s one of the clearest and most brilliant economic thinkers I know. Her viral piece on the affordability crisis is crucial for understanding what the economy really looked like before Covid-19, and she’s been doing some of the best work on the way Covid-19 will worsen the economic problems we had and create a slew of new ones. But this isn’t just a conversation about crisis. It’s also a conversation about how to respond. I wouldn’t call it hopeful — we’re not there yet. But constructive.”
The biggest experiment in online learning, ever
March 22, 2020 | COVID-19 has shut schools all over the country, and millions of American students are now learning at home, online. Are online tools enough to make up for lost classroom time?
Your coronavirus questions, answered
March 20, 2020 | On today’s show, we answer listener’s questions: Why is there no TP? Will we run out of food? Can I get the virus from sex? Should I finally write my will? How can I help?
How quickly can we treat covid-19?
March 19, 2020 | The scientific community is moving at unprecedented speed to develop a way to treat COVID-19. But how soon can a treatment or a vaccine be available to the public?
Six feet away
March 19, 2020 | Vox’s Brian Resnick (safely) meets Sean in a Washington, D.C. park to deliver the Five Commandments of social distancing.
“The virus is more patient than people are”
March 19, 2020 | Ron Klain served as the chief of staff to vice presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden. In 2014, President Barack Obama tapped him to lead the administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He successfully oversaw a hellishly complex effort preparing domestically for an outbreak and surging health resources onto another continent to contain the disease.
But Klain is quick to say that the coronavirus is a harder challenge even than Ebola. The economy is in free fall. Entire cities have been told to shelter in place. And there’s no telling how long any of this will last. In this conversation, Klain answers Ezra Klein’s questions about the disease and how to respond to it, as well as questions many of you submitted.
TFW your dad gives you Covid-19
March 18, 2020 | Sean speaks to a Brooklyn family that has Covid-19, and Vox’s Dylan Scott explains how the United States is still trying to get its act together on testing.
Rescuing the economy from coronavirus
March 17, 2020 | Jane, Dara, and Matt discuss President Trump’s new more serious tone and competing economic stimulus proposals.
Can President Trump fix this?
March 17, 2020 | After dismissing coronavirus concerns for months, President Donald is pivoting to serious action to slow the crisis in the United States.
School’s out for Covid
March 16, 2020 | The country’s largest school district told a million kids to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s creating chaos for teachers, students, and parents.
Maggie Haberman: How coronavirus changes everything for President Trump
March 16, 2020 | Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how the rest of the country has bypassed Trump’s failure to lead on the coronavirus outbreak; his exposure to COVID-19 at Mar-a-Lago and refusal to self-quarantine; and the toxic cocktail of practices in his administration: Infighting, tiptoeing, and sucking up.
She also discusses CDC director Anthony Fauci’s “unimpeachable” credibility vs. President Trump’s trust problem, how Vice President Pence is doing at the helm of the coronavirus task force, and how this period could have a bigger impact on Trump’s re-election chances than previous crises. Plus: Who is actually running things at the White House right now, and can Trump operate his campaign without mass rallies?
Weeds 2020: The coronavirus election
March 14, 2020 | Ezra and Matt on dueling pandemic response plans from Sanders and Biden, and Trump’s disastrous speech.
Living in lockdown
March 14, 2020 | Italy has quarantined the whole country in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. Vox’s Julia Belluz explains why the US might look like Italy soon.
Ron Klain: The coronavirus outbreak is just getting started in the US
March 13, 2020 | Epidemic co-host Ron Klain, who led the White House’s ebola response under President Obama, talks to Recode’s Kara Swisher about how the COVID-19 outbreak will strain America’s healthcare system; how President Trump downplayed the crisis, rattling public confidence and delaying the country’s response; and the way people who work in the gig economy — including Uber drivers and food delivery workers — will be especially hurt by the situation. He also discusses the logic behind travel bans and limits of their efficacy, why it’s impossible for the US to completely cut itself off from China, and what Trump didn’t say in his Oval Office address, but should have. Klain, an adviser and former chief of staff to Joe Biden, also talks about the ex-vice president’s surprisingly successful presidential campaign and how it’s reckoning with Biden’s history of verbal flubs.
How to slow down coronavirus
March 12, 2020 | President Trump has banned most Europeans from traveling to the US. Vox’s Jen Kirby explains why that won’t stop the novel coronavirus from spreading, and Eliza Barclay tells us what we can do to slow the spread.
Every country for itself
March 12, 2020 | Zack, Jenn, and Alex record an episode on coronavirus from their respective homes, under self-isolation. They talk about the politics of Trump’s ban on European travel to the US and explore why the European Union seems to be neglecting to help Italy in its time of need. They also explain how the virus has led to a massive drop in oil prices — and why, at this particular time, this could seriously destabilize political systems around the world.
Coronavirus hits the markets
March 10, 2020 | The stock market’s going haywire. Major companies are telling their employees to stay home. Austin has canceled SXSW. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias says governments across the world have to act fast to save the global economy.
Does stopping coronavirus require more surveillance?
March 10, 2020 | The cost of China’s high-tech response to contain the coronavirus.
So you think you have Covid-19
March 6, 2020 | Thus far, the United States hasn’t been doing the best job of testing for the novel coronavirus. ProPublica’s Caroline Chen explains why.
The coronavirus rumor mill
March 5, 2020 | Can we stop the spread of coronavirus misinformation on social media?
Covid-19, explained by Carl (who has it)
March 3, 2020 | Carl Goldman was on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and now he has Covid-19. He speaks to Sean Rameswaram from a CDC quarantine in Omaha, Nebraska.
The floating petri dish
February 18, 2020 | One coronavirus. Two cruise ships. Lots of mistakes. The Japanese case shows us that quarantining people on a cruise ship to stop the spread of Covid-19 can backfire, while the Cambodia case suggests that letting people disembark and disperse around the world can create a public health nightmare. Find out what these cruise ship emergencies reveal about the largest outbreak.
Could coronavirus collapse Chinese communism?
February 13, 2020 | Zack Beauchamp and Alex Ward talk about the politics of the coronavirus outbreak in China: Why the Chinese government botched the initial response, why Chinese citizens are so angry about it, and the reasons why the problems with this response are inherent to the current Chinese governance model. They then debate the claim from many analysts that this is the most serious crisis for China’s regime since the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising — and the (low) probability that this could trigger another revolution-minded uprising.
How will the coronavirus outbreak end?
February 6, 2020 | In 2015, Dr. Vineet Menachery said a SARS-like virus could spread to humans more easily than previously believed. Now he explains what we can do to stop it.
An AI warned about coronavirus before the CDC
February 4, 2020 | How AI could predict the next big outbreak.
You can check out our guide to news of the coronavirus outbreak here.