CNN: Trump extends federal social distancing guidelines to April 30
“President Donald Trump said Sunday he would extend nationwide social distancing guidelines for another 30 days, an abrupt back-down from his push to reopen the country as coronavirus continues to spread. The 15-day guidelines Trump announced two weeks ago were set to expire on Monday, and the President had suggested over the past week that he was looking to relax them, at least in some parts of the country. … ‘The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end,’ the President said Sunday at a White House news conference. He said he would be finalizing a new plan and strategy early this week and announcing the details on Tuesday…” (LeBlanc et al., 3/29).

The Hill: U.S. poised for hellish month as coronavirus surges
“…Officials across the country are bracing for the worst public health crisis in a century, a crisis that will become starkly severe this week. … Tens of thousands of Americans are likely to die from the coronavirus in the coming weeks, a consequence of American leaders failing to heed the lessons learned in other countries about the value and success of taking drastic steps…” (Wilson, 3/29).

New York Times: White House Airlifts Medical Supplies From China in Coronavirus Fight
“A commercial aircraft carrying 80 tons of gloves, masks, gowns and other medical supplies from Shanghai touched down in New York on Sunday, the first of 22 scheduled flights that White House officials say will funnel much-needed goods to the United States by early April as it battles the world’s largest coronavirus outbreak. … The shipment from China that arrived in New York on Sunday is the product of a public-private partnership — led by President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner — with major health care distributors like McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor, Medline, and Henry Schein, a White House spokesman said. Representatives from those companies attended a meeting at the White House with Mr. Trump on Sunday…” (Swanson, 3/29).

The Hill: Fauci says April 30 extension is ‘a wise and prudent decision’ (Folley, 3/29).

New York Times: The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19 (Shear, 3/28).

NPR: U.S. Sees Exponential Growth In Coronavirus Death Toll (Anderson, 3/29).

POLITICO: From distraction to disaster: How coronavirus crept up on Washington (Bertrand/Severns, 3/30).