U.S. Braces For Coronavirus Peak In Some Cities; Some Experts Urge Creation Of National Public Health Corps

The Hill: Health experts call for Roosevelt-style programs to kill virus, revive economy
“…Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said Friday that his state would join with Partners In Health, a Boston-based global health nonprofit, to turn staffers into contact tracers, the backbone of any robust public health effort to squelch a deadly disease. … Public health experts across the country … now say a mass-scale national program aimed at suppressing the virus at a community level through that sort of robust contact tracing is crucial to stopping its spread. Such a program aimed at bolstering national public health would be unprecedented in the history of the country. But as the economy nosedives into what could be a depression and millions lose their jobs in the space of a few days and weeks, a government-backed effort to get those people back to work does have a precedent, in Depression-era programs like the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps…” (Wilson, 4/6).

NPR: Trump Warns ‘One Of The Toughest Weeks’ Is Ahead, Says To Brace For ‘A Lot Of Death’
“In a grim assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump on Saturday predicted that the coming week would be ‘one of the toughest weeks’ of the outbreak. At the same time, the president expressed frustration with the toll that social distancing measures are taking on the economy, saying, ‘We cannot let this continue’…” (Slotkin/Sprunt, 4/4).

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Expects Coronavirus Peak in Some Cities Next Week as Global Toll Climbs
“Confirmed coronavirus cases shot past 1.2 million globally, as the U.S. braced for the most challenging days ahead for many of its hardest-hit cities. Modeling shows New York, Detroit, and New Orleans — and areas around those cities — will likely reach the peak of their outbreaks in the next six to seven days, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx said Saturday evening…” (Restuccia et al., 4/4).

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